2022-05-20
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The Holy Spirit commands me to discuss Elijah’s role in the annual commemoration of Passover, and how it differs from the Christian [Messianic Jewish] outlook. But first, I must cite the story of Elijah’s encounter with the woman at Zarephath of Sidon, and how his obedience to God saved them during the drought when the Kerith Brook dried up. 1 K 17: 7-16, “The brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: ‘Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.’ 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?’ 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 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 not die.’ 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.’ 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.’ 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.”
Had we been in the woman’s place, how would we have responded to Elijah’s request? What would we have been thinking just before we responded to Elijah? What is the underlying lesson for us in this story? If I know myself, I might have been questioning who Elijah was and his credentials to be asking this of me during a serious drought. That kind of cynicism would have been borne out of past bad experiences with people who didn’t share my faith in God and the experience of living in CA during the 1973 gas shortage and in 1977, a five-year drought where we had so little water that we were using dirty dishwater to water house plants. We were even filling a bucket with clean, warmed water to shower, and water pipelines were run across the Golden Gate bridge to serve dryer counties. No one was allowed to put in new landscaping and lawns were allowed to die out. Yet none of these problems were anything as bad as what people in ancient times endured. Remember, there were no convenient grocery stores to pick up bread then, so what you grew was all you had to eat. I can’t help but think of the many Ukrainians in places like Meriupol that were trapped, starving, or deported to Russian gulags. The lady may never have heard of Elijah or known ahead of time he was a true prophet of God. Trust is built up over time, and God hadn’t given her any time to vet him. And yet, God alone has the power to set up situations like this and to work the miracles He did. We must also remember the natural feelings built into parenthood. We want to love, care, and protect our children, unless a parent is either abusive or neglectful. This certainly means that a good parent (which this woman was) would make sure his/her child has enough to eat. And as for God’s underlying lessons in this story, they have to be: 1) Trust in God; 2) God won’t abandon those who love Him [PS 9: 9-10]; 3) it is illogical for our loving Parent, after Whom we are created to stop loving His human creation [GN 1: 27]; 4) God always chooses the perfect time and way to communicate to us –the way that will maximize what we learn and the good that comes of it; 5) 1 COR 10: 13, which tells us that God never gives us a test of our faith that is so hard it breaks our resolve to be obediently faithful. You, Dearest Readers, may even see some other lessons of which I have not included here.
Please read 1 K 18: 25-46. The is the story of how Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal with his offering on Mt. Carmel and what happen in the Jezreel Valley as he rode off. This will be the starting topic next week.
PRAYER: O Lord, we should spend time thinking about how You have tested our faith in the past. You have given us guidance when we needed it, particularly when we come to a crossroads in our lives. How blessed we are that You bring us to faith in Your Son, so that we might gain eternal life, our sins may be eternally forgiven, and that we may be deemed acceptable in Your sight (be justified). Additionally, our Lord Jesus was created with the ability and motivation to die for us on the cross (redeem us). How blessed we are that You are available to us in prayer any time, any day. You listen and instill us with the faith and skill sets we need to be overcomers, i.e. those who can overcome our natural desires and be able to faithfully obey You—even when it is difficult for us [GA 5: 16-17]. Yet another gift You give us is Christ within us [COL 1: 26-27; COL 2: 2-3], Who opens Your storehouse of wisdom to us. We offer You our loyalty, honor, praise, and thanks forever! We offer this prayer in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
NEXT WEEK: As mentioned above, we will continue next week discussing Elijah and the inner peace and joy he gives us by the example of faithfulness he set. Jewish people are about to celebrate Passover, the annual retelling of the exodus of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. Read EX 12: 1-42 for that amazing story. Passover is commemorated with a ritual meal called a seder. It is usually on two nights, one at home and one in their temple. The father or rabbi leads the prayers in the meal, and Passover is one of the 7 major holidays (3 in spring and 4 in fall). An unoccupied place is set at the table with a wineglass. It awaits the coming of Elijah, who announces that humans have brought about peace and joy on earth. We, as believers in Christ, feel that peace on earth will be the product of the end times events of the book of REV, which is the final separation of sheep and goats [see also MT 25: 32]. A series of judgments will culminate in that process with Christ exercising his given [DN 7: 13-14] right to determine the fate of each person left on earth and residing in hades or paradise. The former will go to hell-spiritual death and the latter to heaven-eternal life. We believe that God’s grace will carry believers through to heaven by virtue of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. The original meaning of peace was being bound together with someone that harmony results. Today, it means the absence of war. Inner peace and joy are a product of a close relationship with God [PHIL 1: 2]. Only He could bring such goodness to earth! Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2022. All Rights Reserved.
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