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1 Kings 17:1-16
17:1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe1 in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 And the word of the LORD came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.
[1] 17:1
(ESV)
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
If you have a bible, I invite you to turn to 1st Kings chapter 17. 1st Kings 17. It's also there in your worship guide, or you will find it also on our website, under the parking deck worship page. So we are beginning today, a new series on the prophets, Elijah and Elijah. Most people don't know this, but, if Lauren and I were to have been blessed with a boy, we were going to name the boy Elijah.
Joel Brooks:I remembered, when Lauren was pregnant with our first child, we did not know what we were having. And, we were at a birthing class on a Saturday morning, which is so much fun. And so I I'm there at this birthing class, and there's a, you know, a a husband next to me with his wife. And he says, you know what you're having? And we said, we don't.
Joel Brooks:I said, but we have these names picked out, You know, it's gonna be Caroline. If it's a girl, and if it's a boy, we're going to name him Elijah. And he goes, Elijah? He goes, Frodo. I was like, what?
Joel Brooks:And he goes, Lord of the Rings, Elijah of the Woods. I'm a huge fan too. I said, no. I mean, we would name our child not after a Hobbit, but after the prophet Elijah. He's in scripture, he's in the Bible.
Joel Brooks:But I found actually that, most people even in the Bible Belt are not really familiar with the prophet Elijah or Elisha. So we hope to rectify that over the next 10 weeks, as we begin looking at these 2 prophets. Elijah is probably the most famous prophet in all of the Old Testament. And our intro into Elijah is found in 1st Kings 17. We'll begin reading in verse 1.
Joel Brooks:Now, Elijah the Tishbite of Tishba and Gilead said to Ahab, as the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, And there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word. And the word of the Lord came to him. Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. Ye shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there. So he went and he did according to the word of the Lord.
Joel Brooks:He went and lived by the brook Cherith, that is east of the Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening. And he drank from the brook. And after a while the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him.
Joel Brooks:Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, bring me a little water and a vessel that I may drink.
Joel Brooks:And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, bring me a morsel of bread in your hand. And she said, as the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked. Only a handful of flour and a jar, and a little oil and a jug. And now, I am gathering a couple of sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die. And Elijah said to her, do not fear.
Joel Brooks:Go and do as you have said, but first make me a little cake of it, and bring it to me. And afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, the jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth. And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and her she and he and her household ate for many days.
Joel Brooks:The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah. This is the word of the Lord. If you would pray with me. Father, we pray that you would speak to us through your word, that we would be fed and nourished by your word. Lord, I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore.
Joel Brooks:But Lord, may your words remain and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. So let me explain, when this is happening. About 3000 years after, years ago, Solomon was king.
Joel Brooks:After Solomon died, the kingdom was split into 2. You had the northern kingdom, and you had the southern kingdom. Elijah lives in the northern kingdom. After Solomon died, the, the Northern Kingdom had 7 kings, each king getting worse and worse. The first king, his name was Jeroboam.
Joel Brooks:And one of the first things he did after he became king was he decided to make 2 golden calves. Because what Aaron did back in Exodus was apparently not bad enough. He's like, let's double that. So he makes 2 golden calves, and then the kings after him keep getting worse and worse, Until finally, when we reach Ahab here. Israel is essentially on fire, burning to the ground.
Joel Brooks:And Ahab is the gas. He is the worst king in Israel's history. The Lord actually says this about Ahab. This was after Ahab had sacrificed 2 of his sons. The the Lord says this.
Joel Brooks:He says that, there is not a person, there is not a king in Israel who has done more to provoke his name than Ahab. It's not quite a ringing endorsement from the Lord, is it? He says, you have done more than all the other kings actually combined. More in evil than all of them. Well, Ahab thinks he could do even a little more evil.
Joel Brooks:So he, he meets a sweet little thing named Jezebel and decides to marry her. Now, you don't meet many Jezebels today, do you? Actually, you know, in the New Testament, Judas, you can never use that name again. Jezebel was ruined in the Old Testament. You can never use the name Jezebel again, because Jezebel is the epitome of evil.
Joel Brooks:She actually is worse than her husband. But together, they're this new axis of evil in Israel. You could not get any worse. And what they begin doing is actually hunting down all of the prophets and all of the priests of the Lord, and executing them all. That's where we find Elijah.
Joel Brooks:That's where we are in history here. It's about as bad as you can get, and this is where the Lord decides to raise up His prophet Elijah. So, He's introduced to us here in chapter 17, but we don't really find out anything about him. We just know he's a Tishbite. That's it.
Joel Brooks:He just kinda comes in from nowhere. And then, he immediately confronts King Ahab. And what he tells Ahab is that it will not rain again. They'll neither be rain nor even dew, until He gives the word. In the New Testament, we actually read about this event.
Joel Brooks:James, he tells us, he says that Elijah was a man with a nature just like us. And he prayed fervently that it would not rain. And it did not rain on the earth for 3 and a half years. So this is something that Elijah was fervently praying for, that it might not reign in Israel. I've been chewing on that for a while, because it's actually a remarkable prayer.
Joel Brooks:It's a shocking prayer, honestly. Because Israel was an agrarian society. And to pray for it to stop raining, was to pray for complete and total economic collapse. This is praying that God would, would cause the stock market to crash. To ask God for the housing market to plummet.
Joel Brooks:For unemployment to rise. For the banks to have to fold. This is a prayer for financial ruin for an entire nation, but that's what Elijah does. So why would a man ever pray for such a thing? Is it because he just delights in the suffering of people?
Joel Brooks:Not at all. He doesn't delight in the suffering of people. He's even going to be suffering with the people here. What he is hoping though, is that if God withholds rain, it will bring Israel to its knees. That's the first thing we learn about Elijah.
Joel Brooks:The first thing we learn is that he cares more about the glory of God, than about any financial security. Elijah would not pray, God bless Israel. He wouldn't do it, when he saw so much sin. His heart broke over the sinful condition of his people. So instead of saying, God bless Israel.
Joel Brooks:He basically prayed, God bring us to our knees. Collapse the economy. He refused to live in a society that just wanted to enjoy God's gifts, but did not want to enjoy God. God who he saw is infinitely more beautiful than any of his gifts. And can't just say that was just such a convicting prayer.
Joel Brooks:I'm not saying we pray that prayer. But it was a convicting prayer to read, because I kept asking, would I be willing to throw away all of my financial blessings? All of my financial security, for the glory of the Lord. Elijah does, and he tells Ahab this word. Immediately after he tells Ahab, what he's prayed for, and what the Lord is going to do, well the Lord tells Elijah to go into hide himself at the Brook of Cherith.
Joel Brooks:And it's there, the Brook of Cherith, that the Lord is gonna take care of him during this time of drought. And he's gonna use the most unusual means to take care of him. The Lord could have sent Elijah any place. He could have used any means at his disposal, but instead He chooses to send him to the brook of Cherith and to feed him by the mouths of ravens. So let's look at both of those.
Joel Brooks:1st, the Lord sends Elijah to the brook of Cherith. Sends him to a brook, not to a river, but to a brook. In Alabama, we call it a creek. Sends them to a creek. A place, you know, likely just kind of, where where the water would kind of stream down from the mountains.
Joel Brooks:But it's a place that could dry up at any moment. And what the Lord is doing here is he's teaching Elijah dependence. Even the name itself Cherith gives us a hint as to what the Lord is doing. Cherith means to cut down. It means to humble.
Joel Brooks:You can almost queue up the ominous music as the Lord tells Elijah where he's gonna go. Elijah, I would like you to go to the brook of Cherith. To the brook where you will be cut down. To the brook where you will be humbled. And what the Lord is doing is he's stripping them of his strength here.
Joel Brooks:He's teaching them total dependence on God for every need. Before God's ever gonna use Elijah in public, he's gonna have to learn these lessons first in private, and so he sends him to a brook, not to a river. And every day Elijah would go to this brook to get some water, and he would see that it was a little drier than the day before, And a little drier and a little drier. Have you ever experienced this? I can actually imagine as I look around here that probably all of us have.
Joel Brooks:We've experienced some things in our lives that are just drying up. I mean, it could be our bank account. Literally, every time you're looking at your bank account, especially during this pandemic, you keep seeing it dry up more and more. Perhaps, it's your reputation that keeps taking a hit, or your popularity is drying up. Perhaps it's your health.
Joel Brooks:You're not as healthy as you were. It's drying up. I know that some of you, you know, you're like crossfitter, fit people, fire breathers, you know, marathon runners, and you right now, you think of your health as a river. Your health is not a river. It's a brook.
Joel Brooks:It will dry up. Perhaps some of you it's it's your relationship with your children. For so long they needed you, and they just needed you. And now they're growing up and they don't need you so much anymore. Their dependence upon you is drying up.
Joel Brooks:Perhaps, it's your beauty. I look at myself every day in the mirror, probably too much. We all do, if we were to acknowledge that. You know, you look and you study every little pore. I look at myself in the mirror, and just about every day, I seem to notice some new gray hair.
Joel Brooks:A wrinkle that's gotten a little longer, or maybe a new wrinkle altogether. The little beauty I had is drying up. Doesn't matter how beautiful you are, your beauty is not a river. It's a brook. It will dry up.
Joel Brooks:You could postpone it as long as you want. Maybe you could dye things. Maybe you could dye it. Maybe you could try to cover up things. But no matter what, you are a brook.
Joel Brooks:The beauty is fading, and that's okay. That's okay because it's where the Lord wants us. It's okay because you are there at this brook by the Lord's design. He wants these things to be drying up, and as they are drying up, your trust is ever increasing. So the Lord takes him to the brook, not to the river.
Joel Brooks:And then he chooses to feed Elijah through ravens. I mean every morning and every night, ravens came, and I just, I hope, I hope they're just giving him meat and bread, and not regurgitating it, like you know they do to their young. But, but every morning and every night, they're bringing bread, and they're bringing meat. I mean how incredible is that? It's crazy.
Joel Brooks:Once again, the Lord could have fed Elijah through a 1,000 different ways, but he chose this way, because he's teaching him something. Instead of bringing Elijah the fatted calf, instead he uses his sovereignty over all of creation, in order to feed him little mouthfuls at a time by birds, using the ravens. I can't help but think of Jesus's words, of course. You know that, not a hair falls to the ground, not a bird falls from the air, apart from his father's will. His father commands even the birds, and here he has commanded them to take care of Elijah, morsel by morsel.
Joel Brooks:What we see here is that, the Lord is gonna meet Elijah's needs using the most unexpected ways, from the most unusual sources. Have you ever found that to be true in your lives? Have you ever been fed by the ravens? Lord and I have, over and over. We have seen how the Lord has met our needs time and time again in the most unlikely ways using the most unusual sources.
Joel Brooks:It could be one of us maybe getting a random text of encouragement at just the right time when we need it. Or perhaps, a note in the mail, or sometimes it's literally food maybe left at our door, as a way of encouraging us. Perhaps it could be somebody giving us randomly an extra gift card that they got, and it comes right at the time where Lauren and I just desperately need to go out on a date. Or it could be even in the midst of a pandemic, getting a stimulus check that will help cover our kids' tuition. It's like over and over again, the Lord keeps sending ravens, giving us just what we need.
Joel Brooks:And that's what he does to us. He's always commanding. He's sovereign. He's commanding all of these things to come and to feed us, and what we are doing, what we are receiving is what we just prayed for as a church. Father, give us this day our daily bread.
Joel Brooks:Give us what we need, and can I tell you when you start thanking the Lord for those little things, you'll begin to see ravens everywhere in your life? How God begins to constantly feed you and nourish and sustain you, these little mouthfuls at a time. So that's how Elijah is fed, and he's being watered by that brook. And we do read in verse 7 that that brook does not last that long. The brook does eventually dry up, and Elijah has to go some place else.
Joel Brooks:It's easy just to kind of, you know, just jump over verse 7. Just read through it quickly. But just, before you do that, think about it. The Lord had Elijah go to a place that he knew would not last. He had Elijah go to a place and drink from a source that he knew would eventually dry up.
Joel Brooks:And he doesn't provide Elijah with a new miracle there. It's not like, you know, he could provide water a number of different ways. It could have been like, Moses, get your staff, strike the rock, there's water. He doesn't. He lets Elijah experience every single day watching it dry up till it's completely bone dry.
Joel Brooks:He allows Elijah to hit rock bottom. If you're at a place where things have run dry, and a place where you have hit rock bottom, don't assume that's because you're outside of the Lord's will. The Lord very well might have brought you to that place to teach you something. We see that this is all happening here according to the Lord's design, and Elijah doesn't bail. He stays there until the Lord tells him to leave.
Joel Brooks:And the Lord does. The Lord tells him, it's time to get up. The brook is dry, and I want you to go to a place called Zarephath, where I have commanded a widow to take care of you. This is an absurd, absurd statement from the Lord. I mean, think about it.
Joel Brooks:We're in the midst of a drought. We're in the midst of a famine, and God is going to use a widow to take care of Elijah, and by the way, Zarephath is where Jezebel's from. It's the heart of darkness. So go to the most dangerous place, and I'm gonna provide for you using a widow, who even in the best of times, is the most destitute person in the land, who doesn't have anybody to protect her, has no one to sustain her, but I have commanded her, her to feed you. It's actually more extraordinary than being fed by the ravens.
Joel Brooks:Once again, unlikely means by unlikely sources. And the Lord tells Elijah, he says, I've commanded a widow there to feed you. I love that statement. I've commanded the widow to feed you. The Lord has commanded her.
Joel Brooks:Just like He commanded the ravens, He has commanded her. Yet, we will find that she seems to be completely unaware of that commandment. She seems to not even know that the Lord has actually commanded her of these things. I don't think she really has any idea that the Lord is at work in her life, But it does not matter whether she is aware of it or not. The Lord has commanded her to take care of Elijah.
Joel Brooks:And one of the things that you see here, and I love it because you see it all throughout scripture, is that God is at work always at both ends of the line. He's always at work at both ends of the line. If God calls you to go to someone, know that He has already been working with that someone someone. If He calls you to go some place, know that He is already at work at that place. He works at both ends of the line.
Joel Brooks:When the spies were sent into Canaan, for instance, back in Joshua, well, the Lord had already prepared Rahab to be there to hide them. When the Lord had an Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 6, an Ethiopian eunuch and a chariot on some random road, happening to read through the scroll of Isaiah, while he just happened to have Philip run-in to that Ethiopian eunuch, so he could explain it to him. When Cornelius in Acts 10 has this vision of his need for salvation, At the same time, Peter has a vision about a need to go to a man named Cornelius, and explain to him how to be saved. You see this over and over again, that the Lord works at both ends of the line. If he's called you to go to someone, know that he is at work with that person, preparing them for your encounter.
Joel Brooks:And so with that confidence, Elijah goes. He goes to Zarephath to find the win this widow. He has no idea what her name is. He has no idea what she looks like. He has no GPS or no address, no way to find her.
Joel Brooks:He is just going trusting the Spirit, and sure enough, he goes to the city gate and she happens to be there, and the Spirit of God says, that's her. There. And so he approaches this woman and he asked her for water, which was a huge request in this time, and then he asked her for bread, to which she politely says, no. Once again, she doesn't seem to know that she's been commanded by the Lord to take care of him yet. She says, actually, I don't have any that I can't offer you, because this is what I'm doing.
Joel Brooks:I'm gathering these sticks, so I can make a fire. So I could take the last bit of of oil, and last bit of flour I have, make a couple of biscuits. My son and I will eat it, and then we will starve to death. Can you imagine a more destitute position than this widow is in? Not a person alive here, not a person in this room can identify with this widow.
Joel Brooks:None of us have ever been in a position like this. She and her son are on the absolute verge of starving to death, And yet, Elijah has the audacity to ask her for a meal. Even after she politely says, no. It's like, well actually, all I have is this, left to make basically 2 biscuits for my son and I to eat and die. He goes, okay, but before you do that, bring me one.
Joel Brooks:Bring me one. But in this request, he gives a promise. Says, if you do this, God will take care of you. God will give you what you need. You will not run out of food.
Joel Brooks:And she believes. This is the moment where I think, you know, you can see God is at work in her life. She hears this absurd statement from this complete stranger, and something happens in her heart. And she looks this man in the eyes, and she sees the truth there, and she believes. I love picturing their meal together.
Joel Brooks:Can you imagine that? Sitting around the table, she's there with this mysterious man. We can only imagine what Elijah looked like. Eating the last bit of food you have, all you have left is hope in God's word, that God will keep his promise. And we read that the jar of flour was not spent, and neither did the jug of oil become empty.
Joel Brooks:And hear me, believer. When when we trust in the word of the Lord, our jar of flour will not be spent. Our jug of oil will not become empty. The Lord will indeed give His children their daily bread. You can trust God, Absolutely trust God to provide for you, even when you see nothing.
Joel Brooks:He will provide for his children using the most unlikely ways, through the most unlikely sources. And all he asks is that you would take him at his word. Pray with me. And Father, as we look at how you saved Elijah, saved this widow, we are reminded of our own salvation which you provided for in the most unlikely way. Sending your son to be born in a manger.
Joel Brooks:Raised by poor, insignificant couple that lived in an oppressed country? And then having your son grow up to be tortured and crucified, and then rise again from the dead. It's absolutely incredible. And you are an incredible God. And we trust you not only for our eternal salvation, we trust you for our daily salvation.
Joel Brooks:Thank you that you are a God who takes care of his children. We pray this in your strong name, Jesus. Amen.