1 Kings 17
1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
2 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
5 So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
8 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
12 And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
13 And 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.
14 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.
15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.
Little Johnny’s dad came to him and said Johnny I am so sorry I can’t get you the toys that Billy’s dad buys him, and I am so sorry I can’t get you the nice clothes that Tommy’s dad buys him, and I am also sorry I can’t take you hunting every weekend like James dad does for him, Little Johnny looked at his dad and said Dad, Something is better than Nothing!
If I can be honest with you today, there is a Spiritual Famine that is in our land. There was a time when people looked forward to Sundays going to church, because it was time of refreshing, renewing, rededication, getting filled back up for the week that was in front of them.
Now Sundays have become a day of entertainment, a day of fulfilling flesh desires, and doing everything that does not involve the Spirit of God.
Our society is in complete chaos, and confusion, and most people don’t have a clue on who God really is. Neither do they fear the Lord. There is a Spiritual famine, a Spiritual famine or allowing his Spirit to move within our churches, because we are so afraid we are going to offend someone, a Spiritual Famine of miracles that could happen, or demons being cast out, or people being delivered from their sins, our church world have become nothing more than a social club, that have put together dance teams, to show the church folks how to dance before God and to entertain God.
God doesn’t want our entertainment, he wants our praise and our worship from the heart.
God could no longer bless the nation of Israel. Elijah was instructed by God to go to wicked King Ahab and his notorious wife, Jezebel, that a famine was coming. This famine would affect all of the people of Israel including Elijah.
Because of sin Israel was going through a famine and it affected everyone. We need to realize and understand that when we sin, it affects the blessings from God, and yes God withheld the rain from Israel because of sin, and he will withhold your blessings and will cause a famine to come upon you and your house hold, to the point you think that you are about to die, and wonder where is God, how can I touch God, and I need to feel God.
Tradition says that this widow of Zarephath was only around 20 years old. We don’t know how her husband died, we just know that she is left with a son from the marriage, she is alone, she has to provide for her and her son now, she is depressed and down and out because of death, and because of the famine that is in the land, so She had a young son that she dedicated her life to. She lived a very meager existence, struggling day-by-day, not just to make ends meet, but just to survive. Every morning she would walk about gathering sticks for the fire. For 3 ½ years there had been no rain. The ground was hard and cracked. There was no harvest in the field where she could have gleaned from what was left by the harvesters.
I wonder how many nights she went to bed crying out in her heart, “where will I find the food for us to survive another day?”
Somehow she had managed to scrape together just enough cooking oil and just enough flour to bake one last cake. It probably wasn’t even going to be enough to fill the hunger of her son and yet they must both somehow survive on it for a while. They were already weak from hunger and tired of the struggle. Is anyone in this house this morning tired of the struggle?
One more cake; one more fire; one more meal and then there would be nothing left. There was no supermarket, no corner grocery store, no neighbor to borrow from – nothing – nothing but another day to suffer and soon it would be over. They couldn’t last long in their weakened condition.
Elijah came walking into town, he sees her and says, I am thirsty go get me some water, so she doesn’t have a problem with going to find the man of God a little water, but while she is headed to go get the water he says to her to go make him a cake, or a loaf of bread if you please.
Now doesn’t that sound like some preachers you know? They expect everyone to give everything to them. I remember that when I was young we would occasionally have a visiting minister, or evangelist that would come through town. The church folks would all get together and they would “Pound” the preacher.
“Pounding” meant that as many who could would bring them food and other supplies while they were ministering. I’d be afraid if someone said that the preacher needed to be “pounded” today. It might mean that I need to wear a steel helmet and body armor.
But Elijah wasn’t asking from a selfish spirit. He had been journeying for some time and I’m sure that he was hungry, but the real reason for his request was to try the faith of the woman. Was this the widow woman that God intended? Would she be willing to obey the Lord even when it meant possibly having to do without what she needed? So she begins to explain to him, that she was making a cake for her and her son then they were going to die. She had already made the funeral arraignments, she had already told the funeral home director where to bury her, right beside her deceased husband and lay her young boy between her and her husband. She had already made the will out to who would get what few possessions and the house. In other words, she had determined in her mind that it was over. She had lost her husband, and her and her son is so weak, that they were going to die as well.
Elijah knew that there was enough for all three but he didn’t hesitate to ask for the first cake. He knew that God was going to provide.
God wants your first fruits, not your scraps and leftovers.
Elijah could have let the widow woman and her son eat first, but then what would have been left to provide for the ministry that had come to her?
There are too many people today who would have told Elijah no! The attitude today is, it’s mine, it’s mine, it’s mine and I won’t give it away. Most people, even Christians, are more concerning with getting the things that they want than they are about giving to God What God says that they need to give to his work.
A lot of Christians only give God their leftover time, their spare change, and the last few minutes of a long day, if they give Him anything at all. We give God the leftovers of our life and then we wonder why our lives are lacking so much in so many ways.
That part of your life that belongs to God must be given first to become the seed from which your faith and provision will grow.
Let me mess with your mind for a bit. The Bible says she had two sticks.
Ok, I have cooked before and I love to cook. I love to grill, I love to bake, I have cooked cakes before, I have made corn bread, and biscuits. Turn that oven on and 350 or whatever degrees it called for and cooked and it came out the way I wanted it. I have even had a bonfire where we roasted hot dogs and such.
If she had two sticks, not two logs, but two sticks the cake she was about to make for her and her son, don’t think it was going to get done. I have burned sticks before, they don’t last long and they don’t’ get hot very long either, I don’t think two sticks was going to bring the temp up to 350 degrees to cook that cake through and through. She was knowing her and her son, their last meal was going to be half cooked cake with a lot more batter than cooked portion, they weren’t going to eat it, they were going to drink it.
The man of God said go make me a cake first, and don’t worry make you and your son the next cake. She goes in the house, puts two sticks in the oven, goes to the barrel, and the vessel of oil, mixes everything together, and the oven is done got hot, and the sticks are still burning, she probably says what in the world, she slides the cake in the oven, goes back 15 mins later expecting to find nothing but ashes from the sticks and a cold oven, guess what, the sticks are still burning, goes back 30 mins later thinking she is going to serve the man of God a half done cake and what in the world, them sticks are still burning and them two sticks are still giving off heat, and the cake is ready and she is probably puzzled, because she has cooked before, and don’t know what to make out of it, and yet she takes it to Elijah and he says now go make one for you and your son, while she is away the angel refill the barrel of meal enough for another cake and enough oil for her and her son, she walks over to the barrel expecting to find nothing, she looks in and says God Lord, there is enough for me and my son, I thought I scrapped the bottom of the barrel, I thought I poured out all the oil, but look, there is more than enough for another cake.
She looked at the oven and guess what? The two sticks are still burning, the oven is still good and hot and the temp is just right for another cake.
Because she was willing to obey God and give the first fruits of her labor to God’s man, she, Elijah and her son were able to survive the long drought and famine. God provided all that they needed. The oil would refill and the grain would multiply after every meal. God’s power to provide for our need is not limited by what we see, only by what we can believe for and by the obedience and faith we put in him.
It did not matter how many time she went to that barrel or the vessel that had the oil in it, it had more than enough meal for a bread and more than enough oil for the cooking part. If little JR wanted a pancake between breakfast and lunch, there was more than enough meal, and more than enough oil. If little JR wanted a midnight snack, when she went to the barrel and to the vessel it was there, while her neighbors were struggling and getting thinner, her and little JR was gaining a little weight, while her other friends and other widows in town was crying in the night her and little JR was enjoying the blessings of God. While others were having funerals because of dying from hunger pains, her and little JR was living, because she obeyed the voice of God.
