Confidence in God’s life giving word - 1 Kings 17

1 Kings 17 starting at verse 1. I haven't got a page number. Thank you. 358.

So if you've missed any of the talks from chapters 1 to 16, they're all on the website and we head back into it.

Now let's hear God's word to us this morning.

Now Elijah the Tishbite from Tishbe in Gilead said to Ahab,

As the Lord the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will neither be dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.

Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah.

Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kareth ravine east of the Jordan.

You will drink from the brook and I have instructed the ravens to supply you with food there.

So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kareth ravine east of the Jordan and stayed there.

The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening.

And he drank from the brook.

Sometime later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

Then the word of the Lord came to him.

Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there.

I have instructed a widow there to supply you with food.

So he went to Zarephath and he came to the town gate and a widow was there who was gathering sticks.

He called to her and asked,

Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?

As she was going to get it he called,

And bring me please a piece of bread.

As surely as the Lord your God lives, she replied,

I don't have any bread, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug.

I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son,

that we may eat it and die.

Elijah said to her,

Don't be afraid.

Go home and do as you have said.

But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me.

And then make something for yourself and your son.

For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says.

The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry

until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.

She went away and did as Elijah had told her.

So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family.

For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry

in keeping with the word the Lord spoken by Elijah.

Sometime later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill.

He grew worse and worse and finally stopped breathing.

She said to Elijah,

What do you have against me, man of God?

Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?

Give me your son, Elijah replied.

He took him from her arms,

carried him to the upper room where he was staying,

and laid him on his bed.

Then he cried out to the Lord,

Lord, my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with by causing her son to die?

Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord.

Lord, my God, let this boy's life return to him.

The Lord heard Elijah's cry and the boy's life returned to him and he lived.

Elijah picked the child and carried him down from the room into the house.

He gave him to his mother and said,

Look, your son is alive.

Then the woman said to Elijah,

Now I know that you are a man of God

and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.

Let's pray.

Lord God, you have spoken your word

and you have caused it to be written down.

And we have heard your word afresh this morning.

And we pray that this word would speak into our lives.

That we may have confidence

and know that you are the truth.

Amen.

Well, let me ask you,

this book that I am holding in my hands

and I hope you have one beside you

or with you.

Do you have confidence in this book?

Do you?

Do you trust that the words written in this book are the truth?

Do you believe

that God's word that we are looking at

and listening at this morning

can give you life today

and life for all eternity?

Do you have confidence

in this book?

You see, we live in a culture

where God's word is being silenced.

We're told the Bible,

this book is irrelevant,

it's outdated,

it's backward,

it's regressive.

We've grown up as a nation,

we've now moved on,

we can think for ourselves,

we can live as we please.

the last thing we need to hear today

is God's word.

You see, it's hard to have confidence

in God's word

when it is continually being trashed

and undermined.

And this continuous voice

that tells us

we don't need God anymore

filters into our lives

and, well,

we can maybe begin to doubt

that this book

is little more than just

words

and of no value to us.

And maybe we've gotten

to the point in our lives

where

we don't actually bother

reading it anymore

because, well,

nobody else does.

And why should we believe it?

But this is really nothing new.

Look at our text

that we read this morning.

God's people have suffered

one bad king after another.

And when we think

it can get no worse,

we are introduced to Ahab.

Just go back to

the end of chapter 16,

verse 30.

Chapter 16,

verse 30.

Ahab, son of Omri,

did more evil

in the eyes of the Lord

than any of the kings

before him.

He not only considered it

trivial to commit the sins

of Jeroboam,

son of Nebat,

he was one who had set up

a golden calf,

he also married Jezebel,

daughter of Ephbaal,

king of the Sidonians,

and began to serve Baal

and worship him.

Not only did Ahab

turn away from God,

but he replaced God

with his own gods.

In other words,

he tried to keep God's voice

from being heard.

But God is not going

to be silenced.

He will not be gagged.

He still speaks

with authority and power.

In fact,

God wants us to know

that we can have

absolute confidence

in God's word.

Just like the widow

we met in this account.

Look at verse 24.

Then the woman said,

of chapter 17,

verse 24,

Then the woman said

to Elijah,

Now I know

that you are

a man of God

and that the word

of the Lord

from your mouth

is the truth.

So through this text

of chapter 17,

we're going to see

four reasons

why we can have

absolute confidence

and absolute assurance

in God's word.

First,

God rules all things

by the power

of his word.

Chapter 16,

verse 33.

Ahab also made

an Asherah pole,

another god,

and did more

to arouse the anger

of the Lord,

the God of Israel,

than did all the kings

of Israel before him.

It sounds a fairly

bleak situation.

Ahab might be doing

his best to shut God up,

but God is not

going to be silenced.

So chapter 17,

verse 1.

Now Elijah,

the Tishbite

from Tishbe in Gilead,

said to Ahab,

Well, who's Elijah?

And where's Tishbe?

Who is this guy?

Well, who he is

and where he comes from

is not important.

Rather,

what he has to say

is important

because Elijah

is speaking

on behalf of God.

Again,

look at verse 1.

As the Lord,

the God of Israel,

lives whom I serve,

there will be

neither dew

nor rain

in the next few years

except

at my word.

And just like that,

the rains

stopped.

drought

and famine

across the land.

God is sending

a very clear message.

Ahab,

it's not you

who rules

with your gods.

I rule

by my powerful word.

You see,

Ahab's new god

called Baal

was in fact,

or so called,

the god of the weather.

the one who was

supposedly in charge

of the rain

and the sunshine.

So why would you

listen to God

when you've got

your own god,

Baal,

who controls

the weather?

Well,

in just a word,

Ahab

and his gods

are silenced.

You see,

we can't

shut

God up.

His words

are powerful

and effective.

Not only did God

create the universe

by his word,

but he sustains

all things

by his word.

Just as we

turn a tap off,

so God

by his word

can turn

the rain off.

And just as we

flick the switch

and turn the lights

on,

so God

by his word

causes the sun

to shine.

His word

is powerful

and effective.

But

not

hearing

God's voice

or not

hearing his word

is very,

very dangerous.

Look at

verse 2.

Then the

word

of the Lord

came to Elijah.

Leave here,

turn eastward

and hide

in the

Kareth ravine

east of the

Jordan.

You see

what's happening?

God speaks

through Elijah

and then

God removes

Elijah.

The very one

who's speaking

God's words

to the king

and to the people

is suddenly

taken out

of the situation.

Now God

has gone

silent.

He's removed

his word

from Ahab.

You see

when God's

word is

absent,

it isn't

freedom,

it isn't

good,

it's a sign

of judgment.

judgment.

The prophet

Amos

made this

clear.

You can see

the quote

on the screen.

He says,

the days are

coming,

declares the

sovereign Lord,

when I will

send a famine

through the

land,

not a famine

of food

or a thirst

for water,

but a famine

of hearing

the words

of the Lord.

People will

stagger from

sea to sea

and wander

from north

to east,

searching for

the word

of the

Lord,

but they

will not

find it.

You see,

our country

today,

our nation,

is desperate

to silence

God,

doing everything

possible

to push

God out.

We're doing

what Ahab

did.

We're doing

our best

to keep

God away.

We set up

our own

gods,

the God

of autonomy,

self-autonomy,

do whatever

I want.

And now,

at last,

we're free.

God no longer

has a place

in our society.

We don't have

to listen to

him anymore.

But you see,

I don't think

it's just

that we remove

God.

The danger

is,

is that God

removes his

word.

and when

he removes

his word

from society,

instead of

order,

there is

disorder.

Left to

ourselves,

we don't

make our

lives better.

We fall

into ruin

and despair.

When God

is silent,

it is not

freedom,

it is an

act of

judgment.

You see,

what this

country

really needs,

is for

God to

speak,

for his

word to

permeate

every area

of society

and at all

levels of

government,

starting with

where we

live and

where we

work.

Because it

is only by

hearing the

voice of

God will

lives begin

to change.

So first,

God rules

all things

by the

power of

his word.

second,

God

preserves

his

servants

by the

command of

his word.

You see,

telling Ahab

there is

going to

be no

rain,

also meant

that Elijah

would have

no rain.

God's

people are

not immune

from the

troubles

of this

world,

but yet

God is

not finished

with Elijah.

have a look

at verse

two.

Then the

word of

the Lord

came to

Elijah,

leave and

turn eastward

and hide in

the

Kareth

ravine east

of the

Jordan.

You will

drink from

the book

and I

have

instructed

the

ravens to

supply you

with food

there.

And just

as God

said,

verse

six,

the

ravens

brought

him

bread

and

meat

in

the

morning

and

bread

and

meat

in

the

evening

and

he

drank

from

the

brook.

But that

was not

the only

taste

of God's

provision.

Look at

verse

seven.

Sometime

later the

brook

dried up

because

there

had

been

no

rain

in

the

land.

Then

the

word

of

the

Lord

came

to

him,

go

at

once

to

Zarephath

in

the

region

of

Sidon

and

stay

there,

I

have

instructed

a

widow

there

to

supply

you

with

food.

And

just

as

God

said,

verse

15,

she

went

away,

the

widow

went

away

and

did

as

Elijah

told

her,

so

there

was

food

every

day

for

Elijah

and

for

the

woman

and

her

family.

Elijah

is

twice

at

the

mercy

of

God.

But

God

sees

the

need

of

his

servant

and

by

his

words

just

instructs

ravens

and

commands

widows

to

feed

him.

Now

isn't

that

strange

to

you?

Ravens

don't

usually

bring

you

your

dinner.

If

anything

they

might

steal

your

dinner.

And

widows

don't

usually

provide

food,

they

need

provided

for.

But

God

simply

commands

his

words

and

Elijah's

needs

are

met.

Now

can we

expect

God

to

supply

all

our

needs

in a

similar

way?

If

I'm

short

of

cash

will

a

robin

bring

me

a

20

euro

note?

Or

will

a

homeless

man

provide

me

the

keys

of

a

brand

new

car?

Well

I

don't

doubt

that

God

provides.

God

just

needs

to

command

and

it

will

happen.

But

I

don't

think

that's

the

message

here.

That's

why we

need

to be

careful

not

to

read

too

much

in

but

read

God's

word

carefully.

Remember

what

Elijah's

role

is.

He's

a

prophet

isn't

he?

He

is

speaking

God's

word

on

behalf

of

God

to

the

people.

And

God

has

more

things

for

Elijah

to

say.

God

hasn't

finished

speaking

to

Ahab.

We'll

meet

Ahab

again

and

all

the

people

on

Mount

Carmel

will

see

what

happens

there.

But

God

is

going

to

preserve

Elijah

for

as

long

as

God

needs

him.

This

was

God's

plan

for

Elijah's

life.

Not

everyone

had

ravens

and

widows

to

bring

them

food.

In

fact,

if you

are to

read

on

into

chapter

18,

it

tells

us

there

that

while

Elijah's

life

was

being

preserved,

other

prophets

were

being

killed.

The

point

is,

God

has

more

for

Elijah

to

do,

so

his

life

is

spared.

Ralph

Davis,

one

author

that I've

been

reading

this week

has

helped

me

think

clearly

about

this.

He

says

this,

Elijah's

life

had

to

be

preserved

for

his

task

had

not

yet

been

completed.

Until

his

work

was

done,

God

would

see

to

it

that

he

was

preserved.

That's

the

comfort

of the

word

of the

Lord.

You

see,

nothing

and

no

one

can

take

your

life

without

God

say

so.

We

will

not

die

a

minute

too

early

or

a

second

too

late.

Our

life

is

in

God's

hands

and

he

will

keep

us

and

preserve

us

until

the

work

he

has

for

us

to

do

is

completed.

Now

that

doesn't

mean

to

say

we

can

live

as

we

please

and

do

as

we

like.

Our

job

is

to

obey

what

God

has

said.

Look

at

chapter

17

verse

2.

Then

the

word

of

the

Lord

came

to

Elijah.

Verse

5.

So

he

did

what

the

Lord

had

told

him.

Verse

8.

Then

the

word

of

the

Lord

came

to

Elijah.

Verse

10.

So

he

went

to

Zarephath.

You

see

if we're

a

Christian

if

you're

a

Christian

here

today

God's

plan

for

your

life

is

really

simple.

It's

not

complex.

It is

simply

obey

what

God's

word

says.

That's

his

plan

for

our

life.

And

he

will

provide

for

you

until

the

work

he

has

for

you

to

do

is

completed.

Our

job

is

not

to

work

out

how

long

that's

going

to

be

or

why

some

of

God's

servants

die

young

and why

other

people

live

longer.

Our

job

is

simply

to

obey

what

God

has

said

go

and

make

disciples

of all

nations

and I

will be

with you.

Just

as God

sent

Elijah

so

God

is

sending

us

into

the

world.

Go

and make

disciples.

That's

my

plan

for

you

for

your

life.

wherever

you

are

wherever

you

live

whatever

you

do

and

God

will

preserve

you

and

keep

you

until

the

work

he

has

for

you

to

do

is

completed.

So

God

preserves

his

servants

by the

command

of his

word.

And

third

God

reaches

the

lost

God's

command

to

Elijah

to

go

to

this

widow

was

not

just

about

his

empty

belly.

God's

desire

was to

bring

grace

to

the

nations

of

the

world.

Look

at

verse

eight.

The

word

of the

Lord

came

to

Elijah.

Go

at

once

to

Zarephath

in

the

region

of

Sidon

and

stay

there.

Well

we know

where

Sidon

is.

Do

you

remember

from

chapter

16

that we

read

at the

beginning?

That's

the

hometown

of

Ahab's

wife

Jezebel.

That's

also

where

Ahab

had

come

across

Baal

and

brought

him

back

to

his

own

country.

If

you

are

a

God

follower

like

Elijah

you

don't

go

into

Sidon.

There's

no

Bibles

there.

There's

no

churches

in

Sidon.

Just

godless

pagans

who

deserve

God's

judgment.

But

God

doesn't

have

favourites

does

he?

God's

desire

is that

all

people

and

all

nations

hear

the

grace

of

his

word.

So

verse

10

Elijah

went

to

Zarephath

into

Sidon

a

pagan

nation.

Jesus

himself

picked

up on

this

in

Luke

Luke 4 · chapter mention

chapter

4.

The

so-called

religious

leaders

were

getting

uncomfortable

with

this

Jesus

guy

who

had

appeared

and

was

hanging

around

with

all

these

untouchable

people

the

outsiders

the

Gentiles

the

sinners

the

unclean

people

and

they

didn't

like

it.

So

Jesus

reminds

them.

Here

it is

on the

screen.

Jesus

said

to

them

no

prophet

is

accepted

in

his

hometown.

I

assure

you

that

there

were

many

widows

in

Israel

in

Elijah's

time

when

the

sky

was

shut

for

three

and

a

half

years

and

there

was

a

severe

famine

throughout

the

land.

Yet

Elijah

was

not

sent

to

any

of

them

but

to

a

widow

in

Zerath

in

the

region

of

Sidon.

You

see

God's

plan

God's

desire

is that

his

grace

always

overflows

to the

outsiders.

His

desire

is always

to reach

the

godless

pagan

nations

of the

world

to

widows

just

like

this

to

people

just

like

us

so

we

too

can

know

and

experience

his

grace.

Look

at the

interaction

between

Elijah

and

the

widow

verse

10

we'll

pick

it up

at

the

end

of

verse

10

Elijah

called

to

the

widow

and

asked

would

you

bring

me

a

little

water

in

a

jar

so

I

may

have

a

drink

as

she

was

going

to

get

it

he

called

and

bring

me

a

piece

of

bread

as

surely

as

the

Lord

your

God

lives

not

my

God

she

says

not

my

God

but

your

God

I

don't

have

any

bread

only

a

handful

of

flour

in

a

jar

and

a

little

olive

oil

in

a

jug

I'm

gathering

a

few

sticks

to

make

a

fire

to

take

home

and

make

a

meal

for

myself

and

for

my

son

that

we

may

eat

it

and

die

why

are you

asking

me

I

don't

have

any

food

I

have

nothing

to

give

you

nothing

to

offer

verse

13

Elijah

said

to

her

don't

be

afraid

go

home

and

do

as

you

have

said

but

first

make

a

small

loaf

of

bread

for

me

from

what

you

have

and

bring

it

to

me

and

then

make

something

for

yourself

and

for

your

son

for

this

is

what

the

Lord

the

God

of

Israel

says

the

jar

of

flour

will

not

be

used

up

and

the

jug

of

oil

will

not

run

dry

until

the

Lord

sends

rain

on

the

land

what's

she

going

to

do

will

she

eat

her

last

meal

for

herself

and

her

son

and

hope

that

in

the

next

few

days

it's

going

to

rain

or

will

she

give

what

she

has

the

very

last

bit

of

food

that

she

has

and

give

it

to

this

complete

stranger

who

says

God's

going

to

provide

for

you

I

mean

what

would

you

do

well

will

she

accept

God's

word

of

grace

or

will

she

reject

it

well

look at

how she

responds

verse

15

she

went

away

and

did

as

Elijah

had

told

her

so

there

was

food

every

day

for

Elijah

and

for

the

woman

and

her

family

for

the

jar

of

flour

was

not

used

up

and

the

jug

of

oil

did

not

run

dry

in

keeping

with

the

word

of

the

Lord

spoken

by

Elijah

what

a

wonderful

account

of

God's

generous

grace

reaching

out

to the

most

godless

to

the

needy

and

broken

don't

be

afraid

this

is

what

the

Lord

says

and

she

went

and

did

what

Elijah

told

her

and

so

this

outsider

this