PASS THE BISCUITS
1 KINGS 17:8-16
God instructs Elijah to go to Zarephath. While at Cherith, each day Elijah sat by his brook and watched it dry up. He may have wondered if God had forgotten him. God has not. Before God had even sent Elijah to Cherith, God already knew that the brook would dry up. And He already had a new place planned for Elijah to go long before the brook went dry. And He had already told the woman that Elijah would be coming and commanded her to accept him into her home.
* In your life, you may feel all alone. You may feel God is not listening. You may feel He doesn’t care. But, know this, if you are a child of His, He is with you. He knows your needs before you think to ask. He has plans to meet your needs that you don’t know about.
He has a plan for you when you think your world has fallen apart.
Your situation may have caught you completely unprepared, but it did not take God by surprise.
Why was it important to Elijah for God to send him to these 2 places?
The meanings of the names and geography of these places says it all.
Cherith- means “cut off”. It is a place north of Samaria. It is a desolate place in the rocky wilderness. No food source. He will have to learn to depend on God to meet all his needs.
Zarephath- means “smelting place, refiner”. A place where metals were put into the furnace and tested in order to purify them and to make weapons. To temper them to make them stronger and more effective. Here, Elijah will have to learn to trust God and draw on His strength to perform miracles.
A. GOD’S FRESH WORD.
1 Kings 17:8-9 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
1. God Knows where he is.
You may feel small, helpless, and all alone. You may wonder if God even knows who you are, but I can assure you than He not only knows where you are, but He loves you very much.
2. God Knows where he is going.
God has a plan for Elijah's life. Elijah's job is merely to follow Him. And God has a plan for your life to. If you will be faithful and follow Him, He will see you through.
3. God has plans to provide for him.
Whether it's brooks and ravens or biscuits from a widow, God was always faithful to provide for Elijah.
He will do the same for you if you trust Him.
B. ELIJAH’S JOURNEY OF FAITH.
1 Kings 17:9-12 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, 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, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink.” 11 As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” 12 But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.”
How did Elijah show great faith?
1. God told him to go to Zeraphath.
God had sent Elijah to Cherith to hide him from Ahab and Jezebel who have armies scouring the land to find him and kill him. Zeraphat is in Sidon, which is Jezebel’s home nation.
2. The famine was just as severe in Sidon.
The famine is very widespread. It’s bad enough to be poor in your hometown, but as a stranger it could be even worse. Who will help?
3. The widow was not even a believer in Jehovah.
This woman likely worshiped Baal. Why would she even consider helping out a prophet of Jehovah. Why do I say this? Notice:
(1) Sidon universally worshiped Baal.
(2) Vs 12- she says “the Lord YOUR God” not “OUR God”
(3) Vs 18- she claims that Elijah has come to remind her of her sins.
4. The widow is a very poor person in a land of poverty and famine.
Her household is the least of the least. All of Sidon was poor, but she was of the poorest. How was she going to provide for him?
* Elijah’s faith did not rest in HER, but in Jehovah Jirah-- The Lord Our Provider
Using logic, Elijah would have to see that there is little hope in Sidon. But human logic can never comprehend God’s miraculous grace.
Faith is “the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” Heb 11:1
And sometimes in your darkest times and desperate moments, it is hard to see what God is doing.
But "God gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they are." Rom 4:17
God can do this because he sees the situation not for what it is, but what it will be!
Remember, “we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Cor 5:7
God is faithful! Know that even when you cannot see Him, He is at work to rescue you and bring victory to your life!
C. THE WIDOW’S ACT OF OBEDIENCE.
1. The Widow’s Doubt
1 Kings 17:12 But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.”
When Elijah ask for some bread, there is a struggle of fear and faith.
God has evidently already commanded her to care for His prophet, but she is living in fear and failure. She has her eyes on her circumstances instead of the One Who controls the circumstances.
2. God’s Demand.
1 Kings 7:13-14 13 Then Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. 14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth.’”
Elijah hears her problems and makes a harsh request to feed him first. He knows that God is testing her as He has been testing him. It seems like a cruel request but is actually an opportunity for her to choose to trust Jehovah and do the right thing.
** Notice Elijah’s request helped her to do the right thing!
(1) He offered encouragement. He said “Do not fear”.
(2) He offered her a Word from God. (In tough times we need Word)
(3) He offered her God’s Promise. (Flour and oil wouldn’t run out)
3. The Widow’s Decision.
1 Kings 7:15a So she went and did according to the word of Elijah,
* The widow was faced with a “Crisis of Belief”. This is the moment where you have to choose if you will really believe God or not!!
Sometimes all it takes is a simple step of faith to unlock the blessings of God in your life.
D. GOD’S FRESH PROVISIONS.
1 Kings 17:15-16
15 So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.
Lessons the Widow learned about Blessings.
1. Sometimes God requires commitment from you prior to granting His blessings to you!
** The widow was down to her last meal, but willingly gave what she had to a stranger that was in need.
2. Sometimes God richly blesses you when you minister to others.
* at times, we all need to be cared for and cared about.
* Abuse or neglect God’s servants and God just might neglect you.
3. Sometimes God’s blessings are “just enough” so that we don’t fail to thank God each day.
E. CONCLUSION
George Mueller, born into a German tax collector’s family, was often in trouble. He learned early in life to steal and gamble and drink. As a teenager, he learned how to stay in expensive hotels, then sneak out without paying the bill. But finally he was caught and put in jail. Prison did him little good, and upon his release he continued his life of crime. Then one Saturday night in 1825 he met Jesus Christ.
Mueller married, settled down in Bristol England, growing daily in faith and developing a burden for homeless children running wild as he used to. At a public meeting is Bristol on December 9, 1835 he presented a plan for an orphanage. Several contributions came in and on April 11, 1836 Mueller opened the doors to his orphanage with twenty-six children living in it.
From the beginning he refused to seek funds or even speak of the ministry. He believed that if he prayed earnestly the Lord would provide. And the Lord did provide, although sometimes at the very last minute. The best known story involves the morning that the children sat waiting for breakfast while Mueller led in prayer for their daily bread, knowing that there was no food or milk in the building. Mueller’s prayer was interrupted by a knock and when he answered the door it was the baker, who said, “I couldn’t sleep last night. Somehow I felt you needed bread for breakfast, so I got up at 2 and baked some fresh bread.
The baker left and Mueller again began his blessing, a second knock came and it was the milkman. He had broken down right in front of the orphanage and wanted to give the children milk so he could empty his wagon and repair it.
** God has more going on than we can see or imagine. He is at work behind the scenes to meet the needs of His children.
** The next time you find yourself in great need of the help of Almighty God, just trust in the Lord and ask God to..... “PASS THE BISCUITS”.
