Ahab and Elijah Pt 1

Good evening. How are y'all doing? You enjoy the weather this afternoon? You're stuck inside like me. Good to see everybody. I know y'all are just sitting down, but could I invite you to stand with me in honor of our Lord and we can sing some praises to him? I'm gonna go ahead and open this in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, I just thank you for giving this opportunity to worship

you. Lord, not just in song, but in word. Lord, I just pray that the service this evening wouldn't be about us, Lord, but it would be truly about the worship of you and who you are. I just pray this in your name. Amen.

You say that you're my all together lovely, all together worthy, all together wonderful too. Though so highly exalted, yes, in heaven he came to save. All together love, all together all together one. My sin, thou ne'er be my sin.

Worship. You say that you're all together, all together, all together one. Salvation is only the start. I am true. I have a future. Wasn't made to be tanned in a grave. I was called warm. His run and his hope, his hope. Earth, Lord, we get to continue praising you for the I just pray that you would be with us and comes up Lord that you would just fill him with your spirit Lord that he would proclaim your word boldly good

evening if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of 1st Kings chapter 16 1st Kings chapter 16 well the last time that we were together in the book of 1st Kings we started following kind of a long line of of sometimes good mainly bad Kings the the kingdom had been divided because of Solomon's sin it was divided between a by Jim and Jeroboam and of course Jeroboam had led the the northern ten tribes into idolatry and we we saw a little bit with the southern kingdom but really we're gonna focus on the northern kingdom for the next few chapters as a matter of fact chapter 16 and on through the rest really of the book of 1st Kings we'll focus on two main characters we'll focus on a king named Ahab and we will focus on a

a prophet named Elijah so but chapter 16 is going to give us the line to get to Ahab and so we start in chapter 16 verse 1 and it says this now the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha saying in as much as I exalted you from the dust and made you leader over my people Israel and you have walked in the way of the people of Israel and you have walked in the way of the people of Israel and you have walked in the way of the people of Israel of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel sin provoking me to anger with their sins behold I will consume Baasha in his house and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat anyone of Baasha who dies in the

city the dogs shall eat and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did in his might are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel and Baasha slept with his father and brothers and was buried in Tersia and Elah his son became king in his place moreover the word of the Lord through the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani also came against Baasha and his household both because of all of the evil which he did in the sight of the Lord provoking him to anger with the work of his hands and being like the house of Jeroboam and because he struck it so so the last king that we had ended with uh in chapter 15 was this King Baasha he had he had been

really commissioned by God to take out the house of Jeroboam and and he not only killed Jeroboam's son but then went on to wipe out the rest of Jeroboam's household as God had prophesied would take place so he became the the second of the Dynasty if you will of the northern kingdoms and I believe that that had he just like Jeroboam had he done what God had called for him to do had he followed God in the way that he was supposed to we would have kept reading

instead he walked in all the sins of Jeroboam and if you don't know what the sins of Jeroboam are if you haven't been here for a few weeks Jeroboam was concerned when he took over the northern kingdom that all the people would decide that when they went back to Jerusalem to worship God that they would decide that they wanted to stay there and they would ultimately rebel against Jeroboam and so in his insecurity and in his fear he said I will make idols for them I will make gods for them so that they never have to go to the southern kingdom to worship and he established two golden calves he said these are your gods who delivered you from Egypt kind of sounds familiar and he established an

entire priesthood and feast days and everything else he he essentially established a counterfeit religion within the nation of Israel and because of that now every king in the north is going to be compared to Jeroboam not because of how good they are but because of how bad they are and so this Basha ended up walking in the exact same ways as Jeroboam and because of that God raised up a prophet like he often does this guy by the name of Jehu who came along and said hey listen God's going to wipe out your entire family God's going to wipe you out because because he he puts you in a place to do good things and instead of doing that you you followed all the sins of Jeroboam and it's kind of interesting

because because the same pronouncement of judgment that was made against Jeroboam is now made against Basha in his household but I want you to notice in verse 7 what it says it says the word of the Lord through the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came against Basha in his household for two reasons number one both because of all the evil which he did in the sight of the Lord provoking him to anger with the work of his hands and being like the house of Jeroboam and number two because he struck it now I think that that's kind of interesting and we we should spend just a moment on this not too much time on this but just a moment on this that that the first reason why God was going to bring judgment on the household of Busch

is because he acted just like Jeroboam the very King he was sent to judge the very very king he was sent to pour out God's judgment on he was acting just like him and that's the first reason why God why God had to judge him. But the second reason that God had to judge him is because Baasha had struck down the entire household of Jeroboam. And if you read that, you're kind of like, wait, God told him to do that. Like, that's the prophecy that was given. And yet, even though Baasha,

this evil king, was used as an instrument of God's judgment, it didn't mean that he was exempt from God's judgment. Now, this is just me, and I can't prove this scripturally, and I don't even know that any commentator agrees with me on this. But I think that had Baasha been a good king from that point on, and not walked in the ways of Jeroboam, but had turned the kingdom around, and they had started pursuing God the way that they were supposed to, perhaps God would have never judged him for striking down the house of Jeroboam, because he was doing what God had told him to do. But you see, when you condemn someone for the exact same sins that you do yourself, why,

God takes that pretty seriously now, doesn't he? God seems to have a lot to say about that in scripture. And so he deals with Baasha, and it's the first of the bad kings that we read about in chapter 16. It says in verse, Verse 8.

As soon as he sat on his throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha, he did not leave a single male, neither of his relatives, nor of his friends. Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke against Baasha through Jehu the prophet. For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned, and which they made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols. The rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the book of the book of the book of the book of the chronicles, the kings of Israel. So the next king that comes along is this guy named

Elah, the son of Baasha. Of course, the prophecy had been made that all the household would be destroyed. And he had, I get my Zimris, Omris, and my Terz, I was confused here. He had a servant named Zimri. Even when I was typing it out, I kept typing the wrong names every time I would do it. He had a servant named Zimri, who was commander of half of his chariots, and Zimri decided he was

going to take over the kingdom. And I want you to notice the position that Elah finds himself in. It's important for us to pay attention to, and perhaps something that we should maybe follow the example of what we should not do. It says now in the middle of verse nine, now he was at Terzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arzah, who was over the household Terzah. I find it

interesting, and it's not necessarily a statement that's made here, although an example that we should pay attention to, that this man Elah finds himself in a very compromised position, because instead of being sober-minded, he is drunk in a household. And he finds himself struck down because his senses were probably dulled due to the alcohol that was in his system. And I just think that there's an interesting example for us to pay attention to there as we think about alcohol and the role that it can sometimes play in our lives. I've brought it up before, and I'll bring it up one more time. It seems like the longer

that I go in ministry, the more that this becomes the area that so many Christians want to take their stand on in liberty. Well, I've got the liberty to drink. Yeah, you do, absolutely. And in Christ, you have liberty to do things. But you also have to understand that liberty can sometimes lead to license, and license leads us to sin. So you have to be careful how we use these liberties that we have in Christ,

and that that liberty doesn't ultimately not only stumble you, but stumble somebody else around you. That's all I'll say on that. So Zimri ultimately kills Elah, wipes out the rest of the family, all because God, had already pronounced judgment. But I want you to notice what happens with Zimri. Verse 15. In the 27th year of Asa, king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days at Tirzah. I just want you to,

seven days, right? One week. He's like, you know, Tuesday morning, he's like, I'm the king. The next Wednesday morning, he's like, I'm dead. I mean, that's a really short reign that he has. One week is the king. And the people were camped against Gibethon, which belonged, to the Philistines. And the people who were camped heard it, said, Zimri has conspired and

has struck down the king. Therefore, all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. And then Omri, and all Israel with him, went up from Gibethon and besieged Tirzah. And it came about when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the citadel of the king's house. He burned the king's house over him with fire,

and he died because of the sins which he sinned, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin, which he did, making Israel sin. The rest of the acts of Zimri and his conspiracy, which he carried out, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? It's an interesting turn of events. It took a little bit of time for news to spread at that point. But Zimri had taken out the king, the current king.

He sort of made himself the king. Reigned for seven days. As a matter of fact, if you have the little list of kings that I gave you, it'll say, seven days. Like, got to be the shortest reign ever. Pretty sure it's the shortest one on that list. If you don't have that list, there may be some extra ones laying out there. I actually used it three times today to keep track of all of my kings. If I need to make more copies, I'm happy

to do that. So he takes out the king, and everybody hears about it. Now, Zimri is a commander of a bunch of chariots, right? Like, he's a military leader. And yet everybody finds themselves going, oh no, the king is dead. Omri should be king. And this Omri is going to be an interesting guy. We'll talk about him in just a moment. But Omri decides it's time for him to take over. And so

they go and besiege the city where Zimri is. And rather than Zimri going out and fighting, I find he takes the coward's way out. And he traps himself inside of the citadel, essentially a barracks, if you will. And he catches the thing on fire and ultimately commits suicide by having it burned down around him. Because as a coward, rather than fight against the enemy and try to

maintain his place, he just gives up. And so after him, Omri, becomes the king. Now, all of this, again, is leading us to a point, I promise. So this Omri becomes king. Omri. Omri. I don't know how you say it. Then the people of Israel, verse 21, were divided into two parts. Half followed Tibni, the son of Gennath, to make him king. And the other half followed Omri. The people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni,

the son of Gennath. And Tibni died, and Omri became king. In the 31st year of Asa, king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel. And he reigned 12 years, six years at Tirzah. And he bought the hill Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver. And he built on the hill. And he named the city which he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill. So he takes over and

essentially builds what will become the capital city of the northern tribes. Oftentimes, the northern tribes, the 10 northern tribes, will be referred to as Samaria because of the city that he builds that ultimately becomes the capital city of the northern tribes. And he built the capital. It says in verse 25, And Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and acted more wickedly than all who were before him.

Can I just say, that's never a good commentary on someone's life. Like, we've read about some really bad things up to this point in time, some really, really evil things, if you will. And this guy did more wickedly than all of them. We're going to find, well, let's just read verse 26. It says,

Now the rest of the acts of Omri, which he did in his might, which he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. And Ahab, his son, became king in his place. Now, the writer of 1 Kings sort of dismisses the reign of Omri. 12 years. It really doesn't say that much about it. The biggest

commentary is that he did a lot of things. He did a lot of things. He did a lot of things. He did a lot of things. that he did a lot of evil. He was very wicked, acted more wickedly than anyone that had come before him, because that's the focus of the writer of 1 Kings. But history actually speaks really well of Omri, that he was a very powerful leader, especially in that region. He was well known for

the might and the power and the military prowess that he had. So secular history, actually, there was some sort of a historical work that was done in about the mid-1800s, from what I read today, that actually listed him as a very powerful king. But remember, just because the world says you're powerful, doesn't mean God says you're powerful. Because what the world says about you and what God says about you may be two different things, but the one that will rest in eternity is what God says about you. And he was an evil king. And of course, this evil king produced who

would become probably the worst king of all of the northern tribes of Israel's kings, and at least the most famous. A man by the name of Ahab. Now, verse 29. Now Ahab, the son of Omri, became king over Israel in the 38th year of Asa, king of Judah. You may have noticed we've mentioned his name quite a few times. He reigned through quite a few different kings. And Ahab, the son of Omri, reigned over

Israel in Samaria, there's that capital city, 22 years. Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him. Now, I want you to think about this. Omri had done worse than all of the people before him. Ahab said, hold my beer, right? Probably literally. Ahab said, I can do better than that. And he became one of the most evil kings Israel

had ever had, and ever would have. As a matter of fact, that name is still known with somewhat of an evil connotation to it, right? But as if it wasn't bad enough that he was just more evil than any king before him, he became one of the most evil kings Israel had ever had. And as a matter of fact, that name is still known with somewhat of an evil connotation to it, right? But as a matter of

fact, that name is still known with somewhat of an evil connotation to it, right? But as a matter of fact, that name is still known with somewhat of an evil connotation to it, right? But as a matter of fact, that name is still known with somewhat of an evil connotation to it, right? But as a matter of fact, that name is still known with somewhat of an evil connotation to it, right? But as a matter of

fact, that name is still known with somewhat of an evil connotation to it, right? But as a matter of fact, that name is still known with somewhat of an evil connotation to it, right? But as a matter of fact, that name is still known with somewhat of an evil connotation to it, right? But as a matter of as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and went to serve Baal and worshiped him.

So he erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. Ahab also made the Asherah. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. And I love the way that this is mentioned because it says, as if it wasn't bad enough that he's the worst king Israel has had up to this point in time, he added to that the fact that he married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians.

Now the Sidonians are also known as the Phoenicians, and they of course had this god that they worshiped named Baal. Now before we get into the two gods that he built altars to, because I think this is really important for us to pay attention to, especially given the rest of the story of Elijah, what we come to in the next chapter, I want to spend just a moment talking about Jezebel. It's interesting because I was listening to David Jeremiah this week. Has anyone been listening to David Jeremiah at all this week?

And he's been talking about the letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation. And the letter, I believe it's to Thyatira, that's written, says that they allowed that woman Jezebel to teach in their synagogue, and they have followed her doctrine, and she's led them into immorality and sin. And I find it kind of interesting. I don't think that was probably her name, but that's the spirit that she operated in in this particular church at that particular point in time.

And I find it interesting. I'm going to offend somebody when I say this because somebody's going to have a daughter or a cousin or a niece or something. You don't hear about very many ladies named Jezebel. Can we all agree with that? Can we all agree with the fact that on the top 25 list of names, I don't care what year it is, I don't think Jezebel, I don't think that one makes the list

because the connotation of that name is always kind of evil. So if somebody brings their new baby Jezebel to me, I'm just going to say, I'm just going to be like, maybe we ought to consider a different name at this point in time, right? Like the Bible just has a lot to say about that. And it's interesting how that connotation is there because no matter how bad Ahab is and no matter how much of a bad connotation his name carries with it, Jezebel's name carries an even more evil connotation with it.

Can we all agree with that? And you know why? Listen, these are the facts, okay? I can't change this. This is just the way that it is. God has made women to be much more deeply emotional than men. It's just all that there is to it. And because they are much more deeply emotional than men, they are in one way so much more capable of being the most amazing people in the world,

the most sensitive, tenderhearted, caring individuals as close to God as just about anybody that you could ever imagine being around. Much more than men. But in the way that they are capable of the depth of goodness to a much deeper degree than men are, I believe that women are capable of a much greater depth of evil than men are. It's just the way that it is because of the emotion, the emotional, spiritual way that God has created women.

You are so much more deeply emotional that, hey, listen, they don't talk about man drama, right? I mean, it's there. I'm not saying it's not there, but you girls get a little vindictive with each other, right? That's just all that there is to it. You can shoot me off here later. It's okay. But this is why we read about Jezebel in the way that we do. And she is gonna lead him into idolatry.

Now, listen, I don't think he needed much help going deeper into idolatry, but she definitely led him into deeper idolatry. As a matter of fact, if you look at who's gonna be in charge of the kingdom over the next few chapters, it really won't be Ahab. It's really gonna be Jezebel. She will be the force behind the kingdom. As a matter of fact, we'll come to a story soon

where he wants a vineyard that belongs to another guy, and he's like, I want it, I want it, I want it. And she's like, would you stop crying about it? Just let me go get it for you. And she goes and kills the guy that owns the vineyard and gives it to him. I mean, that's just what she does, right? She's the one running the show. And ladies, I need you to know something.

You will always be the biggest weakness in your husband's life. You will always be the biggest weakness that he has. Therefore, if you are pointing him to Jesus and helping to enforce those spiritual truths in his life, he has a greater chance of continuing to be the leader that God has made for him to be. But if you are pulling him away from the things of the Lord, if every time he makes a stand, you are trying to tear that stand down, you are trying to pull him away from the things of the Lord, ultimately his heart's gonna be guided away because you're the greatest weakness that he has in his life.

And men, we need to understand something, our wives will always be the greatest weakness that we have. And we will either choose to lead or we will choose to be led. That's just all that there is to it. Well, now that I've made all the controversial statements I possibly can and got myself in trouble with all of the ladies, let's move on. So he goes on to build two different idolatrous places.

One is to the idol Baal or Baal and the other one is in Asherah pole, right? So two different gods. Some say that Baal was the male version, Asherah was the female version, which kind of makes sense. Baal was, can be a general name for gods, but in this instance, it is a specific god named Baal. And he was supposed to be the god of the crops or the god of the weather,

which is gonna be really important for what we get to in the next chapter. He was the god that they prayed to to make sure that their crops would grow the way that they were supposed to, that they got the rain that they were supposed to get. Asherah was the goddess of fertility and she was worshiped in lots of immoral sort of ways. They both were worshiped in very immoral sort of ways.

But these Asherah poles that they would have built was where all of this immorality would have taken place. Oftentimes cult prostitutes and things along those lines. So a great deal of immorality and debauchery was introduced into the kingdom, even more than they already had at that point in time, which is why it's reported or commentated by the writer of 1 Kings that he did more to provoke God than any other king. And Jezebel was the one steering the ship.

Well, we're given a short little parenthesis, a hypothetical statement in verse 34. It says, In his days, meaning the days of Ahab, Hiel, the Bethelite, built Jericho. He laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram, his firstborn, and he set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son, Segub. Segub, yeah, we'll go with that. According to the word of the Lord,

which he spoke by Joshua, the son of Nun. Now we won't go there, but if we were to go all the way back to the book of Joshua, we would find that the very first city that they took over when they came into the land was Jericho, right? Joshua fought the battle of Jericho. We all know that song. We can sing it later. And so after Jericho was destroyed, Joshua sort of pronounced this curse over the city

because it was so evil that he pronounced this curse over the city. He said, Cursed is anyone who builds this city. May it be on the back of his firstborn. May it be on the back of his sons. And this is exactly what happens. Now, we're just given this little commentary that perhaps because of the evil of Ahab, maybe it gave him the boldness, to go and rebuild the city of Jericho

despite what Joshua had said. Or maybe he was just like, hey, I'm just gonna rebuild Jericho. Who knows why? This is the only commentary that we're given. We're just told that the foundations were laid at the death of his youngest son and the gates were laid at the death of his oldest son. And some have said, well, it was just part of the curse. And then some commentators even went so far

as to say that according to the Hebrew reading there, that perhaps these were even human sacrifices, that he sacrificed his two sons. to build this city. Hard to say because the Hebrew's a little unclear there, but whatever it was, he should have paid attention to God's word because God's word always means what it says. Well, now we jump into chapter 17, verse one.

And it says this. Now, Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, as the Lord, the God of Israel lives before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew, nor rain these years except by my word. Now, I love the way that Elijah comes on the scene because Elijah sort of comes on the scene of the Bible kind of like he comes on the scene of the life of Ahab, right? He just sort of smacks you in the face and makes you pay attention.

That's exactly what he does. We don't know anything about his family. We don't know anything about his mom and dad. We just know that he's Elijah the Tishbite and he's from the area of Gilead. That's all we know about this guy. And he is truly one of the most fascinating characters. in the Old Testament. And again, kind of like Jezebel shows up other times in the Bible,

his name is going to show up multiple places in Scripture. He, of course, shows up throughout the end of 1 Kings into the beginning of 2 Kings. But then if we were to jump into the book of Malachi, we would find that there was a prophecy that said that before the great and terrible coming of the Lord, that Elijah will turn the hearts of the people back to God. We're told in the New Testament that Elijah will turn the hearts of the people back to God.

That John the Baptist came in the spirit and the power of Elijah. And even the disciples said, we thought Elijah was supposed to come before the Lord. And Jesus said, Elijah did come if you would have been willing to receive it in the person of John the Baptist. He was a sort of a type of Elijah that would come. And then, of course, we jump into the book of Revelation.

And we find that in the book of Revelation, there's these two witnesses. And when you read what these two witnesses do, it appears to be very clear that one of these two witnesses is not Elijah. It's none other than Elijah himself who comes before the great and terrible day of the Lord. And so, this Elijah is kind of a fascinating guy. And I love that in spite of what's going on

in the northern kingdom, in spite of their apostasy, in spite of the fact that they don't care a thing about the things of God, God still cares about them. And you know how we know that? Because he sent them a prophet. And sometimes we may find ourselves saying, man, does God really care? And God's always got his witness everywhere. Matter of fact, the witness was strong enough

that even though Elijah didn't realize it, God said, oh, I have a whole reserve of people that haven't bowed the knee yet to Baal. And this Elijah's going to be a pretty fascinating guy. And so he shows up on the scene, and we learn that he's a Tishbite who was of the settlers of Gilead. Now, I did a little studying on this, and John Corson in his commentary pointed something out.

He said, Gilead, that region that he's from was just nothing but desert. Incredibly hot desert. He said it gets to be about 120 degrees in the summertime. Just an incredibly hot place. But he drew an interesting point that really ministered to me, and perhaps it'll minister to you as well. He said, have you ever noticed that the men that God used the greatest in the

Bible spent a great deal of time in the desert? Elijah spent a great deal of time in the desert. Moses spent a great deal of time in the desert. David spent a great deal of time in the wilderness of the desert areas. Paul spent a great deal of time in the desert. Even Jesus, 40 days out in the wilderness, fasting and seeking the Lord. It reminds us that though sometimes

in our lives we come across desert times, those desert times are the most important times. Because those desert times are when our roots go down deep. Those desert times are when we really seek God, and we all have those moments, those times, those seasons of life where we just feel like God is really silent. Where we're praying, where we're seeking the Lord, and we're trying to hear from Him, and it's like it's just kind of quiet. It's very silent,

and it feels dry. Your time in the Word is drier than it was before. You're not receiving the, what I call, emotional devotionals from the Lord. And in those dry times, it's easy to think, well, maybe God's disappointed in me right now. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. And it's never bad to search your heart in those instances. But it's also really important to remember

that those desert times are what God uses to prepare us for using times. Those desert times are what God uses to prepare us for what He's going to do in our lives. And while in the moments of my life that I've been in the desert, I did not praise God in the middle of it, I look back and I praise God for what He did in those desert times in my life. And I know more are coming because we go through those seasons.

You have to go through those seasons. Because if we don't go through those seasons, our roots will never grow deep. Our roots will never really go down to seek the water that's in the deep places that we have to strive to get to. And that's where we get those strong roots that no matter when the wind and the waves come, we're not shaken. Because we can still stand strong because

our roots have gone deep. And that's what God did with Elijah before He ever sent him to talk to Ahab. And I want you to notice what He says. He says, He comes to Ahab and He says, As the Lord God of Israel lives, for whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years except by my word. What a bold moment for Elijah. I always wonder what he looked like. Did he look like John

the Baptist? If John the Baptist came in the spirit of the power of Elijah, we know that John the Baptist had the flow. Well, we know that he had a beard and wore a leather belt. We just know that. It describes him that way later on in the Bible. Who was that guy? I don't know. He just had a beard and wore a leather belt. That's all we really know about him.

Right? Just this desert hippie guy, right? Then he comes into the presence of Ahab, the king of the northern tribes of Israel. And he looks at him and he says, It's not going to rain. There's not even going to be dew on the ground according to my word. Now, every commentator I read pointed out, I noticed it too, but I wanted to make sure that I was correct in my thinking.

They said, He was not pronouncing a word from the Lord. This was a word from His own mouth. Like, He was just pronouncing this. He's not saying, I'm telling you what God told me to tell you. He said, This is what's going to happen. Now, why did He pronounce that there would be a drought? Well, remember what the God Baal was? He was the God of the crops. He was

the God of the rain. He was the God of the weather. And what were they not going to have? They weren't going to have rain, which means they wouldn't have produced crops, which showed that Baal wasn't really God. That's why it's really important that we pay attention to what He does here. But I also want you to pay attention to something. We are told, and I had to put this scripture up there. You don't have to turn there.

But in James, chapter 5, verses 17 through 18, says something really fascinating. It says, And Elijah was a man of like passions, just like you and I. He had the same nature as we do, and yet when he prayed that it wouldn't rain, it didn't rain. And then when he prayed that it would rain, it did rain. And you know what that tells me? That tells me that the same Holy Spirit

that was at work in Elijah for Him to stand up to Ahab and say, There's not going to be rain, and He prayed that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't rain, that same Spirit, it dwells in you too. You have that same Holy Spirit in you too. Now, I'm not saying you should go out tomorrow and declare a drought. Matter of fact, my yard would be very angry with you if you did that, right?

But I am saying you have that same Holy Spirit, and sometimes we don't take our prayer life that seriously. Sometimes, well, God's not really going to answer my prayer. Well, start believing He's going to answer your prayer. Who knows what God's going to do? Who knows if God's not going to open up the windows of heaven and pour out blessings that you can't even imagine? Understand

that that same Holy Spirit dwells in you. That's why James said that in James chapter 5, because he was talking about prayer. He said, The fervent prayer of the righteous man avails much. And we need to remember that. And so Elijah calls us out. He says, It's not going to rain. And I love it. The word of the Lord came to Elijah, verse 2, saying, Go away from here and turn eastward

and hide yourself. Right? That's what I would do too. God's like, You should hide now. He's like, Go hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. And it shall be that you shall drink of the brook. And I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there. So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. For he went and he lived by the brook

Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening. And he would drink from the brook. Now after he proclaims probably one of the boldest statements that you can imagine. Like, not only is it just the fact that he's going to say there's just not going to be any weather. Right? There's just not going to be any rain.

It's just going to be a drought until I pray that God provides rain. Not only is that bold because it's really hard to control the weather, but he did this in the face really of the most powerful man in the area at that point in time. Who everybody looked to and who everybody thought was great and who could have had him killed at any point in time. And so God says, Good job. Now go hide.

He doesn't tell him to go hide because he's afraid that Ahab's going to kill him. He tells him to go hide because there's a lot left to do and he needs to spiritually be prepared for it. And he needs to physically be prepared for it. And in order for him to do everything else that God's going to have him do, he needs to know that his only hope for survival is the God who created him. That his only

place where he can find any sustenance is in the God who created him. So he says, I want you to go and I want you to camp out by the brook Cherith. And that's going to provide the water that you need. And I'm going to send ravens every single day and they're going to bring you food. Can you imagine that? Every day ravens are just like, I don't know if that's the noise that they make or not, but it felt right in that moment.

And they're just dropping food on you, right? Just dropping, I don't know if it's T-bone steaks, I don't know if we're talking manna at this point in time, but bread and meat. Just give them food every single day. And he was reminded of something that we learn in the book of Deuteronomy. That God provides our daily bread. And God provided for him the bread that he needed

every day. He provided for him the meat that he needed every single day. And he provided the water that he needed every single day. Meaning that God supplied all of his needs. And while it's not written here, I can't imagine that in those moments, God was not also giving him everything that he needed spiritually. Why? Because there's a really big battle coming

up in the next chapter. We won't get there tonight. There's a really big battle coming up in the next chapter. And in order for him to be prepared for that, he needs his only hope to be in God. It can't be in his ability. It can't be in his strength. It can't be in his wit. It can't be in his wisdom. It has to be only in God. And so he says, go, camp there, and I'll give you everything that you need.

But I want you to notice what happens. Verse 7. And it happened after a while that the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land. Wait, wait, Ryan, I thought you said he went there so that he would know that everything was supplied by God. Yeah, but you know, sometimes the greatest thing that can happen for us is for the thing that we think supplies us to completely dry

up. The thing that we think is providing for us to completely be gone so that we really truly know that it's God and not anything else. Sometimes the best thing that can happen for us is for the brook to dry up. Maybe for us, that's our health, and all of a sudden the health starts failing. And we go, well, Lord, you're going to have to give me everything I need because physically I don't have what it takes

to do what I need to do. Maybe it's your bank account. Maybe your bank account dries up and that's where all of your hope was. That's where all of your everything was. And it's like, God's been providing for me in so many ways. And pretty soon the bank account dries up or maybe your popularity wanes or maybe you lose that job that you thought was providing everything for you. Whatever it

is. Sometimes the best thing that can happen is for the brook to dry up. You know why? Because then our ears get really sensitive to what God's going to say. And in order for us to get the next direction, sometimes we have to only look to the Lord. And that's what he does. Notice what it says. Verse 9. Arise and go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there.

Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you. Now wait. He tells him to go to Zarephath, which is in Sidon. Who else is from Sidon? Jezebel. Right? I want you to go into Jezebel's backyard because I'm going to do something miraculous there. He said, I want you to go to Zarephath in Jezebel's backyard and there's going to be a widow there that's going to provide for you.

Verse 10. So he arose and he 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, please get me a little water and a jar that I may drink. And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, please bring me a piece of bread in your hand. She said, as the Lord God lives, as the Lord your God

lives, I have no bread. Only a handful of flour, and a bowl, and a little oil and a jar. Behold, I'm gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son that we may eat and die. And Elijah said, don't fear. Go. Do as you've said, but make me a little bread of cake from it first and bring it out to me. And afterward, you may make one for yourself

and for your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel, the bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty until the day the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth. So she went and did according to the word of Elijah. And he and her household ate for many days. So he goes and finds this widow, right? First of all, she's a Gentile. Just

keep that in mind. Matter of fact, Jesus is going to use this as an example later when he starts doing miracles in Gentile areas. He said, hey man, weren't there a lot of widows when Elijah was alive? And who did he go to? He went to a Sidonian. He went to a widow in Sidon and he did all the stuff for her and they were like, right? And so she's this Gentile and she's

gathering sticks, right? But she's going to make the most meager fire you can imagine. This woman had nothing. And he says, hey, can you give me a drink of water? And she says, sure. I'm on my way to make the last loaf of bread that I can make, the last cake of bread that I can make. Then my son and I are going to die. He says, well, why don't you make me one first? And she goes, don't you understand? This is all I

have. I don't have enough for both of us. I just have a little bit for me and my son. And that's basically the last hope that we have. But as he asks her to do the impossible, he gives her a promise from the God of the impossible. He says, make me one first. And just know, if you do this, you will always have everything that you need until God sends rain on the earth. There will always be

flour in your jar, flour in the canister and oil in the jar until God sends rain on the earth. Now I want you to imagine God asks you to do that. Someone asks you to do that. I realize there's not enough for you. But give this, and I promise God's going to provide. It's got to be one of the biggest steps of faith anyone can imagine. One of the biggest steps of obedience anyone can

imagine. And I can't imagine how hard it would have been for Elijah to ask this woman to do this. Because in the tenderness of his heart, and I do believe that there was a tenderness in his heart with this, it would have been a hard question for him to ask. But see, the brook had dried up so he learned to be sensitive to the ear of the Lord. He learned to be sensitive to the voice

of the Lord. And so he knew that's what he had to do. Because he'd watched that God was the God who provided and he was going to watch him do it again. And so she does exactly that. She obeys. And what does God do? He provides. There's always everything that they needed in the most miraculous way possible. Well, as they go on, I want you to notice what happens.

Verse 16, the bowl of flour, was not exhausted, nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken through Elijah. It came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick. And his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. So she said to Elijah, What have I to do with you, O man of God?

You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance, and put my son to death. He said to her, Give me your son. He took the son from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living. And he laid on his own bed. He called to the Lord and said, O Lord, my God, have you also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying by causing her son to die?

Then he stretched himself upon the child three times. And he called to the Lord and said, O Lord, my God, I pray, let this child's life return to him. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him, and he revived. A fascinating scene that we're given here, right? Like this woman's son, we're not told how old he is, although he must have been pretty

young. This woman's son gets severely ill and dies. And what's the first thing that she says to Elijah? Why did you come here just to reveal my sin? What was her sin? We have no idea. Whatever it was, it must have been bad enough that she felt like somehow she was being punished. And Elijah was the one who had brought it to light. She says, Why have you come here to reveal my sin? And isn't that kind of what we do?

Sometimes, like something bad happens, and we're like, Oh, it must be sin in my life. And while the sin didn't cause the difficulty in your life, the difficulty brought to the surface the sin in your life, right? And so we go, Oh, that needs dealt with. And this is exactly what's going to happen with her. And so she's totally freaked out because the child is dead. And so what does Elijah

say? Give me the boy. He takes him upstairs. Now, he probably did not dwell inside of the same home. There would have been an outside staircase that probably led to an upstairs room up on the roof where he stayed because it would have been inappropriate otherwise. So he takes the child upstairs, lays him on his bed, and he starts to cry out to the Lord. And I love this. And this

is why I say I know he had a tender heart. I love this heart. It says, Lord, how are you going to do this to her? Lord, how are you going to do this to this woman that has given me so much shelter and so much kindness? Lord, please restore the child's life to her. And I love it. It says, God heard the word of Elijah, and he revived the child, and he brought him back to life.

Oh, my gosh. I just can't imagine the mom when he comes back downstairs and the boy's walking with him. Like, they're bounding down the stairs with each other, undoubtedly high-fiving, because that's absolutely what I would be doing. And when she knows what it says, it says in the Lord, verse 23, Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and he gave him to his mother. And Elijah said,

See, your son is alive. And the woman said to Elijah, Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth. Now, I feel like, and I may be the only guy that feels this way, but I feel like this. I think this was the moment that she really put her faith in God. She had seen the miracle of the flour and the bread being provided, but in this moment,

in this moment, she really understood who God was, and that God was not only the author, but the giver and the sustainer of life. I think that this was, if you will, her Old Testament salvation moment. And it all came about because her son died. I point that out for this reason. It's hard to have anything difficult come into our lives. As a matter of fact, we try to insulate ourselves

from everything hard that we possibly can. But I want to remind you that some of the most tragic things that happen in our lives reveal God in a way that nothing else can. And the God that sometimes you know because someone else has told you about him, becomes the God that you know because he ministered to you personally through the hardest things in our lives. And we want to insulate ourselves from hard.

We want to insulate ourselves from difficult. We certainly want to insulate ourselves from death and grief. But if I've learned anything, it's that the hardest times in life are what have brought me the deepest amount of faith. The hardest times in life are the ones that make me go, I may have heard of you through the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Now I

know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are who you say you are. I've watched it happen in my life and I've watched it happen in the lives of people around me where the most difficult, tragic circumstances have come into their lives. And while they say they would never choose it again, it's what really introduced them to a living God who always keeps his promises. And in this moment, this is what happens. God uses

Elijah and God uses this tragedy to bring about something absolutely beautiful because God always gives beauty where there's ashes. Amen? Father, we come before you and I just thank you for your word. I thank you for these amazing stories and I thank you in particular for the story of Elijah, Lord, and the great faith that he had, the great boldness that he had, Lord.

And Father, just how powerfully you used him. And so, Father, continue to minister to our hearts. And Lord, in our desert times, in our hard times, may those be the times when our roots go deep. And may those be the times where we truly open our eyes and say, ah, now I see you.

Now I see what you're really like. Lord, may we see you more clearly and know you more deeply. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.