IT’S ALREADY DONE
1st Kings 17:1-9 “And Elijah the Tishbite, [who was] of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, [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. And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that [is] before Jordan. And it shall be, [that] thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that [is] before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which [belongeth] to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee’.
Focus Verses: 4 & 9.
Focus Phrase “I have commanded…”
Opening:- The Bible is amazing. Every time you read it God reveals something new to you. You can read the same passage over and over again and always find something new that you did not realize before. In these 9 verses there is a wonderful systematic revelation that is manifested here. I pray that I am able to convey it to you the way God revealed it to me.
Vs#1 – Elijah’s introduction, Elijah’s anointing, God’s challenge.
Vs#2 – God’s word to Elijah
Vs#3 – God’s instruction to Elijah
Vs#4 – God’s command
Vs#5 – Elijah’s submission
Vs#6 – God’s miracle for Elijah
Vs#7 – Elijah’s provision removed
Vs#8 – God’s word to Elijah for a new beginning
Vs#9 – God’s command
** If any of these elements are were taken out then this part of His-story would not be.**
Let me build this message with a good foundation:- In order to do that we must go back to the 16th chapter. In chapter 16 we are introduced to a king by the name of Ahab. Ahab was the king of Israel for 22 years. He reigned as King of Israel from approximately 874 B.C. to 853 B.C.
In those 22 years the Bible says “He did more evil than all the kings before him” therefore he is the worst king Israel ever had. He purposely provoked God. Although he seen the ruin of the wicked kings and their families before him he didn’t take it as a warning or a lesson to be learned, but he hardened his heart and became enraged against God. He thought it a light thing to walk in the ways of Jeroboam, who didn’t have a problem with idol worship. Ahab even went as far as to marry the daughter of Ethbaal King of the Zidonians whose name was Jezebel. After marring Jezebel he brought idol worship back into the Children of Israel. He built an altar for Baal. He built a temple for Baal in Samaria for him and the people to worship close to home this violated several laws of God. God commanded that they travel to the place He had put His name to worship and that was Jerusalem. He made a grove about this temple to conceal the abominable impurities that were performed in the filthy worship of Baal. As the leader and ruler of God’s chosen people he caused the Children of Israel to sin.
Exodus 20:3-4 the 1st & 2nd commandments state “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” “Thou shalt not make unto any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth”.
Deuteronomy 6:4 says “Hear O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord”.
Ahab disregarded the Word of the Lord and caused Israel to disobey God and pervert themselves and worship Baal. He is the worst king to ever rule Israel.
THE WORSHIP OF BAAL: - was very perverted. The worship ceremonies consisted of orgies and human sacrifices. Often times in these groves the trees had carving in them of so-called gods (totems). The people would have these orgies as a form of worship. Also because of these orgies that happened as a part of their perverted worship there would be a lot of unwanted pregnancies. These children that were born from these worship practices were offered up as human sacrifices to Baal. This is totally against God in a number of ways.
Also understand and this is VERY IMPORTANT:- that Baal was believed to be the sun god and he controlled the weather as well as the god of fertility. So they people believed that when they heard thunder that Baal was speaking to them and letting them know that he was going to bless them. The rain that fell was believed to be the blessing that Baal was sending on them, this rain was the blessing of fertility so many orgies and sexual escapades were done in the rain. So remember the rain was considered the blessings form Baal.
WATCH THIS:- God needs to get the attention of the people to get them to stop worshipping idols and turn to Him. So he going to start at the head and challenge the theory of Baal.
So He chooses a man by the name of Elijah from the town of Tishbi in Gilead.
The name Elijah is a very unique name. El = God, Jah = from the name God is called in covenant Jehovah. The letter I is in the middle indicating that I am wrapped up in God. His name begins with God and ends with God. God said I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega.
Elijah means = Jehovah is my salvation.
The name Tishbi or Tishbite means = stranger. You and I are strangers passing through this barren land.
Elijah is God’s mouthpiece; he is God’s spokesman for such a time as this. God sends him to Ahab the King of Israel.
Here is Elijah a nobody at this time. He wasn’t known for the miracle God did through him. He was a stranger to Ahab, but God was about to use him because he had a relationship with God. God sends Elijah to Ahab to set forth the challenge between God and Baal.
Verse #1 Elijah comes to Ahab and says “[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’. That is a powerful statement because the people believed the rain was a blessing from Baal, God said through Elijah I’m gonna stop what you thought was a blessing from some idol and show you just who I Am, so you can realize just where your blessings come from.
Verse #2 After Elijah proclaims that it will not rain again until he gives the word from God the Bible says “And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that [is] before Jordan”. This is Elijah’s instructions.
Ω - Understand that Elijah was a stranger and all of the sudden he was placed in front of the king, made a proclamation and immediately God told him because of what I have told you to say I will hasten my word to perform it, but I need you to go and hide by the brook Cherith.
Now this was for a few reason:
1. Because what Elijah said was going to come to pass, there was going to be a drought and they people would have tried to kill Elijah because he spoke the word.
2. He did want Elijah to get lifted up in pride.
WATCH THIS:- Elijah was a nobody in the sight of man at this time, but he had relationship with God. God took him and place him in front of the King gave him word and then caused what he said to come pass. He didn’t want Elijah to believe that he himself was anything special, but that all glory is the Lords. So he sends Elijah to a place of isolation, although he was isolated from everyone God insulated him from everyone that wanted to destroy him. Sometimes you may feel isolated, but God is simply insulating you from what is trying to destroy you.
He sends Elijah to the brook Cherith. The name Cherith means = cutting, piercing, slaying.
Spiritual Application:- Elijah you were a nobody, I took you and placed you before the king and gave you word. I will do what I said I will do, but I need you to remain humble. I want you to go to Cherith. There’s going to be some cutting I need to do on you, there’s gonna be some piercing I need to do on you. I need to mold you into what I need you to be. I’m going to use you in a mighty and great way, but I need to prepare you for what I am going to have you do. So the place I am sending you to it’s not going to be comfortable. It’s not going to be the place, but it’s going to be amongst the pebbles. There’s not going to be the things you are used to. It’s going to seem as though times are hard. You are going to feel loneliness, but I need you to always remember I will never leave you alone; I am with you even until then ends of the world. There are going to be times when you don’t even know where your next meal is going to come from, but I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
FOCUS PHRASE:- I HAVE COMMANDED. This is awesome.
*****In English class I remember we were taught something called “Perfect Tense”. There are 3 basic tenses, Past, Present, and Future. Each tense has a perfect form indicating a completed action, a progressive form indicating an ongoing action, and a perfect progressive form indicating that an ongoing action will be completed at some definite time.
The phrase “I have commanded”. Is the perfect present form, it indicates that an action is already done – right now.
God told Elijah you don’t even have to worry about what lies ahead because I have already taken care of it.
Before Elijah had a clue what was going to happen God already made a way.
Verse #4:- God’s command. He commanded the ravens to feed him. Ravens are birds that are known as the birds of both life and death. Raven is the root of ravenous which means greedy for food. It’s a scavenger that does not discriminate between human or animal, it is known for eating the dead carcasses of both. It’s a very intelligent bird that is capable of mimicking sounds even that of human speech. It’s not a pretty bird. There are not any colors that make it appealing to the eye. The look of it is evil. Yet this is what God had commanded to help Elijah.
It may not come in the package that you think it should come, but God has commanded. He knows what we need and how to give us our true heart’s desire. It was a miracle that was waiting on Elijah. God commanded the ravens to feed him true, but there was a place Elijah had to go and he had to go to Cherith.
Verse #5:- Elijah’s submission:- Elijah had to go to the place where God was going to do the miracle He said he was going to do. If Elijah would not have submitted himself he would not have received the miracle.
Verse #6:- Elijah’s miracle:- The ravens bought him food in the morning and in the evening.
Verse #7:- Elijah’s provision was removed:- The brook dried up. Sometimes it may seem as though what God has provided us with is dried up, but if we just would listen to the voice of God He’s going to make another way.
Verse #8:- Elijah’s receives another word from the Lord for a new beginning. He tells Elijah to go to another. He said to Elijah old things are passed away and behold all things are become new. I want you to go to Zarepath for I have commanded a widow woman to sustain thee there. It was a new beginning for Elijah.
However, before he could receive the blessing from the widow woman in Zarepath he had to go to Cherith.
You may be at your personal Cherith right now. You may be going through some cutting in your life. You may be experiencing some piercings in your life right now. There may be some loneliness in your life right now, but God has commanded your victory before the foundations of the world. Your breakthrough is already done. Your deliverance is already done. You just got to go through the process.
Cherith is a place that we don’t like to be at, but I have come to find that at Cherith.
Pride is destroyed.
Selfishness is demolished
High-mindedness is done away with
Self reliance is put to death
Personal agenda doesn’t stand a chance
Your will is broken
Ego is destroyed
Weeping will last for a night
Rebellion is handled
Brokenness happens
Loneliness occurs
Isolation happens
Someone may say I don’t want to go to Cherith. But at Cherith
Character is built
Faith is strengthen
God’s Will is manifested
Your mind is transformed
Miracles happen
Relationship with God is realized
Power is provided
Provision is given
Communion is established
Intimacy is achieved.
Victory is WON.
It’s already done but you have to go through Cherith.
CLOSING:- Everybody wants to be used by God, but nobody wants to go to Cherith, but Cherith is alright because God has already commanded victory to happen. It’s already done.
District Elder M.L. Maughmer, Jr.
