Elijah was one of the great prophets of God. We are introduced to Elijah in 1 Kings Chapter Seventeen. God was displeased with Israel. King Ahab was very wicked. In fact, in 1 Kings 16:30, we are told that he was wicked “above all that were before him.” Elijah is sent by God to tell Ahab that there would be no rain for several years.
Then, God tells Elijah to go and hide himself by the brook Cherith, which is near the river Jordan. God tells him that he has commanded ravens to feed him while he is there. We are told in verse six of Chapter Seventeen that the ravens bring Elijah bread and flesh in the morning and in the evening. Elijah was able to drink water from the brook until it dried up.
It is interesting that God chose ravens to feed Elijah. According to Leviticus 11, ravens were unclean. They were not to be eaten. In Proverbs 30:17, ravens are depicted as eating the eyes of those that would mock their father and disobey their mother. The raven was a scavenger and thus was looked upon as an unclean animal.
There is a possibility that God intended to say something by having ravens feed Elijah. There was a spiritual famine in Israel. God was making a physical famine by not allowing it to rain. God was demonstrating to Elijah that he is over all creation. He was demonstrating that those who follow him would get physical blessings even in hard times. But more importantly, that in spiritual famine, we are to look to him. God can use all things to glorify himself. God will feed us spiritually even if all those around us are in famine. God sometimes uses difficult times and situations to teach us lessons. The ravens, though unclean, were used by God to feed Elijah.
Today we get our spiritual food from the Word of God, the Bible. It does not matter how others around us are living. If we will study the Bible and obey the words in it, then we will be blessed spiritually. Always look to God. Study the Bible, and if any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.
