An Example from a Widow's Obedience (1 Kings 17:8-16)
Just a note for sake of context we are going to start in 1 Kings 16:29-30, 17:1-7.
So, King Ahab was an evil man who was rebellious and leading Israel in rebellion against God with his and his wife's false gods and their prophets. God declared a drought through Elijah, and this seems to be in response to Ahab's evil leadership. Once the drought was declared God sent Elijah into hiding with a promise to provide him via ravens and a stream. After some time (as happens in droughts) the stream dried up. This is where we come in.
We are going to put most of our attention on the passage 1 Kings 17:8-16
Elijah is told to go to Zaraphath where a widow would feed him, so being that his water supply has run out, he gets up and goes to Zaraphath. He sees the widow who was working on gathering some sticks for burning, and he commands her to bring to him a drink in a vessel. She begins to answer when he adds that she is to also bring him some food. She responds that she has nothing made and is at the very end of her supplies to make bread. Her and her son are on the brink of starvation and were about to cook up their last bit of bread so that they can go sit in a corner and starve to death. (v.8-12)
Elijah's response to this was first "do not fear" followed by telling her to do what she had planned but first make him his food. Only after that should she make her son and herself something. Then he shares a promise from God that the oil and flour supplies (which would be used to make the bread) would last throughout the entire drought. She was obedient, and God was faithful. Neither her flour nor her oil ran out throughout the entire three year drought. (v.13-16)
This was a fascinating act of trust and faith by the widow, take a moment to consider this. She was asked to give away her last bit of food which she had planned on eating with her son as their last meal. That would take an incredible amount of trust, but that was likely part of the reason for the format of Elijah's promise.
He began with "do not fear", which of course brings us back to the commissioning of Joshua . :) Joshua 1:9 - "Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous. do not be frightened do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Here in the 1 Kings 17 passage we see fear once again being associated with actions. If the widow would have feared for the sake of her life as opposed to trusting God, she would have found herself dead along with her son. Instead she was given the grace to trust God and to feed Elijah.
This obedience would have been completely impossible without that trust she had. If she did not trust the words of the prophet and God, there would have been no way that she would have given this man her food. If on the other hand (which happened) she did trust God and this prophet there is no way she would not have obeyed the promise. I think this is an exceptional example that we should strive to follow. All through Scripture God is giving us instructions and guidelines for proper living, and along with these instructions come promises. If we fully trust God there is no way we would not obey, but if we do not trust God there is no reason why we would trust God.
Hebrews 11:6-11 expresses that it is essential that we trust and as a result obey God. I understand this as an integral part of the connection between faith and deeds in James 2:14-26. Apparently I'm about to get off topic, so let me revert a little to the beginning of this thought. As the widow in a time of utter hardship was willing to trust God on the basis of a promise of provision, so should we trust God in all circumstances, striving to love God and others, storing up treasures in heaven. (Matthew 22:37-40, Matthew 6:19-20)
It is crucial to remember that God's instruction is not there to confine us and make us miserable, but instead He instructs us because He loves us. C. S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity, "Moral ruses are directions for the running of [the human] machine. That is why these rules at first seem to be constantly interfering with our natural inclinations. When you are being taught how to use any machine, the instructor keeps on saying, 'No, don't do it like that,' because, of course, there are all sorts of things that look all right and seem to you the natural way of treating the machine, but do not really work." God gives us guidance because He loves us, and promises us great things is we turn and seek to know and obey Him.
We are to obey God because He is trustworthy. The source of our disobedience is our lack of trust in the ever faithful God... we would rather trust in the inconsistent me's of the world.
"Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
7/11/10
For the King,
~Andrew Voigt
joshuaspromise.blogspot.com
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