Lord, with so much noise in the world, we are thankful for a
place where we can be still and be even sometimes silent in your
presence. Lord, we ask that you fill us
with the Holy Spirit so that we can be fully attentive and
energized to receive from Your Holy Word.
None of us. Are worthy to experience your
graces. But that's exactly what grace is
all about. You long to pour out your
spirit, your truth, on those who are humble and contrite.
And so we pray, Lord, that you would make us aware of your
goodness. Every moment that passes in this
Bible study, clear our thoughts from the clutter of confusion
and distraction, maybe even tiredness or whatever it is that
would hinder or put obstacles for this truth to be deposited
in our hearts. Deliver us even now so that we
can receive everything the way you intended it to be received.
We glorify you tonight as a body and we give you praise for this
study In Jesus name. Amen.
We'll turn in your Bibles to 1st Kings Chapter 17.
And before we break open this chapter together, I believe it
is important to recapture the spiritual condition of the
nation of Israel that we explored last week.
As a summary, Israel has now tolerated idolatry in a whole
new level. Bill worship was not just
prevalent, it has been deemed as the state religion and this
initiative was campaigned by King Ahab yes, but it was
ultimately due to the influence of his demon worshipping defying
domineering wife named Jezebel. She was the mastermind behind
this and this imported, imported false worship created an
atmosphere so deplorable, so widespread, that King Ahab
gained the reputation of being the vilest king in Israel's
history. A temple of Baal was built not
in some random place, but strategically in the capital of
Israel. Samaria, and things in Israel
are looking bleaker than ever. You have the Levites and a
majority of the true worshippers of God vacated.
They have left the land. They have migrated to the
Southern Kingdom. You have a government with
spiritual leadership that is increasing in perversion.
You have the common people that willingly invite the curses of
God in their pursuit of idolatry.
And at this point, the worship of Jehovah is virtually on the
brink of extinction. And as you and I have studied
Chapter 16 and witnessed the spiraling direction of this
nation, you're left to wonder, I'm sure, What will God do at
this point? How will he intervene, if he
will not intervene at all? Will he send sweeping judgment?
That's something we would expect.
Will he put a halt to this by doing something so catastrophic,
so obvious, that no matter who you are, you would not be able
to withstand his fury? That's what we might do.
But instead what we see God doing in this chapter that we
are ready to study is that he raises up a man of God.
He raises up a prophet who are powerfully confront the powers
that be. And the man who will be
commissioned for this awesome task is named Elijah.
Elijah is someone who is going to have an incredibly strong and
convicting ministry, and as incredibly profound his ministry
will be as in your face as it will be as as obviously
captivating as it is. Do not confuse the boldness and
the courage and even the things that take place throughout his
ministry as anything less of an expression of manifestation of
the mercy of God. Elijah appearing the way he
appears, yes, though he is rugged, a little rough on the
edges. Though he is commissioned to
confront all this corruption, this is nothing short of God's
grace because through Elijah, he's going to manifest himself
in a very unique way and he's going to compel this people to
come back to the true and living God.
Elijah, listen, not only played an influential role at this
critical point in Israel's history, but he's actually
mentioned, as you know, in significant ways in the New
Testament, especially in the gospel accounts.
Elijah is an important character in the word of God.
And as important as he is, you might be surprised to realize
that he didn't write a book. He wasn't like Isaiah.
He wasn't like Jeremiah. He wasn't like Ezekiel, where
God has preserved their writings for the rest of human history.
Elijah didn't have any recorded teachings or prophecies.
Nevertheless, it does not discount the absolute importance
that he played in the spiritual renewal and survival of Israel's
covenant with God. Interestingly, there is nothing
mentioned of Elijah's lineage or his heritage.
Nothing. On top of that, we don't even
have the record of his call into the prophetic office.
In fact, when you read chapter 17, his introduction in the Word
of God seems abrupt. He flashes on the scene like
this lightning strike that cuts through the backdrop of moral
undisturbed blackness. It's almost shocking.
It's almost startling. And if you've studied the life
of this man before, then you know that he is indeed a very
distinct, again unique servant of God.
He almost reads like a superhero of some kind, and because of
that, you might be tempted to admire Elijah from a distance.
You and I, even in the context of a Bible study, might be
willing to simply examine and study him as a rare specimen in
redemptive history. But even in the New Testament,
we are explicitly encouraged to look at Elijah and to actually
draw from his life, encouragement and example for
your walk with the same God that Elijah served.
In other words, we're not looking just at someone to again
pick apart and see some clever connections with his story with
the rest of the Bible, you and I right away have to bend our
hearts and posture it in a manner in which we are ready to
receive God's provision for practical instruction through
Elijah's life. If you're not ready here to say,
OK, what is it that God wants me to learn about me becoming the
Christian I'm called to be through Elijah's example?
You're at the wrong Bible study. You're at the wrong Bible study.
We're not here to watch a movie, so to speak, and get emotionally
stirred up and maybe impressed by some things we're here to
say. OK, Lord, furnish me now through
First Kings 17/18/19. Yes, through the rest of the
book, but especially in this episode of First Kings where
we're dealing with this amazing man of God named Elijah.
And so let's begin now with that brief summary of this man.
Again, it's brief because there's little mention of him,
but all is there. So much to learn about him.
And so if you were expecting to come through this chapter in its
entirety in this Bible study, we can't.
I'm sorry, not at least with me can't with me.
I'm I was too hard. It's harder to complete it in
one setting than it is to at least stop at verse 7.
So let's read the 1st 7 verses together and then let's take our
time to examine it for our equipment.
Verse one. Now Elijah, the tishbite of
Tishbi 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 and the word of the Lord came to
him. Depart from here and turn
eastward, and hide yourself by the brook careth which is east
of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook,
and I have commanded the Ravens to feed you there.
So he went and did according to the word of the Lord.
He went and lived by the brook careth 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.
Elijah arrives before Ahab and he declares A prophetic message
in the. Name of the Lord.
But in that message he makes these statements in connection
to the name of the Lord. That is worth pausing and
meditating on. There are three elements to what
Elijah says with the authorization of the Lord's
name, that we should pay attention to and simmer on in
order to understand the mind of God and the mind of God in the
servant of God. What are the three things?
At least point out a couple things that we see here in
verse. One that is noteworthy after
Elijah says that as the Lord and we fill in the blank, What are
some components to this that that are important and relevant?
What are the titles and characteristics that he makes to
the Lord? Oh, good one is one of them is
the Lord lives as the Lord the God of Israel lives.
That's important. So let's put that aside.
There's other things before him being the living God, we skipped
over something. The Lord what?
The God of where? Israel.
So see that seems to be such a a normal thing for prophets to say
that we kind of might skip over it.
No, it's incredibly powerful in the context of Ahab being the
king of Israel, which we'll get into another moment.
The other thing might be a little bit more difficult to to
pluck out, but I think there's something there when he says
before whom I stand. So let's look at these things
separately as the Lord one, the God of Israel.
That's important. Who is the king of Israel at
this time? And who did Ahab and his wife
try to declare the God of Israel to be?
Not Yahweh Baal. And so now you have Elijah, who
now confronts this king. And he says, as the Lord, let me
sharply remind you who the true and living God of Israel is.
It's Yahweh. So this is not accidental.
This is strategic. And again, that might not
impress you and I as Americans who still have the freedom to
express ourselves and to even confront and challenge other
beliefs and world views. But may I remind you the high
cost of speaking in this way and dealing with those who had
opposing views of this time? Look at chapter 18, verse four.
And look at what this government did to those who claim to be
associated with the Lord in First Kings 18 Four.
And when Jezebel cut off the profits of the Lord, you know
what cut off means not canceling your membership.
Cut off means cutting you off from the face of the earth.
Obadiah took 100 prophets and hid them by 50s in a cave and
fed them with bread and water. So Elijah's ministry arose
during a time where if you were a messenger of God, if you were
a preacher, if you were a pastor, so to speak, if you were
on staff at a Bible college, wherever you were, whatever you
did, if you were associated with the true living God and preached
His Word and taught it, you risked your life.
And if you weren't killed, then you were hiding in some cave for
an undisclosed amount of time. You know what got me thinking?
If you have a man like this who was willing to speak so
courageously, where he could have his life taken from him
before he even finished his declaration, why are we so
afraid to speak up in the name of God in a time like this?
We don't have any threat of risking and losing our lives.
But people are afraid for losing.
What? What are you afraid of losing
For speaking the truth. Oh, I'm telling you, you're
going to learn, and you're going to learn this every single time.
We study this man in this study First kings.
We need more Elijah's. If there was a spirit of Elijah,
yes it was on this man. Yes it came upon Elijah and a
double portion. Yes, it was on John the Baptist.
I know those are unique moments in history, but the principles
and the convictions of this man I'm sure can be copy pasted on
those who desire it. This man had something so
awesome about him by declaring he is the God of Israel.
Additionally, this introduction shows something about the mind
of God, because God is the one who commissioned him to do this
and to say this. Notice what happens here in an
age of compromise. You don't want to learn about
God that in a time where there is rebellion and confusion and
outright even persecution, you don't get quieter about the
truth. You don't turn down the volume.
No, you have to be willing to confront, listen specific
falsehoods. You have to be able to speak out
on things that people are contorting and twisting where
God has already revealed the truth about.
Notice he says, the God of Israel.
Why? Because what was the issue of
the day? They claimed that the God of
Israel was not Yahweh, it was bail.
And Elijah was willing to pinpoint that and say you're
wrong right there. So he wasn't being general with
his convictions. He was being very specific.
And so if this culture is confused about anything, you
know what your duty and mine is as the church to speak out on
those things specifically not to paint it with a broad brush, not
this tiptoe around it when it is necessary.
And when we are called upon to give an answer, we must be able
to say yes. This is what you're saying about
humanity. This is what you're saying about
life in the womb. This is what you're saying about
gender. This is what you're saying about
whatever the case may be. And here's what God says about
it. That's what Elijah shows us
right away and not just Elijah. Elijah's not running here rogue.
He's not just trying to cause something because he has this
desire on his own. This is God commissioning him to
do this. And I learned from this man.
I learned something about God that he desires for us in a time
like this, to speak out on particular issues and to strain
those issues in the consciousness of men with God's
word. And if you have any doubt that
that's God's strategy in times like this, then consider
Elijah's name. Elijah's name is a message in
itself. Elijah simply means what Yahweh
is God or Yahweh is my God. So never mind a sermon to
preach. Every time you called about
Elijah, you might have been convicted in a time where
everybody believed and was starting to believe more and
more. That bail is God.
Whenever you called Elijah, whenever Elijah was summoned,
you were being reminded, oh, Yahweh is God.
So even the man's name was something that was fashioned by
God to illustrate this point, that in an age of compromise,
you speak out, you don't coddle, you don't pamper, you don't
tiptoe. That's not what we called been
called to do. So that's the God of Israel.
But there's a second thing. As the Lord, the God of Israel,
second part lives. He's the living God.
And I'm here to remind you, Ahab, that he is the living God.
Now why would he need to say that?
Perhaps this was something that the people of Israel adopted
over time? Because remember first Kings 16,
where we saw one succeeding king after the next doing deplorable,
vile, evil, despicable things, and there seemed to be little
considerable consequences for them.
There wasn't like major history turning interventions.
And I wonder if because of that stretch of time where one king
after the next was more evil than the one before, and there
seem to be little things happening as a result of it.
Perhaps the people of Israel began to believe that Yahweh was
inactive. Where is he?
But you and I remember that at the end of chapter 16, when he
out rebuilt the city of Jericho, God's curse was manifest.
And it's right there where Elijah appears, because Elijah
now is about to tell Ahab and Israel what you saw with Jericho
is only the beginning. There's a lot more coming now.
And so this was a reminder to Ahab, contrary to popular
belief, Yahweh's alive. And put on your seat belt, Ahab.
You're about to witness it for yourself.
So he was ready to demonstrate that.
But look at the third thing. This thing moves my heart every
time I read it, Elijah says, As the Lord, the God of Israel
lives before whom I stand. That is a statement that
describes the practice and position of a ready servant.
There are a couple of other examples in the scriptures where
that phrase before whom I stand indicates that you are in a
posture, ready to be sent, ready to perform anything of the
person that you were standing before and has authority over
you. And Elijah here is claiming that
I stand before this living God who is the God of Israel.
And this is more than a confession, A fearless
confession of this devotion that he has to the true God.
This also is a man who is telling Ahab that I am a person
who lives in the presence of God.
In other words, he's saying that I abide.
I dwell. I live my day-to-day with this
conscious acknowledgement that. God is the God of Israel and he
is the living God. I live before God.
I live before the Lord. And I have no doubt that this is
a major component to his fearless stance in a time like.
This you see? Before, before this, you had all
this corruption, all these leaders, all this craziness, and
all the while you have a man who is living before the presence of
God, and now he comes to the most wicked king of them all,
and he can say, I will not bow before you.
Implying that because I stand before God you will not fear
kings if your if your perception in life, if your view is
constantly with the king of kings ever before you.
If you have that filter, you can even stand before leaders who
with the snap of their finger can get rid of you.
I stand before God and because I stand before God I can stand
before anybody. I stand before God because I
stand before God. I don't have to kneel before you
or before your gods, no matter how much of A price that is.
That's the secret. So now we continue.
He gives this introduction. Look at this.
We're still in verse one. The second part of verse one.
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.
Here it is. Ahab.
This has gone on for too long, and I'm here to tell you.
And I adjure you, and I'm here to promise.
You that God is going to bring a drought and this drought is
going to last for years. Why a drought?
Out of all the things we've seen God do many things as
demonstrations of His judgment by why specifically a drought?
While history tells us that Baal was recognized by the
Phoenicians as a storm. God.
And so the population believe that Baal was the one who was
sovereign over the heavens and He was the one who dispensed
rains and withhold rains, and he was the one who enriched the
lands and ultimately was the source of their livelihood, of
their economy. And so this is how Bale was
recognized. And now you have Elijah, who's
saying here, I want to tell you something, in the name of the
Lord, the God of Israel who lives, and I'm the one who
stands before him, It's not going to rain, OK?
Your God is the God of the storms.
Prove it. Drought for a few years.
Call me when things change, and that might be a helpful extra
biblical insight into this encounter, but you don't even
have to go there because the Bible itself tells us why a
drought came and why a drought would be issued.
So turn into your Bibles to Deuteronomy Chapter 11 and
notice what God said in his law as one of the warnings that
would come about for the disobedience of his people,
specifically in worshipping other gods.
Look at Deuteronomy 11, verse 16 with me.
Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and
serve other gods and worship them.
Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He
will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the
land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the
good land that the Lord is giving you.
So again, here is a prophet who's doing what true prophets
do, reminding people of what they have forsaken, and that is
the word of God. And in the same way, in the last
part of verse of of chapter 16, rather God's Word concerning
whoever rebuilds Jericho will be cursed, proving that God's word
was alive. Here you have Elijah now
doubling down on that saying, listen, every part of God's word
is alive. So didn't you not learn from
Joshua chapter six? They didn't have chapters and
verses. By the way, do you not learn
from the mouth of Joshua that whoever rebuilds the walls of
Jericho would lose the life of their first born and their
youngest? And now I'm here to remind you
of something that you overlooked.
Ahab, God already warned you hundreds of years ago that if
you were to worship other gods that he will make the heavens
brass and there will be no rain and you will perish off the good
land. So God's word is alive because
he is the living God, and he means what he says.
But there's something more going on here, something more than
this historical drought being connected to a previous passage
in the Bible. I submit to you that the reason
why there is a drought is because of another factor, not
just because of a prophetic declaration based on the word of
God. You ready for this, but because
of a. Praying, man.
You know where I'm going with this, do you not?
Maybe you don't, but you remember James, Chapter 5.
And what did James by the Holy Spirit add to the story?
In terms of commentary, James 517 tells us Elijah was a man
with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might
not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain
on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven
gave rain and the earth bore its fruit.
I've always known this passage as early as I can remember.
Reading James, but maybe you haven't considered this.
People tend to go to this passage to teach believers in
the New Covenant how to be a man of prayer, how to be a woman of
prayer, among other places, and it's a right place to go.
James uses Elijah as an example to encourage the believers.
But based on Deuteronomy 11, I have another insight about
Elijah's praying. When Elijah prayed that there
would be no rain, he didn't pull that out of his own head.
This isn't just him determining what he thought should happen.
If if you if you see it that way, then you might take this
text to mean something that it's not intended to teach.
That if you really pray fervently enough, if you walk
righteously enough, you can ask God for even nations stopping
calamities and God will answer. Do you realize what Elijah's
doing? Elijah's not praying again out
of his own desires, out of his own will.
Elijah is praying knowing what the Bible says.
He knew what Deuteronomy 11 said.
So he is praying. What the word of God.
His prayers are based on what God had revealed.
His prayers are in alignment with what God said would happen
and should happen if the people were to turn in idolatry.
So if I may use this language that when Elijah prayed in
secret for this drought, what he was essentially doing with his
prayers was seeking to awaken the arm of the Lord to manifest
and make this thing happen because God said it would
happen. And So what Elijah is
essentially doing, based on James in connection with
Deuteronomy 11, he's asking the Lord Lord take the warning that
is now at the point of just inscription in the law and
invade reality with it, make it come to pass.
And God heard that. So Elijah's praying was totally
bathed. It was submerged in the will of
God. So this isn't inviting us to be
creative with our request and ask for crazy things that have
no binding on the scriptures. I'm no binding what God already
revealed. No Elijah.
Elijah has his feet planted on what he knows to be the rock of
truth and he says, Lord, now I'm calling upon you to do what you
said you would do. Would you do it for your name's
sake? And that helps us to know again
that James not speaking about praying.
Random request if you're fervent enough.
But you know when I meditate on this further, I thought to
myself, how does one even get himself to pray like that?
Like the obvious answer is know what the scripture says and that
will fuel and frame your prayers to be more effective.
That's obvious. But how does a man even get to
the point where? Because remember, James is
telling us Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.
In other words, you you can't read Elijah's story and have
excuses saying what do you mean? This guy was a prophet.
This guy raised their dead, this guy did this.
I understand that. But in the things that you and I
are called to imitate and other servants of God, there are no
excuses. He, he he he had temptations
like us. He had passions like us.
And so one I I learned from this that he, he he prayed based on
the word of God. But how do you even get to that
point to even say, you know I'm going to pray and ask God, based
on the scriptures to do something as big as what Elijah
prayed for? Do you know the Bible actually
tells us? How do you?
Do you want to know what the secret is for a person to look
out into America right now and be so moved by the decline and
the perversion that you say? You know I have to pray and ask
God to do something in my generation?
How? How do you even start that?
It's one thing to say, OK, church, we're going to pray for
a weekend and then in that meeting to be stirred for the
weekend and then after that we can just to go back to things as
they were normal. But how do you how do you get to
a place where as an individual your heart can be so burning for
this to be made manifest that you pray about it consistently
until it comes through? Go back to First Kings.
I argue it's because of something Elijah confesses about
himself and 1st Kings chapter 19.
Look at verse 10 First Kings 19, verse 10, he said.
I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts.
I believe that is where it all started with Elijah.
Even before his praying he was so jealous for the name of the
Lord. He was so jealous, for God's
sake, because he saw all these people turning their backs on
the Lord, worshipping false idols, and that jealousy so
rumbled in his soul. It's so burned his bosom that
he. He came before the Lord and he
said, Lord, you need to do something.
I am jealous for you. That's why I'm praying.
Would you intervene in this for your name's sake?
So this man's fervent prayers for the Lord to act was not to
vindicate his ministries, was not so that he can be known as
one of the greatest prophets in the world.
Was not so that he can be praised, Was not so that he can
be seen as a history, a hero in church history.
None of that he confesses. I am purely jealous for God.
It's amazing what a holy jealousy can do to a person.
You remember Phineas Wright, Phineas putting a stop to a
plague because he was jealous for the Lord and God even
admired Phineas for that. He was jealous for my name's
sake. What does it mean to feel
jealous for the Lord? So when you when you hear God's
name being blasphemy, and you see people defying his law, and
you see even in some cases Christianity and Christendom
compromising more and more, what does that do to you?
It should do something to you, should cause something in you to
be like. How can they do this?
How can this be done to the Lord, My Lord, my precious
Savior? How?
And that shouldn't cause you to be more self-righteous.
That shouldn't cause you to point the finger at others.
No, no. Before anything else it should
cause you to come before the Lord They blasphemy your name at
work. Lord, every time I go to work,
they out of all the thousands of millions of names that they use,
they blasphemy your name out of all the books that they can
mock. My family mocks the Bible and it
burns in my heart. And now I'm asking you to do
something in my life, through my life, in their lives.
Where you can make yourself known.
That's Elijah's secret to prayer.
The word of God in one place, but a heart that's feeling that.
A heart that's so in love with the Lord's glory and so devoted
to his 'cause that when you see anything violated, it causes you
to come before him, saying, Lord, do something.
You might not be a mighty conference speaker.
You might not be a George Whitfield or Jonathan Edwards
that brings sweeping revival in the land.
But you have your own world and you have your own part of God's
vineyard where you can come to a place where you feel this and it
causes you to be a man or a woman of prayer.
I'm reminded as I was studying this of Psalm 119, verse 126,
just in case you think that I'm speaking about an isolated case.
Psalm 119, verse 126. I remember hearing this in a
service many, many years ago when I first said and it's been
imprinted on my mind, especially in the days that we're living
in. It's been resurfacing.
Listen to this. It is time for the Lord to act.
Why? For your law has been broken.
Not an awesome verse. Lord, you need to do something
because they're breaking your law.
And just in case you think that that's a tone of a
self-righteous Pharisee, read around that verse and you
realize that this man even confesses streams of tear comes
down my eyes because they have broken your law.
This is a broken man. This is not an unexplainably
angry man. This is not a man who is just
looking for a fight. This is a man who has a tender
heart and even can't help himself in describing the word
of the Lord. Saying Lord, I see how precious
and awesome and wise your word is and hear a bunch of people
breaking it. Will you do something about it
to show yourself true? That's what the psalmist did.
If he was David, that's what David did.
That's what Elijah did. That's what Phineas did.
That's what the greatest men and women of God have done when they
first established in the hearts by the working of the Holy
Spirit of jealousy for God's name.
You can't work that self. Yourself into that?
That's got to be Holy Spirit inspired A final note about
Elijah's praying before we move on.
We're still in verse one and two here.
Actually, just one. Elijah's praying is connected.
To his powerful public ministry. In other words, you see how he's
unshakable in his stance publicly.
Do not forget that it started with fervent prayer in private
living and receiving from the Lord, and honest and humble
supplication is an overlooked secret to a powerful public
ministry. Elijah, according to James, was
praying, and because he was a praying man, he could be a bold
preaching man. Let's go to verse 2.
The clock is not my friend tonight.
And the word of the Lord in First Kings 17 verse two came to
him. Depart from here and turn
eastward and hide yourself by the brook Kareth which is east
of the Jordan. So as quickly as Elijah entered
into the scene, he exits. He shows up out of nowhere.
It gives a brief prophetic message and the Lord speaks to
him and says not get out of there, says the part, Turn
eastward. And hide yourself.
Why did Lord instruct him to escape?
I thought things were just getting started.
I mean, you called out the king. You would think.
All right, here we go. Round one.
No again. Just as quickly as he enters, he
evades. And I believe there are multiple
reasons for it. It's an indefinite amount of
time. The obvious one is for his
protection, because we're going to learn in the next chapter
that Ahab is so infuriated with this declaration that Elijah
makes that he calls for a national hunt, not just a
national hunt for an international investigation.
Imagine being that wanted even asked, the neighboring people
say, is Elijah hiding in your country?
Like that's how intense Ahab is and looking for Elijah to get
rid of him. So protection is the obvious
one, and I'm sure we can make many other safe speculations
that there is obviously provision.
Remember, there's a drought going on and the Lord's going to
take care of his servant. And not just provision.
But there is also a theme in the Bible that when the Lord takes
one or more of his people into the wilderness, that wilderness
season, if I can use that language, is often associated
with preparedness or preparation.
That God hides you. He clothes you and He makes you
obscure. And he brings you into isolation
to mold you for something that's to come.
And that's what you can say about this.
But one thing that is for certain is that this withdrawal
was a great call of faith on Elijah's part.
I want you to go somewhere. A palace.
A palace for the prophet. Some would preach that.
Yeah. OK, not a palace.
What about a home? Just like a nice, humble home.
Not even a home. Elijah, I want you to make your
residence your primary residence in the wilderness, and I want
you to do it during a drought. And so this man is about to do
something that perhaps would cause you to feel a little
uncomfortable or jerk. You know, you might think, well,
look, it's a hidden brook. That's a gift.
But how long would a hidden brook last?
With a devastating drought that would suck up all the life from
the earth. So Elijah hears this and we
don't get any reaction from him. But I wonder what the average
person might have felt hearing that you're supposed to go to
this brook and I'm going to have some birds feed you every day.
But notice the instruction was an optional.
He says depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself.
Why you shall drink from the brook, and I've commanded the
Ravens to. Feed you there.
So like many of God's commands, we might be tempted to question
His leadership as we look at the Word and we look at our
situation and we think there are better options in my mind than
what I know God says I should do, like talk to that person
that has done something to me or or give in this certain manner
or serve in the certain degree. I rather do ten other things
than in this example. Go to the Brook Kareth and wait
there every day for a Raven Butler's to come and drop off my
lunch. That sounds uncomfortable.
Often times obedience does make you feel uncomfortable.
But remember again, look at the language here.
Look, I want you to underline one word in verse 4 if you can.
If you do, if you're an underliner, verse 4 you shall
drink from the brook and I have commanded the Ravens to feed
you. He didn't just say feed you, he
said feed you. Where?
There. There.
In other words, Elijah, if you want to experience my provision,
you're going to have to go there.
If you want to experience my supervising grace, then you're
going to have to pack up your bags and go where I tell you to
go. And the principle from that is
simple, that the assurance of God's provision, protection,
blessing, call it what you want, is only reserved in the place of
obedience. No matter what you think about
the command and how it fits to your situation and how
inconvenient or impractical it may seem, God can only work and
move in that place where you choose to be, And that is the
place of obedience. Go there and I will meet you
there. Stay in the lane of obedience.
Keep yourself there and you will know God's blessing and as long
as He abided there, He was safe. As long as you remain in the
place of obedience, you are safe.
But there's more to learn from this.
Notice the two objects of provision.
Look at verse 3 again. Depart from here and turn
eastward and hide yourself by the brook.
Careth. Sounds pretty normal, right?
If I'm going to drink from something, I can see myself
drinking from a bubbling and streaming.
Body of water, and that's a picture of God's natural
provision in life. The Brook careth is is a picture
of God pointing out the obvious in our day-to-day.
But we should never disconnect even the practical providences
of God any less of his goodness toward us.
So go and just drink from this Brook and God gave you a job,
and you use that money to buy food and you use that money to
pay your utility bills so that you can have clean water and
running water. And you should never think for a
moment. No matter how used to it you
are, no matter how it's even just routine, that God is the
one behind that grace in your life.
Being experienced go by the brook.
I'm I'm going to provide you something that's just there and
it's going to benefit you. That's God.
What's not normal is Ravens. Coming as room service.
And that is a picture of God's not his natural provision, his
supernatural provision. And when God sees fit in your
life, he can do something out of the ordinary to make his
goodness known in your life. And that is what we see here.
We see two ways in which God provides for us naturally,
supernaturally. You look at the people of Israel
when they came out of the wilderness once they came into
the land of promise. And what was the description of
the promised Land? It was flowing with what?
Milk and honey. Once you see them coming into
the Promised Land, according to the book of Joshua, the manna
from heaven stopped. The man of heaven was
appropriate when they were in the wilderness.
That is a daily supernatural provision.
Once they came into a land that was fruitful and A and A and
abundance, that reigning of heaven stopped and they had to
get their hands to work and provide for themselves, though
God was still behind that natural provision go by the
brook. So yes your job and and you
being able to have enough in your coverage and and pay for
this and pay for that, that's God.
And when God needs to, He can do something out of the ordinary.
And there are many reasons why the Ravens are not normal.
There are many messages about these Ravens coming to Elijah
that you and I should pay good attention to.
The first thing is this that forgot to provide the Ravens to
deliver his lunch. And his dinner, Well, breakfast
and dinner, it's two meals a day, was a demonstration of how
he is absolutely sovereign over every created thing.
So let me remind you what God says about the Ravens himself.
It's in Job 38 verse 41. In Job 38 verse 41, after a
string of statements of God being unlike anything else and
anyone else, he says here in Job 38, verse 41, who provides for
the Raven? It's prey.
When it's young ones cry out to God for help and wander about
for lack of food. What's the answer?
God. God is the one who provides for
the Ravens. And with this in the background
of your mind, you come down to the story of Elijah and you you
realize the expansiveness of God's character and how he
meticulously sustains every stitch of the universe.
Because we see here that the God who provides for the Raven its
food, now uses Ravens to provide food for his servant.
So I'm going to provide the Raven its food, and then the
Raven is going to. I'm going to choose a couple of
Ravens, maybe, and now they're going to provide Elijah his
food. The way you're supposed to feel
about this is that God's resources are unlimited.
God's means of providing for me are absolutely endless.
Let me prove it to you. Go back to First Kings 17.
So he says here I'm going to command the Ravens.
Notice the word command. I've commanded the Ravens to
feed you there. Now, we're not going to touch on
this verse, but it's worth looking at.
Look at verse eight of First Kings 17.
Then the word of the Lord came to him.
Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell
there. Behold, I have commanded a widow
there to feed you. I could command the Ravens if I
want to feed you, Elijah. And this season is done.
The Ravens are retiring, so go to Zarephath.
And I've commanded a widow to feed you.
But it doesn't end there. Go to 1st Kings 19.
Look at verse 4. But he himself went a day's
journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom
tree, and he asked that he might die, saying it is enough now, Oh
Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my father's.
And he lay down and slept under a broom tree, and behold, an
Angel touched them, and set them arise and eat.
How much more proof do you need? It's pretty clear, right?
Here is 1 servant. And here are a manifold ways of
God taking care of him. All right, Elijah, go to the
brook. I'm going to send rave.
You OK? Ravens are done.
I'm going to send a widow. OK.
The widow is that I'm going to send an Angel.
Why are you so afraid of tomorrow?
Why are you so anxious? Why you have a God?
Who could command anything and anyone to serve his purposes in
your life and to sustain you? I know you want the Ravens to
bring grapes and wine and charcuterie boards, and no, he
brought him bread and meat. OK, so don't get frustrated when
luxury doesn't come your way, but he will sustain you and he
will give you the necessary fuel to be his servant.
But a second. Reason why this promise about
Ravens is so demanding of one's trust is because of the nature
of the instrument itself. In two different places in the
Bible, we were told that Ravens are unclean animals.
Not only are they unclean in one place, we're told that they are
an abomination. Wow, out of all.
The animals. You would think that in the
catalogue of the clean animals God would use to help his
servant, but no, he picks one from the list that they were not
supposed to eat. The lesson there is not that God
uses sinful things from time to time to get things done.
No, no, no. Because the prohibition with
Ravens is that they weren't to eat it, but to receive food from
them is no problem. The idea and the lesson here is
that God can use unexpected means to provide for you and to
bless you and to make His way and His will come through for
you unexpected. No Jew would expect if they were
to think how God was going to provide for me, in this case
Ravens doing his bidding. But that's the point because you
know how most Christians think about God moving in their lives
and providing in their lives. Will that be encouragement or
any other thing either God will do it directly in my life or God
will use? Christians, broaden your view of
how God works. You know God can do things that
you don't even see coming. God can use people that you
never thought. You know the Scripture says that
even the wrath of man will praise God.
Have you seen the hearts that God has influenced and moved to
do his will, who he's anointed, what empires, what governors to
fulfill his 'cause? I can tell you of stories,
listen to this, of unbelievers who have been answers to my
prayers in times of need, not Christians.
God has used Christians all the way through, and he still does.
But I can tell you of times where God is.
Shocked me and demanded more praise for me when an unbeliever
stepped into my life like a Raven and dropped something in
my hands where I said How did this happen?
You don't even believe in the same God that I believe in.
Why? Just so you can give God more
glory and so be open. And don't fail to.
Connect the Lord and things that you might not connect with the
Lord. So we see these Ravens coming
and look at the reaction of verse 5 S the first verse of the
first few words of verse 5. So he went and did according to
the word of the Lord. Don't you love that?
No questions, no like Lord so. I'm How are Ravens going to do
this? Exactly how long am I supposed
to Lord? Don't you know that I prayed for
a drought? You answered it.
And that water is not going to last very long.
So do you have, like an expiration date for me to be
here? Nothing.
All right, Go to the brook careth and Ravens will feed me.
I'm going. He didn't know how long he was
going to be there. He didn't know how long that
brook would last. Didn't know how the Ravens are
going to provide. But he did, according to the
word of the Lord. Obedience is sometimes
intimidating. But again, it is only there that
we can expect God's blessing. And that's why we're told that
Elijah look so he went and did. According to the word of the
Lord, he went and lived by the brook careth that is east of the
Jordan. I'm going to live here.
If God told me to go there, then I'm staying right here.
I am placing my tent here. I'm abiding here.
I'm dwelling here until God says otherwise.
But a quick note before we move on and conclude our study.
You already learned something about this man's character.
Even in these first few verses. Elijah's genuinely admired to be
a mighty prophet who stood before crowds of false prophets
and even a vacillating nation. And and even if he stood alone,
he felt like he stood alone. He just called everything out.
He preached. He prayed in public.
That's what he's known for, like this champion of the faith in a
day of apostasy. A preacher, right?
And good. You should admire him for such.
But notice that this man was not just a preacher of the word.
He didn't just come to Abe and says as the Lord lives, he he
didn't just declare the word of Lord, he did the word of the
Lord. Look at verse 5 again.
So he went and did. He did, according to the word of
the Lord. Those are the best kind of
preachers. The preachers that don't just
speak powerfully and and speak convincingly and winsomely know
the preachers actually do what God says.
And that's the kind of man that we are dealing with.
He did according to the word. He didn't just tell others to do
it, he himself did it. And so don't be inspired by
Elijah purely from the standpoint of public ministry.
No. Appreciate this man for his
private obedience when the Lord spoke to him individually.
Says you go. There he goes.
All right, Lord, I'll obey you. In fact, I would say that's more
attractive than anything else. If a man preaches from that
place, oh, they are the most effective servants of God.
He did, according to the word of Lord.
Now look at verse 6. And the Ravens brought him bread
and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening.
Bread and me. Not just bread, not just me.
You know what I mean? He probably made sandwiches.
Meat sandwiches in the morning. Meat sandwiches in the evening.
And look at this. And he drank from the brook.
Beautiful. How the Lord took care of him.
Something happens in verse 7 and after a while the brook dried
up. Because there was no rain in the
land. The brook dried up.
Didn't the Lord know that the brook was going to dry up?
Think the Lord was surprised? Oh, sorry I sent you there.
I didn't know that the brook was going to dry up.
No, he obviously knew the brook was going to dry up.
It makes you wonder why we're not told how long Elijah was
there by the brook. I wonder if it became common to
him. I wonder after a few days that
he expected the Ravens to come drop it off Like it.
The shock factor was gone. Right?
Like just the Ravens coming another day drinking from the
brook. And then at a certain point that
body of water began to lessen and diminish and you began to
see the earth. And there's now became a few
puddles here and there. Why would the Lord go through
all this effort, call this man to go in this direction, stay in
a place in a drought only for this to be the consequence?
In fact, look at verse 8 quickly and notice that the Lord spoke
to Elijah with the next set of instructions only after the
brook dried up. Then the word of the Lord came
to him. You know your first exposure to
Elijah and how he related to Lord should teach you many
things, including this. God enjoys leading you and I
step by step, step by step. You know, by the time Elijah
revisits and confronts Ahab once again, it'll be three years.
So between this and the rest of the chapter where he lives with
this widow, he goes to Ahab. And it will be after three
years. You know what?
Most of us would really like, you know how most of us think
God acts in our lives? That in the beginning of
something He would give us the full schedule?
Here's how most of us would like God to lead us in our lives.
I need you to go to the Brook. Kareth Ravens will feed you
there every single day. At some point, probably after
two months, Elijah. Expect that brook to dry up.
And once that brook dries up, I'm going to send you to
Zarephath and Sidon. I know it's shocking.
It's not in Israel, but I'm going to send you there.
There's a widow. She's, she's already set at the
right time. I'm going to tell her to provide
for you. You're going to go there.
She's going to have everything ready.
You might have to challenge her a little bit, but she's going to
receive from you. Then you're going to be there
for a little bit. It's going to be wonderful.
But then her son's going to die, and then you're going to raise
him from the dead. I'm going to show my
resurrection power, even in that trial.
And then what's going to happen is you're going to come before
Ahab and it's going to be a little scary because all his
prophets are going to be there. But I'm going to tell.
You It sounds silly and we're like, you know, we're laughing,
but we're like, I kind of want that, though I do want that.
That sounds really good. That's not how our God works in
life. That's not how God leads you.
That's not He enjoys leading you step by step because he wants
your faith to grow in every season.
That's what he wants. And the only way that faith is
going to grow and mature and stretch and be more shiny and
strong is if you don't get the full schedule, If you ever feel
like God has maybe maybe getting a little bit more extra special
attention to this person or that person around you and who you
are feeling like you're at a crossroads or you're abandoned
and something just taken from you.
Whatever the case may be with no answers, remember that God
treated Elijah that way, so you're in good company.
Go to the brook. Not going to tell you when to
leave. You know, like he could have
told them. Elijah heads up.
The brook is going to drive. Don't be scared.
No. He waits till the thing dries
up. Then he speaks to him.
So even in that moment, I wonder what Elijah felt.
It makes you wonder that for God to do this is a reminder for
Elijah. Refocus and realign your faith
in me, ultimately. Not in this Brook, not in the
Ravens, in me. And I think there's something
here that is so important that I believe resonates with every
single one of us. And I'm ending here.
There's something here so important because as we see,
God's leadership as his Providence does lead us, and
sometimes in moments, he can make it so clear what you're
supposed to do. I believe God can do that.
Who am I to say he can't? We tend to be tempted in times
where we enter into a place where we believe.
This is where obedience has led me.
But here's now a challenge, and here's now an obstacle.
And here's now something being if I can use this drying up, You
know what we're tempted to do in those moments?
We've all entertained the thought.
At some point, you were in that place.
You were comfortable, you were celebrating the fact that God
brought you there through obedience, and now you're
wondering because of something that doesn't make sense.
Did God really lead me here? OK, let me help you relate it to
life. You've prayed, you've sought
God. You waited on God, and you feel
like this is what God provided for you.
And here you are now, and there's some kerfuffle.
There's some issue. There's some problem.
That's uncomfortable. Did God really lead me to this
Logo church? I'm I'm beginning to have second
thoughts about it. Here you Are you ready for this?
Is this really? The person I'm supposed to be
married to, Is this the state that I'm supposed to live in?
Like, for the first six months I was like, yeah, God brought me
here. And look at this wonderful
church I'm a part of and look at this group of friends.
And if something happens, maybe you experienced your first
winter in Chicago. Am I supposed to be here if
obedience brought you there? If you've prayed, if you like
Elijah, we're walking in alignment with God's will.
You have no reason to doubt, no reason to question, and don't
allow these things to cause you to think otherwise.
Not that Elijah did, but I think it's a wonderful illustration of
where we might be tempted to do that.
In those moments, remember Elijah and this moment of his
life. The brook dried up not because
of disobedience, but because of his obedience.
And this would ultimately do what?
What? What would that do?
Cause him to depend on the Lord once again.
He depend on the Lord all that time.
And now he's going to depend on the Lord in a new way.
And you know what? Let me make this very practical
and very personal to all of us when I thought about this this
afternoon. And all the different.
Scenarios where that could be true right of being tempted to
rethink and reconsider God's leading in our lives.
Look at us as a church. In the season, think about it.
One person who's been part of this church that doubts that God
brought us to four Seven O 1 N Canfield Ave. two years ago.
God brought us here, no doubt about it.
But what are we experiencing these days?
If I can borrow. The language of first.
Kings 17 The brook is drying up, isn't it?
The brook is. Drying up.
And it's getting challenging. But you know what shouldn't
cause you to fluster, shouldn't cause you to doubt, shouldn't
cause you to rethink. If God really LED us here to
begin with, you know God did leave us, lead us here.
And God used not Ravens, not unclean things, not questionable
things, but a beautiful, gracious Polish congregation to
host us. And what's What are we to do
with? This I believe.
We're to do with it, if we can borrow the inspiration of First
Kings 17 and that point of Elijah's life that as things are
drying up and we're thinking it's getting a little
comfortable and we're looking at, we're like it's a drought
out there too. All of that was just preparing,
Elijah. For the next thing.
If God brought Elijah up to that point, you think he's.
Going to let him shrivel up in the desert with that brook?
No, he doesn't. If he's brought you this far,
he'll bring you until the end. If he brought you this far, he
will begin a good working with you.
It's faithful to bring it to completion.
Let's pray. What a mighty God you are.
Elijah. Was a man.
With a nature like ours. Thank you, Lord, that you have
given us. Even in the New Testament.
The invitation to draw inspiration from this man and
thank you that your word. Declares that these former.
Things that were written were written for our encouragement.
Lord, we sit here today reminded of your faithfulness that you
are a God. Who takes greatest?
Delight in the faith of your people, and you put us in
predicaments and circumstances that would demand faith.
And Lord. We are here, yes, as a Church
experiencing something so similar.
And Lord. There is a very high chance
that. Many people in this room right
now who are going through their own challenges wondering, Lord,
what's next? May we be like Elijah, who did
not move until they knew what you had to say.
And we pray that you give us the ears to hear, the eyes to see
the right counsel, to receive clarity in the word of God, to
know how to make the most calculated and obedient move
possible. We love you, Lord.
Wow, there is no one like you and we thank.
You that you are the God. Who lives?
And we ask, Lord, that at the conclusion of this Bible study,
you would help us gird up our loins.
You would strengthen our knees so that we, like Elijah, can be
servants who stand before you, ready to do what you
commissioned us to do, whether it is convenient or scary,
profitable in the moment or not. Help.
Us Lord, be this. Bold, courageous people that you
want us? To be and to believe that you're
going to take. Care of us along the way, we
just. Sit in silence now, reflecting.
On these truths pouring out our hearts before you in Jesus name,
Amen. Yeah, the praise team can come.
I want to encourage you to do something just in holy
reverence. Just sit in your Pew and if you
want to remain seated while they play and sing the final song,
you can't do that as long as you are engaging with the Lord.
But even before we play right away, let's just I want to do
this. At least I hope you'll join me
in that. I want to just pause and sit
there and reflect on a few things with the Lord.
Express my heart to Him, and we can collectively express our
heart to Him and song. Can we do that just a minute or
two? Let's do that together.