It had been a dry three and a half years. Israel hadn't seen a rain cloud since Elijah had said, "there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word"(1 Kings 17:1). Such a drought would have been calamitous to a nation like Israel, dependent on crops and vegetation for livelihood. People were struggling to make a living or even to eat (1 Kings 17:12). So when this troublemaker who stopped the rain finally surfaces, King Ahab should set him straight, right? "Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, 'Is that you, O troubler of Israel?"(1 Kgs 18:17). But how does this scoundrel who is oppressing Israel respond? "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments
