And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
The verse concerns Elijah the Tishbite in the days of Ahab, dwelling among the mountains of Gilead east of the Jordan, far removed from any city of renown and holding no high station in life. He was a man of faith and prayer whose fearless ministry was to check the rapidly spreading apostasy in Israel. He entered upon his mission confident in God's purpose to prepare the way before him and to give him abundant success, with the word of faith and power upon his lips and his whole life devoted to the work of reform. He came as a reprover of sin, like a voice crying in the wilderness to rebuke sin and press back evil, while offering the balm of Gilead to sin-sick souls who desired healing. The verse belongs to the account of his declaring judgment before King Ahab that there shall be no dew nor rain.
The brook Cherith supplying Elijah dried up because there had been no rain in the land. After a few months without dew or rain the earth became dry and vegetation withered, and streams never known to fail began to decrease while brooks dried. The drought continued through another year, parching the earth and bringing severe hunger and thirst. The drying of the brook proves the certainty of the coming calamity. Yet as the drought spread the leaders urged the people to trust in Baal and to dismiss Elijah's prophecy as idle words, while the priests insisted that Baal sends the showers of rain and brings forth the harvest in its season to provide for man and beast.
The drying was part of God's providential movement of Elijah from place to place. This change kept him from settling into ease and helped prepare him for translation, build spiritual power, and make his influence a help to many people. God in love and care had directed Elijah away from Jezebel's power to a place of safety in the mountains by the brook Cherith after he denounced God's judgments upon Ahab for his and Israel's apostasy, honoring him by sending food to him morning and evening by an angel of heaven.
When the brook failed and its provision was lost, God sent Elijah to the widow of Sarepta among the heathen, where he was safer than among those who had rejected heaven's light, and continued by a daily miracle to supply food for him and the widow's family. Elijah's hardship when the brook dried as part of the famine did not mean God had abandoned him, for God cared for him and supplied his needs. His experience assures self-sacrificing people who trust God that God will care for them even in famine and drought, that their bread and water will be sure even when the wicked perish for lack of bread. Though God's children may suffer privation they will not be left to perish, blessings that should have kept Elijah from ever distrusting God.
The verse concerns Elijah the Tishbite in the days of Ahab, dwelling among the mountains of Gilead east of the Jordan, far removed from any city of renown and holding no high station in life. He was a man of faith and prayer whose fearless ministry was to check the rapidly spreading apostasy in Israel. He entered upon his mission confident in God's purpose to prepare the way before him and to give him abundant success, with the word of faith and power upon his lips and his whole life devoted to the work of reform. He came as a reprover of sin, like a voice crying in the wilderness to rebuke sin and press back evil, while offering the balm of Gilead to sin-sick souls who desired healing. The verse belongs to the account of his declaring judgment before King Ahab that there shall be no dew nor rain.
The brook Cherith supplying Elijah dried up because there had been no rain in the land. After a few months without dew or rain the earth became dry and vegetation withered, and streams never known to fail began to decrease while brooks dried. The drought continued through another year, parching the earth and bringing severe hunger and thirst. The drying of the brook proves the certainty of the coming calamity. Yet as the drought spread the leaders urged the people to trust in Baal and to dismiss Elijah's prophecy as idle words, while the priests insisted that Baal sends the showers of rain and brings forth the harvest in its season to provide for man and beast.
The drying was part of God's providential movement of Elijah from place to place. This change kept him from settling into ease and helped prepare him for translation, build spiritual power, and make his influence a help to many people. God in love and care had directed Elijah away from Jezebel's power to a place of safety in the mountains by the brook Cherith after he denounced God's judgments upon Ahab for his and Israel's apostasy, honoring him by sending food to him morning and evening by an angel of heaven.
When the brook failed and its provision was lost, God sent Elijah to the widow of Sarepta among the heathen, where he was safer than among those who had rejected heaven's light, and continued by a daily miracle to supply food for him and the widow's family. Elijah's hardship when the brook dried as part of the famine did not mean God had abandoned him, for God cared for him and supplied his needs. His experience assures self-sacrificing people who trust God that God will care for them even in famine and drought, that their bread and water will be sure even when the wicked perish for lack of bread. Though God's children may suffer privation they will not be left to perish, blessings that should have kept Elijah from ever distrusting God.