King Ahab was angry with Elijah the prophet. (Make an angry face and growl.) And his wife, Queen Jezebel, was angrier still, (make an even angrier face and growl even louder) for he had defeated the prophets of her false god, Baal. So she sent a message to Elijah: “You killed my prophets, and now I intend to do the same to you.”
Elijah was terrified! (Make a frightened face and scream.) He ran for his life to a place called Beersheba, where he left his servant, and then carried on, alone, a day’s journey into the wilderness. By then, he was exhausted (wipe your forehead and sigh a deep, exhausted sigh) so he collapsed in the shade of a broom tree.
“Kill me now, Lord,” he prayed. “For I’m going to die, anyway, like so many prophets before me.” Then Elijah fell asleep. (Make a snoring sound.) And, while he slept, an angel appeared and baked him a cake and fetched him a jug of water. (Do your best Mary Berry and pretend to mix a cake in a bowl.)
“Dinner time!” said the angel, and tapped him on the shoulder. (Say: “Dinner time!” and tap each other on the shoulder.) Elijah woke up and ate the cake and drank the water, then fell right back to sleep again.
So the angel tapped him again. (Repeat the previous action and words.) “Wake up! Eat! You’ll need all your strength for the journey ahead!” So Elijah woke up and ate. And set off for Horeb, the mountain of God.
That must have been one amazing angel food cake (rub your tummy and go: “Mmmmm!”) because with the energy he got from that cake, Elijah walked for 40 days and 40 nights! Finally, Elijah came to Horeb and spent the night in a cave, on the side of the mountain. (Flap your wings and make a bat sound: “Eeee eeeee”.)
Then the word of the Lord came to him and said: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
“I have tried very hard to serve you, Lord,” Elijah said. “I really have. But your people have turned away from you, and torn down your altars, and killed your prophets. And now I’m the only one left, and they want to kill me, too!”
“Stand on the side of the mountain,” said the Lord, “and I will come to you.” At first there was a mighty wind. (Wave your arms and make a big blowy noise.) It split mountains and busted boulders into bits. But the Lord was not in the wind.
Then there was an earthquake. (Shake your bodies and make a big rumbling sound.) But the Lord was not in the earthquake. Then there was a fire. (Make a whooshing sound.) But the Lord was not in the fire.
Then everything went quiet. (See how quiet everyone can get.)
So Elijah wrapped his cloak around his face, and stood at the entrance of the cave, ready to meet the Lord. The voice came again: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
And, again, Elijah replied: “I have tried very hard to serve you, Lord, I really have. But your people have turned away from you, and torn down your altars, and killed your prophets. And now I’m the only one left, and they want to kill me, too!”
“You’re not the only one left, Elijah,” said the Lord. “There are 700 other people in Israel who are faithful to me too. So have courage. Find Jehu. Anoint him as king, to replace evil Ahab. Now, go!” (Point your finger and say: “Go!”)
So Elijah went. And, encouraged by the Lord’s quiet, confident voice, did what he told him to do.
