The Ravens: If I
Could Talk To The Animals
“The ravens brought
him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and He
drank from the brook.” 1 Kings 17:6
Trust is a core
characteristic that we all have to have to function. It’s a valuable commodity. People rarely give
trust… usually it’s something that’s earned. But without having trust in
someone - or something – it’s hard to do anything in this life.
• We trust when we are given medicine to
take from the pharmacy. After all, how
do you know that those pills in the bottle are safe?
• We trust that our cars will start. Have you ever gotten in your car, put the key in the ignition… and then not have it start? How did it make you feel? It should have started! It had started hundreds of times before… but now it didn’t. You TRUSTED it to be able to start when you needed it.
• When we have trouble around the house, we trust that the police and firemen will be available to protect us.
• We trust that our cars will start. Have you ever gotten in your car, put the key in the ignition… and then not have it start? How did it make you feel? It should have started! It had started hundreds of times before… but now it didn’t. You TRUSTED it to be able to start when you needed it.
• When we have trouble around the house, we trust that the police and firemen will be available to protect us.
Trust is based upon a
track record and track records are based on consistency. If I tell you I’m going to do something and
then I don’t do it - and I do that again and again and again – are you going to
trust me? Of course not. But if I tell you that I’m going to do something and
then that’s exactly what I do - and I do that often enough – you’ll be likely
to trust that I’ll do what I say… even if you don’t like what I tell you I’m
going to do. God develops a track record when we get to know Him.
In the story of
Elijah’s provision by the ravens, he learned a lesson in trust as well. James 5:17 tells us that “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not
rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.” Three
and a half years without rain is a long time.
We have seasons in California where we rely on rainfall from other
places, but we know nothing of this kind of drought. Three ½ years of drought is enough to turn a
paradise into a wasteland. And three ½ years of dryness can make men and kings
desperate enough to do anything to change the weather… even kill a prophet.
So, God sent Elijah on an extended vacation. And that (of course) is where we meet the ravens of this story. God has Elijah hide near the brook Kerith down by the Jordan River and that’s where he lives for the next couple of years. And while he was hiding there: “The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.” (1 Kings 17:6)
So, God sent Elijah on an extended vacation. And that (of course) is where we meet the ravens of this story. God has Elijah hide near the brook Kerith down by the Jordan River and that’s where he lives for the next couple of years. And while he was hiding there: “The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.” (1 Kings 17:6)
Commentators have
suggested several reasons why we know this was God’s provision:
•First, ravens don’t generally like being around humans… they avoid us if at all possible.
•Second, ravens were unclean birds. God’s people were not allowed to eat them, nor offer them in sacrifice.
•Third, the food of ravens has usually been dead for a while. They eat road kill. They were scavengers. They’re kind of like vultures. Who would want to share their food?
•Fourth, even if we wanted to share their food, ravens would never share. They don’t even share their food with their babies.
The uniqueness of ravens is that once a young raven is able to fly – it’s kicked out of the nest and left to fend for itself. No matter how much the young raven cries, its parents will not bring it food, it is on its own. Apparently that’s an uncommonly cruel trait not shared by many other birds. As a result, they are not the most generous of God’s creation. So here God has Elijah being fed by unclean, disgusting, anti-social, and notoriously cruel birds.
•First, ravens don’t generally like being around humans… they avoid us if at all possible.
•Second, ravens were unclean birds. God’s people were not allowed to eat them, nor offer them in sacrifice.
•Third, the food of ravens has usually been dead for a while. They eat road kill. They were scavengers. They’re kind of like vultures. Who would want to share their food?
•Fourth, even if we wanted to share their food, ravens would never share. They don’t even share their food with their babies.
The uniqueness of ravens is that once a young raven is able to fly – it’s kicked out of the nest and left to fend for itself. No matter how much the young raven cries, its parents will not bring it food, it is on its own. Apparently that’s an uncommonly cruel trait not shared by many other birds. As a result, they are not the most generous of God’s creation. So here God has Elijah being fed by unclean, disgusting, anti-social, and notoriously cruel birds.
Why would God use ravens to supply Elijah with food when
there are so many other simple and satisfying ways of getting the job done? The answer is He
wanted to teach Elijah to trust when something more difficult would
follow. There are several reasons why
people end up not trusting God or His word.
1. Sometimes, people refuse to trust God’s Word, because they want a God they can understand. If they can’t understand something about Him, it can’t be true. They want their God to be able to fit into their small box. They put walls around Him and tell Him – you can’t exist outside of this.
2. Other times people refuse to trust God and His Word because (like King Ahab), they’ve listened to the wrong people. They’ve spent time with skeptics and scoffers who have made them ashamed of their faith and doubt their God.
3. Other times people refuse to trust God’s Word because they’ve been hurt. God didn’t help them like they wanted Him to when they needed it, and because of that incident(s) they turn their back on God.
4. Still other people refuse to trust God’s Word because they’re into sin. They’ve done things they shouldn’t do and because God’s Word condemns their particular behavior or lifestyle they try to disarm God. They try to blunt his right to judge them. because IF God’s Word is wrong on something they can ignore it as being unreliable in all things.
G.K. Chesterton once said, “It is often supposed that when people stop believing in God, they believe in nothing. Alas, it is worse than that. When they stop believing in God, they believe in anything.” Without God the only standard of trust - of right and wrong - is what appeals to you. And that’s a shifting standard. It all depends on what I want, what I like, what I accept, what pleases me. Whatever dry season you might experience, God can be trusted. He will provide. He will encourage. He will be present. And sometimes He’ll do it through the most unusual ways.
1. Sometimes, people refuse to trust God’s Word, because they want a God they can understand. If they can’t understand something about Him, it can’t be true. They want their God to be able to fit into their small box. They put walls around Him and tell Him – you can’t exist outside of this.
2. Other times people refuse to trust God and His Word because (like King Ahab), they’ve listened to the wrong people. They’ve spent time with skeptics and scoffers who have made them ashamed of their faith and doubt their God.
3. Other times people refuse to trust God’s Word because they’ve been hurt. God didn’t help them like they wanted Him to when they needed it, and because of that incident(s) they turn their back on God.
4. Still other people refuse to trust God’s Word because they’re into sin. They’ve done things they shouldn’t do and because God’s Word condemns their particular behavior or lifestyle they try to disarm God. They try to blunt his right to judge them. because IF God’s Word is wrong on something they can ignore it as being unreliable in all things.
G.K. Chesterton once said, “It is often supposed that when people stop believing in God, they believe in nothing. Alas, it is worse than that. When they stop believing in God, they believe in anything.” Without God the only standard of trust - of right and wrong - is what appeals to you. And that’s a shifting standard. It all depends on what I want, what I like, what I accept, what pleases me. Whatever dry season you might experience, God can be trusted. He will provide. He will encourage. He will be present. And sometimes He’ll do it through the most unusual ways.
Terry
Risser
Reflection:
1) What is the
most unusual way God has provided for you?
2) What did it
teach you about God’s trustworthiness?
Consider reading the Word today:
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