Dead or Alive - 1 Kings 17

Introduction

In 2006, a Filipino fisherman’s anchor got hung beneath some rocks. Just as he had done hundreds of times over the years, he swam down under the water to unhang his anchor. Beside his anchor, he saw the largest clam that he’d ever seen. Even though it weighed more than 75 pounds, he had to have it; so, he pulled it free and swam it to the surface. Inside the clam, there was a pearl that was 1 foot wide and more than two feet long. The fisherman thought of it as good luck and kept it under his bed for 10 years. Then, in 2016, his house burned down, and the only possession he managed to save was his good luck pearl. He left the pearl in the safe-keeping with his Aunt Aileen, which I mention because all of us have an Aunt Aileen, and she got curious as to what the pearl might be worth. And, what she discovered was that her nephew had uncovered the largest and most expensive pearl in the world with a value of more than $100M.

(Show picture of clam.) As I thought of that, I started thinking of how this pearl had been kept. Its journey began inside of clam like this one. It’s strange looking, and, without the pearl inside, it’s totally worthless. It’s fragile and easy to break. It’s hard to believe it could house a $100M treasure. But, even the clam was better than being thrown under the bed. That’s where monsters live, not where treasures are kept. If the clam wasn’t worthy of the treasure, then the space under the bed surely wasn’t.

God’s Word

(Show pic of night of my salvation.) And, I think that’s a picture of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4. He says that God takes the Pearl of Greatest Price, the very gospel of Jesus Christ, and He puts inside of a jar of clay that looks like this! It’s container that’s unworthy of its treasure. But, that’s how God works. God brings glory to his name by channeling his glory through surprising and unworthy vessels. And, as we begin our time with Elijah this morning, we see The Surprising Vessels of God’s Glory: (Headline)

God “speaks” through “displaced” prophets.

1 Kings 17:1 “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.””

None of us would know who God is or who we are if God never spoke. We’d be left with evidence and imagination, and there’s no limit to human lunacy when that’s all we have. But, God is merciful and gracious, and He speaks that his people might who He is and who they are. And, we’re entering the time of the prophets. These are men are the microphones for the voice of God. And, this morning, we meet perhaps the greatest of the Prophets. The very prophet that appears on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus — Elijah. And, he seems to come out of nowhere. We have no background. Scholars today aren’t really even sure where his Tishbe was located. In fact, most prophets are introduced by the formula, “The word of the LORD came to...” But, not Elijah. He’s just this really hairy guy that seemingly appears out of the wilderness and Waltzes into the Oval Office to tell the President that God has said there’s going to be a drought until Elijah says otherwise.

Who’s “dead”, and who’s “alive”?

The man he approaches is King Ahab, which 1 Kings 16 tells us is the most evil of all the kings to that point. He’d done more to provoke the Lord to anger than any other leader of Israel. He’d married a Baal worshiper named Jezebel, and he’d led Israel to worship Baal, diverting devotion and glory away from the God who had delivered and kept them all these years. And, you need to understand that if you’re to understand what a punch in the gut Elijah’s declaration was really is. Do you notice how he grounds his prophecy? “As surely as the LORD lives...” That is, if the LORD of Israel is really alive, then this is what’s going to happen. In more than one way, Elijah is assaulting the core identity of who Baal was. You see, Baal was a storm god. He controlled the rain, the lightning, and, as a result, the prosperity of the region. But, every year, the dry season would come, and so the mythology of Baal was that during the dry season, he would die, and the people would have to do all kinds of ridiculous rituals — rituals we’ll see more clearly next week — to raise him back to life again. So, key in on what Elijah is saying. The LORD is alive. He actually controls the rain. There’s a drought coming that Baal can’t prevent. There’s a drought coming that will show you that this god you serve really is dead and won’t be raised. And, when the time comes, I’m not going to dance and scream and cut myself. I’m just going to ask him, and the rain will come.

You see, the question before Ahab, and us, is: Who’s alive, and who’s dead? What’s real, and what isn’t? That’s the question that Elijah was sent to settle, and that’s the question that each of us must settle. This is the starting place for all of life. Paul says it like this: “If Jesus wasn’t resurrected from the dead, and if we won’t be resurrected from the dead, then Christians are the most pitiful people on earth.” We’ve wasted our lives. We’ve lived devoted to a dead god. But, if Jesus is real, then living to climb the corporate ladder or living for more prestigious address or living to have a house in Destin is living for a wasted life.

Do you want “more”, or do you want “best”?

1 Kings 17:2-3 “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.”

1 Kings 17:6 “And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.”

You see, whatever you believe is most real will establish your priorities. I say “most” real to say that there are things that you may agree with intellectually though you live as though there is a greater reality to organize your life around. I may agree that Jesus is Lord and yet still organize my life around sports or career or social gatherings. Ahab and Israel are faced with this. And, Elijah is faced with this, too. We’re tempted to read this as though it was clear and easy for Elijah. This is what God said; so, that’s what he did. But, our own difficulty honoring the simplest of God’s instructions should tell us otherwise. You’ll notice that it says that Elijah has to go and hide. You don’t hide because things are easy. You hide because Jezebel wants you dead, and Jezebel gets what she wants. That’s where we can see how Elijah could be tempted to take the same path as Ahab and Israel. Why did they worship Baal? Because Baal promised them more. They thought he could send more rain, more fertile land, better crops, and more money. Why might Elijah back down and sign off on Baal? He could have more. He could have certainty and not be on the run. He could raise through the ranks as a prophet for Ahab. Elijah’s faithfulness would displace him from his home, from an easier and simpler life.

In Elijah, we see the alternative to Ahab’s choice. Ahab chose more, but Elijah chose God’s best. Ahab’s choice was a more prosperous life, and Elijah’s choice was for a more satisfying one. You see, Elijah believed that the living God was the truest reality and Ahab believed his personal success was. But, who’s life was actually the best? What is harder? to have plenty or to have none? To have none. Elijah chose the harder path. But, what is sweeter? To go to a full pantry, or to eat from the raven’s beak? Oh, it’s sweeter to be fed by the hand of God.

Do you want more, or do you want best? Because, you see, if you’re convinced that God is alive and you actually live like it, you’re embracing a more difficult and complex life. And, a more satisfying one too. God will take you as a man or woman, a teenager or a child from small town Alabama — like a prophet from the wilderness — and He will use you as a vessel of his glory! You’d be surprised what God can do with a displaced prophet who isn’t even welcome in his hometown.

God “supplies” through “destitute” widows.

So, Elijah lives happily ever after waiting on the drought to clear by eating from the ravens and drinking from the book. Of course not. God doesn’t let his prophets figure him out.

Other gods “starve” you to “death”.

1 Kings 17:9-12 ““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.””

The brook runs dry so God sends Elijah to a widow in Zarephath in Sidon so that she can provide for him. But, the drought has hit there, too. In fact, in finding the widow, Elijah finds a woman is far worse shape than he’s in. She’s collecting wood, not to burn, but to eat. She’s emaciated, and her son is starving to death. God has sent Elijah to a homeless person to ask for a place to stay. He’s sent him to a bankrupt person to see if he can float him for a month. And, she’s a widow — unable to provide for herself, unable to secure a job or a loan. She’s hopeless and without prospects. But, don’t miss where she’s from. She’s from Zarephath of Sidon — the same place Jezebel is from. She lives in downtown Baalville. She’s a graduate of Baal University. The very god to whom Israel is selling out their souls has abandoned and forsaken his own people. This destitute widow is a symbol of the false hope of Baal. He promises more, but he delivers only death. Their people starve to death.

If you were to open the social media apps on your phone, you’d see the same false gods promising the same false promises. You can have a better body and a better house and a better job and a better marriage and better health. You can be successful and comfortable and admirable. Then, maybe just maybe, you can be happy. But, your Instagram is filled with smiling pictures of starving souls. You can have plenty of food in the pantry and still have a starving soul. The very symbols of our false, photoshopped god — people like Ted Turner and the Kardashians and Justin Beiber — are living proof that Baal — and the American Dream — starves people to death.

God turns your “sticks” to “bread.”

1 Kings 17:13-16 “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.”

But, there’s an alternative, which is what Elijah is sent to prove. Baal didn’t care about this widow in Sidon, but God did. God didn’t just send Elijah to the widow so he could eat. He sent Elijah to the widow so she could eat, too. Now, we’ve already seen that this is a generous woman. In a drought and starving to death, she was going to give Elijah a drink of water. But, Elijah takes it further. He tells her that if she will give him the very last of her food, even above her own son, then the Lord will make sure that her cabinets are never empty again. Now, if Elijah is a con-man, she’s in trouble. So, it comes down to faith? Will she believe that Elijah’s God is alive or not? Is he real or just another Baal that will leave her hungry? What’s sensible is on the one hand, and what is faithful is on the other. And, that’s the necessary scenario for faith. Faith isn’t just obedience when it’s sensible. Faith is especially obedience when it’s radical.

Will she eat what she has and have food today, or will she offer what she has and eat forever? She takes her flour and her sticks, and she offers them to the Lord. And, every day, she returns to find more flour and more oil. It looked like this woman couldn’t afford to offer what she had, but it turned out that she couldn’t have afforded not to. She and her son may have eaten that day, but they would’ve starved the next. Think of the picture. Israel is starving to death waiting on Baal, and this Gentile woman is eating from the very hand of God himself.

How many of us are like Israel? We’re living for today. We’re eating today. We’re clinging to our little flour and sticks with white knuckles like they’re actually a treasure. Don’t you know? God turns your sticks to bread. Trust yourself, and eat today, but live for the Lord and eat forever. Where is the Lord calling you to radical obedience that you’re deciding to just be sensible instead? You’d be surprised how God can provide with a couple of pieces of wood.

God “saves” through “dead” sons.

1 Kings 17:17-18 “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!””

A “crisis” of faith.

So, Elijah and the widow live happily ever after, right? Of course not. As is so often the case, a great moment of faith is followed by a crisis of faith. I can’t list the number of times I’ve been invited to lunch or had someone stop by my office to say: “The more I run after God, the harder my life seems to get.” This widow places faith in YHWH for the first time in her life, and she does it so that she and her son can be saved, so that they can eat. And, how is she rewarded? Her son gets sick and dies. Well, that will let the wind out of your sails. But, I want you to notice something here. What does the death of her son draw out of the widow? It draws out a misunderstanding of who God is. She says, “God didn’t come to me save me; God came to me to punish me!” It looks like God has pulled the old bait and switch.

Now, the significance of this is that this is how all of the other gods operate. They’re finicky and spiteful and temperamental. But, the LORD doesn’t relate to his people like that, and He’s come to her that she would be one of his people. If she is to live in the full joy of knowing that the LORD is her God, she has to learn that He’s unlike that gods she’s been told about.

In fact, much of our suffering is to that end. If our lives are simple and our understandings are never challenged, we’ll continue on with all sorts of misunderstandings and misgivings about God. We’ll never realize the full joy of knowing God as He truly is, and God is determined that his people know him as He truly is.

A “saved” woman.

1 Kings 17:22-24 “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.””

So, Elijah prays and lays himself over the child. His cold, dead body begins to warm again with the circulation of his blood. His lifeless eyes open again. Dead silence is eradicated by a child’s sweet voice. And, when the widow sees it, she says, “Now I KNOW that you are a man of God.” She’s been saved! She knows the Lord truly! She knows that YHWH reigns over life and death. He’s the living God, and she knows it because her dead son is alive again! She’s witnessed a resurrection. The death of her son had been a medium through which God would channel his glory. Oh, you’d be surprised what God can do through a displaced prophet not even welcomed in his hometown. And, you’d be surprised what God can do with a couple of pieces of wood. And, best yet, you’d be surprised what God can do with a dead Son. Why? Because God is alive!