We went to Lynnwood OPC this morning. Pastor Swinburson has been teaching a series of sermons on 1 Kings. Today's sermon was about Elijah, our script was I Kings 17:1-24.
Elijah shows Ahab that he is a man of God. He conveys the Lord's message to Ahab, 'As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except by my word' (AKJV translation, I Kings 17:1) God is reminding Israel that only by God's Word can they survive.
Ahab and Jezebel were trying to kill off all the prophets, and Obadiah had hidden some who were faithful to God in the mountains. God told Elijah to go to the brook Cherith before Jordan- 'Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan' (AKJV I Kings 17:3)- God is going to preserve Elijah, he is going to protect him. Now, as we learned at the beginning, there is a famine in the land, and the prophets are being killed off, and Elijah is to go to a desolate area, so he must be wondering "How am I going to survive? What will I eat?" God wants to test Elijah's faith. So God tells Elijah that the brook shall give him water and the ravens carry him bread and meat- 'That thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there' (AKJV I Kings 17:4)- the ravens would feed him, the brook give him water, even in the midst of the famine, God is going to provide for him, of course he is, God always provides for his people.
But after a while the brook dried up. Elijah must have been thirsty then, he must have fallen on his knees and prayed to God to save him. And God did. He told Elijah to go to Zarephath, which is in Sidon- Jezebel's native land- and that a widow would feed him. And God's word went to that wicked land and he commanded the widow to feed him. 'Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.' This was a test of faith for the woman, she had limited resources with the famine everywhere, would she trust God to provide and share what little she had with Elijah?
When Elijah reached the gates of the city the woman was gathering sticks. And Elijah asked the woman to get him a glass of water -this is part of the test- and as she turned to go he asked for food, too. The woman got a little upset then, and said, "I only have a bowl of flour and a jug of oil, I am going into my house with these sticks to make us some bread so that we can die." Elijah said in reply "Make one for me first and bring it to me, then make one for yourself, and one for your son. For the bowl of flour and the jug of oil will not run out." And the woman did so. And the flour did not run out during all the time Elijah was there.
But tragedy fell, the woman's son died of a disease. "Did you bring me up just to crash me down?!" she cried out to Elijah, "Give me your son," Elijah replied, and he carried the dead boy to an upper room. And Elijah cried out to the Lord to bring the widow's son back to life. He stretched himself over the boy three times and said, "Lord, please bring this boy's soul back to him." Then the Lord heard Elijah and he brought the child back to life. Elijah took the boy, alive and well, to his mother, "Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth." (AKJV I Kings 17:24)
In God's word there is life. Some people believe that there is not enough proof that to say Jesus is Messiah. If you reject God's word there is death and idolatry, but if you believe, there is life to the full.
I ask myself, where did the boy's soul go when he was dead and before he was brought back to life? For when you die the soul leaves your body. And what about Lazarus, who was dead a full 4 days before Jesus raised him? These, I think I will never know the answers to, on earth.
Trixie
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