1 00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:05,560 Lord, with so much noise in the world, we are thankful for a 2 00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:10,760 place where we can be still and be even sometimes silent in your 3 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:16,520 presence. Lord, we ask that you fill us 4 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:21,880 with the Holy Spirit so that we can be fully attentive and 5 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:24,320 energized to receive from Your Holy Word. 6 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,000 None of us. Are worthy to experience your 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:30,560 graces. But that's exactly what grace is 8 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,680 all about. You long to pour out your 9 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:37,240 spirit, your truth, on those who are humble and contrite. 10 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:41,480 And so we pray, Lord, that you would make us aware of your 11 00:00:41,480 --> 00:00:44,800 goodness. Every moment that passes in this 12 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:50,080 Bible study, clear our thoughts from the clutter of confusion 13 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:54,640 and distraction, maybe even tiredness or whatever it is that 14 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:58,320 would hinder or put obstacles for this truth to be deposited 15 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:01,680 in our hearts. Deliver us even now so that we 16 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:05,480 can receive everything the way you intended it to be received. 17 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:10,360 We glorify you tonight as a body and we give you praise for this 18 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:13,200 study In Jesus name. Amen. 19 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:18,440 We'll turn in your Bibles to 1st Kings Chapter 17. 20 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,400 And before we break open this chapter together, I believe it 21 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:27,920 is important to recapture the spiritual condition of the 22 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:31,960 nation of Israel that we explored last week. 23 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:40,800 As a summary, Israel has now tolerated idolatry in a whole 24 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,120 new level. Bill worship was not just 25 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:50,640 prevalent, it has been deemed as the state religion and this 26 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:54,240 initiative was campaigned by King Ahab yes, but it was 27 00:01:54,240 --> 00:02:01,560 ultimately due to the influence of his demon worshipping defying 28 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:07,040 domineering wife named Jezebel. She was the mastermind behind 29 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:13,320 this and this imported, imported false worship created an 30 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:17,280 atmosphere so deplorable, so widespread, that King Ahab 31 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:22,880 gained the reputation of being the vilest king in Israel's 32 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:28,040 history. A temple of Baal was built not 33 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:31,120 in some random place, but strategically in the capital of 34 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,760 Israel. Samaria, and things in Israel 35 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:39,080 are looking bleaker than ever. You have the Levites and a 36 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:43,480 majority of the true worshippers of God vacated. 37 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,200 They have left the land. They have migrated to the 38 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:51,680 Southern Kingdom. You have a government with 39 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:55,000 spiritual leadership that is increasing in perversion. 40 00:02:55,720 --> 00:03:00,040 You have the common people that willingly invite the curses of 41 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,040 God in their pursuit of idolatry. 42 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:11,680 And at this point, the worship of Jehovah is virtually on the 43 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:16,880 brink of extinction. And as you and I have studied 44 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:23,080 Chapter 16 and witnessed the spiraling direction of this 45 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:28,240 nation, you're left to wonder, I'm sure, What will God do at 46 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:31,200 this point? How will he intervene, if he 47 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:35,520 will not intervene at all? Will he send sweeping judgment? 48 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:37,000 That's something we would expect. 49 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,160 Will he put a halt to this by doing something so catastrophic, 50 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:45,480 so obvious, that no matter who you are, you would not be able 51 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:49,920 to withstand his fury? That's what we might do. 52 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:53,000 But instead what we see God doing in this chapter that we 53 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,960 are ready to study is that he raises up a man of God. 54 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:02,600 He raises up a prophet who are powerfully confront the powers 55 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:06,040 that be. And the man who will be 56 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:10,520 commissioned for this awesome task is named Elijah. 57 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:18,920 Elijah is someone who is going to have an incredibly strong and 58 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:25,880 convicting ministry, and as incredibly profound his ministry 59 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:32,400 will be as in your face as it will be as as obviously 60 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:38,680 captivating as it is. Do not confuse the boldness and 61 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,760 the courage and even the things that take place throughout his 62 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:46,120 ministry as anything less of an expression of manifestation of 63 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:50,320 the mercy of God. Elijah appearing the way he 64 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:54,040 appears, yes, though he is rugged, a little rough on the 65 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:56,200 edges. Though he is commissioned to 66 00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:00,320 confront all this corruption, this is nothing short of God's 67 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,920 grace because through Elijah, he's going to manifest himself 68 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:08,440 in a very unique way and he's going to compel this people to 69 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:11,080 come back to the true and living God. 70 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:16,320 Elijah, listen, not only played an influential role at this 71 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,200 critical point in Israel's history, but he's actually 72 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:21,160 mentioned, as you know, in significant ways in the New 73 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:23,360 Testament, especially in the gospel accounts. 74 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,120 Elijah is an important character in the word of God. 75 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:29,920 And as important as he is, you might be surprised to realize 76 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,200 that he didn't write a book. He wasn't like Isaiah. 77 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:35,560 He wasn't like Jeremiah. He wasn't like Ezekiel, where 78 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:40,320 God has preserved their writings for the rest of human history. 79 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:45,640 Elijah didn't have any recorded teachings or prophecies. 80 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:52,520 Nevertheless, it does not discount the absolute importance 81 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:56,400 that he played in the spiritual renewal and survival of Israel's 82 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:01,600 covenant with God. Interestingly, there is nothing 83 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:05,920 mentioned of Elijah's lineage or his heritage. 84 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,920 Nothing. On top of that, we don't even 85 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:13,720 have the record of his call into the prophetic office. 86 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,480 In fact, when you read chapter 17, his introduction in the Word 87 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:22,520 of God seems abrupt. He flashes on the scene like 88 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:28,400 this lightning strike that cuts through the backdrop of moral 89 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,720 undisturbed blackness. It's almost shocking. 90 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,960 It's almost startling. And if you've studied the life 91 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:39,960 of this man before, then you know that he is indeed a very 92 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,800 distinct, again unique servant of God. 93 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,600 He almost reads like a superhero of some kind, and because of 94 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,360 that, you might be tempted to admire Elijah from a distance. 95 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:53,720 You and I, even in the context of a Bible study, might be 96 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:58,360 willing to simply examine and study him as a rare specimen in 97 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:02,640 redemptive history. But even in the New Testament, 98 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:08,520 we are explicitly encouraged to look at Elijah and to actually 99 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:12,720 draw from his life, encouragement and example for 100 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:16,520 your walk with the same God that Elijah served. 101 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:22,640 In other words, we're not looking just at someone to again 102 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:26,200 pick apart and see some clever connections with his story with 103 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:30,280 the rest of the Bible, you and I right away have to bend our 104 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:33,000 hearts and posture it in a manner in which we are ready to 105 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:37,400 receive God's provision for practical instruction through 106 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:40,200 Elijah's life. If you're not ready here to say, 107 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,640 OK, what is it that God wants me to learn about me becoming the 108 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,000 Christian I'm called to be through Elijah's example? 109 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:49,440 You're at the wrong Bible study. You're at the wrong Bible study. 110 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:53,200 We're not here to watch a movie, so to speak, and get emotionally 111 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:55,760 stirred up and maybe impressed by some things we're here to 112 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:57,960 say. OK, Lord, furnish me now through 113 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:00,480 First Kings 17/18/19. Yes, through the rest of the 114 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:03,320 book, but especially in this episode of First Kings where 115 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:07,200 we're dealing with this amazing man of God named Elijah. 116 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,560 And so let's begin now with that brief summary of this man. 117 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,120 Again, it's brief because there's little mention of him, 118 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:17,000 but all is there. So much to learn about him. 119 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,240 And so if you were expecting to come through this chapter in its 120 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:22,120 entirety in this Bible study, we can't. 121 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:24,760 I'm sorry, not at least with me can't with me. 122 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:26,960 I'm I was too hard. It's harder to complete it in 123 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:30,920 one setting than it is to at least stop at verse 7. 124 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,320 So let's read the 1st 7 verses together and then let's take our 125 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:37,240 time to examine it for our equipment. 126 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:42,880 Verse one. Now Elijah, the tishbite of 127 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:48,960 Tishbi in Gilead said to Ahab, As the Lord the God of Israel 128 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:53,680 lives before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain 129 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:57,960 these years, except by my word and the word of the Lord came to 130 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:00,760 him. Depart from here and turn 131 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:05,120 eastward, and hide yourself by the brook careth which is east 132 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,080 of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, 133 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:10,680 and I have commanded the Ravens to feed you there. 134 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:13,760 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. 135 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:16,960 He went and lived by the brook careth that is east of the 136 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:19,680 Jordan. And the Ravens brought him bread 137 00:09:19,680 --> 00:09:22,200 and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening. 138 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:28,360 And he drank from the brook, and after a while the brook dried up 139 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:33,040 because. There was no rain in the land. 140 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:42,640 Elijah arrives before Ahab and he declares A prophetic message 141 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:45,200 in the. Name of the Lord. 142 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:50,720 But in that message he makes these statements in connection 143 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:53,640 to the name of the Lord. That is worth pausing and 144 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:57,320 meditating on. There are three elements to what 145 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:01,200 Elijah says with the authorization of the Lord's 146 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:05,400 name, that we should pay attention to and simmer on in 147 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:09,200 order to understand the mind of God and the mind of God in the 148 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:12,560 servant of God. What are the three things? 149 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:16,400 At least point out a couple things that we see here in 150 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:19,720 verse. One that is noteworthy after 151 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:26,680 Elijah says that as the Lord and we fill in the blank, What are 152 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:30,400 some components to this that that are important and relevant? 153 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:37,440 What are the titles and characteristics that he makes to 154 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:46,640 the Lord? Oh, good one is one of them is 155 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:51,720 the Lord lives as the Lord the God of Israel lives. 156 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:53,160 That's important. So let's put that aside. 157 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:57,080 There's other things before him being the living God, we skipped 158 00:10:57,080 --> 00:10:58,800 over something. The Lord what? 159 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:02,720 The God of where? Israel. 160 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:06,480 So see that seems to be such a a normal thing for prophets to say 161 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:07,720 that we kind of might skip over it. 162 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:12,040 No, it's incredibly powerful in the context of Ahab being the 163 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:14,040 king of Israel, which we'll get into another moment. 164 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:16,160 The other thing might be a little bit more difficult to to 165 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,200 pluck out, but I think there's something there when he says 166 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:22,720 before whom I stand. So let's look at these things 167 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:28,080 separately as the Lord one, the God of Israel. 168 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:31,320 That's important. Who is the king of Israel at 169 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:36,520 this time? And who did Ahab and his wife 170 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:40,360 try to declare the God of Israel to be? 171 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:45,800 Not Yahweh Baal. And so now you have Elijah, who 172 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,840 now confronts this king. And he says, as the Lord, let me 173 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:55,400 sharply remind you who the true and living God of Israel is. 174 00:11:55,560 --> 00:11:58,520 It's Yahweh. So this is not accidental. 175 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:01,000 This is strategic. And again, that might not 176 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:05,360 impress you and I as Americans who still have the freedom to 177 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:10,160 express ourselves and to even confront and challenge other 178 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:13,440 beliefs and world views. But may I remind you the high 179 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:17,080 cost of speaking in this way and dealing with those who had 180 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:21,160 opposing views of this time? Look at chapter 18, verse four. 181 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:25,000 And look at what this government did to those who claim to be 182 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:28,920 associated with the Lord in First Kings 18 Four. 183 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:34,120 And when Jezebel cut off the profits of the Lord, you know 184 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:36,680 what cut off means not canceling your membership. 185 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:40,800 Cut off means cutting you off from the face of the earth. 186 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:47,000 Obadiah took 100 prophets and hid them by 50s in a cave and 187 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:51,600 fed them with bread and water. So Elijah's ministry arose 188 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:54,320 during a time where if you were a messenger of God, if you were 189 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:58,080 a preacher, if you were a pastor, so to speak, if you were 190 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:02,960 on staff at a Bible college, wherever you were, whatever you 191 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:05,360 did, if you were associated with the true living God and preached 192 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:08,840 His Word and taught it, you risked your life. 193 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:13,440 And if you weren't killed, then you were hiding in some cave for 194 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:17,480 an undisclosed amount of time. You know what got me thinking? 195 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:20,760 If you have a man like this who was willing to speak so 196 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:24,560 courageously, where he could have his life taken from him 197 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:28,280 before he even finished his declaration, why are we so 198 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:31,880 afraid to speak up in the name of God in a time like this? 199 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:36,120 We don't have any threat of risking and losing our lives. 200 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:37,640 But people are afraid for losing. 201 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:39,240 What? What are you afraid of losing 202 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:42,920 For speaking the truth. Oh, I'm telling you, you're 203 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:45,160 going to learn, and you're going to learn this every single time. 204 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:47,160 We study this man in this study First kings. 205 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:54,480 We need more Elijah's. If there was a spirit of Elijah, 206 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:58,440 yes it was on this man. Yes it came upon Elijah and a 207 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:01,160 double portion. Yes, it was on John the Baptist. 208 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:03,640 I know those are unique moments in history, but the principles 209 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:07,640 and the convictions of this man I'm sure can be copy pasted on 210 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:12,240 those who desire it. This man had something so 211 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:15,120 awesome about him by declaring he is the God of Israel. 212 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:19,600 Additionally, this introduction shows something about the mind 213 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:22,200 of God, because God is the one who commissioned him to do this 214 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:25,440 and to say this. Notice what happens here in an 215 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:27,960 age of compromise. You don't want to learn about 216 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:31,840 God that in a time where there is rebellion and confusion and 217 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:34,640 outright even persecution, you don't get quieter about the 218 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,520 truth. You don't turn down the volume. 219 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:44,080 No, you have to be willing to confront, listen specific 220 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:48,560 falsehoods. You have to be able to speak out 221 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:52,800 on things that people are contorting and twisting where 222 00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:55,240 God has already revealed the truth about. 223 00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:58,120 Notice he says, the God of Israel. 224 00:14:58,560 --> 00:14:59,800 Why? Because what was the issue of 225 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:01,040 the day? They claimed that the God of 226 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:02,760 Israel was not Yahweh, it was bail. 227 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,160 And Elijah was willing to pinpoint that and say you're 228 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:08,360 wrong right there. So he wasn't being general with 229 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:10,280 his convictions. He was being very specific. 230 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,120 And so if this culture is confused about anything, you 231 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:16,840 know what your duty and mine is as the church to speak out on 232 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:20,880 those things specifically not to paint it with a broad brush, not 233 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:23,400 this tiptoe around it when it is necessary. 234 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:26,640 And when we are called upon to give an answer, we must be able 235 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:28,680 to say yes. This is what you're saying about 236 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:30,040 humanity. This is what you're saying about 237 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:31,840 life in the womb. This is what you're saying about 238 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:33,240 gender. This is what you're saying about 239 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:35,880 whatever the case may be. And here's what God says about 240 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:38,440 it. That's what Elijah shows us 241 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:41,360 right away and not just Elijah. Elijah's not running here rogue. 242 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:45,000 He's not just trying to cause something because he has this 243 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:47,120 desire on his own. This is God commissioning him to 244 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:49,200 do this. And I learned from this man. 245 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:53,160 I learned something about God that he desires for us in a time 246 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:57,440 like this, to speak out on particular issues and to strain 247 00:15:57,440 --> 00:15:59,480 those issues in the consciousness of men with God's 248 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:01,360 word. And if you have any doubt that 249 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:04,880 that's God's strategy in times like this, then consider 250 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:08,200 Elijah's name. Elijah's name is a message in 251 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:10,960 itself. Elijah simply means what Yahweh 252 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,400 is God or Yahweh is my God. So never mind a sermon to 253 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:15,880 preach. Every time you called about 254 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:18,920 Elijah, you might have been convicted in a time where 255 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:21,240 everybody believed and was starting to believe more and 256 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:22,760 more. That bail is God. 257 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:25,760 Whenever you called Elijah, whenever Elijah was summoned, 258 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:28,040 you were being reminded, oh, Yahweh is God. 259 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:32,800 So even the man's name was something that was fashioned by 260 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:36,800 God to illustrate this point, that in an age of compromise, 261 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:42,440 you speak out, you don't coddle, you don't pamper, you don't 262 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:44,640 tiptoe. That's not what we called been 263 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:47,680 called to do. So that's the God of Israel. 264 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:51,360 But there's a second thing. As the Lord, the God of Israel, 265 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:55,120 second part lives. He's the living God. 266 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:58,040 And I'm here to remind you, Ahab, that he is the living God. 267 00:16:58,160 --> 00:16:59,400 Now why would he need to say that? 268 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:03,960 Perhaps this was something that the people of Israel adopted 269 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:06,280 over time? Because remember first Kings 16, 270 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:10,599 where we saw one succeeding king after the next doing deplorable, 271 00:17:10,599 --> 00:17:13,920 vile, evil, despicable things, and there seemed to be little 272 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:15,839 considerable consequences for them. 273 00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:21,920 There wasn't like major history turning interventions. 274 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:26,359 And I wonder if because of that stretch of time where one king 275 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:30,920 after the next was more evil than the one before, and there 276 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,360 seem to be little things happening as a result of it. 277 00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:37,200 Perhaps the people of Israel began to believe that Yahweh was 278 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:42,200 inactive. Where is he? 279 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,640 But you and I remember that at the end of chapter 16, when he 280 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:53,960 out rebuilt the city of Jericho, God's curse was manifest. 281 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:58,120 And it's right there where Elijah appears, because Elijah 282 00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:02,120 now is about to tell Ahab and Israel what you saw with Jericho 283 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:06,400 is only the beginning. There's a lot more coming now. 284 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:12,880 And so this was a reminder to Ahab, contrary to popular 285 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:16,440 belief, Yahweh's alive. And put on your seat belt, Ahab. 286 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:17,920 You're about to witness it for yourself. 287 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:21,840 So he was ready to demonstrate that. 288 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:25,920 But look at the third thing. This thing moves my heart every 289 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:30,880 time I read it, Elijah says, As the Lord, the God of Israel 290 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:38,760 lives before whom I stand. That is a statement that 291 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:42,440 describes the practice and position of a ready servant. 292 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:44,880 There are a couple of other examples in the scriptures where 293 00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:49,280 that phrase before whom I stand indicates that you are in a 294 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:54,760 posture, ready to be sent, ready to perform anything of the 295 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:57,200 person that you were standing before and has authority over 296 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:00,240 you. And Elijah here is claiming that 297 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:04,240 I stand before this living God who is the God of Israel. 298 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,720 And this is more than a confession, A fearless 299 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:11,840 confession of this devotion that he has to the true God. 300 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:18,120 This also is a man who is telling Ahab that I am a person 301 00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:20,640 who lives in the presence of God. 302 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,920 In other words, he's saying that I abide. 303 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,480 I dwell. I live my day-to-day with this 304 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:33,680 conscious acknowledgement that. God is the God of Israel and he 305 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:35,760 is the living God. I live before God. 306 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:41,640 I live before the Lord. And I have no doubt that this is 307 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:46,400 a major component to his fearless stance in a time like. 308 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:53,440 This you see? Before, before this, you had all 309 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:57,840 this corruption, all these leaders, all this craziness, and 310 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:00,680 all the while you have a man who is living before the presence of 311 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:04,520 God, and now he comes to the most wicked king of them all, 312 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,960 and he can say, I will not bow before you. 313 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:13,840 Implying that because I stand before God you will not fear 314 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:18,160 kings if your if your perception in life, if your view is 315 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:21,160 constantly with the king of kings ever before you. 316 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:25,160 If you have that filter, you can even stand before leaders who 317 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:27,240 with the snap of their finger can get rid of you. 318 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:32,120 I stand before God and because I stand before God I can stand 319 00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:33,920 before anybody. I stand before God because I 320 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:35,920 stand before God. I don't have to kneel before you 321 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:39,120 or before your gods, no matter how much of A price that is. 322 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,200 That's the secret. So now we continue. 323 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:45,400 He gives this introduction. Look at this. 324 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:47,520 We're still in verse one. The second part of verse one. 325 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:51,120 As the Lord, the God of Israel lives before whom I stand, there 326 00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:54,960 shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word. 327 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:56,920 Here it is. Ahab. 328 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,400 This has gone on for too long, and I'm here to tell you. 329 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:03,680 And I adjure you, and I'm here to promise. 330 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:07,720 You that God is going to bring a drought and this drought is 331 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:11,440 going to last for years. Why a drought? 332 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:13,720 Out of all the things we've seen God do many things as 333 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:18,520 demonstrations of His judgment by why specifically a drought? 334 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:22,360 While history tells us that Baal was recognized by the 335 00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:24,000 Phoenicians as a storm. God. 336 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:29,000 And so the population believe that Baal was the one who was 337 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,800 sovereign over the heavens and He was the one who dispensed 338 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,320 rains and withhold rains, and he was the one who enriched the 339 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:38,520 lands and ultimately was the source of their livelihood, of 340 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:41,240 their economy. And so this is how Bale was 341 00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:43,080 recognized. And now you have Elijah, who's 342 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:45,480 saying here, I want to tell you something, in the name of the 343 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:47,800 Lord, the God of Israel who lives, and I'm the one who 344 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:52,880 stands before him, It's not going to rain, OK? 345 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:54,840 Your God is the God of the storms. 346 00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:57,400 Prove it. Drought for a few years. 347 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:02,600 Call me when things change, and that might be a helpful extra 348 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,720 biblical insight into this encounter, but you don't even 349 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:09,800 have to go there because the Bible itself tells us why a 350 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:12,840 drought came and why a drought would be issued. 351 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:17,560 So turn into your Bibles to Deuteronomy Chapter 11 and 352 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:20,640 notice what God said in his law as one of the warnings that 353 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,600 would come about for the disobedience of his people, 354 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:26,040 specifically in worshipping other gods. 355 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:28,880 Look at Deuteronomy 11, verse 16 with me. 356 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:41,440 Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and 357 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:44,720 serve other gods and worship them. 358 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:49,320 Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He 359 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:53,840 will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the 360 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:56,960 land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the 361 00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:59,400 good land that the Lord is giving you. 362 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:06,040 So again, here is a prophet who's doing what true prophets 363 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:09,360 do, reminding people of what they have forsaken, and that is 364 00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:11,600 the word of God. And in the same way, in the last 365 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,760 part of verse of of chapter 16, rather God's Word concerning 366 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:19,480 whoever rebuilds Jericho will be cursed, proving that God's word 367 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:21,120 was alive. Here you have Elijah now 368 00:23:21,120 --> 00:23:24,720 doubling down on that saying, listen, every part of God's word 369 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:28,840 is alive. So didn't you not learn from 370 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:31,200 Joshua chapter six? They didn't have chapters and 371 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:32,640 verses. By the way, do you not learn 372 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,640 from the mouth of Joshua that whoever rebuilds the walls of 373 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:38,640 Jericho would lose the life of their first born and their 374 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,120 youngest? And now I'm here to remind you 375 00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:43,240 of something that you overlooked. 376 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:46,240 Ahab, God already warned you hundreds of years ago that if 377 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:48,880 you were to worship other gods that he will make the heavens 378 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:51,440 brass and there will be no rain and you will perish off the good 379 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:55,480 land. So God's word is alive because 380 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:59,040 he is the living God, and he means what he says. 381 00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:01,720 But there's something more going on here, something more than 382 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:04,560 this historical drought being connected to a previous passage 383 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:08,600 in the Bible. I submit to you that the reason 384 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:12,520 why there is a drought is because of another factor, not 385 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,600 just because of a prophetic declaration based on the word of 386 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:17,760 God. You ready for this, but because 387 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:18,880 of a. Praying, man. 388 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:21,640 You know where I'm going with this, do you not? 389 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:24,120 Maybe you don't, but you remember James, Chapter 5. 390 00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:27,960 And what did James by the Holy Spirit add to the story? 391 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:32,320 In terms of commentary, James 517 tells us Elijah was a man 392 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:38,200 with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might 393 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:43,160 not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain 394 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:46,680 on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven 395 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:49,440 gave rain and the earth bore its fruit. 396 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:54,680 I've always known this passage as early as I can remember. 397 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:59,960 Reading James, but maybe you haven't considered this. 398 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:03,600 People tend to go to this passage to teach believers in 399 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,360 the New Covenant how to be a man of prayer, how to be a woman of 400 00:25:06,360 --> 00:25:08,520 prayer, among other places, and it's a right place to go. 401 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:11,680 James uses Elijah as an example to encourage the believers. 402 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:15,520 But based on Deuteronomy 11, I have another insight about 403 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:18,320 Elijah's praying. When Elijah prayed that there 404 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:20,520 would be no rain, he didn't pull that out of his own head. 405 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:24,720 This isn't just him determining what he thought should happen. 406 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:27,400 If if you if you see it that way, then you might take this 407 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:29,920 text to mean something that it's not intended to teach. 408 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:32,000 That if you really pray fervently enough, if you walk 409 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:36,080 righteously enough, you can ask God for even nations stopping 410 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:40,680 calamities and God will answer. Do you realize what Elijah's 411 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:42,360 doing? Elijah's not praying again out 412 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:43,840 of his own desires, out of his own will. 413 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:47,160 Elijah is praying knowing what the Bible says. 414 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:49,360 He knew what Deuteronomy 11 said. 415 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,000 So he is praying. What the word of God. 416 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:57,200 His prayers are based on what God had revealed. 417 00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:01,360 His prayers are in alignment with what God said would happen 418 00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:04,520 and should happen if the people were to turn in idolatry. 419 00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:08,400 So if I may use this language that when Elijah prayed in 420 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:12,400 secret for this drought, what he was essentially doing with his 421 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:18,160 prayers was seeking to awaken the arm of the Lord to manifest 422 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,040 and make this thing happen because God said it would 423 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:24,480 happen. And So what Elijah is 424 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:26,640 essentially doing, based on James in connection with 425 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:30,680 Deuteronomy 11, he's asking the Lord Lord take the warning that 426 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:34,880 is now at the point of just inscription in the law and 427 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:40,160 invade reality with it, make it come to pass. 428 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:46,400 And God heard that. So Elijah's praying was totally 429 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,720 bathed. It was submerged in the will of 430 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:53,480 God. So this isn't inviting us to be 431 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:56,960 creative with our request and ask for crazy things that have 432 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,480 no binding on the scriptures. I'm no binding what God already 433 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:00,760 revealed. No Elijah. 434 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:05,120 Elijah has his feet planted on what he knows to be the rock of 435 00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:08,640 truth and he says, Lord, now I'm calling upon you to do what you 436 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:11,280 said you would do. Would you do it for your name's 437 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:16,000 sake? And that helps us to know again 438 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:17,600 that James not speaking about praying. 439 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:20,080 Random request if you're fervent enough. 440 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:22,680 But you know when I meditate on this further, I thought to 441 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:26,080 myself, how does one even get himself to pray like that? 442 00:27:27,360 --> 00:27:30,080 Like the obvious answer is know what the scripture says and that 443 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:32,560 will fuel and frame your prayers to be more effective. 444 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:35,840 That's obvious. But how does a man even get to 445 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:39,360 the point where? Because remember, James is 446 00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:41,560 telling us Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. 447 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:44,720 In other words, you you can't read Elijah's story and have 448 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:48,760 excuses saying what do you mean? This guy was a prophet. 449 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:50,440 This guy raised their dead, this guy did this. 450 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:52,640 I understand that. But in the things that you and I 451 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:57,000 are called to imitate and other servants of God, there are no 452 00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:58,960 excuses. He, he he he had temptations 453 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:00,400 like us. He had passions like us. 454 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:04,240 And so one I I learned from this that he, he he prayed based on 455 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:07,280 the word of God. But how do you even get to that 456 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:11,960 point to even say, you know I'm going to pray and ask God, based 457 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:14,880 on the scriptures to do something as big as what Elijah 458 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:19,160 prayed for? Do you know the Bible actually 459 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:22,880 tells us? How do you? 460 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:25,040 Do you want to know what the secret is for a person to look 461 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:29,960 out into America right now and be so moved by the decline and 462 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:33,360 the perversion that you say? You know I have to pray and ask 463 00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:35,040 God to do something in my generation? 464 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:37,840 How? How do you even start that? 465 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:41,920 It's one thing to say, OK, church, we're going to pray for 466 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,240 a weekend and then in that meeting to be stirred for the 467 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:46,520 weekend and then after that we can just to go back to things as 468 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:49,240 they were normal. But how do you how do you get to 469 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,720 a place where as an individual your heart can be so burning for 470 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,440 this to be made manifest that you pray about it consistently 471 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:57,880 until it comes through? Go back to First Kings. 472 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:01,280 I argue it's because of something Elijah confesses about 473 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:05,160 himself and 1st Kings chapter 19. 474 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:15,800 Look at verse 10 First Kings 19, verse 10, he said. 475 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:23,880 I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. 476 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:28,480 I believe that is where it all started with Elijah. 477 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:34,080 Even before his praying he was so jealous for the name of the 478 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:36,880 Lord. He was so jealous, for God's 479 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:38,960 sake, because he saw all these people turning their backs on 480 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:42,280 the Lord, worshipping false idols, and that jealousy so 481 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:44,960 rumbled in his soul. It's so burned his bosom that 482 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,320 he. He came before the Lord and he 483 00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:49,120 said, Lord, you need to do something. 484 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:51,160 I am jealous for you. That's why I'm praying. 485 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:54,120 Would you intervene in this for your name's sake? 486 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,480 So this man's fervent prayers for the Lord to act was not to 487 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:01,080 vindicate his ministries, was not so that he can be known as 488 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:02,760 one of the greatest prophets in the world. 489 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,120 Was not so that he can be praised, Was not so that he can 490 00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:07,920 be seen as a history, a hero in church history. 491 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:14,800 None of that he confesses. I am purely jealous for God. 492 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:19,080 It's amazing what a holy jealousy can do to a person. 493 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:22,200 You remember Phineas Wright, Phineas putting a stop to a 494 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:25,000 plague because he was jealous for the Lord and God even 495 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:28,440 admired Phineas for that. He was jealous for my name's 496 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:30,640 sake. What does it mean to feel 497 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,480 jealous for the Lord? So when you when you hear God's 498 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:36,760 name being blasphemy, and you see people defying his law, and 499 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:39,640 you see even in some cases Christianity and Christendom 500 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:43,680 compromising more and more, what does that do to you? 501 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,960 It should do something to you, should cause something in you to 502 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:50,240 be like. How can they do this? 503 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:55,040 How can this be done to the Lord, My Lord, my precious 504 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:56,080 Savior? How? 505 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:00,120 And that shouldn't cause you to be more self-righteous. 506 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:02,240 That shouldn't cause you to point the finger at others. 507 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:04,320 No, no. Before anything else it should 508 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:09,520 cause you to come before the Lord They blasphemy your name at 509 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:11,800 work. Lord, every time I go to work, 510 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:15,600 they out of all the thousands of millions of names that they use, 511 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:19,360 they blasphemy your name out of all the books that they can 512 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:22,760 mock. My family mocks the Bible and it 513 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:26,840 burns in my heart. And now I'm asking you to do 514 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:29,640 something in my life, through my life, in their lives. 515 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:32,280 Where you can make yourself known. 516 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:34,880 That's Elijah's secret to prayer. 517 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:39,320 The word of God in one place, but a heart that's feeling that. 518 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:43,600 A heart that's so in love with the Lord's glory and so devoted 519 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:47,920 to his 'cause that when you see anything violated, it causes you 520 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:50,200 to come before him, saying, Lord, do something. 521 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:53,040 You might not be a mighty conference speaker. 522 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:55,440 You might not be a George Whitfield or Jonathan Edwards 523 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:57,360 that brings sweeping revival in the land. 524 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:02,120 But you have your own world and you have your own part of God's 525 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:06,360 vineyard where you can come to a place where you feel this and it 526 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:08,160 causes you to be a man or a woman of prayer. 527 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:11,760 I'm reminded as I was studying this of Psalm 119, verse 126, 528 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:15,200 just in case you think that I'm speaking about an isolated case. 529 00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:18,720 Psalm 119, verse 126. I remember hearing this in a 530 00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:21,600 service many, many years ago when I first said and it's been 531 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:24,920 imprinted on my mind, especially in the days that we're living 532 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:26,120 in. It's been resurfacing. 533 00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:29,360 Listen to this. It is time for the Lord to act. 534 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:31,880 Why? For your law has been broken. 535 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:38,160 Not an awesome verse. Lord, you need to do something 536 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:39,720 because they're breaking your law. 537 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:42,680 And just in case you think that that's a tone of a 538 00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:45,920 self-righteous Pharisee, read around that verse and you 539 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:50,400 realize that this man even confesses streams of tear comes 540 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:52,640 down my eyes because they have broken your law. 541 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:57,320 This is a broken man. This is not an unexplainably 542 00:32:57,320 --> 00:32:59,160 angry man. This is not a man who is just 543 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:01,440 looking for a fight. This is a man who has a tender 544 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:04,840 heart and even can't help himself in describing the word 545 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:06,720 of the Lord. Saying Lord, I see how precious 546 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:09,320 and awesome and wise your word is and hear a bunch of people 547 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:11,680 breaking it. Will you do something about it 548 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:16,480 to show yourself true? That's what the psalmist did. 549 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:17,960 If he was David, that's what David did. 550 00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:19,760 That's what Elijah did. That's what Phineas did. 551 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:24,200 That's what the greatest men and women of God have done when they 552 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:26,840 first established in the hearts by the working of the Holy 553 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:28,600 Spirit of jealousy for God's name. 554 00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:32,040 You can't work that self. Yourself into that? 555 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:37,040 That's got to be Holy Spirit inspired A final note about 556 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:38,720 Elijah's praying before we move on. 557 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:41,960 We're still in verse one and two here. 558 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:49,440 Actually, just one. Elijah's praying is connected. 559 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:53,360 To his powerful public ministry. In other words, you see how he's 560 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:56,640 unshakable in his stance publicly. 561 00:33:57,080 --> 00:34:00,960 Do not forget that it started with fervent prayer in private 562 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:05,400 living and receiving from the Lord, and honest and humble 563 00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:11,040 supplication is an overlooked secret to a powerful public 564 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:14,639 ministry. Elijah, according to James, was 565 00:34:14,639 --> 00:34:18,719 praying, and because he was a praying man, he could be a bold 566 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:21,600 preaching man. Let's go to verse 2. 567 00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:26,080 The clock is not my friend tonight. 568 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:31,520 And the word of the Lord in First Kings 17 verse two came to 569 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:35,120 him. Depart from here and turn 570 00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:39,880 eastward and hide yourself by the brook Kareth which is east 571 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:42,719 of the Jordan. So as quickly as Elijah entered 572 00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:46,840 into the scene, he exits. He shows up out of nowhere. 573 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:49,360 It gives a brief prophetic message and the Lord speaks to 574 00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:54,159 him and says not get out of there, says the part, Turn 575 00:34:54,159 --> 00:34:56,400 eastward. And hide yourself. 576 00:34:58,000 --> 00:34:59,840 Why did Lord instruct him to escape? 577 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:01,560 I thought things were just getting started. 578 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:04,000 I mean, you called out the king. You would think. 579 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:05,360 All right, here we go. Round one. 580 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:10,320 No again. Just as quickly as he enters, he 581 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:12,840 evades. And I believe there are multiple 582 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:16,280 reasons for it. It's an indefinite amount of 583 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:18,080 time. The obvious one is for his 584 00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:20,720 protection, because we're going to learn in the next chapter 585 00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:24,600 that Ahab is so infuriated with this declaration that Elijah 586 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,720 makes that he calls for a national hunt, not just a 587 00:35:27,720 --> 00:35:30,320 national hunt for an international investigation. 588 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:34,160 Imagine being that wanted even asked, the neighboring people 589 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:35,680 say, is Elijah hiding in your country? 590 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:39,080 Like that's how intense Ahab is and looking for Elijah to get 591 00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:41,840 rid of him. So protection is the obvious 592 00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:45,040 one, and I'm sure we can make many other safe speculations 593 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:46,840 that there is obviously provision. 594 00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:48,880 Remember, there's a drought going on and the Lord's going to 595 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:52,520 take care of his servant. And not just provision. 596 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:55,720 But there is also a theme in the Bible that when the Lord takes 597 00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:59,680 one or more of his people into the wilderness, that wilderness 598 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,520 season, if I can use that language, is often associated 599 00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:05,080 with preparedness or preparation. 600 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:10,000 That God hides you. He clothes you and He makes you 601 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:12,240 obscure. And he brings you into isolation 602 00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:14,120 to mold you for something that's to come. 603 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:17,800 And that's what you can say about this. 604 00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:21,280 But one thing that is for certain is that this withdrawal 605 00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:26,400 was a great call of faith on Elijah's part. 606 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:31,400 I want you to go somewhere. A palace. 607 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:33,720 A palace for the prophet. Some would preach that. 608 00:36:33,720 --> 00:36:36,160 Yeah. OK, not a palace. 609 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:38,720 What about a home? Just like a nice, humble home. 610 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:43,000 Not even a home. Elijah, I want you to make your 611 00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:49,800 residence your primary residence in the wilderness, and I want 612 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:56,000 you to do it during a drought. And so this man is about to do 613 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:58,560 something that perhaps would cause you to feel a little 614 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:02,120 uncomfortable or jerk. You know, you might think, well, 615 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:03,960 look, it's a hidden brook. That's a gift. 616 00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:05,720 But how long would a hidden brook last? 617 00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:09,800 With a devastating drought that would suck up all the life from 618 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:13,680 the earth. So Elijah hears this and we 619 00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:16,120 don't get any reaction from him. But I wonder what the average 620 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:18,840 person might have felt hearing that you're supposed to go to 621 00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:22,400 this brook and I'm going to have some birds feed you every day. 622 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:28,280 But notice the instruction was an optional. 623 00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:32,840 He says depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself. 624 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:38,560 Why you shall drink from the brook, and I've commanded the 625 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:40,160 Ravens to. Feed you there. 626 00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:43,840 So like many of God's commands, we might be tempted to question 627 00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:47,120 His leadership as we look at the Word and we look at our 628 00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:50,720 situation and we think there are better options in my mind than 629 00:37:50,720 --> 00:37:53,600 what I know God says I should do, like talk to that person 630 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:56,960 that has done something to me or or give in this certain manner 631 00:37:56,960 --> 00:38:00,800 or serve in the certain degree. I rather do ten other things 632 00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:04,440 than in this example. Go to the Brook Kareth and wait 633 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:07,280 there every day for a Raven Butler's to come and drop off my 634 00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:13,160 lunch. That sounds uncomfortable. 635 00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:17,680 Often times obedience does make you feel uncomfortable. 636 00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:19,440 But remember again, look at the language here. 637 00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:22,080 Look, I want you to underline one word in verse 4 if you can. 638 00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:25,160 If you do, if you're an underliner, verse 4 you shall 639 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:28,160 drink from the brook and I have commanded the Ravens to feed 640 00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:29,200 you. He didn't just say feed you, he 641 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:30,120 said feed you. Where? 642 00:38:30,720 --> 00:38:33,200 There. There. 643 00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:38,440 In other words, Elijah, if you want to experience my provision, 644 00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:40,280 you're going to have to go there. 645 00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:43,720 If you want to experience my supervising grace, then you're 646 00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:46,920 going to have to pack up your bags and go where I tell you to 647 00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:49,120 go. And the principle from that is 648 00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:53,040 simple, that the assurance of God's provision, protection, 649 00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:57,760 blessing, call it what you want, is only reserved in the place of 650 00:38:57,760 --> 00:39:01,880 obedience. No matter what you think about 651 00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:04,600 the command and how it fits to your situation and how 652 00:39:04,600 --> 00:39:09,160 inconvenient or impractical it may seem, God can only work and 653 00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:13,360 move in that place where you choose to be, And that is the 654 00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:16,560 place of obedience. Go there and I will meet you 655 00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:20,000 there. Stay in the lane of obedience. 656 00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:25,200 Keep yourself there and you will know God's blessing and as long 657 00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:29,960 as He abided there, He was safe. As long as you remain in the 658 00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:31,600 place of obedience, you are safe. 659 00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:32,760 But there's more to learn from this. 660 00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:35,080 Notice the two objects of provision. 661 00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:38,280 Look at verse 3 again. Depart from here and turn 662 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:40,240 eastward and hide yourself by the brook. 663 00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:45,200 Careth. Sounds pretty normal, right? 664 00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:48,560 If I'm going to drink from something, I can see myself 665 00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:52,320 drinking from a bubbling and streaming. 666 00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:55,760 Body of water, and that's a picture of God's natural 667 00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:58,880 provision in life. The Brook careth is is a picture 668 00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:01,320 of God pointing out the obvious in our day-to-day. 669 00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:06,960 But we should never disconnect even the practical providences 670 00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:09,520 of God any less of his goodness toward us. 671 00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:14,240 So go and just drink from this Brook and God gave you a job, 672 00:40:14,240 --> 00:40:17,320 and you use that money to buy food and you use that money to 673 00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:20,120 pay your utility bills so that you can have clean water and 674 00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:22,080 running water. And you should never think for a 675 00:40:22,080 --> 00:40:24,320 moment. No matter how used to it you 676 00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:26,760 are, no matter how it's even just routine, that God is the 677 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:28,280 one behind that grace in your life. 678 00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:30,680 Being experienced go by the brook. 679 00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:34,520 I'm I'm going to provide you something that's just there and 680 00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:36,200 it's going to benefit you. That's God. 681 00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:43,160 What's not normal is Ravens. Coming as room service. 682 00:40:45,160 --> 00:40:47,720 And that is a picture of God's not his natural provision, his 683 00:40:47,720 --> 00:40:51,320 supernatural provision. And when God sees fit in your 684 00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:55,040 life, he can do something out of the ordinary to make his 685 00:40:55,040 --> 00:40:58,800 goodness known in your life. And that is what we see here. 686 00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:02,360 We see two ways in which God provides for us naturally, 687 00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:05,440 supernaturally. You look at the people of Israel 688 00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:07,760 when they came out of the wilderness once they came into 689 00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:10,200 the land of promise. And what was the description of 690 00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:11,880 the promised Land? It was flowing with what? 691 00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:15,800 Milk and honey. Once you see them coming into 692 00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:18,440 the Promised Land, according to the book of Joshua, the manna 693 00:41:18,440 --> 00:41:21,520 from heaven stopped. The man of heaven was 694 00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:23,080 appropriate when they were in the wilderness. 695 00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:25,080 That is a daily supernatural provision. 696 00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:29,240 Once they came into a land that was fruitful and A and A and 697 00:41:29,240 --> 00:41:32,280 abundance, that reigning of heaven stopped and they had to 698 00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:34,680 get their hands to work and provide for themselves, though 699 00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:37,480 God was still behind that natural provision go by the 700 00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:41,120 brook. So yes your job and and you 701 00:41:41,120 --> 00:41:44,080 being able to have enough in your coverage and and pay for 702 00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:45,480 this and pay for that, that's God. 703 00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:49,320 And when God needs to, He can do something out of the ordinary. 704 00:41:51,480 --> 00:41:55,280 And there are many reasons why the Ravens are not normal. 705 00:41:56,720 --> 00:41:59,160 There are many messages about these Ravens coming to Elijah 706 00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:01,000 that you and I should pay good attention to. 707 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:04,880 The first thing is this that forgot to provide the Ravens to 708 00:42:04,880 --> 00:42:09,360 deliver his lunch. And his dinner, Well, breakfast 709 00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:14,000 and dinner, it's two meals a day, was a demonstration of how 710 00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:16,720 he is absolutely sovereign over every created thing. 711 00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:22,080 So let me remind you what God says about the Ravens himself. 712 00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:27,360 It's in Job 38 verse 41. In Job 38 verse 41, after a 713 00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:30,960 string of statements of God being unlike anything else and 714 00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:35,880 anyone else, he says here in Job 38, verse 41, who provides for 715 00:42:35,880 --> 00:42:37,200 the Raven? It's prey. 716 00:42:40,160 --> 00:42:44,840 When it's young ones cry out to God for help and wander about 717 00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:48,040 for lack of food. What's the answer? 718 00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:50,880 God. God is the one who provides for 719 00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:52,640 the Ravens. And with this in the background 720 00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:56,440 of your mind, you come down to the story of Elijah and you you 721 00:42:56,440 --> 00:42:59,360 realize the expansiveness of God's character and how he 722 00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:02,720 meticulously sustains every stitch of the universe. 723 00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:06,200 Because we see here that the God who provides for the Raven its 724 00:43:06,200 --> 00:43:08,920 food, now uses Ravens to provide food for his servant. 725 00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:14,200 So I'm going to provide the Raven its food, and then the 726 00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:16,960 Raven is going to. I'm going to choose a couple of 727 00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:19,480 Ravens, maybe, and now they're going to provide Elijah his 728 00:43:19,480 --> 00:43:23,120 food. The way you're supposed to feel 729 00:43:23,120 --> 00:43:25,880 about this is that God's resources are unlimited. 730 00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:29,080 God's means of providing for me are absolutely endless. 731 00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:31,440 Let me prove it to you. Go back to First Kings 17. 732 00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:34,240 So he says here I'm going to command the Ravens. 733 00:43:34,240 --> 00:43:36,280 Notice the word command. I've commanded the Ravens to 734 00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:37,960 feed you there. Now, we're not going to touch on 735 00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:39,200 this verse, but it's worth looking at. 736 00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:41,000 Look at verse eight of First Kings 17. 737 00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:43,920 Then the word of the Lord came to him. 738 00:43:44,040 --> 00:43:47,400 Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell 739 00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:49,160 there. Behold, I have commanded a widow 740 00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:54,440 there to feed you. I could command the Ravens if I 741 00:43:54,440 --> 00:43:57,080 want to feed you, Elijah. And this season is done. 742 00:43:57,160 --> 00:44:00,440 The Ravens are retiring, so go to Zarephath. 743 00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:02,880 And I've commanded a widow to feed you. 744 00:44:02,880 --> 00:44:04,840 But it doesn't end there. Go to 1st Kings 19. 745 00:44:08,120 --> 00:44:12,680 Look at verse 4. But he himself went a day's 746 00:44:12,680 --> 00:44:15,400 journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom 747 00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:18,560 tree, and he asked that he might die, saying it is enough now, Oh 748 00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:22,240 Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my father's. 749 00:44:22,480 --> 00:44:25,200 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree, and behold, an 750 00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:27,720 Angel touched them, and set them arise and eat. 751 00:44:31,200 --> 00:44:34,400 How much more proof do you need? It's pretty clear, right? 752 00:44:35,240 --> 00:44:38,160 Here is 1 servant. And here are a manifold ways of 753 00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:40,520 God taking care of him. All right, Elijah, go to the 754 00:44:40,520 --> 00:44:41,520 brook. I'm going to send rave. 755 00:44:41,520 --> 00:44:42,600 You OK? Ravens are done. 756 00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:43,600 I'm going to send a widow. OK. 757 00:44:43,600 --> 00:44:45,080 The widow is that I'm going to send an Angel. 758 00:44:46,520 --> 00:44:47,960 Why are you so afraid of tomorrow? 759 00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:55,960 Why are you so anxious? Why you have a God? 760 00:44:56,680 --> 00:45:00,840 Who could command anything and anyone to serve his purposes in 761 00:45:00,840 --> 00:45:06,440 your life and to sustain you? I know you want the Ravens to 762 00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:13,480 bring grapes and wine and charcuterie boards, and no, he 763 00:45:13,480 --> 00:45:17,360 brought him bread and meat. OK, so don't get frustrated when 764 00:45:17,360 --> 00:45:21,440 luxury doesn't come your way, but he will sustain you and he 765 00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:24,480 will give you the necessary fuel to be his servant. 766 00:45:27,080 --> 00:45:29,040 But a second. Reason why this promise about 767 00:45:29,040 --> 00:45:32,400 Ravens is so demanding of one's trust is because of the nature 768 00:45:32,400 --> 00:45:36,120 of the instrument itself. In two different places in the 769 00:45:36,120 --> 00:45:38,800 Bible, we were told that Ravens are unclean animals. 770 00:45:38,800 --> 00:45:41,240 Not only are they unclean in one place, we're told that they are 771 00:45:41,240 --> 00:45:45,080 an abomination. Wow, out of all. 772 00:45:45,080 --> 00:45:46,360 The animals. You would think that in the 773 00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:49,280 catalogue of the clean animals God would use to help his 774 00:45:49,280 --> 00:45:53,120 servant, but no, he picks one from the list that they were not 775 00:45:53,120 --> 00:45:57,720 supposed to eat. The lesson there is not that God 776 00:45:57,720 --> 00:46:00,400 uses sinful things from time to time to get things done. 777 00:46:00,400 --> 00:46:02,040 No, no, no. Because the prohibition with 778 00:46:02,040 --> 00:46:04,480 Ravens is that they weren't to eat it, but to receive food from 779 00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:06,760 them is no problem. The idea and the lesson here is 780 00:46:06,760 --> 00:46:11,200 that God can use unexpected means to provide for you and to 781 00:46:11,200 --> 00:46:15,080 bless you and to make His way and His will come through for 782 00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:19,800 you unexpected. No Jew would expect if they were 783 00:46:19,800 --> 00:46:22,040 to think how God was going to provide for me, in this case 784 00:46:22,480 --> 00:46:27,720 Ravens doing his bidding. But that's the point because you 785 00:46:27,720 --> 00:46:30,400 know how most Christians think about God moving in their lives 786 00:46:30,400 --> 00:46:32,400 and providing in their lives. Will that be encouragement or 787 00:46:32,400 --> 00:46:36,440 any other thing either God will do it directly in my life or God 788 00:46:36,440 --> 00:46:40,080 will use? Christians, broaden your view of 789 00:46:40,080 --> 00:46:43,120 how God works. You know God can do things that 790 00:46:43,120 --> 00:46:46,520 you don't even see coming. God can use people that you 791 00:46:46,520 --> 00:46:49,480 never thought. You know the Scripture says that 792 00:46:49,480 --> 00:46:51,400 even the wrath of man will praise God. 793 00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:58,560 Have you seen the hearts that God has influenced and moved to 794 00:46:58,560 --> 00:47:07,000 do his will, who he's anointed, what empires, what governors to 795 00:47:07,000 --> 00:47:10,040 fulfill his 'cause? I can tell you of stories, 796 00:47:10,040 --> 00:47:13,520 listen to this, of unbelievers who have been answers to my 797 00:47:13,520 --> 00:47:16,400 prayers in times of need, not Christians. 798 00:47:16,560 --> 00:47:18,800 God has used Christians all the way through, and he still does. 799 00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:20,400 But I can tell you of times where God is. 800 00:47:20,600 --> 00:47:24,160 Shocked me and demanded more praise for me when an unbeliever 801 00:47:24,160 --> 00:47:26,800 stepped into my life like a Raven and dropped something in 802 00:47:26,800 --> 00:47:28,480 my hands where I said How did this happen? 803 00:47:29,080 --> 00:47:30,960 You don't even believe in the same God that I believe in. 804 00:47:32,440 --> 00:47:34,680 Why? Just so you can give God more 805 00:47:34,680 --> 00:47:41,280 glory and so be open. And don't fail to. 806 00:47:41,280 --> 00:47:44,040 Connect the Lord and things that you might not connect with the 807 00:47:44,040 --> 00:47:48,040 Lord. So we see these Ravens coming 808 00:47:48,040 --> 00:47:51,480 and look at the reaction of verse 5 S the first verse of the 809 00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:55,040 first few words of verse 5. So he went and did according to 810 00:47:55,040 --> 00:47:56,520 the word of the Lord. Don't you love that? 811 00:47:58,680 --> 00:48:02,520 No questions, no like Lord so. I'm How are Ravens going to do 812 00:48:02,520 --> 00:48:04,840 this? Exactly how long am I supposed 813 00:48:04,840 --> 00:48:07,040 to Lord? Don't you know that I prayed for 814 00:48:07,040 --> 00:48:08,280 a drought? You answered it. 815 00:48:08,280 --> 00:48:11,880 And that water is not going to last very long. 816 00:48:11,880 --> 00:48:13,960 So do you have, like an expiration date for me to be 817 00:48:13,960 --> 00:48:16,120 here? Nothing. 818 00:48:19,040 --> 00:48:21,000 All right, Go to the brook careth and Ravens will feed me. 819 00:48:21,360 --> 00:48:23,000 I'm going. He didn't know how long he was 820 00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:24,440 going to be there. He didn't know how long that 821 00:48:24,440 --> 00:48:26,160 brook would last. Didn't know how the Ravens are 822 00:48:26,160 --> 00:48:27,680 going to provide. But he did, according to the 823 00:48:27,680 --> 00:48:30,800 word of the Lord. Obedience is sometimes 824 00:48:30,800 --> 00:48:33,600 intimidating. But again, it is only there that 825 00:48:33,600 --> 00:48:36,880 we can expect God's blessing. And that's why we're told that 826 00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:39,240 Elijah look so he went and did. According to the word of the 827 00:48:39,240 --> 00:48:43,880 Lord, he went and lived by the brook careth that is east of the 828 00:48:43,880 --> 00:48:45,440 Jordan. I'm going to live here. 829 00:48:45,720 --> 00:48:48,560 If God told me to go there, then I'm staying right here. 830 00:48:48,560 --> 00:48:51,440 I am placing my tent here. I'm abiding here. 831 00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:54,120 I'm dwelling here until God says otherwise. 832 00:48:57,040 --> 00:49:00,120 But a quick note before we move on and conclude our study. 833 00:49:01,040 --> 00:49:03,800 You already learned something about this man's character. 834 00:49:03,800 --> 00:49:07,480 Even in these first few verses. Elijah's genuinely admired to be 835 00:49:07,480 --> 00:49:11,280 a mighty prophet who stood before crowds of false prophets 836 00:49:11,280 --> 00:49:17,480 and even a vacillating nation. And and even if he stood alone, 837 00:49:17,480 --> 00:49:19,520 he felt like he stood alone. He just called everything out. 838 00:49:19,520 --> 00:49:21,160 He preached. He prayed in public. 839 00:49:21,640 --> 00:49:24,400 That's what he's known for, like this champion of the faith in a 840 00:49:24,400 --> 00:49:27,120 day of apostasy. A preacher, right? 841 00:49:27,160 --> 00:49:28,800 And good. You should admire him for such. 842 00:49:29,400 --> 00:49:31,400 But notice that this man was not just a preacher of the word. 843 00:49:31,400 --> 00:49:34,440 He didn't just come to Abe and says as the Lord lives, he he 844 00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:36,520 didn't just declare the word of Lord, he did the word of the 845 00:49:36,520 --> 00:49:39,000 Lord. Look at verse 5 again. 846 00:49:39,160 --> 00:49:43,480 So he went and did. He did, according to the word of 847 00:49:43,480 --> 00:49:45,520 the Lord. Those are the best kind of 848 00:49:45,520 --> 00:49:48,080 preachers. The preachers that don't just 849 00:49:48,080 --> 00:49:51,520 speak powerfully and and speak convincingly and winsomely know 850 00:49:51,520 --> 00:49:53,640 the preachers actually do what God says. 851 00:49:54,720 --> 00:49:56,280 And that's the kind of man that we are dealing with. 852 00:49:56,280 --> 00:49:58,640 He did according to the word. He didn't just tell others to do 853 00:49:58,640 --> 00:50:03,680 it, he himself did it. And so don't be inspired by 854 00:50:03,680 --> 00:50:07,960 Elijah purely from the standpoint of public ministry. 855 00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:09,640 No. Appreciate this man for his 856 00:50:09,640 --> 00:50:13,120 private obedience when the Lord spoke to him individually. 857 00:50:13,120 --> 00:50:14,000 Says you go. There he goes. 858 00:50:14,000 --> 00:50:17,560 All right, Lord, I'll obey you. In fact, I would say that's more 859 00:50:17,560 --> 00:50:20,560 attractive than anything else. If a man preaches from that 860 00:50:20,560 --> 00:50:23,680 place, oh, they are the most effective servants of God. 861 00:50:24,560 --> 00:50:25,720 He did, according to the word of Lord. 862 00:50:25,720 --> 00:50:29,680 Now look at verse 6. And the Ravens brought him bread 863 00:50:29,680 --> 00:50:34,360 and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening. 864 00:50:34,760 --> 00:50:36,320 Bread and me. Not just bread, not just me. 865 00:50:36,320 --> 00:50:37,960 You know what I mean? He probably made sandwiches. 866 00:50:41,800 --> 00:50:45,640 Meat sandwiches in the morning. Meat sandwiches in the evening. 867 00:50:46,280 --> 00:50:48,160 And look at this. And he drank from the brook. 868 00:50:49,320 --> 00:50:51,960 Beautiful. How the Lord took care of him. 869 00:50:52,960 --> 00:50:59,040 Something happens in verse 7 and after a while the brook dried 870 00:50:59,600 --> 00:51:03,920 up. Because there was no rain in the 871 00:51:03,920 --> 00:51:08,160 land. The brook dried up. 872 00:51:08,680 --> 00:51:10,760 Didn't the Lord know that the brook was going to dry up? 873 00:51:11,440 --> 00:51:14,160 Think the Lord was surprised? Oh, sorry I sent you there. 874 00:51:14,160 --> 00:51:16,320 I didn't know that the brook was going to dry up. 875 00:51:17,640 --> 00:51:22,320 No, he obviously knew the brook was going to dry up. 876 00:51:24,000 --> 00:51:27,000 It makes you wonder why we're not told how long Elijah was 877 00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:30,880 there by the brook. I wonder if it became common to 878 00:51:30,880 --> 00:51:32,960 him. I wonder after a few days that 879 00:51:32,960 --> 00:51:35,960 he expected the Ravens to come drop it off Like it. 880 00:51:35,960 --> 00:51:38,080 The shock factor was gone. Right? 881 00:51:38,720 --> 00:51:41,680 Like just the Ravens coming another day drinking from the 882 00:51:41,680 --> 00:51:46,520 brook. And then at a certain point that 883 00:51:46,520 --> 00:51:49,720 body of water began to lessen and diminish and you began to 884 00:51:49,720 --> 00:51:51,680 see the earth. And there's now became a few 885 00:51:51,680 --> 00:51:56,880 puddles here and there. Why would the Lord go through 886 00:51:56,880 --> 00:52:00,480 all this effort, call this man to go in this direction, stay in 887 00:52:00,480 --> 00:52:04,400 a place in a drought only for this to be the consequence? 888 00:52:07,360 --> 00:52:10,800 In fact, look at verse 8 quickly and notice that the Lord spoke 889 00:52:10,800 --> 00:52:13,600 to Elijah with the next set of instructions only after the 890 00:52:13,600 --> 00:52:16,160 brook dried up. Then the word of the Lord came 891 00:52:16,160 --> 00:52:21,880 to him. You know your first exposure to 892 00:52:21,880 --> 00:52:24,720 Elijah and how he related to Lord should teach you many 893 00:52:24,720 --> 00:52:28,920 things, including this. God enjoys leading you and I 894 00:52:29,400 --> 00:52:35,400 step by step, step by step. You know, by the time Elijah 895 00:52:35,400 --> 00:52:38,640 revisits and confronts Ahab once again, it'll be three years. 896 00:52:39,560 --> 00:52:43,240 So between this and the rest of the chapter where he lives with 897 00:52:43,240 --> 00:52:46,320 this widow, he goes to Ahab. And it will be after three 898 00:52:46,320 --> 00:52:47,800 years. You know what? 899 00:52:47,800 --> 00:52:50,680 Most of us would really like, you know how most of us think 900 00:52:50,680 --> 00:52:52,920 God acts in our lives? That in the beginning of 901 00:52:52,920 --> 00:52:54,560 something He would give us the full schedule? 902 00:52:55,840 --> 00:52:58,640 Here's how most of us would like God to lead us in our lives. 903 00:52:59,520 --> 00:53:01,840 I need you to go to the Brook. Kareth Ravens will feed you 904 00:53:01,840 --> 00:53:04,960 there every single day. At some point, probably after 905 00:53:04,960 --> 00:53:07,000 two months, Elijah. Expect that brook to dry up. 906 00:53:08,040 --> 00:53:09,720 And once that brook dries up, I'm going to send you to 907 00:53:09,720 --> 00:53:11,640 Zarephath and Sidon. I know it's shocking. 908 00:53:11,640 --> 00:53:13,120 It's not in Israel, but I'm going to send you there. 909 00:53:13,320 --> 00:53:15,520 There's a widow. She's, she's already set at the 910 00:53:15,520 --> 00:53:16,840 right time. I'm going to tell her to provide 911 00:53:16,840 --> 00:53:18,120 for you. You're going to go there. 912 00:53:18,200 --> 00:53:19,280 She's going to have everything ready. 913 00:53:19,280 --> 00:53:20,920 You might have to challenge her a little bit, but she's going to 914 00:53:20,920 --> 00:53:22,640 receive from you. Then you're going to be there 915 00:53:22,640 --> 00:53:24,120 for a little bit. It's going to be wonderful. 916 00:53:24,480 --> 00:53:26,560 But then her son's going to die, and then you're going to raise 917 00:53:26,560 --> 00:53:27,560 him from the dead. I'm going to show my 918 00:53:27,560 --> 00:53:29,200 resurrection power, even in that trial. 919 00:53:29,200 --> 00:53:31,040 And then what's going to happen is you're going to come before 920 00:53:31,040 --> 00:53:32,800 Ahab and it's going to be a little scary because all his 921 00:53:32,800 --> 00:53:34,280 prophets are going to be there. But I'm going to tell. 922 00:53:37,840 --> 00:53:40,360 You It sounds silly and we're like, you know, we're laughing, 923 00:53:40,360 --> 00:53:43,680 but we're like, I kind of want that, though I do want that. 924 00:53:43,680 --> 00:53:48,280 That sounds really good. That's not how our God works in 925 00:53:48,280 --> 00:53:50,560 life. That's not how God leads you. 926 00:53:51,160 --> 00:53:57,360 That's not He enjoys leading you step by step because he wants 927 00:53:57,360 --> 00:54:00,680 your faith to grow in every season. 928 00:54:02,280 --> 00:54:05,200 That's what he wants. And the only way that faith is 929 00:54:05,200 --> 00:54:09,200 going to grow and mature and stretch and be more shiny and 930 00:54:09,200 --> 00:54:16,040 strong is if you don't get the full schedule, If you ever feel 931 00:54:16,720 --> 00:54:20,520 like God has maybe maybe getting a little bit more extra special 932 00:54:20,520 --> 00:54:23,000 attention to this person or that person around you and who you 933 00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:25,200 are feeling like you're at a crossroads or you're abandoned 934 00:54:25,480 --> 00:54:26,800 and something just taken from you. 935 00:54:26,800 --> 00:54:29,520 Whatever the case may be with no answers, remember that God 936 00:54:29,520 --> 00:54:33,400 treated Elijah that way, so you're in good company. 937 00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:38,080 Go to the brook. Not going to tell you when to 938 00:54:38,080 --> 00:54:40,360 leave. You know, like he could have 939 00:54:40,360 --> 00:54:41,720 told them. Elijah heads up. 940 00:54:41,720 --> 00:54:43,360 The brook is going to drive. Don't be scared. 941 00:54:43,360 --> 00:54:44,760 No. He waits till the thing dries 942 00:54:44,760 --> 00:54:45,800 up. Then he speaks to him. 943 00:54:48,080 --> 00:54:50,520 So even in that moment, I wonder what Elijah felt. 944 00:54:51,000 --> 00:54:55,080 It makes you wonder that for God to do this is a reminder for 945 00:54:55,080 --> 00:54:59,280 Elijah. Refocus and realign your faith 946 00:54:59,320 --> 00:55:02,000 in me, ultimately. Not in this Brook, not in the 947 00:55:02,000 --> 00:55:07,480 Ravens, in me. And I think there's something 948 00:55:07,480 --> 00:55:12,240 here that is so important that I believe resonates with every 949 00:55:12,240 --> 00:55:13,600 single one of us. And I'm ending here. 950 00:55:14,800 --> 00:55:17,080 There's something here so important because as we see, 951 00:55:17,080 --> 00:55:19,440 God's leadership as his Providence does lead us, and 952 00:55:19,440 --> 00:55:21,840 sometimes in moments, he can make it so clear what you're 953 00:55:21,840 --> 00:55:23,280 supposed to do. I believe God can do that. 954 00:55:23,280 --> 00:55:29,280 Who am I to say he can't? We tend to be tempted in times 955 00:55:29,280 --> 00:55:31,640 where we enter into a place where we believe. 956 00:55:31,640 --> 00:55:33,080 This is where obedience has led me. 957 00:55:33,080 --> 00:55:36,120 But here's now a challenge, and here's now an obstacle. 958 00:55:36,280 --> 00:55:41,640 And here's now something being if I can use this drying up, You 959 00:55:41,640 --> 00:55:43,400 know what we're tempted to do in those moments? 960 00:55:43,560 --> 00:55:45,920 We've all entertained the thought. 961 00:55:45,960 --> 00:55:48,600 At some point, you were in that place. 962 00:55:48,600 --> 00:55:51,280 You were comfortable, you were celebrating the fact that God 963 00:55:51,280 --> 00:55:54,400 brought you there through obedience, and now you're 964 00:55:54,400 --> 00:55:56,440 wondering because of something that doesn't make sense. 965 00:55:56,800 --> 00:56:03,920 Did God really lead me here? OK, let me help you relate it to 966 00:56:03,920 --> 00:56:07,320 life. You've prayed, you've sought 967 00:56:07,320 --> 00:56:09,040 God. You waited on God, and you feel 968 00:56:09,040 --> 00:56:10,880 like this is what God provided for you. 969 00:56:11,000 --> 00:56:13,240 And here you are now, and there's some kerfuffle. 970 00:56:13,480 --> 00:56:15,520 There's some issue. There's some problem. 971 00:56:15,600 --> 00:56:18,800 That's uncomfortable. Did God really lead me to this 972 00:56:18,800 --> 00:56:20,960 Logo church? I'm I'm beginning to have second 973 00:56:20,960 --> 00:56:24,520 thoughts about it. Here you Are you ready for this? 974 00:56:26,240 --> 00:56:28,560 Is this really? The person I'm supposed to be 975 00:56:28,560 --> 00:56:34,800 married to, Is this the state that I'm supposed to live in? 976 00:56:35,240 --> 00:56:37,640 Like, for the first six months I was like, yeah, God brought me 977 00:56:37,640 --> 00:56:39,040 here. And look at this wonderful 978 00:56:39,040 --> 00:56:40,760 church I'm a part of and look at this group of friends. 979 00:56:40,960 --> 00:56:43,040 And if something happens, maybe you experienced your first 980 00:56:43,040 --> 00:56:52,320 winter in Chicago. Am I supposed to be here if 981 00:56:52,360 --> 00:56:55,640 obedience brought you there? If you've prayed, if you like 982 00:56:55,640 --> 00:56:57,680 Elijah, we're walking in alignment with God's will. 983 00:56:57,680 --> 00:57:02,960 You have no reason to doubt, no reason to question, and don't 984 00:57:02,960 --> 00:57:05,800 allow these things to cause you to think otherwise. 985 00:57:06,680 --> 00:57:09,360 Not that Elijah did, but I think it's a wonderful illustration of 986 00:57:09,360 --> 00:57:10,880 where we might be tempted to do that. 987 00:57:13,440 --> 00:57:16,800 In those moments, remember Elijah and this moment of his 988 00:57:16,800 --> 00:57:19,880 life. The brook dried up not because 989 00:57:19,880 --> 00:57:24,320 of disobedience, but because of his obedience. 990 00:57:25,760 --> 00:57:27,080 And this would ultimately do what? 991 00:57:27,080 --> 00:57:28,000 What? What would that do? 992 00:57:28,000 --> 00:57:29,720 Cause him to depend on the Lord once again. 993 00:57:31,320 --> 00:57:32,760 He depend on the Lord all that time. 994 00:57:32,760 --> 00:57:34,600 And now he's going to depend on the Lord in a new way. 995 00:57:34,600 --> 00:57:36,800 And you know what? Let me make this very practical 996 00:57:36,800 --> 00:57:39,800 and very personal to all of us when I thought about this this 997 00:57:39,800 --> 00:57:42,120 afternoon. And all the different. 998 00:57:42,120 --> 00:57:45,240 Scenarios where that could be true right of being tempted to 999 00:57:45,240 --> 00:57:48,640 rethink and reconsider God's leading in our lives. 1000 00:57:48,640 --> 00:57:52,760 Look at us as a church. In the season, think about it. 1001 00:57:52,800 --> 00:57:56,240 One person who's been part of this church that doubts that God 1002 00:57:56,240 --> 00:58:00,120 brought us to four Seven O 1 N Canfield Ave. two years ago. 1003 00:58:01,160 --> 00:58:03,160 God brought us here, no doubt about it. 1004 00:58:03,160 --> 00:58:05,480 But what are we experiencing these days? 1005 00:58:05,720 --> 00:58:07,000 If I can borrow. The language of first. 1006 00:58:07,000 --> 00:58:10,600 Kings 17 The brook is drying up, isn't it? 1007 00:58:11,480 --> 00:58:12,560 The brook is. Drying up. 1008 00:58:13,520 --> 00:58:16,520 And it's getting challenging. But you know what shouldn't 1009 00:58:16,520 --> 00:58:19,920 cause you to fluster, shouldn't cause you to doubt, shouldn't 1010 00:58:19,920 --> 00:58:22,800 cause you to rethink. If God really LED us here to 1011 00:58:22,800 --> 00:58:25,760 begin with, you know God did leave us, lead us here. 1012 00:58:26,520 --> 00:58:31,120 And God used not Ravens, not unclean things, not questionable 1013 00:58:31,120 --> 00:58:33,720 things, but a beautiful, gracious Polish congregation to 1014 00:58:33,720 --> 00:58:36,840 host us. And what's What are we to do 1015 00:58:36,840 --> 00:58:37,840 with? This I believe. 1016 00:58:37,840 --> 00:58:40,720 We're to do with it, if we can borrow the inspiration of First 1017 00:58:40,720 --> 00:58:43,440 Kings 17 and that point of Elijah's life that as things are 1018 00:58:43,440 --> 00:58:46,480 drying up and we're thinking it's getting a little 1019 00:58:46,480 --> 00:58:48,560 comfortable and we're looking at, we're like it's a drought 1020 00:58:48,560 --> 00:58:53,680 out there too. All of that was just preparing, 1021 00:58:53,680 --> 00:58:55,080 Elijah. For the next thing. 1022 00:58:57,800 --> 00:58:59,720 If God brought Elijah up to that point, you think he's. 1023 00:58:59,720 --> 00:59:01,840 Going to let him shrivel up in the desert with that brook? 1024 00:59:03,320 --> 00:59:06,560 No, he doesn't. If he's brought you this far, 1025 00:59:06,800 --> 00:59:10,240 he'll bring you until the end. If he brought you this far, he 1026 00:59:10,240 --> 00:59:11,400 will begin a good working with you. 1027 00:59:12,240 --> 00:59:13,920 It's faithful to bring it to completion. 1028 00:59:14,320 --> 00:59:28,440 Let's pray. What a mighty God you are. 1029 00:59:30,160 --> 00:59:32,120 Elijah. Was a man. 1030 00:59:32,640 --> 00:59:38,440 With a nature like ours. Thank you, Lord, that you have 1031 00:59:38,440 --> 00:59:40,280 given us. Even in the New Testament. 1032 00:59:42,160 --> 00:59:46,680 The invitation to draw inspiration from this man and 1033 00:59:46,680 --> 00:59:48,800 thank you that your word. Declares that these former. 1034 00:59:48,800 --> 00:59:52,360 Things that were written were written for our encouragement. 1035 00:59:53,440 --> 01:00:00,160 Lord, we sit here today reminded of your faithfulness that you 1036 01:00:00,160 --> 01:00:01,960 are a God. Who takes greatest? 1037 01:00:01,960 --> 01:00:04,360 Delight in the faith of your people, and you put us in 1038 01:00:04,360 --> 01:00:08,040 predicaments and circumstances that would demand faith. 1039 01:00:10,200 --> 01:00:12,760 And Lord. We are here, yes, as a Church 1040 01:00:12,760 --> 01:00:14,680 experiencing something so similar. 1041 01:00:16,560 --> 01:00:18,600 And Lord. There is a very high chance 1042 01:00:18,600 --> 01:00:20,160 that. Many people in this room right 1043 01:00:20,160 --> 01:00:24,520 now who are going through their own challenges wondering, Lord, 1044 01:00:24,520 --> 01:00:28,640 what's next? May we be like Elijah, who did 1045 01:00:28,640 --> 01:00:32,200 not move until they knew what you had to say. 1046 01:00:34,560 --> 01:00:37,920 And we pray that you give us the ears to hear, the eyes to see 1047 01:00:37,920 --> 01:00:43,200 the right counsel, to receive clarity in the word of God, to 1048 01:00:43,200 --> 01:00:47,320 know how to make the most calculated and obedient move 1049 01:00:47,320 --> 01:00:51,640 possible. We love you, Lord. 1050 01:00:52,360 --> 01:00:57,880 Wow, there is no one like you and we thank. 1051 01:00:57,880 --> 01:01:00,360 You that you are the God. Who lives? 1052 01:01:01,560 --> 01:01:04,480 And we ask, Lord, that at the conclusion of this Bible study, 1053 01:01:04,480 --> 01:01:06,240 you would help us gird up our loins. 1054 01:01:06,240 --> 01:01:10,040 You would strengthen our knees so that we, like Elijah, can be 1055 01:01:10,120 --> 01:01:13,880 servants who stand before you, ready to do what you 1056 01:01:13,880 --> 01:01:17,920 commissioned us to do, whether it is convenient or scary, 1057 01:01:19,040 --> 01:01:21,160 profitable in the moment or not. Help. 1058 01:01:21,160 --> 01:01:25,200 Us Lord, be this. Bold, courageous people that you 1059 01:01:25,200 --> 01:01:28,040 want us? To be and to believe that you're 1060 01:01:28,040 --> 01:01:31,600 going to take. Care of us along the way, we 1061 01:01:31,600 --> 01:01:33,680 just. Sit in silence now, reflecting. 1062 01:01:33,680 --> 01:01:37,560 On these truths pouring out our hearts before you in Jesus name, 1063 01:01:38,000 --> 01:01:43,000 Amen. Yeah, the praise team can come. 1064 01:01:43,720 --> 01:01:45,840 I want to encourage you to do something just in holy 1065 01:01:45,840 --> 01:01:49,920 reverence. Just sit in your Pew and if you 1066 01:01:49,920 --> 01:01:52,920 want to remain seated while they play and sing the final song, 1067 01:01:52,920 --> 01:01:55,440 you can't do that as long as you are engaging with the Lord. 1068 01:01:55,640 --> 01:01:59,080 But even before we play right away, let's just I want to do 1069 01:01:59,080 --> 01:02:00,640 this. At least I hope you'll join me 1070 01:02:00,640 --> 01:02:02,920 in that. I want to just pause and sit 1071 01:02:02,920 --> 01:02:05,320 there and reflect on a few things with the Lord. 1072 01:02:05,960 --> 01:02:09,520 Express my heart to Him, and we can collectively express our 1073 01:02:09,520 --> 01:02:12,320 heart to Him and song. Can we do that just a minute or 1074 01:02:12,320 --> 01:02:13,920 two? Let's do that together.