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Chapter 17 brings one of the greatest prophets that ever lived into the picture. King Ahab was one of the most evil of the Kings of Israel. Elijah, the Prophet, was sent of God to warn him of the judgments of God for his disobedience.
Lets take a moment to see what we know about Elijah. His name meant, "Jehovah is my child". The history of Elijah began abruptly about 865 BC and ended the same way 15 years later when the Lord took him up into heaven in a whirlwind, in a chariot of fire (850 BC). He was one of two people in the Bible to have left this world this way. We call it "being translated" i.e. never to know death, taken directly to be with the Lord. Enoch (Gen. 5:21-24) was "translated" 2100 years before (2954 BC.) at the age of 365.
We know nothing about the birth or the parents of Elijah. He appeared, like Melchisedek, without father, without mother, without linage. Some Jews thought he was an Angel sent from God, but the Apostle James assures us that "he was a man subject to like passions as we are." All that we know of him up until age 15 or 16 is that he was one of the inhabitants of the area called Gilead. He was often called the "balm from Gilead". There is a song in our hymn books called "There is a balm in Gilead, that heals the sin-sick soul". There is evidence in the Bible that there actually was a "balm" from Gilead that people used for medicinal purposes. It was extracted in some way from large trees that grew there. The Midianite traders that took Joseph into Egypt and sold him into slavery were transporting "balm" from Gilead to Egypt.
Elijah is referred to in the Bible as a "Tish-bite" from "This-be". That location is unknown but most scholars believe that it was either Jabesh-gilead or a village close by.
The people of that day called him an extremist, a radical, a non-conformist and a troublemaker. He was different in many ways. 1. He had an unconventional appearance and dress. 2. He was swift of foot. 3. He had a rugged constitution. 4. He often lived in caves. 5. He was a rugged outdoorsman. 6. He was firm in his beliefs and outspoken in his condemnation. 7. He was unafraid of man or king. Never was there a prophet as bold as Elijah; never was there a king as evil as Ahab.
Our story begins with the calling of Elijah. He was quite young at the time and hesitated because of his youth but the Lord assured him that He would be with him and instruct him as well and always keep him safe. Then the Lord commanded Elijah to go to Samaria, the Capitol of Israel, and warn the people of His judgments to come for their disobedience.
Our story continues with the pronouncements of Elijah designed to awaken an evil and corrupt generation. He prophesied a famine that was to be judgment upon them for their disobedience of God. He proclaimed this to King Ahab but the King would not listen. When the famine came, God took care of Elijah. He told him to go to the Brook Cherith where he could drink from its waters and be fed by the ravens. This brook was located in the inheritance of Reuben, east of the Jordan just north of the Dead Sea. It was a small stream that ran into the Jabesh Creek which in turn ran into the Jordan River. Soon the Brook dried up from lack of rain and God instructed Elijah to go to Zarephath and there he would find a widow who would feed him. Zarephath was located in Phoenicia, on the coast north of the city of Tyre. This was a journey of some 105 miles.
Elijah arose and did as God had instructed him. When he arrived at the gate to the city, he saw a woman gathering sticks and he asked her to give him something to eat. She told him that she had nothing baked and only a handful of meal and a little oil and she was gathering sticks to build a fire so that she could bake herself and her son a small cake. Elijah told her to first bake him a small cake, then, bake one for herself and her son. She did as Elijah requested and the containers for the meal and the oil were never empty again until rain again fell upon the earth.
The woman's son became ill and died. She assumed that sense Elijah was a man of God that he caused her son to die. Elijah took the boy to an upstairs room where he prayed to God and then he placed his body over the boy's body and the soul of the boy returned and he was alive again. He returned the boy to his mother and she said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God."
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