Introduction
One of the new terms of our day is “virtual reality.” We live in a day and time filled with imaginary stories, characters, and scenes. These transport us into unreality, a world of make believe, even a world of science fiction that catapults us into another world. We go to an IMAX theater, put on our 3D glasses, and get engulfed in an imaginary world that almost seems real. We put on our virtual reality goggles attached to our phone or gaming system and enter a new 3D world. With all this new technology we can experience a virtual reality that which truly seems real to our senses, minds, and emotions, but isn’t real.
Why? People want to escape the reality of this life.
Chuck Swindoll writes (Living on the Ragged Edge)
In this ragged-edged reality called earthly existence, life is somewhere between sad and bad. All it takes is a quick look around to discover why we line up to watch fantasies that take us to galaxies far, far away. Who wouldn’t want to escape from an existence as boring and painful as ours? For many, it’s downright horrid. It’s drug abuse. It’s sleepless nights. It’s headaches. It’s heartaches. It’s hate, rape, assault, jail sentences. It’s sickness and sorrow. It’s broken lives. It’s distorted minds. Mainly, as Solomon discovered long ago, it’s empty. There’s nothing down here under the sun that will give you and me a sense of lasting satisfaction. It’s planned that way! How else would we realize our need for the living God?
I don’t care how good your job is or how much money you have…when the lights are turned off at night, you’re back to reality--its boring and horribly empty. To quote Solomon the realist, it is like chasing the wind.
You work so that you can make money, so that you can spend it, so that you can work and make more money, so that you can spend it, so that you can get more, which will mean you spend more, and you work harder to make more. So goes this endless cycle called ‘striving after wind.’ Solomon was one of the richest persons ever to live. Anything he wanted, he had it. If he lived today he would have the biggest homes, the fastest cars, the most beautiful friends and lovers, the best food, the most luxurious airplanes, and an endless supply of money. Yet, Solomon said, it is like chasing the wind.
That explains why people will line up by the millions to view a fantasy on film and sit in silent amazement at someone’s imaginary world of imaginary characters who do imaginary things--because life under the sun is so dreadfully, unchangingly boring and dreadful.
To put it bluntly, life on planet Earth without God is the pits. And if I may repeat my point (Solomon does numerous times), that’s the way God designed it. He made it like that. He placed within us that God-shaped vacuum that only He can fill. Until He is there, nothing satisfies.
Are you sufficiently depressed now?
Text
Please turn in your Bible to 1 Kings 17:1-7
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” 2 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: 3 “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” 5 So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
Everyone here has probably heard of Charles Dickens’s novel A Tale of Two Cities. Whether or not you’ve read the novel, you’ve likely heard the famous sentence: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” The same could be said about the Israelites during the reign of Ahab. Ahab had recently become the seventh King of Israel. From a secular point of view, Ahab was a successful king. He further consolidated and expanded on his father’s achievements. During Ahab’s reign, it was a time of increasing power, prominence, and economic prosperity. It was the best of times from a secular view.
However, the Bible paints a different picture. All kings of Israel were evil, but Ahab was the most evil. According to the historical writer, “Ahab…did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him…. he also married Jezebel…and began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.” (1 Kings 16:30-33) It was the worst of times from a Godly view.
Baal was one of the principle deities of the Canaanites. Baal was the god of fertility, rain, and vegetation. Those that worshiped Baal claimed him to be “the rider of the clouds,” the storm god who controlled the rains and crops. If the rain did not come and the crops did not grow then the Canaanites believed someone did something to offend the gods. So, to ensure they kept Baal happy, they worshiped him. This worship is nothing like the way we worship Jesus. Baal worship included both male and female cult prostitution and included immoral orgies and sexual acts. Their prophets and priests practiced sacrificing little children and newborn babies in the Baal temple.
Elijah, “My God is Yahweh,” came onto the scene for the first time in 1 Kings 17:1. Elijah’s mission was to awaken the Israelites to their idol worship and to call them back to loyalty to the one true God of Israel. Elijah’s very name shouted defiance in the face of the evil king, Ahab.
Elijah lived his life under the authority of God’s word, whether obeying or proclaiming it. Elijah knew the Law of God. He hid God’s word in his heart and God brought it to his remembrance…”The word of the Lord came to Elijah.” Elijah’s prophetic words were from Deuteronomy 11:16-17, “Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you.”
Elijah was undoubtedly a great man of faith, as he courageously stood before the King and declared, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”
Like Elijah, God sends us out to confront and counter the sins of our nation.
Body
I. God sends us out to confront and counter the sins of our nation.
Explanation
Elijah lived in a time of spiritual apostasy and moral decay. His nation, the nation of Israel, had abandoned God’s law and turned to worshiping foreign gods. Elijah was a common man---a man of like passions as you and me. Yet, he was also a man of uncommon courage---a man willing to risk his life for the glory and cause of God. Elijah was a man’s man. He was a rugged prophet who wore a camel’s hair coat. He was a sort of Grisly Adams. He was in sharp contrast with the Baal priests who likely stood in white robes and lived an easy life.
Where did Elijah get this great courage? Did God appear to him in a burning bush? Did the Lord appear to him in a dream? The Bible does not say, but I believe it came through his devotion to God through prayer, fasting, and studying God’s Word. Elijah had an intimate relationship with God and walked in close fellowship with the Lord. I believe Elijah found the message of God for Ahab in the Law…Deuteronomy Chapter 11:16-17…and went forth to declare this message to Ahab at God’s leading.
The sins of our nation are much like those of Elijah’s time. Our nation has forgotten God and no longer worships the one true God. The humanists, evolutionists, liberal theologians, cults, and new agers think Christianity, the Bible, marriage, and morality with absolutes are all but dead. They think that moral absolutes have not place in our political and moral decisions of our society. It is old fashioned, outdated, and obsolete.
First, America is a materialistic nation. We do everything we can to have more stuff than our parents and give our kids everything. We spend our time on social networks, hoping someone “friends” us or “likes” our post. We go into great debt buying the next smart phone, the next video game console, a bigger house or a nicer car. We trample others on black Friday to get a bargain right after a holiday we call Thanksgiving. We celebrate the birth of Christ by going into more debt to buy things our kids, loved ones, and friends probably don’t need. Americans are materialistic. We Americans worship things.
Second, America is a nation of relativism. There is no longer an absolute truth in America, but rather it is relative truth…do what you want and don’t push your beliefs on others. If you do, then you are not being tolerant of others. The Christian absolute truth is intolerant and insensitive. It no longer belongs in politics or society. Worship all you want but don’t push your Christianity on anyone else.
Third, America is a nation of Godlessness. Most Americans don’t darken a church and were not even raised in a church going family. Most have never opened a Bible and only go to a church for weddings and funerals. In fact, many don’t hold weddings or funerals in churches anymore. We have pushed God out of the school, out of government, out of the office, and even out of many church buildings.
Fourth, America no longer has a moral compass. Americans no longer view adultery, homosexuality, abortion, and drug use as sin. We have passed laws to protect those who practice these things and persecute those who stand against these sins.
Much like Elijah, God calls His church to be in the world but separate from the world. God calls us to be men and women of prayer, fasting, and Bible study. God calls us to allow Him to mold us and shape us into a holy people. If the world does not see something different about us…Jesus in us…then we are no different. Our lives…both our actions and our words…should confront and counter the sins of our nation much like Elijah.
Serving and doing what God has called us to do whether it involves seeking and saving souls, taking a stand against the immoral tide of a society, or challenging a brother or sister in Christ, has always been a risky business. Sooner or later obedience to the Great Commission will involve some risk.
The buzzword today is not ‘risk’ but ‘security.’ Risk may be a popular game but not as a lifestyle. People are interested in social security, home security, savings and loan security, cyber security, homeland security, border security, and especially secure relationships. The problem is that our security-oriented culture tends to insulate us from the real needs around us while at the same time maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. Safety is important, but being obedient to the Great Commission is superior to our safety and security.
Are you taking the necessary risks to fulfill your call in the Great Commission?
Maybe God is calling you to pray for a co-worker, start a work Bible study, hand out Bibles, start a Christ-centered drug recovery center, plant a church, teach a Bible class, tell your friend about Jesus, invite your neighbor to church, or feed the homeless.
We’ve established that, like Elijah, God also calls us to confront the sins or our nation. Next, God tests us in our hiding place.
II. God tests us through His guidance
In verse 3 God told Elijah to, ““Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.” God told Elijah to retreat and hide. I find this surprising. Shouldn’t the prophet of God be preaching and declaring God’s word in the temples and streets of Samaria? Shouldn’t he be warning the Israelites of the coming drought caused by their sin against God?
How else were the Israelites going to hear God’s message? Nope. God sends Elijah into hiding for three years. Nope. God sends Elijah into hiding for three years. For Elijah, it must have been a challenging test when God told him to “Go Hide!” rather than to “Go prophesy!”
I myself am amazed that God called me to preach at 48 years old. Who does that? I know many preachers and most all of them began their preaching ministry as a young man or woman. When I felt the calling on my life, I questioned it. I struggled with it. One of the reasons was my age. Why now? I am in the second half of my life, my son is grown, and I have settled down. I’ve been a teacher in the church all my life. Why become a licensed minister and start preaching now, God? And, if so, why the 48 year wait?
Here is Elijah, a prophet who isn’t prophesying. What is up with that? One reason was to test and prepare Elijah. As God works in our lives, we often face a number of tests that challenge our faith, obedience, love for God, values, and priorities. God tests us to demonstrate just how real God is to us.
Elijah had to recognize he needed God’s guidance. Our tendency is to direct our own way, but the Bible clearly warns against that. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but to its end is the way of death.” The first test is a test of God’s guidance. Will we follow God’s command and, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Prov 3:5-6) or will we follow our own strategies?
James 4:13-16 says, “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.
Striking out on any venture or task without seeking God’s direction is arrogant independence. James called it arrogant and evil.
God also tested Elijah through the mystery of God’s guidance. Where God sent Elijah was clear but the why was not so clear. What is God up to? What is coming next? Why the wait?
God’s guidance usually comes one step at a time, which is contrary to our nature. We want to know the entire travel plan. We want to know when, where, how and why and we want a full itinerary. We probably couldn’t handle the whole journey anyway. If God would have told me 30 years ago that I was going to be a preacher at 48, I would not have even been able to comprehend it.
God’s guidance can be perplexing. God’s plan simply doesn’t seem to make sense to us. Elijah was a prophet with the Word, living in times of national apostasy, yet God sent him into hiding.
God tests us through His guidance. Will we follow him or go our own way?
Next, God tests us in our hiding place.
III. God tests us in our hiding place.
God sent Elijah to the Kerith Ravine. The Hebrew word “kerith” means “a cutting,” a place cut by something. In this case, it is a cutting of the earth by many years of water flowing down from the hills of Jordan. There were likely many brooks like this one, but God sent Elijah to the brook, “a cutting.”
Why was Elijah sent to the place of cutting? It was for Elijah to be secluded for a time of testing. Elijah had to depend on God to provide for his physical needs. It is interesting the God provided a natural brook, one that would inevitably dry up during the long drought and supernaturally provided food from ravens.
Before Elijah could stand on Mount Carmel and face off against King Ahab and the Baal prophets he had to sit by the brook. To build mature faith and ability to handle the Mount Carmels of life, there must be the maturing experiences of the Kerith of life. These life’s tests purify and build as they teach us to trust in the Lord.
Of course, no one likes these life experiences because they hurt. Discipline and training are painful. The runner who wins the Boston Marathon didn’t get up one morning and run 26.2 miles. The marathon runner has to beat their body into submission through many months of hard training.
James 1:2-4 says, “Consider 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, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
Elijah’s time beside the brook was God’s way of preparing him for the ministry to follow. Time by the brook was a time of testing and spiritual growth. Like Elijah, as God’s people we need time alone. To be used of God we need seclusion with God. We need to linger in His presence. We need to shut out the noise and spend time in praise, prayer, the Word, and communion with God.
God tests us in our hiding place. Finally, God tests us when the brook runs dry.
IV. God tests us when the brook runs dry
Elijah faced a test of God’s promise and supply. Elijah was sitting by a natural brook during a drought. The brook likely started as a fast flowing brook of clean, clear water. However, as time rolled on and the drought continued, the brook began to slowly dry up. Elijah could see that the brook was running out of water. Each day the brook grew more shallow and slowed down to just a small trickle. One day the inevitable happened. Verse 7 says, “Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.”
Like Elijah, are you watching the brook slowly dry up?
God promised to take care of Elijah’s needs at the brook. Verse 4 says, “You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” God did not send him to a great river or lake. He sent him to a brook. A brook that God knew would eventually run dry.
Why does God give us just enough? God wants us to learn to be content in whatever state we are in by first learning to rest in Him by faith. Why? That we might experience God’s sufficiency and learn that our greatest need is God. God wanted Elijah, and wants us, to recognize that his greatest need was not thing, not a changed environment, and not people. Our greatest need is God!
Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
Second, notice that God supplied Elijah’s needs in two ways; through natural means, the brook, and through supernatural means, the ravens. Ephesians 3:20 says, “He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we as or think.” God always intended to supply for Elijah’s needs. There is no limit to what the Lord can do and His tools are limitless!
Are we willing to trust God’s promises and provision no matter how contrary our circumstances? We must realize our circumstances are not chance happenings. We are in these situations for a reason. When things don’t go as we expect, when the car breaks down, when you have a sinus headache, when the package is late, when you hear about the criticism, when your brook runs dry, how do you respond? Do we blow up or stay calm? Do we trust the Lord or become depressed? What do we do?
James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James knew the secret of trials. We need to recognize that the testing of our faith as builds perseverance and character. Trials make us mature and complete.
What do we do when the brook dries up?
We need to listen for God’s guidance and direction. Verse 8-9 says, “Then the word of the Lord came to him: Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow to supply you with food.”
If the brook never ran dry, Elijah wouldn’t have experienced the unending supply of oil and meal. If the brook never ran dry, Elijah wouldn’t have experienced God sending fire from heaven, burning up the sacrifice, the wood, the dirt, and the water. Elijah would have never fulfilled Gods plan.
Conclusion
I. God sends us out to confront and counter the sins of our nation
II. God tests us through His guidance
III. God tests us in our hiding place
IV. God tests us when the brook runs dry
Is your brook running dry? If it is, hold on. God has something great in store. One precious sister used to say, “Tie a not and hold on!” Your time on Mount Carmel, doing what God has called you to do, is here. Just hold on. Don’t give up now.
