1 Kings 17:1 - Meaning and Application

The history of Elijah begins rather suddenly. Usually, when a prophet appears, we are told about his family, his father, and his tribe. But Elijah seems to step out of the clouds, so to speak, as if he had no recorded parents or family line, like Melchizedek. That is why some Jews thought he might be an angel from heaven. Yet the apostle James tells us that he was a man with feelings like ours (James 5:17), which may mean he shared the weaknesses common to people, and also that his natural temper was strong and fiery.

God often fits people to the work he calls them to do. Rough tasks often call for strong men. The Reformation needed a man like Luther to break the ice. Elijah’s name means, “My God is Jehovah.” It fits his mission, because the Lord who sent him would support him and prove himself through him. Elijah came from Gilead, east of the Jordan, probably from the tribe of Gad or from half the tribe of Manasseh. His family background was not noted, but that did not matter to his later greatness. We do not need to ask where a man comes from so much as what he is. If something is good, it does not matter if it comes from Nazareth.

Israel was deeply wounded, and God sent them this healing man from Gilead. Elijah is called a Tishbite, likely from a town called Thisbe in that region. At the start of his story, we learn two main things. First, he foretold a famine, long and severe, as a punishment for Israel’s sins. That fertile land would be turned into barrenness because of the wickedness of its people.

Elijah went and told Ahab, the king of Israel, this warning. He did not spread it quietly among the people to stir them against the government. He spoke it to the king, because the king had the power to reform the nation and so avoid the judgment. He likely also rebuked Ahab for his idol worship and other sin, warning him that unless he repented, this trouble would come. He said there would be no dew or rain for several years, until he spoke again. James helps us understand this as more than a prophecy, it was also a prayer (James 5:17, 18). Elijah prayed earnestly, with holy anger over Israel’s turning away from God, and the heavens were shut up. Later, when he prayed again, rain came. In a similar way, God’s witnesses are said to have power to shut heaven so that it does not rain during the days of their witness (Revelation 11:6).

By this message, Elijah made several things clear to Ahab. He showed that the Lord Jehovah was the true God of Israel, whom Ahab had abandoned. He showed that God is living, unlike the dead idols Ahab served. He also made clear that he was God’s servant and messenger, standing before the Lord to minister to him and speaking in his name against the prophets of Baal and the groves. He told Ahab that, even though the kingdom seemed peaceful and prosperous, God was angry with their idolatry and would punish them by withholding rain. The false gods could not give rain anyway, for as Jeremiah says, the idols of the nations cannot do so (Jeremiah 14:22). Elijah sealed this warning with a solemn oath, “As the Lord God of Israel lives,” so that Ahab would feel the force of it. He also told Ahab that he could speak with authority because God had given him influence in heaven: “It shall be according to my word.”

See how boldly Elijah speaks in God’s name, like one who understands the prophet’s charge: “I have set you over nations and kingdoms” (Jeremiah 1:10). This also shows the power of prayer and the truth of God’s word, because the Lord carries out the message of his servants.

Second, we see how God cared for Elijah during that famine. God told him to go and hide by the brook Cherith (1 Kings 17:3). This was not mainly to keep him safe, since Ahab does not seem to have immediately hunted for his life. It was more a judgment on the people, because if Elijah had stayed openly among them, he might have helped them through his teaching and his prayers, and so shortened their time of suffering. But God had decided the drought would last three and a half years, so Elijah was told to stay hidden and not be pressed to take back the sentence he had announced. When God speaks of pulling down and destroying a nation, he knows how to remove those who might stand in the gap and turn back his wrath. It is a bad sign for a people when good men and true ministers are told to hide themselves. When God later meant to send rain, he told Elijah to show himself to Ahab (1 Kings 18:1).

For now, Elijah obeyed and lived alone in an out-of-the-way place, likely among the reeds by the brook. If God’s providence calls us to solitude and quiet, we should accept it. When we cannot be useful, we must be patient. When we cannot work for God, we must wait quietly for him. Though Elijah could not labor there, he could think and pray, and that would prepare him for later service. Still, he would have food, because he was walking in the way of duty. He would be fed even in famine. As the woman in Revelation, a picture of the church, was nourished in the wilderness for a set time, so Elijah was cared for during his three and a half years of hiding (Revelation 12:6, 14).

Elijah was to drink from the brook, and ravens were appointed to bring him meat (1 Kings 17:4, 6). The provision was generous, good, and regular, bread and meat twice a day, enough for daily needs. He likely did not live as richly as the prophets of the groves who ate at Jezebel’s table (1 Kings 18:19), yet he was better provided for than the other prophets of the Lord, whom Obadiah supplied with bread and water (1 Kings 18:4).

It does not become God’s servants, especially his prophets, to be fussy about food or to crave treats and variety. If food keeps us alive, it does not matter if it does not please our taste. Instead of envying those who eat more richly, we should remember how many people better than we are live well on plain food and would be glad for our leftovers.

Elijah was given only one meal at a time, morning and evening, to teach him not to worry about tomorrow. Those who live from hand to mouth should learn to live by God’s care and trust him for each day’s bread. Thank God for today’s bread, and let tomorrow bring its own bread with it.

The servants who supplied Elijah were very unlikely: ravens brought him the food. Obadiah, and other Israelites who had not bowed to Baal, would gladly have welcomed Elijah, but he was alone and had to be fed in an unusual way. He was also a picture of John the Baptist, whose food was locusts and wild honey.

God could have sent angels to care for Elijah, as he later did (1 Kings 19:5) and as he did for our Savior (Matthew 4:11). Instead, he chose to send winged messengers of another kind, showing that when he wants, he can use the weakest creatures just as well as the strongest. If we ask where the ravens got this food, how it was cooked, or whether they came by it honestly, we must answer as Jacob did, “The Lord our God brought it to them,” for the earth and everything in it belongs to him (Genesis 27:20; Psalm 24:1).

Why ravens? First, they are birds of prey, greedy creatures that were more likely to snatch food away from Elijah or peck out his eyes (Proverbs 30:17). Yet in this, Samson’s riddle was answered again, out of the eater comes food. Second, they were unclean birds. Every raven, by the law, was not fit to be eaten (Leviticus 11:15), yet Elijah did not think the food was worse for that. He ate and gave thanks, without raising questions about conscience. Noah’s dove was a more faithful messenger to him than his raven, but here the ravens were faithful and steady to Elijah.

Third, ravens eat insects and carrion, yet they brought the prophet human food and wholesome provision. It is sad when those who bring the bread of life to others are content with what is not really bread. Fourth, ravens could bring only a small amount, perhaps broken pieces, yet Elijah was satisfied with what he had and thankful to be fed, even if not feasted. Fifth, ravens neglect their own young and do not feed them, yet when God wills, they will feed his prophet. Young lions and young ravens may go hungry, but not those who fear the Lord (Psalm 34:10).

Sixth, ravens themselves are fed by God’s special care (Job 38:41; Psalm 147:9), and now they fed the prophet. If we have seen God’s special kindness to us and ours, we should feel bound to be kind to his people for his sake. From this we should learn, first, to honor God’s rule and power over all creatures. He can use them however he pleases, whether for judgment or mercy.

Second, we should strengthen our trust in God in the hardest places and never doubt him. He who could set a table in the wilderness and make ravens carry supplies to his prophet can meet all our needs according to his riches in glory. So Elijah ate his little meals alone for a long time, and even the water from the brook, which came in the ordinary way, failed before the food he received by miracle. Nature has limits, but the God of nature does not.

Elijah’s brook dried up (1 Kings 17:7) because there was no rain. If the skies fail, the earth fails too. That is how all created comforts are. We lose them when we most need them, like summer brooks that dry up (Job 6:15). But there is a river that makes glad the city of God and never runs dry (Psalm 46:4), and there is a well of water that rises up to eternal life. Lord, give us that living water!