At the moment of his new-found fame, God wanted Elijah to hide and be alone with God. He had just become famous as an adversary of Ahab, so mighty that his prayers could stop the rain. Hide by the Brook Cherith: Through this, God taught Elijah the value of the hidden life. God led Elijah by faith, one step at a time, and Elijah followed in faith. He did not tell him to go to Zarephath until the brook dried up at Cherith. He did not tell him to go to Cherith until he first delivered the message to Ahab. Therefore, his life was in danger, and God sent him to the Brook Cherith for his own safety. Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith: The drought announced by Elijah in the previous verse was a great threat to the northern kingdom of Israel and the reign of Ahab. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.Ī. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. ( 1 Kings 17:2-5) Elijah escapes to Cherith. Gabriel himself could not choose a higher title ( Luke 1:19).Ģ. Before whom I stand: He stood in the presence of Ahab, but he was conscious of the presence of someone greater than any earthly king. He was the supreme reality of Elijah’s life. As the LORD God of Israel lives: Everyone else felt that the LORD was dead, but for Elijah the LORD lived. We must pay attention to these indications to the source of Elijah’s strength. Yet he showed a strength greater than most of us in our life with God. It is specifically said Elijah was a man with a nature like ours ( James 5:17). As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand: This statement of Elijah shows the source of his strength. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.Ĭ. James 5:17-18 makes this clear: Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. Elijah was not merely the prophet of this drought - in the sense of prayer - he was the cause of the drought. “The old religion against the new the child of nature against the effeminate child of the courts camel’s hair against soft clothing moral strength against moral weakness.” (Meyer) Elijah showed that through his prayers to the God of Israel, Yahweh was mightier than Baal. There shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word: This was a dramatic demonstration against the pagan god Baal, who was thought to be the sky god, the god of the weather. But they were paralysed with fear and kept so still, that their very existence was unknown by Elijah in the hour of his great loneliness.” (Meyer)ī. Of all the thousands of Israel, only seven thousand remained who had not bowed the knee or kissed the hand to Baal. The fires of persecution were lit, and began to burn with fury” (Meyer). “The land swarmed with the priests of Baal and of the groves - proud of Court favour glorying in their sudden rise to power insolent, greedy, licentious, and debased. It looked as if the worship of the true God might be completely eliminated in the northern kingdom. It was a crucial time in the history of Israel. In the days when Ahab’s government officially supported the worship of Baal and other gods, even the name of this prophet told the truth. He became the dominant spiritual force in Israel during the dark days of Ahab’s apostasy. Elijah the Tishbite: At this crucial time in the history of Judah and Israel, the Prophet Elijah suddenly appeared. ( 1 Kings 17:1) Elijah tells of the LORD’s judgment.Īnd Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “ As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”Ī. Elijah prays for drought and experiences God’s provision.ġ.
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