Elijah Seals the Heavens against Rain, Flees from Ahab and Jezebel, and Is Miraculously Sustained in the Wilderness
1 Kings 17:1–6
1 And 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.2 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.5 So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said:
“In response to King Ahab’s great wickedness, the Lord, through the prophet Elijah, sealed the heavens, that neither dew nor rain should fall throughout all the land of Israel. The drought that ensued and the famine that followed affected Elijah himself as well as untold others in the process.
“Ravens did bring Elijah bread and meat to eat, but unless ravens carry more than I think they do, this was not a gourmet meal. And ere long the brook Cherith, near which he hid and from which he drank, ran dry. And so it went for three years.”
(“A Handful of Meal and a Little Oil,” Ensign, May 1996, 29.)
