Baal's prophets accept the challenge, set up their altar and began crying to their god. But no fire falls.

"Maybe he can't hear you," Elijah says. Then he suggests that they shout louder. They do, but still no fire falls.

"Is he asleep?" Elijah taunts. "You had better wake him up."

As a final appeal, Baal's prophets slash themselves with knives but that doesn't work either. No fire comes. After all this, Elijah builds an altar to the Lord, digs a trench around it, and orders that water be poured over it. Twelve barrels of water in all are used until the sacrifice is soaked through and through and the ditch around it is running over.

Then Elijah prays a simple prayer and God sends fire to consume the sacrifice, the altar and even the water.

With that turning point, the people worshiped the Lord and shouted, "The Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God." Then, in obedience to Elijah's command, they slaughtered Baal's prophets. It was a high hour. Everyone knew God's hand was upon Elijah.

Elijah is not permitted to relish the mountain-top experience long, however. As soon as queen Jezebel hears what happened she sends Elijah a message saying, "You have killed all of my prophets; by this time tomorrow I am going to kill you also."

When the prophet of God read her message his heart sank and he began to run for his life. He ran all the way to Beersheba, the southern-most city in Judah. Beersheba was the end of civilization. Beyond it there was nothing but desert. He was getting as far away from the queen as possible.

There he left his servant, perhaps because he didn't intend to come back, perhaps because he didn't want his servant to see what he was really like. Then he went another day's journey into the wilderness alone. Have you ever gotten so depressed that you didn't want anyone to see just how down you were? Psychologists call it "withdrawing."

When Elijah finally quit running he sat down under a juniper tree and asked God to let him die. "I've had it, Lord," he said, "take my life for I am no better than my ancestors" (1 King 19:4 NIV). They had been unsuccessful in stamping out apostasy in Israel and so had he. He felt like a failure.

Out of sheer physical exhaustion, Elijah fell asleep. He was psychologically wrung out and physically drained. The Lord let him sleep. After a time the Lord sent an angel who prepared a meal for Elijah, awakened him and gave him food to eat and water to drink. Then he slept again. Once more the angel awoke him and fed him in preparation for a journey to Mt. Horeb where he could get away from the people and pressures that were troubling him. Strengthened by the food, Elijah finally reached his destination, 150 miles to the south. This time he had gone as far away from Jezebel as he could go and still be on the same continent.

There he sat down in a cave, wrapped himself up in self-pity and bewailed his fate. While he sat in dark solitude God asked him, "Elijah, what doest thou here?" Elijah then told God his sad tale. "I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken the covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the swords; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life to take it away."