[This chapter is based on 1 Kings 17:8-24; 18:1-19.]
For a time Elijah remained hidden in the mountains by
the brook Cherith. There for many months he was
miraculously provided with food. Later on, when, because
of the continued drought, the brook became dry, God bade
His servant find refuge in a heathen land. "Arise," He bade
him, "get thee to Zarephath, [known in New Testament
times as Sarepta], which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell
there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there
to sustain thee."
This woman was not an Israelite. She had never had the
privileges and blessings that the chosen people of God had
enjoyed; but she was a believer in the true God and had
walked in all the light that was shining on her pathway.
And now, when there was no safety for Elijah in the land
of Israel, God sent him to this woman to find a asylum
in her home.
"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."
In this poverty-stricken home the famine pressed sore,
and the pitifully meager fare seemed about to fail. The
coming of Elijah on the very day when the widow feared
that she must give up the struggle to sustain life tested to
the utmost her faith in the power of the living God to provide
for her necessities. But even in her dire extremity she
bore witness to her faith by a compliance with the request
of the stranger who was asking her to share her last morsel
with him.
In response to Elijah's request for food and drink, the
widow 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." Elijah said to 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 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."
No greater test of faith than this could have been required.
The widow had hitherto treated all strangers with kindness
and liberality. Now, regardless of the suffering that might
result to herself and child, and trusting in the God of Israel
to supply her every need, she met this supreme test of
hospitality by doing "according to the saying of Elijah."
Wonderful was the hospitality shown to God's prophet
by this Phoenician woman, and wonderfully were her faith
and generosity rewarded. "She, and he, and her house,
did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not,
neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of
the Lord, which He spake by Elijah.
"And it came to pass after these things, that the son of
the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his
sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O
thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin
to remembrance, and to slay my son?
"And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took
him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft,
where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. . . . And
he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried
unto the Lord. . . . And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah;
and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
"And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out
of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his
mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. And the
woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art
a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth
is truth."
The widow of Zarephath shared her morsel with Elijah,
and in return her life and that of her son were preserved.
And to all who, in time of trial and want, give sympathy
and assistance to others more needy, God has promise great
blessing. He has not changed. His power is no less now
than in the days of Elijah. No less sure now than when
spoken by our Saviour is the promise, "He that receiveth
a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's
reward." Matthew 10:41.
"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some
have entertained angels unawares." Hebrews 13:2. These
words have lost none of their force through the lapse of
time. Our heavenly Father still continues to place in the
pathway of His children opportunities that are blessings
in disguise; and those who improve these opportunities
find great joy. "If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in
obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: and the
Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in
drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like
a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters
fail not." Isaiah 58:10, 11.
To His faithful servants today Christ says, "He that
receiveth you receiveth Me, and he that receiveth Me receiveth
Him that sent Me." No act of kindness shown in His
name will fail to be recognized and rewarded. And in the
same tender recognition Christ includes even the feeblest
and lowliest of the family of God. "Whosoever shall give
to drink," He says, "unto one of these little ones"--those
who are as children in their faith and their knowledge of
Christ--"a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple,
verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward."
Matthew 10:40, 42.
Through the long years of drought and famine, Elijah
prayed earnestly that the hearts of Israel might be turned
from idolatry to allegiance to God. Patiently the prophet
waited, while the hand of the Lord rested heavily on the
stricken land. As he saw evidences of suffering and want
multiplying on every side, his heart was wrung with
sorrow, and he longed for power to bring about a reformation
quickly. But God Himself was working out His plan, and
all that His servant could do was to pray on in faith and
await the time for decided action.
The apostasy prevailing in Ahab's day was the result
of many years of evil-doing. Step by step, year after year,
Israel had been departing from the right way. For generation
after generation they had refused to make straight
paths for their feet, and at last the great majority of the
people had yielded themselves to the leadership of the
powers of darkness.
About a century had passed since, under the rulership
of King David, Israel had joyfully united in chanting hymns
of praise to the Most High, in recognition of their entire
dependence on Him for daily mercies. Listen to their words
of adoration as then they sang:
"O God of our salvation, . . .
Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to
rejoice.
Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it:
Thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full
of water:
Thou preparest them corn, when Thou hast so provided for it.
Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: Thou causest rain
to descend into the furrows thereof:
Thou makest it soft with showers: Thou blessest the springing
thereof.
Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness;
And Thy paths drop fatness.
They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness:
And the little hills rejoice on every side.
The pastures are clothed with flocks;
The valleys also are covered over with corn;
They shout for joy, they also sing."
Psalm 65:5, 8-13, margin.
Israel had then recognized God as the One who "laid
the foundations of the earth." In expression of their faith
they had sung:
"Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment:
The waters stood above the mountains.
At Thy rebuke they fled;
At the voice of Thy thunder they hasted away.
They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys
Unto the place which Thou hast founded for them.
Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over;
That they turn not again to cover the earth."
Psalm 104:5-9.
It is by the mighty power of the Infinite One that the
elements of nature in earth and sea and sky are kept
within bounds. And these elements He uses for the
happiness of His creatures. "His good treasure" is freely expended
"to give the rain . . . in his season, and to bless all the
work" of man's hands. Deuteronomy 28:12.
"He sendeth the springs into the valleys,
Which run among the hills.
They give drink to every beast of the field:
The wild asses quench their thirst.
By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation,
Which sing among the branches. . . .
He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle,
And herb for the service of man:
That He may bring forth food out of the earth;
And wine that maketh glad the heart of man,
And oil to make his face to shine,
And bread which strengtheneth man's heart. . . .
"O Lord, how manifold are Thy works!
In wisdom has Thou made them all:
The earth is full of Thy riches.
So is this great and wide sea,
Wherein are things creeping innumerable,
Both small and great beasts. . . .
These wait all upon Thee;
That Thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
That Thou givest them they gather:
"Thou openest Thine hand,
They are filled with good."
Psalm 104:10-15,24-28.
Israel had had abundant occasion for rejoicing. The
land to which the Lord had brought them was a land
flowing with milk and honey. During the wilderness
wandering, God had assured them that He was guiding them
to a country where they need never suffer for lack of rain.
"The land, whither thou goest in to possess it," He had told
them, "is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came
out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with
thy foot, as a garden of herbs: but the land, whither ye go
to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh
water of the rain of heaven: a land which the Lord thy God
careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon
it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of
the year."
The promise of abundance of rain had been given on
condition of obedience. "It shall come to pass," the Lord
had declared, "if ye shall hearken diligently unto My
commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord
your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with
all your soul, that I will give you the rain of your land in
his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou
mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou
mayest eat and be full.
"Take heed to yourselves," the Lord had admonished
His people, "that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn
aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; and then
the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and He shut up
the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield
not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good
land which the Lord giveth you." Deuteronomy 11:10-17.
"If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord
thy God, to observe to do all His commandments and His
statutes," the Israelites had been warned, "thy heaven that
is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under
thee shall be iron. The Lord shall make the rain of thy
land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down
upon thee, until thou be destroyed." Deuteronomy 28:15,
23,24.
These were among the wise counsels of Jehovah to
ancient Israel. "Lay up these My words in your heart and
in your soul," He had commanded His chosen people, "and
bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as
frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your
children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house,
and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down,
and when thou risest up." Deuteronomy 11:18, 19. Plain
were these commands, yet as the centuries passed, and
generation after generation lost sight of the provision made
for their spiritual welfare, the ruinous influences of apostasy
threatened to sweep aside every barrier of divine grace.
Thus it had come to pass that God was now visiting His
people with the severest of His judgments. The prediction
of Elijah was meeting with terrible fulfillment. For three
years the messenger of woe was sought for in city after
city and nation after nation. At the mandate of Ahab,
many rulers had given their oath of honor that the strange
prophet could not be found in their dominions. Yet the
search was continued, for Jezebel and the prophets of Baal
hated Elijah with a deadly hatred, and they spared no effort
to bring him within reach of their power. And still there
was no rain.
At last, "after many days," the word of the Lord came
to Elijah, "Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send
rain upon the earth."
In obedience to the command, "Elijah went to show
himself unto Ahab." About the time that the prophet set
forth on his journey to Samaria, Ahab had proposed to
Obadiah, the governor of his household, that they make
thorough search for springs and brooks of water, in the
hope of finding pasture for their starving flocks and herds.
Even in the royal court the effect of the long-continued
drought was keenly felt. The king, deeply concerned over
the outlook for his household, decided to unite personally
with his servant in a search for some favored spots where
pasture might be had. "So they divided the land between
them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself,
and Obadiah went another way by himself."
"As Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him:
and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou
that my lord Elijah?"
During the apostasy of Israel, Obadiah had remained
faithful. His master, the king, had been unable to turn
him from his allegiance to the living God. Now he was
honored with a commission from Elijah, who said, "Go,
tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here."
Greatly terrified, Obadiah exclaimed, "What have I
sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand
of Ahab, to slay me?" To take such a message as this to
Ahab was to court certain death. "As the Lord thy God
liveth," he explained to the prophet, "there is no nation or
kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and
when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the
kingdom and nation, that they found thee not. And now
thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. And
it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that
the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not;
and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee,
he shall slay me."
Earnestly Obadiah pleaded with the prophet not to urge
him. "I thy servant," he urged, "fear the Lord from my
youth. Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel
slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid an hundred men
of the Lord's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them
with bread and water? And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy
lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me."
With a solemn oath Elijah promised Obadiah that the
errand should not be in vain. "As the Lord of hosts liveth,
before whom I stand," he declared, "I will surely show
myself unto him today." Thus assured, "Obadiah went to
meet Ahab, and told him."
In astonishment mingled with terror the king listened
to the message from the man whom he feared and hated,
and for whom he had sought so untiringly. Well he knew
that Elijah would not endanger his life merely for the sake
of meeting him. Could it be possible that the prophet was
about to utter another woe against Israel? The king's
heart was seized with dread. He remembered the withered
arm of Jeroboam. Ahab could not avoid obeying the summons,
neither dared he lift up his hand against the messenger
of God. And so, accompanied by a bodyguard of
soldiers, the trembling monarch went to meet the prophet.
The king and the prophet stand face to face. Though
Ahab is filled with passionate hatred, yet in the presence
of Elijah he seems unmanned, powerless. In his first faltering
words, "Art thou he that troubleth Israel?" he unconsciously
reveals the inmost feelings of his heart. Ahab
knew that it was by the word of God that the heavens had
become as brass, yet he sought to cast upon the prophet
the blame for the heavy judgments resting on the land.
It is natural for the wrongdoer to hold the messengers
of God responsible for the calamities that come as the sure
result of a departure from the way of righteousness. Those
who place themselves in Satan's power are unable to see
things as God sees them. When the mirror of truth is held
up before them, they become indignant at the thought of
receiving reproof. Blinded by sin, they refuse to repent;
they feel that God's servants have turned against them
and are worthy of severest censure.
Standing in conscious innocence before Ahab, Elijah
makes no attempt to excuse himself or to flatter the king.
Nor does he seek to evade the king's wrath by the good
news that the drought is almost over. He has no apology
to offer. Indignant, and jealous for the honor of God, he
casts back the imputation of Ahab, fearlessly declaring to
the king that it is his sins, and the sins of his
fathers, that have brought upon Israel this terrible calamity.
"I have not troubled Israel," Elijah boldly asserts, "but thou,
and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments
of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim."
Today there is need of the voice of stern rebuke; for
grievous sins have separated the people from God. Infidelity
is fast becoming fashionable. "We will not have
this man to reign over us," is the language of thousands.
Luke 19:14. The smooth sermons so often preached make
no lasting impression; the trumpet does not give a certain
sound. Men are not cut to the heart by the plain, sharp
truths of God's word.
There are many professed Christians who, if they should
express their real feelings, would say, What need is there
of speaking so plainly? They might as well ask, Why need
John the Baptist have said to the Pharisees, "O generation
of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to
come?" Luke 3:7. Why need he have provoked the anger
of Herodias by telling Herod that it was unlawful for him
to live with his brother's wife? The forerunner of Christ
lost his life by his plain speaking. Why could he not have
moved along without incurring the displeasure of those
who were living in sin?
So men who should be standing as faithful guardians
of God's law have argued, till policy has taken the place of
faithfulness, and sin is allowed to go unreproved. When
will the voice of faithful rebuke be heard once more in
the church?
"Thou art the man." 2 Samuel 12:7. Words as unmistakably
plain as these spoken by Nathan to David are seldom
heard in the pulpits of today, seldom seen in the
public press. If they were not so rare, we should see more
of the power of God revealed among men. The Lord's
messengers should not complain that their efforts are without
fruit until they repent of their own love of approbation
and their desire to please men, which leads them to suppress
truth.
Those ministers who are men pleasers, who cry, Peace,
peace, when God has not spoken peace, might well humble
their hearts before God, asking pardon for their insincerity
and their lack of moral courage. It is not from love for
their neighbor that they smooth down the message entrusted
to them, but because they are self-indulgent and ease-loving.
True love seeks first the honor of God and the salvation
of souls. Those who have this love will not evade the truth
to save themselves from the unpleasant results of plain
speaking. When souls are in peril, God's ministers will not
consider self, but will speak the word given them to speak,
refusing to excuse or palliate evil.
Would that every minister might realize the sacredness
of his office and the holiness of his work, and show the
courage that Elijah showed! As divinely appointed messengers,
ministers are in a position of awful responsibility.
They are to "reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering."
2 Timothy 4:2. In Christ's stead they are to labor as stewards
of the mysteries of heaven, encouraging the obedient
and warning the disobedient. With them worldly policy
is to have no weight. Never are they to swerve from the
path in which Jesus has bidden them walk. They are to go
forward in faith, remembering that they are surrounded
by a cloud of witnesses. They are not to speak their own
words, but words which One greater than the potentates
of earth has bidden them speak. Their message is to be,
"Thus saith the Lord." God calls for men like Elijah,
Nathan, and John the Baptist--men who will bear His
message with faithfulness, regardless of the consequences;
men who will speak the truth bravely, though it call for
the sacrifice of all they have.
God cannot use men who, in time of peril, when the
strength, courage, and influence of all are needed, are
afraid to take a firm stand for the right. He calls for men
who will do faithful battle against wrong, warring against
principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
It is to such as these that He will speak the words: "Well
done, good and faithful servant; . . . enter thou into the
joy of thy Lord." Matthew 25:23.