The wise man tells us “there is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Eccl. 3:7). Elijah had delivered his message in Ahab’s court, and in due course he would speak for God to the nation and its idolatrous priests; in the meantime there was nothing to be said—the time of silence had come.
The prophet’s experience during his period of inactivity is as instructive to us as all his movements in public service; and we doubt not that Elijah reaped as much blessing in retirement by the brook Cherith as Moses did when he led Jethro’s flock to the backside of the desert of Sinai (Ex. 3:1). Moses had been too hasty in his desire to deliver God’s people Israel (Ex. 2:11-14). Doubtless during his forty years of quiet shepherd-service he learned the great lesson of dependence upon the wisdom and power of God. Forty years in God’s school taught him that God has no use for fleshy energy in the carrying out of His purposes of love. Elijah had not been hasty; but, like Moses, his life was in peril. Both men must be divinely preserved for important services yet to be rendered.
Saul of Tarsus spent a season in Arabia soon after his conversion. When he learned the mighty truth that the despised Jesus is the Son of God, he preached Him in this character in the synagogues of Damascus (Acts 9:20). But he soon went away for a term of quietness in Arabia (Gal. 1:17). The wisdom of this is clear. The Lord’s commission to him was very comprehensive in character; his teaching was to reach all classes, from the highest to the lowest; and his path would lie through much suffering (Acts 26:16-18; 9:16). What a revolution was being wrought in his life! The bitter antagonist of Jesus was to be His foremost witness to men! A term of quietness, in which he could revolve these things in his mind in the presence of God, was most desirable. Saul was soon in danger, as Moses and Elijah before him, for the world will not tolerate a faithful witness for God.
The word of Jehovah came to Elijah saying, “Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan” (1 Kings 17:2-3). We first meet with the formula “the word of Jehovah” in Genesis 15, and there it occurs twice. Abram was being addressed. But whenever God is pleased to speak, He expects to be obeyed.
In every age, the Word of the Lord should alone direct the life of the believer. When Jesus was in the wilderness, and hungry after forty days abstinence from food, He absolutely refused the tempter’s suggestion that He should turn stones into bread. There would be nothing morally wrong in doing so, and He unquestionably had the power to satisfy His need in that way; but there was something far more important to Him than “the bread that perisheth.” It was the Word of God, and He had no direction from Him to do what the tempter suggested. The first man might set aside the Word of God in order to do his own will; the Second Man would perpetrate no such folly. “He answered and said, it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). Here is our perfect example. He lived daily according to this simple principle without wavering. When He came into the world, He said, “I delight to do Thy will; O My God, yea, Thy law is within My heart” (Psa. 40:8). As He moved up and down amongst earth’s self-willed millions, He told them, “I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me” (John 6:38). When the cross lay just before Him, we hear Him saying in the darkness of Gethsemane, “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39). For this perfect obedience the Father loved Him (John 10:17).
The secret of a peaceful life is (not submission to, but) delight in the will of God. It should be to us “the perfect law of liberty” (James 1:25). In response to the mercies of God, we should present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God. All thought of conformity to this world should be abandoned. We should seek to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, that we may prove by experience “the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:1-2). If the Word of the Lord really controls us in our private lives, in our business transactions, and in our assembly associations, we shall “walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being faithful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10). Self-will, and neglect of the Word of God, is responsible for many of our sorrows and mistakes in the various spheres in which we move.
Elijah’s obedience to the word of the Lord comes before us in the sacred history, and we feel rebuked as we ponder it; but, wonderful and devoted servant of Jehovah though he was, he broke down utterly when Jezebel’s murderous threat reached him, and without any word from Jehovah, he ran for his life (1 Kings 19). How much better to have spread out the trouble before God in faith as Hezekiah spread out Rab-shakeh’s blasphemous and angry words at a later date! (Isa. 37).
At the risk of being thought tedious, it seems desirable to say a. little more about the will of God, and its bearing upon our lives. Some Christians who appear to be honest and sincere, nevertheless ask in bewildered tones how the will of God may be known, for they find it so difficult to ascertain it! None of us need expect God to speak to us in the same way as He spoke to Elijah. Such words as, “Hide thyself by the brook Cherith”; “Get thee to Zarephath”; and “show thyself unto Ahab” could not possibly be misunderstood. God speaks to us now in the written Word. We are privileged to hold in our hands the complete revelation of God; moreover, we have dwelling within us the Holy Spirit, who delights to guide willing minds into all truth. So full and complete are the Scriptures that there is something there to suit every circumstance in which any saint may be found at any time. But we must be at home in the book of God, or obviously we shall be at a serious disadvantage in the hour of need. The blessed Lord Jesus, when tempted by the Devil, knew exactly where to put His finger upon the three passages in the book of Deuteronomy that suited His purpose. But in seeking guidance from God through the Scriptures we need not look tor such injunctions as “Thou shalt not go to London on Monday,” or “Thou shalt not smoke,” or “Thou shalt not join a Co-operative Society.” God does not deal with us as though we were infants; but rather as intelligent persons, standing before Him in the dignity of sonship, and endued with the Holy Spirit. in many matters there are indeed plain commandments, and the Lord Jesus says, “He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me” ( John 14:21); but much more frequently we learn the mind of God from the great principles of truth which we have pondered, and stored up in our affections. Every department of Scripture truth typical, historical, prophetical contains important principles which are of immense value to the soul that desires to be altogether for God’s pleasure in an evil world. Hence our Lord’s words in John 14:23. “If a man love Me, he will keep My word.”
This goes far beyond keeping His commandments. A simple illustration may help here: a child who truly loves his parents, and delights in their company, will know instinctively what will please them without being told in specific terms. In like manner, if we are walking humbly with God, with flesh judged, and with one simple desire, to know His will and to do it, the whole path will be clear. When our Lord declared His intention of going into Judea when Lazarus died, the disciples expressed their surprise, because they knew that there was conspiracy there against Him; but He replied, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him” (John 11:9-10). Having but one desire before Him to do the Father’s will, He did nothing for two days after He heard of the sickness of His friend; but having learned the Father’s will, He went forward unhesitatingly. Practically, He was walking in broad daylight, and thus every step was clear. So will it be with us if we “walk as He walked” (1 John 2:6).
When we seek guidance from God about any matter, and He delays to give it, let us remain where we are and do nothing, as the Lord Jesus did in John 11:6. The opposite of this is seen in the Jewish captains who asked Jeremiah to seek guidance for them from Jehovah when they had already made up their minds to go down into Egypt. This story of flagrant hypocrisy is written in Jeremiah 42, and should be read carefully by everyone.
Elijah’s experience should be a real help to true hearts. He went to Cherith by the word of the Lord, and there he remained until he received further instructions. The water of the brook became less and less as the days passed and the drought continued; but he waited, in faith, assured that the One who sent him there had not forgotten him. In due time a fresh word came, and he moved away to Zarephath. Elijah’s God is our God; but with this difference—we know him as Elijah could not know Him; to us He is Father, blessedly revealed as such in the Son of His love. Let us trust him fully.
We must linger a little longer by the brook Cherith, and examine yet further Jehovah’s dealings with His servant. Note the words, “I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.” This sufficed for every need. Whatever the conditions around—the unprecedented barrenness—Elijah would not starve, for no word of God can ever fall to the ground. The alarm of the disciples when upon the stormy lake was groundless, for the Lord had said, “Let us pass over unto the other side” (Mark 4:35). There could be no doubt about the issue of the voyage with such a One on board; He had spoken, therefore “the other side” was sure.
The path of obedience is the path of sufficiency. The disciples were without food in John 21:5 because they were acting in self-will. Instead of waiting patiently in Galilee until the Lord came to them as He had appointed (Matt. 26:32), Peter said, “I go a-fishing,” and his companions responded, “We also go with thee.” A whole night of toil yielded nothing but disappointment. Jehovah’s word to Elijah concerning Cherith was, “I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.” He was not left to choose his own hiding place. Jehovah chose for him, and there his need was met. If we are sure we are where the Lord wants us, we need have no fear.
It is interesting to observe in the Bible history how obedient the humblest creatures can be to God in contrast with rebellious man. The milch kine who went straight to Beth-shemesh with the ark of God, although their calves were at home, is an example of this. The pagan Philistines were impressed with it, and they acknowledged the hand of the God of Israel (1 Sam. 6). Another example is seen in the untrained colt who willingly bore the Lord Jesus into Jerusalem amidst tumultuous crowds (Luke 19:35). The ravens were carnivorous birds, yet they carried bread and flesh to Elijah daily. In Luke 12:24, the Lord Jesus expressly mentioned these unclean creatures as objects of divine care.
How blessed it is to have to do with One who is “Lord of heaven and earth” (Matt. 11:25), and who thus has all things at His command! The food reached Elijah regularly; the same God who provided manna every day for Israel in the wilderness (Ex. 16) sent the ravens to Elijah with “bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the brook.” Our God loves regularity. Unpunctuality and disorderly ways do not please him.
When the Lord fed five thousand men besides women and children, He commanded them to sit down. “in ranks by hundreds and by fifties” (Mark 6:40). if any reader is disposed to be unpunctual and slovenly, these facts should be remembered.
We have to think of Elijah as being lonely for perhaps several months. Those were not days of pocket Bibles, nor of magazines, nor of expository works; and we have no reason to believe that the prophet saw a human face all the time he sojourned at Cherith, but he had GOD! Should we be satisfied to have no one to speak to but God? What days and weeks of quiet reflection! What opportunities for prayer, for himself, and for his disobedient and suffering nation! How absolutely were all the discordant sounds of earth excluded!
The times become increasingly restless, and the children of God are more or less affected by the influences around them. Newspaper reading, and “listening in” are the settled habits of many, to their spiritual hurt. One shudders to hear a large Conference gathering sing with fervor—
“Oh the pure delight of a single hour
Which before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God,
I commune as friend with friend!”
The question naturally arises. How many of these people have ever spent a single hour at the throne of grace? Yet their words imply that it is their custom so to do! Do they all devote even a few minutes daily to Scripture reading and prayer in the home? Brethren, let us watch against every form of unreality. It is possible to utter grievous falsehoods in the presence of God by means of a Hymn Book!
David wrote in Psalms 4:8: “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, Jehovah, although in solitude (R.V. margin) makest me dwell in Safety.” Elijah at Cherith could have said the same; no wild beast or other enemy could harm the lonely man who was there by the word of the Lord, and abiding under His watchful eye.