A prophet’s stipend
“You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 1 Kings 17:4
Elijah administered the drought, but didn’t suffer the drought. He lived, and ate, and drank, while Ahab’s Israel languished under the judgment. A prophet need not feel bad about it either. Elijah wasn’t super-holy, pretending to want to starve along with Ahab. It was God himself who told the prophet where to go and what to receive. He didn’t refuse God’s provision.
The church, like ol’ E, also administers spiritual judgments as part of the ministry of the word of God, but is herself judged by none of them. Her good stipend is the kindness and care of God. The prophet is, after all, still a sheep, a member of the body of Christ in his own right. Believers enjoy the rich, spiritual provisions of Christ even while declaring his terrifying judgments to a lost world.