The Faith of the Widow of Zarephath

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. In the name of Jesus. So based on our readings, you would think today is

Widow Sunday. And in a way it is. I think maybe that would be a good thing to call it in the future when these readings come back around.

We're going to take a look at our Old Testament text today. We're going to look at the widow of Zarephath and the story therein.

And I'm going to be addressing a problem that exists, well, as a result of our sinful nature.

Often times when we approach the scripture, we are looking for ourselves there.

And we're trying to find a way to basically say, I've done my part, therefore

I have earned something from God. And so you read the scripture and you look at this miracle of the widow of Zarephath.

And you're looking for something that you can hang on to, something that you can apply to your life. So that you can say, ha ha,

I've done my part, therefore God owes me. This is a wicked way of approaching scripture and this robs

Jesus of His glory. Salvation and all of God's gifts are given to us by grace, through faith, not a result of works.

And so let me read to you the story of the widow of Zarephath the way some people today would read it.

They read this story and say, look, here's the prophet Elijah. He has been sent to the widow of Zarephath and, well, she's got nothing.

She's literally on the brink of destitution, about to die, her and her son. And then

Elijah says to her, go and bake for me some bread. And she says, well,

I have none. And he says, just give it to me first. Give me the first fruits, give me a tithe.

And then God will bless the rest and you'll be okay. That is not what this text says.

And unfortunately there are a lot of people who read this text this way. And we as sinners, well, we want to read it this way ourselves.

But if we pay close attention to this text, we're going to find out that this has nothing to do with her tithing, her giving the first fruits, her somehow doing her part first, and then

God will do the rest. The text explicitly teaches against this if you pay attention.

So let's return to 1 Kings 17 and we'll look at verses 8 through 16. Here's what it says.

The word of the Lord came to him. That would be the prophet Elijah. Arise and go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon.

A little bit of context here. In the previous chapter, well actually the beginning of this chapter, the

Lord made it clear to the people of Israel who were steeped in idolatry and worshipping

Baal and Ashtoreth that, well, they weren't going to have any rain until Elijah said so.

And the reason why this is significant is because according to the mythology, Baal is the king of the air.

He is the one who brings the rain. And the rain is the thing that brings us the crops. So who's ultimately responsible for feeding you?

Well, it's not Yahweh, the one true God. It's Baal. And so Israel, steeped in idolatry, worships this false demonic

God, which, by the way, also demanded human sacrifice. And he says, that's it.

You guys think that Baal is the one who's bringing you the rain? Not so. It's not going to rain until I say so.

And until Elijah says so for me. And so, well, if it's not raining, you know what happens.

Crops fail, brooks dry up, and things like that. And since it was not going to rain until Elijah said so,

Elijah becomes Israel's most wanted. Every Saturday night, they show video of him on television.

Have you seen this man? And he was hiding out in the brook Cherith, and there were ravens that were feeding him, miraculously.

Quite the story. Well, eventually, the brook Cherith, well, it dries out. And there's no food.

So God sends Elijah into enemy territory, into pagan territory, outside of Israel, a place where idolatry is, well, running rampant, if you would, in order for him to hide out.

He's got to find a safe house. And so God provides a safe house for him in the house of the widow of Zarephath.

And here's what it says. The Lord said to Elijah, rise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon. Dwell there.

Hide out. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you. A widow?

Widows got nothing. Widows are really poor. No one's going to look for Elijah there, because widows aren't supposed to have the means to be able to do things.

But you'll notice here, it says that the Lord has commanded this widow to feed him.

Now, it doesn't say how. Maybe it was a dream. Maybe it was a direct revelation. It doesn't say how the

Lord told her this. But being a widow, not having enough food of your own, and then being told by none other than the

God of Israel that you are to provide for a prophet of God and feed him, that's quite the command.

Now, keep this in mind. What the Lord commands, the Lord supplies, right? So God is not being cruel.

So Elijah rose, went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks.

Now, Elijah's got to figure out, is this the right widow or is this the wrong widow? There's lots of widows.

So how do we know this is the right one? So he engages her in conversation to kind of test to see if she's the one whom the

Lord has commanded for her to feed him. So he called to her and said, bring me a little water in a vessel so that I might drink.

She doesn't complain. She gets right to it. So as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, while you're at it, bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.

She stops. She said, as Yahweh, 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'm gathering a couple, two sticks, so that I might go in and prepare it for myself and my son so that we may eat it and die.

They're on the brink of starvation. They're on the brink of starvation. So he's asked for something that is like way beyond her means.

In fact, it's so dire, they're down to their last meal. We're gathering up sticks for firewood.

Once we bake this thing, this is all we got. And after that, the only thing that we're looking at is death itself.

That's what she's saying. So Elijah said to her, do not fear.

Go and do as you have said. By the way, he's not saying, go ahead and go do your thing and go die. That's not what he's saying. That would be rude.

He says, go and do what you've said. Make a cake, right? Make this. But he says, make a cake of it, bring it to me.

For thus says... But first, make a cake of it, bring it to me. And afterwards, make something for yourself.

For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel. The jar of flour shall not be spent.

The jug of oil shall not be empty until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth. Now you notice, he says, first make a little cake of it and bring it to me.

He's not saying, if you make a cake of it and bring it to me, then

God will multiply the rest. He doesn't say that at all. This is not a conditional statement.

He's making an exclusive, non -revocable promise. And he's not speaking on his own authority.

He's speaking via direct revelation from God. Because the Lord said, the jar of flour shall not be spent, the jug of oil shall not be empty.

It doesn't matter if she gives him the first little cake that comes out of the oven, or if she ends up making it and giving it to somebody else.

It doesn't matter. The sure and certain promise of God is unconditional. It's not based on a condition.

Your jar of flour will not run out. Your jar of oil will not run out. So go ahead and make some for me first.

I'm hungry. I've been on the road for a while. And then go ahead and make some for yourself. Absolute promise.

This is gospel. This is not law. She did not fulfill some requirement in order to earn the miracle.

The miracle was promised to her unconditionally. Just the same way the gospel is promised to us unconditionally.

So, she went. And she did as Elijah said.

I want you to think about the craziness of this situation. So what you're saying, Elijah, is that I'm down to my last bit of flour.

I'm down to my last bit of oil. And you're telling me that the Lord says we're not going to run out of any of this stuff, so go ahead and make you some first.

But she did it. And by doing that, as crazy as it sounds, what does that tell you about her?

She believed. She trusted the word of the Lord in the mouth of Elijah.

Doesn't make any sense. Seems kind of odd. But you know what?

All right. The Lord commanded me to feed you. Did he not?

Yeah, he did. And now the Lord is saying that he's going to be the one providing all the food for you.

All right. I believe you. And she went and she did. And she did as Elijah said.

And she and he and her household, you can also say family, ate for many days.

In other words, you've got this unconditional promise. So she not only took advantage of this, she and her boy ate.

Says her family also ate. She invited the neighbors over. She invited some of her extended family over.

Barbecue at my place. Of course, we only got bread. But that's okay.

We got lots of it. An unending supply. Would you like seconds? Thirds? That's how grace is, is it not?

Always giving us what we need and a little bit more to share with others. And so the idea is this.

Is that this was not something she did to earn this miracle. And we misread this text if we turn it into a text like that.

And unfortunately, I've heard this text preached in the context of why you need to tithe.

There's pastors around the country who use this text and basically say, see, she had to give to Elijah first, so you need to give to Elijah first and then

God's going to give to you. This is not a tithing text. This is a gospel text. This is a text about the promises of God and the faithfulness of God and the mercy and the grace and the abundance of God as He cares for those whom

He loves. Remember what we read in our psalm. Psalm 146, verse 9.

The Lord watches over the sojourners. The Lord upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked

He brings to ruin. Now the question is, is it talking about literal widows here?

In one sense, yes. God does care for literal widows. But in another sense, think of it this way.

If you were to think of this widow of Zarephath as much like, well, Christ's bride, the church.

The church, before Christ is betrothed to His church, the church is utterly poverty -stricken.

Completely in need. Wearing thread -worn clothes at best that can barely cover anything up and starving to death.

This is how Christ finds His bride, the church. What does Jesus say in the

Sermon on the Mount? Matthew 5, verse 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit. That means the bankrupt.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And so Christ finds us, each and every one of us, literally in complete desperation and need.

Complete desperation. And you know what God does? He gets His hands dirty.

He's born of the Virgin Mary. Lives a perfectly sinless life. He's crucified for us under Pontius Pilate.

See, the Gospel says, believe and you will live. Believe and you will live. It's a command, is it not?

Believe this and you will live. But see what the Gospel commands the Gospel provides. God commanded the widow of Zarephath to feed

Elijah. And God commands you to believe and live. But we are dead in trespasses and sins.

And so what does God do through the preaching of His Word? He raises us to life and He gives us faith.

And then He sustains us on our way in the short sojourn of a life of ours.

Poor, sin -riddled, in complete need. Stained with sin.

He gives us His righteousness. Covers us up. Washes us in the blood of the

Lamb and makes us spotless white snow. He provides for all of our needs.

What He commands, He gives. He says, believe and you will live. And so I will give you faith so that you can believe. And you will believe not just in nothing, but you will believe in Me, who has come into your situation, has lived among you, worked hard and without sin, and then took your sin upon Myself, and then died.

This is what God does for you. He gives you everything you need so that you can get through the famine of this lifetime.

He finds you in complete despair and He feeds you richly from His table with His own body and blood.

Washes away your sins in the waters of your baptism. And so this is not a text about you doing your part and then

God doing the rest. This is a text that teaches us that whatever God commands of you,

He first provides and gives to you richly out of His abundance so that you might live rather than die.

And when we understand that correctly, we will say, nothing to You, Lord, I bring.

Nothing to Your cross, I claim. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

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