Message from the Monthly Flyer July 2018

LET’S EAT AND DIE 1 Kings 17:8-24 Part 1 – Two Sticks For The Last Meal

1 Kings 17:8-15 – KJV – And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

There are many heroes in the Bible that we do not know by name. One of them is the famous widow of Sarepta. She was appointed by God to hide and care for Elijah the prophet of God when he was in danger of dying either by famine or by being killed by Jezebel, the evil wife of king Ahab. The story of the widow of Sarepta gives us some interesting insights about our attitude in times of trouble and God’s supernatural intervention.

First of all, let’s look at the two sticks that the widow of Sarepta was gathering to prepare her last meal before dying with her son. Famine and drought had been ravaging the, land and as Elijah had decreed, it would not rain for three and a half years. The widow of Sarepta reached a point where she became hopeless. She did not have much food left at home to feed her and her son and she was certain to die. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2: 3 „And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.“ Faith, hope and love are the three elements that keep us going and help us to do the things we do in life.

In the case of the widow of Sarepta, her faith and her hope had dried up as a result of the severe drought. The two sticks that she was gathering could represent her faith and hope for a better tomorrow which had gone dry. She was going to burn those sticks and use them as heat source to prepare her last meal. She was desperate. Her faith and hope had been burnt by the fire of adversity. But she loved the God of Israel and it is that love which kept her alive and granted her God’s favour. Even though she was a heathen, this widow believed in and loved the God of Israel. Because of this love that she sheltered in her heart, she accepted to be the modest provider for a stranger who came “begging” for water and bread.

Love is the greatest thing in life. It is a mighty weapon that nobody can resist. Above all, loving God and living according to His commandments of love will definitely save our lives and release the supernatural. mt