And the Ravens…

We all know stories from the Bible, but even though we know the words are the truth, sometimes they remain only words. One story that recently came to life was the story of Elijah the Tishbite. He lived in Gilead during the time of Ahab. Ahab was the king of Israel. He was a very wicked king who married an even more wicked woman named Jezebel. She worshipped Baal and drew Ahab more deeply into the sins of idol worship and all of the despicable deeds of serving Baal. It included all sorts of sexual perversions and child sacrifice. They reared up altars and groves where the worship of Baal could be consummated. It provoked the LORD God of Israel and sent a drought into the land of Israel.

God told Elijah that “there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hid thyself by the brook Cherith, that is beyond Jordan.”

The word Cherith translated means gorge. It was probably like the ravines and gullies of our area, deep with water that flows along the bottom. It would be a perfect place to survive the extended period of the dry time God pronounced on Israel because of Ahab’s sinfulness.

Now the thing that made my experience that caused this passage come to life for me. God also said to Elijah, “And it shall be, that thou shalt drink from the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” Elijah did as he was told and made a place to dwell beside the brook Cherith. “And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening and he drank from the brook.” 1 Kings 17:6

Sunday morning I backed out of my driveway and started to drive to church, a raven or a large crow flew in front of my car about 12 t0 15 feet above the roadway. The sun glistened from its ebony feathers. The remarkable thing that made Elijah’s story become real was the raven had what looked like the bottom half of a hamburger bun clenched in its beak. It was a pleasant surprise. When I mentioned it to our pastor, he said close, but there is no stream close to you.