1 Kings and chapter 17. And as
I mentioned last week, we're going to begin thinking about
this man called Elijah, or sometimes called Elijah the Tishbite, because
that's the title that he is given at the beginning of this chapter. So we're going to be in 1 Kings
chapter 17 and reading from verse one. And Elijah the Tishbite, who
was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, Ahab is the king
of Israel, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I
stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according
to my word. And the word of the Lord came
unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide
thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it
shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook, and I have commanded
the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according
unto the word of the Lord, for he went and dwelt by the brook
Cherith that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread
and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening,
and he drank of the brook. and it came to pass after a while
that the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the
land. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this short reading from his word. Well, I am pleased, I think. I was quite eager. I was quite
excited to be moving on to these chapters about Elijah. Not to say that the history of
the kings is in any way a challenge to us to read and think about,
but there were an awful lot of troubled men and women amongst
that lot of the kings of Israel and Judah. And we're still in
the same time area. We're still thinking about Ahab,
who is the king of Israel at this time. But here we're now
speaking about this mighty prophet, Elijah was one of the greatest
prophets of the Old Testament and he was a prophet in Israel. Israel or the northern tribes,
so remember we've been speaking about the northern tribes and
Judah, which is in the south, and how the kingdom of David
and Solomon had split up and separated. Well, Elijah is the
prophet who at this time is ministering in the northern tribes or in
the country that is now called Israel and has its capital in
Samaria. And this is where he served the
Lord. Now Elijah, although he is such a great character as
far as the Old Testament is concerned, did not leave a written prophecy. Now when we think about a written
prophecy, we think about the prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah
and Ezekiel or Daniel, or Obadiah, or Jonah, or Micah, all of these
prophets towards the end of our Bible, our Old Testament scriptures,
who wrote their prophecies and left them in a written form.
Elijah wasn't like that. Neither, indeed, was Elisha,
who comes after Elijah. But these two men, particularly,
are called the declarative prophets. And they're called that because
they declared their prophecies. They spoke them out. They were
spoken prophecies, and they didn't write anything. That said, Elijah
did write a letter and we learn about that in the book of Chronicles
where there is a reference to the fact that he wrote a letter
to Jehoram, the king of Judah, but it was very short and it
wasn't a prophecy as such. We really know very little about
Elijah's background. We know nothing of his parents. And in that sense, he just appears
all of a sudden here in this chapter in our Bibles. We don't
know really anything about his service or his existence or his
whereabouts before the beginning of this chapter when he goes
to speak to Ahab, the king of Israel. He just appears. And
he tells Ahab, Ahab, you might remember we mentioned him last
week, Ahab and Jezebel, these were very wicked people. And
this is, in a long line of wicked kings, Ahab was perhaps the worst
of the kings of Israel, at least up to that time. Elijah stands before Ahab and
no doubt his queen as well and he announces that because of
the sin, because of the king's wickedness, because of his idolatry,
there is going to be a famine, there is going to be a drought
which causes a famine in the land which will extend for three
years. We do know that Elijah comes
from Gilead, which was on the east side of the River Jordan. It belonged to Reuben and Gad
and Manasseh, the tribe of Manasseh. I don't know whether you can
think back this long, but when the children of Israel were coming
out of the wilderness, some of the tribes asked if they could
stay on the west side of, sorry, the east side of the Jordan rather
than going into the promised land. And that is where Elijah
came from. That's where Gilead was located. Why he is called a Tishbite,
nobody is really certain. Perhaps there was a town of that
name where he also lived as well. What we do know about Elijah
is that there was a wildness about him. He wore his hair long
down his back. He wore a rough cloak. He lived
in the wilderness. He had a belt that he tied around
his waist and that he tucked his garments into when he was
moving about. We know that he ran, so he was
a fit man. And Moses apart, because Moses
is talked about a lot in the New Testament, but Moses apart,
if we consider him as a prophet, Elijah is the most mentioned
Old Testament prophet in the New Testament. There he's called
Elias and he's mentioned over 30 times. He's spoken of by the
Lord. He's referred to in all the four
Gospels. He is cited by Paul and by James. And John the Baptist is likened
to Elijah, probably because of the way he dressed, probably
because of his lifestyle, probably because of his boldness, probably
because of the way in which he declared the word of the Lord
and prepared the way of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Elijah also
makes an appearance during the Lord's ministry. Believe it or
not. So all of these hundreds of years
before the coming of Christ is when Elijah ministered, but he
makes an appearance during the ministry of the Lord Jesus. Can
you remember when? Well, it was when he joined Moses
on the Mount of Transfiguration when the Lord Jesus Christ took
Peter, James, and John into the mountain and was transfigured
before him. Two figures came and talked with
the Lord. One was Moses and one was Elijah. Now we don't know if Elijah had
been ministering. I guess we could think that he
probably had been. But we don't actually know if
he had given any previous warnings to Ahab or had prophesied in
other ways in the land of Israel at this time. But he came with
boldness before Ahab. And the prophet's statement for
the courage that he showed is really quite astonishing. He
says, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand,
there shall not be dew nor rain these three years, but according
to my word. Then he says this, I swear to
you before God whom I serve, there shall be no rain until
I say so. Now the wickedness of the court
and the complicity of the people of Israel in their idolatry had
brought this judgment on the land. Nevertheless, here we're
told that Elijah says that it is going to be on his say-so
when the rain will come and start again. Elijah's name means Jehovah
is God. And he was announcing God's punishment,
yet he did so with a great confidence as one who had power with God. And we'll see this familiarity
between the Lord and his servant Elijah play out in other ways
as well in the coming weeks. But let us note for now, here
is a man who trusts the Lord and one who is personally jealous
for the honour of God. Now, what we can say is this. As soon as Elijah's judgment
is delivered and the oath is heard by Ahab, The Lord instructs
his servant to flee from the presence of the king, and perhaps
from the presence especially of Jezebel, who always sought
to do Elijah harm. As soon as Elijah tells the king
of the judgment that is coming, he is to hide from Ahab and he
is to be preserved by drinking from the brook Cherith as the
famine takes hold and the waters of the land dry up. The Lord's people, like Elijah,
are called to be bold in speaking the truth and preaching God's
word. But there are times when they're
also told to hide away. Not because, in this case, Elijah
was afraid. I don't think he was. But because
it was the Lord's will that for these three years, Elijah would
be set apart while the judgment fell upon the land. And so the
Lord's church and so the Lord's people. We too are to be bold
and yet we are not to simply stand in the presence of danger. It was not fear or lack of faith
that prompted Elijah to hide, but it was direct divine instruction. The Lord could have defended
His prophet by a thousand ways. But he told Elijah simply to
leave, get out of town, get away from Samaria, get away from the
city and to hide himself by the Jordan River near to the brook
called Cherith. There was more work to be done
and the prophet would be useful in the hands of God in the days
to come. Therefore, for the moment he
would be preserved. And I think there's a lovely
example of this in the early church in the Acts of the Apostles
as well. When the early church was harassed
by the Romans and by the Pharisees and by people like Saul of Tarsus,
the Lord used their plight and then their flight out of Israel
to spread the gospel throughout the whole region and the neighbouring
countries. how the Lord deals with his people,
whether he causes them to hide, whether he causes them to stand,
whether he causes them to flee, whether he causes them to work
for him in a variety of different ways. Let us always note this,
that the Lord's ways are his own. And perhaps there is no
finer example of this than the way in which Elijah was cared
for. Twice daily, morning and evening,
the Lord sent ravens with food for his prophet. Ravens of all
creatures. Do you know that that is where
we get the word ravenous? Because they're always wanting
to be eating. They always appear to be starving. And yet these were the very birds,
again, of all the birds that the Lord could have chosen, these
were the birds that he chose to bring food to Elijah. These birds are known to bully
and steal food from other birds. They're even reputed not to feed
their own young at times, such is their appetite. Some people
have tried to explain away this miracle of the ravens by suggesting
that they were really angels made to look like ravens, or
some local people that came and fed Elijah. But who wants to
limit the methods and the ways of our God, who seems often to
delight in surprising his people with his mercy and his means? From where the ravens got the
food, it does not matter. Where it was collected from is
unimportant. It was supplied to the prophet
and it was sufficient for his need until the Lord called him
to move on. God was faithful to his prophet
and he was faithful to his promise. Here are some lessons that I
want to leave with you from this account. This man Ahab, before
whom Elijah stood, was a wicked man. In fact, we are told in
the Bible that Israel never had a king and queen so wicked as
Ahab and Jezebel. And so the Lord provided a man
suitable to meet the need, a man fitted for the moment to face
down this dreadful duel of Ahab and Jezebel. I think there's
a lesson here for those of us who worry over much about the
cause of the Lord and the evil in this world and the state of
the church. And I confess that I am guilty
of that. But the Lord never leaves himself
without a witness. The Lord never leaves himself
without a servant, able and willing to meet the challenge of the
day. If ever there was a time for
believers in Israel to feel overwhelmed, to feel defeated, it was now. The nation was in ruins. Idolatry
was rife, wickedness prevailed, and now on top of everything
else, the heavens were shut up from giving rain and crops were
failing and people were dying. I would not want to have been
a believer then in the time of Elijah. And yet, hard as life
was for those who loved the Lord there in that land, and there
were many, the Saviour was still in charge. And he raised up Elijah
for the time he was needed. He called him, he equipped him,
he instructed him, and he protected him. And then he worked all things
according to his will. So let us not fret. Let us not
imagine that these evils that we see in our own day are beyond
the Lord's knowledge or outside of his purpose. Either for the
judgment of the wicked, or for the good of the church, or for
both, God has ordered all things exactly as they are. For every
Ahab, there will be an Elijah. and be it for the judgment or
for the salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ will have all the glory. So do not be anxious and do not
be afraid. We rest in peace who rest in
Christ. Here's another little lesson
that we can take from this passage. When the famine came, Elijah
didn't have any food. When the drought came, the brook
Cherith dried up. And yet Elijah was in the Lord's
service. That teaches us that the Lord's
servants are not immune from the troubles of the day caused
by the sin around about us. And we shall not be immune either. The economy is hard. Well, we
will feel poorer. Jobs are hard to get. We will
be affected too. Is there disease and infection? Then we will get sick. Is there
persecution? Perhaps the time will come when
we shall have to leave our homes and flee our country, as Elijah
did. We'll read about that later.
And some believers have to do. Some of us may become refugees,
but the Lord will still protect and provide for His own in the
midst of our troubles. and he will use the most unexpected
means to do so. Who could have foreseen that
ravens would feed the prophet? Times of trial are doors of opportunity
for the Lord's mercy and they are occasions for surprise at
God's goodness. We can look at this in two ways.
Perhaps ravens will someday come and feed us. Or perhaps we will
be the ravens employed to feed others. Here's another point
that I want to leave with you and then we're done. The most
important lesson for us today is to remark upon the faith that
Elijah had in the Lord. He was brave. Why? Because he trusted in the Lord. He was obedient because he trusted
in the Lord. He was hidden and preserved.
He was supplied and he was nourished because he trusted in the Lord. And you and I cannot tell what
the future will bring, but we can trust him who holds the future. Elijah trusted God and proved
God to be faithful. And we, as we trust the Lord,
will also prove the Lord to be faithful. We shall find him faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In a few minutes, we're going
to be speaking about Jesus Christ, the living bread from heaven. When these ravens flew in from
the north and the south and the east and the west to feed Elijah,
they were life to him. They were a picture of the spiritual
bread that came down from heaven and is to be found in the Lord
Jesus Christ. If we trust Him for life, He
shall never forsake us. He shall ever be faithful. He will never let us down and
He will never let us go. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to us today. Amen.