my please the Lord's the bless
us together this morning as we consider his word this is a book
of the Kings first with the Kings chapter 17 and we'll read verse
14 the first book of the Kings chapter 17 and reading verse
14 for the seth the Lord God of Israel the barrel of meal
shall not waste neither shall the cruise of oil fail until
the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth." We have a very clear evidence
of God's work, God's provision as we read this account in the
17th chapter of Elijah and how he was called to speak to Ahab. Ahab was an evil man, a bad king
and Elijah was called to walk on the earth at this time and
it was his lot to go and tell King Ahab, that there wouldn't
be any rain on the earth for these years, but according to
my word. And so having proclaimed to Ahab
that which was to occur, God had made provision for Elijah. And that provision was in two
places. First of all, he was directed
to go to the brook Pireth that is before Jordan and it is of
interest to note that there was this brook and the Lord gave
him water from the brook and obviously the brook was a tributary
of the river Jordan a much larger river and when that brook dried
up the Lord didn't say to Elijah well now move down a bit and
go to the Jordan, and I'll provide in the same way there." No, the
Lord's way was very different. He was provided initially by
going to this stream, Kireth, or this brook, and then he was
told to go to a very different location, not by the river, an
inland situation at Zidon. And it was a long way away from
this position where Elijah had first been directed to. And we should realise therefore
that in our lives, what might appear to be the obvious way,
may not always be the way. God could so easily have said
to Elijah, we'll just move down a bit further to the Jordan,
and we'll get a bill right there. And it would have seemed natural,
but of course, there's a place right on the doorstep. But it
wasn't to be so. He was to go and to be fed in
this place of Zarephath. Well, the Lord did feed him,
of course, in a most amazing way, by the brook Kireth. Not
only was he fed, provided by the water, but also blessed with
that food that the ravens brought to him. And we see how God appears,
don't we, in these ways, and provides in an unexpected way. See, God can do that which we
think would not occur, perhaps. No doubt, Elijah never thought
of ravens provided for his natural sustenance. But nevertheless,
the Lord provided in that way. And then we're told, it came
to pass after a while that the brook dried up. Because there
be no rain in the land, and the word of the Lord came unto him,
saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and
dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow
woman there to sustain thee." Again, as we read in the Gospel
of Luke, that there were many widows who existed at that time
in this land of Zion. But Elijah was sent to one particular
woman. We're not told a name, it's not
important. What we are told is that the
Lord directed Elijah to this one person. And we see, do we
not hear, very clearly the sovereign grace of God. Because there were
many people who could have been elected to provide this sustenance
for Elijah, but no, there was this certain woman. And so, when
God had commanded Elijah to do this, what did he do? He arose. 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. He didn't
have to think now, where am I going to find this woman? Where is
she going to be? The Lord had gone before. And
here was this woman at the gate. As he went to enter into the
city, there was a woman there, gathering of sticks. And he called
to her and he said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in
a vessel that I may drink." Now we must realise that there was
a time of famine, there was a time of great shortage of water. And
here is this stranger, this person, calling out to this widow, in
this way, go and provide, fetch some water for me to drink. Well, what did the woman do?
We might think that she would have remonstrated, she might
have said, well, I haven't got enough water really for myself.
In any event, there's lots of other people who need water.
Why should I go and provide water for you? Well, as she was going
to fetch it, it appears that there was no remonstration. She
immediately went to provide for the need of Elijah. Again, we
should be encouraged by this in our lives because the Lord
knows our needs and the Lord can provide those people to meet
our need in a very remarkable and a very wonderful way. And
there was no discussion. She went to fetch this water
and then a more remarkable development. He calls and says, bring me,
I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand." And she responded,
ask the Lord liveth, I have not a cake. She hadn't got any bread,
she hadn't got any food, but all she got was a handful of
meal in a barrel, a little oil in a cruise. And behold I'm gathering
two sticks, I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we
may eat it and die." Again, we observe here the woman
wasn't complaining about her situation. No, there was no remorse really
about it. She just very simply stated the
case which existed to Elijah. And Elijah said to her, 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."
So we have this encouraging word, fear not. Fear not, and how many
times perhaps in our lives we need that word from the Lord,
fear not, especially when the future might seem very difficult. It was, here was this woman here,
apparently with her last hand full of meal to provide food
for her and her son. And here's this person coming
and telling her to go and dress it, and first of all, make a
cake for him. And therefore he addresses her
in this way, fear not, fear not. But he goes on, he goes on, for
thus saith the Lord God of Israel. And we need to recognise that
in our lives today, if we are to be blessed with this fear
not, It is because it emanates from our God. For thus saith the Lord God of
Israel, The baron of Meor shall not waste, neither shall the
crews of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain
upon the earth. Well, the result was that this
woman then went and did according to the saying of Elijah. And so here we have the evidence
of God's movement and God's work in her heart. And it's of significance
that although we don't read of Elijah saying anything about
himself previously, we do read, and she said in response to his
request to bring some food, she said, as the Lord thy God liveth,
she obviously acknowledged that the Lord God was his God, as
the Lord thy God liveth. That is really quite an amazing
statement. And yet how relevant it is, in
this case, how relevant it is in our lives to consider that
God is in it. God is working, as the Lord thy
God liveth." She then went on to explain the situation, but
there was this evidence quite clearly that she realised that
Elijah was someone who worshipped the true God, as the Lord thy
God liveth. Therefore it was no doubt not
surprising to her to hear a response like this, fear not. And then,
for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barren of meal shall
not waste, neither shall the crews of oil fail, until the
day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. The Lord was
going to provide not only for Elijah, but he singled out this
woman and her son. We're not told, of course, how
many other people in this town of Zarephath died of starvation. During this period, we're not
told either of how long it was. We know that there wasn't any
rain for some three and a half years, but we're not told how
long it was that Elijah was by this brook Kirith, or how long
it was that the Lord provided for him in this way. But nonetheless,
what we do know is that God did provide. And what we do know
is this, that God's promises and God's promise was fulfilled. For thus saith the Lord God. Now that makes all the difference
in our lives if there is a thus saith the Lord. Thus saith the
Lord." And here it was then in this woman's life. It was of
course the life also of her son and also it affected Elijah himself. Now we should not forget that
Elijah also requires faith to believe. We perhaps read this
account and think well of course it was Elijah and he was a man
of God. Well we shouldn't forget that Elijah was a man of like
passions as we are. And you may say, well, how do
you prove that? Well, it's quite easy to prove
because a bit later on on Mount Carmel, we know when the Lord
appeared for him in a most remarkable way. And the fire came down from
heaven and consumed the sacrifice and the stones of the altar and
all the water. a most amazing appearance and
answer to his prayer, that God revealed himself in that way.
We then see him frightened of Jezebel, running away, running
away from a woman like that, who was an evil woman. We see
how left to ourselves, we so easily become fearful. But here
was this occasion though, the Lord blessed Elijah, with living
faith, to be able to make a statement like this. For thus saith the
Lord God of Israel. Yes, he was speaking it in the
fullness of the word of the Lord. He was the Lord's servant and
he was speaking it here in this way. Thus saith the Lord God
of Israel. And so it was to be proved that
the Barron of Beale would not waste, it would not fail. And
the cruise of oil would continue until the day when the Lord sendeth
rain upon the earth. Now, this woman with that statement,
she went and did according to the saying of Elijah. We see that within the faith
given to her. We see the faith given to Elijah
to make the statement to her. We see the faith given to this
woman to obey the word of Elijah. And so indeed, that which he
had said came to pass. And she went and did according
to the saying of Elijah. And she and he and her house
did eat many days. The Lord was faithful. My friends, our God is faithful
today. He is mindful of his people,
wherever they may be. He was mindful of Elijah. Elijah had to travel all that
way to this place of Zarephath to meet this woman and her son
and to provide food for them. until the end of the famine when
once again rain came upon the earth. And what a blessing it
is for us today to know that the Lord still sits on the throne,
and the Lord still makes provision. Now then, as the Lord made provision
in this natural way, and we should not forget that God still makes
provision for us in natural ways, And there are still those needs,
are there not, in our lives? But we do need God to come. We
do need God to appear. There may be those difficulties.
There may be those situations where we need to hear God's word,
fear not, and to have that confirmation for thus saith the Lord God of
Israel. You know, with those two, that
combination, what a wonderful encouragement it is, isn't it?
Fear not. For thus saith the Lord God of
Israel." Surely we can be assured that when God speaks in this
way, then it will come to pass, and there will be that provision
for us, there will be that way made for us, there will be that
favour and blessing of the Lord in our natural lives. But as
we look at it also, we need to consider, of course, in our spiritual
life, and how Essentially it is that we are blessed spiritually. Here was this woman then, in
this land of Zida, this place of Zarephath, and virtually nothing
left. It appeared that there was no
future, no future in this place. She thought she was going to
therefore have a last little meal and then die. No future
here in Zarephath. The Lord had other purposes.
Sometimes the Lord has that for us in our spiritual life. We may come to a situation, we
may think, well, that's the end, there's no more future. And then
the Lord amazingly appears. She went out, didn't she? To
the city gate. Together, we just told two sticks. Nothing very great. There it
was. The Lord was to meet with her. Through Elijah. The Lord met
her in this way. And as you and I think of that
in our spiritual life, to think perhaps we come, as it were,
almost to the end of everything. And we think, well, all there
is, is just a little meal, a little oil, and then what would happen? I'd lay down and die. No, says
the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of Israel.
The Almighty God, the Ruler of the Universe, that One who has
the hearts of all men in His hands, this is what the Lord
tells us. The barren meal shall not waste,
Neither shall the cruise of oil fail until the day that the Lord
sendeth rain upon the earth." Now, we must think of this really
in a similar way to Israel as they travelled through the wilderness.
They were provided day by day with manna. Here was a daily
provision with this meal and this oil. It wasn't a sumptuous
feast, but it was sufficient. It was that which kept them alive. How often is this our case today,
perhaps? We may think that we want a wonderful
feast, perhaps, a spiritual feast. There's nothing wrong, of course,
in desiring that, but we should also be content with such things
as we have. For he has said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee. And so perhaps may we boldly
say the Lord is my helper. The Lord has been our helper.
The Lord has been with us. The Lord has provided for us. And to believe the Lord will
provide for us. So it was proved. Now, it was
just a simple meal, but it was sustenance. It was that which
was sufficient and I believe sometimes we're apt to belittle
perhaps the Lord's provision. Perhaps we belittle small things
from God's hand. Well, what are small things?
Again, We may have a view of small things in our little mind.
We may have a view of big things in our little mind. But we should
realise that God provides for his people in his way, not in
our way. And how often we have to prove
the truth of God's word. His ways are higher than our
ways. And also, his ways are far better
than our ways, far superior to our ways. And so here was Elijah
called upon to go this distance, to meet with this woman, so that
there should be provision for her and for her son for many
days. And she said to him, many days. Was it just said, well, that'll
do for you for tomorrow, and then we'll have to think about
something else. No. The word was that it was
provided for many days. Eat of it many days. A simple
diet. But it was a diet which kept
them alive. Now how important it is, therefore,
in our spiritual life, that God does provide for us. Now remember,
thus saith the Lord God of Israel. Fear not, thus saith the Lord
God of Israel. There will be that provision. There will be that provision
which will be sufficient, which will be adequate, which will
be good for us. And we shall recognise and realise
it is God that has supplied. God has done. great thing. It was a great thing, wasn't
it? It was, we might think a small thing, but it was a great thing
because it was sufficient to keep this woman and her son and
Elijah alive. So it may be in our spiritual
life. We may perhaps analyse it in
our minds as a small thing. In actual fact, it's a great
thing, because it's kept our soul alive. We understand that. I'm sure we do. What it means,
I believe, is just this. The Lord says, fear not. Thus
saith the Lord God of Israel. He directs us to consider the
Lord Jesus Christ. You know, day by day, we need
spiritual food. As we need natural food to live,
we need spiritual food. And my friends, there will be
nothing greater than to be directed, and we might put it like this,
and it's in a right way, the simplicity which is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. You know, it's wonderful. The
plan of salvation is so gloriously simple, and it is food for the
soul. Let us not get wrapped up into
expecting wonderful and amazing revelations, which I believe
often we would consume upon our lusts. We would be proud of what
God has done for us. We think, where is some great
person Because God has done this and given me this wonderful revelation.
My friends, I believe God gives you and me that which will be
for His honour and glory. And I'm sure this woman would
have realised it was the Lord that provided for her. The Lord
had given her this simple continuance in natural things. What a good
thing it is for you and me if we realise our soul has been
kept alive. Our soul has been kept alive
by the blessing of God, because He is faithful. And therefore
to hear such words as this, fear not, for thus saith the Lord
God of Israel, you'll be provided for spiritually, day by day,
in exactly the same way as Israel were of old. There was a manner
They went and collected it. Every day. They had to go out,
didn't they, and collect it. They didn't jump into their cooking
utensils themselves, did they? They had to go out, they had
to find it on the ground, they had to pick it up. So it is, I believe,
in a spiritual way, you see. This woman had to take this meal
and this oil and make cakes. The Lord gives us His Word, you
know. We're not to have it as a closed
book and think, well, God's going to speak to me. We're to read
the Word of God. And as you and I read the Word
of God, my friends, then to receive, day by day, this spiritual food,
which strengthens us. We rejoice in it. We rejoice
to read of what Christ has done. We rejoice to read of the glorious
fulfilment of prophecy. which was set forth right from
the beginning of Genesis, page after page, and the Lord fulfills
it. And as we see the fulfilment
of God's gracious promises in the Word of God, to then believe
those promises will be fulfilled in our lives. He has said, I
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. What a promise that is. To feel that the Lord is with
us. Going with us. Constantly by our side. To encourage
us. And to lead us on. Safely through
this world. Israel were led on safely through
the wilderness. God knew the direction. He knew
where He was going to take them. He knew where the cloud was going
to move. day by day or year by year, whenever
it was, when he moved it, he knew where it was going to move
and he knew he was going to bring them safely at last to Canaan. Sadly, Israel often rebelled. They didn't like the journey.
They wished they had some better food. They lost sight of the fact that
God was leading them to Canaan Sometimes perhaps we might lose
sight of the fact that God is leading us to our heavenly home,
and He's providing for us, day by day, as He did for Israel,
as He did for this woman and her son. There was a daily provision.
It didn't fail. The barren meal shall not waste. Neither shall the crews of oil
fail, until there will be a day coming
when you won't need it anymore. The Lord takes us from this earth
to glory. We won't need it anymore then,
will we? Because we will then, by God's grace, be forever with
the Lord. Until the day that the Lord sendeth
rain upon the earth. Until the day the Lord comes
and receives us unto himself. There will be then, blessed be
God, that daily provision for us, food and drink as it were, that
which we shall need to survive on, the Lord will provide. Well, we have wonderful evidence
of it, don't we, in the word of God. But think today, the
Lord has given us his word. He's given us the truth to be
able to read. We concluded this chapter, you
know, with these words, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth
is truth. God speaks truth. You and I can
rely upon his word as truth. What a strength that must be,
in this world in which we live, where there are so many evil
things, so many lies all around us. You don't know what to believe
and not believe in the world today, but to come back to the
word of God. And there we have, thy word is
truth. Who says that? The Lord Jesus,
when he praised his father. Thy word is truth. Surely that
is food and drink to your soul and my soul, day by day. To think
of it, we can go in the strength of the word of the Lord many
days sometimes. blessed with that continual considering
what He's done. You see, it leads us, doesn't
it? The Word of God directs us in one direction. Where is that?
To Christ. That's where it directs us. To
His work, to His glorious work, which was finished, completed
upon that cross at Calvary, when the Lord Jesus Christ gave His
life, a ransom for many, when he shed his most precious blood
in order to atone for all our sins, that we might be redeemed
for the precious blood of Christ. This is that spiritual food. And you see, it may not be a
fresh revelation, it will be something you can go back to
day after day, and your soul Feed upon it. Why? Because it's
living food. Never get stale. It's living
food. It'll feed your soul. For thus saith the Lord God of
Israel. Oh, what a blessing it is to know that we have the same
God today. Who appeared for Israel of old.
The same God that appeared for Elijah in his lead. The same
God that appeared for this woman and her son in their need. The
same God that appears for you and me today in our need, our
natural need and also our spiritual need. And to be able to come
and realise We have a great God. Yes, Elijah had faith to believe. This woman had faith, given her
to believe. Did she not? Here she was, first
of all going to give him some water, and secondly to fulfil
that requirement to make him a cake first. she received faith
to believe that which had been said and therefore she recognised
it was indeed the Lord and she went and did according to the
saying of Elijah and she and he and her house did eat many
days and it's wonderful in the word of God to prove again and
again when those things are prophesied and spoken about, and then later
on we can read, and it came to pass. And here we read here in
this 14th verse, for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barren
of meal shall not waste, neither shall the crews of the world
fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.
And in the 16th verse we read, and the barren of meal wasted
not. Neither did the crews of oil
fail according to the word of the Lord which he spake by Elijah."
Now, may you and I rely today upon the word of the Lord which
will not fail. Many things fail. The word of
the Lord will not fail. And all that God has said is
true. And all that we read of in the
word of God is true. And today, may our souls rejoice
in it, and may we feed upon it, may we be strengthened by it,
as we may consider Him the glorious Saviour of our soul. Amen.