July 16 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

1 Kings 17:1-6:

¹And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
²And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
³Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
⁴And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
⁵So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
⁶And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

Devotional

The raven, spoken of in the Bible, is a rather large bird, approximately twenty-six inches long. Its color is black, and it is an unclean bird. It is mentioned as such in the above passage. It frequents valleys, and makes its nest in solitary places. The raven eats everything, even the dead bodies of other animals. Noah sent out a raven from the Ark. It did not return to him. It no doubt found dead bodies floating on the water on which it could feed. Job asks, "Who provideth for the raven his food?" The psalmist says, "He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry." Jesus says, "consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?"

Yes, God uses even these unclean birds to feed his servant Elijah at the brook Cherith. God said, I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. We read also, "And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening." All creatures must obey the voice of our heavenly Father. If it pleases him, even the enemies of God must feed and support his children, as Pharoah's daughter supported Moses. What a great and wonderful God we have! Let us trust him wholeheartedly!

Prayer

Gracious God, Thou art wonderful in all Thy ways. All creatures are in Thy hand, and they must obey Thy will. Thou providest for the raven his food, and art attentive to the young ravens which cry. Though the ravens were to be held in abomination by Thy people, Thou didst use them to feed Thy servant of old. Though the ravens do neither sow nor reap, neither have storehouse nor barn, Thou dost feed them. Help us to consider the ravens, to learn the lesson, that Thou wilt provide for us. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: Prov. 30:17; Isa. 34:11; Job 38:41; Ps. 147:9; Luke 12:24; 1 Kings 17:4, 6.

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