Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Kings 17:1 - 17:7

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Kings 17:1 - 17:7


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The Famine

v. 1. And Elijah ("My God is Jehovah") the Tishbite, a native, so far as can be determined, of Galilee, but having been removed to Gilead, where he lived as a stranger, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, a most solemn oath, emphasizing his position as servant and ambassador of Jehovah,there shall not be dew, which was usually very heavy in Palestine, nor rain these years but according to my word. It was a threat of punishment for the sin of idolatry and at the same time an evidence against the worship of Baal, to whom was ascribed the controlling power of nature. Drought and barrenness were a proof of the impotence of the idol and a direct punishment of God for the sin of idolatry, Lev_26:19-20; Deu_11:16-17.

v. 2. And the word of the Lord came unto him,
Elijah, saying,

v. 3. Get thee hence and turn thee eastward,
out of the reach of Ahab's and Jezebel's anger, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, apparently a perennial stream and not an arroyo, carrying water only in the rainy season, that is before Jordan, somewhere on the western side, its exact location being unknown.

v. 4. And it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there,
who were to be God's messengers in supplying the prophet with food. While Elijah's life was to be sustained in this miraculous manner, he was not only to be shut off from all intercourse with men, who might have betrayed his hiding-place to the king, but he was also to be strengthened in his trust in the almighty power of Jehovah, in whose service he was engaged.

v. 5. So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord; for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

v. 6. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning,
all the food which he needed to sustain life, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

v. 7. And it came to pass after a while,
after some time had elapsed, that the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land, and the springs, in consequence, were no longer fed by the water in the hills. God has wars and means of keeping His children alive in the midst of the greatest plagues which he sends as a punishment upon the unbelieving world.