Category: Elijah and Elisha
Scriptures:
1 Kings 17:1-17:6
1 Kings 17:1-17:6
1 Elijah the Tishbite, who was one of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”
2 Then Yahweh’s word came to him, saying,
3 “Go away from here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan.
4 You shall drink from the brook. I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
5 So he went and did according to Yahweh’s word; for he went and lived by the brook Cherith that is before the Jordan.
6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.
Commentary
This might seem like a strange story. Why would God provide for Elijah in this way? Why would the Lord make him go live in an obscure dry place? This was during the rule of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel who were absolutely evil and disobedient to the Lord. Jezebel was killing the prophets and Obadiah was hiding them to rescue them while Elijah was in Cherith. They wanted Elijah dead and looked in all of the other cities. This may have seemed like an odd location to Elijah, but God in His sovereignty was saving his life.
God could have used any means to feed Elijah, but He intentionally chose ravens, which are not a dependable animals. Perhaps if God had chosen doves or robins to perform this twice-daily service, someone could come up with a scientific hypothesis, describing how birds of that type might be capable of pinpointing a singular location day after day. God, however, chose a bunch of ravens for the job, thereby dispelling rational theories. Many times, God does not choose to work in rational ways so that we can know without a shadow of a doubt that it had to be Him interceding.