![]() She has only enough food for one more meal, after which she and her son will starve to death.Įlijah instructs her not to be afraid, but to go and bake a small cake for him first, and thereafter the God of Israel will provide for them all an unfailing supply of both oil and food. At this point the woman tells him a sad and unhappy tale. As she turns to bring him the water, he asks her also to bring him some food. Upon entering the city, he sees a widow gathering sticks and asks her for a drink of water. The prophet and the widowĮlijah travels northward from the Jordan into Phoenicia, and ends up at Zarephath, a small port between Tyre and Sidon. He blazed onto the scene of time, not only to confront Ahab, but also the prophets of Baal. He was as stern and rugged as the country he came from. Life here was simple and plain – very different from the luxury of Samaria. Grain could be grown in some places in Gilead, but the well-watered highlands were best for grazing sheep. His home was probably at Jabesh-Gilead, a famous Jewish town in Old Testament times. 30:15, NIV)Įlijah came from Gilead – rugged, highland country to the east of the river Jordan. “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…’” (Isa. Has God put you in a place of solitude at the moment? Then be encouraged-a Cherith is the prelude to a Carmel. ![]() It was there, in the quietness, that his ears were trained to hear the voice of God. For thought and contemplation:Įlijah might not have realised it, but his experience at Cherith was part of the training for what happened on Carmel. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food” (v. Then comes the word of the Lord to the prophet: “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. As time goes on, the waters of the brook dwindle under the scorching heat of the sun until, at last, it becomes nothing but a dry channel. The silence of his surroundings, the long days and nights of solitude, the punctual arrival of his food, and the evident working of God’s supernatural hand serve to develop within Elijah a deep sense of dependency upon God. There he drinks from its waters and is miraculously fed each morning and evening by ravens. 8:23, NIV) The prophet and the ravensĮlijah is told by the Lord to go into hiding by the brook Cherith, a tributary of the river Jordan. “…we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (Rom. In that sense, every one of us can be prophets. The definition is limited, of course, but it tends to show just what goes on in the heart of someone who shares God’s concern for His world. ![]() For thought and contemplation:Ī prophet has been defined as “someone in whom God groans ”. Later Elijah and Ahab face each other again when the prophet predicts his doom and also that of his wife, Jezebel. Because of the nation’s repentance and Elijah’s prayer of faith on Mount Carmel, the drought ends. The drought lasts for more than three years, and results in the rejection of the idol god Baal and a return to the worship of the one true God. ![]() Ahab was an ungodly king who encouraged the worship of false gods, and Elijah begins his ministry by prophesying that God is to pronounce judgment by bringing about a great drought. Elijah: “My God is Jehovah” The prophet and the kingġ Kings 17:1, 18:41-46 & 21:17-24 (click the link to read the passages)Īll we know of Elijah before his dramatic appearance as the prophet of God is summed up in the words of 1 Kings 17:1: “Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead.” Elijah is first seen in a confrontation with King Ahab, who came to the throne about 40 years after the death of Jeroboam.
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