The First Last Meal
Notes
Transcript
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.
Rain Lifeblood of Israel
Rain! Jerusalem gets 16-19 inches of rain per yr most falling in the two rainy seasons of about 60 days
Ms gets 50-65 inches of rain per yr with about 110 days of rain.
between May and October there is almost no rain. In all of the Middle East, water is precious, like oil is nowadays. In ancient times, countries that had water in abundance became superpowers, and the countries with little barely survived. Egypt received almost no rain at all, but had abundant water from the flooding of the Nile. That was why when regional famine came, people went there to purchase food, like Abraham and later Joseph’s family. The water available from the Nile each year was 30,000 times more plentiful than the yearly rainful to Israel – an enormous difference indeed! It is therefore interesting that God saw the water of Israel as superior to that of Egypt. In Deuteronomy 11:10 – 12 it says,
The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.
The difference between Egypt and Canaan was that in Egypt the crops were irrigated by the labor of hand-watering, while in Canaan the land was entirely watered by rain, geshem in Hebrew. In the ancient Middle East, that had profound spiritual implications, because rain was understood to be a gift straight from God, whereas water drawn by hand was a seen to be human self-reliance without regard to God. Egypt and Canaan, therefore, were a contrast of security of human effort compared to dependence on God.
This was a spiritual lesson for the Israelites when they left the land of Egypt for the promised land of Canaan — that when God chose a land for his people, he didn’t choose a place where they could have security because of their own efforts, he chose a land where they would be far more dependent on him and would need his presence watching over them to send them the living water of rain, geshem
1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. 3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. 6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
King James Version Chapter 28
14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. 17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. 18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
The rain (in some thirty-eight references) is never to be taken for granted by mankind; it comes from the hand of God (Ps 147:8; Job 5:10; 28:26; 36:27) in amounts proportionate to the spiritual condition of the inhabitants of that land (Deut 11:11, 15 [H 14]. When men love the Lord their God and serve him with all their heart and soul (Deut 11:13), he sends rain on their land in its regular season (Deut 11:14; 28:12). But when they turn and go after other gods, the rain is shut off in heaven. Men and beasts languish (Deut 11:17) and the land is turned into powder and dust (Deut 28:24). Thus the condition of the promised land was itself a witness to the spiritual life of the people.
Amos 4:7 “7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, When there were yet three months to the harvest: And I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: One piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.”
The connection between man’s spiritual condition and the amount and timing of the rainfall is seen in passages like Amos 4:7. When man’s heart is right with God, he graciously gives the command to the clouds and they refresh the earth (Isa 5:6),Isaiah 5:6 “6 And I will lay it waste: It shall not be pruned, nor digged; But there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.”
Indeed at the very juncture in history when Israel chose to worship Baal the storm god (I Kgs 16:31–32),
1 Kings 16:31–32 “31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. 32 And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.”
Elijah appeared with the warning, “There will be neither dew nor rain these years except by my words” (I Kgs 17:1).
Crazy Man! appeared before one of the most powerful men in the world.
Then set in the Thirst… Importance of Rain
10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: 11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:
cisterns, wells going dry.
where is that wild man? sent to nations no answer. We cant find him.
Hidden in a wadi.
Raven- noah
Leviticus 11:13 (KJV 1900)
13 And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination:
15 Every raven after his kind;
Unclean… Ravens are very clever birds and they are always very quick to take the opportunity of stealing food. They are very ferocious eaters and very greedy. Ravens rely upon things that die or are killed, then they tear and devour the flesh from the carcass.
Who gives his food?
King James Version (Chapter 38)
Who provideth for the raven his food?
When his young ones cry unto God,
They wander for lack of meat.
Psalm 147:7–9 “7 ... mountains. 9 He giveth to the beast his food, And to the young ravens which cry.”
Unclean animal given his food by God and providing to Elijah
Widow of Zarapeth Gentile...
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Theological Significance
Zarephath would have been considered Baal’s territory. Yahweh’s ability to send drought there, and exercise power over life and death, demonstrated His superiority to Baal
The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Theological Significance)
Zarephath is mentioned as belonging to Sidon (1 Kgs 17:9), which sets up a contrast between the widow of Zarephath and Jezebel, a Sidonian princess (1 Kgs 16:31). While Jezebel feeds the prophets of Baal in Israel (1 Kgs 18:19), the Zarepthathite widow feeds Elijah, the prophet of Yahweh, in Sidon
God uses a Gentile.
God placed Israel in the middle of heathen nations as a holy example. God provided a way for those of the nations to be able to become Jews. Part of the people of God. Somewhere along the way, the Jews became so elite that they couldnt even enter the home of a member of the nations.
Peter later says Acts 10:28
Acts 10:28 “28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.”
God speaking through and using a Gentile
separate? God told Elijah “ I have commanded”
Mark 9:38–40 “38 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. 39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. 40 For he that is not against us is on our part.”
Elijah shows up
Elijah living on the edge of a creek shows up to a broken hearted, despondent, lost all hope woman. Looking wild!
fire on a stone to take the last little cup of meal, and make a small piece of bread.
No more hope. (but God) The end is near.
King James Version (Chapter 17)
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
She didnt have to work on blind faith but was given what would happen.
King James Version Chapter 17
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
Choices
At this point she has to match whatever she heard from God to what she has heard from this wild man. God commanded me to sustain, here is this man...
She chose to give to and help the stranger.
Elijah lived in a time period where worship was distorted. Israel was traveling to Dan and Bethel to worship God in front of calves. Ahab had allowed and welcomed idolatry into his home in and allegiance with Jezibel. She brought in strange worship.
Israel wasnt even sure who was God anymore. This person worships this, that person worships that.
In the middle of this time of major uncertainity, Elijah just SHOWS UP!
Elijah “my God is Jehovah”
Baal was the God of Thunder, Rain, Lightening. This man shows up out of nowhere and my God is Jehovah says that there will be NO Thunder, Rain, and Lightening unless he says. This was so powerful that it was widespread even along the northern coast of Sidon. Jezibel’s home.
God used and unclean animal and an unclean person to care for the one that stood for him.
The residual result was that both the unclean animal was given food and the unclean person. Both nature and fellow people felt the delivering power of an awesome God by one man standing and saying my God is Jehovah!
Age we live in. More an more around us seems to be crumbling but if we stand for the awesome might and power of God , He will sustain. Because of his sustaining us, others can be saved. Stand for God. We are here to show the saving power of God. We are saved by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony not by our being better, smarter, or holy than anyone.
God is, God can, and God will provide for and through his people.