1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,120 Our first reading is as you see on the screen there. 2 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:11,040 In the 30th, 38th year of Aza, king of Judah, 3 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:15,840 son, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel 4 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:23,120 and he reigned in Samaria over Israel 22 years. Ahab 5 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:27,120 son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord 6 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:33,040 than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to 7 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:38,480 commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat but he also married 8 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:44,000 Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians and 9 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:50,720 began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the 10 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:56,720 temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also 11 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:01,840 made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the 12 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:08,160 Lord, the God of Israel than did all the kings of Israel 13 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:14,960 before him. In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel 14 00:01:14,960 --> 00:01:21,440 rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his 15 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:27,920 firstborn son, Biram and he set up its gates at the cost 16 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:33,840 of his younger son, Segev in accordance with the word of the Lord 17 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:38,880 spoken by Joshua son of Nun. 18 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:46,160 Now Elijah the Tishbite from Tishbi in Gilead said to Ahab, as the Lord the 19 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:52,000 God of Israel lives whom I serve there will be neither 20 00:01:52,000 --> 00:02:00,320 dew nor rain in the next few years at my word. Then the word of the Lord 21 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:06,880 came to Elijah, leave here turn eastward and hide in the 22 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:13,200 Kirith ravine east of the Jordan. You will drink 23 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:18,000 from the brook and I have directed the ravens 24 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:25,280 to supply you with food there. So he did what the Lord had told him, 25 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:31,360 he went to the Kirith ravine east of the Jordan and stayed 26 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:38,720 there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread 27 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:45,600 and meat in the evening and he drank from the brook. To God be the glory for 28 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,160 his word. 29 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:57,360 Starting at verse seven. 30 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:04,160 Sometime later the brook dried up because there'd been no rain in the land. 31 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:09,840 Then the word of the Lord came to him, go at once to Zeraphath in the region of 32 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:14,320 Sidon and stay there. I've directed a widow there to supply 33 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,720 you with food. So he went to Zeraphath when he came to 34 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:24,080 the town gate a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and 35 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:26,880 asked would you bring me a little water in a 36 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:32,160 jar so that I may have a drink. As she was going to get it he called 37 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:37,760 and bring me please a piece of bread. As surely as the Lord your God lives she 38 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:42,160 replied I don't have any bread only a handful of flour in a jar 39 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:47,120 and a little olive oil in a jug. I'm gathering a few sticks to take home 40 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:51,520 and make a meal for myself and my son that we may eat it 41 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,600 and die. Elijah said to her don't be afraid 42 00:03:55,600 --> 00:04:01,440 go home and do as you have said but first make a small loaf of bread for me 43 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:06,160 from what you have and bring it to me and then make something for yourself and 44 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:09,200 your son for this is what the Lord the God of 45 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:13,200 Israel says the jar of flour will not be used up 46 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:18,480 and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on 47 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,720 the land. She went away and did as Elijah had told 48 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:27,040 her so there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman 49 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:32,800 and her family for the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not 50 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:38,240 run dry in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. 51 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:42,080 Sometime later the son of the woman who owned the house became 52 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:46,720 ill he grew worse and worse and finally stopped breathing. 53 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:51,200 She said to Elijah what do you have against me man of God 54 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:56,160 did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son 55 00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:01,120 give me your son Elijah replied. He took him from her arms 56 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:04,800 carried him to the upper room where he was staying and laid him 57 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:08,720 on his bed then he cried out to the Lord 58 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:14,400 Lord my God have you brought tragedy even on this widow I'm staying with by 59 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:19,040 causing her son to die then he stretched himself out on the 60 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:24,160 boy three times and cried out to the Lord Lord my God 61 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:30,160 let this boy's life return to him the Lord heard Elijah's cry and the 62 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:35,680 boy's life returned to him and he lived Elijah picked up the child and 63 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:40,640 carried him down from the room into the house he gave him to his mother 64 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:45,760 and said look your son is alive then the woman said to 65 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:50,080 Elijah now I know that you are a man of God 66 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:55,680 and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth. 67 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,920 Well good morning church it's great to be with you this morning 68 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:15,200 if I haven't met you before my name is Josh Van Decoy I'm a 69 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:20,000 pastor at a sister church of yours now you guys are a Presbyterian Church 70 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,680 which means you're a church connected to another 71 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:27,440 a whole group of churches here in both here in WA and across our country 72 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:32,480 called WPC and I serve typically at one of those WPC churches 73 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:36,240 that's located in Bull Creek which you may 74 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:40,240 be familiar with. Having said that at the moment I'm actually 75 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:44,000 working at another WPC church I'm actually at 76 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,600 the church plant from Bull Creek that has gone to 77 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:51,600 Victoria Park there's a Presbyterian Church there and I'm currently there just 78 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,240 for a little while because the pastor of that church a 79 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,120 young guy named Matt Dodd who you may be familiar with 80 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:01,760 he's about to go away on three months sabbatical three months study leave 81 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:06,160 and so I'm there to help keep things going while he goes away so 82 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,680 so yeah I'm kind of in two places at once at the moment but it's great to be 83 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:13,120 here this morning with you and I've seen some familiar faces also 84 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:16,400 some new faces as well so yeah like I said if I haven't met you 85 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:18,960 before I'd love to do that after the service. 86 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:22,800 Well do keep your Bible open we're going to be tracking through 87 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:29,440 particularly chapter 17 of one Kings together but let's let's get into it. 88 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:34,160 Now a few weeks ago as I said I mentioned I work at a Bull Creek 89 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:38,080 church a few weeks ago or maybe a month or two ago now 90 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:43,520 we had a break-in at our church now that's never happened as far as I 91 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:46,960 can tell I've been at Bull Creek for a long time I could never think of that 92 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:49,600 happening before this point so we had we had a minor 93 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:54,000 break-in someone got inside inside our church building early one 94 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:58,320 morning when no one was around and they tried to get into one of our 95 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:01,680 offices to get it because there was a safe in one of them 96 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:05,040 so they tried to break into one of them praise God 97 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:10,080 our alarm system did its job and the intruders left without taking anything 98 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:13,280 and as I said no one was in the building at the time but I don't know if 99 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:17,920 you've ever experienced something like that a break-in at home 100 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:22,240 perhaps now that's never happened to me personally I know it does happen 101 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:26,240 to a lot of people and from what I understand it's it's something that can 102 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:30,240 be really quite traumatizing and not just 103 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:33,680 because of the initial shock that someone has 104 00:08:33,680 --> 00:08:39,040 intruded upon really your most personal space the place you call home 105 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:42,800 that the one place you're meant to be safe 106 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:47,040 but also I think there's there's extra shock because it it makes you realize 107 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:51,520 well you're not as secure as you thought you were 108 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:56,960 now security is something that we all long for isn't it it's something we're 109 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,480 all searching for that's why we have security 110 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:06,000 systems that's why we have alarms on our cars why we use passwords 111 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:10,720 for our online accounts it's a reality really of of living in a 112 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:15,520 world that's full of sin and so my question for you this morning 113 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:21,360 is where do you find security I don't mean where do you find alarm 114 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:25,760 systems or that or whatnot I mean where in your life where's your 115 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:30,400 place of greatest security is there 116 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:35,360 somewhere somewhere like that for you a place where you feel truly secure if 117 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:38,000 not I suspect that'd be a good thing to discover 118 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:41,520 wouldn't it be so in our passage this morning one king's 119 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:44,480 chapter 17 well we find an answer to this question 120 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:49,440 where can we find greatest security but there's no alarm systems to be seen 121 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,720 you would have noticed that if we read the passage no 122 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:56,400 rather it's all to do with the prophet Elijah's 123 00:09:56,400 --> 00:10:01,680 initial actions now I say initial actions because 124 00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:08,640 with no introduction and no notice Elijah arrives in this story like a 125 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:12,000 sudden thunderstorm now it's one of a number of 126 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:17,440 unusual events that we find in chapter 17 and I say it's unusual because at this 127 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:21,600 point we don't know anything about Elijah this is the first we're 128 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:26,640 hearing about him we don't know what he does we don't know what standing 129 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:30,400 he has in the Israelite community all we know all the 130 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:35,680 information we're given is that he's of Tishba in Gilead 131 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:39,600 that's it and so this this guy comes seemingly 132 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:45,760 out of nowhere and bam he's there before the king of Israel to 133 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:51,040 pronounce a curse now he says he might arrive like a 134 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:53,680 sudden thunderstorm but he's there to say now 135 00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:58,000 that there's going to be no thunderstorms and no rain at all 136 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:03,120 for the next few years okay that's all going away he says 137 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:09,600 okay now with one important qualifier what is it well he says there'll be no 138 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:14,800 Jew or no rain except by my word 139 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:19,520 that's Elijah speaking for God as God's prophet 140 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:23,280 now why would he need to do this why would he need to pronounce 141 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:28,960 a curse well we saw it earlier in the end of chapter 16 didn't we we saw the 142 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:32,720 reason there the current king of Israel a guy named 143 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:39,920 Ahab well he's the worst king yet he's so bad in fact 144 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:43,200 that the author of One Kings describes him as doing 145 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:49,680 more evil quote than any of those before him 146 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:53,600 end quote that's chapter 16 verse 30 so no wonder 147 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:59,680 God has to bring a curse of judgment upon Israel because their king 148 00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:05,200 is leading them astray now what kind of response do you think 149 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:10,880 the king is going to give upon hearing Elijah tell him the water is about to be 150 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:15,440 turned off I bet Elijah wasn't feeling very secure 151 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:20,880 at that moment well we're not told we're not told what the king's response 152 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:23,920 is because just as soon as Elijah has suddenly 153 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:29,360 appeared well then he suddenly disappears and he goes out into the outback 154 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:33,440 at God's command and there we're told he spends in 155 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:36,960 some indefinite period of time out by a brook 156 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:39,760 in the bush 157 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:44,080 and God promises while he's there to look after him he says I'm going to feed 158 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:47,760 you with ravens and you imagine that ravens 159 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:52,880 it's it's some sort of ancient version of uber eats 160 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:57,360 and he's well he's fed pretty well while he's out there he's looked after he gets 161 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:01,200 two square meals a day now that's better than the Israelites got 162 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:06,000 when they were in the old the exodus wilderness but yet it's 163 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:10,640 it's it's a strange scenario because ravens and you'll know this if you're 164 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:18,800 familiar with the old testament are food laws ravens are unclean animals 165 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:22,640 and so the food they're bringing him not just being brought by 166 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:25,920 unclean animals but the food it's described as 167 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:30,320 meat in verse eight well let's just say it's probably not a medium rare 168 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:33,440 steak that they're bringing in more like rare 169 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:37,600 roadkill which again would would have not have fit 170 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:44,800 into the old testament category of clean foods but again we're not told 171 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:47,920 we're not given any comment about these strange occurrences we're just 172 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:51,920 given the information we're just told God promised it would happen that he'd 173 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:57,040 be looked after and it happens that's it 174 00:13:57,680 --> 00:14:01,680 again it raises the question why why should he go out there in the first 175 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:04,640 place why not just continue hanging around 176 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:08,000 town i mean that's where all the the good food is that's where all the 177 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:12,400 comfort is all the security is why not hang around civilization 178 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:16,720 where you don't need to eat roadkill well you might be thinking well maybe 179 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:21,360 Elijah's on the run i mean he's just given this evil king bad news maybe he's 180 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:25,440 expecting retribution so that's why he's out there 181 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:29,520 but we need to look closely to see what's actually really going on here 182 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:33,200 and as always it's the context the context of the passage 183 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:37,360 that gives us the clues now given we've already heard that the king of 184 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:42,240 israel is wicked and evil more so than any before him 185 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,600 well it makes sense that what we see here with Elijah's movements 186 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,880 isn't as one bible teacher puts it it's not 187 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:54,240 God's witness protection program no what we're seeing 188 00:14:54,240 --> 00:15:00,400 is God's pronouncement of judgment against Israel and he brings this 189 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:03,520 judgment not with flashes of lightning and and 190 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:08,960 peer and thunder the appeals of thunder 191 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:13,120 no he brings the judgment by going silent 192 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:19,840 by moving his prophet his mouthpiece out far away into the 193 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:25,040 wilderness imagine it'd be something like if 194 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:30,560 grace christian church armadale suddenly stopped sending out its newsletter 195 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:34,240 or if you stopped having announcements at church or 196 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:41,200 if you stopped having sermons on sundays right if that happened you'd know 197 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:46,400 something has gone badly wrong and that's what's happened here something 198 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:51,280 has gone badly wrong and what is it well it's that israel 199 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:56,320 has stopped listening to god at the end of chapter 16 makes that 200 00:15:56,320 --> 00:16:02,080 clear israel's more interested in listening to other gods 201 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:06,000 and so the true god goes silent as the king of israel 202 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:11,600 leads the people astray and so god he sends his spokesman away from 203 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:16,960 the king away from the people in a sign of judgment now it's a sign 204 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,480 in fact that we see repeated throughout the scripture not just here in the old 205 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,360 testament we see it as well even with jesus in 206 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,320 the new testament so you could have a look for example at the 207 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:32,800 gospel of mark and there we see jesus regularly leaves locations 208 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:36,480 where religious leaders or people are against him 209 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:39,600 so there's an example of this i'll read it to you briefly from 210 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:45,600 mark chapter 3 verse 6 and 7 if you're familiar with that passage jesus 211 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:49,360 has just healed a man who had a withered hand and 212 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:53,680 he's done that in a synagogue on the sabbath and the watching 213 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:57,120 Pharisees they're right there they're watching him they're waiting to accuse 214 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:00,160 him we're told because they're they're legalists so you 215 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:04,720 can't do anything on the sabbath and here comes jesus he heals this man 216 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:09,200 and when they see him do it we read in verse 6 then the 217 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:13,440 Pharisees went out and began to plot with the herodians who 218 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:16,720 are the Pharisees enemies they began to plot with the 219 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:22,560 herodians how they might kill jesus and what happens that the 220 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:28,240 very next verse the very next words after this what does mark say he says 221 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:34,160 jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake now i think that's a very 222 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:37,680 conscious decision about the choice of word there that's 223 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:41,760 withdrew that's not jesus suddenly decided he's going to go on a road trip 224 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:49,840 no it's as if jesus is saying well you don't want to listen fine i'll go 225 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:54,560 now that's that's the devastating reality of sin 226 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:58,960 if we refuse or choose to to refuse to listen to god if we 227 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:03,760 stick our fingers in our ears and shout la la la la la la 228 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:07,120 he's not going to force us to listen to him 229 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:12,560 he'll just stop speaking it's like that the lifeguard who warns the person 230 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:18,080 swimming in shark-infested waters that they are in mortal danger he warns 231 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:21,360 them over and over again only for the person to 232 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:26,640 steadfastly refuse to even acknowledge the warning 233 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:31,040 so what does the lifeguard do well he packs up and he goes home 234 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:35,600 and that's the terrifying nature of god's judgment that we're seeing here 235 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:38,480 in this passage not that god says something that we 236 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:44,560 don't like but that he doesn't say anything and he just leaves us in our 237 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:47,920 sin and misery 238 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:51,840 but elijah's story doesn't end there because after a while the brook that he's 239 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:56,800 staying at it dries up his water's gone and so before we move on 240 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:01,440 actually it's worth saying that while it doesn't seem it in this 241 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:04,960 moment this is actually a big deal the fact that 242 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,160 the the the curse of no water has come to 243 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:12,480 fruition and if the fact that the drought has arrived 244 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:16,400 and its impact says something really significant 245 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:20,160 because it tells us what we're seeing in this passage is not just some 246 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,520 local event we're actually seeing a battle 247 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:31,040 between elijah's god and a local god how so well historical contest that 248 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:34,880 context will help us here we know that from the end of chapter 16 249 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:39,120 that ahab has led the people of israel to following other gods 250 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:43,040 but what god in particular did you catch it as we read it 251 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:46,880 it's one god in particular the god named baal 252 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:49,600 now you've probably heard of him he pops up a number of times in the old 253 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:53,520 testament and what we know about the god baal is 254 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:58,240 that he is the storm god of the canaanites in other words he's 255 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:03,520 the one who provides rain so he's god right in the 256 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:09,280 in the clearest terms saying you want to see who controls the rain 257 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:14,720 let me show you and we see as we see as we read this story it 258 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:18,640 becomes quickly apparent well this battle is not much of a 259 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:24,640 contest by the end of these first seven verses it's already abundantly clear 260 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:31,360 god one baal zero and so then god sends elijah off to a 261 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:34,000 new location he leaves the brook and heads off 262 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:38,320 elsewhere but he doesn't go back to israel he doesn't go back to 263 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:44,400 home base doesn't go back to the king in fact he leaves israel all together he 264 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:49,920 heads out to some foreign land he goes to sidon we're told so out onto the 265 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:54,160 west coast right up against the mediterranean sea 266 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:58,720 and who's he there to see who's he there to visit well apparently 267 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:05,360 some random widow in fact we don't even know her name 268 00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:12,160 but god promises or god has promised that she will look after 269 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:17,520 elijah and so he goes there now the initial conversation between 270 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:21,760 elijah and this widow will might make you do a bit of a double 271 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,480 take again i don't know if you pick this up as we're reading it 272 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:27,760 remember there's a drought going on there's not much water and that means 273 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:31,760 there's not much resources around generally 274 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:36,960 and for someone like a widow with no husband to provide for her 275 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:41,920 it's likely that she's only just scraping by 276 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:45,520 but elijah meets this widow and what's the first thing he says 277 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:49,840 he says can you get me some water and she goes to appears to comply with that 278 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:52,720 off she goes and then while she's on her way oh 279 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:59,600 actually can you get me some bread too now she she balks at this second request 280 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:04,080 from elijah telling him she's about to go and prepare 281 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:11,280 the last meal for her and her son that's how meager her supplies are at that 282 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:15,280 moment but that doesn't stop elijah he says 283 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:20,960 this in verse 13 don't be afraid go home and do as you have said but 284 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:26,640 first first make a small loaf of bread for me 285 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:30,880 from what you have and bring it to me and then make something 286 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,800 for yourself and your son i don't know if you were reading that if you just 287 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:39,440 feel like come on elijah that's a bit harsh isn't it i mean how 288 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:44,080 can he be so bold to ask this of a woman who's in the 289 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:48,400 middle of a drought who's got basically nothing 290 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:54,960 now god well god promises to sustain he promises to continue sustaining 291 00:22:54,960 --> 00:23:00,560 not just elijah but the widow and her son even with the most meager resources 292 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:04,880 that they have on hand but for god well that's not a problem 293 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:10,800 is it he can create miracles out of the meager and as we keep reading 294 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:15,040 that's exactly what we see this woman and her son and now elijah too 295 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:20,560 they all feast on these apparent morsels 296 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:26,000 for days right up until the rain returns with some indeterminate period of time 297 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:31,040 now how how has this happened well because like we read in verse 16 298 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:39,200 says it was in keeping with the word of the lord in other words 299 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:45,040 it all happens exactly like god says it will happen 300 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:48,560 but even with this kind of surprising miracle 301 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:52,640 while things are about to get a lot worse for elijah because 302 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:56,160 no sooner do things seem to have settled down 303 00:23:56,160 --> 00:24:02,560 that the widow's son suddenly dies now it's not from lack of food but from 304 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:06,080 an illness and unsurprisingly this brings the 305 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:12,720 widow's anger to bear against elijah as she says in verse 18 306 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:18,720 what do you have against me man of god did you come to remind me of my sin 307 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:22,080 and kill my son 308 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:25,280 now this this tells us something of what the 309 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:32,960 the pagan gods of the day were really like now she's saying you've brought this 310 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:38,000 upon me because of my sin that's why my son is 311 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:42,480 dead it tells you that the the pagan gods 312 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:45,680 from that that time and place must have been known 313 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:51,360 as vengeful beings that's similar to perhaps the the gods that we might be 314 00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:57,120 familiar with the ones from the greeks and the romans know gods who who 315 00:24:57,120 --> 00:25:00,160 if you do the wrong thing they'll pay you back 316 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:04,080 you step out of line and you'll get in trouble 317 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:08,400 now in this case the widow is saying the payback for her sin 318 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:14,560 is the taking of her own son's life her only son's life 319 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:18,240 but here's the question is that a fair critique 320 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:24,320 of elijah's god is it a fair critique of our god 321 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:28,880 well let's let's see what happens next elijah takes the boy he takes him 322 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:32,880 upstairs he he cries out to god for help he 323 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:36,240 stretches himself over the boy three times symbolizing 324 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:39,840 the request he's making to god that for the boy's body to become 325 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:44,400 alive like his and what happens what do we see 326 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:51,440 well verse 22 it reads the lord heard elijah's cry and the boy's life returned 327 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:55,760 to him and he lived what does this tell us 328 00:25:55,760 --> 00:26:02,160 it tells us this isn't a god who takes life in vengeance no this is a god who 329 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:07,280 gives life and so here's god again 330 00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:14,080 intervening in this specific situation it's not the the king's son who has 331 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:18,640 died some public figure no this is again just 332 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:23,920 some random pagan family in a random pagan 333 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:31,200 city completely unconnected from from israel and yet the god of life 334 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:37,040 intervenes with what is the first resurrection in the pages of 335 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:41,040 scripture the first one that you'll read about 336 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:46,800 it's god two bail zero 337 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:51,680 now what are we meant to make of all this well there's a couple of things we 338 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:54,800 could say but first i think it's important that we 339 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:57,600 say something about how we're meant to read 340 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:00,880 a passage like this how are we meant to read it 341 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:05,440 well why should we do this well frankly because 342 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:09,360 if you like me we have a tendency to insert ourselves 343 00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:16,080 into the story as the main character in this case as elijah we read his story 344 00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:20,000 we think yeah that's that's what i'm meant to do 345 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:23,920 but it doesn't take long to realize well this doesn't work 346 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:28,160 let's be honest i mean we shouldn't be expected to be fed roadkill by ravens 347 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:32,480 anytime soon so if this story is not 348 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:39,040 primarily then about elijah then what is it about 349 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:44,000 well elijah's name actually gives us the clue or points us in the right 350 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,960 direction now here's the the literal translation 351 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:50,560 of his name okay here's what elijah means it means 352 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:57,920 my god is yaway it's it's as if elijah himself is a giant 353 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:04,000 neon sign pointing right to god and so that tells us that the main 354 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:09,760 character in this story as it is throughout the whole bible is is god 355 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:12,880 he's the main main character in this story 356 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:15,600 and so that means when we come to a story like this the question we want to 357 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:19,920 be asking is not how am i like the the the main earthly 358 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:24,720 character but like how does this story tell us about god 359 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,920 what does this story tell us about our god 360 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,520 so in that vein is two things that we can say as we kind of 361 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:38,480 draw things together first thing to say relates to our perception of god 362 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:42,560 now i imagine that if you were an israelite in this day and age 363 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:46,720 if you were one of god's people it might have looked like while this was going on 364 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:50,880 it might have looked like god just wasn't doing anything 365 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:55,600 like he was taking a holiday right that the rain's gone away 366 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:59,040 and there's been nothing from god just drought 367 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:03,920 he's gone silent right he must just be away doing other things 368 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:08,000 but the as we read this passage we see that the details tell us that couldn't 369 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:12,000 be further from the truth because what we're seeing is 370 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:15,760 god is at work now sure he's he's working 371 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:22,880 with a foreign family in a foreign city but he's at work nonetheless 372 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:29,680 and so the the first lesson to grasp is god is always at work even if we 373 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:35,200 can't see it i think that's an important thing to keep in mind isn't it 374 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:38,480 now here at church i'm sure for you guys there 375 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:43,840 are many things that happen in a repeated pattern over and over again 376 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:45,840 the same thing's happening again and again 377 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:49,360 every week you've got a church service like we're doing now 378 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:52,880 every week you've got connect groups you've got your 379 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:58,240 ladies prayer meetings fellowship teas now we would get together and have the 380 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:02,320 same chats with each other after church 381 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:07,520 but let's not be fooled or for a second lulled into thinking 382 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,960 that just because maybe it appears as if nothing 383 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:15,920 visibly remarkable is happening or just if even if it might appear that way 384 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:20,160 you know we perhaps haven't seen waves of conversions or us or a congregation 385 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:25,120 doubling in size overnight or just because it might appear that way 386 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:31,440 doesn't mean that god isn't at work because what we're seeing here is he 387 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:36,400 is at work even if i can't see it and and that is 388 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:40,880 because he often works in the ordinary things 389 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:48,000 of life i mean in this story he provides a handful of oil and a handful of flour 390 00:30:48,000 --> 00:31:06,880 as a miracle but that mega miracle