21.128 | Fullness Despite The Famine | 1 Kings 17:8-16 | God's Word For Today w/ Ptr Nazario Sinon

1 Kings 17:8-16 ESV
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
FULLNESS DESPITE THE FAMINE.
When the brook dried up, God commanded him to go to Zarepath and a widow would feed him there. It may appear ridiculous yet Elijah did as the Lord told him. He journeyed 100 miles north to Zarepath, a small Phoenician town. Interestingly, this was the homeplace of Jezebel. To be at the brook of Cherith was silly but to traverse towards enemy’s territory was even sillier. God’s thoughts and ways are indeed beyond ours.[Isa 55:8,9]
When the widow met him at the gate, he commanded her to give him water to drink and a morsel of bread. The poor woman who was preparing for her last meal with his son found found it unreasonable. Elijah didn’t budge but had convinced her to feed him before themselves according to God’s word. And he assured her that ‘the jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” It exactly happened. Why? It was because this Gentile widow believed and obeyed the word of God. She experienced fullness in the midst of famine.
“Zarepath” means a “smelting place”. Indeed, God had refined Elijah’s faith as well as the widow’s. If the brook Cherith was a test of obscurity, Zarepath was a test of absurdity. Like Elijah, we must believe God is in control in both obscure and absurd circumstances. It’s not that we can understand the command clearly that matters but that we hear the clarity of His command . As the puzzled apostle Peter said to Jesus, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”[Luke 5:5]
Today, we could just confidently say with David, “This God-his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”[Psa 18:30] Even Solomon wrote, “Every word of God is tried: he is a shield unto them that trust in him.”[Prov 30:5]
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