The Obedient Prophet

There is no zeal for the Truth without obedience. Those of you who have read the hagiography of the Prophet Elijah would know that his story starts with a powerful account, with his commanding the sky to withhold its rain (1 Kings 17). What did God do to keep His Prophet alive in a time of drought and wrath? He asked him to hide by the Brook Cherith, east of the Jordan, and commanded, first, the ravens to feed him. However, after the brook dried up, the order came to him to go to a widow in Zarephath of Sidon whom God commanded to provide for him. Let us take a quick look at this start. What is certain is that the writer of the Book of Kings wanted to show us the prophet, from the beginning, as being strong in obedience. For Elijah to accept that unclean birds, the ravens, bring him his food (Leviticus 11:15), then to go to a gentile widow, means that, for him, God is not to be argued with in anything He commands. Elijah, who is zealous for the Truth, who is strong against the rain of the sky and the rulers of the earth…, is declaring to us that we cannot bring people to the obedience to God unless we obey Him first.