The God of Endless Provision, 1 Kings 17:7-16
Introduction
This morning, there is much that my heart longs to share with you. Having only recently returned from my first pilgrimage to the Holy Land, my soul is bursting with the presence of God and a longing to share the power of that experience with you. That will come in time, no doubt.
This morning my focus will be on the abundant provision and endless supply of Almighty God in the lives of His children. What I am talking about here today has precious little to do with earthly treasures, though they are a part of this equation. What I am talking about here today has little, if anything, to do with our earthly prosperity, though we will touch on that theme.
There is a treasure which has been given to you and to me that is far greater than anything this life has to offer. There is a gift which has been given to us which is such unsurpassable worth as to be incomparable with anything of this world.
The material trappings of this life; the god of Western materialism; often blinds us to the power and beauty of the real treasures of this life; the ultimate treasure of this life; today it my deep desire that you will lay to the side any distracting thoughts, pressures, worries, fears, hesitations of faith, so that I might share with you what was for me the most beautiful treasure I brought home from Israel.
Exposition
In today’s text there are two primary characters. There is the widow to whom the Lord sent the prophet and then there is the prophet, Elijah; the great and mighty man of God. The story begins by telling us that the brook in the area where the widow lived had dried up from a lack of rainfall.
The Holy Land is a much more arid place today than it was in the times of Christ and in the times of Elijah the prophet, but the rainfall then as now greatly affects the brooks and streams which are not fed by springs. When there is no rainfall in the high territory then the water will be scarce in the lower areas.
The brook had dried up and the widow was in dire straits with regard to her situation. She had no earthly hope of provision.
Zarephath of Sidon was an area north of Tyre, along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in Northern Israel along the Phoenician plains.
[As an aside, for a student of biblical geography and ancient sites, I can hardly express how impactful it was to touch the places I have for so long studied; I trust greatly that it will be an enhancement to my teaching and preaching ministry for years to come having visited the land; Christina’s willingness to support me in this is yet another of many testaments to our partnership in the ministry.]
The woman and her son lived in a place during a time of great drought. The Bible says that the brook had dried up. While in our day of modern aqueducts it is perhaps difficult to completely relate to the impending disaster brought on by a time of drought in the land, even in our day it is easy to relate to the reality of the brooks in our lives, the brooks of surplus, the brooks of financial means, the brooks of peace, the brooks of provisions of all types drying up.
The widow was in a time of great need for herself and her son and yet God sent the man of God, Elijah the prophet, to request that she feed him and provide for him. The Lord seldom calls on us when it is convenient for us. The Lord seldom commands us to go and follow Him at moments which are well suited for us.
The Sovereign God of the universe and of our lives is at all times drawing us into places of greater dependence upon Him. Why does it seem that the Lord tugs at our hearts to get out of our comfort zone just when we are most comfortable? May I suggest that it is because comfortable feet quickly grow lazy?
The widow did not have great wealth. In her initial response to the man of God we hear the sound of our own voices, don’t we? I know I hear my own voice intoned in hers. “As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread--only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it – and die.” (1 Kings 17:12 NIV)
The Lord sends Elijah to the widow for his provision, God invites this woman to participate in the incredible miraculous ministry of the man of God, the prophet Elijah, and because her eyes were only filled the reality of her problematic situation, she says, “Look, I can’t help you. I barely have enough for us!”
Elijah’s response to her situation is reminiscing of the often repeated phrase of Christ in the New Testament, fear not, be not afraid! In the face of great difficulty, when the brook has dried up, when we don’t know from whence our provision shall come, may we hear the words of Elijah to the widow, “Don’t be afraid, trust in God; fear not, only believe.”
“Elijah calmed her fears of himself, her hunger, and her imminent death. He asked her to feed him first… and then use what was left to feed herself and her son. Then he gave her a promise on the authority of the word of God: she would have food until the drought ended. Her obedient response demonstrated her faith in the word of the Lord. The Lord honored her faith by fulfilling His promise miraculously. This miracle of God’s continually supplying flour and olive oil was another polemic (protest) against Baal, just as was the drought. Baal-worshipers believed he was a fertility god, giving rain to make crops grow. But he could not overcome the drought to make wheat and olive trees grow. Only the true God could provide flour and oil in a drought!” (Bible Knowledge Commentary)
In letting go of what she had, the widow gained, through faith in the word of the Lord, that for which she sought. In feeding the prophet she exchanged the uncertainty of the drought for the certainty of dependence upon God, famine for plenty, death for life.
When she let go of the little bit that she did have, she gained in abundance that which she did not have. In giving up her last meal; the Lord supplied that which she needed continually and in great abundance.
Application
There are a great many applications of the principals contained in this passage in our lives. There is the principal of listening to the voice of God as He proclaims it through His servants and the Bible. Listening to the voice of God is fundamental to the Christian life. How shall we follow after Christ if we do not learn to hear His voice speaking through the Holy Spirit within us?
There is the immanently applicable truth that when a people turn their hearts from the Lord to worship false gods, judgment is sure to follow as God removes His hand of protection from that land.
We don’t have to look far to see the fruits of this in our own time as people worship the modern incarnation of Baal as many in our culture worship material prosperity.
While in Israel, I visited a site in the Golan region of Northern Israel, near the headwaters of the Jordan River, where Baal worshippers used to sacrifice children to please Baal; in the hopes that he would give them a fertile crop. When people turn their heart from the Lord to worship from among the pantheon of ancient or modern false gods, they are corrupted from within.
There is of course the principal that God takes care of His servants. Through the widow the Lord sustained Elijah and through her obedience and faith God sustained the widow. There is beauty in the relationship between God’s people and God’s servants; the covenant between me and thee is an opportunity for a life of mutual blessing and abundant grace.
For this preacher, at least, the wonder of that relationship is not taken for granted and the beauty of it is not devoid of great depth of awe and inspiration.
Conclusion
Of all of these principals, though, there is one upon which I shall focus the most attention as I conclude this message by relating to you what was among the highlights of my recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land; the Temple Mount.
In the times of Jesus, and right up to today, it was and is common to give alms on the Temple Mount. In Jesus time many of the poor of Jerusalem would go near the Temple Mount in the hopes that some pilgrim or local worshipper would share with them from their abundance to feed their great need.
While in Jerusalem I had the great privilege to visit the Temple Mount and while there to give alms, which is simply charity, a non-compulsory gift, to the poor of Jerusalem. While it is a bustling city which is alive with religious and non-religious activity, there are many poor people in Jerusalem.
In fact, within the city live many of the poor people of the Nation of Israel. Though it is rich in history and alive with living faith, it is a poor place.
Surely the words of Jesus found in Matthew 6:1-4 are familiar to many of you, “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” (KJV)
The amount that I gave to the widow that I found in need and the local charity is not at all what matters; it is the sacrifice and not the amount that the Lord honors, for He is not in need of our money, but desires that in the sacrifice that we would learn to let go of this world and cling to Christ! The amount matters to the one who receives, but even then, it is the Lord who provides!
In giving alms on the Temple Mount after visiting the site and standing on the place where the Old Temple stood in the times of Jesus I was reminded of another great truth; a truth upon which all others stand.
In terms of Jewish history, the greatest revolution, the thing which was perhaps the most radical about the teaching of Yeshua, Jesus, the man from Nazareth who would later prove Himself to be the Messiah in rising from dead after suffering for the sins of the people; the greatest revolution of His message is the reality that God no longer dwells within the Temple, but within you and within me!
The Jews wail over the destruction of the Temple to this day at the Western Wall. I pray to the Lord for their salvation in Christ that they may one day know the beauty of the destruction of that Temple; Jesus prophesied that not one stone would be left unturned and the Temple has not been rebuilt since 70 A.D.
The Apostle Paul later expounded on the teaching of Christ as the Spirit led Him saying, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV) the widow gave all that she had and gained abundance. The Temple was destroyed and God has taken up residence within you and me. Precious saints of God, the God of endless provision shall supply all of our needs, the greatest of which has been to satisfy our hearts with our need for Him! Amen.
