"I have commanded the ravens to feed you there" (1 Kings 17: 4).
"The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook." (1 Kings 17:6)
What did Elijah do to feed himself before He confronted Ahab? He left that behind to trust God for his provisions. Being from the harsh region of Gilead, what did he think when God said "I’m going to use ravens to provide for you?" Did he know the ways of birds and animals? Did he know that the raven naturally neglects its young and that for the ravens to bring him food may have been very much against their nature? Job 38:41 asks the question "who provides food for the raven, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?"
God speaks about supplying food for ravens two other times in the Bible. "He gives to the beast its food, and to the young ravens that cry." (Psalm 147:9). Jesus said to His disciples "Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?" (Luke 12:24).
Jesus’ reasoning is simple. If God cares for the ravens, how much more will He care for human beings? When God told Elijah that the ravens would provide for him, He was merely extending His care for the ravens one step further than usual to include a man. He used those birds themselves to provide for His prophet.
We are often concerned about our lives. We may worry about our daily needs. Although we have seen God’s provision in our past, a new day with different direction brings a fresh test of faith. Will God provide in this unique circumstance?
As we turn to Jesus’ words and Elijah’s example, God’s encouragement is given again to us. Each move we make comes with the promise that wherever we go, God has gone before us and "commanded the ravens to feed us there." When doubts come, return to the words of Jesus who challenged us simply to "consider the ravens."
Friday, November 25, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Elijah's Obedience
"So he went, and did according to the word of the Lord." (I Kings 17:5).
Elijah obeyed. He did what God told him to do. This observance of God’s word was part of the fiber of his life. It has always been so with all great men and women of God.
Joshua was to lead Israel into the first battle for the land God had promised. Instead of a traditional military attack that made sense to the natural mind, God gave an unusual command to him—‘You shall march around the city, all you men of war: you shall go around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram’s horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets." (Joshua 6:3).
God promised that the walls around the city of Jericho would fall flat. Joshua and his army obeyed and it happened just as God had promised. To use the language applied to Elijah, Joshua "went and did according to the word of the Lord."
King Saul was one who did not obey God fully. God commanded him to "attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey."(1 Samuel 15:3). This command was given because God was punishing that nation for ambushing Israel when they came out of Egypt. (1 Samuel 15:2).
Saul did not follow fully but "spared the king and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good." (1 Samuel 15:9). The prophet Samuel came with a message that the kingdom would be taken away from this king. He demanded of Saul "Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord?" (1 Samuel 15:10).
Unlike Elijah and Joshua, Saul did not "do according to the word of the Lord."
Do we have the same mind as Elijah and Joshua? When God speaks to us will we respond as they did? Has God given a command to us? What will we do with what we have clearly heard from Him?
Elijah "went and did according to the word of the Lord." We must offer the same obedience. In all our ways, we are to go and do.
Elijah obeyed. He did what God told him to do. This observance of God’s word was part of the fiber of his life. It has always been so with all great men and women of God.
Joshua was to lead Israel into the first battle for the land God had promised. Instead of a traditional military attack that made sense to the natural mind, God gave an unusual command to him—‘You shall march around the city, all you men of war: you shall go around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram’s horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets." (Joshua 6:3).
God promised that the walls around the city of Jericho would fall flat. Joshua and his army obeyed and it happened just as God had promised. To use the language applied to Elijah, Joshua "went and did according to the word of the Lord."
King Saul was one who did not obey God fully. God commanded him to "attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey."(1 Samuel 15:3). This command was given because God was punishing that nation for ambushing Israel when they came out of Egypt. (1 Samuel 15:2).
Saul did not follow fully but "spared the king and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good." (1 Samuel 15:9). The prophet Samuel came with a message that the kingdom would be taken away from this king. He demanded of Saul "Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord?" (1 Samuel 15:10).
Unlike Elijah and Joshua, Saul did not "do according to the word of the Lord."
Do we have the same mind as Elijah and Joshua? When God speaks to us will we respond as they did? Has God given a command to us? What will we do with what we have clearly heard from Him?
Elijah "went and did according to the word of the Lord." We must offer the same obedience. In all our ways, we are to go and do.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Cherith and Carmel
Most of us have watched footage of civilians being carved into soldiers. We have seen the early mornings, constant inspections, the drill Sergeants constantly giving orders. We watch the pushups and running, the climbing of incredible obstacles and then sliding down ropes. We ache as we see the recruits running through tires and bayoneting dummies. We hear of them going out into the wilderness with limited supplies as a team and living with what is given. Their excruciating pain and training forges them for the day when they will meet the enemy face-to-face.
The hour would come when Elijah would face King Ahab, the prophets of Baal, and all Israel on Mount Carmel. He would stand alone for God as he challenged the prophets of Baal to a duel in which the god who answered by fire would be hailed as the true God.
Before that time came, he would be stripped of himself living and waiting in the Cherith ravine. "Cherith was part of the training for Carmel," wrote Alexander Maclaren.
A.W. Pink said of Elijah—"The prophet needed further training in secret if he was to be personally fitted to speak again for God in public…The man whom the Lord uses has to be kept low; severe discipline has to be experienced by him…Three more years must be spent by the prophet in seclusion. How humbling! Alas, how little is man to be trusted; how little is he able to bear being placed in the place of honor! How quickly self rises to the surface, and the instrument is ready to believe he is something more than an instrument. How sadly easy it is make of the very service God entrusts us with a pedestal on which to display ourselves."
Many today pray for the miracles of Elijah, not realizing that to ask for them is to also ask for the trials of Elijah. Do those who pray understand that God will give them the discipline that made Elijah—the fiery furnace of testing and waiting? Perhaps it is wise to be careful of what one asks for.
The hour would come when Elijah would face King Ahab, the prophets of Baal, and all Israel on Mount Carmel. He would stand alone for God as he challenged the prophets of Baal to a duel in which the god who answered by fire would be hailed as the true God.
Before that time came, he would be stripped of himself living and waiting in the Cherith ravine. "Cherith was part of the training for Carmel," wrote Alexander Maclaren.
A.W. Pink said of Elijah—"The prophet needed further training in secret if he was to be personally fitted to speak again for God in public…The man whom the Lord uses has to be kept low; severe discipline has to be experienced by him…Three more years must be spent by the prophet in seclusion. How humbling! Alas, how little is man to be trusted; how little is he able to bear being placed in the place of honor! How quickly self rises to the surface, and the instrument is ready to believe he is something more than an instrument. How sadly easy it is make of the very service God entrusts us with a pedestal on which to display ourselves."
Many today pray for the miracles of Elijah, not realizing that to ask for them is to also ask for the trials of Elijah. Do those who pray understand that God will give them the discipline that made Elijah—the fiery furnace of testing and waiting? Perhaps it is wise to be careful of what one asks for.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
What Elijah Doesn't Know
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9).
There are always things God knows that we don’t. There are many reasons for God leading Elijah to Cherith. Many of these purposes he did not understand. There are some that we can decipher from the events the Scripture tells us.
Jezebel is going to soon begin killing prophets (1 Kings 18:4). Ahab will begin a search for him and become so angry that he will make nations themselves swear that he is not there. Elijah doesn’t know that. He likely didn’t until meeting with Ahab and God’s servant in the palace Obadiah.
The people of the land are soon going to be starving. Was God protecting His prophet from seeing their need for food? Elijah may be bold toward Ahab, but what about the appeals of the innocent people who were hungry? Could Elijah stand if he daily heard the cries of the emaciated? Many bold people can withstand pain themselves but quickly succumb when forced to witness another suffer. Would such a situation tempt Elijah to do something in the flesh? Only God knew the secrets of his heart.
The absence of Elijah will speak louder than his presence will. Sometimes God sends prophets when He is angry. Other times He keeps them away. "We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet; nor is there any among us who know how long." (Psalm 74:10). "Behold the days are coming, says the Lord God, ’That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, not a thirst for water, but a hearing of the words of the Lord (Amos 8:11).
Elijah is not only being sheltered from others. He is being protected from himself. In addition to the works God is doing in the land, God is also preparing a work in the life and heart of Elijah. He is shaping him for future labour for which Elijah is not yet ready.
When God leads us in a new direction, there are usually many reasons for it. We likely will not understand all of them. In the midst of what we go through we can be certain that the Lord knows all the details and keeps from us many of the dangers we know nothing about. His ways are higher than ours.
There are always things God knows that we don’t. There are many reasons for God leading Elijah to Cherith. Many of these purposes he did not understand. There are some that we can decipher from the events the Scripture tells us.
Jezebel is going to soon begin killing prophets (1 Kings 18:4). Ahab will begin a search for him and become so angry that he will make nations themselves swear that he is not there. Elijah doesn’t know that. He likely didn’t until meeting with Ahab and God’s servant in the palace Obadiah.
The people of the land are soon going to be starving. Was God protecting His prophet from seeing their need for food? Elijah may be bold toward Ahab, but what about the appeals of the innocent people who were hungry? Could Elijah stand if he daily heard the cries of the emaciated? Many bold people can withstand pain themselves but quickly succumb when forced to witness another suffer. Would such a situation tempt Elijah to do something in the flesh? Only God knew the secrets of his heart.
The absence of Elijah will speak louder than his presence will. Sometimes God sends prophets when He is angry. Other times He keeps them away. "We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet; nor is there any among us who know how long." (Psalm 74:10). "Behold the days are coming, says the Lord God, ’That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, not a thirst for water, but a hearing of the words of the Lord (Amos 8:11).
Elijah is not only being sheltered from others. He is being protected from himself. In addition to the works God is doing in the land, God is also preparing a work in the life and heart of Elijah. He is shaping him for future labour for which Elijah is not yet ready.
When God leads us in a new direction, there are usually many reasons for it. We likely will not understand all of them. In the midst of what we go through we can be certain that the Lord knows all the details and keeps from us many of the dangers we know nothing about. His ways are higher than ours.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Turn Eastward
Then the word of the Lord came to him, "Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan." (1 Kings 17:2-3)
With God’s command obeyed and Ahab’s court confronted, there came another order. This one was to go into hiding east of the Jordan at a brook named Cherith. We do not know precisely where he hid but the name "Cherith" gives us a clue. The word means "to cut." This would be very descriptive of the landscape around the Northeast side of the Jordan River.
These ravines are called "wadis" and they are deep gorges where the water cuts through the land and leaves a large gorge higher than a man’s head. Sometimes the wadis are 12—40 ft. high and about 6-10 ft wide. Parts of the wadis are like Canadian Mountain streams where water can flow through places that may only be a foot across. The wadi is at the bottom of a hill that is so steep sand or other debris can slide down into it. Some wadis only fill once a year in flood season. If one is trapped in these a wall of water 10 ft. high might wash them away. Inside these wadis are many caves.
If Ahab sought for Elijah here, he wouldn’t have looked long. One can’t take a horse or a pack animal such as a camel into a wadi. Trying to ride around the sides or even to walk along them while looking down is fruitless. The searcher’s feet would soon slide out from under him and he’d be in the bottom.
One can imagine a military commander saying, "forget it, men, nobody can live here."
Yet Elijah is living there, almost impossible to find.
God may want us to speak to a king, or he may have us hide. In whatever direction he leads, He instructs us to trust in Him.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding: In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6).
The God of Elijah is also our God. He will lead. We must trust.
With God’s command obeyed and Ahab’s court confronted, there came another order. This one was to go into hiding east of the Jordan at a brook named Cherith. We do not know precisely where he hid but the name "Cherith" gives us a clue. The word means "to cut." This would be very descriptive of the landscape around the Northeast side of the Jordan River.
These ravines are called "wadis" and they are deep gorges where the water cuts through the land and leaves a large gorge higher than a man’s head. Sometimes the wadis are 12—40 ft. high and about 6-10 ft wide. Parts of the wadis are like Canadian Mountain streams where water can flow through places that may only be a foot across. The wadi is at the bottom of a hill that is so steep sand or other debris can slide down into it. Some wadis only fill once a year in flood season. If one is trapped in these a wall of water 10 ft. high might wash them away. Inside these wadis are many caves.
If Ahab sought for Elijah here, he wouldn’t have looked long. One can’t take a horse or a pack animal such as a camel into a wadi. Trying to ride around the sides or even to walk along them while looking down is fruitless. The searcher’s feet would soon slide out from under him and he’d be in the bottom.
One can imagine a military commander saying, "forget it, men, nobody can live here."
Yet Elijah is living there, almost impossible to find.
God may want us to speak to a king, or he may have us hide. In whatever direction he leads, He instructs us to trust in Him.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding: In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6).
The God of Elijah is also our God. He will lead. We must trust.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Reaction to Elijah
What was the reaction to Elijah? The Bible doesn’t say but I think Proverbs 29:9 will probably speak to two of the possible reactions—"If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether the fool laughs or rages, there is no peace." If any have dealt with slippery people for any length of time, I think they’ll probably agree with the Bible’s assessment of it. Fools never deal with you in any manner that’s appropriate. They either ignite in your face or laugh at you. Then, just as the proverb says, there is no peace.
The reaction was probably hostile. They may have laughed. You control the weather, Elijah? There may have been some fear. Elijah was God’s man speaking under a divine directive. No doubt Jezebel met his pronouncement with her own unbending demonic rage, quickly snapping any thought the vacillating character Ahab may have had of truly considering his message. Considering that God took Elijah into the wilderness, we can guess that there was an angry rebuttal.
Perhaps it took a while to settle in. How many days of no dew and no rain did it take for them to realize that Elijah was no idle threat? Then his absence would begin to speak more loudly than his bold presence. They would begin the search to find the man who had spoken God’s judgement against them. Repentance was not an option to them.
Romans 2:4 asks us "do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" How long does it take for us to hear a divine command? Do we find ourselves angry or scoffing at a person who has delivered a powerful message to us? Do we despise something that the Holy Spirit has convicted us of time and again?
Let us turn back to God when we hear these things. Laughing and scoffing are only reactions of the fool.
The reaction was probably hostile. They may have laughed. You control the weather, Elijah? There may have been some fear. Elijah was God’s man speaking under a divine directive. No doubt Jezebel met his pronouncement with her own unbending demonic rage, quickly snapping any thought the vacillating character Ahab may have had of truly considering his message. Considering that God took Elijah into the wilderness, we can guess that there was an angry rebuttal.
Perhaps it took a while to settle in. How many days of no dew and no rain did it take for them to realize that Elijah was no idle threat? Then his absence would begin to speak more loudly than his bold presence. They would begin the search to find the man who had spoken God’s judgement against them. Repentance was not an option to them.
Romans 2:4 asks us "do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" How long does it take for us to hear a divine command? Do we find ourselves angry or scoffing at a person who has delivered a powerful message to us? Do we despise something that the Holy Spirit has convicted us of time and again?
Let us turn back to God when we hear these things. Laughing and scoffing are only reactions of the fool.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Why No Rain?
"As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word." (1 Kings 17:1).
Elijah’s message is short but filled with meaning. The Lord is the true God of Israel, not Baal. The Lord lives and does not die. God controls the rain, not Baal, the "rider of the clouds." There will not be dew—the only source of rain in the summer. There will not be rain--the season that falls from October to March. These are called the early and the latter rains.
The message is a direct affront to the Baal-worshipping King and Queen. Do you believe your god controls the rain? He does not.
In addition to the message being an attack against Baal, it is also a return to the covenant that God gave in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. Deuteronomy 11:16 & 17 promised that worshipping other gods would cause the Lord to "shut up the heavens so that there be no rain." In other places God said that He would "change the rain of your land to powder and dust" (Deut. 28:24), and He would "make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze." (Lev. 26:19).
Elijah would undoubtedly have known what the Lord’s law taught. As the nation fell further away, his appeals to God were reminders for Him to invoke the covenant. God eventually answered and made him the messenger of those stern remembrances.
Whether negative discipline or positive affirmation, God always answers according to His word. Elijah knew that in his prayer life and so can we.
Elijah’s message is short but filled with meaning. The Lord is the true God of Israel, not Baal. The Lord lives and does not die. God controls the rain, not Baal, the "rider of the clouds." There will not be dew—the only source of rain in the summer. There will not be rain--the season that falls from October to March. These are called the early and the latter rains.
The message is a direct affront to the Baal-worshipping King and Queen. Do you believe your god controls the rain? He does not.
In addition to the message being an attack against Baal, it is also a return to the covenant that God gave in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. Deuteronomy 11:16 & 17 promised that worshipping other gods would cause the Lord to "shut up the heavens so that there be no rain." In other places God said that He would "change the rain of your land to powder and dust" (Deut. 28:24), and He would "make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze." (Lev. 26:19).
Elijah would undoubtedly have known what the Lord’s law taught. As the nation fell further away, his appeals to God were reminders for Him to invoke the covenant. God eventually answered and made him the messenger of those stern remembrances.
Whether negative discipline or positive affirmation, God always answers according to His word. Elijah knew that in his prayer life and so can we.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Provoking God
"He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord,… to anger than all…who were before him." (1 Kings 16:32, 33).
Baal worship was no innocent religion, no misguided belief, no slight error which some may think God overreacted to. It was first of all a stench to God because of the false gods it worshipped. It was also infuriating because of what the worshippers did.
Baal worship celebrated how Baal, "rider of the clouds," was supreme god over the rain and storms. When the earth was dry, it was because Mot, the god of sterility and death had slain Baal. Baal was then rescued by his sister Asherah, the goddess of love and war.
The sexual union between the gods was celebrated by the gross immorality of the worshippers with temple prostitutes of both sexes. These acts promised fertility for agriculture, beasts, and humans. One of Baal’s rites was the sacrifice of children as burnt offerings (Jer. 19:5).
We may think that God holds no anger for us. Perhaps we comfort ourselves with the thought that we today do not believe such idle tales as Baal, Mot, and Asherah. But does this truly change how God views us? We do not need gods today to justify our sexual conduct outside of marriage. We do not burn children with fire, but abortion kills them just as finally as if there was some vile god to serve.
God is never provoked without reason. Let us not forget that. If He did not overlook Ahab, He will not disregard us.
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