Monday, February 23, 2009

1 Kings 17

Here's the prequel to the other Elijah story I already wrote about. This one sort of establishes what kind of a player Elijah is. I have drawn the same conclusion the widow did. "I know that you are a man of God and the word of the Lord from your mouth is truth."

One phrase that must have been some kind of colloquialism at that time is "As surely as the Lord lives..." It's repeated a few times. That's really something to think about. If it is in fact true that the Lord lives, then how big a deal really are the miracles that happen in this chapter? If God is who He says He is, then multiplying food or bringing a boy back to like is really a small thing for Him. I want to start thinking like that. "As certain as I am that God is who He says He is..." then fill in the blank with whatever I'm in need of. Whether it's provision or life, He's got it in spades.

Another neat thing to note is that this story actually starts in verse 29 of the previous chapter. It tells us about Elijah's enemies, Ahab and Jezebel. One thing I think is awesome about it is that it mentions that Jezebel was a Sidonian. And after Elijah's smack down, where does God send him to lay low? Zarephath in Sidon. We can tell from details in chapter 18 that Ahab spent the entire drought on an international man hunt. But Elijah was on her home turf the whole time. The one nation he had the best chance of finding him. Just a FFTK&T for today. God's so cool like that.

1 comments:

Bea said...

For the past 30ish years, God has proven to us time and time again--He is who He says He is!! He has been faithful in showing us how to train up our kids, relate to each other in marriage, study the word to impart it to others, trust Him alone for health and provision for ourselves and others. The list goes on--He is so very trustworthy and faithful!!