1 Kings 17:1-81And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, 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. 2And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, 3Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 4And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. 5So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 6And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. 7And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. 8And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, (1 Kings 17:1‑8)
There were other kings over Israel after Jeroboam, who all did evil in the worship of idols, but there was one more wicked than the others, his name was Ahab. He set up a heathen idol, called Baal; built a temple for it, and had many false prophets.
But there were also true prophets in the land, one of these was Elijah. He told the king that there should be no rain or dew in the land until he prayed God for it. He wanted the king to give up his idols, and to know that God could not bless him and his people while he kept the idols.
But, instead of being sorry for his sins, the king was very angry at Elijah, as though Elijah were the one wrong. God knew that Elijah was not safe near the cruel king, and He told him to go to the far east side of the land, near the river Jordan, and stay by a brook there, and that ravens should carry him food.
Elijah obeyed God and went to the brook, which was a wild, rocky place where people did not care to go, but he was safe there from King Ahab.
The ravens also obeyed God’s word to them, and every morning they brought bread and meat to Elijah and again in the evening. A raven is a large black bird much like a crow, and is not a bird we would like as well as some birds. We do not know how many ravens came, or where they got the food, but they ‘did not miss bringing to this man, as God sent them.
We are not told how long Elijah lived in the wild land; no doubt it was what would seem a long time to us, but perhaps God taught him much while there, for he became a very brave man to speak for the Lord. At last, because there had been no rain in the land, as Elijah had said, the brook dried up, so there was no water for him to drink. He must have water as well as food, and God then told him to leave that part and go across the land to a place by the Great Sea, where he should be taken care of.
Again Elijah obeyed God, and made the journey of over one hundred miles. But there in the city, God kept him safe as he had by the brook.
ML 02/19/1939