1 Kings 17:1-16 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 1 Kings 17:1-16. As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first. See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
1 Kings 17:1-6 (NIV)
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “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.”
2 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah:
3 “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.
4 You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there.”
5 So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there.
6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
On verses 1-6: God is the star of 1 Kings, and here we meet God’s best supporting actor. He is the prophet Elijah. Elijah boldly proclaims to Ahab that there would be no dew or rain in the next few years except when Elijah proclaims there to be (of course not by his own power but by God’s). Knowing that Ahab wanted to coerce, manipulate and harm Elijah, God tells Elijah where to hide, tells him where he can find water to drink and provides ravens who send him food.
What can we learn from this? God is committed to providing for His people who seek Him first. Twice in this passage God says to Elijah, “I have directed” (v4, 9), after which God describes an arrangement He has made to make sure Elijah’s needs are supplied. In other words, God was repeatedly and personally arranging for Elijah’s care. God cares for you too and wants you to experience His supernatural provision.
1 Kings 17:7-9 (NIV)
7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
8 Then the word of the LORD came to him:
9 “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.”
On verses 7-9: When the brook dries up for lack of rain (v7), the LORD tells Elijah to go to the country of Sidon. Keep this in mind: Sidon was where Ahab’s prophet-killing wife Jezebel was from and where her dad had been king (1 Kings 16:31). So Sidon was likely one of the last places Elijah would want to go, seeing as his life could be in danger. Yet God tells Elijah to go to Sidon at once because there in Sidon, in a town called Zarephath, God had commanded a widow in that town to supply Elijah with food.
What can we learn from this?
First, don’t put your hope in the brook, but put your hope in God. Brooks can dry up. God doesn’t. Natural resources can run out, but God is supernaturally still in control and will find other ways to provide for you.
Second, God will sometimes tell us to do something that doesn’t make sense to us, not because He is cruel or playing games with us, but because He is up to something greater and is testing our faith.
1 Kings 17:10-16 (NIV)
10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?”
11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
12 “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 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.”
13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.
14 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 gives rain on the land.'”
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.
16 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.
On verses 10-16: This is interesting to me: Earlier God told Elijah that God had commanded a widow in Zarephath, Sidon to supply him with food (v9). But notice that when Elijah first meets this widow, she is not volunteering to give anything to Elijah. Much the opposite, she is gathering sticks to prepare a last meal for herself and her son. It wasn’t until Elijah approached this widow, asked her to prepare some food for him and gave her a promise from the Lord that this woman did anything to feed Elijah.
What can we learn from this?
– Sometimes God commands, calls or destines us to do something, but we don’t know it yet. It takes hearing the Word of God and the encouragement of God’s people to help us see what it is that God wants us to do.
– God doesn’t want you to practice generosity only when you are materially comfortable, but even when you yourself may be struggling. For it is when we combine faith, generosity and a willingness to serve that God can do amazing things in and through our lives. God wants to show His power in your weakness and His amazing provision in your lack.
– As in Elijah’s case here, sometimes we have to ask for God’s provision. We can’t always just sit there and expect God’s provision to come to us. Sometimes we need to take a step of faith by making the ask, not just asking God but asking people to. As James 4 says, “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2).
Let me summarize today’s lessons this way. Do you want to experience God’s supernatural provision even in the midst of discouraging circumstances? Here are four keys to experiencing God’s supernatural provision from this passage:
1. Respond to God’s word with faith. Before Elijah or the widow of Zarephath could experience the supernatural provision God had for them, they each had to do what God commanded them to do. That’s why verses 5 and 10 say, “So he did what the Lord had told him” and “So he went”. That’s why verse 15 says “She went away and did as Elijah had told her.” Supernatural provision comes not just when you hear God’s Word, but when you go according to the word that you hear. How you respond to God’s Word will determine how much you experience God’s power.
2. Ask. God had promised Elijah that a widow in Zarephath would supply him with food (v9). So he goes to Zarephath and upon meeting a widow asks her for water (v10). But remembering God’s promise, in faith Elijah decided to ask the widow for more: “And bring me please a piece of bread” (v11).
Years ago Pastor Shar and I would drive past a site that we thought would be great to do church in one day. I loved how the site was right in the heart of downtown Richmond, directly across the street from the Sky Train station. I liked its cool, modern feel and how there were lots of parking spaces available. So when we or our staff would drive by that site, we would stick out a hand at the site and pray, “God, we pray that we would be able to do church at this site one day.” Several years ago we asked a number of times whether they were willing to let a church run in this venue. Each time they said “no”. Years later, when we were really in need of a new venue, we asked again and they said, “We’d love to have you.” Soon after that we were doing church at this very site called Lipont Place.
If you want to experience God’s supernatural provision, boldly ask God. Faith is evidenced in our asking. So don’t be afraid to ask God for what you need. Say to God: “God, please provide me with [whatever it is you need].”
3. Don’t focus on your lack, but focus on the Lord. The widow from Zarephath was focused on her dire circumstances. Just listen to her in verse 12: “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”. This widow was focused on her lack. But Elijah pointed her to the Lord, comforting and encouraging her with a promise from God (see verse 14). Only after she focused on the Lord did she witness God do a multiplying work in her life.
We see a similar scene play out when Jesus feeds over five thousand people with only a few loaves and fish. The disciples were focused on their lack (see John 6:7-9). But Jesus pointed them to God and made them into agents for a multiplying miracle.
So when you’re in dire circumstances, don’t be like the widow and the disciples and focus on your lack. Instead, be like Elijah and Jesus and focus on the Lord. How much of God’s supernatural provision you experience depends on what you focus on. What are you focusing on today?
4. Seek God’s kingdom first and He will add everything you need. Elijah tells the widow to exercise some faith by taking what she had and giving to God first (represented by Elijah) before taking for herself and her family (v13-14). The widow decides to put God’s kingdom first, just as Elijah said, and what was the result? “[T]here was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar was 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” (v15-16).
If you want to experience God’s supernatural provision, seek God’s kingdom first.
Are you tithing the first part of what you have to God? When we choose to tithe to God first before taking for ourselves, God makes sure that we have everything we need, and we experience His supernatural provision (see Malachi 3:10-12).
May you experience God’s supernatural provision by taking these four steps as well.
Father, thank You that You are committed to providing for my needs. I pray that I would experience more of Your supernatural provision. Help me to respond to Your Word in faith. Right now I boldly ask You for [tell Him what you need]. I choose not to focus on what I lack but to focus on the Lord. And please help me to seek Your kingdom first, for You will add everything I need. Thank You that Your supernatural provision is coming and by faith I say it is already here! In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
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