Tues 14th July – Read 1 Kings 17:8-11

Tues 14^th July   –    Read 1 Kings 17:8-11

V8-9:  Again, God’s Word “came to Elijah” – this remember is before the written Scriptures, the days of direct revelation to God’s chosen servants – we must not expect such today – we have the whole Bible – and should be very wary of any who claim ” God spoke to me and said…” Scripture is His all-sufficient word to believers. “Zarephath” where God now sends him was in the kingdom of Sidon, where the father of Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, instrumental in so much of the idolatrous influence in Israel, was king, the last place, humanly, where we would expect Elijah to be safe,  but God is indeed the sovereign Lord of all – and has his provision for Elijah there, through the instrument of a poor widow! How strange God’s ways may seem at times.

V10:  Again we see Elijah’s obedience, and God’s sovereign overruling of events. He meets the widow at the gate, and asks her for a drink – perhaps to confirm that this is indeed the one God has told him of ?

V11:  She goes at once to fetch a drink – a precious resource in this time of drought, which has clearly affected Sidon too – and Elijah calls after her to bring him some bread too. Surely, as the outcome suggests, this is as God directs Elijah -we may suppose He has revealed His purpose to His servant – as He does to us in His Word.