"And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land." (1 Kings 17:7)
Because there had been no rain, the brook which had supplied Elijah’s water became dry. Undoubtedly, Elijah had watched it daily. He knew it was going down and he was forced to trust God in an increased measure for the next step in his life. Did the prayers that he had offered to God for the rain to stop haunt him now? It is hard to be in a difficult situation because one has received the answer to their prayer.
Elijah has another test before him. He’s lasted 6-8 months alone. A man can live without many things but he cannot live without water. What does he do? I think that if the temptation to move before God’s time ever arose, it came when the stream dried up. Did he think of following the wadi down to the Jordan River? The Jordan would be the last place to go dry. Perhaps his mind was filled with thoughts of disobedience. Did he ever think of moving from Cherith to nearby Syria and escaping the prophetic life?
Elijah doesn’t move. His last instructions were to go to Cherith and until he hears from the Lord, he is not moving. It is good that he doesn’t. Ahab & Jezebel are angry. They’ve got a price on his head, and disobeying may have been the last thing he ever did. Does he know that? Like most of us walking by faith, he doesn’t know until after the fact. He can’t move to the Jordan or go into Syria now. He’s in too deep. He has to trust God.
A valuable principle that my mother taught me is this—"When you don’t know what do don’t do anything." Don’t abandon your previous leading until the new clearly comes. Elijah practices this and "then the word of the Lord came to him." (1 Kings 17:8).
May we all learn this treasured truth. Moving before God’s time can be detrimental, even deadly. When the brook dries up and pressure arises, wait until God tells you to move.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Temptations in a Wadi
The Bible makes clear that Elijah "was a man with a nature like ours." (James 5:17). Being human, he felt all the temptations that we would. Having been directed to this wadi, what might he have thought when he lived there? Let us imagine the trials that he faced daily.
Did boredom afflict Elijah? After he established a cave to sleep in and set up his meager household what did he do with his time? Most commentators guess that he was probably there for as long as the rainy season would have lasted—about 6-8 months. Did he walk up and down that ravine watching for changes in the wildlife? How did he conduct himself?
Was loneliness a struggle for him? When one disobeys prison rules, the punishment is solitary confinement. Many prisoners are broken by this treatment. Elijah was not shattered but kept sane, whole, and growing. Silence is a discipline that many today would find extremely hard, especially with the distractions they have been raised with. Here in the deep silence of Cherith, Elijah develops an unbroken sense of God’s presence and sensitivity to His leading.
Did Elijah wonder if his provisions would stop? God had said of Israel that He humbled them, allowed them to hunger, and then fed them with manna so that they would learn that they did not live by bread alone, by every word that came from His mouth. (Deuteronomy 8:2-3). Each day, Elijah learned this same lesson as the ravens brought him his food.
Was Elijah ever tempted to complain about his provisions? Israel despised God’s manna and asked for meat. God granted their request but judged them for it. Elijah did not complain about the meals, even though they were only bread and meat. The supplies were "enough", but not luxurious. He learned to be thankful for what God did provide and was not angry with Him for what He didn’t. We also must learn to be thankful where God has placed us.
Elijah passes all the God-given tests in the wadi. Boredom, loneliness, looking to God, and not complaining were some of those things that he must have faced. These temptations come to us all at various times of life. Will we also be faithful?
Did boredom afflict Elijah? After he established a cave to sleep in and set up his meager household what did he do with his time? Most commentators guess that he was probably there for as long as the rainy season would have lasted—about 6-8 months. Did he walk up and down that ravine watching for changes in the wildlife? How did he conduct himself?
Was loneliness a struggle for him? When one disobeys prison rules, the punishment is solitary confinement. Many prisoners are broken by this treatment. Elijah was not shattered but kept sane, whole, and growing. Silence is a discipline that many today would find extremely hard, especially with the distractions they have been raised with. Here in the deep silence of Cherith, Elijah develops an unbroken sense of God’s presence and sensitivity to His leading.
Did Elijah wonder if his provisions would stop? God had said of Israel that He humbled them, allowed them to hunger, and then fed them with manna so that they would learn that they did not live by bread alone, by every word that came from His mouth. (Deuteronomy 8:2-3). Each day, Elijah learned this same lesson as the ravens brought him his food.
Was Elijah ever tempted to complain about his provisions? Israel despised God’s manna and asked for meat. God granted their request but judged them for it. Elijah did not complain about the meals, even though they were only bread and meat. The supplies were "enough", but not luxurious. He learned to be thankful for what God did provide and was not angry with Him for what He didn’t. We also must learn to be thankful where God has placed us.
Elijah passes all the God-given tests in the wadi. Boredom, loneliness, looking to God, and not complaining were some of those things that he must have faced. These temptations come to us all at various times of life. Will we also be faithful?
Friday, November 25, 2011
Consider the Ravens
"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."
"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."
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.
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