|
1 Kings 17:1-7 – And 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.” 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. And it shall 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. The
ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in
the evening; and he drank from the brook. And it happened after a while
that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
Elijah seemed to know who he
was in Christ Jesus as he spoke very authoritatively to King Ahab. His
words were firm, direct, and quite precise. He didn’t beat around the
bush. He evidently knew something that King Ahab didn't know.
What would make a prophet of
God act this way? Why would he command the rain to stop? After all,
isn’t it true that when most Christians pray, it’s a cry for rain, not
drought? Why would anyone pray for a closed heaven?
If we take a moment to read
the 1 Kings (chapter 16), we find that the king of Israel (Ahab) was not
a godly man. In fact, the Scripture declares that he did more evil than
all the kings before him. He married Jezebel, the wife of the king of
the Sidonians. I’m sure that most of us are very familiar with Jezebel
and all of her evil deeds. She was heavily involved in idolatry and
witchcraft. Her husband seemed quite content to follow along in her
footsteps. Baal worship was one of their favorite past times. Their
sins really are too numerous to count.
Israel’s sin had become a
stench in the nostrils of God, so He decided to do something about it.
The Lord’s anger began to stir, and He spoke these words to Elijah his
prophet: “Get away from here and turn eastward!” He wanted His prophet
out of there! We can’t play with sin, nor can we have fellowship with
it.
Elijah was quick to obey God,
and by faith, he moved to the Brook Cherith. Everything seemed to be
working out pretty good for Elijah. During his stay at his little
hideaway watering hole, he was blessed with his own catering service.
The Lord provided bread and meat for him every morning and every
evening. What more could a man ask for? He didn’t have to cook or go
grocery shopping for his next meal. His food was brought directly to
him. It was a perfect set up.
The Scripture goes on to say,
“After a while the brook dried up, because there had been no rain….”
James 5:17 – “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.”
A drought lasting for three
and a half years would have quite a devastating effect upon a nation.
I’m sure Elijah’s thoughts were going in many different directions as he
began to seek the Lord for counsel.
When a spiritual drought
comes into our lives, we need to hear what the Lord is saying. We need
to find out what’s going on and ask ourselves some important questions,
such as, “Why did the drought come in the first place? Is there sin in
my life? Is God pouring out His wrath upon me for something that I did
or didn’t do? Or is it just time for me to move on to new pastures and
new watering holes?”
Spiritual drought is not
always an easy thing to go through, but I believe I can safely say that
those dry seasons of life will definitely come our way.
When the Brook Cherith had
dried up, Elijah once again heard the voice of the Lord speaking to
him. This time, He told Elijah to arise and go to Zarephath. Zarephath
is a place of refinement and purification. God still had some work to
perform on the inside of Elijah. He wasn’t finished with him yet.
Elijah still had a few rough edges that needed to be smoothed out by the
power of the Holy Spirit. Sound familiar? Elijah probably didn’t
realize all that would soon be taking place in the city of Zarephath,
but He would find out soon enough.
Elijah was sent to a widow in
the city of Zarephath. Why God chose this particular widow, we do not
know for sure. There were probably many widows within the limits of
this city, but God had specifically chosen this widow to be Elijah’s
subject for this season in his life. She didn’t have many resources,
nor did she have very much food. I’m sure Elijah was hungry and thirsty
after his journey, and we find him asking the widow woman to bring him a
drink of water. As she was going to get the water, Elijah petitioned
her even further by asking her to bring him a morsel of bread in her
hand. She was quite willing to fetch the water. However, when he
insisted that she also bring him some bread, she became a little
perturbed and proceeded to give Elijah a piece of her mind instead of
bread. She made it very clear to him that she didn’t have any bread,
just a handful of flour in a bin and a little jar of oil.
God has a way of pushing us
over the edge. That’s exactly what Elijah did to this widow woman. He
pushed her over the edge. She found herself in a place of
impossibility.
Elijah continued his message,
“Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake
first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your
son.” Can you believe this? He was telling this poor widow woman to
forget about herself and fix him some food first! Then he began to
prophesy to this woman. She had probably never, in all of her life, had
a prophetic word spoken to her. She was a Gentile woman. She was not a
worshipper of God. This was all new to her. However, she didn’t
question Elijah this time. The Scripture says, “She went away and did
according to the word of Elijah…” Her obedience brought the blessing!
Her obedience loosed the hands of God to perform the miraculous in her
desperate situation.
When our natural resources
run out, the supernatural resources will begin to flow.
The Lord multiplied the small
amount of food that the widow had, causing it to feed not only Elijah,
but there was also enough for the widow woman and her son to eat until
the heavens were once again pouring out the needed rain.
When the brook dries up,
don’t allow fear to grip your heart and cause you to have a panic
attack. The Lord is right there with you in the midst of it all. If
you will listen, He will speak, because He has a word in due season for
your situation. He will either supernaturally provide for you, or He
will move you to another place. Maybe you’re getting ready to go to
Zarephath, or better yet, maybe you’re on your way to the Jordan.
Wherever you’re going, you must be obedient to do whatever it is that He
is telling you to do. |
