And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth. After many days - in the third year - We learn from our Lord, Luke 4:25, that the drought which brought on the famine in Israel lasted three years and six months. St. James, James 5:17, gives it the same duration. Probably Elijah spent six months at the brook Cherith, and three years with the widow at Sarepta.
I will send rain upon the earth - The word האדמה haadamah should be translated the ground or the land, as it is probable that this drought did not extend beyond the land of Judea.