Read the passage 1 Kings 17
(v.1-And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, as the Lord
God of Israel liveth, before who I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but
according to my word.)
v.2 1. God grants to the believer the opportunity to experience God alone. (God only).
(And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,) …
It requires faith, trust in God.
God is willing to share Himself.
We experience God alone (only) when we are willing to depend upon Him alone (only) and
are content with Him alone, desiring to serve Him alone, and realize He alone is God and witness to that truth, not just by mouth, but by deed.
v.3 2. A believer overcomes his uncertainty of faith’s destination (where and what God may be asking) by the certainty of God’s provision.
(Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.)
God is taking us to Himself, to personally show His resources.
A believer may not always know where God is taking him, or all that God is going to require
but may be absolutely certain God is able.
Eph. 3: 20, 21 (Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh in us, Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus
throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.)
v.4 3. God has already provided for the believer’s need ahead of his obedience, but the believer’s response in obedience leads to his delightful partaking of God’s provision.
Being a doer of the word assures being a receiver of the word.
By Elijah’s going he was able to partake of the water and food provided by the ravens.
God’s goodness is immeasurable. Believers partake of His infinite goodness by obedient
faith.
v.4 4. God is in control of whatever is required to meet the believer’s need.
(And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.)
The water lendeth itself to God. The ravens are subject to His control.
Everything belongs to the Creator.
Nature responds faithfully to God because it has no volition. (fig tree cursed by God withered) Matt. 21: 19
Humanity has volition and rebels against God, but even the nations are subject to God’s control.
v.5 5. The believer’s freedom comes from obeying God’s instruction, God then releases His liberty to man.
(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.)
Precision required. Doing as God says. That is the expression of faith.
When man walks by faith, God then releases heaven’s abundance reserved for the faithful.
If man has unbelief or iniquity in his heart then the word of God is not having free course in the believer’s life; thus, liberty is not enjoyed by the believer who is out of fellowship- nor filled with the Spirit.
v.6 6. The believer must be careful to allow fully for God’s freedom to be established in his (believer’s) life.
(And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the
evening; and he drank of the brook,)
Partake- letting God choose the outcomes.
God meets the believer’s need as He sovereignly chooses, each time the believer has a need.
God doesn’t have to respond precisely the same manner in every believer’s life or in
successive times of need. God is true to His word, but has many ways to work.
Faith follows God’s pathway.
A believer is to be open and unassertive, cooperative with God,
accepting whatever God provides, refraining from telling God how and when.
God can move any way He chooses, whenever He chooses.
God is sovereign. God moves His direction, in His time.
v.7 7. The believer’s greatest needs are always supplied in greatest abundance. The supply is always sufficient.
(And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain
in the land.)
The source of supply is unchanging-JESUS!
Why should the believer be concerned about running the well dry when it is always sufficient.
The believer’s greatest need is for the bread and water of life.
This is Jesus and Jesus is eternal.
(the brook dried up but God had another provision.)
Our need is not for an earthly resource but for Jesus; if the brooks dry up and our trust was in
the brook, we are unstable; but trusting in Jesus the supply is undiminished by physical
circumstances.
Praise God.
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