Meditating the Word of God – 22nd October
Today’s verse is from the Gospel of 1 Kings 18:44. The passage is given from the three versions of the Bible.
Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.” (version NLT)
And at the seventh time the servant said, A cloud as small as a man’s hand is arising out of the sea. And Elijah said, Go up, say to Ahab, Hitch your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you. (version AMPC)
And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not. (version KJV)
Elijah was a righteous man. His prayers were answered. His prayers for drought were answered, also his prayers for rain were answered.
King of Judah, Ahab did evil. He built the temple of Baal in Samaria and did other evil acts. His wife was Jezebel. Now Elijah the Tishbite was a prophet from the settlers in Gilead. “I serve the Lord, the God of Israel,” Elijah said to Ahab. “As surely as the Lord lives, no rain or dew will fall during the next few years unless I command it.” (Ref 1 Kings 17:1)
After 3 years, the Lord commanded Elijah to go and tell the King that the Lord would soon send the rain. (You can read this in 1 Kings 18:1)
In a public contest between the 450 prophets of Baal and Elijah, Baal prophets miserably failed to get the fire to come down on the sacrificial bull. Later, the 450 false prophets were killed by the people of Israel. (It’s a very interesting story given in the book of 1 Kings, chapter 18.)
Then the Prophet Elijah told King Ahab to go to eat and drink because it was going to rain. Elijah asked the king to celebrate, as the period of drought had come to an end, as it was going to rain.
What Elijah did after this is interesting. Although the Lord told him that it would rain, Elijah climbed to the top of mount Carmel, and he knelt down to pray. He asked his servant from time to time to look toward the sea. Each time he looked, the servant said he saw nothing on the horizon.
Even after we receive a word from God, it’s our responsibility and duty to act on the word. It can be a combination of prayer, keeping on remembering, keeping on seeking the Lord’s guidance all through the journey/process to see it come to pass. Our indifference/inaction can be detrimental!
Six times the servant went to observe the horizon, the situation was the same, no cloud was seen, Elijah continued persevering in prayer. But by the 7th time, there was a small cloud, it was the size of the fist of a man. But the joy and the excitement was like no other.
Only if you have good strong faith, even a small sign, can it become a huge sign and, later, even the very manifestation of the blessing you seek.
We see Elijah asking his servant to go and tell Ahab to get his chariot ready and go home, else the rain would stop him. In a short while, the sky became dark with clouds and heavy rain started.
May we see the small cloud the size of the fist, may we get excited that it’s going to rain and may heaven’s great blessings rain on us.
