The Dry Stream

1 Kings 17:2-7

2 The word of the Lord came to him [Elijah], saying, 3 “Go from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the wadi, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord; he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the wadi. 7 But after a while the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land.”

A wadi is a dry stream that is only filled with water during times of rain.  God asked Elijah to hide from the wrath of Ahab at the Wadi Cherith.  God told Elijah that he would drink from the wadi and he would be fed by the ravens that lived there.

Elijah knew that God was withholding the rain from Israel for three years and that the wadi would soon be dry.  Ravens were considered to be unclean birds since they are scavengers (Lev. 11, Deut. 14).  The meat they would bring to Elijah would be the meat of  scavenged animals.  The bread they would bring would be unclean by virtue of the bird that carried it.

God’s instructions to Elijah flew in the face of religion and common sense.  Yet Elijah’s relationship with God was so close, and  God’s voice was so clear to him, that Elijah did not hesitate to obey God.

Elijah’s religion consisted of more than a set of instructions and commands.  His religion was grounded on the relationship he had with and the trust he had in the one true living God.  

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)