"What have I done wrong," asked Obadiah, "that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death?" – 1 Kings 18:9

Today's Scripture Reading (February 22, 2026): 1 Kings 18

Robert Leroy Parker and Harry Alonzo Longabaugh were bank robbers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. You probably have heard of them, but by different names. They earned their fame under the names of Butch Cassidy (Parker) and the Sundance Kid (Longabaugh). I have seen the 1969 movie with Paul Newman as Butch Cassidy and Robert Redford as the Sundance Kid. Admittedly, it has been years since I watched the film, and I probably need to rewatch it, but the ending shows the two criminals taking cover inside a building. They are not aware that the local "Keystone Cops" have been reinforced by the Bolivian Army. The last scene shows Cassidy and Sundance running out of the building, ready to shoot their way out of their current situation. The last scene of the movie is a freeze-frame shot of Cassidy and Sundance running into the fray. Admittedly, I thought at the time I watched the movie that the death of Cassidy and Sundance was a foregone conclusion. The bandits died in this gunfight in Bolivia. That conclusion to the lives of Butch and Sundance is almost a forgone conclusion, but we have to deal with that word "almost."

More recently, I have thought about the ending of the 1969 film. You see Butch and Sundance running, not dead. Did they die in this gunfight in San Vicente Canton, Bolivia? Maybe the best answer we can give is probably. The best evidence that Butch and Sundance died in this gunfight is that we never heard from them ever again. However, we have never been able to prove that the men who died in Bolivia were Butch and Sundance. We have conducted DNA tests on the bodies and have not yet found a positive match. Maybe Butch and Sundance died on November 7, 1908. Or, maybe, Butch and Sundance disappeared on November 7, 1908, never to be seen again. It is a mystery that we may never solve to the satisfaction of everyone interested in the life and death of these famous outlaws.

Elijah had marched into the presence of King Ahab and declared that there would be a drought, then disappeared just as mysteriously. Ahab had searched for him, and no one had been able to find out where the prophet was hiding. Then Elijah appears to Obadiah and tells the King's servant to go to Ahab and say to him that Elijah has returned to speak with him. Obadiah looks at Elijah, who is essentially a fugitive on the run, and hesitates to deliver the message. After all, Elijah had already proven that he could disappear, and if he disappeared while Obadiah carried the message to Ahab, the King would take out his frustration on Obadiah.

That is a door that Obadiah would rather not open. Elijah could carry his own message. Obadiah is caught between a rock and a hard place. He supports Elijah, but would rather not be his messenger. Although, in the end, that is precisely what he will become.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 19