God Provides

After King Solomon died, the tribes of Israel split into two kingdoms—the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Jeroboam was the king of Israel, and Solomon’s son Rehoboam was the king of Judah. These two kingdoms were frequently at war with each other, and they rotated through mostly evil kings for decades. Ahab was the king of Israel when the prophet Elijah came to him.

Elijah just kinda appears on the seen suddenly and what we see it that Elijah was a man of God. The Nation was divided because of their wickedness, and they worshiped Baal, but Elijah was a man of God.

The name Elijah means “My God is Yahweh.” We don’t know anything about Elijah’s background or family, but God chose Elijah (and later the prophet Elisha) to warn the Israelites of their future destruction.

God Provides for His servant in the midst of Judgement

1 Kings 17:1–7 ESV

Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” And the word of the Lord came to him: “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

God tells two things in this text:

Judgment on the wickedness of the people

For Elijah where to go and what to do

How did Elijah respond to God’s Word?

Elijah obeyed god word- The nation was disobedient, but Elijah trust the Lord. It would have been much easier for him to not trust God. He was bringing an unpopular word of judgement to not just some joe-smoe, it was a wicked king, and his evil wife who we find out in 1 Kings 19 wanted to kill Elijah, because He was a man who trusted and did what God told Him

God tells Elijah exactly what to say and what to do and Elijah trusts God

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

We see just form this little section that God is trust worthy- He Does what He says. There was a famine and God provided for His servant Elijah. What God said would happen happened even in the weirdest of ways. Birds brought food for Elijah because God’s will was for them to do just that. God is in charge of everything in this story; the whether, His Servant Elijah the brook, and even the Ravens.

It there anything that is impossible for God?

When we see this question our automatic response is “of course not.” The easy thing is to say these words with our mouths, it is harder for us to show the evidence in the way we live.

There are only two types of people and they are both portrayed in this story

Those who are like Israel. Don’t trust God, they don’t worship God as king of their lives- Worship being the way they live, their action and words, They Go after other “gods”- fame, fortune, popularity, social status

Those who are like Elijah. who even though it might be the unpopular opinion, they trust God and in turn obey God even when everyone else is doing the opposite, and even though it might cost them their life. They Trust God has what is best for them.

Martin Luther during the time of the Reformation can with a very unpopular truth to the Church. During this time the church had added many different practices to the Bible, such as penances and indulgences, in order to make money, and the people had no understanding of the Scripture because it was written in latin- The latin Vulgate.

Luther was part of this, yet God spoke to him through the book of Romans, in a time when Luther was being tortured by not being good enough to obtain salvation through his own efforts.

Romans 1:17 ESV

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

it was this verse that opened Luther’s eyes to the fact that we are saved by grace through faith- not by our own works. No one can pay the church to get a “get out of hell free” card. This is what spark the reformation of the church. it led to the Church and the Pope wanting to kill Luther but Luther said this-

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott “My Conscience Is Bound to the Word of God”

“My conscience is bound to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is … dangerous to act against conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me! Amen.”

—Martin Luther

Can we make this same statement of our live “My conscience is bound to the Word of God. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise.

This theme of God being in control and providing continues

1 Kings 17:8–16 ESV

Then the word of the Lord came to him, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 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, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ” And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

There are beautiful thing here in this section that is easy to miss and that is this section with God telling Elijah to go to the widow, and it ends verse 16 saying “The jar of flour was not spent, neither did jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah”

Who’s word was it?

God spoke to Elijah to go to this widow whom Elijah had no clue about, yet God saw her, and God His prophet who was just speaking to a king to go to this lowly widow who was preparing to die and God provided for her and her family.

We already saw God was in control of the whether and the birds and here we see that even inanimate objects God can control. As the widow was taking the flour and the oil out, God was constantly filling it. Nothing is impossible for God!

And what an amazing God who saw this desperate widow in a dire situation, and even though God was judging the land for their sins He spare this women and provided by sending His servant- What a beautiful picking of a loving God providing for the least of these.

His eyes are on the Sparrows

Why should I feel discouraged Why should the shadows come Why should my heart feel lonely And long for heaven and home When Jesus is my portion A constant friend is He His eye is on the sparrow And I know He watches over me His eye is on the sparrow And I know He watches me

Matthew 6:25–26 ESV

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Nothing is impossible for God, this becomes even more real in this next section

1 Kings 17:17–24 ESV

After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” And 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.”

If God is in control they why did the Son die?

It seems odd that God would do all these amazing acts that show His sovereignty and preserves this widows lie, who by the way was preparing to die, only to allow her son to die cause so much pain.

The widow questions Elijah and Elijah turns to the God who is able and pleads. Verse 20 says He “cried to the Lord.” Elijah cried out to Yaweh the covenant keeping God. The God who keeps His promises, the God who’s Words are trustworthy, God the Faithful.

It is this God who Elijah cries out too, and it is this God who hears and responds.

Psalm 34:17–18 ESV

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Why did God not just stop the boy from dying while He was just sick?

This is the important part. There is a similar story of Jesus when Lazarus had died

John 11:20–27 ESV

So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

These stories are very similar- and we are left with the question, “why didn’t God interview before the deaths?”

John 11:40–44 ESV

Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Jesus says, “I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”

It was because God was revealing Himself. He is all-powerful and sovereign over everything nothing is impossible for Him.

The response of the Widow and Martha show that they had come to truly know God- which in-turn was their greatest need, and brought God the greatest glory:

1 Kings 17:24 ESV

And 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.”

John 11:27 ESV

She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Christ Connection: God miraculously provided through Elijah to give food to the widow and life to the widow’s son. God wasn’t done providing. Many years later, God miraculously provided through His own Son, Jesus. Jesus is greater than Elijah. In Jesus, God provides salvation and life to everyone who trusts in Him.

The Question I will end with is the same that Jesus asked Martha “Do you believe?”

There are only two people those who know God and living in response to their understanding of who God is, and those who don’t

Which are you?