Sermon Tone Analysis

Trusting God Means When It Doesn’t Make Sense

I WONDER IF THERE IS ANYONE HERE THAT EVER SEEMS LIKE BAD THINGS ARE ALWAYS HAPPENING TO THEM.

IT SEEMS LIKE THAT YOU ARE ALWAYS GETTING THE SHORT END OF THINGS.

HOWEVER, AFTER GOING THROUGH ALL OF YOUR TRAILS WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED IS THAT THROUGH IT ALL GOD IS ALWAYS RIGHT THERE WITH US, GETTING US THROUGH THE ROUGH SPOTS, HOLDING US UP, AND GIVING US STRENGTH TO MAKE IT THROUGH.

THERE IS A WOMAN IN 1ST KINGS 17 WHO HAS A MOMENT WHEREAS THINGS ARE NOT GOING SO WELL, BUT WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT HER SITUATION IS THAT ELIJAH IS THERE WITH HER, TAKING CARE OF HER AND HER SON DAY AFTER DAY, BUT THEN MIST OF IT ALL SOMETHING HAPPENS.

IN THE BEGINNING OF THIS SCENE ELIJAH WAS A PROPHET OF GOD WHO WAS SENT TO KING AHAB TO TELL HIM THAT ISRAEL WAS GOING TO BE PUNISHED BECAUSE OF ITS GREAT WICKEDNESS.

KING AHAB WAS ONE OF THE MOST WICKED KINGS TO RULE OVER THE NORTHERN KINGDOM OF ISRAEL….

BUT WHAT MAKES MATTERS WORSE IS THAT KING AHAB……MARRIED JEZEBEL WHO WORSHIPPED THE CANAANITE STORM GOD (BAY ALL) BAAL

THROUGH THE INFLUENCE OF AHAB AND HIS WICKED WIFE JEZEBEL, ISRAEL HAD STARTING WORSHIPPING BAAL AND SOME OTHER PAGAN GODS…

SO THE PROPHET ELIJAH SENT WORD TO THE KING……AS A PUNISHMENT FOR WORSHIPPING THESE IDOL GODS….

HE WAS GOING TO STOP THE RAIN.

FOR THREE AND A HALF YEARS, IT DIDN’T RAIN.

LET ME SUGGEST THAT KING AHAB AND HIS WIFE QUEEN JEZEBEL DIDN’T TAKE TOO KINDLY TO ELIJAH’S WORDS.

THEY PROBABLY DISMISSED HIM AT FIRST, BUT AS TIME WENT BY WITHOUT RAIN, THINGS STARTED TO GET SERIOUS….AND THE FAMINE STARTED TO KICK IN.

BUT WHAT I LIKE ABOUT HOW GOD PROVED TO BE THE ONLY TRUE GOD…..AND HOW THEIR GOD OF (BAY ALL) BAAL WASN’T A GOD AT ALL BECAUSE NO RAIN FELL UNTIL THE LORD GOD SAID IT WOULD HAPPEN.

IF BAAL WAS A STORM GOD…..A GOD THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE CAPABLE OF BRINGING RAIN…..THE LORD PROVED THAT THERE IS NO OTHER TRUE GOD BUT HIM…..

SO, NOW THE PROPHET ELIJAH….WHO THE KING AND QUEEN DID NOT CARE FOR….

SENT OUT SEARCH TEAMS TO FIND ELIJAH SO THAT THEY COULD HAVE HIM KILLED, BUT GOD PROTECTED ELIJAH BY HIDING HIM BY THE BROOK CHERITH, AND HERE’S WHAT I HAVE LEARNED FROM THE FIRST PART OF THIS LESSON AND THAT IS, WHEN YOU ARE OUT ON AN ASSIGNMENT FOR GOD, AND WHEN YOUR ENEMY IS OUT TO HURT YOU, HARM YOU, OR EVEN KILL YOU GOD WILL PROTECT YOU IN THE MIST OF TROUBLE.

LOOK AT WHAT GOD IS DOING FOR THE MAN OF GOD; HE HIDES HIM BY A BROOK, A WATERING HOLE, OR A STREAM IF YOU WILL, HE’S FEEDING HIM WITH BREAD BROUGHT BY THE RAVENS.

(A BIRD THAT IS CONSIDERED TO BE A BIRD OF BAD LUCK: BUT NOW HE IS PERFORMING THE ACTS OF A WAITER).

AND NOW AFTER MONTHS AND MONTHS OF NO RAIN, EVEN THE BROOK WHERE ELIJAH IS LODGING WAS NOW DRYING UP AND ELIJAH HAD TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.

SO THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ELIJAH.

AND IT MUST HAVE SOUNDED LIKE ONE OF THOSE GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS JOKES.

"THE GOOD NEWS WAS, ELIJAH, YOU ARE TO YOU GET UP AND LEAVE CHERITH.

THE BAD NEWS IS I WANT YOU TO GO TO ZAREPHATH."

GOD SAID TO ELIJAH, "ARISE, GO TO ZAREPHATH, WHICH BELONGS TO SIDON, AND DWELL THERE."

(I KINGS 17:9A).

I DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH ELIJAH KNEW ABOUT GEOGRAPHY, BUT IT’S POSSIBLE THAT HE HAD NEVER HEARD OF ZAREPHATH BEFORE.

IT WAS A SMALL TOWN ALONG THE MEDITERRANEAN COAST IN THE REGION OF (FO KNEE SHA) PHOENICIA.

NOW ELIJAH MIGHT NOT HAVE EVER HEARD OF ZAREPHATH BEFORE, BUT YOU CAN BE CERTAIN THAT HE HAD HEARD OF (SYE DON) SIDON.

BECAUSE SIDON WAS JEZEBEL’S HOMETOWN, AND THE CAPITAL OF PHOENICIA (FA KNEE SHA).

IT WAS A CENTER FOR IDOL WORSHIPPERS.

WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD GOD SEND ELIJAH TO ZAREPHATH, A SUBURB OF SIDON?

IT DIDN’T MAKE ANY SENSE.

AND IF SOME OF US WERE ELIJAH, WE WOULD HAVE HAD SOME QUESTIONS FOR GOD.

SOME WOULD HAVE SAID "LORD, ARE YOU SURE THAT YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING?

YOU DO KNOW THAT THIS IS THE CAMP OF MY ENEMIES, THIS IS THE CAMP WHERE PEOPLE DON’T LIKE ME, THIS IS THE PLACE WHERE PEOPLE ARE LOOKING TO DESTROY ME.

YOU DO KNOW THAT JEZEBEL IS AFTER MY HEAD.

AND MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, I KNOW THAT SOME OF US MAY THINK WE WOULD NEVER QUESTION GOD …BUT I BELIEVE SOME OF US WOULD ASK SOME QUESTIONS, LORD WHY ARE YOU SENDING ME THERE, IN THE MIST OF ALL OF THAT CHAOS?

SOME OF US WOULD HAVE SOME QUESTIONS, LORD WHY WOULD YOU SEND ME TO A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO DESTROY ME FOR WHAT YOU TOLD ME TO DO?

I CAN HEAR HIM SAYING WHY IN THE WORLD, ARE-YOU SENDING ME INTO THE SHADOWS OF HER HOMETOWN, BECAUSE DOWN AT THE BROOK MADE A GOOD HIDING PLACE.

AT CHERITH ELIJAH PROBABLY EVEN KNEW EVERY INCH OF THE AREA WHERE HE WAS.

AND IF AHAB WAS CHASING HIM; ELIJAH COULD ALWAYS ESCAPE IN THE MOUNTAINS AND CANYON OF GILEAD THAT HE KNEW SO WELL.

BUT ZAREPHATH?

HE WOULD BE A STRANGER IN TOWN, AND EVERYONE IN A SMALL TOWN WOULD KNOW HE WAS THERE.

AND IF HE INTRODUCED HIMSELF, HE WOULD BE IN DANGER OF BEING ARRESTED.

IF FACT SOME OF THEM THERE COULD HAVE EVEN BEEN RELATIVES OF JEZEBEL LIVING IN ZAREPHATH FOR ALL HE KNEW.

BUT I CAN HEAR GOD SAYING TO HIM, GO AND I WILL BE WITH YOU, I CAN HEAR GOD SAY I’LL NEVER LEAVE YOU AND I’LL FIGHT YOUR BATTLE IF YOU WILL ONLY TRUST ME, TRUST ME.

I CAN HEAR GOD SAYING, FOR I AM THAT I AM, AND I HAVE ALL POWER, I WILL DELIVER YOU BUT YOU’VE MUST TRUST ME.

SO, THE LORD SAID, COME HERE ELIJAH, LOOK, I HAVE COMMANDED A WIDOW THERE TO PROVIDE FOR YOU.

BY THE WAY, ELIJAH, I’VE ARRANGED ROOM AND BOARD FOR YOU.

I HAVE PICKED OUT A POOR WOMAN WHO IS ABOUT TO STARVE TO DEATH HERSELF.

BUT SHE WILL BE TO TAKE CARE OF YOU.

AND IF ZAREPHATH DIDN’T MAKE SENSE, AND NOW I’M GOING TO A POOR WOMAN’S HOUSE AND THAT MADE EVEN LESS SENSE.

BUT AS PAUL SAID IN 1ST CORINTHIANS 1:29, GOD OFTEN CHOOSES THE FOOLISH THINGS, THE WEAK THINGS, THE DESPISED THINGS TO ACCOMPLISH HIS WILL.

AND THE REASON HE GIVES US THIS IN THAT CHAPTER IS "THAT NO FLESH SHOULD GLORY IN HIS PRESENCE."

GOD NEVER WANTS US TO FORGET, THAT IN EVERY SITUATION OF LIFE, THAT IT IS HIM WHO TAKES CARE OF US.

SO ELIJAH DID WHAT GOD SAID.

HE "AROSE AND WENT TO ZAREPHATH."

(1ST KINGS 17:10A).

LOOK AT WHAT IT ENTAILS.

IT INVOLVES ABOUT A HUNDRED MILES OF TRAVEL, AND ELIJAH WOULD HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO SEE THE RESULTS OF THE DROUGHT.

AND AS HE TRAVELED, I WONDER IF HE QUESTIONED WHY GOD HE WOULD NOT SELECT THIS WONDERFUL HOUSE OR THAT HOUSE RATHER THAN THE HOME OF A POOR GENTILE WIDOW IN ZAREPHATH.

THIS EPISODE WAS SO INTENSE THAT IN LUKE 4:25-26 EVEN JESUS HIMSELF MENTIONED THIS STORY WHEN HE WAS TALKING TO THOSE IN THE SYNAGOGUE IN NAZARETH.

HE SAID, BUT I TELL YOU TRULY, IN ISRAEL IN THE DAYS OF ELIJAH, WHEN THE HEAVEN WAS SHUT UP THREE YEARS AND SIX MONTHS, AND THERE WAS A GREAT FAMINE THROUGHOUT THE LAND; BUT TO NONE OF THEM WAS ELIJAH SENT EXCEPT TO ZAREPHATH, IN THE REGION OF SIDON, TO A WOMAN WHO WAS A WIDOW.

IN FACT, WHEN JESUS FINISHED HIS SHORT LESSON TO HIS FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, LUKE TELLS US THAT THEY "WERE FILLED WITH WRATH, THEY WERE FILLED WITH HATRED AND THEY WERE FILLED WITH BITTERNESS.

AND THE BIBLE SAYS THAT THEY ROSE UP AND THRUST HIM OUT OF THE CITY; AND THEY LED HIM TO THE BROW OF THE HILL ON WHICH THEIR CITY WAS BUILT, THAT THEY MIGHT THROW HIM DOWN OVER THE CLIFF."

(LUKE 4:28-29).

THIS SEEMS TO BE A MIGHTY STRONG REACTION TO A SERMON ON ELIJAH AND THE WIDOW.

WHY WOULD A SIMPLE STORY ABOUT ELIJAH STIR UP SUCH ANIMOSITY FROM JESUS’ NEIGHBORS?

BECAUSE WHAT JESUS WAS REALLY SAYING WAS THAT GOD HAS SOMETIMES FOUND GREATER FAITH AMONG GENTILES THAN HE FOUND IN HIS OWN PEOPLE.

AND WAS AN INSULT TO THE JEWS WHO CONSIDERED THE GENTILES TO BE UNCLEAN AND HEATHENS.

IF YOU REMEMBER HOW UPSET JONAH WAS AT THE THOUGHT OF PREACHING TO THE GENTILE CITY OF NINEVEH.

THEN HOW DO YOU THINK ELIJAH MUST HAVE FELT?

HE WAS ASKED BY GOD TO BE TOTALLY DEPENDENT UPON A GENTILE RESIDENT OF A PAGAN TOWN.

AND NOT JUST A GENTILE, BUT A WOMAN, AND NOT JUST A WOMAN, BUT ONE WHO WAS A WIDOW.

AND NOT JUST ANY WIDOW, BUT A DESTITUTE, AN IMPOVERISHED, POOR BROKE WIDOW.

LORD CAN’T I AT LEAST STAY WITH A WOMAN THAT HAS SOME MONEY?

WELL AS ELIJAH APPROACHES THE CITY GATES, HE FINDS THIS WOMAN GATHERING STICKS.

AS SHE EXPLAINS, SHE IS GOING TO GATHER A COUPLE OF STICKS AND COOK HER LAST MEAL, AND THEN SHE AND HER SON WILL DIE.

EVIDENTLY, SHE WAS ALREADY STARVING BECAUSE THIS WAS THE LAST MEAL THAT SHE HAD IN HER HOUSE, AND SHE WOULD PREPARE THIS MEAL AND THEN DIE.

ELIJAH DOES WHAT SEEMS TO BE A VERY UNUSUAL THING.

HE SAYS 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.

I WANT YOU TO TAKE YOUR VERY LAST BIT OF FOOD, GIVE IT TO ME, AND THEN YOU CAN HAVE WHAT’S LEFT OVER.

IT SEEMS CRUEL TO TAKE THIS WIDOWS LAST PORTION OF FOOD .....

YET ELIJAH IS ACTING ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD.

GOD TOLD HIM TO GO UP TO ZAREPHATH AND HE SAID, "A WIDOW THERE WILL PROVIDE FOR YOU." GOD PROMISED TO MEET ELIJAH’S NEEDS, SO THAT’S WHY ELIJAH MAKES THIS REQUEST OF THE WIDOW, BECAUSE HE IS CONFIDENT THAT GOD IS GOING TO MEET HER NEEDS AND HIS.

NOW, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS WOMAN HAD.

SHE HAD JUST ONE CHILD, AND THE CHILD WAS VERY SMALL.

SHE MOST LIKELY HAD A VERY TRAGIC LIFE AND HAD LOST HER HUSBAND AT AN EARLY AGE.

SHE WAS DOWN TO ONE BOWL OF CORNMEAL.

SHE ALSO HAD A LITTLE VIAL THAT CONTAINED OLIVE OIL, AND SHE WAS GOING TO PREPARE A LITTLE PANCAKE OUT OF THE OIL AND CORNMEAL, COOK IT, EAT IT, AND THEN DIE.

THAT WAS HER PLAN.

SHE HAD JUST ENOUGH TO PREPARE ONE LITTLE CAKE.

ONCE SHE POURS OUT THE OIL, THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT.

BUT WHEN SHE PREPARED THIS LITTLE CAKE, AND ELIJAH SAT DOWN AND ATE IT, THERE WAS ENOUGH TO GO AROUND FOR ALL THREE OF THEM.

THE NEXT DAY SHE LOOKED CONTAINER AND THERE WAS A LITTLE MORE CORNMEAL IN HER BOWL, AND THERE WAS A LITTLE MORE OIL.

SHE THOUGHT SHE REMEMBERED USING IT ALL UP, BUT NOW THERE’S SOME MORE.

SO SHE USES IT AND MAKES ANOTHER LITTLE CAKE, AND THE THREE OF THEM ATE IT.

AND DAY BY DAY BY DAY, GOD CONTINUED TO PROVIDE FOR THEM.