At Cherith's Brook (1 Kings 17)

by Toms, A. F. | Category: Elijah | Feb 1993

"Now I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth" (v.24).

So said the widow woman to Elijah when he brought her dead son to life. He had lived with this woman and her son, so they had had plenty of opportunity to observe his way of life, and this was her conclusion. Elijah was a man of God.

What makes a man a man of God? What was there about Elijah that made him answer to this title? When he went to speak to king Ahab he described himself as a man who stood before the Lord. The angel who spoke to Zacharias said, "I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God" (Luke 1:19), and Elijah did the same, waiting the divine command, ready to speak what God said and ready to go wherever God sent. That is what makes a man a man of God. Timothy was another young man who had the distinction of being called a man of God, and he was urged to flee from such things as the love of money and to follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness.

Away in the hills of Gilead Elijah heard of the fearful sin of God's people the other side of Jordan and his spirit was burdened about it. God's name was being dishonoured and

Elijah decided the time had come when something must be done about it. God had plainly said "Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; and the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and He shut up the heaven, that there,be ho rain, and that the land yield not her fruit" (Deut. 11:16,17). The days in which he lived answered exactly to that description and Elijah knew that God must be true to His Word, that the rain must be withheld until His people turned to Him in repentance. So he began to pray. James tells us that. We would not know, apart from the word in James chapter 5, that Elijah prayed fervently that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

Having received the assurance that God had heard his prayer, he then went boldly to king Ahab with his message, "there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word". He knew only too well that Jezebel had put some of the prophets of the Lord to death but at this time he was fearless. "As the LORD, the God of Israel liveth" (v.1) was his word,

and therein lay his strength. God was still alive despite the fact that all but seven thousand of Israel's people worshipped Baal, and He was still their God~

When he had delivered his solemn message at Ahab's court, Elijah went out, and then God had a message for him. He told him to hide himself by the brook Cherith. Away in that lonely place God was going to provide for him during the famine, and at the same time teach him many lessons that could only be learned in a place of seclusion. God has done the same thing with many of His servants. Joseph's years in the prison, Moses' time in the farside of the desert, Paul's three years in Arabia were all used as training periods. And there is no doubt Elijah's time by Cherith's brook was put to good use.

"I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there". Ravens, Lord? You can almost hear the query that must have risen in his mind. Would they not devour the food long before it reached him? But he did not argue with God. The record distinctly says, "he went and did according unto the word of the LORD". Simple words but what a lesson they contain. It was the obedience of faith~ By Cherith's brook he learned that with God all things are

possible. As long as he was there, never a morning or evening passed without the ravens delivering his supply of bread and meat. He was better fed than the prophets Obadiah hid in the cave. And he had quietness to learn the lessons God had to teach him~ So, like the Thessalonians, his faith grew exceedingly. And so will ours, in the very same way, by taking the promises of God at their face value and acting upon them. As we do so, God will be glorified in our lives.

God loves to be taken at His Word. We honour Him when we take His promises and claim them by faith. "The LORD is good" said Nahum, "a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that put their trust in Him" (1:7). And not only does God know and love such men and women of faith, but David speaks of those who put their trust in God before the sons of men. In other words, he is reminding us that the world is looking on, and people around us take note if we are trusting in the Lord. Our lives affect others, so let us encourage one another to trust in the Lord at all times and to claim the sure promises of His Word. "Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is an everlasting rock" (Is. 26:4).

Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odour of a sweet smell (Eph.

5:2).

Toms, A. F. | Feb 1993
Elijah