On the Road with Elijah
On The Road With Elijah To Cherith
1 Kings 17:1-7
One of my favorite Old Testament personalities is Elijah. He is the kind of person that attracts me. He makes me think of the kind of preachers that just rear back and let's it rip. Elijah was the kind of preacher who meant what he said and said what he meant.
His name means, "The LORD (Jehovah) is my God," and indeed, over and over again, God showed Himself as the God of Elijah's life. The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 16:9, "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong in behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him."
In Elijah, God found one in which He could show Himself strong. Each miracle associated with his life did not testify of the greatness of Elijah, but rather the greatness of the God of Elijah.
The man, who the Holman Bible Dictionary refers to as "the grandest and most romantic character that Israel ever produced," enters the Scripture suddenly in 1 Kings 17:1 as, "Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead." Although the exact location that is referred is uncertain, most believe he was from Tishbi located in the mountains of Gilead.
And what an entrance he makes!
He steps into the pages of history by walking into the court of the wicked king Ahab and announces, "As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word" (17:1). The first words we hear out of his mouth predicted a drought and famine in the land.
One feature of the story of Elijah is that oftentimes the events in his life are associated with a particular location. It is this feature that I want to use as we look at his life. I want to go on the road with Elijah and travel with him to each location.
Do you enjoy road trips? I don’t. I like to already be where I’m going. As a child, we would travel from time to time. That’s a joy isn’t it? Pack the car, fight the kids, spend a lot of money and enjoy a road trip.
Well for the next thirteen weeks, I want us to hit the road with Elijah. The first location we visit is Cherith (1 Kings 17:3). The name Cherith means a "cutting" or "ditch."
One Bible Dictionary says, "It has by some been identified as the Wady el-Kelt behind Jericho, which is formed by the junction of many streams flowing from the mountains west of Jericho. It is dry in summer. Travelers have described it as one of the wildest ravines of this wild region, and peculiarly fitted to afford a secure asylum to the persecuted."
Now as we hit the road with Elijah to Cherith, the first thing we see is
1. God Speaking
Kings 17:2-3
On four occasions in the life of Elijah we find the statement "the word of the LORD came" (1 Kings 17:2,8; 18:1; 19:9). Elijah was a man that was familiar with the voice of the Lord. He would often hear God speaking to him during his life.
By the way, God is a God who speaks. One of the questions I hear from time to time is “How”. How does God speak? How can I be sure it’s God? Look at what happened here with Elijah.
We read that "the word of the LORD came" to Elijah. How God's word "came" to Elijah is not disclosed. Did Elijah hear an audible voice? Was there a deep and convincing impression in his heart that God was speaking? Or did the word of God come to Elijah in another form?
In 1 Kings 19:12 God spoke to him in "a still small voice." Was it the same here? Again, the method by which "the word of the LORD came" to Elijah is not certain.
The methods of God speaking were diverse in the Old Testament. For example, God spoke to Abraham through a vision (Gen. 15:1); to Abimelech by a dream (Gen. 20:3); to Jacob by an angel (Gen. 31:11); to the children of Israel by a prophet (Jdg. 6:8), and to Adam and Eve by voice (Gen. 3:8).
Today there are primarily two ways by which God speaks to His people.
First, there is the word of God (the Bible). That is the primary way God communicates. Ever so often someone will ask about dreams and visions. They had this dream or experience. Does God speak that way? He may. But understand this: He will never contradict His written word.
The Bible is God giving us His word in a printed form. It is God speaking! And the ultimate purpose for reading the Bible is to hear God speak. Again, it is the primary way God speaks to His people.
The second primary way God speaks to His people is through the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer. As He indwells us, He often speaks to us.
In Hebrews 3:7 we have an example of the Holy Spirit speaking as the writer refers to "the Holy Ghost saith." In Acts 13:2 we see the Holy Spirit speaking in reference to the call of Paul and Barnabas to missionary work: "As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them."
Now it is my conviction and experience that we do not hear Holy Spirit speak in our ear, but rather in our heart. There are those deep impressions in the soul of man that are sensed as He speaks. Someone may ask, "How do I know that the Holy Spirit is speaking to me?"
First, He speaks with certainty. There will be no doubt that He is speaking. When He speaks all doubt is removed and there is a clear and certain guidance.
Secondly, when He speaks, just as with dreams and experiences, He will never contradict what is in the Bible. The Holy Spirit is the author of the Bible and will never tell you to do something that He has condemned in the Bible. You can always be certain that if He tells you to do something, there will be precedence for it in the Bible.
You must never interpret the Bible by your experiences, but rather interpret your experiences by the Bible." The point is that the Holy Spirit would never give you an experience that He has not endorsed in the Bible.
Now let me show you what I notice about God speaking to Elijah:
What God said to Elijah was very significant as we shall see.
But when He spoke was also significant. When we are introduced to Elijah in the Scripture, he is standing before Ahab announcing "there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word" (1 Kings 17:1).
Warren Wiersbe writes, "God held back the rain because of the fervent prayers of Elijah, and He would send the rain again in response to His servant's intercession (James 5:17-18). For the next three years, the word of Elijah would control the weather in Israel!"
The word of Elijah to Ahab was in reality the word of God to the people for their sins. The people had turned from God to serve Baal. Famine and drought was often God's way of chastening the people to turn them back to Him (cp. Deut. 28:23-24). The word of Elijah revealed that there were difficult days ahead, but God's personal word to Elijah reveal He had
plans to take care of His servant during these difficult times.
What God says to us is always significant, but the timing of His word is often very special to the heart of the believer. There have been times when I was at the bottom. Have you ever been there? I have no doubt you have. In those times when I was so discouraged God sent His word directly to me.
It may have been through a sermon or a song or a specific verse or passage of Scripture, but it was His word to my heart. How special was His word in those times.
Notice God's word to Elijah: 1 Kings 17:3
In a time when there would be no rain which would result in both drought and famine, God would provide both water and food for him. How timely was God's word to Elijah. It was a word that assured him that He would sustain him in the days ahead.
God spoke to Elijah and God speaks to us. So first of all on the road to Cherith we hear God Speaking.
We also see:
2. God Sending
1 Kings 17:3
God's word to Elijah came with specific instructions. There was a place he was to go.
Elijah was told to "turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook of Cherith, that is before Jordan." As we saw earlier, Cherith was a ravine in a rugged area near Jericho. It was here God was sending Elijah.
Cherith would serve as a place of secrecy for Elijah. He was to "hide thyself by the brook of Cherith." The word "hide" is at other times translated as "secret, conceal," and "absent." Why was Elijah to hide in such a secluded and concealed space? Was it a measure to protect him from the anger of Ahab? No doubt Ahab was blamed Elijah for the drought and famine that followed his announcement. This is hinted at in 1 Kings 18:17 when Ahab referred to him as "he that troubles Israel".
Maybe this place of secrecy would also serve as a place of supply for Elijah.
1 Kings 17:4
At Cherith God would supply water and food for His servant.
I think of the old hymn entitled God Leads Us Along. The first stanza says:
In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet
God leads His dear children along;
Where the water's cool flow bathes the weary one's feet, God leads His dear children along.
The promise of God is, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths" (Prov. 3:5-6).
As the believer places their life under His divine will and leadership, He will direct their paths.
God's plans and directions are always perfect. I'm sure Elijah would say, "Amen!" Wise and blessed is the Christian who allows the Lord to direct their paths. God was directing the paths of Elijah.
How did he respond?
I Kings 17:5
The response we see on the part of Elijah is the same response God expects of every believer.
First, there was no delay in his response. When God said, "Get thee hence" (Vs. 3) God was asking for an immediate response. The words seem to suggest that God was telling Elijah to go to Cherith right then. There was no delay on Elijah's part; "So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD" (Vs. 5).
It amazes me how much we want to argue and debate with God or just simply ignore His commands. God's commands are never for debate or discussion. They are to be obeyed and obeyed immediately. When God speaks it is never with a two-week period for consideration.
In Elijah's case, God told him why he was to go to Cherith. There are times when God does not tell why He asks us to do what He asks, but an immediate response is still the response He seeks.
Someone has observed, "Understanding can wait, but obedience cannot."
He obeyed immediately and I also notice he obeyed completely.
1 Kings 17:5
God was very specific in his command to Elijah, It was "there" (Vs. 4) that God would provide water and food. It was more than just getting out of Dodge. Cherith was the specific place of God's leading.
It has been well said that partial obedience is disobedience. Elijah could have just "went," but it was where he went that was to be the place of God's protection and provision.
When J. Wilbur Chapman was in London, he had an opportunity to meet General Booth, who at that time was past 80 years of age. Dr. Chapman listened reverently as the old general spoke of the trials and the conflicts and the victories he had experienced.
The American evangelist then asked the general if he would disclose his secret for success. "He hesitated a second," Dr. Chapman said, "and I saw the tears come into his eyes and steal down his cheeks," and then he said, "I will tell you the secret. God has had all there was of me. There have been men with greater brains than I, men with greater opportunities; but from the day I got the poor of London on my heart, and a vision of what Jesus Christ could do with the poor of London, I made up my mind that He would have all of William Booth there was. And if there is anything of power in the Salvation Army today, it is because God has all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will, and all the influence of my life."
Dr. Chapman said he went away from that meeting with General Booth knowing "that the greatness of a man's power is the measure of his surrender."
What God seeks is absolute surrender, ready to obey God when He speaks.
One the road to Cherith, we hear God Speaking and Sending, but we also see:
3. God Sustaining
God told Elijah that He would provide water and food for him at Cherith. It is commonly believed that Elijah spent around one year at Cherith. And yet God was absolutely faithful. Elijah found that where God guides, He provides.
Actually, the story of God's people is a record of God providing for them in a miraculous way. For forty-years God sustained the children of Israel in the wilderness. For a year Elijah personally experienced God's miraculous provision: "And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook."
God's caterers for Elijah were ravens. The first mention of a raven in the Bible is in Genesis 8:7 (the first bird Noah released from the ark). Ravens were considered unclean because they largely fed on carrion and were on the Mosaic list of forbidden food (Lev. 11:13-15).
Ravens were often viewed as an evil omen, but in Elijah's case they were symbols of God's provision. The ravens brought Elijah "bread and flesh." The word "bread" is a general word for food and probably was referring to berries, fruits and nuts, and the word "flesh" refers to meat. Elijah was provided with a well-balanced meal (filet-mignon and all the trimmings) by the ravens.
There was also a brook nearby by which God provided water. Now remember, a famine is on, and a drought has been prophesied. In a land that was growing drier and drier by the day, God sustained the flow of water in a ravine in order to sustain His servant. Springs, wells, and brooks were dry all around him, but God kept a flow of fresh water in Cherith.
In both the birds and brook we see God's ability to supply the needs of His children.
Ravens by nature are greedy and monopolize food for themselves. Job hints at how they were birds notorious for even neglecting their little ones (Job 38:41). Yet God took the most unlikely creature, a unclean bird with a selfish nature, to bring food to His servant.
As for the brook, you would think that one of the first places that would have dried up, it would have been in the rugged terrain of Cherith, yet it flowed with water.
And God is going to take care of you also. God has not only promised that He would take care of His children and supply their need (cp. Phil. 4:19), He is able to deliver on the promise.
I could make you a promise but not have the ability
to keep that promise. God is able to keep any promise He has made. If He has the ability to control both ravens and ravines, birds and brooks, to bring His purposes about and to keep His promises, then He has the ability to meet our needs.
And look at how it happened:
1 Kings 17:6
The implication is that daily for the entire time Elijah spent in Cherith, God supplied him with food and water.
Understand: God's care of His people is daily. The Psalmist said, "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah" (Psa. 68:19).
Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" (Mt. 6:11), which indicates that His care for His children is on a daily basis.
What does that teach us? We learn that when we follow God's leading and are obedient to His Word, we will experience His work in our life. Whenever God tells us to do something, we need never hesitate or worry. He is in charge of the ravens and brooks of life and He will take care of us! It's His promise.
One of the best illustrations of living with that assurance is given to us by Kelly Adkins in the story of her brother Kevin. Listen to what she says:
“I envy Kevin. My brother Kevin thinks God lives under his bed. At least that's what I heard him say one night.
He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped to listen, "Are you there, God?" he said. "Where are you? Oh, I see. Under the bed..."
I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room. Kevin's unique perspectives are often a source of amusement. But that night something else lingered long after the humor. I realized for the first time the very different world Kevin lives in.
He was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled as a result of difficulties during labor. Apart from his size (he's 6-foot-2), there are few ways in which he is an adult.
He reasons and communicates with the capabilities of a 7-year-old, and he always will. He will probably always believe that God lives under his bed, that Santa Claus is the one who fills the space under our tree every Christmas and that airplanes stay up in the sky because angels carry them.
I remember wondering if Kevin realizes he is different. Is he ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life?
Up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the disabled, home to walk our cocker spaniel, return to eat his favorite macaroni-and-cheese for dinner, and later to bed.
The only variation in the entire scheme is laundry, when he hovers excitedly over the washing machine like a mother with her newborn child.
He does not seem dissatisfied.
He lopes out to the bus every morning at 7:05, eager for a day of simple work.
He wrings his hands excitedly while the water boils on the stove before dinner, and he stays up late twice a week to gather our dirty laundry for his next day's laundry chores.
And Saturdays-oh, the bliss of Saturdays! That's the day my Dad takes Kevin to the airport to have a soft drink, watch the planes land, and speculate loudly on the destination of each passenger inside.
"That one's goin' to Chi-car-go!" Kevin shouts as he claps his hands.
His anticipation is so great he can hardly sleep on Friday nights.
And so goes his world of daily rituals and weekend field trips.
He doesn't know what it means to be discontent.
His life is simple.
He will never know the entanglements of wealth or power, and he does not care what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats. His needs have always been met, and he never worries that one day they may not be.
His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it.
He does not shrink from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is finished. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax.
He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others. His heart is pure.
He still believes everyone tells the truth, promises must be kept, and when you are wrong, you apologize instead of argue.
Free from pride and unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is hurt, angry or sorry He is always transparent, always sincere. And he trusts God.
Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he comes as a child. Kevin seems to know God - to really be friends with Him in a way that is difficult for an "educated" person to grasp. God seems like his closest companion.
In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity I envy the security Kevin has in his simple faith.
It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge that rises above my mortal questions
It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap. I am. My obligations, my fear, my pride, my circumstances - they all become disabilities when I do not trust them to God's care.
Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn? After all, he has spent his whole life in that kind of innocence, praying after dark and soaking up the goodness and love of God.
And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at how close God really is to our hearts, I'll realize that God heard the simple prayers of a boy who believed that God lived under his bed.
Kevin won't be surprised at all!
That is what we discover on the road to Cherith with Elijah.
Let’s pray.
