ANSWER: Israel had been suffering from a drought for more than three years at this time. King Ahab held Elijah, the prophet of God, responsible for it, and said in verse seventeen, “Art thou he who troubleth Israel?” It was really Ahab himself who had troubled Israel. “in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim” (vs.18). It was Ahab who had brought the great drought upon the land by provoking the God of Israel to anger (I Kings 16:30-33).