The Bible Study Podcast, episode 559. Today, the Bible Study podcast continues the study of the kings of

Israel and Judah with First Kings 17.

Welcome to the Bible Study podcast. I'm your host, Chris Christensen. I told you that one of the great

conflicts in the book of first and second kings was going to be between the kings, especially the kings of Israel, and the prophets. And today we're going to pay off on that because we're introducing Elijah the prophet.

Elijah announces a great drought.

Now Elijah the Tishbite from Tishpe in Gilead said to Ahab,

As the Lord the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will be neither do nor reign in the next few years except at my word.

That is perhaps one of the best introductions of a person, if this was literature, would be up

there with Call Me Ishmael, but this is really the first thing that we get in the Bible in terms

of Elijah jumping onto the scene here. And then remember the reason for that is Ahab, King of Israel, is not just a bad king, but he is the worst yet so far, in a line of bad kings.

In part because he marries into somebody who is a Canaanite and he adopts the Canaanite religion.

This starts to worship Baal and Asherah and starts to do it in open, right down in the city,

not these idols up in the high places like his predecessors.

And so God says, okay, we're going to deal with this,

and we're going to deal with this head on and he sends

a drought. There's going to be consequences for the actions of Ahab. And Elijah has the pleasure

of announcing them. And I say the pleasure, but you can imagine that this is not going to

make him popular. So the next two sections here are going to be Elijah

running for his life. Elijah fed by ravens. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah,

leave here, turn eastward, and hide in the Carruth ravine east of the Jordan. You will drink

from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.

So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Carrath ravine east of Jordan and stayed there.

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