1 Kings 17
God’s help in difficult times
I am getting tired of watching television. I mean I use to be a TVaholic. Now the movies are lousy. The programs stink. And the News! They are keeping us in the dark relative to key news and feeding us worthless information. I am sick and tired of hearing about which new celebrity is going to a rehab clinic. If it weren’t for the sports programs I would throw the thing out. It use to be in the old days that false prophets would just lie and say everything is great instead of warning the people of upcoming judgment. Now the media just keeps everybody in the dark as to that’s happening.
Here are a few things that I have discovered just from other news sources that are about to happen and will impact you greatly. See if you know any information about them.
The Economy
. The economic stimulus package stuffed with pork barrel handouts to a tune of 11 Trillion dollars was passed. All the representatives were pressured to pass the bill without even reading it in order to keep unemployment under 8%. It isn’t working. Unemplloyment is now nearing 10%. Our elected leaders are now considering another stimulus plan.
. Cap n trade – this bill is currently before congress. It deals with punishing those manufacturers who emit toxic gases into the air. If passed it will increase every ones energy bills, as companies will merely pass on their fines to the consumers
. A national health care bill is also being heavily promoted. It will cost Americans an additional 1 trillion dollars. Everyone’s taxes will go up at least $2000 for low income families.
. The US must borrow money from foreign countries just to pay the interest on the national debt. The principal owner of our Treasury bills is China. They are getting a little skittish of investing in America. When our Secretary of Treasury recently met with Chinese officials to encourage them to invest in US Treasury notes and that the US is good to invest in, the entire room broke out in laughter.
. Monetizing – Since we do not have the money to pay bills the government is just printing up money. This will make the few dollars you have in effect worthless. The results of this will collapse our economy around September or October of this year. This will usher in a new currency, possibly a Global currency.
. Economic scholars predict upcoming sporadic shortages of food and products in our near future. I don’t how many of you remember the toilet paper and sugar shortage?
. Terrorism – It is not a question of if but when another attack will occur based on govt.officials. One thing that just got me is that they are going to give terrorists ( er. enemy combatants) Miranda rights. Just last Sunday, July 19, 2009 a pro-Islamic Terrorist group, Hizb ut-Tabrir, had a convention in Chicago, IL Their past graduates are 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and Al Qaoda’s Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. This group, which is banned in EEO countries, wants to establish an international Islamic state or Caliphate – and to indoctrinate Muslims into supporting Jihad and want to increase recruitment in the US. At their last gathering the present US administration sent a high official as a guest speaker denouncing Israel.
. Crime – A good day in our city is when the murders are under double digits. There are over 25,000 arrests per year in this city with less than 2% of these individuals actually spending a night in jail. We’re talking murder, rape, assault, armed robbery, etc.
. Global warming. It isn’t happening. If you notice scientific reports the sun has significantly lessoned solar flares, this has an impact on warming the earth. Last year three Global warming conferences were cancelled due to snowstorms. Not Global warming, I think its God’s Warning!
I do not know if these things will actually happen. These things do not move me.
Our God is Alive and Well. He is All Powerful; All knowing; All Loving; All Merciful. One of the things He wants to be known as, is Jehovah Jireh – The Lord The Provider. He has promised never to leave us or forsake us. The Creator God Who rules the Heavens and the Earth wants to be our Father. Let me ask you this, if you died today, do you fully believe that your ultimate destination will be with God? Well, if you believe that then don’t you think He will take care of us from now till then, from today until He takes us home to be with Him?
We want to look at how our God takes care of His own. 1 Kings 17: 1 – 3 says this,
“1 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”2 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.”
A point that we should remember as we look at these Scriptures is that the Lord rains on the just and unjust. When judgment comes good people also have to go through it. Elijah had to live through the same hardships that was going on in the worlk. The good news is that God sustains His own through the storms. It just not be the first class living that some are use to.
Ahab was king of the northern kingdom for 22 years. If you look back to chapter 16 verse 30 we read,
“30 Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him.”
Remember, that all the kings of Israel were bad kings. This guy was the worse.
Add to this his selection of a wife - A Phoenicians princess by the name of Jezebel - Beautiful on the outside, beyond ugly on the inside. She was a terrible evil woman. She was from one of the nations, which the Lord instructed the Jews not to marry. Tragedy usually will result from ungodly union. If you marry a daughter of the devil, sooner or later, you are going to have to deal with your father in law.
The bible instructs us not to marry outside our faith as indicated in 2 Corinthians 6: 14,
“14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?”
We need to remember that a non-believer does not have the same God as we do. So, how we view things are totally different then theirs. Their values are worldly. Sooner or later problems will arise out of this ungodly union.
Jezebel was a jealous worshipper of Baal and she was determined to have the worship of her god declared the official religion of Israel. Baal was the god of fertility; the god of rain and crops. Baal worship included human sacrifice and was usually accompanied by drunken orgies and all levels of sexual perversion. This is what made it so popular to the people and so detestable to God. The main obstacles were the prophets of God. So, she wanted them all killed.
So, our God picked an ordinary man to be his representative to deal with an entire faithless nation. Elijah is no different than you and me, yet he is one of the heroes of the bible. In the book of James chapter 5 verse 17 tells us the he was just like us. Our God says in 2 Chronicles 16: 9 that,
9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”
Our God is searching the whole earth to see a man or woman with their hand raised saying. ‘Lord pick me.’ The Lord can take any life that is yielded to Him and use it for His Glory.
Elijah came from Gilead, which means raw or rough. His methods, message, and manners were different. I think someone from Philly would fit in well with his personality.
Look at verse 1 again. Elijah says, ‘before whom I stand’. He was standing in the presence of two of the most evil and powerful people of his time, yet he knows that there is only One Person that matters – and that Person is the Lord God Almighty. Elijah shows up and challenges the king and queen with her false god and tells them that ‘Yahweh is the only real and living God and to prove it He is going to turn off the spigot of rain. You can pray and sacrifice to your hearts content to Baal but it ain’t gonna rain for 3 and ½ years.
Elijah exits stage left and disappears to the brook Cherith. The word Cherith means ‘cut off’. As quickly as Elijah shows up he is cut off from all. This is good for Elijah because he has become public enemy #1. There is a death sentence on him.
I just love God and how He deals with mankind. As Psalms 2 declares,
“1 Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. 5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: 6 “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.” 7 “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’” 10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.”
I love His humor in dealing with Ahab and Jezebel. You see that Elijah’s name means – ‘My God is Jehovah’. Jezebel not only wanted the worship of The Holy Jehovah removed from the land. She wanted to exterminate even His Name being mentioned. I can just picture the soldiers reporting on their attempts to find Elijah who is also known, as ‘My God is Jehovah’. They have to use God’s name in their conversations. Your majesties we look in the country to find ‘My God is Jehovah’. My queen I looked in the city for ‘My God is Jehovah’ and couldn’t find him. Another soldier says, well I looked for ‘My God is Jehovah’ over by the Sea of Galilee. I heard ‘My God is Jehovah’ is down in the Southern kingdom. I just picture Jezebel shouting ‘shut up already’. From now on we are going to call his name, ‘you know who’ or ‘watchamacallit’
You can be ‘cut off’ by God or ‘from’ God. If you have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, you can never be cut off from God. He has promised us that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Psalm 139 gives us some of our Holy God’s feelings towards us.
1” O LORD, You have searched me and known me.2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. 5 You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; 12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. 13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You. 19 Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God! Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men. 20 For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take Your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
If you are cut off ‘by’ God then it is a good thing because He has something special for you. In the book of Acts chapter 13 verse 2 the Holy Spirit ‘cut off’ Saul and Barnabus for a special mission.
Back to the book of 1 Kings chapter 17 – verse 4
4” And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.”
After his encounter with Ahab and Jezebel, Elijah is told to go to a ravine east of the Jordan river and that ‘ravens’ would feed him there. Ravens? Please Lord, wait a minute. ‘Ravens’ Lord I am an Eagles fan, can’t they come and give me nourishment? I picture the Lord saying to Elijah, ‘look you got the better of the deal, The ravens always beat the Eagles.’
Here is a question to consider, where did the food come from? Ravens are scavengers, so some might say that they got the meat from some dead animals. I don’t think this is so, because this putrefied meat is unclean and would either kill Elijah or make him quite sick.
Even though God does not highlight it, I believe we see our Lord having fun at the expense of Ahab. Probably the food came from him because he would be probably the only one with food. God sent the ravens in to snatch Ahab’s leftovers. Another good reason to support this theory is that we will soon read that God instructed Elijah to go to Sidon. Where do you think Sidon is? Today it is in the country of Lebanon, which was Jezebels old stomping ground. He is showing Ahab and Jezebel that He alone is God. Remember that Elijah is a wanted man. You will see that in chapter 18 Ahab is searching everywhere for him. He was under divine protection right in Jezebel’s backyard.
Look at verse 4 and notice the word ‘there’. Cherith was a specific place. If Elijah chose any other spot he would either have been arrested or would have starved to death. We also need to understand that before the need even arose God had already had the provision in place. If we are to experience any hardships, know for sure that God is aware and has already made provisions for you. All you have to do is hang in there and wait for His direction.
When the Lord sends us to difficult places in life, we want to be somewhere else. We need to understand that when God sends us to Cherith, He knows what He Is doing. If you find yourself in difficulty, we can do no better than to submit to it, as the will of God for our lives and learn to trust Him. You see, our biggest problem is trust. He can do great things in our lives and the first pressure comes and we panic. We can mouth it all we want, yet when the pressure cooker heats up, we want to panic and run.
Truly, Romans 8: 28 is correct when it tells us that,
28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
You therefore have two choices when difficulty comes your way. You can panic and rebel. If you do that God Who Is faithful will continue to keep the pressure on until you just surrender it to Him. Or secondly, you can submit to the problems and God will deliver you in amazing ways. In other words, you can choose to be miserable as you go through the difficulties of life or you can choose to rejoice in spite of the situations.
1 Thessalonians 5: 18 tells us to,
18” in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
And in Philippians 4: 6 – 7 is says,
6” Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
1 Kings 17 verse 7 goes on to say
7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 So she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.’” 15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke by Elijah.
You think that things can’t get any worse, think again. Zarepath means ‘a smelting furnace’. We go from the frying pan to the fire.
If you have ever served in the military you will know what I mean about going through ‘boot camp’. Here your self-will is stripped away. You learn to follow every order from a superior without question. What a soldier learns is essential to survival on the battlefield. God was doing this work in Elijah’s life.
We read in verse 7 that the brook dried up. When the brook goes dry, the birds don’t fly. When our needs arise, so do our doubts. The stream of life giving water ran dry. In other words what happens when it looks like our provisions are dried up and we see no other source to meet them.
In truth this happens to us; The jobs that we so faithfully served at for many years end. The little amount of savings for a ‘rainy day’ is spent. We feel that we will be out on the street with no means of support. In truth, we have forgotten God is in control. A dry brook is not always a sign of God’s displeasure. It would be nice if He just texed us or let us know what He wanted to do, then we would do it, right? No, if it was too scary or not to our liking we would try to wiggle our way out of what He wanted. Look at Abram in Genesis 11 and 12. God appeared to him and told him to go to Caanan. What does he do? He takes his father Terah and goes and lives in Haran until his father dies. Then the Lord appeared to him again and told him to get going to the promise land. So, to get us moving, He has to build a fire under us.
It is difficult reading the book of Job and see all the things he had to go through. However, we have the full story. In chapters 1 & 2 we read that God was well please with Job. He was in fact actually bragging about him in front of the angels. So, here to, God is pleased with Elijah. He wants to give him another assignment that is all. You can’t sit around and try to figure out what God is doing. You just need to trust Him. In the book of Isaiah 55: 8 –9 we read that,
8 “ For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. 9 “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
What’s her address Lord? The Lord answers, ‘I can’t tell you. I would have to kill you first.’ Just go to that area where I told you and you will know. I don’t think the widow had a sign painted like you see with the limo drivers at airports – Mr. Elijah. We see this direction by God in the book of Acts 8 verse 26 to 40 we see similar directions given to Philip. Go to where I send you. And what do you want me to do Lord? Just go to the city. Okay Lord I’m here, now what? See that chariot? Yes Lord, Go catch up to it.
When Elijah got to the right spot he knew which widow he was to go help. Did he asks the local people where their widows lived? I don’t think so. There was a widow that he came across and I believe he used an old tried and true way of finding out if she was the right one. In Geneses 24: 10 – 21 we see this method.
“10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, for all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. 11 And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water. 12 Then he said, “O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.” 15 And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. 16 Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. 17 And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.” 18 So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. 19 And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” 20 Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. 21 And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.”
He would ask God to do the impossible. Remember, that there was a severe famine in the land. This meant that everyone was starving because there wasn’t any food. So, what is the impossible request here? It is to go and ask for food. If this was the right woman he was suppose to go to then this difficult to almost impossible prayer would be performed by the woman.
This widow does not even have a name. It is our Holy Spirit’s way of saying that she was pretty much not important to society. Here this woman is a gentile not a Jew. She was a non-believer. Yet, our Loving God sees all and knows all and desires that no one should perish. She wasn’t a seeker of truth, yet God would seek her out to show His Love and care.
This widow had lost hope. She knew about God of Israel because of her comments to Elijah in verse 12, ‘As surely as the Lord your God lives.’ There is a big difference between knowing of God and ‘knowing’ God.
Elijah was able to give the woman the same kind of hope and at the same time gave her a test of faith. ‘Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me.. and then.. for yourself and your son. [verse 13]. Elijah wasn’t saying ‘me first’. He was telling the widow to put God first just as our Lord Jesus Christ tells us in Matthew 6: 33, ‘seek ye first the kingdom of God and His Righteousness and all these things shall be given to you as well.’
When you do this you will experience so great a hand from God you will be in awe. Faith calls on us to do the unthinkable so that we might receive the impossible.
In the bible we see what brings on God’s judgment. We read in the book of Deuteronomy 28: 15 – 48, this important fact,
15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: 16 “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. 17 “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18 “Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. 19 “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. 20 “The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. 21 The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess. 22 The LORD will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. 24 The LORD will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed. 25 “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away. 27 The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. 28 The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. 29 And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you.30 “You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes. 31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have no one to rescue them. 32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be no strength in your hand. 33 A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually. 34 So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see. 35 The LORD will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils which cannot be healed, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. 36 “The LORD will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods—wood and stone. 37 And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the LORD will drive you. 38 “You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for the locust shall consume it. 39 You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. 40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off. 41 You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity. 42 Locusts shall consume all your trees and the produce of your land. 43 “The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. 44 He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. 45 “Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46 And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever. 47 “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you.
Do you see anything from this reading occurring today in our country? What reasons cause God to bring on the curses. One reason is 2 Samuel 21 that indicates a famine happens from God due to the shedding of innocent blood. Jezebel’s religion killed many babies and innocent people. Let’s face it folks. We can’t kill over 50 million babies and have God just look the other way. He will deal with this awful atrocity and it might be sooner than what we think. Another reason for a famine as you read in Jeremiah and Ezekiel is due to worshiping false gods.
1 Kings 17: 17 to 24
17” Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him. 18 So she said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?” 19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20 Then he cried out to the LORD and said, “O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” 21 And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the LORD and said, “O LORD my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” 22 Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives!” 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is the truth.”
You got to be kidding me. All the trouble that Elijah and now the widow had been through and now this? Why? This is the ultimate stress, isn’t it? What do we do when our whole world collapses in? Many of your relatives do not bother with you too much, but wait and see a serious problem occur and who do they call first? - you. The widow from a human standpoint was thinking that God wanted to hurt her. In fact, He was going to help her.
What did Elijah do? It seems a little bit strange. I do not know for shore his method but I do know this one thing and this is, by doing this act, he became unclean as a servant of God. He became disqualified as God’s servant because he touched a dead body completely. God had to do something about this situation. He brought the young man back to life and therefore Satan can’t charge Elijah as being unclean. Our Lord says to Satan, so, show me the dead body and I will disqualify my servant.
I think one more beautiful thing is here also. Our Wonderful Holy Lord Jesus Christ as God the Father’s Perfect Son Who knew no sin became sin for us so that we also do not have to die. Our Lord took our place of uncleanness and traded it for His Perfect cleanness.
I see 4 groups here tonight. One group is composed of Christians who are fighting the good fight. Our Lord is proud of you. Keep up the good work He has called you to do. Our Lord says to you in Micah 6: 8,
8” He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
The second groups is also believers in our Lord Jesus Christ but are playing around with things that the Holy Spirit is telling you to walk away from. And in all sincerity and truth you can do your own inventory. You know truthfully what is going on. His message to you is from 2 Chronicles 7: 14 which says,
14” if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
The third group to me is the scariest. These are people who think they are Christians but are not. Oh, you may have prayed a prayer but in all honesty nothing in your life has changed. You may have professed but you do not possess the Lord Jesus Christ. The scripture I have for you is in 2 Corinthians 13: 5 which says,
5 “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.”
In The scariest passage is in the book of Matthew chapter 7 when our Lord Jesus Christ looks at you and says with a sorrow, ‘I never knew you.’
Lastly there may be someone here who has never gotten right with God. Our Lord Jesus stands at the doorway to your heart and is knocking and asking you if He can come in. Are you willing to let Him into your heart and life?
I am going to ask you, especially if you are in-group 3 or 4 I am going to ask you to do a brave thing. I want you to get right with God now. Our Lord Jesus said that if you will confess Him before men, He will confess you before our Father as belonging to Him. Do it now.
