17th November 2022 – 1 Kings 17:1

1 Kings 17:1

"17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”"

 

Elijah, the Tishbite, burst upon the darkness of that godless age like the flash of a meteor in the night sky and with a suddenness and unhesitating abruptness that was to characterise his whole ministry. There was nothing of the diplomatist about this man, no carefully chosen words and finely balanced sentences, but urgent, fiery utterance, fierce as a whip-lash, sear- ing and blistering the conscience of the apostate king and bringing a great dread upon his soul. One senses the tremendous drama of these words, as he reminded Ahab that there was a living God in Israel, whose holy laws he had flouted, it is as if an electric current had suddenly galvanised the whole situation. This is in fact as good and as true a way of describing it as any, for, from this point onwards the atmosphere is charged with power as the storm of divine wrath flashed and rumbled about the hapless king's ears. What we should note particularly about this verse is the simple and unerring certainty of Elijah's pronouncement. He spoke as one having authority. It was a sure word from the Lord, albeit one of judgment. This is the abiding characteristic of all upon whom His Spirit truly rests. Men may disagree, react violently (as Ahab did) and even repudiate that word, but they have not any doubt as to its authority. The word of a real man of God is a word to be reckoned with. God sees to that!