There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when it didn’t rain for three and a half years and there wasn’t enough food to eat anywhere in the land.
These witnesses have the power to close up the sky so that it won’t rain during the time when they’re prophesying. They also have the power to turn the rivers and the sea into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
“Friends, why are you doing this? We’re only human, just like you. We’re bringing you good news, telling you to turn away from these worthless things to the living God. He’s the one who made the heavens, the earth, and the sea and everything in them.
God didn’t reject his people, the ones he knew ahead of time. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the story of Elijah? Elijah complained to God about Israel and said,