Introduction:
A. The story is told of a man who was walking across the road when he was hit by a car.
1. The impact knocked him on his head which caused him to be in a coma for a couple of days before he finally regained consciousness.
2. When he opened his eyes, his loving wife was there beside his bed holding his hand.
3. He said, “You know, Judy, you’ve always been right by my side. When I was a struggling college student, I failed again and again. But you were always there with me, encouraging me to keep on trying.”
4. He said, “And when I got out of school and went for all of my interviews and failed to get any of the jobs, you stayed right there with me, cutting out more classifieds for me to check on...”
5. He continued: “Then I started work at this little firm and finally got the chance to handle a big contract. But I blew it because of one little mistake, and yet you were there beside me all the way.”
6. He said, “Then I finally got another job after being laid off for some time. But I never seemed to be promoted and my hard work was never recognized. And, through it all, you were right there by my side.”
7. Her eyes were starting to fill with tears as she listened.
8. He said, “And now I’ve been in this accident and when I woke up, you’re the first person I see. There’s something I’d really like to say to you…”
9. “Judy,” He said, “I think you’re just plain bad luck!”
B. I wonder if there are times when we treat God that way.
1. Every time something bad happens, God is right there with us, getting us through the rough spots, holding us up, giving us strength.
2. But instead of appreciating it, we tend to blame God when bad things happen.
C. I wonder if that’s how Elijah felt as he went through his boot camp training, and now was going through his advanced training.
1. Last week, we left Elijah there by the dried up brook called Cherith.
2. Elijah had learned a lot about God and about himself as he obeyed God and went to that deserted place and allowed God to miraculously provide for his needs.
3. But the brook that had supplied his water was now dry.
4. How was God going to deal with this situation? That’s what we want to learn about today.
D. As we will see, the dried-up brook was only the beginning.
1. God had plans for Elijah that would take him far beyond those quiet days of isolation and mediation, where life beside the brook, with birds faithfully catering his meals, was simple uninterrupted, and fairly routine.
2. Anyone who would be used of God as mightily as Elijah would be in the years ahead, must first face the advanced training course.
3. For Elijah that advanced course would take place at Zarephath.
I. The Story
A. Let’s pick up Elijah’s story in 1 Kings 17:8-9: Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.”
1. As we did last week, let’s first examine the significance of the name of this place where Elijah was told to go.
2. Zarephath comes from a Hebrew verb that means “to melt, to smelt.”
a. Interestingly, in noun form it means “crucible.”
b. The place may have gotten its name because there was a smelting plant of some kind located there.
c. But whatever the source of its name, Zarephath would prove to be a “crucible” for Elijah – as a crucible, it would further refine the prophet and prepare him for future ministry.
3. It was almost as if the Lord were saying to Elijah, “I first took you to Cherith to wean you away from the bright lights an public platform, where I could cut you down to size and reduce you to a man who would trust Me, regardless.”
a. But now, I will turn up the furnace and melt you so that I might mold you far more exactly into the kind of man I need to carry out My mission.
4. The crucibles of our suffering and challenges create Christlikeness.
a. That’s what a crucible does under its intense heat.
b. It brings all the impurities to the surface so that they can be skimmed off, leaving greater purity.
5. God knows what the future holds for His prophet.
a. God knows the kind of strength that Elijah will need if he is going to stand strong.
b. God knows what kind of load His prophet must be able to bear.
c. And so God sends Elijah to the crucible of Zarephath where all the remaining dross will be burned away.
B. So the brook dried up and God told Elijah to go at once to Zarephath.
1. I’m sure Elijah was happy to get the order to leave.
2. I’m not sure he was happy about where he was being sent.
3. For one thing, Zarephath of Sidon was located far to the west, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea – at least 100 miles from Cherith.
4. That involved a long walk across open and unprotected land.
5. Elijah was a marked man, and King Ahab was looking everywhere for him.
6. So immediately, Elijah had to put his trust in God as he journeyed from Cherith to Zarephath.
C. Where would Elijah stay when he got to Zarephath?
1. God said that He had made arrangements for Elijah at the home of a widow.
2. I can imagine Elijah thinking, “Really? A widow? Why can’t I stay in the palace of a king or wealthy business man? Why can’t I stay with a successful farmer or shepherd?”
3. All of this is part of Elijah’s training – he must trust and obey and be content with God’s will.
D. Elijah responded to God’s plan with swift obedience.
1. The Bible says: So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
12 “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 Kgs. 17:10-12)
2. Upon Elijah’s arrival in Zarephath, he encountered two immediate tests.
a. First came the test of first impressions.
b. Second came the test of physical impossibilities.
3. Can you imagine what he must have thought as Elijah arrived and first encountered the widow who was going to take care of him?
a. Elijah must have been so thirsty and hungry, so he asked the woman for a drink of water and piece of bread.
b. But her response basically was my son and I are destitute and were about to have our last slice of bread before we die of starvation!
c. What a letdown this must have been after Elijah’s long and arduous journey – what a bad first impression!
4. Elijah had walked into a situation that was, from all human perspective, impossible.
E. I praise God that Elijah faced this situation with faith.
1. Elijah was a work in progress.
2. He had been to Cherith and had seen the proof of God’s power and faithfulness.
3. He had survived the dried-up brook.
4. So in contrast to this poor widow who had her eyes on the impossibilities: a handful of flour, a tiny amount of oil, and a few sticks, Elijah focused only on the possibilities.
F. The Bible says: 13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.’” (1 Kgs. 17:13-14)
1. Elijah was in tune with God and He took God at His word.
2. What an amazing promise this was.
3. That woman must have looked at Elijah, this tired, dusty stranger, with wonder and bewilderment.
4. She likely had never met anyone like him.
5. She could have written him off as a crazy man, but she didn’t.
G. Look at what the Bible says she did: 15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. (1 Kgs. 17:15-16)
1. In response to Elijah’s command, “she went” and “she did” – that’s obedience in its simplest form.
2. In the midst of the crucible, Elijah and the widow obeyed, and God provided a miracle.
a. The bowl of flour was never empty and the jar of oil was never dry.
3. How thrilling that must have been for Elijah, the widow and her son to sit down every day and eat those miracle biscuits!
4. Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean that Elijah, the widow and her son had everything they wanted, but it does mean that they had what they needed.
H. Lest you think that the crucible of Zarephath included only the challenge of food, another even harder challenge was about to face Elijah and the widow.
1. The Bible says: 17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. (1 Kgs. 17:17)
2. We are not told what was wrong with the widow’s son, but the illness was so severe that the boy died – there was no breath in him.
I. How do you think the widow might react to this development?
1. The Bible says: 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” (1 Kgs. 17:18)
2. The widow did what many of us do when something bad happens, we look for someone to blame.
3. Sometimes we even blame those who have done the most to help us.
4. Often times, whether we admit it or not, we blame God.
5. Certainly, we should not judge her too severely.
a. Those of us who have lost loved ones, especially a child, understand her grief.
b. Sometimes in situations like that we say things we later regret.
c. Here was a bereaved mother – she had lived through the early death of a husband, and now the death of her only child.
6. Picture the situation: There she stands holding her son in her arms with tears streaming down her face. Her world has come crashing down on her, and she lashed out at the one standing the closest.
J. We can see in Elijah’s response a real man of God in the making.
1. The Bible says: 19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. (1 Kgs. 17:19)
2. At that moment, Elijah held out his arms and said, “Give him to me.”
3. The way Elijah held his tongue in that heated, emotional moment really impresses me.
a. Somehow he knew that nothing he might say at that moment would satisfy this grieving mother.
b. He didn’t try to reason with her or rebuke her.
c. He didn’t remind her of all she owed him or how ashamed she should be for blaming him.
4. No, he simply asked her to place her burden in his arms and to trust him.
5. I’m also impressed with how this grieving mother responded to Elijah’s request.
a. Without question or hesitation, she placed her precious, lifeless son into Elijah’s arms.
6. Then, Elijah, the man of God, silently climbed the stairway to the room where he had been doing battle before God on a regular basis.
7. I’m sure that Elijah had become accustomed to spending many an hour in prayer alone with God.
8. So what did Elijah do next? I’m sure that none of this was covered in his handbook “How to be a Prophet – For Dummies!”
K. The Bible says: 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” (1 Kgs. 17:20-21)
1. Can you feel the emotion? Can you feel the desperation?
a. Elijah tenderly placed the body of the boy on his bed; then he approached God in prayer.
2. Elijah may have been silent before the widow, but he was not silent before God.
3. It is before God that he raised his tough questions and made his remarkable request.
a. Elijah asked: “Lord, what are You doing? What are You trying to tell me or teach me?”
b. Elijah continued his questioning: “Why would You break the heart of this dear mother?”
c. Elijah must have reasoned with God saying: “I’ve obeyed You, and she’s obeyed You, so why is this happening?”
d. It is alone in the shadow of God that we fight such battles and raise such questions.
4. What do you make of the fact that Elijah stretched himself out upon the child three times?
a. I don’t know why he employed such an unusual method, nor why he did it three times.
b. Perhaps, in the process of talking with God, he had been told by God to do this.
5. Now realize that Elijah’s prayer request was unprecedented.
a. Up to this point in Scripture, there has been no account of anyone ever being raised from the dead.
b. Elijah couldn’t point to a time God had done this before, and therefore, God should do it again.
6. All Elijah could do was to ask God for a miracle and wait.
L. The Bible says: 22 The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. (1 Kgs. 17:22)
1. No words can describe what happened in that little upstairs bedroom when the corpse began to stir and Elijah saw life come back into the boy’s body.
2. No words can describe how one feels when they, being in the midst of such a trial, then see God work it out in a miraculous way.
3. Elijah saw that kind of miracle and then look at what he did: 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” (1 Kgs 17:23)
4. Elijah didn’t say to the mother, “Look what I’ve done!” or “You owe me an apology!”
5. No, Elijah simply walked downstairs with the boy in his arms and said, “See, your son is alive.”
6. And once again, words fail to describe the feelings of the mother at that moment.
7. The Bible says: Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.” (1 Kgs. 17:24)
II. The Application
A. There are many powerful lessons that we can learn from this part of Elijah’s story, but let me encourage you to ponder the following lessons.
B. First, God plan is often surprising; don’t try to figure it out.
1. God led Elijah to the brook, then it dried up.
2. God led Elijah to the widow’s house, but her cupboards were bare.
3. Then God allowed the widow’s son to die.
4. When God sends us to Cherith or Zarephath, we shouldn’t try to make sense of it, we should just go.
5. When God places us in a difficult situation, then we should be at peace with the fact that this is where God wants us for the time being.
6. Dr. Raymond Edman, in his little book, In Quietness and Confidence, wrote about a man undergoing a difficult trial.
a. The man facing the trial wrote these words: First, God brought me here, it is by His will I am in this place: in that fact I will rest. Next, God will keep me here in His love, and give me grace to behave as His child. Then, He will make the trial a blessing, and teach me the lessons He intends me to learn. Last, in His time God can bring me out again – how and when, He knows.
7. These are four great truths to keep in mind when we face our Cherith or Zarephath:
a. First, I am here by God’s appointment.
b. Second, I am in God’s keeping.
c. Third, I am under God’s training.
d. Fourth, He will show me His purposes in His time.
C. A second lesson for us to ponder is: God’s promises often hinge on our faith and obedience; don’t ignore your part.
1. Elijah had to trust and obey, each step of the way, and so did the widow.
2. Had Elijah and the widow not trusted and obeyed, would God have given the miraculous solutions that He gave? Probably not.
3. God’s promises and principles often have conditions, and our faith and obedience precede God’s provision.
D. A third lesson for us to ponder is: God’s provisions come at the right time and are often just enough; don’t fail to thank Him.
1. If we postpone our gratitude until all our dreams are fulfilled, we likely won’t be expressing any gratitude at all.
2. We may not have all that we want, the way we want it, but do we have what we need?
3. Gratitude is always the welcomed and right response to God, no matter what we are facing or have received.
E. Why did all these things happen in Elijah’s life?
1. Why did God send him to Cherith?
2. Why did God send him to the widow’s house?
3. Why did God allow the widow’s son to die?
F. I believe all these things happened because God was training and preparing Elijah.
1. After this period of training, Elijah will be sent back to face King Ahab.
2. After this period of training, Elijah will be sent to challenge the prophets of Baal.
3. After this period of training, Elijah will be sent to do miraculous things in the name of God.
4. Each event in Elijah’s training challenged his faith more than the one before.
5. As we will see next week, Elijah has finished his training and is now ready to accomplish God’s mission.
G. Just like with Elijah, God often uses the things that happen in our lives to train us for future service.
1. Part of the testing and training is designed to help us to trust in God and believe that nothing is impossible for God.
2. God wants us to grow to a place that when we face difficulties and trials our first response isn’t, “This is terrible! Why do bad things always happen to me?”
3. Rather God wants us to be able to say, “Wow! I wonder what God is going to do here!”
H. Let me end with these beautiful, powerful and comforting words from Psalm 91.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
I. In the midst of his advanced training at Zarephath, Elijah learned to dwell in the shelter of the Almighty, may we learn to do the same!
Resources:
Elijah: A Man of Heroism and Humility, by Charles Swindoll, Thomas Nelson, 2000.
Training in the Wilderness, Sermon by Jeff Strite, SermonCentral.com.
