Bible Reading Plan

Day 167 - Read 1 Kings 17-18

The word of the Lord came to Elijah to tell Ahab there would be a drought. God told Elijah to go to the brook Cherith. God provided Elijah with water and food there. The brook dried, then God sent him to Zarephath. God miraculously provided food for Elijah and the house of a widow using a small amount of flour and oil. The widow’s son became ill and had no breath in him. God healed him and the widow believed Elijah’s words. In the third year, God sent Elijah to Ahab. He gathered Israel, the prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah. They called on Baal, with no response. Elijah called on the Lord who answered with fire. The people seized and slaughtered the prophets of Baal. Elijah prayed and God ended the drought.

Broadcast on:: 07 Oct 2024
Audio Format:: other

Hello and welcome to our daily Bible reading. Today we're looking at 1 Kings 17 and 18. The Word of the Lord came to Elijah to tell Ahab there would be a drought. God told Elijah to go to the brook Kerath. God provided Elijah with water and food there. The brook dried, then God sent him to Zerephath. God miraculously provided food for Elijah in the house of a widow using a small amount of flour in the oil. The widow's son became ill and had no breath in him. God healed him and the widow believed Elijah's words. In the third year, God sent Elijah to Ahab. He gathered Israel, the prophets of Bel, and the 400 prophets of Asherah. They called on Bel, but no response. Elijah called on the Lord who answered with fire. The people seized and slaughtered the prophets of Bel. Elijah prayed and God ended the drought. Follow along with me as I begin to reach, starting in 1 Kings 17 verse 1. Elijah the Tishbite of Tishby in Gilead said to Ahab, "As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand. There shall be neither due nor reign these years, except by my word. And the word of the Lord came to him. Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook karath, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook karath that is east of the Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. And after a while the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him, "Arise, go to Zaraphath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you." So he arose and went to Zaraphath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel that I may drink." And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." And she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die." And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear. Go and do as you have said. But first, make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, the jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of old shall not be empty until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth." And she went and did, as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent. Neither did the jug of old become empty according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah. After this, the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elijah, "What have you against me, old men of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son." And he said to her, "Give me your son." And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged and laid him on his own bed. And he cried to the Lord, "O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourned by killing her son?" Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, "O Lord my God, let this child's life come into him again." And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, "See, your son lives." And the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is true." Chapter 18 After many days, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth." So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria, and Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, and when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took 100 prophets and hid them by 50s in a cave and fed them with bread and water. And Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys. Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive and not lose some of the animals." So they divided the land between them to pass through it. Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself. And as Obadiah was on the way, behold Elijah met him. And Obadiah recognized him and fell on his face and said, "Is it you, my Lord Elijah?" And he answered him, "It is I. Go, tell your Lord, behold Elijah is here." And he said, "How have I sinned that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab to kill me?" As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my Lord has not sent to seek you. And when they would say, "He is not here," he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation that they had not found you. And now you say, "Go, tell your Lord, behold Elijah is here." And as soon as I have gone from you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you, I know not where. And so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. Although I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth, has it not been told my Lord what I did? When Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the Lord's prophets by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water? And now you say, "Go, tell your Lord, behold Elijah is here, and he will kill me." And Elijah said, "As the Lord of Host lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today." So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is it you, you troubleer of Israel?" And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel, but you have, in your father's house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the bells." Now therefore, sin and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel and the prophets of Bill and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Bill, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word." Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but bells, prophets, are men. Let two bulls be given us, and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire to it. And you call up on the name of your God, and I will call up on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God. And all the people answered, "It is well spoken." Then Elijah said to the prophets of Bill, "Choose for yourselves one bull, and prepare it first, for you are many, and call up on the name of your God, but put no fire to it." And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it, and called up on the name of Bill from morning until noon, saying, "O Bill, answer us." But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, "Cry aloud, for he is a God. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep, and must be awakened." And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their custom, with swords and lances until the blood gushed out upon them. And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation. But there was no voice, no one answered, no one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me, and all the people came near to him." And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down. Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, "Israel shall be your name." And with the stones, he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seers of seed. And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood." And he said, "Do it a second time." And they did it a second time. And he said, "Do it a third time." And they did it a third time. And the water ran down the altar and filled the trench also with water. And at the time of the offering of the ablation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God and Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, "The Lord, He is God. The Lord, He is God." And Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Let not one of them escape." And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook kitchen and slaughtered them there. And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain." So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel and he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." And he went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go again seven times." And at the seventh time, he said, "Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising from the sea." And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you." And in a little while, the heavens grew black with clouds and wind and there was a great rain. And Ahab robe and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah. And he gathered up his garments and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.