1 Kings 17:9-24 Refined together – Together we’re better

Amazing things are composites. The combining of various components that have different physical and/or chemical properties that when combined are stronger than they are when they stand alone.

One of the earliest uses of composite material was by the ancient Mesopotamians around 3400 B.C., when they glued wood strips at different angles to create plywood.

In the 12th century A.D., Mongol warriors used composite materials (bamboo, silk, cattle tendons and horns, and pine resin) to craft archery bows that were swifter and more powerful than those of their rivals:

In the late 1800s, canoe builders began experimenting with different materials to make paper laminates. In 1942, engineer Ray Greene of Toledo, Ohio (who had worked for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company) made a dinghy from fiberglass and polyester resin. – modern bass boat

The use of carbon fiber helped advance many applications in a number of industries, including aerospace, automotive, marine and consumer goods. Kevlar body armor.

Composites used in rocket engines, military equipment

Even in electronics down to a nano level.

Composites are stronger as a team than as individual players.

The component materials don’t completely blend or lose their individual identities; they combine and contribute their most useful traits to improve the outcome or final product. Composites are typically designed with a particular use in mind, such as added strength, efficiency or durability.

And so it is with us. Together we are stronger together than we are when alone. And when God is at work in the refining process, He often puts us together with others. To strengthen one another. To encourage one another. To produce a create a strong community that exceeds the strength of one alone.

So it is with Elijah. God has refined him alone. Now God has additional plans. Now he will continue the refining process. This time it will involved others. And together they will be refined in community.

1 Kings 17:9-24

Refined together– Together we’re better

Prayer

God transitions Elijah to a new face of trials. Elijah must choose. Will he continue to obey. The individual choice will then transition to a reengagement with others.

I. Refined together: Thru ongoing trials

A. The test of continued refining v 9a

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”

1. It continues / can’t escape more trouble

2. Definition Zarephath – the place of refining

3. Refining not operated on our time schedule – but based on the wisdom of the refiner

B. The test of tough obedience v 9b-10a

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. …

1. Going – being where you don’t want to be

2. Gentiles

3. Baal worshippers – condemned religion that Jezebel had brought to Israel

4. Marginal person in society - widow

5. Unlikely place of provision

a) Poorest of all people

6. Thought - God’s provision demands we be where God demands - doing what He desires

a) No accidents (water ran out forcing a change)

b) God already had made the next provision unknown to Elijah

c) Must be where God intends

d) Must respond as He leads

C. The test of public commitment in spite of danger v 10

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city,

1. Leaving hideout – Jezebel in the process of killing the prophets of God (Obadiah later says)

2. Dangerous city – near Sidon – in Phoenicia

(1) Father of Jezebel king of Phoenicia – lived in Sidon Priest of Baal / Murdered king / Took over as king

3. Publicly exposed road by Z. – major trade route

4. Came to the gate of the city – place of public officials

II. Refined together: Joining with others

A. Inviting others to join in the journey v 10-11

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 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, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

1. Behold – attention – surprise – just as He said

2. Specific woman in a specific place

3. Unlikely ability to help

a) Widow – destitute in a land of destitution

B. Together in spite of the seeming conflict v 12

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 12 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.”

1. Widow – with a need for God’s provision herself

a) Precious and scarce water

b) Just a small loaf of bread

c) Not really able to even provide this

2. In a hopeless emotional / physical state

C. Encouraging others to walk in faith v 13-16

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 13 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.

1. Elijah – representing God here – prophet – special status

2. Invitation to trust in the Lord to make the provision

3. Encourage to face fear

4. Engaging others to walk by faith / causes us to walk by faith ourselves

D. Together claiming the promises of God v 14-16

14 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.’ ” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 16 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.

1. Never future supply – but always enough – like manna --- security only in God

2. Exhilaration of being provided for by God / answer to prayer / living by faith

III. Refined together: Living thru the crisis of faith

A. Dealing with a reversal of blessing v 17-20

1. The woman

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 17 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. 18 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!”

a) Her previous display of faith yet now tragedy – Is God faithful

2. Elijah

19 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. 20 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?”

a) Encouraged others yet trouble came to them – is God faithful?

B. Seeing the faithfulness of God v 21-23

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 21 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.” 22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.

23 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.”

1. God shows Himself to be faithful

C. Being transformed in understanding v 24

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 24 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.”

1. The goal of the trial – produce a new understanding of our God