December 10, 2021
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in 1 Kings? Here’s today’s reading:
1 Kings 17 (NIV)
Elijah Announces a Great Drought
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”
Elijah Fed by Ravens
2 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: 3“Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”.....Continue Reading
Read Luke chapter 11 this morning, where Jesus teaches the disciples prayer, while the Pharisees test Jesus trying to trap him in his teachings.
“Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering.”
Luke 11:17, 23 GNTD
https://bible.com/bible/69/luk.11.17-23.GNTD
1 Kings 17
Elijah put his trust in God and God provided for all his needs both safety and physical! It is a reminder especially after all the disobedient kings that when we put our trust and faith in the Lord He is the best ally to have on our side!
Even in the midst of an evil king, opposition and a drought, God gives direction and provision to Elijah. How neat it must have been to be fed by ravens, but it further reenforces the resources at God’s disposal to provide for His people in hard times. And yet when that no longer works, God has other provisions. And a non-Jewish widow is the one we might least expect, but God is the God of the unexpected. What faith this widow expresses in taking from what little she had to provide for Elijah and yet Elijah does tell her what will happen if she trusts and follows the directions. And thus we have another miraculous provision, flour and oil that does not end. And yet God’s provision does not mean there won’t be disappointment, despair, or lose. But even in the midst of those there will be provision, and sometimes that provision will be a miracle. Nothing like resurrection to affirm that the person you are dealing with is truly a man of God. And how amazing as God is taking care of His prophet, he also takes care of this gentile widow and her son.
What a wonderful chapter of God’s provision.
-God uses Elijah to exact judgment on Israel and then provides for him in miraculous ways.
-Directed to a flowing brook and fed by Ravens (I think that would make a very cool painting.)
-Sends him to a widow that He had pre-directed to care for him. “go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
-Resurrects the widow’s son at Elijah’s request. I think this is an interesting event. It seems like a free-will event. God planned for Elijah’s provision from the brook, the raven’s and the widow, but the resurrection of the son seems adjacent God’s larger plan and God answer’s Elijah’s sincere plea. “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” 21 And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” 22 Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.
I think this is indicative of Elijah’s faith and really a picture of what our faith should look like. Elijah trusted the Lord for his provision and seemed confident and relaxed in this knowledge. But with the death of the boy, it seems that Elijah wasn’t sure of God’s will in the matter, so he reasons logically with God and cries out to Him for the boy’s soul to return. It says that God heard Elijah and responded. Not that this was God’s plan all along. I think this is a good picture of God working through all timelines and decisions of man to accomplish His will and purpose, and “working all things together for good for those that love him and are called according to His purpose.”