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Miracles of Abundance

Here is a Bible story with a terrible king, a good man, some birds, and a miraculous meal.

Ahab was a terrible king.
He wanted to be powerful. He was jealous of anyone else who had any power.

He was even jealous of God. And so anyone who taught people about God's love and power was a troublemaker in his eyes.

In those days, there was a man named Elijah. Elijah was a good man. But in the king's eyes, Elijah was nothing but a troublemaker.

God let Elijah know that there was going to be a drought.

So Elijah went to see king Ahab to tell him this bad news. Elijah said to Ahab,

"As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be no rain in the next few years."

Ahab was angry. No rain? How can I get rich and powerful in a land with no rain? Ahab was very angry with Elijah for telling him this.

God told Elijah:

It is time for you, Elijah, to go and hide.
Leave here and go to the east.
Go to a place called Kerith Ravine.
It is east of the Jordan River.

You can drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there."

So Elijah did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the 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.

Later on, Elijah would go back to the city to help the people.

But for now, it was lovely to be in the mountains, in a quiet place, close to God.

Discussion: A good story has lots of layers of meaning. Is it a story about birds? About a terrible king? About a good man who listens to God? About miraculous food? Or all of these? A good story sometimes leaves you wondering. This story is thousands of years old. Why do you think people like this story? What do you think people wonder about when they hear this story?

Craft: Mapmaking -- draw and illustrate a map to go with this story.

View as Word document (booklet form): Elijah and the Ravens

J.M.L.
Summer 2015