As the Lord God liveth, before Whom I stand…
Elijah charged onto the scene in Israel (the northern kingdom of ten tribes)….when the worship of God was at a new low.
(Jezebel had married king Ahab, a wicked man….who became more wicked under her influence….for she brought with her the worship of Baal.
And all Israel was “persuaded” to follow along….for “…Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord…” 1Kings 18:13)
Charge! Is a good word for it….for Elijah was told to go in and give the Word of the Lord to Ahab….right before his throne….and then walk out. Palace guards, body guards, did not matter.
Wow!
1 Kings 17:1 “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 or rain these years but according to my word.”
That was it! No dew or rain….but at the word of Elijah, who would speak when God told him to.
Then Elijah was told to:
1 Kings 17:3-4 “Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherish, that is before Jordan.
And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.”
After the Word of the Lord to Ahab, the king wanted to find and kill him….but God hid him…..using natural and supernatural means to keep him….
……a brook, out of which he was to drink….and ravens…..which on there own, would have ate the food they were “commanded” to drop to Elijah!
But “after a while” the brook dried up!
God uses a certain means…..but that does not mean that will continue…..He may change the means….for His glory.
(When I was first told to be a prayer warrior, I was given certain promises to use…..but as I continued in the work….other promises were given….other means to use.)
With the brook dry….and how much the land of Israel was suffering,….the Lord told Elijah to go to Zaraphath…..in Zidon, a neighboring country….
…….”I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.” (1 Kings 17:9)
Elijah is doing all at the command of the Lord,….
…….and the Lord is commanded circumstances and ways of keeping His servant.
I want to point out here that God is showing His prophet, and Israel….that He commands everything.
There is rain only when He gives it….there is food when it comes by HIs command….there is a widow and her son “commanded”….influenced to feed Elijah and thereby are saved, themselves.
1 Kings 17:13-14 “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.
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.”
(But can we say that the Lord has been less “commanding” for us? How many times has He delivered with spiritual lessons right when we needed it?
Or opportunities when we needed them? Or a provision met?
I can say many times for me…..no,…no ravens….
…..but just as surprising a means for my good!)
After three years…..everything was in drought conditions….yet Ahab, nor the people, had turned back to God or cried unto Him in repentance.
All this time, Elijah has been before the Lord…..in His hand…..under His command….doing what he is told.
1Kings 18:1 “And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying. Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.”
(God has measured waters that we go through. There is a time of chastening….and a time of restoring.
Ahab had not changed…..Jezebel would never change….Israel had not changed….
…why give back the rain?
And here is a most encouraging message to all those of the remnant faithful to the Lord…
“….yet I have left Me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth that hath not kissed him.” I Kings 19:18
God sent rain….though the majority of the nation had not repented….because of the His faithful remnant….seven thousand…..which had stayed true to Him.)
We all know that Elijah made quiet a spectacle of showing Israel that God was the Lord God… for fire came down and burnt up all his sacrifice, wood, stones from the altar he build.
But that the Baal priests….for they could not put fire under their sacrifice as they did to fool the people….cried and shouted, and cut themselves and jumped…..but there was no answer…..no fire to burn up their sacrifice.
The Baal priest went first:
1 Kings 18:26 “…and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered….”
Then Elijah…”repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down.”
1 Kings 18:36,38 “….Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy Word.
Then the fire of the Lord fell….”
The people instantly cry out:
1 Kings 18:39 “…The Lord He is the God; the Lord He is the God.”
(Although, great…..I believe it would have shown a true change in their hearts….not just their opinions…if they had shouted …..The Lord He is my God; the Lord He is my God.”
If the change is not personal…..it is a doubtful one.)
From this, the worship of Baal…..though still in Israel, never had the hold it did on Israel as before.
But what did this great spectacle do for Elijah? Remember, all this time he has been “standing before the Lord God”….
….but when Jezebel hears of the destruction of the priests of Baal, and the showing of the true God, she instantly strikes back at Elijah:
1 Kings 19:2 “Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods to me…..if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.”
Now if she had just sent soldiers…..Elijah would have met them with God’s command….
….but ever like the Adversary….she sent “a message”…..a threat…..something to think about….
And it is said of Elijah….1Kings 19:3 “And when he saw that, he arose , and went for his life….”
What! Elijah running away….after what he had experienced?
How can that be?
Because the mind plays tricks on us…..Elijah “saw that”…..
…..his eyes were taken off of the Lord…..for a moment….and onto what might happen!
So he runs….for his life….yet, though he runs and hides in a cave….
…….soon Elijah was restored…..some of the most beautiful verses about magnificence and wonder of God’s Voice:
God told Elijah to stop hiding in a cave….and come out….when he heard His Voice:
There was an “great and strong wind” that brake the rocks in pieces.
There was “an earthquake”.
There was “a fire”.
But the Lord was not in any of these……
….but then there is a still small Voice.
1 Kings 19:13. “And it was so when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave….”
Here Elijah is restored to true hearing……
…..and that is the place each of us need to be in……to stand before the Lord, and hear His Voice to us….
…and just do His commandments.
Not looking to what others do…..but what we are to do…..before Him.
And if we fail….to come before Him again….and hear His still small Voice commanding us again…and go on and do it.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 