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was working out His plans, by which all things were work ing together for good. (3) GOD’S PRESERVATION OF HIS MESSENGER, 17: 8-16. “ I have commanded a widow there to sus tain thee;” v 9. Elijah is ordered to change his hotel. He is to go to Zarephath, in Zidon, the region of Jezebel, his enemy. “ Zarephath” means “ smelting furnace,”— a place where dross is taken from metal. Here Elijah was to be refined. How could Elijah go to such a place of danger? (Rom. 4 :2 0 ; Psa. 89 :3 4 ). He found his boarding house keeper at the gate, gathering sticks. He knew her at once and gave his orders for water and bread. Was he selfish in asking food for himself first? (Num. 1 5 :21 ; Matt. 15:33, 34). Elijah’s visit was a test of faith to himself, and a blessing to the widow, for he was used to save her life. We never lose anything by sharing with others? (Prov. 3:9, 10; 2 Cor. 9 :6 -8 ). (4) GOD’S POWER MANIFESTED THROUGH HIS MES SENGER, 17:17-24. “And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah,” v. 22. The little household of the widow was invaded by death. Her son fell sick and died. She attributed her calamity to Elijah (v. 18) yet Elijah had saved her and her son from starvation. What must have been his feelings to be so misunderstood? The woman knew something of God, but not experimentally. Elijah said “Give me thy son,” and the woman, grief- stricken and stripped of earthly comfort, yields. Elijah took the child into his own room and laid him upon his own bed. What a scene for God and angels! Elijah wrestles with God in prayer, though he had no precedent for his faith. No prayer like that had ever been made before. But he believed that God was able and acted upon that belief. He measured himself upon the child three times, and three times prayed. He identified himself with the child. So Jesus identified Himself with the sinner. God heard the prayer of Elijah and honored his faith. The child revived. His soul came into him again, and Elijah returned him to the arms of his joyful mother,and she confessed her faith in God and in His Word. (5) THE PROPHET CHALLENGES THE KING, 18:17- 24 “ I have not troubled Israel; but thou” v. 18. Obadiah had broken the news to Ahab that Elijah had appeared to him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. They had not met for three and a half years. Elijah does not fear the king, although the king had been searching everywhere for him. The king feared to meet Elijah. He knew he was out of touch with God’s purpose and ‘that God’s supernatural power had been manifested in preserving Elijah. The drought was not by chance. The words of the king manifest the condition of his heart, “Art thou he that trouhleth Israel?” Elijah denoun ces the king to his face; but the king had no defence. He has found Elijah, but he trembles before him. (6) THE PROPHET CHALLENGES THE PROPHETS OF BAAL, 18:25-29, “ Call on the name of your gods” v. 25. The people had gathered and had heard the word of Elijah, “How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The bullocks were there for the altars. Elijah commanded the priests of Baal to choose one, which they did and dressed it and placed it upon their altar. Then they called in vain upon their god, Baal, but no answer came. Elijah
boam, in a mixed worship, but Ahab broke all bounds. With one fell swoop he swept away the worship LESSON of God, having taken for his wife Jezebel, EXPOSITION daughter of the king of Zidon, a priestess T. C. Horton of Baal. Images of Baal and Ashtaroth were everywhere. Heathen altars and heathen temples were everywhere. From every hill the smoke told of heathen sacrifices. Lust and licentiousness were rampant. A nation— the people of God— were carried away by fanaticism. The school of the prophets was closed. Elijah thought that he was the only one left, and even God’s eye rested on only seven thousand faithful ones. The measure of iniquity was full. Into this scene God projected a man— Elijah (meaning, “ Jehovah, my God” ). An Israelite from Tishbe, in Galilee, a wild, mountainous country, a place to raise a sturdy man. He was prepared for his mission as was Moses, John the Baptist and Paul. He had seen with growing indignation the sin of his people and had, perhaps, groaned unto God for a message. (1) THE PROPHET’S MESSAGE TO THE KING, 17:1. “There shall not be dew nor rain***but according to my word,” v. 1. There is no genealogy for servants. Suddenly, like a flash from a clear sky, without warning, as with Melchize- dek and Abraham, Moses and Pharaoh, John the Baptist and Herod, Elijah appears in the presence of Ahab. Elijah and Ahab! What a contrast! One with the con scious approval of God, the other consciously condemned of God. “ I have come to shut up the heavens,”-—what audacity! What presumption! Elijah must have been reading the Scriptures (Lev. 26:18, 19). God had warned Israel (Deut. 11:15-17). To face a king like Ahab with such a message was heroic, but a man that stands before the Lord need not fear man (Isa. 51:12, 13; Heb. 1 3 :6 ): “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” (2) GOD’S PROVISION FOR HIS MESSENGER, 17:2-7. “ The Word of the Lord came to him.” God’s Word was law to him. He was a servant. The message was “Go, hide thyself.” What a contrast! Elijah had turned the key in Heaven’s door, and now he is to hide away from the king whom he has so boldly faced. God’s commands are strange. His ways are not our ways. He set His seal to the message, locked the heavens, and hid the messenger. A desert place is a good place for a man who has a great commission. (Heb. 11 :38 ). It is good for God’s peo ple to know something of practical separation (2 Cor. 6 :1 7 ). Most of us need a thorn in the flesh to keep us in our places as servants. The Servant’s Food— water from the brook, bread from ravens! What strange food for a great prophet! “Lord, could you not have turned the water into wine, and the stones into bread? Could you not have supplied more fit ting food than meat from the mouth of foul ravens?” Yet, He feeds the ravens (Job 38 :4 1 ). He supplies all the needs of His own (Psa. 34:9, 10; Luke 2 2 :3 5 ): Not the wants, but the needs, and Elijah needed the very bill of fare which God provided. Men are never so great that they do not need to be taught. Elijah proved his faith by obeying. How did he spend his days then? (Isa. 26:20, 21). He was spared the sight of the misery of the dying cattle, the suffering people, the parched earth. He was in fellowship with the Lord who
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