1 Kings 17
1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
2 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
Elijah was an amazing man. He was absolutely single-minded. He lived for God alone. Even his name means, “the Lord is God”.
Elijah lived during an evil time. Ahab ruled over Israel together with his wicked wife Jezebel who served Baal and tried to eradicate God’s prophets. Yet God used Obadiah to save one hundred of the Lord’s prophets. Another 7000 of the children of Israel also did not bow the knee to Baal. They followed God in secret. But Elijah stood publicly for the Lord.
We read in James 5:16 – 18, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.”
God’s Word was firmly grounded in the life of Elijah, even though he had the same weaknesses as we have. He walked in the footsteps of His Lord and his life was a clear testimony to that fact. So too God’s Word must be grounded in us so that it will be clear to everyone that we are walking in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ.