Trinity 7
Dear friends in Christ. In today’s text, we are introduced to the great Old Testament prophet Elijah. His name means “My God is the Lord” and it is also the theme of his work and ministry. He lived at a very dark time-- during the reign of King Ahab of the northern Kingdom of Israel. The Holy Spirit gives this assessment of Ahab [16.30.33]: Ahab…did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him….Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. Ahab, together with his wife, Jezebel, promoted all kinds of worship of false gods. Then the Lord sent Elijah and all throughout his ministry Elijah was battling idolatry, calling the people back to faith in the true God. “My God is the Lord.” So faithfully did Elijah carry out his divinely appointed task by the Holy Spirit’s power that the Lord brought him into heaven in that fiery chariot. Later, Elijah, as representative of all the Old Testament prophets, appears, together with Moses, at the time of Jesus’ transfiguration.
Our text is the first appearance of Elijah: And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word." Elijah seemingly bursts on the scene, coming out of nowhere. Elijah is a faithful servant of the Lord—who stands before the Lord—and now as His ambassador speaks only what the Lord gives him to say. Elijah not only says what the Lord tells him to say—and here boldly going before this wicked, idol worshipping king—but also doing what the Lord commands him to do: Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan." 1 Kings 17:3] As we examine our text we will see why the Lord sent the prophet Elijah away: first as a warning/ punishment to the godless people; and second, for Elijah’s spiritual good.
1. During the reign of King Ahab, horrible idolatrous practices dominated. Ahab set up an altar for the false god, Baal, in a temple he had built for this false god; he made a wooden image of a Canaanite goddess. Certainly, the followers of the true God were, at best, few and far between. Those who could have or should have warned the king of his idolatry didn’t or couldn’t. Any faithful voices that remained in this northern kingdom were certainly silenced. It seemed there was no stopping the complete spread of idolatry; it seemed the people had beyond all measure rejected the Lord.
But, in grace on those who rejected Him, the Lord through Elijah called the people back to Him. "As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word." By announcing this drought, the Lord was pointing out to the people the seriousness of their sin of idolatry and calling them to repent of their sin. The drought was a direct consequence of the peoples’ and king’s sin of idolatry. Through Moses God had already warned the Israelites that drought was the punishment for idolatry [Deut. 11: 16-17]:
Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, lest the Lord’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.
By announcing this drought upon the people of Israel, God was telling them that they truly were committing the sin of idolatry. There was no way they could be deceived; there was no way they could claim or feign ignorance. God was very directly accusing them of sin and so warning them and punishing them for it—all in an attempt to lead them to repent, by breaking them first with His Law.
But this drought was also more. It showed the futility and worthlessness of worshipping other gods/ false gods/ idols. "As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word". [1 Kings 17:1] The drought and barrenness was proof of the idols’ impotence. Worshippers of the false god, Baal, claimed he controlled of nature. But now that worthlessness of that idol is shown: he could not provide the rain. But it would not just be fluke or happenstance that there was a drought and that the drought would end—after all couldn’t Baal, the idol, decide to give rain later? To eliminate that, Elijah adds except at my word to make sure the people “get it” that it’s the Lord God who gives and withholds rain; that He and He alone is God.
Then in our text we read: Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there". [1 Kings 17:3-4]
The Lord then sends Elijah away to a brook. To be sure it at first seems that that’s the logical thing to do to keep Elijah safe and out of harm from Ahab’s wrath. To be sure, that’s part of it, but certainly there’s more to it, for the Lord could have kept Elijah safe by other ways. Instead, by sending Elijah away, the Lord leaves the people without the word and blessing and without any hope of it.
When the Lord withdraws Elijah, and with Elijah, His word, the Lord was inflicting the greatest punishment on the people for their sin. Without the word of God proclaimed by His prophet, without the Gospel and the absolution being pronounced, there is no way out of the suffering. There is no way that the people can repent and turn to the Lord because there is no promise of the forgiveness of sins being held out to them; they know and feel only His wrath and punishment for sin and so cannot run to Him and His mercy. There is no way back to God from our side. He must first come to us through His word.
That the drought was punishment for idolatry, the rejection and despising of God and His word is made even more clear with the even greater punishment of the Lord withdrawing Elijah. Elijah’s absence made God’s on Israel judgment even worse. The drought was a physical picture of what had and was happening to Israel spiritually. By rejecting the Lord, they were spiritually dry, parched, and spiritually dying; and there would be no refreshing rains of the Gospel, of forgiveness, which could give and restore spiritual life. Was God being mean/ nasty by this? Certainly not! He was giving the people exactly what they wanted.
The greatest punishment is when God withdraws His word. There is a clear warning for us in our text. Do we treasure the word of God, His holy Gospel and Sacraments? Luther compared the Gospel to a raincloud. It doesn’t stay in one spot long but keeps moving. So too, with the Gospel! If it is rejected, don’t think that God will allow His holy word and sacraments to stay where they are unwelcome. Like He did with Elijah, He will withdraw His Gospel and bring it to where it is welcome.
How richly blessed we are that in our midst we have the pure word and sacrament; we have the forgiveness of sin. May we daily read and study God’s word. May we spend our days pondering that word. May we daily treasure our baptism as, recognizing/ sorrowing over our sin, we daily return to it and once again claiming the blessings God first gave us at our baptism. May we yearn to be in church to hear the words of the absolution which not only tell us about forgiveness of sin, but actually give it to us. May we hold as dear and precious the Blessed Sacrament in which Jesus gives us His very body and blood for the forgiveness of our sin. As we make full use of and enjoy all of God’s graces and blessing, there is no way we will suffer spiritual drought because through these the Lord is working to strengthen and preserve us in the faith.
Because of our old sinful nature this will not be easy. Our old sinful self works together with the devil and the world to place our Lord, His word, His worship, etc. further and further to the back burner of our hearts and lives. It all seems as if everything else is so much more important, that God and His word—in a negative/ lazy/ taken for granted sense—“will always be there.” Soon it turns into despising! Let our text serve as a warning to us to “resist the beginnings”.
2. So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. Will it always be easy to do the right thing? Certainly not! Elijah in our text did the Lord’s will: he went to Ahab announcing the Lord’s judgment. But just because He did the right thing, the “Lord’s thing”, does not mean that all would be hunky dory for him; he was not free from hardship as a result—just the opposite! In fact, the Lord actually sent Elijah away, certainly in part for his own safety. As we live out our lives in the calling to which the Lord has called us, we live them out as Christians—doing the Lord’s will where He has placed us. Often it will indeed be difficult; sometimes we will face ridicule, an odd glance, etc.; but sometimes we may be that encouragement to a fellow Christian who too is struggling.
When the Lord sent Elijah away to the wilderness, He didn’t just “put him on ice” for a while. Instead, He used that time and experience for Elijah’s spiritual good. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. Not only was Elijah safe from the king, but here the Lord brought about a great miracle. Ordinarily these ravens are scavengers, not given to sharing their food—especially in a time of drought. But God caused them to act contrary to their nature; they were made servants of God’s plan of salvation. So what did Elijah learn from this? He learned the great lesson that God watches over His dear Christian. Even though doing the Lord’s will/ doing the right thing will not make us immune to hardship—especially hardship as a result of doing the Lord’s will/ doing the work of our calling where the Lord placed us/ living out our lives as Christians, the Lord is still watching out for us and working for our good. Just as the Lord sent Elijah away for Elijah’s spiritual good, so that he would recognize the Lord’s gracious presence and protection, so too can we be sure that in our times of “being sent away,”—our times of trial and hardship—we can be assured that the Lord is using precisely that for our spiritual good.
Like Elijah, we still have our Lord’s assurance that no matter how it may seem, He is with us. Doesn’t He assure us in His word that He will never leave us or forsake us? That He will be with us to the very end of the world? That where He has gathered two or three together there He is in their midst? Especially when we are here in church, around our Lord’s word and Sacrament, how can we doubt He is with us?
Dear Christian, Elijah was strengthened during this time to trust in the power of the Lord! All around was sin/ idolatry caused drought and much suffering. Elijah was left with nothing and forced to rely on the Lord, trust in His power and to seek His help—and the Lord didn’t fail him. How this strengthened Elijah later in his ministry when he would go against the prophets of Baal and when he would have to endure privations and sufferings; when his faith would be tested so greatly. As Elijah was so graciously protected/ preserved at the brook and his faith strengthened, we see the upcoming exercise of that faith: And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. In renewed reliance on the Lord, Elijah looked to Him.
In all things, dear Christian, let us be assured that during our times of trial the Lord is with us and He is using those times for our spiritual good, to strengthen us to look to Him and rely on Him. Let us be assured that because by His promise to us at Baptism and in His word, we need not fear anything. Let us look back on our Lord’s gracious dealings with us in the past and be assured of His gracious workings on us and for us every day and always.
INJ