1 Kings 17:7

_SO HE WENT AND DID ACCORDING UNTO THE WORD OF THE LORD: FOR HE WENT AND DWELT BY THE BROOK CHERITH, THAT IS BEFORE JORDAN._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

1-7 God wonderfully suits men to the work he designs them for. The times were fit for an Elijah; an Elijah was fit for them. The Spirit of the Lord knows how to fit men for the occasions. Elijah let Ahab know that God was displeased with the idolaters, and would chastise them by the want of rain, which it was not in the power of the gods they served to bestow. Elijah was commanded to hide himself. If Providence calls us to solitude and retirement, it becomes us to go: when we cannot be useful, we must be patient; and when we cannot work for God, we must sit still quietly for him. The ravens were appointed to bring him meat, and did so. Let those who have but from hand to mouth, learn to live upon Providence, and trust it for the bread of the day, in the day. God could have sent angels to minister to him; but he chose to show that he can serve his own purposes by the meanest creatures, a...

Verse 1 Kings 17:7. _THE BROOK DRIED UP_] Because there had been no rain in the land for some time, God having sent this drought as a testimony against the idolatry of the people: see Deuteronomy 11:16-5....

EXPOSITION ELIJAH AND THE GREAT DROUGHT.—The picture which the historian has just drawn of the shameless idolatry and the gross degeneracy of the earlier part of Ahab's reign forms a fit prelude to an account of the ministry of the great prophet Elijah, which occupies this and several succeeding chapters; for the two stand together in the closest connexion. It was only the unprecedented corruption of that age which necessitated such a mission, and a mission armed with such credentials as his. It will be obvious to the most cursory reader that the narratives comprised in the remaining portion of this book and the earlier part of 2 Kings are of a very different character from those which have so far been before us. The ministry of Elijah and Elisha alike is little more than a series of miracles. Of their words comparatively few are recorded; we hear of little but the signs and w

AND IT CAME TO PASS AFTER A WHILE,.... Or "at the end of days" x, perhaps a year, which sometimes is the sense of this phrase, see Exodus 13:10, THAT THE BROOK DRIED UP; through the excessive heat, and for want of supplies from the springs and fountains with which it was fed, and for the following reason: BECAUSE THERE HAD BEEN NO RAIN IN THE LAND; from the time Elijah prayed and prophesied; of this drought mention is made in profane history: Menander, a Phoenician writer, speaks y of a drought in the times of Ithobalus (the same with Ethbaal the father of Jezebel), which lasted a whole year, and upon prayer being made there were thunder, c. x מקץ ימים "in, vel a, fine dierum", Pagninus, Montanus, c. y Apud Joseph. Antiqu. l. 8. c. 13. sect. 2....

IV. THE PROPHET ELIJAH AND KING AHAB 1. Elijah's Prediction and Miracles CHAPTER 17 _ 1. Elijah's message to Ahab (1 Kings 17:1)_ 2. At the brook Cherith (1 Kings 17:2) 3. With the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8) 4. The widow's son restored to life (1 Kings 17:17) Upon this scene of complete departure of God, when Ahab and his heathen wife worshipped Baal and all the vileness connected with that cult flourished in Israel, there appeared suddenly one of the greatest of God's prophets, Elijah (my God is Jehovah) the Tishbite. “A grander figure never stood out even against the Old Te

ELIJAH IS FED BY RAVENS, AND RAISES THE WIDOW'S SON. Elijah appeared suddenly: we hear nothing of his birth or parentage. He simply announced to Ahab, in the name of Yahweh, before whom I stand (_cf._ Jeremiah 35:19), that there should be no rain for three years. Elijah is described as one of the sojourners of Gilead. Probably the LXX is correct in saying that he came from Tishbe (_mg.),_ said to be in Gilead to distinguish it from another Tishbe in Galilee (Tob_1:2). He then retired (1 Kings 17:3) to the brook Cherith, E. of Jordan, where he was fed by ravens. In the valley of the Jordan was the rock of Oreb the raven (Judges 7:25;...

_because there had been_[R.V. WAS] _no rain_ Not only had there been none, but the drought was continuing....

B. ELIJAH AT CHERITH 17:2-7 TRANSLATION (2) And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, (3) Go from this place and torn for your sake to the east, and hide yourself at the river Cherith, which is before the Jordan. (4) And it shall come to pass that from the brook you shall drink, and the ravens I have commanded to feed you there. (5) So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, and he went and dwelt at the brook Cherith, which was before the Jordan. (6) And the ravens brought to him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and from the brook he drank. (7) And it came to pass at the end of several days, that the brook dried up, for there was no ram in the land. COMMENTS Shortly after Elijah announced the drought in Israel he received a divine revelation (1 Kings 17:2) instructing him to proceed immediately eastward to the br

17:7 while (c-8) Lit. 'at the end of days.'...