Elijah & the Widow
ELIJAH AND THE WIDOW
1 Kings 17:7-24,
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 zah’re-fath , 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.
Ahab is King and Jezebel is queen
They worship Baal a false god
They have been warned
Now Elijah comes into the scene to tells Ahab that they will be not rain for a long time because of his disobence.
I. It was hard times for everyone
A. The drought was wide spread
B. The poor where hurt first
C. Here we have a Widow and her son
1. They are about to die
2. She is on her way picking up sticks to prepare food to eat with her son and than die
II. God is making provisions to take care Elijah and the Widow and her son
A. Elijah was at a brook were God told him to go
1. Their God took care of him
a) Water out of the brook
b) Birds brought him food
B. The brook has dried up.
C. Now God tells Elijah to go to a town were a Widow is
1. The Widow has nothing, but God is about to take care of the all of them
2. First, he tells the Widow to get him some water
3. Second, he tells her to make him a cake
III. Everything that has happened and is about to happen requires faith
A. Think about this, Elijah is back at the brook and day-by-day he sees the brook drying up
1. This drought lasted for years (31/2 years)
2. It says in verse 7 that the brook dried up
3. How would you feel if your job was going out of business, week by week your hours are getting less
a) There are not jobs to get
b) You have used up all you savings
c) This is what happened to Elijah
B. Than God tells him to go and meet this Widow which is supposed to take care of him
1. Elijah gets there and she is on her last meal and is about to die
a) Again how would you feel if this happen to you?
2. The Widow is asked to make a cake first for Elijah than for her and her son.
a) God always wants us to go to Him first or give to him first before He takes care of us.
b) Romans 1:17, For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith
c) Hebrews 10:38, Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
3. Then Elijah gives the Widow the commands of the Lord.
a) We in turn have the Bible to find out what God wants us to do.
4. The Widow has faith and trusts God to fulfill His part.
Conclusion:
1 Corinthians 1:27, But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.
Everything through out this story look hopeless from man point of view
The drought
The brook drying up
The Widow is about to eat her last meal
Put we must remember that God is in control and He is taking care of everything.
I believe we have here the same thing that took place with Abraham and his son.
Abraham know that God would rise his son up or stop him
from killing him.
Elijah know that God was going to take care of him no mater
how bad it looked.
John 4:13-14,13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
What God supplies will never run out.