Elijah's Food

1 Kings 17:3–7 (ESV) “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

What is interesting is to see how the Lord provides for Elijah after he boldly confronts Ahab and his abominations. Elijah must hide and be fed by ravens.

The Word of the Lord leads Elijah to a place where someone would never NATURALLY go. Perhaps this is the first rebuke Elijah brings to Israel. When you walk with God, you don't follow the natural instincts of human nature. Israel was following the lusts of their flesh.

The name "Cherith" means, "Separation; gorge. Cut off." This is what Elijah must learn to be if he is to serve God's purposes in an evil age. Note that there is a time for this separating process and that it is gradual. The brook eventually "dried up". That means we don't know how long Elijah was there, but he watched it slowly ebb away. God's separating work in our hearts is like that. He slowly cuts away the things we depend on so that we can deepen our trust in Him. Notice the word, "Then" which begins verse 8 and inaugurates a new direction for Elijah. Only after the brook is dried, THEN the Lord speaks again. Elijah had to trust throughout the whole season. 

1 Kings 17:8–10 (ESV) Then the word of the LORD came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”

Elijah is listening to the Word of the Lord and it leads to a moment where it would seem he's about to take advantage of a poor widow's desperate situation. But what are we being asked to see? Well for one, this widow is from Sidon which is where Jezebel is from:

1 Kings 16:31 (ESV) And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him.

This foreign woman is being met by the prophet of Israel. She is about to experience the supernatural grace of God at work in her life, saving her from poverty and eventually raising her son from death. This moment is a stern reminder to Israel that the Lord God is God of the nations and seeks to save them. Israel had forfeited its responsibility to be a witness to the Gentiles so God so uses the famine to reach out to this woman through Elijah.

This is good news for people who feel like they don't fit the religious structure of the church. This is good news for those who may be on the outside of the faith communities. We notice her first words to Elijah are in verse 12: "As the LORD your God lives." She is a woman who understands that Elijah's God is the LORD God. She has faith but no relationship with Him yet. But Elijah comes to her! This is the God of the Bible, the one who SEEKS out those who need Him. And I love the fact that even in the dark times of Israel's disobedience and sin, God is still at work saving sinners.

Let us not miss that this whole event looks a LOT like Jesus in John 4 with the 5-time divorced woman of Samaria. He reaches out to her and asks her for a drink and then offers her living water. When the disciples find Him, they ask if He's hungry and He tells them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work." John 4:34 (ESV).