I Have Only a Handful of Flour and a Little Oil
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June 24, 2012 |
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 "As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, 'Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.' But she said, 'As the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.' Then Elijah said to her, 'Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. For thus says the LORD God of Israel, "The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth."'" (1 Kings 17:11-14)
In this modern society people have little concern for other people and are preoccupied with taking care of their own interests. However at times there are people who sacrifice themselves to save others and sometimes it makes headlines and people talk about the incidents. In fact, some of such people were following their sense of duty as a human and what they did attracted great attention because so many others don't follow or accept such a sense of responsibility these days.
Then, how should we act as God's children who have been taught the Word of truth of God? We who became God's children with the love of Jesus Christ should understand the heart of goodness God really wants us to have in this generation and act according to the truth.
In 1 Kings Chapter 17 is a story of a widow in Zarephath who received a great blessing by giving Elijah, the servant of God with a handful of flour and a little oil during severe drought and famine. How was she able to receive the blessing?
1. Elijah prophesied the drought in Israel.
In the time of King Ahab, the king and the people of Israel fell into idol-worshipping and committed sins, so God's curse came upon them. The curse was no rain for three and a half years. Before the curse came upon them, God prophesied it through Elijah as recorded in 1 Kings 17:1, "As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word."
But the King Ahab even tried to capture and kill Elijah who delivered the prophetic word, let alone offer repentance. God let Elijah hide himself by the brook Cherith and commanded the ravens to provide bread and meat for him there.
It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. Then the word of God came to him, saying, "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you" (1 Kings 17:9).
It doesn't mean God had said to the widow of Zarephath, "I will send Elijah to you, so provide for him." It rather means that He would guide her heart so that she could provide for him. The reason she could be guided to provide for Elijah was that she had a heart of goodness with which she could sacrifice herself for others.
Also, how could Elijah be guided by God's will like this? This is because he was a prepared-vessel for God's glory, and he was God's servant with whom God walked. God was well enough pleased with him to take him alive into Heaven. That's why he could make the Israelites repent by bringing down fire from above at Mount Carmel.
In 1 Kings Chapter 18, Elijah alone challenged hundreds of prophets of Baal and Asherah that had made the Israelites worship idols. They put offerings on the altar, and the prophets called on the names of their gods, and Elijah called on the name of the LORD. And they agreed that the God who would answer by fire, He is God. In the end, Elijah brought down the answer by fire and revealed that the LORD is the one true God.
God provided for him through the ravens and the widow of Zarephath since Elijah was able to be used as preciously as he was for God's glory.
2. The widow of Zarephath provided Elijah with the only food she had.
Elijah went to Zarephath as God had told him. When he came to the gate of the city, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink." As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand."
At that time, it was hard to get water due to the long drought but he also asked her for food. He looked like he had no shame, but the widow of Zarephath didn't have any discomfort in her heart. She was rather embarrassed because she couldn't help him in her situation.
She said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die" (1 Kings 17:12).
If Elijah hadn't asked her for this in human thoughts, her good heart wouldn't have been revealed as deeds God was pleased with. Listening to her answer, Elijah said, "Do not fear; go, do as you have said, … For thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth'" (1 Kings 17:13-14).
It was not easy for ordinary people to obey Elijah and give him the food that was much more precious than gold in such an extreme drought. They might think, "Why would he be asking a poor widow like me for food when he said he had such power." But the widow of Zarephath gave no reason or excuse for disobedience, but she just obeyed. Seeing this, we can see how much she trusted God and His servant and how good her heart was.
3. Blessing given to those who unsparingly give everything to others
God knew the good heart of the widow, so He chose her among numerous people and arranged for her to provide for Elijah. Through the incident, the door of blessing was opened to the widow of Zarephath.
1 Kings 17:15-16 says, "So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through Elijah." She was amazingly blessed to have food until the extreme drought ended.
We should pay attention to the fact that the goodness of the widow was given to a person who was loved by God. Therefore, we must not neglect service for others including pastors in our church as well as service for God.
Out of goodness, the widow of Zarephath must have shown the same deeds to people who visited her even if they were not men of God. God sent Elijah to her knowing that she had such an inner heart. Elijah was one who was guaranteed by God and God sent him to her so that she could receive blessing even though there were other ways to feed Elijah.
If she had had even little greed, how could she have obeyed Elijah's words in the severe drought and famine? But she had no greediness, but a heart of goodness with which she could give things to others. In this way she was able to obey Elijah and received amazing blessings.
The widow of Zarephath faced a crisis of death in the drought of three and a half years. But due to her truly good heart, God worked for her so that she could eat and live with no worries in the drought as a result of her goodness.
God reveals men of goodness and blesses them without fail at His appointed time. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become children of the Light who do good, receive great blessings from God, and give great glory to God.
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