PROCLAMATION
“And Elijah said unto her ‘Fear not …
make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for
thee and thy son. For thus saith The
Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the curse
of oil fail, until the day that The Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.’ And she went and did according to the saying
of Elijah; and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.” 1 Kings 17:13-15 (KJV)
EXPLANATION
These words were written under the
influence of The Holy Spirit of God. The
human author is unknown although some Bible scholars attribute this book to the
prophet Jeremiah. In this chapter Jeremiah records that the word of The
Lord came to Elijah, the Tishbite of Tishbe in Gilead, to tell Ahab king of
Israel that because he had done such evil in the sight of The Lord that there
shall not be any dew or rain in the land for years. Then The Lord told Elijah to go by the brook
Cherith near the Jordan river. He was to
drink from that brook and The Lord would command ravens to feed him there. (1
Kings 17:1-6) When the brook dried up he
was told to go to Zarephath where a widow woman would care for him. Upon his arrival there he found that the
woman did not have much to eat. She was planning
to fix what little meal she had for herself and her son which they were going
to eat and then die. (1 Kings 17:7-12)
Elijah told her to fear not but to make him something to eat first. He said that her barrel of meal would never
be empty and she would never run out of oil if she fed him and so it was. (1
Kings 17:13-16) It came to pass that her
son fell very sick unto death. After she
confronted him, Elijah prayed that the soul of the child would return to him
and the boy was revived. (1 Kings 17:17-24)
APPLICATION
The Bible teaches us that whomever is a blessing to
others shall himself also be blessed. (Proverbs 11:25) However, there is a special blessing in store
for one who blesses a man of God. Being
a blessing to a man of God, even doing as small a thing as giving him a drink
of water, will result in that person receiving a special blessing. (Matthew
10:41-42) While we are encouraged to
pray for one another, (James 5:16) we should pray special prayers for our
pastors. Those that teach us will be
held to a higher standard when they are judged. (James 3:1) While we are to pray for and obey the man of
God, (Hebrews 13:17) it is also good to be kind to him.
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