a beautiful mess

“Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: ‘Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.’” – I Kings 17.2,3

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for whatever reason, i woke up this morning at half past three. i finally gave in to the restlessness and got up close to four. i mumbled to the spirit: “okay. you woke me up. now what…?” i continued praying and thinking and feeling and wondering and praying and meditating and eventually picked up my place in isaiah (i am slowly reading through the scriptures from beginning to end (or is it from beginning to beginning?)).

somehow or another i was led (by the spirit perhaps?) to some weird cross reference which carried me to an interesting little story which has stuck with me for these twelve plus hours.

elijah. the prophet. long before showing up at the transfiguration with the dashing lads of yeshua and moshe, was about to be introduced into the narrative of history in a most peculiar way. quite abruptly we learn of this rogue prophet, elijah, who is a tishbite and of the “sojourners of gilead”. he goes with some bad news that will soon befall the presently corrupt king of israel, ahab.

then, again almost too abruptly, we find out that “the word of YHWH came to him.” and isn’t that amazing in and of itself? GOD has, at multiple times throughout history, come to us: blessed be his holy name.

so the word of YHWH came to him saying…something that has been said* most poignantly before: to a different sort of prophet: more than one thousand years before: to abraham at ur, the word of YHWH came and said, “lech lecha” or, “go for you” (genesis 12). leave ur. and walk towards something new.

and now, here in 874BC, we discover that the word of YHWH came to elijah saying…something completely absurd: do not perform miracles, do not speak to the people, do not warn the communities, do not bless the righteous, do not speak; yet are you a prophet, and you shall not prophesy: “leave here, turn eastward and hide in the kerith ravine.”

leave here. leave where you are at. literally AND figuratively, i believe. elijah was commanded to leave. to “go for you” to someplace else. someplace new. some place already known by GOD.

turn eastward. that is, turn towards a new dawn, a new beginning, a place where light shall fall upon you fresh and illuminate your way – even as you walk.

and hide. literally, to cover yourself. to make yourself unseen. which is absurd (rather, mysterious) that a prophet would hear such a call from his god. that he should hide himself as he walks toward the sun – what a word picture.

in the kerith ravine. and here is the glorious end to the first part of this word from YHWH. for you see, beloved, that a ravine is, by definition, a deep valley of sorts: a narrow gorge which is cut out of the earth from the effects of water over time. and kerith (keh-reeth) carries the meaning(s), “to whittle away, to file down, to cut”.

[leave here (where you are and all that you know) and turn towards the dawning of a new day. and walk and live and move and breathe towards me and my word to you. and hide yourself in a deep valley that is cut out by water that you, too, may be cut out and filed down and whittled away until all that remains is what i, YHWH, leave behind.]

[selah]

more to come…

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despite my unbelief, i believe that who i am is a son of the only living god & king, YHWH [blessed be his name]. a son of the resurrection. a son of the wind which bends all things.

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