1 Kings 17:2

We first meet the phrase "the word of the Lord" in Genesis 15, and there it occurs twice. Abram was being addressed. But whenever God is pleased to speak, He expects to be obeyed.

We see already then that Elijah had no power, but had faith in God and knew that all blessing is in obedience. From the moment the word reached him, he submitted to it and went to the brook Cherith, where he learnt to depend on God.

As soon as Elijah's work was done for the moment, God at once withdrew him from public notice… The servant has no importance in himself. He must matter to others only as the representative of his Master… Happy is the servant who understands his place. He seeks nothing for himself. He always tries to hide behind the One who sends him, and never seeks notice or favour on his own account.

Elijah had taken a very prominent place in front of Israel… Yet the faithful One he served saw it necessary to take him away into privacy again. He was to hold not only a high place before his brothers, but also a low place before God. All this is full of teaching for us. We must be kept low. Flesh must be crushed. Our time of training in secret must far exceed our time of acting in public.

The Lord tells him to hide by the brook Cherith, east of the Jordan. You know what "Jordan" means — the great river that pictures death. And "Cherith" means "cutting off." The Lord brings him to that significant place, and there makes him drink of the brook, sustained by the ravens, which feed him there.

Being set aside is painful beyond measure to the flesh, which loses everything that feeds it. But it is easy for faith, for faith finds its happiness in obedience. The great prophet must hide himself. This energetic man must fold his hands and wait alone for the Lord's time. The man who had power to shut up the heavens must now depend in a unique way on the Creator, who sends out birds to feed His servant… A painful situation for the flesh, as we said, but a blessed school for dependence! While all Israel was perishing of thirst and hunger, he could say, "I lack nothing."

He is not to be outside the afflictions and judgments God brings on His people. But through dependence on God he is to be above them… If God has answered his prayer in a striking way, he must learn that for that very reason he must live more in dependence than ever… Very often when God graciously answers our requests, we keep the place of dependence less carefully. Yet the very benefit we gained from it should make us more careful.

None of us need expect God to speak to us in the same way as He spoke to Elijah… God speaks to us now in the written Word. We are privileged to hold in our hands the complete revelation of God. We also have the Holy Spirit living in us, and He delights to guide willing minds into all truth… But we must be at home in the book of God, or we shall be at a serious disadvantage in the hour of need.