New Season Church
Elijah Part 1 - The Making of a Person of God
When the world around us is spinning out of control, where do we turn? Elijah faced an angry king, devastating drought, epic opposition and overcame it all. In this 4 week study we look at Elijah and timeless truths we can learn from his life.
Locations & Times
Platform 98, Blanco Center (7de Laan), Eersterust, Pretoria
Spitfire Ave, Eersterust, Pretoria, 0022, South Africa
Sunday 5:00 AM
1
Elijah Part 1 - The Making of a Person of God
. I Kings, chapter 17, today we are a four-week study on one of the greatest men of God recorded in all of scripture. His name is Elijah.
Let me give you the context of the time period that we are studying. When Elijah was alive, the nation of Israel which was once united, had separated into Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern kingdom of Judah. Int his point in its history, we see the Norther Kingdom had experienced nineteen consecutive evil kings, spanning about a two hundred year time period. Now, let me just let this sink in for a minute.
Imagine, if you will, not just nineteen ineffective leaders, but imagine nineteen consecutive evil leaders. This was a time in which Elijah lived. In fact, there was a very evil king named Ahab, who was married to a wicked woman named Jezebel, some say the most wicked woman who had ever lived. And under their reign, the Bible says that Ahab did more evil in the eyes of God than any of those before him.
Now, during these times of idolatry, when these evil kings would turn peoples’ hearts away from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they would turn them to the false gods, the god of Baal and the god of Asherah, and people would often sacrifice their children to these false gods.
They would go into the temples and engage in sexual activities with prostitutes and call it worship, and things that are even too
gross to describe.
And scripture says under Ahab’s reign, he was more evil than anyone before him. So, this is a very dark, dark time of corruption. We’re talking about major scandals, tremendous idol worship, and God said, “Enough is enough!”
Interestingly, though, God didn’t raise up an army to take a stand against the evil king. Instead, God does what God often does, and that is, He raised up one person to take a stand, one man.
God may raise up a young business leader to take a stand for integrity in a business that’s lacking integrity. God may raise up one person to go into politics to take a stand for that which is true. God often raises up one person to make a big difference.
So today, to make a foundational understanding of who Elijah is, I want to call this talk “The making of a person of God,”
So, let’s start with an understanding of what does the name Elijah mean? What does the name Elijah mean?
It very literally, the name alone means “the Lord is Jehovah. My God is Jehovah. The Lord is my God.” And so immediately, when God raises up this prophet to stand down the king, by his very name alone, he’s making the testimony, “The Lord God is the one true God.”
My God is Jehovah, and he stands down the king, who had turned so many against the one true God. Let’s pick up the story. The first time we see Elijah in all of scripture, verse 1 of I Kings, chapter 17. At the very beginning of this story, we don’t have hardly any background on the prophet.
1 Kings 17:1
17 Elijah the Tishbite, of the temporary residents of Gilead, said to Ahab, As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before Whom I stand, there shall not be dew or rain these years but according to My word.
We simply know him as where he’s from. That’s how he is identified. “Craig Groeschel is from Oklahoma,” and we learn about him as where he’s from. Verse 1, “Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead,” he’s identified with where he’s from. That will change soon. “He said to King Ahab, ‘As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve,’ “ and you can see he’s going straight toward these false gods. “The Lord who lives, whom I serve,” he says, “there will be neither be dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
Just said was one of the most strategic, prophetic judgments against the land that you could imagine. He said, “For the next months and years, no rain and no dew.”
Now, to put that into context, we have a lot of people talking today about we are in a global economic slowdown, okay? This would have been an economic shutdown. In this agriculturally driven economy, no rain shut everything down. In our world, it would mean you can’t get gas at the gas stations. The banks are not only lending money, but you can’t get your own money out.
He takes Elijah into a season of hiding, and we’re going to watch over the next quite a long period of time. This is beginning of a series of seasons. For those of you that don’t know you go through season in your life. Some are full of fruit, some are a bit dry. Each season has a purpose and so if we look at the seasons that God takes Elijah through we can learn from it, be encouraged and are enabled to navigate the season well.
So the first season we see God take Elijah through is a season of
Isolated Pain.
God goes and takes Elijah away, so He can do so much more in him.
Why? Because there’s so much more God wants to do through him. And we are going to watch as God shapes this man in a very deep season of preparation, almost as if God’s saying, “
There’s so much more I need to do in you, because there’s so much more I want to do through you.”
Many of you, you won’t very much identify with the preparatory work that God takes Elijah through. Three seasons of preparations, and I identify in this story. The first one, if you are taking notes is, God takes him through what I call a season of isolated pain, where he is very alone.
He’s got no one else to call out to, and he’s, he’s hurting very, very privately in a season of hiding.
1 Kings 17:2-3
2 And the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
3 Go from here and turn east and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, east of the Jordan.
Now, this word in the Hebrew, Cherith, it means, if you are taking notes, it means “cut off,” or it means “cut down.”
It means to be cut off from the source, to be cut off from the blessings, or very literally, it means to cut down like you would chop down a tree. And you could almost sense what God is, is saying here.
It’s as if God is going to say, “I’m going to take you through a season of breaking. I’m going to cut you down. I’m going to humble you. I’m going to teach you to be totally dependent on Me, and I’m going to humble you privately before I use you publicly. I’m going to do something in you that’s very, very deep, so later on, you can do more than you ever thought possible.
I’m going to take you down privately, so I can use you publicly.”
A lot of times, people are in what I call the Brook Cherith. They’re in a season of pain. They’re going, “Where is God? Where is God?” and the reality is, oftentimes God is right there doing a deep work in you.
So we see Elijah is down by the brook Cherith and
• TOTAL DEPENDANCE
Some of you right now, you, you would say, I’m, I’m there. I’m being broken. It’s like I’m being cut down. Those things that I used to depend on, I no longer can depend on. And God may say, “No, you’ve got to understand. I’m doing something in you.
So, those of you who are in the Brook Cherith, be encouraged.
The more that God breaks you, the more that God is preparing you
— the isolated pain, the season of the Brook Cherith.
The second thing that we see God take Elijah through as He’s shaping him, molding him into a man of God in power,
As He takes him through a season of what I call total dependence,
total and complete dependence, where Elijah cannot depend on anything at all but God, and God alone.
1 Kings 17:4-5
4 You shall drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.
5 So he did according to the word of the Lord; he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, east of the 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.
. God says, “Elijah, you will drink from the brook that I have ordered the ravens to feed you there. So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Brook Cherith, east of Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.”
So, here we see Elijah’s all by himself, and God does this cocky miracle. In the middle of a draught, there’s no water at all, and this brook comes up. In the middle of the draught, no rain, there’s this brook that he gets to drink from. T These birds go out and find bread and meat, and every morning and every evening, they deliver them straight to the prophet.
What was God doing? God was very clearly and very distinctly saying that no matter what, and for always, “I will be faithful. You can count on Me to provide for you.”
Many of you right now, you are in a season where there was something you used to trust in for your security, and it’s been
taken away. And you don’t have anything else to trust in, but the giver life and giver of all good things.
And you are having to learn that when everything else that you used to believe in fades away, God will forever and always be faithful to you.
Forever and always, God says, “I will be your provider.
When you can’t depend on what you used to be able to depend on, I will deliver what you need.”
Here’s the cool thing about it is, God didn’t give him two days worth of food. God didn’t give him a weeks worth of food. God didn’t give him a three-month supply. What did God give him?
Enough for the day, enough for the day. Some of you, you are going to learn that right now. You are in a season where you’re hurting and you’re alone and you’re afraid, but guess what? God delivers enough for the day. You, you’re uncomfortable, and you’re afraid, but God says, “I will be your comfort for today.” You don’t have much, but God says, “I will be your provision for today. You feel very weak, but God says, “I will be your strength for today.” Your friends leave you, but God says, “I will be your friend for the day. I may not bring more than you need, but I will bring exactly what you need. I will be your daily bread.” And Elijah learns to depend on God for that day. God is teaching him. He’s breaking him. He’s cutting him. He’s humbling him. He’s teaching him total dependence. When he,
When he has no ability to provide for himself, God is teaching him, “I will always be your provider.”
• UNCONDITIONAL OBEDIENCE
And the third thing that God does is, God takes him through a season of what I call unconditional obedience. There’s isolated pain. There’s total dependence, and then, there’s a season of unconditional obedience.
1 Kings 17:7-9
7 After a while the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land.
8 And the word of the Lord came to him:
9 Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.
It’s been months that he’s been by this ravine, and it’s been feeding him daily water. And God told him to go there, and then the brook dries up, and God says to move on. In my mind, I’m starting to think,
“Okay, God, where are You? What’s the purpose of being here? You, You gave me water from the brook. Now, the water dries up. Did I do something wrong? You’re telling me to go on. Did I miss You the first time? Am I hearing You, God? I don’t quite understand. The brook dried up. Why would the source of what used to feed me dry up?”
And he’s going to learn that the same God who gives water can take water away, because often,God may cause the brook to dry up to give us the courage to leave where we are and to go where we are supposed to be.
A lot of times, people will say this. They’ll say, “God guides by what He provides,” and, and He does. Preachers will say, you know, “Where there is vision, God gives the provision,” and God will often guide by what He provides.
But God also often guides by what He does not provide. God, the same God who gives water, may cause the brook to dry up to give us the courage to take a step of total obedience.
The brook dried up, and it gave Elijah the courage to be obedient, even when it didn’t make sense. God said, “Go, go to Zerephath.” “Well, but, but I’m not sure the brook … I don’t understand. God, I don’t understand what You’re saying.”
He moves, and then he travels to this place, maybe a hundred kilometersr so, across a barren land. And he comes and sees this widow, who God says is going to provide for him. And so he humbles himself, and he says, “Madam, I’m really thirsty. Could, could you give me some water to drink and maybe a little snack, ‘cause I’m kind of hungry?”
And the widow looks at him and goes, “Are you, are you the only guy that doesn’t know, it hasn’t rained! We’re dying. There’s a draught here. I’m a widow. I’ve got one son. He’s back at the hut. I came out here to get some sticks. I’m going to go make the last meal. I’ve got a little bit of flour left, and I’ve got a little oil in the jug. That’s all I’ve got left, enough for one last meal.
We are going to eat, and then we are going to die.” And because of what God is doing in Elijah’s life, he says, “No, you’re not.”
And he looks at an impossible situation and speaks faith into it.
And he says, “The flour that you have will not run out. And the jar of oil will not run dry. Go back and bake me some biscuits.” And she does, and they ate the biscuits, and the flour did not run out and the oil did not run dry.
Okay? And, and, and they, they ate, and they ate for weeks and months. God again, supernaturally provided for Elijah in his unconditional obedience to God. Then one day, tragedy struck, and the son died mysteriously.
“Is this God’s judgment on me because I turned against the one true god, to these false gods? Elijah, did you come here so this would happen?” And Elijah, because of all that had happened, because God was shaping him, did something that to our knowledge had never happened before in history.
There’s no record of this in the Bible. He takes a dead boy, carries him up to the upper room, puts his body on top of him, looks up to Heaven and says, “God, I think You could heal this guy. I’m asking You to do it,” and God raises a dead boy to life.
Why did this happen? Because God took him to the Karith Ravine, where he was cut down.
God took him to a season of total dependence, where he couldn’t depend on anything at all but God, and God alone.
Then, God dried up the brook, so that he would leave where he was, to go to where God ultimately wanted him, so once again, He could perform a miracle and raise the dead back to life.
God used the horrible things to shape him into a true man of God.
Some of you right now, you are in a season of, of deep pain, and God may just say, “I’m doing something in you, because one day, I’m going to do more through you.” Verse 1, Elijah was described as Elijah the Tishbite. He was known with where’s he’s from. Twenty-three verses later, he’s not known for where he’s from, but instead, for Whom he’s from. And look at how the story changes.
Verse 24, the end of the story. “The woman of God, He’d just raised her son. She, she says to Elijah, “Wow! Now I know that you are a,” what? “Now I know you are, you are a man of God and the word of the Lord from your mouth is truth.” God may allow you to go through the Brook Cherith, so one day, someone could look at you, say, “Now, I know. I see it. I see it. I see. Wow! You are a woman of God. Now, I see it. You are child of God. Now, I see it. You are a man of God.
Elijah Part 1 - The Making of a Person of God
. I Kings, chapter 17, today we are a four-week study on one of the greatest men of God recorded in all of scripture. His name is Elijah.
Let me give you the context of the time period that we are studying. When Elijah was alive, the nation of Israel which was once united, had separated into Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern kingdom of Judah. Int his point in its history, we see the Norther Kingdom had experienced nineteen consecutive evil kings, spanning about a two hundred year time period. Now, let me just let this sink in for a minute.
Imagine, if you will, not just nineteen ineffective leaders, but imagine nineteen consecutive evil leaders. This was a time in which Elijah lived. In fact, there was a very evil king named Ahab, who was married to a wicked woman named Jezebel, some say the most wicked woman who had ever lived. And under their reign, the Bible says that Ahab did more evil in the eyes of God than any of those before him.
Now, during these times of idolatry, when these evil kings would turn peoples’ hearts away from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they would turn them to the false gods, the god of Baal and the god of Asherah, and people would often sacrifice their children to these false gods.
They would go into the temples and engage in sexual activities with prostitutes and call it worship, and things that are even too
gross to describe.
And scripture says under Ahab’s reign, he was more evil than anyone before him. So, this is a very dark, dark time of corruption. We’re talking about major scandals, tremendous idol worship, and God said, “Enough is enough!”
Interestingly, though, God didn’t raise up an army to take a stand against the evil king. Instead, God does what God often does, and that is, He raised up one person to take a stand, one man.
God may raise up a young business leader to take a stand for integrity in a business that’s lacking integrity. God may raise up one person to go into politics to take a stand for that which is true. God often raises up one person to make a big difference.
So today, to make a foundational understanding of who Elijah is, I want to call this talk “The making of a person of God,”
So, let’s start with an understanding of what does the name Elijah mean? What does the name Elijah mean?
It very literally, the name alone means “the Lord is Jehovah. My God is Jehovah. The Lord is my God.” And so immediately, when God raises up this prophet to stand down the king, by his very name alone, he’s making the testimony, “The Lord God is the one true God.”
My God is Jehovah, and he stands down the king, who had turned so many against the one true God. Let’s pick up the story. The first time we see Elijah in all of scripture, verse 1 of I Kings, chapter 17. At the very beginning of this story, we don’t have hardly any background on the prophet.
1 Kings 17:1
17 Elijah the Tishbite, of the temporary residents of Gilead, said to Ahab, As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before Whom I stand, there shall not be dew or rain these years but according to My word.
We simply know him as where he’s from. That’s how he is identified. “Craig Groeschel is from Oklahoma,” and we learn about him as where he’s from. Verse 1, “Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead,” he’s identified with where he’s from. That will change soon. “He said to King Ahab, ‘As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve,’ “ and you can see he’s going straight toward these false gods. “The Lord who lives, whom I serve,” he says, “there will be neither be dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
Just said was one of the most strategic, prophetic judgments against the land that you could imagine. He said, “For the next months and years, no rain and no dew.”
Now, to put that into context, we have a lot of people talking today about we are in a global economic slowdown, okay? This would have been an economic shutdown. In this agriculturally driven economy, no rain shut everything down. In our world, it would mean you can’t get gas at the gas stations. The banks are not only lending money, but you can’t get your own money out.
He takes Elijah into a season of hiding, and we’re going to watch over the next quite a long period of time. This is beginning of a series of seasons. For those of you that don’t know you go through season in your life. Some are full of fruit, some are a bit dry. Each season has a purpose and so if we look at the seasons that God takes Elijah through we can learn from it, be encouraged and are enabled to navigate the season well.
So the first season we see God take Elijah through is a season of
Isolated Pain.
God goes and takes Elijah away, so He can do so much more in him.
Why? Because there’s so much more God wants to do through him. And we are going to watch as God shapes this man in a very deep season of preparation, almost as if God’s saying, “
There’s so much more I need to do in you, because there’s so much more I want to do through you.”
Many of you, you won’t very much identify with the preparatory work that God takes Elijah through. Three seasons of preparations, and I identify in this story. The first one, if you are taking notes is, God takes him through what I call a season of isolated pain, where he is very alone.
He’s got no one else to call out to, and he’s, he’s hurting very, very privately in a season of hiding.
1 Kings 17:2-3
2 And the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
3 Go from here and turn east and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, east of the Jordan.
Now, this word in the Hebrew, Cherith, it means, if you are taking notes, it means “cut off,” or it means “cut down.”
It means to be cut off from the source, to be cut off from the blessings, or very literally, it means to cut down like you would chop down a tree. And you could almost sense what God is, is saying here.
It’s as if God is going to say, “I’m going to take you through a season of breaking. I’m going to cut you down. I’m going to humble you. I’m going to teach you to be totally dependent on Me, and I’m going to humble you privately before I use you publicly. I’m going to do something in you that’s very, very deep, so later on, you can do more than you ever thought possible.
I’m going to take you down privately, so I can use you publicly.”
A lot of times, people are in what I call the Brook Cherith. They’re in a season of pain. They’re going, “Where is God? Where is God?” and the reality is, oftentimes God is right there doing a deep work in you.
So we see Elijah is down by the brook Cherith and
• TOTAL DEPENDANCE
Some of you right now, you, you would say, I’m, I’m there. I’m being broken. It’s like I’m being cut down. Those things that I used to depend on, I no longer can depend on. And God may say, “No, you’ve got to understand. I’m doing something in you.
So, those of you who are in the Brook Cherith, be encouraged.
The more that God breaks you, the more that God is preparing you
— the isolated pain, the season of the Brook Cherith.
The second thing that we see God take Elijah through as He’s shaping him, molding him into a man of God in power,
As He takes him through a season of what I call total dependence,
total and complete dependence, where Elijah cannot depend on anything at all but God, and God alone.
1 Kings 17:4-5
4 You shall drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.
5 So he did according to the word of the Lord; he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, east of the 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.
. God says, “Elijah, you will drink from the brook that I have ordered the ravens to feed you there. So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Brook Cherith, east of Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.”
So, here we see Elijah’s all by himself, and God does this cocky miracle. In the middle of a draught, there’s no water at all, and this brook comes up. In the middle of the draught, no rain, there’s this brook that he gets to drink from. T These birds go out and find bread and meat, and every morning and every evening, they deliver them straight to the prophet.
What was God doing? God was very clearly and very distinctly saying that no matter what, and for always, “I will be faithful. You can count on Me to provide for you.”
Many of you right now, you are in a season where there was something you used to trust in for your security, and it’s been
taken away. And you don’t have anything else to trust in, but the giver life and giver of all good things.
And you are having to learn that when everything else that you used to believe in fades away, God will forever and always be faithful to you.
Forever and always, God says, “I will be your provider.
When you can’t depend on what you used to be able to depend on, I will deliver what you need.”
Here’s the cool thing about it is, God didn’t give him two days worth of food. God didn’t give him a weeks worth of food. God didn’t give him a three-month supply. What did God give him?
Enough for the day, enough for the day. Some of you, you are going to learn that right now. You are in a season where you’re hurting and you’re alone and you’re afraid, but guess what? God delivers enough for the day. You, you’re uncomfortable, and you’re afraid, but God says, “I will be your comfort for today.” You don’t have much, but God says, “I will be your provision for today. You feel very weak, but God says, “I will be your strength for today.” Your friends leave you, but God says, “I will be your friend for the day. I may not bring more than you need, but I will bring exactly what you need. I will be your daily bread.” And Elijah learns to depend on God for that day. God is teaching him. He’s breaking him. He’s cutting him. He’s humbling him. He’s teaching him total dependence. When he,
When he has no ability to provide for himself, God is teaching him, “I will always be your provider.”
• UNCONDITIONAL OBEDIENCE
And the third thing that God does is, God takes him through a season of what I call unconditional obedience. There’s isolated pain. There’s total dependence, and then, there’s a season of unconditional obedience.
1 Kings 17:7-9
7 After a while the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land.
8 And the word of the Lord came to him:
9 Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.
It’s been months that he’s been by this ravine, and it’s been feeding him daily water. And God told him to go there, and then the brook dries up, and God says to move on. In my mind, I’m starting to think,
“Okay, God, where are You? What’s the purpose of being here? You, You gave me water from the brook. Now, the water dries up. Did I do something wrong? You’re telling me to go on. Did I miss You the first time? Am I hearing You, God? I don’t quite understand. The brook dried up. Why would the source of what used to feed me dry up?”
And he’s going to learn that the same God who gives water can take water away, because often,God may cause the brook to dry up to give us the courage to leave where we are and to go where we are supposed to be.
A lot of times, people will say this. They’ll say, “God guides by what He provides,” and, and He does. Preachers will say, you know, “Where there is vision, God gives the provision,” and God will often guide by what He provides.
But God also often guides by what He does not provide. God, the same God who gives water, may cause the brook to dry up to give us the courage to take a step of total obedience.
The brook dried up, and it gave Elijah the courage to be obedient, even when it didn’t make sense. God said, “Go, go to Zerephath.” “Well, but, but I’m not sure the brook … I don’t understand. God, I don’t understand what You’re saying.”
He moves, and then he travels to this place, maybe a hundred kilometersr so, across a barren land. And he comes and sees this widow, who God says is going to provide for him. And so he humbles himself, and he says, “Madam, I’m really thirsty. Could, could you give me some water to drink and maybe a little snack, ‘cause I’m kind of hungry?”
And the widow looks at him and goes, “Are you, are you the only guy that doesn’t know, it hasn’t rained! We’re dying. There’s a draught here. I’m a widow. I’ve got one son. He’s back at the hut. I came out here to get some sticks. I’m going to go make the last meal. I’ve got a little bit of flour left, and I’ve got a little oil in the jug. That’s all I’ve got left, enough for one last meal.
We are going to eat, and then we are going to die.” And because of what God is doing in Elijah’s life, he says, “No, you’re not.”
And he looks at an impossible situation and speaks faith into it.
And he says, “The flour that you have will not run out. And the jar of oil will not run dry. Go back and bake me some biscuits.” And she does, and they ate the biscuits, and the flour did not run out and the oil did not run dry.
Okay? And, and, and they, they ate, and they ate for weeks and months. God again, supernaturally provided for Elijah in his unconditional obedience to God. Then one day, tragedy struck, and the son died mysteriously.
“Is this God’s judgment on me because I turned against the one true god, to these false gods? Elijah, did you come here so this would happen?” And Elijah, because of all that had happened, because God was shaping him, did something that to our knowledge had never happened before in history.
There’s no record of this in the Bible. He takes a dead boy, carries him up to the upper room, puts his body on top of him, looks up to Heaven and says, “God, I think You could heal this guy. I’m asking You to do it,” and God raises a dead boy to life.
Why did this happen? Because God took him to the Karith Ravine, where he was cut down.
God took him to a season of total dependence, where he couldn’t depend on anything at all but God, and God alone.
Then, God dried up the brook, so that he would leave where he was, to go to where God ultimately wanted him, so once again, He could perform a miracle and raise the dead back to life.
God used the horrible things to shape him into a true man of God.
Some of you right now, you are in a season of, of deep pain, and God may just say, “I’m doing something in you, because one day, I’m going to do more through you.” Verse 1, Elijah was described as Elijah the Tishbite. He was known with where’s he’s from. Twenty-three verses later, he’s not known for where he’s from, but instead, for Whom he’s from. And look at how the story changes.
Verse 24, the end of the story. “The woman of God, He’d just raised her son. She, she says to Elijah, “Wow! Now I know that you are a,” what? “Now I know you are, you are a man of God and the word of the Lord from your mouth is truth.” God may allow you to go through the Brook Cherith, so one day, someone could look at you, say, “Now, I know. I see it. I see it. I see. Wow! You are a woman of God. Now, I see it. You are child of God. Now, I see it. You are a man of God.