The most wanted
First King’s 17: 2 -- 7. 05/16/04
When you read about the prophet Elijah, you find out quickly that he was a no-nonsense type of prophet. He saw only right and wrong. He went to the palace and told the King Ahab there was coming a drought in the land. The drought would last until he gave the word for it to cease. We aren’t told in the Old Testament how long the drought would last but in the book of James 5:17 we are told that it lasted for 3 1/2 years.
After this announcement to the King, it would be safe to say that Elijah would not have been appointed as the palace chaplain. It is doubtful that the Baptist convention would have invited him to be the speaker at their meeting. But obedience to God often provokes more hatred than honor from men. The person that is obedient to God will often be hated, scorned, and ridiculed by this world. But there is a God in heaven and obedience to him never goes unnoticed. That is exactly what we find in our text. Elijah became the most wanted by the wicked King Ahab and a lot of the countryman.
Now the first point I want to call to your attention is THE PROTECTION OF HIS LIFE. God ordered Elijah to go hide by the Brook Cherith.
Satan is ever trying to stop our service, cancel our commitment, and destroy our dedication. But failure to obey God’s orders can end our abilities and opportunities to serve. That means we may have to miss out on the goings on at times, but unless we go to the Brook Cherith where there is God’s protection we won’t make it to the future service.
We know that God could have protected Elijah by other means and left him in the public eye to preach his message but he did not. What I want you to understand here is that this is a judgment of God against Israel by hiding his prophet. It is a curse on any nation when God hides his preacher from them. Most people would say a community would be bad off if there was no doctor in there to meet one’s physical needs. But I want to tell you that mans spiritual needs are his greatest need and many are ignorant to the fact. But one day God will remove his preacher’s along with all believers from this world and judgment upon rejecting mankind will continue in a greater magnitude. If a nation doesn’t want the blessing of God, He will oblige and take it away.
We see not only the protection of his life but also THE PROVISION OF HIS MEALS. Got told Elijah the ravens would feed him and that he was to drink from the Brook.
God’s cupboards often times come from strange places doesn’t it? Two meals a day were to be brought unto Elijah both bread and meat by ravens. We would certainly have to say that was one of God’s miracles. Although, God performed a miracle in the feeding of Elijah, He performed no miracle in not allowing the Brook to dry up. That was no indication that God was forsaking Elijah. It only indicates God was changing the source of his help. It is a dreaded lesson to learn and usually difficult situation to experience, but God takes most of his through a Brook drying experience sometime in life, if not many times. But it provides a great opportunity to grow in faith, to keep our eyes focused on God, who is the primary source of our supplies.
We have looked at the protection of his life and the provision of his meals. Next we want to look for a short time at THE PREPARATION OF HIS HEART.
God not only supplied his physical and material needs at Cherith, but he also supplied his spiritual needs there as well. If Elijah was going on to perform another service he had some spiritual needs to be met. We see that not only his place for hiding was a place for protection, and have his physical needs met, but also his spiritual heart needed some preparation for the future if he was going to continue his fight against the evils of the nation.
Elijah was alone except for the animal life around him. Alone where he could meditate and pray. All men need a time alone with God. It is a time to refuel and prepare the heart for the future when one deal’s with the public.
Some great men in the Bible had times of solitude. Moses spent 40 years on the backside of the desert to become equipped to lead Israel out of Egypt. David spent time tending sheep and pinned down many psalms. John the Baptist spent much of his life alone in the wilderness before he became the voice in the wilderness preaching repentance. And John on the Isle of Patmos gave us the great revelation of the Bible.
Jesus had many times gone into solitude to pray not my will but the fathers will be done. It resulted in him going to the cross alone. The only thing that accompanied Him to the cross was our sins to which he paid in full. Do you know Jesus as your personal savior?
