Overview
God raised up the prophet Elijah to confront Ahab, Israel's most wicked king. Elijah was like a gleam of light in the darkness of Ahab's reign. Because he was equipped with the power and authority of God, he alone was like an army against Ahab and his foreign wife Jezebel, who tried to destroy the worship of God.
Elijah was from the town of Tishbe in Gilead, east of the Jordan, so he was probably from the tribe of Gad. He appears to have been tough and rugged, a man of strong faith and conviction who could not stand idly by and watch Satan's instruments destroy the people of God. With holy zeal and righteous indignation, he boldly came unannounced before Ahab to proclaim God's judgment upon Israel for the great evil of Baalism that Jezebel had introduced.
Elijah had earnestly prayed and God answered him, for as the Word of God says, "the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16). Although he was an ordinary man with "a nature like ours", Elijah's prayer stopped the rain from falling for three and a half years (James 5:17). Drought and famine were curses for the disobedience of idolatry (Deuteronomy 28:23-24). This form of God's intervention in the course of nature came as a challenge to Baal, the god of fruitfulness, who was supposed to control the weather. The purpose of this judgment was to bring Israel back to God. They were to understand that Baal could not help them; they would have to cry out to God for deliverance. If only there were more believers like Elijah with the holy boldness and faith to challenge the enemy; then more people could be rescued from the tricks and entrapments of Satan today.
Although Elijah was brave, he also had to be wise. God told him to hide so he would not be killed, for He wanted Elijah alive so He could use him further. Elijah obeyed and went exactly where God told him to go — to Brook Cherith (likely Wadi Qilt, south of Jericho). There the Lord miraculously fed him by the ravens. Often the Lord uses the most unlikely means, but in this way it is made clear that it is He alone who must receive the glory. Ravens are dirty scavengers. They were classified as unclean and therefore not to be eaten (Leviticus 11:15).
They are selfish birds that take; it is unnatural for them to give, but this was the supernatural miracle: twice a day, morning and evening, the ravens brought him food (17:6). When the brook ran dry due to the drought, God had another plan to care not only for Elijah but two other destitute people as well. Once again, Elijah was obedient to God and went to the Phoenician town of Zarephath, a small port on the coast of the Mediterranean between Tyre and Sidon north of Israel. This was the homeland of Jezebel. It was an unlikely place for Elijah to flee but a good place, for who would think of looking for him there?
Just as the Lord had told him, Elijah found a widow there. Although she was probably a Gentile, this woman showed faith in the God of Israel, for she verified her statement by Elijah's living God (17:12; Luke 4:24-26). She also showed faith in God to believe Elijah's promise that her flour and oil would not run out, for although he was a stranger, she gave him the first cake when there was hardly enough for a "last meal" for her and her son. God honoured their faith and miraculously provided for them; He did not allow her bin of flour nor her jar of oil to run dry.
A greater test of Elijah's faith came when the widow's son died. He prayed the prayer of faith and God restored the boy's life. This would certainly give Elijah greater confidence in the power of God — the confidence he would need for the greater test of faith yet to come on Mount Carmel. In fact, all these experiences served to prepare Elijah for that great event.
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