1Ki 17:6 | KingComments | STEP | Elijah disappears from the stage as suddenly as he appeared on it. After the bringing of his message the word of the LORD comes to him. He must hide in a place where God will take care of him. It doesn’t seem that he hides from Ahab right away. It is conceivable that Ahab will not look for him until later, when the effect of his prayer becomes clear. Elijah obeys and goes to the place God has told him. In the retreat God forms His servant. Public performance exposes the servant to the danger of self-elevation. With God in secret he has none but God. Here he learns to see himself in God’s presence and he learns Who God is to him. There is “a time to be silent and a time to speak” ( ). For Elijah, now the time has come to be silent, until the next designation from God comes to speak again. It is a time of further preparation for his service in public which we see in the next chapter, when he stands before the whole people. Other servants have also known such a period. We see it with Moses, David, John the baptist, Paul and also with the Lord Jesus. The LORD provides Elijah with bread and meat by means of unclean birds, ravens, and water from the brook. The prophet Obadiah, as we see in the next chapter, provides a hundred prophets of the LORD with bread and water ( ). Ravens do not take care of their young, but God maintains them ( ; ). In His sovereignty, however, He uses the ravens for others (cf. ). Thus He always has means at His disposal to provide His own with what they need, even if those means act against their nature. The way in which God takes care of Elijah is also a disgrace to Israel. Apparently there is no one in Israel who wants to take care of the prophet. The bread and meat that the ravens bring him speak of the Lord Jesus. He is “the bread of life” ( ). The Lord Jesus also says of the “bread” the following: “And the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh” ( ). In John 6 He presents Himself as the food that is the means to deliver us from all that is under death. If we live out of Him, we become free from it. We can learn this from what Elijah is experiencing here. Three times Elijah has experienced the special provisions of God’s care for his sustenance: here at the brook Cherith through the ravens, further on in this chapter with the widow through the flour and oil which do not run out and in 1 Kings 19 where the Angel of the LORD gives him a bread cake and water ( ).

‏ 1 Kings 17:6

Elijah by the Brook Cherith

Elijah disappears from the stage as suddenly as he appeared on it. After the bringing of his message the word of the LORD comes to him. He must hide in a place where God will take care of him. It doesn’t seem that he hides from Ahab right away. It is conceivable that Ahab will not look for him until later, when the effect of his prayer becomes clear. Elijah obeys and goes to the place God has told him. In the retreat God forms His servant.

Public performance exposes the servant to the danger of self-elevation. With God in secret he has none but God. Here he learns to see himself in God’s presence and he learns Who God is to him. There is “a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Ecc 3:7b). For Elijah, now the time has come to be silent, until the next designation from God comes to speak again. It is a time of further preparation for his service in public which we see in the next chapter, when he stands before the whole people. Other servants have also known such a period. We see it with Moses, David, John the baptist, Paul and also with the Lord Jesus.

The LORD provides Elijah with bread and meat by means of unclean birds, ravens, and water from the brook. The prophet Obadiah, as we see in the next chapter, provides a hundred prophets of the LORD with bread and water (1Kgs 18:4). Ravens do not take care of their young, but God maintains them (Psa 147:9; Job 38:41). In His sovereignty, however, He uses the ravens for others (cf. Psa 50:11). Thus He always has means at His disposal to provide His own with what they need, even if those means act against their nature. The way in which God takes care of Elijah is also a disgrace to Israel. Apparently there is no one in Israel who wants to take care of the prophet.

The bread and meat that the ravens bring him speak of the Lord Jesus. He is “the bread of life” (Jn 6:35). The Lord Jesus also says of the “bread” the following: “And the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh” (Jn 6:51b). In John 6 He presents Himself as the food that is the means to deliver us from all that is under death. If we live out of Him, we become free from it. We can learn this from what Elijah is experiencing here.

Three times Elijah has experienced the special provisions of God’s care for his sustenance: here at the brook Cherith through the ravens, further on in this chapter with the widow through the flour and oil which do not run out and in 1 Kings 19 where the Angel of the LORD gives him a bread cake and water (1Kgs 19:5-8).