Old Testament - 1 Kings 17 - July 3, 2022

 7/3/2022 – 1 Kings 17


David and Solomon have died. Israel has split into two nations: the Northern Kingdom of ten tribes, under the rule of King Ahab, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah, two tribes.  In the Northern Kingdom, King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, have worked hard to established the worship of Baal throughout the Northern Kingdom.  The prophet Elijah lives in the Northern Kingdom. The people are living far from the Lord’s commandments, thus the Lord has had Elijah seal the heavens--which as caused three years of drought. 

But during this drought, the Lord looks after Elijah. In v 3-4 He tells Elijah to go to “…the brook Cherith…thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed the there.” I found v 6 very interesting: “And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.”  But after some time, the brook dried up. The Lord did not forget Elijah. The Lord and told him where to go to find a particular widow in Zarephath, who ended up feeding him for ‘many days’.

This part of the miracle of feeding Elijah requires not just Elijah’s faith, but the faith of the widow who only had a handful of meal and a bit of oil. V 13-14:…Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said, but make me thereof a little cake first and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. Tor thus saith the Lord God of Israel. The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, unto the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.”   

That should be a lesson to US! I have learned that when I feel that I do not the time, the money or the spirit, I work to go forward to do the Lord’s calling with the faith that He will sustain me.  It has not meant that I have gone strongly forward, but that I have found the determination to keep on….and that has brought me great peace and a stronger awareness that the Lord is close to me, and stands ready to help me if I continue stay close to Him.

Some time after this miracle of food in the widow’s life, her son fell ill and died. She immediately went to Elijah, angry that he saved their lives only to have her son die. Elijah immediately went to the where the body of the boy was. Elijah prayed and called upon the Lord, and spoke to the Lord about the boy and his mother. Elijah, a prophet, had to do this three times before Elijah could look at the widow and say “See, thy son liveth.” (v 23). 

We should not be worried if it takes more than one effort to have our prayers answered.  The Lord will always know when—or if-- it is best for us to have our prayer answered as we had thought it would be answered.



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