1 And Elijah the Tishbite [ Eliyahu HaTishbi], who was of the inhabitants of Gilead [Tishbe-Gil`ad], said unto Ahab [Ach'av], As Yahweh Elohim of Israel [Yisroel] liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain [tal nor matar] these years [shanim], but [except] according to my word.

Elijah's earnest prayer for a suspension of the rain coincided with the intention expressed in Yahweh's covenant with Israel, to withhold the rain in the event of their disobedience, and therefore the rain was withheld, with distressing results to man and beast. Yahweh delights not in thus dispensing affliction. On the contrary, He taketh not pleasure even in the death of a sinner; but there is a time for chastisement; and chastisement in its season is good and beneficent, as we behold in the beautiful results of its infliction, and the ugly and offensive results of its absence. The child or man who escapes it is far from blessed.

The chastisement was not for Elijah, but for the rebellious Israel. Therefore Elijah was directed to a place where he could be free from its inconvenient effects. He was directed to hide himself by the brook Cherith—a tributary of the Jordan—where he would have the advantage of a free and pure water supply; there also his food requirements were provided.

"The ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening."

This was certainly a peculiar mode of supply. Some say it was not literal ravens, but those ravens of the desert, the Arabs, whose name in the Hebrew is identical with the name of the literal raven. It may have been so. There is no certainty, for the word is the same as Noah's raven sent forth at the flood. It is the modern habit to minimise the wonderfulness of Yahweh's works, and if they have a natural alternative in any case, to select that. There is no need for it in this case.

It would be quite as great a miracle to employ marauding Arabs as Elijah's providers, as to employ literal ravens. And if there was a miracle, we may as well understand that form of it which was most signal and most in harmony with the fitness of the case, which the raven form undoubtedly would be. A neutral creature would be more obviously and appropriately a divine instrument in such a case than evil men

The Visible Hand of God Ch 26

9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath [Tzarphat], which belongeth to Zidon [Tzidon], and dwell there: behold [hinei], I have commanded a widow woman [ isha almanah] there to sustain thee.

When a natural event is divinely used as the instrument of a divine purpose, the thing done is said to have been commanded of Yahweh, even when the doer of the work has received no known command. This peculiarity of divine language is signally illustrated in the case of Elijah. Famine had prevailed for a time, and the brook Cherith, by which the prophet had been sustained, having dried up, he was ordered to remove to another place, where he would be provided for.

Superficially read, we should conclude from this that a message had been sent to the widow woman on the subject of supporting Elijah. It transpires, however, that nothing of the sort had taken place. When Elijah went to Zarephath, he found the woman in the depth of want from famine, and arranging for a last meal with her son (1 Kings 17: 12).

How comes it then that Yahweh should say, "I have commanded a widow woman to sustain thee," when in the ordinary sense He had not done so? Because of another sense more powerful than the ordinary sense. The ordinary sense is to give orders by word of mouth, written or pronounced: this is the only mode in which one man can cause another to carry out his wishes. But with God there is another mode, which is as high above the human mode as heaven is high above the earth. Speaking of the creation, David says,

"He spake and it was done: He commanded, and it stood fast."

If we ask, how? we are informed, "By His Spirit." What He wills, He accomplishes by His Spirit. For this reason, the fiat of His will executing itself by the Spirit is described as His word—His command. What God wills or appoints, He can say, "I have commanded."

He had arranged that this widow of Zarephath should sustain Elijah. Therefore, in divine language, He commanded her, though she knew nothing about it. In the same way, the God-hating Assyrian had received a charge against Israel, though he knew nothing of it (Isaiah 10: 6-7; 13-16). In the same way Cyrus had been called, surnamed, and guided, and addressed by Yahweh, although it is expressly testified that Cyrus knew not Yahweh (Isaiah 45: 1-5). In the same sense, the Lord is said in special cases to command the sword (Amos 9: 4), the serpent (verse 3), the clouds, etc. (Isaiah 5: 6). Causation and command are equivalent ideas in relation to God.

The only drawback to the practical application of this in our own lives, lies in our ignorance of when a matter may be of divine causation or otherwise. But this is largely offset by the testimony that "all things work together for good to them that love God," and that if we commend our way to the Lord, He will direct our steps (Romans 8: 28; Proverbs 3: 6).

These two assurances of the word will enable us, if we make an enlightened use of them, to take our whole experience as from God, and to patiently wait the evolution of events for the discernment of the divine purpose, ever remembering that that purpose has reference more to our standing in the kingdom of God when it comes than to present results.

Ways of Providence Ch 19

22 And Yahweh heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

Methodist:‭—‬In the account of Elijah raising the widow's son,‭ ‬it says‭ "‬the child's soul came back into him.‭"

Christadelphian:‭—‬His breath came back‭; ‬if not,‭ ‬he was alive without breath‭; ‬his life came back‭; ‬if not,‭ ‬he was alive without life.‭ ‬In verse‭ ‬17,‭ ‬it says his breath went out of him,‭ ‬in verse‭ ‬22,‭ ‬his soul came back‭; ‬would it not be more logical,‭ ‬in this instance at least,‭ ‬to say breath and soul are interchangeable terms‭?

‭ ‬We learn from this narrative that the immortal soul‭ —‬supposing it is immortal—is a very useless thing.‭

The widow wanted her son back‭; ‬why not quietly bury the body and call the immortal soul back to live with its mother‭? ‬who would then have her real son again‭; ‬and her flour and oil would have lasted longer,‭ ‬for the immortal soul would not have required such earthly stuff.‭ ‬But no‭; ‬the widow did not believe in the immortal soul‭; ‬she wanted the mortal body restored to life.

Ambassador of the Coming Age, Oct 1868

24 And the woman said to Elijah [isha said to Eliyahu], Now by this I know [have da'as] that thou art a man [Ish] of Elohim, and that the word [Devar] of Yahweh in thy mouth is truth [emes].

Elijah had no power to do any of the marvels that characterised his life; but he knew the reality and the power of the living God of Israel, from whom Israel had deeply revolted. And he knew that if it were according to His will, earnest prayer might bring that power into action.

He was there closeted with a helpless corpse, which was no more able than he to restore life. But Yahweh could restore life. And Elijah could and did ask. And having asked, he stretched himself three times on the dead lad. The spirit of Yahweh rested on Elijah, by which only, was he a prophet; and it might be Elijah's view that the spirit of Yahweh in him, thus brought into physical contact with the lifeless mechanism of the once living lad, might help the result desired if it should prove in harmony with Yahweh's will in the case.

It is the universal lesson of the word of truth—(as exhibited in The Ways of Providence)—that the children of God must work with God in the attainment of the objects of their desire. Doubtless in this spirit, Elijah stretched himself three times on the dead body; Elijah's endeavours would have been in vain had Yahweh's pleasure not concurred with his prayer.

VISIBLE HAND OF GOD - Ch 26