Elijah's Fearless Stand

Elijah’s Fortress Of Solitude ( 1 Kings 17:2-7)

Introduction: In June of 1938, in Action Comics #1, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster introduced a character called “Superman.” In the 1940’s the writers created a top-secret stronghold for the comic book character that they called “The Fortress Of Solitude.” In Action Comics # 261, there is a notation that says, “Whenever Superman wants to get away from it all he retires to his secret sanctuary, the Fortress of Solitude, the most glamorous hideaway in the entire universe!”

Now Elijah probably didn’t feel much like a super hero, and the brook Cherith was not very glamorous, but it was a secret sanctuary for the prophet. It was for him a “Fortress Of Solitude.”

As we began our study in the life of this Old Testament prophet named Elijah, we considered His Fearless Stand. This morning, I want us to think about His Fortress Of Solitude at the brook Cherith. (Cherith was probably about 35 miles southeast of Ahab’s capital at Samaria.)

“The man who is to take a high place before his fellows, must take a low place before his God; and there is no better manner of brining a man down, than by dropping him suddenly out of a sphere to which he was beginning to think himself essential, teaching him that he is not at all necessary to God’s plan; and compelling him to consider in the sequestered vale of some Cherith how mixed are his motives, and how insignificant his strength. Every saintly soul that would wield great power with men must win it in some hidden Cherith. A Carmel triumph always presupposes a Cherith; and a Cherith always leads to a Carmel.”(F.B. Meyer as quoted in “The Biblical Illustrator”)

“ (Now Cherith was) a gorge, a torrent-bed or winter-stream, a “brook,” in whose banks the prophet Elijah hid himself during the early part of the three years’ drought (1 Kings 17:3,5). It has by some been identified as the Wady el-Kelt behind Jericho, which is formed by the junction of many streams flowing from the mountains west of Jericho. It is dry in summer. Travellers have described it as one of the wildest ravines of this wild region, and peculiarly fitted to afford a secure asylum to the persecuted.” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary)

So in this place of solitude, Elijah experienced... I. The Concealment Of The Brook (1 Kings 17:3) ... hide thyself The word “hide” in verse 3 means to hide oneself or to be hid and concealed. (Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon) “God had two reasons for commanding Elijah to hide himself. First, He wanted to protect Elijah from Ahab; and second, He wanted to train him to become a man of God.” (Chuck Swindoll, Elijah: A Man Of Heroism And Humility)

A. God Told Elijah To Hide For The Purpose Of Protection 1. This Is Proven By Some Other Applications Of This Word “Hide” (1 Kings 17:3) Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. hide – Hebrew 5641. cathar, saw-thar'; a primary root word meaning to hide (by covering): --be absent, keep close, conceal, hide (self), (keep) secret, X surely. Notice some other verses where this word is used… (Psalms 55:12) For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: (1 Samuel 23:19) Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? 2. This Is Proven By Some Other Actions Of This Woman Jezebel (1 Kings 18:4) For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) cut – Hebrew 3772. karath; a prim. root; to cut (off, down or asunder); by impl. to destroy or consume; spec. to covenant (i.e. make an alliance or bargain, orig. by cutting flesh and passing between the pieces)

B. God Told Elijah To Hide For The Purpose Of Preparation 1. At First He Is A Man Of Gilead 1 Kings 17:1 (1 Kings 17:1) And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. 2. At Last He Is A Man Of God 1 Kings 17:24 (1 Kings 17:24) And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth. After the preparation time, he is perceived to be a man of God. In this place of solitude, Elijah experienced... II. The Covenant Of The Brook Now we would certainly not classify this scene in the same category as the Adamic covenant, or the Noahic covenant, or the Mosaic covenant, or the Davidic covenant; but God does seem to have entered into an agreement with Elijah.

A. Consider The Sure Promise Of God’s Agreement 1. God’s Promise Is Covertly / Casually Suggested Cherith – [Hebrew 3747. Keriyth] from H3772; a cut; Kerith, a brook of Palestine. [Hebrew 3772. karath] a primary root word meaning to cut (off, down or asunder); by implication it means to destroy or consume; specifically it means to covenant (i.e. make an alliance or bargain, originally by cutting flesh and passing between the pieces): -- covenant, cut (down, off), make a league or a covenant. 2. God’s Promise Is Clearly Stated (1 Kings 17:4) And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook... To strengthen the certainty of God’s promise He uses this word “drink,” which has the idea of “assuredly drinking.” (Jeremiah 49:12) For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.

B. Consider The Supplied Provision Of God’s Agreement 1. Elijah Had Strange Caterers (1 Kings 17:4) And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. ravens – Hebrew 6158. 'oreb; from H6150; a raven (from its dusky hue):--raven. The idea of such unclean and voracious birds being employed to feed the prophet has not only been a fertile subject of ridicule to infidels, but appeared to many believers so strange that they have labored to make out the Orebim (the Hebrew word used here for ravens), to be merchants, or Arabians. These considerations have seemed in the minds of many to carry so much weight that they have considered the only probable interpretation of the passage is, that the Orebim who brought to Elijah bread in the morning and flesh in the evening, with unbroken regularity for a whole year, were not ravens, but the inhabitants of the city Orbo, or traveling merchants belonging to the caravans from Arabia. The common rendering, in our opinion, is preferable to either of these conjectures; and if Elijah was miraculously fed by ravens, it is idle to inquire where they found the bread and the flesh, for God would direct them. “He commanded the ravens to feed” the prophet. (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary) (Job 38:41) Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat. (Psalms 147:9) He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. 2. Elijah Had Sufficient Cuisine (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. The provision was plentiful, and good, and constant, bread and flesh twice a day, daily bread and food convenient. (Matthew Henry) There was not an abundant supply, but there was an abiding supply

In this place of solitude, Elijah experienced... III. The Commandment Of The Brook A. Notice The Master’s Orders 1. The Master Gave Fleeing Orders To Elijah (1 Kings 17:3) Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 2. The Master Gave Feeding Orders To The Ravens (1 Kings 17:4) And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. But why ravens? They are birds of prey, ravenous devouring creatures, more likely to have taken his meat from him, or to have picked out his eyes (Proverbs 30:17 – The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it); but thus Samson’s riddle is again unriddled, ‘Out of the eater comes forth meat.’ God could have sent angels to minister to him, as he did afterwards (1 Kings 19:5) and as he did to our Saviour (Matthew 4:11), but he chose to send by winged messengers of another nature, to show that when he pleases he can serve his own purposes by the meanest creatures as effectually as by the mightiest. If it be asked whence the ravens had this provision, how and where it was cooked, and whether they came honestly by it, we must answer, as Jacob did (Genesis 27:20), The Lord our God brought it to them, whose the earth is and the fulness thereof, the world and those that dwell therein. (Matthew Henry) (Genesis 27:20) And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy God brought it to me. And not once did Elijah throw down the meat and bread and say, “This is for the birds.” B. Notice The Manifested Obedience 1. Elijah Was Established By The Lord At The Brook (1 Kings 17:5) 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. dwelt – [Hebrew 3427. yashab] a primary root; properly meaning to sit down; by implication to dwell, to remain: to settle. In Job 36:7 it is rendered as the word “establish.” (Job 36:7) He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous: but with kings are they on the throne; yea, he doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted. 2. The Ravens Were Employed By The Lord At The Brook (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. brought – [Hebrew 935. bow’] a primary root meaning to go or come (in a wide variety of applications): In Deuteronomy 20:19 it is rendered as the word “employ.” (Deuteronomy 20:19) When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an ax against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege:

In this place of solitude, Elijah experienced... IV. The Conclusion Of The Brook A. When The Brook Stopped Flowing, It Represented An Actual Problem 1. These Must Have Been Hot Days In The Life Of Elijah (1 Kings 17:7) And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. while – [Hebrew 3117. yowm] from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literally (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figuratively (a space of time defined by an associated term). Cf. (Leviticus 25:29) And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year (this is that same Hebrew word “yowm) may he redeem it. Cf. (1 Samuel 27:7) And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year (this is that same Hebrew word “yowm) and four months. Cf. (Judges 17:10) And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year (this is that same Hebrew word “yowm), and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in. 2. These Must Have Been Hard Days In The Life Of Elijah God's servants are often called to sit by drying brooks. Cherith began to sing less cheerily. Each day marked a visible diminution of its stream. Its voice grew fainter and fainter, till its bed became a course of stones, baking in the scorching heat. It dried up. What did Elijah think? Did he think that God had forgotten him? Did he begin to make plans for himself? This would have been human; but we will hope that he waited quietly for God, quieting himself as a weaned child, as he sang, “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him.” Many of us have had to sit by drying brooks; perhaps some are sitting by them now – the drying brook of popularity, ebbing away as from John the Baptist. The drying brook of health, sinking under a creeping paralysis, or a slow consumption. The drying brook of money, slowly dwindling before the demands of sickness. (F.B. Meyer as quoted in “The Biblical Illustrator”)

B. When The Brook Stopped Flowing, It Revealed An Answered Prayer 1. His Prayer Involved The Dryness (James 5:17) Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. 2. The Answer Included The Difficulty I. The Uncertainty Of Earthly Comforts When Elijah went to Cherith under the direction of God, he would never dream of that brook becoming exhausted. What a picture of human life this is! How many there are of whose worldly comforts it may be said: “After a while the brook dried up.” One man is settled in life, with circumstances all that could be desired, and he contemplates the future with pleasure; but, unexpectedly something arises—bank failure, or commercial crisis—which tells him that the brook is dried up, and he has to leave his Cherith. Another looks with pride and hope upon a child—his pleasure and joy flow from that child—but, unnoticed, disease settles upon it and takes it away. After a while the brook dried up. And so with earthly comforts. They are uncertain, and do not warrant the eagerness with which they are sought or the value with which they are invested. II. The Certainty Of God’s Care Though the water of the brook failed, God’s care was not exhausted. He had made provision for Elijah at Zarephath before He commanded him to leave Cherith. Decay and change may characterize all our earthly comforts, but they do not characterize God; He remains the same, and His care can never fail. (The Study And The Pulpit – The Biblical Illustrator) Conclusion:

“This is not a very gratifying endorsement of Elijah. – Nothing now but solitude? - There is wholesome truth here. To trust where we cannot trace is to give our God the full sovereignty that He longs for. – As so by the brook Cherith the lonely man abides. – There may be many dear saints of God who doubt their saintship because their activities have been taken from them. Circumstances have closed in upon them; doors have been shut in their faces; funds for the prosecution of their work have ceased. It may be that, physically exhausted, they lie on their beds wondering why He can consent to so unreasonable a situation. Be assured of one thing: Elijah is not to remain in obscurity and inactivity for all time. – Let us arouse ourselves from this deadly coma. There is always the afterward of His gracious promising.”

(Rev. Kenneth MacKenzie as quoted by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman in “Springs In The Valley” pages 88-89)