1 Kings 17 (Part 1) Bible Study (Elijah Predicts a Drought/Obedience) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

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

Deuteronomy 11 · chapter mention

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.

Deuteronomy 11:16

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.

James 5 · chapter mention

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.

1 Kings 19:10

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,

Psalms 119:126

just in case you think that I'm speaking about an isolated case.

Psalm 119, verse 126. I remember hearing this in a

Psalms 119:126

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

Job 38:41 Job 38:41

string of statements of God being unlike anything else and

anyone else, he says here in Job 38, verse 41, who provides for

Job 38:41

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.