The Road to Renewal (1 Kings 17:1-24)
1 Kings 17:1-24 (1-9)
This morning we begin a very important section of Scripture.
The writer of 1 Kings has been driving us to this section.
He started with Israel’s glorious past: (David & Solomon)
He has taken us through Israel’s pathetic fall (The Rapid Descent)
Through continuous wicked kings, not only has God been rejected,
But He is also being replaced by Baal.
To put it mildly, Israel has hit bottom.
THIS IS WHERE THE WRITER OF KINGS HAS BEEN TAKING US
Because this is where he will start making his theological points.
He introduces the main hero of the book.
His name is Elijah.
Elijah in 1 Kings & Elisha in 2 Kings,
They both serve a great purpose.
NOT JUST THAT THEY WERE PROPHETS
Israel has had many.
We have already seen Shemaiah, “The Man of God”, & Ahijah.
Soon Isaiah will show up, as will Amos, & Hosea.
The time period ends with Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
Rather, the writer focuses on Elijah
Because through him we see just how far Israel has fallen.
It takes light to reveal the degree of a person’s blindness.
It takes a straight line to gauge how crooked something is.
Elijah provides the contrast,
Through his ministry, we are allowed to see just how far Israel has fallen,
And how they reached such an awful point of depravity.
Through Elijah the writer will show us
That neglect of God’s word brings judgment,
And restorationonly comes by returning to God and His word.
IT BEGINS IN CHAPTER 17
Verses 1-8 reveal the DROUGHT and God’s provision through the ravens.
Verses 9-16 reveal the DEPARTURE as Elijah finds support from a Sidonian widow.
Verses 17-24 reveal DELIVERANCE as Elijah raises the widow’s son from the dead.
THIS CHAPTER PROVES TO BE THEOLOGICALLY SIGNIFICANT
For much of this chapter
Is referenced and explained in the New Testament.
James explains the drought to us in James 5:13-18
Jesus explains the departure to us in Luke 4:16-30
And once we understand those two points,
The deliverance will make perfect sense.
We are truly blessed to have so much information
Available to us to aid in our understanding.
BUT BECAUSE OF THIS, I NEED TO ASK YOU TO STICK CLOSE WITH ME.
A preaching professor told me not to use cross-references
“Most people in Church can’t handle it.”
What he was saying is that “Most church members are too shallow and immature to feast on the meat of the word.”
It sounds just like Paul when he told the Corinthians,
1 Corinthians 3:2 “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able,”
It sounds like the writer of Hebrews when he said:
Hebrews 5:11-12 “Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”
This morning I am going to ask you to prove him wrong.
I need you to stay with me and really focus,
I am going to dump a lot of information in your lap.
As I told you, there are three divisions.
#1 THE DROUGHT
1 Kings 17:1-8
It begins with Elijah the settler turned prophet
Actually confronting the King of Israel.
And the message is a stiff one.
“there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
As we saw two weeks ago,
Israel has fallen far from God,
And God is bringing judgment for their defection.
THIS JUDGMENT IS ALSO SYMBOLIC.
The drought is not just for water, but is also a drought of spiritual things.
Because the drought is bad, God sends Elijah away,
And promises to supernaturally provide for his needs.
(3-4) “Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. “It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.”
And so Elijah left, and God did just as He promised.
(6) “The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.”
And so we see
• God’s prophet deliver a message,
• God’s hand of judgment on a nation,
• God’s supernatural provision for the man who is faithful.
NONE OF THOSE ARE THE REASON FOR THIS PASSAGE
(The drought and the ravens make a nice children’s story, but the point is much more)
THIS PASSAGE IS ABOUT THE STUBBORNNESS OF ISRAEL.
We might not see that, were it not for the explanation
We get in the New Testament from James
TURN TO: James 5:13-18
James actually references this event in the history of Israel.
The fact that he references it, and why he references it
Helps us gain much insight into what the text is meant to show us.
So bear with me as we untangle an important passage from James.
(This particular passage is given to much confusion)
CONTEXT OF JAMES: James’ letter is all about spiritual weakness.
Some are PERSECUTED, some are SINFUL, some are DISCOURAGED
THIS LETTER IS CONFRONTATIONAL AND CONVICTING
As James tells the spiritually immature to “grow up”
THE SECTION WE ARE READING SERVES AS THE INVITATION
Supposing you are under conviction from what James has written,
This is what you need to do.
Then James lists 3 CATEGORIES that you could fall under.
(13-14) “Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”
THOSE WHO ARE SUFFERING – being poorly treated in the world.
THOSE WHO ARE SAINTLY – they were confirmed by James’ letter, not convicted.
THOSE WHO ARE SICK – they need to be restored
I believe this verse to be victim of some poor translation,
The effect is that people have missed the point of what James intended.
The word “sick” translates ASTHENEO
And it can mean physically sick. But that is not it’s only meaning.
14 times in Scripture it does not refer to physical sickness at all,
But rather spiritual weakness.
Romans 14:1-2 “Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only.”
CONTEXT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE:
James has not mentioned physical sickness
James has not mentioned spiritual gifts
JAMES IS TALKING ABOUT SPIRITUAL IMMATURITY OR WEAKNESS
WHAT JAMES IS SAYING:
After reading this letter, if it is revealed
That you have fallen into one of the sins that I have written about,
Then here is what you need to do.
James is writing about being spiritually restored from falling into sin.
It is very similar to what Paul wrote to the Galatians.
Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.”
There Paul tells mature to help a weaker brother.
HERE: James tells the weak to seek out a stronger brother.
(14) “Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”
NOT SOME MYSTICAL FORMULA FOR HEALING
The word “anointing” here never refers to
A ceremonial anointing in the New Testament.
James is speaking metaphorically,
Similar to the way David did in Psalms 23.
Psalms 23:5 “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.”
Psalms 133:1-2 “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, Coming down upon the beard, Even Aaron’s beard, Coming down upon the edge of his robes.”
The anointing of oil was a picture of refreshing,
And that is what James refers to.
The prayer of your elder will be refreshing to you.
No only that:
(15) “and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick [weak], and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.”
SO HERE IS JAMES’ POINT:
If you are spiritually weak, then go to one of the elders (pastors)
Ask them to pray for your condition.
God will honor it and you will be restored.
And that is James application:
(16) “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”
If you are weak – seek the prayer of the strong. (People do at times)
If you are strong – be faithful to pray for the weak. (Peter affirmed)
SO WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH THE DROUGHT?
It is at this point in James’ letter
That he draws us back to that very event.
(17-18) “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured forth rain and the earth produced its fruit.”
We knew there was a drought, but it wasn’t until reading James
That we learned that the drought was the result of Elijah’s prayer.
Certainly James is illustrating
How powerful one man’s prayer can be.
But we also find a troubling reality about Israel in Elijah’s day.
• They WERE SPIRITUALLY WEAK, they needed restoration.
• They SHOULD HAVE HUMBLED THEMSELVES before Elijah and sought his prayer.
• But THEY REFUSED and instead it took 3 ½ years of drought to bring any repentance.
THE DROUGHT IN 1 KINGS IS MEANT TO SHOW YOU
THE EXTREME STUBBORNNESS OF ISRAEL.
• They were weak and would not admit it,
• They had fallen and would not humble themselves.
• They clung to their sin,
• They were content in the immorality,
• Their lives were characterized by drought.
OUR APPLICATION THERE IS EASY
It is one thing to fall away from God into sin.
It is one thing to get on the down-grade.
But once it is revealed that you have fallen away from God,
Do not be too proud to confess your sin, & seek spiritual renewal.
God has appointed the spiritually mature who are able to pray for you
And bring about restoration in your life.
Don’t be too proud to seek them.
Israel was, and instead of Deliverance, they got a Drought.
So back in 1 Kings, the first thing we see is a drought.
#2 THE DEPARTURE
1 Kings 17:8-16
God now sends Elijah out of Israel into Sidon.
(Not for drought relief, the drought covered the earth)
But God was doing something important.
(9) “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
Earlier God commanded a raven,
Now God commands a widow, and so Elijah goes.
And you are familiar with the story.
• He asks for water (in a drought) and she consents.
• Then he asks for food, and it really is not possible.
He calls her to believe, she does, and God supernaturally provides again.
BUT WE CAN LEARN MORE:
TURN TO: Luke 4:16-30
This text is when Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth
To reveal to them who He really was.
He entered the synagogue and made an amazing announcement.
He reads Isaiah 61:1
“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”
And then makes a startling statement:
(21) “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
If someone comes and says
“I have come to set you free and to open your eyes”,
It automatically insinuates that you must be blind and in bondage.
That is what Jesus was saying to His hometown.
You are blind, you are in bondage, and I have come to set you free.
That is why, as the insinuation began to sink in,
They began to reject it.
(22) “And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, ” Is this not Joseph’s son?”
At first they were intrigued,
Then they grew insulted, and were given not to believe Him.
(23) “And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’”
You will say to Me, “Physician, heal yourself!”
That is to say,
“Quit worrying about my sin, you worry about your own problems.”
In Jesus day it was the equivalent to today when people say,
“Get the log out of your own eye” or “Judge not”.
DON’T YOU PREACH AT ME,
IF YOU WANT TO PREACH, YOU GO LOOK IN THE MIRROR.
Instead, “Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.”
We don’t want You coming here confronting our sin,
We want You coming here to meet our needs.
They didn’t want preachers of truth.
They want chaplains who would visit the sick and bury the dead.
NO PREACHERS – JUST PASTORS
And to that Jesus said:
(24) “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.”
That statement reads more like a proverb than a prophecy,
But we do know what Jesus meant to those people.
Jesus condemned the people of Nazareth for rejecting God’s Word
They rejected God’s word simply because they did not like the fact
That God’s Word insinuated that they were sinners.
THAT CERTAINLY APPLIES TODAY
And then Jesus gives the illustration.
(25-26) “But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.”
NOW DON’T MISUNDERSTAND.
You are not supposed to read what Jesus said, and say,
• “Oh, those poor widows under God’s judgment.”
• “Oh, why did God reject all those widows in Israel?”
• “Oh, why didn’t God send Elijah to one of them instead?”
I’ll tell you why.
BECAUSE THOSE HARD-HEARTED WIDOWS IN ISRAEL
WOULD NOT HAVE FED ELIJAH IF HE HAD COME.
God wasn’t trying to be mean to the widows in Israel,
God was just simply revealing that the widows in Israel
Were too hard-hearted to do what a Gentile widow did.
Jesus then tells of the leper Naaman from Aram that Elisha heals.
Again the insinuation is not that God refused to heal the lepers in Israel. But that none of the lepers in Israel sought out God to heal them.
They were too stubborn to do what Naaman did.
The widows and the lepers are pictures of those who are weak
Both should have done what James said and humbled themselves
And sought out someone to pray for them and restore them.
But both were too stinking arrogant to do so,
Therefore Elijah was forced to depart to those who would seek God.
And Jesus’ insinuation is that the people in Nazareth
Were just as hard-hearted as the widows and lepers in Israel.
BUT YOU SEE THE POINT TO 1 KINGS.
It is not just a story of a drought and hard-times.
The point of the story is to reveal that Israel had reached
A drastic point of stubbornness, rebellion and arrogance.
They would rather have DROUGHT than DELIVERANCE.
They would rather SUFFER than HUMBLE THEMSELVES.
AND AGAIN OUR APPLICATION IS EASY.
When you fall away from God and fall into sin, it is a bad thing.
But you do not have to stay there.
But if you insist upon remaining in your fallen state,
And are too stubborn to obey the command of the Lord,
Then judgment is your only alternative.
Israel had fallen far from God and was too stubborn to repent.
That is why we see Drought, and Departure.
#3 THE DELIVERANCE
1 Kings 17:17-24
This passage DOES NOT reveal the deliverance of Israel,
They still have not repented.
This passage reveals the deliverance that Israel could have had
But was forfeiting because of their stubbornness.
And here we see it in a drastic setting.
It begins with the unexpected death of her son.
But the point of the passage is what she does in response.
She doesn’t get mad at God, she doesn’t get rid of the man of God, INSTEAD SHE ADMITS HER SIN AND ASKS FOR HIS HELP.
(18) “What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!”
She actually blames the death of her son on her own sin.
She came to the one who could deliver.
AND HE DELIVERED
(21-22) “Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the LORD and said, “O LORD my God, I pray You, let this child’s life return to him.” The LORD heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived.”
IS THAT NOT WHAT JAMES SAID WOULD HAPPEN?
Go to one who can help, confess your sins and seek his prayer.
“And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is weak”
God heard Elijah’s prayer and God restored the weak one.
And the end result was the glory of God.
(23-24) “Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.”
That is a physical story with spiritual significance.
Israel could have had what this woman had,
But they would not do what this woman did.
HOW ABOUT YOU TODAY?
Is it possible that like Israel you have fallen away from God?
• Maybe you have gotten discouraged and are stagnant…
• Maybe you have actually been snared by a sin and you can’t get free…
James told us how to get free.
Seek the prayer of the elders,
And God will honor both your humility and their prayer.
But don’t do like the people of Israel
Who were angered at the very insinuation that they were in bondage or that they were blind.
They didn’t even like Jesus mentioning that they might have a problem,
And so they remained in their sin.
This morning you can leave the drought behind.
This morning you can find restoration like the Sidonian widow.
Simply humble yourself before God,
Confess your sins to one another,
And let God bring victory in your life.
James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”
