The rocky region, cutting, and the refining of God's care

1 Kings17 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.

2 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,

3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

5 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.

6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

8 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,

9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

12 And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

14 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.

15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.

17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.

18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?

19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

20 And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.

22 And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.

24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.

Elijah stands as one of the greatest prophets in history. He bursts onto the scene of history, seemingly out of nowhere. 

Ahab and Jezebel had been having a grand time destroying God's religion and people. Oh, they gave lip service every once in a while to God but went about wholeheartedly building up Baal worship in direct rebellion to the God of the universe. Sounds much like the politicians of today's world, does it not?

But, God sends Elijah to interrupt Ahab's party with a message from on high.

Needless to say, it was not a message that Ahab and Jezebel wanted to hear.

It came from a man that came from nowhere, at least to them. Gilead means "rocky region" in the original Hebrew language. Elijah was not a rich man. This was a man that had grown up and lived in a rocky region. He didn't grow up in the city where you could buy everything you needed. He wasn't raised on a winery or a fancy farm, where you had nearly all you needed nearby. 

Rather, Elijah (whose name meant "My God is Jehovah") lived in a rocky region. He had to hunt for his food. He had to hunt through sparse vegetation to find a few mountain vegetables. He had to compete with wild lions, bears, etc, for the meat he could hunt down. It was a rough life. 

People in this environment usually come out one of two ways (if they come out at all). 

First, they can come out very haughty and proud. After all, they scratched out a living with their wits and their bare hands. They survived by learning their environment and enemies and out-smarting their foes. After all, they had to compete with other men of the region for the scarce resources. This makes a man hard and proud. Not much love and care here.

The second kind of man that can come from here is humble. He knows that he owes his very existence to almighty God. He has seen stronger and smarter men than him fall by the wayside, while God allowed him to survive and thrive in horrible conditions. He seeks God with his whole heart, learns to hear God's voice, and obeys what he hears. 

Elijah was this kind of man. 

He had learned to hear and obey God's voice so much that he was allowed to "stand" in the presence of God! 

Think about that a minute. Even today, if we were to be allowed to have an audience with a king, protocol requires us to bow and bend our knee in respect to the monarch. If we do not, we can be arrested, expelled, or even killed. It was even more seriously taken in the days of Ahab. 

Yet, Elijah boldly a) did not bow in respect to "his king", and b) told Ahab that he was allowed to STAND in the presence of the ultimate monarch- God almighty!

What a testimony! 

God took Elijah from the rough and rocky life and put him in national prominence with one bold decree: "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."

The Lord had used Elijah's rough upbringing to cultivate a relationship that could be trusted and to teach him obedience and complete trust in Jehovah. 

So, when the Lord spoke to him and told him to deliver a message to Ahab, he didn't bat an eye. One day he's living in a rocky place and the next day, he's standing in the King's courts telling "his king" what Thus saith the Lord. 

He should've had an escape plan. He should've asked the Lord, "How do I get away after I say this, Lord?" After all, the king has guards whose job includes cutting down insulant prophets that disturb his day with something he doesn't want to hear. But, God didn't give Elijah a way of escape until he obeyed what he was ordered to do. 

It is then that he's sent to a brook in the middle of the wilderness called, Cherith. The word Cherith, in the Hebrew, means, "Cutting."

So, the Lord builds a relationship with Elijah, lifts him up in the eyes of a nation with a bold and rebellious decree to Ahab, and then drops him in a wilderness that he knows nothing at all about how to live in. 

That's our God, folks. 

Elijah had lived by seeking and obeying God for most of his life, but at least he could do some things for himself. He had hunted and foraged, climbed and walked, fought, and won. Yes, with God's help, but he'd done it. 

Yet, here, he's told, "thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there."

This takes relying on God to a whole new and more difficult level.

Now, instead of foraging and hunting for food, he's told "I'm sending your food via airmail. Just wait on it." And rather than trying to find water that's not too dirty or stale to drink, "here's you a flowing and clean stream to drink from." 

Sure, he had to set up some sort of shelter when he arrived (a tent or a lean-to perhaps), but after that, all he had to do was pray and wait. 

To a man that has lived by his wits and strength to a point, this is an environment that cuts. This is something that reinforces his complete helplessness and utter reliance on God Almighty to take care of his needs.  

This is not an easy thing for a man, much less a human, to accept. 

But, God knew what was ahead. Elijah's relationship and reliance on God had to be stretched in order for Elijah to be able to complete the task that God intended for him to accomplish. 

We're not told how long Elijah lived like this. But, I'm sure that his eyes told him that the brook was drying up. The food kept coming, but the water was flowing less and less. 

Did he worry? We're not told. But, I tend to doubt he worried much, being the man he was. 

Did he wonder? This I'm sure he did. 

I can see him filling his hand or cup from the brook every day. I can see him noticing the water flowing less and less. I can see him beginning to ask the Lord, "I'm sure you see that the water is drying up out here, Lord. What's the plan?" 

But, he received no answer.

A lesser man would've left the area and tried to formulate a plan. Maybe God wants me to go here and do this. Maybe God wants me to go there and do that. 

But, Elijah didn't do this. He had been told to go to the brook and stay. So, stay he did. 

He remained obedient in the face of dwindling resources. He remained obedient when the water dried up. I'm sure he kept asking for God's guidance. But, that guidance didn't come until the water was gone. After God's provision dried up and Elijah still stayed put, that's when the Lord answered with the next part of his plan.

At that time, God told him "Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee."

Zarephath means "refinery" in the Hebrew.

Here the Lord worked on Elijah some more. Elijah, a man, had to humble himself and ask for provision from a widow woman with a sickly child. 

Most men would've looked at God and said, "you've got to be kidding me here, Lord?"

Not only could he not hunt and forage. Not only could he not wait on birds to bring him food and dip his own water. But, now he had to ask a weak widow woman, struggling to survive, with a weak and sickly child- who were on their literal last leg, "Excuse me, could you give me water and food?"

This was new for him. There's not much lower for a man to go than to nearly beg for his sustenance from a woman who is about to die herself!

But, God knew that Elijah truly needed to know that God was indeed his provider and that, as long as he obeyed him, Elijah would be cared for. 

Elijah had grown up and learned to trust God in the rocky region. Then, God had cut him further at the brook. Now, God had to refine the process. 

And it was here that the real test of Elijah's relationship with and trust in God came. 

The widow. The one who had stepped out in faith to provide for Elijah. Comes to Elijah in angry, bitter tears. 

"What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?"

Elijah has a choice to make.

Does he shrug his shoulders and say, "God controls life and death, why are you mad at me?"

Does he turn tail and run away in the face of anger the likes of which he's probably never seen?

No. 

He takes the child to his room and prays to the only true provider he's ever known to handle yet another situation that Elijah cannot handle. 

And God responds with life-giving force! 

It was the rocky region that gave him the faith to obey the Lord in facing down Ahab again. It was the cutting of God's care in all this, that helped him to challenge the political and religious structure that permeated Israel. And it was the "refining" fire that allowed him to trust in the God of heaven to bring down fire from heaven and completely obliterate Baal's entire hold on most of Israel. 

So, whatever you may be going through, the rocky region, the cutting, or the refining process, please understand that God has a plan. His plan is strong and sure. 

He's working things out of you and working faith and trust in you in each set of circumstances.  

God's got this. Trust him.

And your circumstances will help a weak widow, revive a weak son, and help to revive a nation in dire need of a move of God.