Sunday, June 10, 2007

Andrew G. Pittman
Sunday Morning
June 10, 2007

God Provides
1 Kings 17:1 – 16


I. Introduction.

I am sure that you have noticed that the world today is not the same as it was fifty years ago, thirty years ago, even ten years ago. The world does not look at the church like it once did.

There was a time when most people in America—certainly most people in East Texas—thought that church should be an important part of their lives. When families would move from one community to another, the first thing they would do was to find a church. The church was the place where new families became a part of their new community. The parents became involved in a Sunday School class and the children began to meet friends either in the Youth Ministry or in the Children’s Ministry.

This is no longer the case. Families move into a new community and may never give a thought to finding a church.

In fact, it seems that the burden of responsibility has shifted. In years gone by, it was the responsibility of individual families to find a church and get involved. Now, it is the responsibility of the church to find new families and convince them that they need to get involved.

Why has this become the church’s responsibility?

I think it is because people today have become cynical about all organizations! That doesn’t mean that people will not become members of organizations. But it does mean that people need to discover what is so important about an organization before they join.

There is another way to say this. Men and women today are not interested in joining any organization unless they can clearly see some practical reasons why joining is better than not joining.

This is true about joining the church. This is true about becoming a Christian.

What is better about becoming a Christian than not becoming a Christian?

There are many ways we can answer that question. But I want to focus on just one…When you become a Christian, God provides for your needs…


II. Read 1 Kings 17: 1 – 9.

Elijah: the Man.
Elijah is usually thought of as one of the most important religious leaders in the life of Israel…Many call him the first significant religious leader since Moses & Samuel…But at this point in the story, we don’t know much about Elijah.

He appeared on the scene for the first time here in 1 Kings 17.

But we do know something about the context into which he arrived…After Solomon was king over Israel, the kingdom was divided…Solomon’s son Rehoboam was king over Judah…Solomon’s rival Jeroboam was king over 11 tribes of Israel…Judah had a series of good kings, each having long reigns…Israel had a series of evil kings, each serving relatively short…In reading the history of Israel’s kings, it seemed that each was a little worse than the one before him…Then the author of Kings describes Ahab as the worse king yet.

Ahab did something that was very common for kings of smaller countries to do…In fact, Solomon had done it literally hundreds of times…Ahab married a Princess from a foreign country as a way of making peace and establishing trade agreements with the other country…In this case, Ahab married a Princess from one of the most powerful countries in the known world…He married Princess Jezebel of Tyre…A woman who eventually controlled both Ahab and the country of Israel…

Of course we all know about Jezebel…She insisted that Ahab build her a Temple where she could worship the god of her country, Baal…Then Jezebel brought in over 400 prophets of Baal to serve alongside the 400 prophets of the LORD and help the king and queen make daily decisions…Jezebel’s idolatry led the people of Israel into Baal worship and pagan sacrifices like they had never done before…Eventually, Jezebel actually put to death all the prophets and priests who did not follow the pagan gods.

This is when Elijah barges onto the scene…

The first mention we have of Elijah is his announcement before the king…No introduction…No mention that he had even met the king & queen…No personal credentials—like where he went to seminary or what churches he had served before coming to Israel…No reasons…No mention of mercy…Just the announcement of a drought!

Why do you think that Elijah announced a drought? I can think of a couple of reasons. On one hand, ANE world was totally dependent on rainfall to provide for their agricultural economy. On the other hand, Baal was a storm god that the people believe was responsible for bringing the rain…Elijah set out to show that there is only one God…And that God ain’t Baal!

But we do learn some things about Elijah…
-He was pretty bold…

-He heard the voice of God…

-He was usually referred to as “The Man of God.”

-He depended on God to supply his needs…Ravens in the wilderness brought bread & meat.


Elijah: the Man of God.
Imagine the kind of faith Elijah must have had in God…

God spoke to him directly…No one could doubt God’s will that heard God’s voice directly…

God performed a miracle to feed him during the drought…How could he ever waver in his commitment to God as he remembered those black ravens coming, on schedule to bring bread and meat?

God fulfilled the promises Elijah spoke to the people…Just think of the assurance he must have felt in God…When Elijah announced a drought, God brought a drought…




III. Read 1 Kings 17: 10 – 16.

Two things we notice about this particular story…
First, it happened in Zarephath…This was a Gentile territory of Phoenicia in the same part of the world where Jezebel was from…And the region of the world where Baal was recognized as the regional god…Again, this is an attack at the heart of idolatrous Baal worship…

Second, it is about a widow…Widows were generally considered the poorest of citizens in Israel…Women could not work to provide for themselves…Women were dependent on fathers, husbands, sons to take care of their needs…

But this woman was even more destitute than usual, because of the drought…Her situation was so severe that she was preparing for what she thought would be her last meal with her son…

Up until this point, God’s miraculous powers had only benefited the Prophet, Elijah…Now, we see God providing for the needs of a common person…
IV. Conclusion.

I think these two stories should be read together…I don’t think we should isolate either one and read it without the other…When we read them together, we discover that these two stories illustrate how God provides for his people.

1. God provides for regular folks.
The story of Elijah and the ravens is a good story about God using the supernatural to provide for his people…But if we isolate the story and tell it by itself, it can actually be discouraging…Elijah was a Super Prophet…Not a regular guy…Not even a regular prophet…

Therefore it is important to read this along with the story of the widow…She is more like the rest of us…Nothing spectacular…Did not have extraordinary faith…Did not live a high profile life…Probably nobody even noticed that God provided.

2. God provides what you need.
What was the widow’s greatest need?

What was Elijah’s greatest need?

-Food…


3. God provides when you need it.
Notice that both Elijah and the widow had to wait until they were totally without any other human resources before God stepped in…God is NEVER late…But God is NEVER early…



4. God provides exactly enough.
Notice that God sent the ravens to Elijah every day with just enough food for the day…
Notice that God gave the widow enough flour and oil for three cakes of bread per day…

I think this is a direct affront to the TV preachers who try to tell us that God wants to make us rich…God gave the widow enough to eat the daily portion…He did not give her enough to open a bakery!


5. God provides for those who step out in faith.

Notice that every day the widow had to make three cakes of bread…But notice which cake of bread she had to make first…The flour and oil were always there, as long as she made Elijah’s cake first…