1 Reis 17
David Guzik · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 Reis 17
Guzik points out that "The death of the son was a double blow to the widow. Not only did she suffer as any mother who loses a child, but she also suffered as one who lost her only hope for the future. The expectation was that her son would grow and provide for her in her old age. Now that expectation was shattered." Warren
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Guzik points out that Elijah's walk was step by step and by faith not sight - God led Elijah one step at a time. He did not tell him to go to Cherith until he first delivered the message to Ahab. He did not tell him to go to Zarephath until the brook dried up at Cherith. God led Elijah by faith, one step at a time, and Elijah followed in faith. C T Lacey - Many suggestions have been made as to why the Lord sent him there. Firstly, the view that it was purely for his safety and protection from the wrath of Ahab and Jezebel is perhaps somewhat simplistic in that the Lord could have protected him even if he had remained where he was. Secondly, it has been suggested that his withdrawal from public view was a clear signal from the Lord that He had withdrawn His word from Israel as judgment upon them. Wiersbe represents this view when he writes, “By leaving his public ministry, Elijah created a second “drought” in the land-an absence of the word of the Lord. God’s word was to the Jewish people like the rain from heaven” (Deut 32:2; Is 55:10–11). Thirdly, Keil submits that he had “to hide himself … until the period of punishment came to an end … to preclude all earnest entreaties to remove the punishment”. Fourthly, a further viewpoint is that the Lord removed him from the public spotlight to teach him humility and to mould him into a mature man of God (v. 24). Whatever the correct answer is, and it might contain elements from all these suggestions, it is clear that the pathway to spiritual maturity is demanding; nevertheless, it has to be travelled if a servant is going to be fit for the Master’s use. It calls for patience and obedience. Not once throughout the entire chapter is Elijah heard questioning or challenging the Lord about the way He took him....He was prepared to take a step at a time by faith and never demanded to know what the Lord’s next move would be. He could have said with Abraham’s servant, “I being in the way, the Lord led me” (Gen 24:27). (What the Bible Teaches – 1 and 2 Kings.) Vance Havner - Elijah must hide himself (1 Kings 17:3) before he could show himself with power (18:1). We do not hide ourselves nowadays and when we go out to show ourselves, all that we do show is ourselves; the Spirit of God works not in us. David Guzik has some thoughts on how Elijah's hiding by the brook Cherith might apply to our lives today - Through this, God taught Elijah the value of the hidden life. He had just become famous as an adversary of Ahab, so mighty that his prayers could stop the rain. At the moment of his new-found fame, God wanted Elijah to hide and be alone with God. “We must not be surprised, then, if sometimes our Father says: ‘There, child, thou hast had enough of this hurry, and publicity, and excitement; get thee hence, and hide thyself by the brook – hide thyself in the Cherith of the sick chamber; or in the Cherith of disappointed hopes; or in the Cherith of bereavement; or in some solitude from which the crowds have ebbed away’” (Meyer). Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee! Hide (05641) cathar/satar is a verb which conveys the root meaning of to hide with the added thought of protection, shelter, concealing. To hide by covering, by keep close, by concealing, by keeping secret. The first use is in Ge 4:14 where Cain discovers that because of his sin, he will be "hidden" from the presence of God, which implies a separation. In Ge 31:49. Satar again has the sense of "separation where Laban prayed "The Lord watch between me and thee (Jacob), when we are absent one from another" (Ge 31:49). Cathar/satar may also describe the attempt to hide the sin of adultery from a spouse (Nu 5:13), or unintentional hidden faults (Ps 19:12 [13], or even the concealment of information (1Sa 20:2). To "hide oneself" is to take refuge (e.g., "Doth not David hide himself with us?" 1 Sa. 23:19, In Job 3:23 = Job laments his way is hidden from God. In Isa 40:27 Israel says "My way is hidden from the LORD.) To "hide" someone is to "shelter" him from his enemy (e.g., "The Lord hid them" Jer 36:26). To hide oneself or others for the sake of protection from life-threatening situations. For example, Moses hid his face in the presence of God (Ex 3:6); David hid himself from the wrath of King Saul (1Sa 20:5, 19, 24); the prophet Elijah hid himself from King Ahab (1Kgs 17:3); Joash was hidden from Athaliah (2Kgs 11:2 2Chr 22:11 [12]); and Baruch and Jeremiah are commanded by God to hide from King Jehoiakim (Jer 36:19, 26). To hide one's sin of adultery (Nu 5:13). Joseph Stowell - Some years ago, I came across a poem by George MacDonald titled “The Hidden Life.” It tells the story of an intellectually gifted young Scot who turned his back on a prestigious academic career to return to his aging father and to the family farm. There he engaged in what MacDonald called “ordinary deeds” and “simple forms of human helpfulness.” His friends lamented what they saw as a waste of his talents. Perhaps you too serve in some unnoticed place, doing nothing more than ordinary deeds. Others might think that’s a waste. But God wastes nothing. Every act of love rendered for His sake is noted and has eternal rewards. Every place, no matter how small, is holy ground. Influence is more than lofty acts and words. It can be a simple matter of human helpfulness: being present, listening, understanding the need, loving, and praying. This is what turns daily duty into worship and service. The apostle Paul challenged the Colossians: “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,” and “do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance” (Col. 3:17,23-24). God takes notice and delights in using us. — David Roper Dear Lord, may I be willing to be hidden and unknown today, yet ready to speak a word to those who are weary. May Your Spirit touch my words and make them Your words that enrich and refresh others. The way to accomplish much for Christ is to serve Him in any way we can. Chief of sinners though I be, Christ is all in all to me; All my wants to Him are known, All my sorrows are His own; Safe with Him from earthly strife, He sustains the hidden life. --William McComb "Chief of Sinners" In light of Elijah experiencing the hidden life, here are some thoughts by James Smith on "The Christian life is the hidden life. Hidden—in what sense? In six. I. The Hidden Life is the SAFE Life, for we are hidden in Christ for Salvation, as Noah and his family were hidden in the Ark (Isa. 32:2; Heb. 11:7). II. The Hidden Life is the JUSTIFIED Life, for we are hidden in Christ for Justification, as the stones of the Temple were hidden by cedar wood (red wood, the emblem of the Atonement), and gold (emblem of Divine Righteousness) (1 Kings 6:18). Not a stone of the Temple was seen. III. The Hidden Life is the JOYFUL Life (Isa. 42:11). Walking hurriedly along a country road to catch a train one cold, drab, gloomy morning, a burst of merry singing near the Workhouse arrested my steps. It was a robin hidden safely in a hollow tree, protected from the stormy blast, and pouring out its merry song to the Faithful Creator. Hidden ones can sing for joy. IV. The Hidden Life is the COMFORTABLE Life, as the believer is hidden in Christ in the sense of the weak chick hidden safely and securely under the warm shelter of the parent bird (Matt. 23:37). V. The Hidden Life is the FRUITFUL Life, for we are hidden in Christ as the corn of wheat is hidden in the earth—for fruitfulness. "How can I die to myself? It is true that it can be said of those in Christ, "Ye are dead." But the question is: How can this doctrine, which is true positionally, become an experimental fact in our individual experience? How does the corn of wheat die, but by fully surrendering to its environment. Our actual salvation began when we first surrendered to the Lord Jesus, but it will progress in proportion to the constancy and completeness of that surrender (John 12:24). VI. The Hidden Life is the INVISIBLE Life, the "I live, yet not I" life, for we are hidden in Christ as the High Priest was hidden from the sight of the worshippers when in the most Holy Place (Psa. 91:1). Said a well-known Manchester Christian engineer of a past generation: "The Holy Ghost is the only real power for service. Why have we not got this power? Because we are not willing to be made invisible by the investiture." This is a searching word. Moses could no longer be hidden by his devoted mother, because he had continued to grow. May we never grow so big that we cannot remain hidden. It is when we are little in our own eyes that we are kept out of the sight of men. The only "I's" in the Bible that wear a crown are the small ones—"i"; at the Reward Seat of Christ will you receive a crown? Donald Cantrell - Hide Thyself by the Brook Cherith 1 Ki 17:3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. Elijah had just told Ahab that it was not going to rain at any time until he allowed it to rain. Upon making this bold announcement, God speaks to his prophet and sends him into seclusion and hiding. The place that God sent him was in the middle of a vast tough wilderness. God sent him to the brook of Cherith. The name Cherith means “cutting.” It would be here that God is going to cut things out of his prophet’s life. Elijah could have been a bit heady and high minded after speaking boldly to Ahab. Sitting by the brook Cherith God would cut away unwanted things from his life. I dare say that many of us need to take a journey to Cherith and allow God to do some timely cutting on our life. 1. Cherith Was a Place of Hiding 2. Cherith Was a Place of Cutting 3. Cherith Was a Place of Learning Vance Havner - The Lesson of Cherith: God's Provision Get thee hence... and hide thyself by the brook Cherith... and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. I Kings 17:3, 4. At Cherith Elijah learned the lesson of God's provision. But Cherith was the place of God's provision because it was the place of God's purpose. Elijah was in the place where God told him to be. The ravens had been commanded to feed him "there," not somewhere else, not just anywhere, but "there." Where God guides He provides. He is responsible for our upkeep if we follow His directions. He is not responsible for expenses not on His schedule. He does not foot the bill when we leave His itinerary. Sometimes God's arrangements are most unusual. Commanding the birds to feed a prophet is strange procedure. And sometimes God sends us off to a brook when we think we ought to be out in the thick of things. The need is so great, the harvest so plenteous and the laborers so few that it looks like a waste of time to head for a brook. But God has His own pattern and plan, and He may want us by a mountain brook when we are all hot and bothered about getting into the heat of the battle. But it was at Cherith's brook that Elijah was made ready for Carmel's battle F. Whitfield - Not by the river, but by the brook. The river would always contain an abundant supply, but the brook might dry up at any moment. What does this teach us? God does not place His people in luxuriance here. The world’s abundance might withdraw their affections from Him. He gives them not the river but the brook. The brook may be running to-day, to-morrow it may be dried up. And wherefore does God act thus! To teach us that we are not to rest in His gifts and blessings, but in Himself. This is what our hearts are always doing—resting in the gift instead of the Giver. Therefore God cannot trust us by the river for it unconsciously takes up His place in the heart. It is said of Israel, that when they were full they forgot God. James Smith - ELIJAH, THE HIDDEN ONE 1 Kings 17:2–6 “Yet not in solitude! if Christ is near me, Waketh Him workers for the great employ! Oh, not in solitude! if souls that hear me Catch from my joyance the surprise of joy.” —MYERS. When Elijah had delivered his God-given message to the idolatrous king of Israel it would seem as if he did not know which way to turn next. Perhaps it was in answer to a prayer for guidance and protection that God said, “Get thee hence, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith.” He who had slain so many of the Lord’s servants was not likely to spare a man like Elijah. The servants of Christ still find it a testing time after the delivery of some unwelcome death or life message in the Name of God. How sweet it is at such times to find the Lord Himself a refuge and a hiding-place to the troubled soul! We observe that Elijah’s hiding-place was a place of— I. Divine Appointment. The Lord said, “Hide thyself by the brook Cherith.” How could he feel safe or satisfied hiding in a place of his own choosing or making? What a sigh of relief would escape the heart of the obedient prophet as he sought and found the God-appointed place of rest, such a feeling of relief as the sinner knows, when in obedience to God’s Word he flees for refuge to that appointed place called “Calvary.” It matters not where the man-slayer ran for safety, he could have no assurance of it until he ran into the God-appointed city of refuge. Are we resting where God has bid us rest, in Jesus Christ, His beloved Son? II. Perfect Seclusion. He was completely hid in the secret of the Lord’s presence from the pride of Ahab and the strife of Jezebel’s tongue (Ps 31:20). The place of God’s salvation is a place of separation and seclusion. Your life is hid with Christ in God. What an honour to belong to “Thy hidden ones” (Ps 83:3). All such hidden ones abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Ps 91:1). They are saved from the fear of man, from the slavery of fashion, and from the harassing anxieties of the ordinary worldly life. “Thou art my hiding-place” (Ps 32:7). III. Assuring Promise. “Thou shalt drink of the brook: and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there” (1Ki 17:4). God never sends us a warfare on our own charges. This promise could not be separated from that hallowed place “Cherith.” All the promises of God are in Christ Jesus Yea and Amen. To know that His Command had gone forth was enough to allay every doubt and fear as to all his needs being supplied. All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose. We are saved by His grace and assured by His Word. IV. Wonderful Experience. “The ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning and in the evening” (1Ki 17:6). The prophet could not have such a manifestation of the loving-kindness of God anywhere else; being in God’s way He met him and blessed him. So is it at the Cross of Christ. The provision was— 1. PLENTIFUL. Not only had he “bread and water,” but flesh also. The life of faith will always be met with His “exceeding abundance.” The young lions in the full vigour of their own strength do suffer lack; but they that trust the Lord shall not want any good. At that holy place appointed by God, the Cross, there is sufficient for all. 3. MIRACULOUS. Every morsel of Elijah’s food while here came to him in a supernatural fashion. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” The life that has been begotten by the Word of God must also grow thereby. Miracles are an everyday occurrence to the man who lives by faith in the Son of God. When Jesus asked those who had gone out in His Name, “Lacked ye anything?” they said, “Nothing” (Luke 22:35). God’s ravens are everywhere, and His command is enough to make them the ministers of mercy and blessing to any of His hidden ones. Streams in the Desert - “Hide thyself by the brook Cherith.” (1 Kings 17:3.) GOD’S servants must be taught the value of the hidden life. The man who is to take a high place before his fellows must take a low place before his God. We must not be surprised if sometimes our Father says: “There, child, thou hast had enough of this hurry, and publicity, and excitement; get thee hence, and hide thyself by the brook—hide thyself in the Cherith of the sick chamber, or in the Cherith of bereavement, or in some solitude from which the crowds have ebbed away.” Happy is he who can reply, “This Thy will is also mine; I flee unto Thee to hide me. Hide me in the secret of Thy tabernacle, and beneath the covert of Thy wings” Every saintly soul that would wield great power with men must win it in some hidden Cherith. The acquisition of spiritual power is impossible, unless we can hide ourselves from men and from ourselves in some deep gorge where we may absorb the power of the eternal God; as vegetation through long ages absorbed these qualities of sunshine, which it now gives back through burning coal. Bishop Andrews had his Cherith, in which he spent five hours every day in prayer and devotion. John Welsh had it—who thought the day ill spent which did not witness eight or ten hours of closet communion. David Brainerd had it in the woods of North America. Christmas Evans had it in his long and lonely journeys amid the hills of Wales. Or, passing back to the blessed age from which we date the centuries: Patmos, the seclusion of the Roman prisons, the Arabian desert, the hills and vales of Palestine, are forever memorable as the Cheriths of those who have made our modern world. Our Lord found His Cherith at Nazareth, and in the wilderness of Judea; amid the olives of Bethany, and the solitude of Gadara. None of us, therefore, can dispense with some Cherith where the sounds of human voices are exchanged for the waters of quietness which are fed from the throne; and where we may taste the sweets and imbibe the power of a life hidden with Christ.—Elijah, by Meyer. Related Resource: The Hidden Life - Charles Orr (online book published 1908) (On Amazon, the Kindle edition has received a single 5-star rating, but it lacks an accompanying written review.) THEOLOGY AND HYMNOLOGY 1 Kings 17:3b - Eric Hayden Hide thyself by the brook Cherith.… Let us go to “school.” At the end of our course we shall not receive a degree or a diploma nor will we be fitted for a profession. But we shall be ready to meet life, life with all its setbacks, buffetings, blows, and sorrows. It is the school Elijah attended, and its name is Cherith. The precise location of the campus he attended is unknown, but it was probably east of the Jordan River in Gilead. For us this school is wherever we happen to be. In his course of study Elijah learned three important lessons, lessons we too must learn. Each of them can be summed up in the line of a well-known hymn. I. “One step enough for me”—the lesson of the steppingstone life “Lead, kindly Light,” wrote Newman, “lead Thou me on.” Amidst gloom and darkness, far from home, unable to see a step in front, he relied on divine guidance, step by step. This was a hard lesson for Elijah. He had been told to go to the brook Cherith—and then it dried up before his very eyes. He must go on to Zarephath. Note that he was not told about Zarephath until Cherith had dried up; it was one step at a time. Cherith had been sufficient for the time being as he had water to drink and food brought by ravens, but if he had then known about Zarephath he would have wanted to move on before God’s time. So God leads all His children by steppingstones, one at a time. It is not always good for us to know what lies ahead, around the corner. We know not what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future—and that is enough. “God holds the key of all unknown, and I am glad!” Cross every dangerous and difficult situation by the sturdy steppingstones God supplies. II. “Hide me, O my Saviour hide”—the lesson of the hidden life “Jesus, Lover of My Soul” was written by Charles Wesley. “Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, Till the storm of life is past.” God told Elijah to “hide” himself by the brook Cherith. He was not sent there for preaching or performing miracles, but for seclusion, prayer, and meditation. That was his preparation for future service. How often in this mad, rushing world we need to get alone with God and discover the delights of the hidden life at Cherith. “Come apart,” Jesus said to His weary disciples. When we know excitement, success, frustration, and disappointment, we need to remember that our lives are hid with Christ in God. We have to hide, not hurry. III. “To trust and not to trace”—the lesson of the trustful life George Rawson wrote: “My Father, it is good for me To trust and not to trace; And wait with deep humility For Thy revealing grace.” How often we sing, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus …”—and then try to engineer things, people, and circumstances in order to make things easy and comfortable for ourselves. Suppose when Cherith began to dry up, Elijah had tried to make his own future plans. Instead, he trusted in the great God who has a plan for everyone of us. As he saw the water going down and the stones on the stream bed beginning to appear, he still sat and trusted. Often we have to sit beside a drying brook such as a personal or family disaster or a business catastrophe. At first it appears as if God has failed us, but as we wait and trust we begin to see His hand at work, and eventually He leads out and on to Zarephath. Elijah was “a man subject to like passions as we are” (James 5:17), and his Cherith experience brings him near to each of us. But remember the One who is greater than Elijah who was “touched with the feeling of our infirmities … [and] was in all points tempted like as we are” (Heb. 4:15). Jesus knows and feels our difficulties. He had His Cherith experiences (crossing the brook Kidron into the Garden of Gethsemane). Just prior to the cross He learned these same three lessons as we must learn in the school called Cherith. Hymnology and theology, poet and prophet, are in accord. 1 Kings 17:4 “It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.” I have commanded: 1Ki 17:9 19:5-8 Nu 20:8 Job 34:29 38:8-13,41 Ps 33:8,9 147:9 Am 9:3,4 Mt 4:4,11 1 Kings 17 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries GOD'S UNUSUAL SERVANTS It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there - God is so in control that even the unclean birds the ravens were subject to His command. Guzik has an interesting note that "There is an emphasis on the word there. God promised that the ravens would feed Elijah as he stayed at Cherith. Of course, theoretically the ravens could feed him anywhere – but God commanded that it be at Cherith. Elijah perhaps wanted to be somewhere else, or be preaching, or doing anything else. Yet God wanted him there and would provide for him there. J R Miller - "You are to drink from the brook. I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there." 1 Kings 17:4 God is never at a loss for a way of providing for His children. The brooks of water, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, the winds of heaven, the waves of the sea—all creatures belong to him, and are under His direct control. He has no trouble, therefore, in getting food to His children, wherever they may be. Many of us know too much for our good, these 'modern days'. We are so wise about "laws of nature" that we can account for everything on scientific grounds, and have no need for God's assistance anywhere! Consequently we forget, some of us, that God has anything to do with this world. What poor fools we are! What are the laws of nature—but God's established and common ways of doing things? If I sow wheat-seeds on a little patch of soil, and in a few months reap a harvest, and then, taking the wheat to the mill, get fine flour and have good bread on my table. Had God nothing to do with sending it to me? Did not he provide it as really, as when he sent the ravens to Elijah day by day, with food for him?
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Guzik - Every bit of food that came to Elijah came from the beak of an unclean animal. Elijah had to put away his traditional ideas of clean and unclean or he would die of starvation. Through this, God taught Elijah to emphasize the spirit of the law before the letter of the law. Charles Spurgeon drew two points of application from this event, likening the food the ravens brought to spiritual food. First, he recognized that God may bring a good word to us through an unclean vessel, spiritually unclean, like a raven. Second, that one can bring spiritual food to others and still be unclean spiritually themselves. “But see, too, how possible it is for us to carry bread and meat to God’s servants, and do, some good things for his church, and yet be ravens still!” (Spurgeon). As faithfully as He provided manna for Israel in the wilderness, God provided for Elijah’s needs. He came to trust more than ever in the miraculous provision of God.
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Guzik adds that "God kept transplanting Elijah: From home to Jezreel to Cherith to Zarephath. This transplanting made him stronger and stronger." THOUGHT - Do you feel you are in the will of God and yet still find yourself in a "Zarephath-like" place today? Remember James' command "Consider (hegeomai in aorist imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (Jas 1:2-4+) Play this oldie but goodie (sing it as your prayer) Refiner's Fire. God's refining fire brings all the impurities to the surface so that they can be skimmed off, leaving greater purity. The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design, Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine. -- George Keith (How Firm a Foundation) Behold, (hinneh; Lxx - idou) - God is seeking to get Elijah's full attention to the next somewhat enigmatic statement. I have commanded a widow there to provide for you - This is notable because widows in the ancient world were often extremely poor. So first Yahweh commanded unclean birds to provide for Elijah and now He commands an "unclean" (Gentile) woman to provide, a woman who is likely poor. God's ways are simply higher than our ways beloved (Isa 55:8-9)! Elijah's faith was being stretched! Henry
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Guzik - God told Elijah (1 Kings 17:9) that He commanded a widow to feed the prophet. Yet this woman seemed unaware of the command. This shows how God’s unseen hand often works.
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Guzik - Elijah boldly put this request in faith. Common sense and circumstances told him that the widow would not give so generously to a Jewish stranger, but faith made him ask. God indeed chose this woman, but He chose her for more than a miracle. He chose her for service.