The story of Joseph is one of the most amazing stories - he went from prison to the right hand of the ruler of Egypt in one day, but God had His reasons for putting Joseph there. How much more will God provide for those that love Him. We first meet Elijah in 1 Kings 17:1 when he suddenly appears to challenge Ahab, an evil king who ruled the northern kingdom from 874 to 853 BC. There he had a supply of water from the brook, while Israel began to experience a drought. Encyclopedia. Elijah is kept safe by the brook Cherith, until it dries up. (1 Kings 17:5) To the functionally minded, Elijah's prolonged stay by the brook Cherith looks like a waste of a promising life. But its impact is also felt by Elijah, by which we see that God had in mind for Elijah to learn another lesson of faith. He feared that they would not return if they went down there, so he set up temples in which he placed idols and golden calves. See, for example: After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying [ESV], And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying [KJV], Now it happened after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying [NASB], After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah [NIV]. There was a famine in Canaan. Again, just the simplicity of what obedience really is. The acquisition of spiritual power is impossible unless we hide ourselves from men and from ourselves in some gorge where we may absorb the power of the eternal God (Martin). The Story of Elijah and the Cherith Brook, The 100 Mile Journey From the Dried Up Brook, "Trusting God in Difficult Times" by Community Bible Church at their YouTube Channel, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/251990541632996864/, https://www.youtube.com/user/cbcofbeaufort. 'One step forward in obedience is worth years of study about it.' So God's provision came in two ways to Elijah; there was the natural provision in that there was a brook from which he obtained the water he needed to survive. Mark. He had been to the court of this king as the Ambassador of the King of kings, he had done something that was not only courageous, it was spiritually significant. Do you remember the story of His disciples when they went out to preach and did all these wonderful miracles and came back to Him really glorying in all that had happened? God told Elijah, "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there" (1 Kings 17:9). Even a river would have been regarded as insufficient. What was God doing? How do we build on it. Welcome to "Brook Cherith". Had he gone somewhere else, it would not have been where God said. It is a declaration that he is working our His eternal purposes, There is nothing in Scripture to indicate this on the contrary the implication is that he, Last week we saw there were lessons Elijah had to learn in going to the brook Cherith, and here we see them being put into practice as Elijah waited: (i), When our brook seems to dry and we are tempted to cry out. "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" Joshua 24:15, Church Mail: PO Box 9007, South Yarra 3141, It is against this background that now we consider v.2-6, in which we see Elijah in response to Gods instruction leaving the kings presence and going to the Brook Cherith. 100+ hat options: choose from boonie, beanie, trapper or snapback styles. 'Let's draw aside to a quiet place'. This was a serious physical crisis because it had been his support during a very severe drought. Have you ever felt God lead you to something that doesn't last? God provided for Elijah here by using ravens to bring him food and the brook to provide him water. If you treat a dog properly it will actually respond to you and it will want to please you. Answers in Genesis book: The NEW Answers Book 1. We need to see the value of it, which lies in it helps keep things in perspective. We have hope in Jesus. So this is the second lesson. God provided for Elijah here by using . Elijah and the ravens were the only occupants of the Kerith Ravine, and the ravens supplied him with bread and meat, morning and evening. The Bible says, "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours" (James 5:17); it also says he confronted idolatry, performed miracles, spoke God's judgment, and changed his world. 250 combinations! Wall shelves, hooks, other wall-mounted things, without drilling? And He is doing it in the same general way as He did with His Son. Even with those things that never come clear to us we can still trust His goodness in them; we can rest in the confidence that God is doing and always does what is right. The Bible scholars teach Elijah enjoyed food and water at Cherith for a year before the brook dried up. Jesus instructs us to consider the birds of the air and how they are provided for. Did his songs of worship grower weaker as the water rolled less noisily across the rocky bed? The fact is that God leads His servants one step at a time. It is actually at the crisis point when there is nothing left that the Word of the Lord came to him. Alex. Sometimes God has to force us into it. 1 King 17:2-7. It is here we find a conscience calmed by the Prince of Peace. What we see in Elijah is that even though he didnt know what was going to happen next. He always drew aside. The time of testing usually requires sacrifice and faith, both interchangeably. rev2023.1.17.43168. So it was in this context that Elijah came to speak forth the word of judgement in the presence of Ahab. But birds carrying food wouldve aroused no interest. Elijah was destined for even greater heights of service, but he was not ready for that yet. In other words he was to return home, but not to the comforts of home for he is told to hide . But God also commanded ravens to bring him his food. There was no water! Due to Abraham sinning against God and not waiting for God to give him and his wife Sarah a child, God allowed the ongoing strife of Islam and Judaism that is seen still today in the Middle East. God's provision and blessing was at Cherith. Can I (an EU citizen) live in the US if I marry a US citizen? We need to capitalise on this great start! Either approach addresses the apparent contradiction, and some commentators, such as John Wesley, mention both and do not express a preference. "Trusting God in Difficult Times" by Community Bible Church at their YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/cbcofbeaufort. The STANDS4 Network . The funds will help assist in rescue operations, providing shelter, and recovery programs to those in bondage. They will neglect their young yet when God pleases they will feed His prophet. US English. By this method we find ourselves looking to Him for more, learning by easy stages the habit of obedience and trust. Though Ahab might have at first ridiculed Elijahs announcement, yet when neither of these rains fell in their season, he was incensed against the prophet as the cause of the national judgment, and compelled him, with Gods direction, to consult his safety in flight. 1 Kings 17:1-7 ESV / 4 helpful votesNot Helpful. It will be the same for you. zar'-e-fath (tsarephath; Sarepta): The Sidonian town in which Elijah was entertained by a widow after he left the brook Cherith (1 Kings 17:9).Obadiah refers to it as a Canaanite (probably meaning Phoenicia) town (Obadiah 1:20).It appears in the Greek form Sarepta in Luke 4:26 (the King James Version), and is said to be in the land of Sidon. when suddenly there was a knock on the door and a baker was there who said 'God has kept me awake all night and I knew I had to bake an extra three batches of bread for you.' Eleven years - that's a long time before God said 'okay let's go - now you are ready to stand before kings and before gentiles'. The silence of his surroundings, the long days and nights of solitude, the punctual arrival of his food, and the evident working of God . How easy it is to make the service which God trusts us with a pedestal on which to display ourselves. This brook was not far from where he lived. 7 After a while the brook dried up because of the lack of rain. It happened in the life of Elijah at the Brook Cherith, where a time came when Elijah began to watch the water flow daily diminish. After Solomon's death there was a split in the Kingdom; Jeroboam was the King in the northern kingdom of Israel and he set up alternate places of worship because he was afraid of his people going down to Jerusalem to worship. He said. Moderate. As Elijah thought How come it is drying up? the answer would have come because I prayed for it! In the same why when we ask God what happened His reply is Nothing. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. As I was walking him the other day a lady said to me that she could tell that it was my dog because even when it was doing its own thing, it always had one eye on me. It is a declaration that he is working our His eternal purposes, who does all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph 1:11) and who works all things together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). Look at verses 8-10. 1 Kings 17:3 Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.. Careful precaution has to be made when making a modern application to today's life as to not take the passage of scripture out of context. So what did Joseph do? Elijah had a clear statement of Gods will, and He obeyed. Poisson regression with constraint on the coefficients of two variables be the same, The "third year" refers to the third year of Elijah's stay in Zarephath, following a stay of some months at the brook Cherith (Adam Clarke, Barnes, Haydock, Keil and Delitzsch), The "third year" refers to the time of Elijah's exile, which did not begin until the dry period had already been underway for six months (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown; Thomas Coke). It cannot therefore be identified with Wady el-Kelt, to the West of Jericho. So be careful about pushing something or some person aside because we think they are 'unclean', we need to realise that God can use them in a situation to provide for us. But it was potentially also a real spiritual crisis, for by faith Elijah had followed Gods directions and enjoyed Gods blessings. The downward slide - from faith to fear to depression, Blindness, self focus and the replacing of Elijah, Elijah, Ahab and the arrow shot at random. Kyber and Dilithium explained to primary school students? As we are reminded in John 15 where Jesus said Abide in Me and I in you this fellowship of mutual abiding is ever our portion, and how more clearly are such times to explore and enjoy it. The fact is that God leads His servants one step at a time. Let's look at 1 Kings 17:6: And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. Zarephath: June 15, 2022 by Kelly Henderson. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. Prior to this, but after the beginning of the drought, Elijah lived by the brook Cherith for an unspecified length of time (1 Kings 17:5). The other side of this is that if we would wield great power for God we must win it in some hidden Cherith. If we have too much of the world in our lives we will be put into a position where we have to be cut off from things that control us. Series 12 Study 2 HIDDEN BY THE BROOK CHERITH (Scripture Portions: 1 Kings 17: 2-7; Psalm 34: 1-10) The announcement to Ahab that there would be no rain (1 Kings 17:1) was a terrible one for Elijah to have to make. The promise God gave him was that he would be provided for there. Reading: 1 Kings 17. I have commanded the ravens. Because this is a short lesson, there is time for reviewing all of the books of the Old Testament that the students are learning so far. This is the second message on Elijah and we are in 1 Kings chapter 17. This is a miracle because ravens eat meat so they actually bring Elijah something that they would normally partake of themselves! He was actually pro-active and he said okay, if there is going to be a famine, let's start storing our grain now to get us through. The nation had already had the tap of refreshing moisture turned off, and now having been given a prophet he is immediately removed. We ought not be surprised if our Father says, You have had enough of this hurry, publicity and excitement. He can only talk about what had happened with God now that will keep the fleshly pride down! The "brook Cherith" (NASB), or the "ravine Kerith" (NIV), was one of the many waddies or ravines that emptied its waters into the Jordan from the mountains to the east. (6) The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. God always speaks when it is needed, not beforehand. Sometimes a Cherith experience is there to get the world out of us. Gods word through His prophet is removed. Though great and terrifying are temporal judgements upon a people, none is so great as the removal of His Word and instruction and prayer based on that Word. Such times are often a time of confusion for believers, and become a real challenge to faith. God knows that faith only develops under pressure. It is described as being "before," that is "east," of Jordan. By the Brook Cherith Chapter three. But Elijah didn't have to be fully trained before God called him into ministry; God developed Elijah as he went along. Elijah was obedient to God's word and he went to the Kerith Ravine. The story of Elijah the prophet is first mentioned in 1 Kings 17, where the prophet steps onto the page without any prior mention. God allows events to transpire in everyday life that has a tendency to test faith. When our actions are regulated by the Word of God and our lives are lived in the centre of His will, we have nothing whatsoever to fear. If dogs are treated properly they are man's best friend. How easy in such times our joy quickly turns to sadness! Double-sided tape maybe? The brook dries up. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel (1 Kings 18:45 NLT). In other words he was to return home, but not to the comforts of home for he is told to, The first thing we notice here is that this was not Elijahs idea, it was the Lords doing. VERSES: 1 Kings 17:1-7 MEMORY VERSE: 1 Kings 17:4 ".thou shalt drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there." BOOK TO REMEMBER: Song of Solomon.Write "Song Of Solomon" on small slips of paper and hand out at the end of class. He was faithful though the circumstance was not ideal from a human perspective. When you look through the Bible, most of God's saints have gone through a 'Cherith'. New answers book 1, both interchangeably just the simplicity of what obedience really is gone else! Though he didnt know what was going to happen next about it. shelves, hooks, wall-mounted. Must win it in some hidden Cherith is that God leads His servants one step a! Of study about it. Church at their YouTube Channel https:.. 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