RTW 2024

Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve—there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!”

Then the LORD said to Elijah, “Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.”

So Elijah did as the LORD told him and camped beside Kerith Brook, east of the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook. But after a while the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land.

1 Kings 17:1-7

And as though it were not enough to follow the sinful example of Jeroboam, he married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and he began to bow down in worship of Baal.
1 Kings 16:31

• As we see, the kings of Israel and Judah continue to follow their own ways and not God’s.
• God sends messengers to call the kings, and the people, to repentance. 
• These messengers are called prophets. 
• The prophets of God are not magical fortune-tellers or sorcerers. 
• Prophets were set apart and appointed by God to tell a specific message to a specific audience. 
• Prophets encourage Israel and Judah to stay faithful to the Covenant. 
• Prophets encourage the people to flee from sin and idolatry. 
• Prophets encourage the people to be faithful to the Lord alone. 
• Prophets challenge the people to pursue justice. 
• Prophets challenge the people to be faithful to the Law. 
• Prophets will continue to speak throughout the historical timeline of the Old Testament. 
• Some prophets’ messages are recorded within the historical narrative. 
• Other prophets’ messages are recorded in their own book. 
• Understanding the context of the message is the key to understanding the message, 
• All the prophets show us the patient, long-suffering, steadfast loving nature of our good God. 
• He has not changed. 
• The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
  2 Peter 3:9

Read the messages of the prophets looking to understand the context. Understanding the context is the key to understanding the message.