ELIJAH'S STRUGGLE WITH A REBELLIOUS NATION

The closer Elijah got to Israel, the worse the situation became. There were refugees everywhere. Gathered in small groups with what little belongings they possessed, they were walking out of Israel. For miles, as far as the eye could see, were people trying to escape the drought and find someplace to live. Children, adults and old people slowly, surely were getting further and further away from the disaster which was behind them. People sat alongside the road, already exhausted from their trip, too thirsty to go on. Elijah's heart broke as he saw little children unable to go on because they had to stay with their parents to await their inevitable fate. Already suffering from hunger and dehydration, their little eyes sunken in their heads, their bellies distended, their ribs exposed, their arms and legs only sticks, they moved in synchronous motion like dolls. The catastrophe was beyond anything Elijah had anticipated. Not a smile, not a laugh, not even a tear, defeated and broken, these wanderers just stared as they put one foot in front of the other hoping they could make it to the end. Their eyes gaunt...