"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.
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