Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: 1 Kings 17 and Psalm 117

Elijah explodes onto the Biblical scene in 1 Kings 17. We aren’t told how the Lord called and commissioned him to the prophetic ministry, but he started with the same courage that characterised his whole ministry.

Elijah comes from rural Tishbe into the court of the wicked King Ahab in his capital city of Samaria, and confronts him and his so-called god, Baal. Baal was a Canaanite “god” of fertility, and in that capacity his title was Lord of the Earth. He was also called the Lord of Rain and Dew, both of which were indispensable for fertile soil in Canaan. So Elijah’s proclamation that there would be no rain in the next few years except by the word of the LORD (Yahweh), was a direct challenge to Baal. It was a claim that Yahweh, not Baal, was the true Lord of all the Earth, Rain and Dew.

No sooner had Elijah delivered his message than the Lord led him back to his home region to camp out (or was it “hide out”?) in the wilderness by the Kerith Brook, where the Lord fed him miraculously through the ravens – seen to be unclean birds in Israel – and no doubt ministered to him in many other ways too. When the brook dried up, the Lord sent him a long way to the north, all the way to Zarephath. Here he was given hospitality by a widowed Gentile – also thought to be unclean in Israel. The Lord then proceeded to use the widow’s willingness to trust a God she had never met, and He fed Elijah, the woman and her son for three years with a miraculous supply of flour and oil that simply didn’t dry up. And when death came for the widow’s son, and all seemed lost, Elijah lay down on the boy’s dead body (also considered unclean in Israel) and God raised him from the dead.

There are many lessons to be learnt from this chapter; but let’s simply allow the Lord to challenge us today to let go of the ways we limit Him. A powerful king is no match for our LORD. An idolatrous god is no match for our LORD. A drought or a famine in the land is no match for our LORD. An empty pantry is no match for our LORD. Even death is no match for our LORD. Our own unclean past or the uncleanness of our current sin-struggles are no matches for the LORD. Let us approach today in faith, knowing that our LORD is with us, and He is mighty to save. There is no match for our God!

Amen!