1 Kings 17

Scripture Reading: James 5:16-18

Introduction

True or False:

Having Faith in God Makes Life Easier

Unfortunately, that’s False, Isn’t it?

In Fact, Life Often Gets Harder

I Believe having Faith in God Makes Life Better…

But Not Necessarily Easier

Why Does Life Often Get Harder When We Trust in God?

Because Their are Dark/Evil Forces that Want to Pull Us Away from God

Because We Live in a Fallen World with Weak/Temptable Bodies/“Flesh”

We Desire Things that We Now Believe are Wrong/Sinful…

So We Deprive Ourselves of What Our Flesh Desires

That can Make Life More Difficult

Not Only Do the Dark/Evil Forces Use Our Weaknesses Against Us…

But God Also Tests Us in Our Struggles Against Temptation/Sin

He Tests Our Faith

He Wants Us to Prove Whether Our Faith is Genuine or Fake

And When We Prove Our Faith to Be Genuine…

By Remaining Faithful Through the Trials/Tests…

God Always Generously Rewards on the Other Side

In Our Text, We’re Going to See 2 Faithful Individuals…

Whose Lives are Turned into a Roller Coaster of Highs & Lows

But as They Continue to Endure Faithfully Through the Lows…

God Faithfully Rewards Them with the Highs

1 Kings 17

After Solomon’s Death, the Kingdom was Divided

His Son Rehoboam Ruled the South…

While God Chose Jeroboam to Rule the North

After Their Deaths…

The Author has Been Quickly Running Through the Subsequent Kings…

As if He’s Trying to Quickly Get to a Certain Significant Point

And the Last King that was Mentioned was the Wicked King Ahab

Now the Author is Going to Slow Down

The Rest of 1 Kings is Going to Stay Within the Lifetime of King Ahab

But, Ahab isn’t the Star of the Show

His Rival, the Prophet Elijah is

1 Kings 17:1–7 (NASB95)

1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 The word of the Lord came to him, saying, 3 “Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 “It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.”

5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. 7 It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

We aren’t Given Much of an Introduction to Elijah

All the Info We’re Given is His Hometown, Tishbe

We’re Just Thrown Right into His Story

God Gives Elijah a Test:

He Wants Elijah to Deliver Bad News to the Wicked King Ahab

Elijah Tells Ahab that it Won’t Rain Until He Says So

Why is that Significant?

Because Ahab, Thanks in Large Part to His Pagan Wife, Jezebel…

Introduced/Encouraged Baal Worship to Israel

Baal was the Canaanite Storm God & Bringer of Rain

Elijah’s God is Greater Than Baal

This wouldn’t have Made Ahab Very Happy…

So God Tells Elijah to Flee to the Brook at Cherith…

And Hide There

God Tells Elijah that He’ll Provide for Him There

He’ll have the Brook for Water…

And God would Command the Ravens (Unclean Birds)…

To Bring Him Bread & Meat

Elijah Trusted God…

And God Provided for Elijah’s Needs

But then the Brook Dried Up from the Lack of Rain

Here Comes Another Test

1 Kings 17:8–17 (NASB95)

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.”

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.”

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.’ ”

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.

17 Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.

After the Brook Dried Up…

God Told Elijah to Go to a Different Location, Zarephath of Sidon

Sidon is the Pagan Area Where Queen Jezebel is From

This Time, Instead of Unclean Birds…

God Commands an Unclean Woman to Provide for Him

This is an Odd Choice for a Provider

1st, She’s a Gentile (Why would God Choose a Dirty, Rotten Gentile?)

2nd, She’s a Woman (Less Opportunities to Provide for Herself)

3rd, She’s a Widow (Doesn’t have Anyone to Provide for Her)

4th, She and Her Child are on the Brink of Starvation

She Doesn’t have Anything Extra to Provide

But this is Exactly Who God has Chosen as Elijah’s Provider

I Believe Because God Knew She had a Heart to Trust Him

When Elijah Gets to the Gate of the City…

He Immediately Sees the Widow

When He Asks Her for Water, She Goes to Get Him Some…

But Then He Yells for Her to Bring Some Bread as Well

She Responds with:

“I Can’t Do that for You”

“I’ve Only Got a Very Little Amount of Flour & Oil”

“In Fact, I was About to Cook it as Mine & My Little Boy’s Last Meal”

But Elijah Tells Her to Not Be Afraid…

But to Make a Piece of Bread for Him First

If She’ll Do that, God will Provide Her with an Infinite Amount of Flour & Oil

It Won’t Run Out Until the Drought is Over

She Trusted Elijah & His God

And God Rewarded Her By Providing for Them

Elijah Stayed with Her for Days…

And They had All the Flour and Oil They could Want

But Then, Out of Nowhere, Her Son Becomes Sick & Dies

Another Test from God

1 Kings 17:18–24 (NASB95)

18 So she said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!”

19 He said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed. 20 He called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray You, let this child’s life return to him.”

22 The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. 23 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 is alive.” 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

She Believed Her Son’s Death was Punishment for Her Sins

When a Widow Lost Her Son, She wasn’t Just Losing a Beloved Child

She was Also Losing Her Hope of a Future Provider

She Believes Her Former Sins have Come Back to Haunt Her

But Elijah Took the Boy and Called Upon God to Resurrect Him

And God Listened

This is the First Resurrection in the Scriptures

God isn’t Just More Powerful than Baal

He’s More Powerful Than Death

This Led the Widow to Say:

“Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.”

What Infinite Oil & Flour Couldn’t Do…

Resurrection Could

There was No Doubt in Her Mind Now

God, Again, Rewarded Their Faith…

And Brought Her Child Back to Life

Application

This Passage is a Roller Coaster of Highs & Lows

God would Place the Faithful Person in a Difficult Position…

And When They Remained Faithful/Trusting…

God Blessed Him & Provided for Him

This Whole Chapter is about Trusting God

But God will Often Test Our Faith/Trust in Him

Testing Almost Always Comes in the Form of Suffering

But God Wants Us to Pass the Test/Keep Trusting Him

He Wants to Reward/Provide for Us on the Other Side of the Test

The Life of God’s People is a Cycle of “Test - Faith - Reward”

When You’re Going Through Tests/Trials, Keep the Faith

Recognize that this is a Test & God Wants You to Pass

Endure/Keep the Faith

Don’t Be Afraid, But Trust that He will Provide…

And He Will

God Wants to Be Our Protector/Provider

But We Must Remain Faithful Through the Tests

He’ll Provide for the Faithful in this Life…

And in the Life to Come

James 1:12 (NET)

12 Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him.