We do not know how long Elijah remained in his dismal cavern,—­long enough, however, to recover his physical energies and his moral courage.  As he wanders to and fro amid the hoary rocks and impenetrable solitudes of Horeb, he seeks to commune with God.  He listens for some manifestation of the deity; he is ready to do His bidding.  He hears the sound of a rushing hurricane; but God is not in the wind.  The mountain then is shaken by a fearful earthquake; but Jehovah is not in the earthquake.  Again the mountain seems to flash with fire; but the signs he seeks are not in the fire.  At last, after the uproar of contending physical forces had died away, in the profound silence of the solitude he hears the whisper of a still small voice in gentle accents; and by this voice in the soul Jehovah speaks:  “What doest thou here, Elijah?” Was this voice reproachful?  Had the prophet been told to flee?  Had he acted with the courage of a man sure of divine protection?  Had he not been faint-hearted when he wished to die?  How does he reply to the mysterious voice?  He justifies himself.  But strengthened, comforted, uplifted by the exaltation of the consciousness of God’s presence, Elijah feels his resilient powers again upspringing.  His courage returns; his perceptions grow sharp again; the inspiration of a new line of action opens up to him.  He hears the word of the Lord:  “Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, and Jehu the son of Nimshi to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat to be prophet in thy room.  And it shall come to pass that him who escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu destroy, and him that escapeth the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.  Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, who have not bowed the knee unto Baal.”

Elijah still knows that his life is in peril, but is ready, nevertheless, to obey his master’s call.  He is not designated as the power to effect the great revolution which should root out idolatry and destroy the house of Omri; but Jehu, an unscrupulous yet jealous warrior, was to found a new dynasty, and the king of Syria was to punish and afflict the ten tribes, and Elisha was to be the mouth-piece of the Almighty in the court of kings.  It would appear that Elijah did not himself anoint either the general of Benhadad or of Ahab as future kings,—­instruments of punishment on idolatrous Israel,—­but on Elisha did his mantle fall.

Elisha was the son of a farmer, and, according to Ewald, when Elijah selected him for his companion and servant, had just been ploughing his twelve yoke of land (not of oxen), and was at work on the twelfth and last.  Passing by the place, Elijah, without stopping, took off his shaggy mantle of skins, and cast it upon Elisha.  The young man, who doubtless was familiar with the appearance of the great prophet, recognized and accepted this significant call, and without remonstrance, even as others in later days