1 Kings 17:2-7

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

God Provides for Elijah

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. God uses both supernatural and natural means to accomplish His purposes.

  2. Cherith must come before Carmel.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. God may permit your brooks to dry up.

  2. What grades are you getting at Cherith College?

QUESTIONS

  1. Why did Elijah disappear for more than two years after his first confrontation with Ahab? Where was he? How was he provided for?

  2. When providing for Elijah, how did God use both supernatural and natural means?

  3. What does it mean, “Cherith must come before Carmel”?

  4. When God stopped the rain on the land because of Israel’s sin, why didn’t He keep the Brook Cherith flowing for Elijah’s sake?

  5. What lessons did God teach Elijah at the Brook Cherith?

ANSWERS

  1. God hid him so there would be time for the message to sink in. He was hidden alongside the Brook Cherith. God provided for Elijah by sending ravens with meat and bread twice a day, and the brook gave water.

  2. God’s purpose here was to provide for His servant Elijah. The birds were a supernatural means. It was unnatural for ravens, of all birds, to drop off bread and meat right on schedule twice a day – it was a miracle. The brook was a natural means for drinking water. In the same way, God can provide for us, either by supernatural means, as in miracles or by direct healing; or by natural means, using doctors and medicines.

  3. Elijah had lessons to learn about provision, protection, and dependence on the Lord, which had been accomplished at Cherith. Then came Carmel, the great confrontation and victory over the prophets of Baal. It’s the same with us – we need to learn how to walk by faith before we can claim great victories for the Lord.

  4. God’s punishment of Israel affected the whole land, including the Brook Cherith (although God could have kept it flowing). The rains fall (or fail to fall) on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45), and when our nation comes into hard times, Christians are not exempt, as in economic depressions.

  5. Lessons that God was teaching Elijah at “Cherith College” included courses in protection, dependance, walking by faith, handling solitude, and humility.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. Recall some of God’s provisions for you. How thankful are you? How have you shown it?

  2. “Cherith must come before Carmel.” Have you learned lessons in your life that prove this to be true?

CHALLENGE

  1. Have some of your brooks dried up? How real is your faith that the Lord can and will meet all of your needs? Do you see God’s hand in both the dry brooks and the rain?

  2. What grades would you receive at Cherith College?

KEY VERSES

  • “You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 1 Kings 17:4

  • “He went and did according to the word of the Lord.” 1 Kings 17:5

  • “And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.” 1 Kings 17:7

Ron Reid