1Ki 17:7 | KingComments | STEP | Elijah learns how faithful God is in His care for him. Yet the brook dries up. The general judgment he has pronounced on Israel also affects him. He is also part of the people. He is also a picture of the faithful remnant of Israel in the end time, and the three and a half years of drought is a picture of the great tribulation that will also last three and a half years. The believing remnant will flee for a period of three and a half years into the wilderness and be nourished there ( ), as Elijah during that time is nourished by the LORD. We also learn here the lesson that God can give us something, but that this does not mean that it will always stay that way. We can never content ourselves with what we have received from Him and claim it forever. The danger is always present that we attach ourselves to the blessings, while God wants us to attach ourselves to Him. The lesson is that we will not rely on the gifts, but on the Giver. Elijah must learn to trust in something that never ends: God’s caring faithfulness, as is evident from the flour and oil, as we shall see in a moment. The brook dries up, but the sources present in God Himself never dry up. He has already arranged a new home for Elijah, in Zarephath, about one hundred and thirty kilometers from the brook. Elijah enters a family where he is placed, as it were, in the next class of his formation by God. In this family we can see a picture of a local church. In order to be able to enter the public domain and do a service, training in the local church is of importance. The service for the Lord is not about theological training, but about formation in the practice of church life, in which each member is important for the formation of each other member. Where Elijah ends up, does not seem to be a place where his problems are solved immediately. It is indeed a place where God can prove His power and love all the more. He always does this where there is nothing. God uses a widow in Zarephath in Sidon. Sidon is the place where Jezebel comes from and where the effects of drought are also noticeable. A servant himself would not think of such a place. This command must have been wondrous to Elijah. But unlike Jonah, who has to go to a place where he does not want to go and therefore flees from the LORD ( ), Elijah goes. In that place of extreme wickedness God wants to further form His servant. At the same time, the woman is also formed. There is an interaction.

‏ 1 Kings 17:7

Elijah Must Go to a Widow in Zarephath

Elijah learns how faithful God is in His care for him. Yet the brook dries up. The general judgment he has pronounced on Israel also affects him. He is also part of the people. He is also a picture of the faithful remnant of Israel in the end time, and the three and a half years of drought is a picture of the great tribulation that will also last three and a half years. The believing remnant will flee for a period of three and a half years into the wilderness and be nourished there (Rev 12:14), as Elijah during that time is nourished by the LORD.

We also learn here the lesson that God can give us something, but that this does not mean that it will always stay that way. We can never content ourselves with what we have received from Him and claim it forever. The danger is always present that we attach ourselves to the blessings, while God wants us to attach ourselves to Him. The lesson is that we will not rely on the gifts, but on the Giver. Elijah must learn to trust in something that never ends: God’s caring faithfulness, as is evident from the flour and oil, as we shall see in a moment.

The brook dries up, but the sources present in God Himself never dry up. He has already arranged a new home for Elijah, in Zarephath, about one hundred and thirty kilometers from the brook. Elijah enters a family where he is placed, as it were, in the next class of his formation by God. In this family we can see a picture of a local church. In order to be able to enter the public domain and do a service, training in the local church is of importance. The service for the Lord is not about theological training, but about formation in the practice of church life, in which each member is important for the formation of each other member.

Where Elijah ends up, does not seem to be a place where his problems are solved immediately. It is indeed a place where God can prove His power and love all the more. He always does this where there is nothing. God uses a widow in Zarephath in Sidon. Sidon is the place where Jezebel comes from and where the effects of drought are also noticeable. A servant himself would not think of such a place.

This command must have been wondrous to Elijah. But unlike Jonah, who has to go to a place where he does not want to go and therefore flees from the LORD (Jona 1:3), Elijah goes. In that place of extreme wickedness God wants to further form His servant. At the same time, the woman is also formed. There is an interaction.