The Widow of Zarephath

How many people know who this woman is? Heard anything about her prior to reading this blog? Well, I kinda knew an overview of her story - and after studying her for this weeks class, I really wish that there was more information provided about her. I would really like to know what she was thinking at different times in her story and why she reacted in the which she did.


So let's turn to 1 Kings and see where her story begins.
Verses 8-11
Then the word of the LORD came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”


Interesting information...
God sent Elijah to Zarephath where he was told that a widow would take care of him. Now, widow's in this time period were basically 2nd class citizens. No one cared about them. No one helped them. Since women could not provide financially for themselves, if they did not have any family around to help them, or a son old enough to work, then they would basically just die after their resources were used up. 
Also - Zarephath was a good 80-90 miles away from Kerith, where Elijah was at the beginning of chapter 17. Zarephath is located on the Mediterranean near Tyre and Sidon, which is close to modern day Lebanon. So God was calling him to travel this great distance in order to get food from a widow...when Elijah knew how widow's were treated and their typical wellbeing at this time.


When Elijah sees this widow woman, he asks her for a drink of water (v.10)... She obediently goes to get some, and then he calls after her, asking for a piece of bread (v.11).


What do you think would be going through the widow's mind when Elijah asks her to bring him a piece of bread?
"Oh sure! You'd like bread huh? Well so would I!"
"Why don't I just go kill a cow and we'll all feast together... sound good to you?"


I can hear her having an inner battle of what to actually say to this man... but what actually comes out, is still sarcastic - yet it says so much about her...


1 Kings 17:12
“As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”


What a sarcastic, yet honest answer...


So what does Elijah say in reply to her? (verses 13-15a)
Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.’” She went away and did as Elijah told her.


First thing to note here - which my dad pointed out in class last night - that Elijah tells this widow "Well, don't be afraid - but you go do just as you have said"... which tells her to go ahead and make that meal & die...BUT before you do - why don't you make me something to eat! Haha Got to love the sarcasm that is all through this part of the story... She speaks to him with sarcasm, so he speaks the same right back to her!


Second - He is asking her to tithe... To give him the first fruit of all she has to him... Then, with what is left, take care of feeding herself and her son. Because she was willing to give this tithe, she was blessed miraculously...


Third - He provides her a blessing for doing as he asks/commands. If she is willing to do this thing he is requesting of her...then he tells her that flour and oil will not run out until the Lord sends rain to the land again. This is the same thing that God asks of us - give Him the first 10% of our income so that He may bless our remaining 90%.


Instead of cursing him and getting upset at his request, she obediently goes off to make him the food. She was probably wondering if God even saw her...if He even noticed that she existed. And now, some prophet was having her use some of the extremely small amount of food she had left for herself and her young son to feed him. She must have felt like this was the lowest of low...the worst of all situations. She could have turned Elijah away and said "No thank you" to all he was saying. But instead, she chose to believe and trust in God.


I have to wonder how long God had been preparing this woman for this very situation... Had she been praying everyday, watching the flour and oil go down on a daily basis, basically begging God to save her & her son? So when Elijah came, and told her the blessing of helping him, did she feel a peace, because God had been preparing her?


Her obedient response to Elijah's request showed her obedience in the Lord. The Lord honored His promise to her by ensuring the flour and oil did not run out until the rain came back to the land.

This miracle of God's continually supplying flour and olive oil was another protest against Baal, just as was the drought.

Baal-worshipers believed he was a fertility god, giving rain to make crops grow.

But Baal could not overcome the drought to make wheat and olive trees grow.

Only the true God could provide flour and oil in a drought!

Psalm 146:5-10
⁵ But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God.
⁶ He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever.
⁷ He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The Lord frees the prisoners.
⁸ The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly.
⁹ The Lord protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.
¹⁰ The Lord will reign forever. He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations. Praise the Lord!


These verses in Psalm basically overview of this widow's story.... verse 7 says that God will give food to the hungry - which God did for this widow woman and her son. Verse 9 says He will protect the widows, which people of her own town would not do. Verse 9 also says that God will frustrates the plans of the wicked - which God did when Baal could not.


God provided for this woman - once she put her trust in Him.


BUT - the story does not end here...


1 Kings 17:17-24

¹⁷ Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. ¹⁸ She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

 ¹⁹ “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. ²⁰ Then he cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

 ²² The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. ²³Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”

 ²⁴ Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.”

Now - in verse 18 she asks Elijah if he came to remind her of her sin.. Now, nothing I could find actually stated what this sin was. But after last nights discussion - her sin was a sin of disbelief. Think about this - how many times does God tell us to put our trust in Him, and at the slightest uncertain moment, we doubt everything He has done for us in the past and everything that He has told us. Maybe this was what the widow was doing...every morning she went to the jar doubting that the miracle happened yet again... and when she opened it up, saw enough to make food for her, her son & Elijah she praised God. Then as the day wore on, she started to worry again about whether or not there would be food the next day.


And yet - no matter what she did - God once again was merciful and gave her son his life back. In doing this, He not only saved the son's life, but the widow's - again - as well. By giving the son his life back, God ensured that once he was old enough to work, he would be able to provide for his mother.


Her final statement in verse 24 is a shocking one - after everything God had done for this woman day after day after month after month... She says that after her son's life was returned to him, now she believes! 


Now we need to think about this... This Phoenician woman learned about God first-hand from one of His prophets... We might be tempted to say, "Well, that was all fine and dandy for her back then, but we can't have the same experience today..." That is where you are wrong. We can. God has allowed for His people to work in churches as a way of providing us the first-hand help throughout our lives in the same way that He did by sending Elijah to this widow.


We need to remember all that God has done for us. This widow continually doubted. Every day for over 3 years God provided food for her and her family...yet she continually doubted that He would do it the next day. It took her son dying and God giving him his life back for her to truly believe.


How often do we forget everything God says and has done for us when a crisis comes up in our lives? We should be on our knees at the first sign of trouble asking God for His help and His mercy in the situation we are facing. Instead of calling our pastors to complain about God and what is going on - why don't we call them and tell them that we are thanking God for His provisions and thanking our pastors for standing with us? 


What point do we have to get to in our life before we can truly believe God? We need to not doubt as much and as long as this widow did. It would help to start a journal... What are you thankful for everyday? What did God do in your life today? That way, when we feel doubt starting to come back up in our minds, we can look back over all that God has done and remember - which will eliminate doubt.


We need to stop doubting God & trust Him. Be thankful for all the He is doing in our lives...and not forget it as things get rough in our life.

Proud Mommy....

Last night, when Destry got home from work, we took the dogs next door to the track for a walk. Olliver & I were together & Destry had Draek. Draek hasn't been on a leash before, so we knew it was going to be interesting! When we just let the leash drag, and him walk with us, he was fine. When we tried to hold the leash, he was not happy! So, letting the leash drag we made it through 2 laps - which is 1/2 mile. Destry & Draek would stop sometimes, letting Olliver & I get ahead, then Destry would tell Draek to catch me & Olliver... so he would sprint! He wore himself out! It was so cute. He actually slept 6 straight hours last night! I feel like a proud mommy! Haha

Guess we know how to wear down a little puppy so that he gets some good sleep & the exercise he needs... especially since it is almost 10am and he is still sleeping! LoL

Lot's Wife

Okay - I was really busy yesterday so I didn't get a chance to post anything from my class Wednesday night...so I thought I would do it today.

This past Wednesday night I taught on Lot's Wife. Go all the way back to Genesis chapter 19 in order to find out the little bit about Lot's wife that we know... Now, the main thing that people know about her is that she disobeyed God's command when she escaped Sodom by looking back and therefore she turned into salt. Right? Well, I wanted to know more than that....

Lot was Abram's nephew who Abram had taken with him even though God told him not to. Even though Abram disobeyed God, he and Lot were so blessed that they could no longer live together (Gen 13:5-7a). So Lot looked around and saw Sodom (v.13) and decided to settle there amongst all of the sin and wickedness going on in the whole city.

Turning to Genesis 18, God decided to destroy Sodom because of all the evil and wickedness in the city but Abram intervenes on behalf of his nephew and his family. After bargaining with God, Abram asked if just 10 righteous people could be found in Sodom, if God would not destroy it... God agrees...but 10 people cannot be found.

God offers mercy to us in the same way he did to Lot and his family - even when they did not deserve it...

Read:
Deuteronomy 13:17
Psalm 25:6
Jeremiah 3:12

God decides to destroy Sodom - so He sends 2 angels to the city to get Lot's family out. Lot knew they were angels and therefore insisted they stay at his house - knowing what would happen to them if they stayed out in the public square. Upon this - all the men of the city (both young and old) came to Lot's house looking for the men in order to molest them. That shows just how wicked and evil this city is - no wonder God plans to destroy it!

Genesis 19:1-8 goes through the angels coming, Lot taking them in, the men coming to molest the angels & then Lot offering his daughters in place of the angels to all the men of the city.

Imagine Lot's wife hearing all of this... Listening to all the events as they play out in the other room. Women had no say in the family life during this time in history - so no matter what she thought or what she felt, it would not have mattered or changed anything.

Continuing through this story - Genesis 19:12-14 shows how Lot went to his sons-in-law to tell them to prepare to leave - but they laughed and thought he was a fool. The angels insisted that Lot pack his family to leave, yet he hesitated. In verse 16 the angels actually grab Lot and his family by the hands and pulled them out telling them they had to leave because Sodom was going to be destroyed.

Still - this is not good enough for Lot - he continues asking the angels for favors (Gen 19:18-22) by saying they don't want to go as far as the angels told them to go, and asks if they can just go to Zoar instead... So upon agreement, they are heading towards Zoar...and just as they are almost there, Lot's wife hesitated and looks back, and since she disobeyed God, she was turned into a pillar of salt.

Why did Lot's wife turn around...?
We read in chapter 13 that Lot was very wealthy... and if Lot was in the city gate when the angels arrived then he was in works to be a judge, which was a wealthy position. So she was leaving behind a lot of wealth, possessions and earthly good. Also, if you read the Scriptures, she most likely left family behind. Lot offered his daughters who were virgins (v.8) Then the angels told Lot to go talk to his sons and daughters and sons-in-law (Gen 19:12) and so Lot went to talk to his sons-in-law (v.14). Then the angels told Lot to take the daughters that are in the house and flee (v.15). So there is most likely other children around in the city of Sodom who did not flee with the family. She could have been looking back to see if possibly they were following.

Either way - it does not matter. She disobeyed the commands from God - 1 John 2:15-17 tells us to not love the things of this world. God was trying to save her and she made a choice to go against God which cost her her own life.

Do not be so attached to the things of this world that when God tells us to move, flee or do something, we look back with longing as Lot's wife did....

Life...

This past weekend, Destry & I had so much fun... We did not do anything special, but we had both the dogs together all weekend. Olliver is not doing as well as I would like, but mainly because he was trained to ignore other dogs, and now there is another dog in his house! LoL

**Smiling in our backyard**

We all played and laughed and had a great time. I had forgotten how much work having a puppy was though but we are still enjoying it. Destry gets up a few times a night to let Draek out to go potty. It is just preparing us for having a baby later in life...hahaha

**My boys all sleeping together on the couch**

We did take both the boys with us on our weekly drive to Mansfield for church. We ended up coming over on Saturday evening so that we were not trying to make it 3hours in the car in one day for Draek. Olliver can handle that, but we wanted to be fair to Draek.

**Draekon got very comfy in the truck on the drive**

Draek is very underweight and so it is important for us to keep feeding him properly and ensuring he gets all the nutrition necessary. After he ate dinner last night, he was such a rolly-polly little guy that Destry & I just laughed.

**Olliver & Draek watching the garage where Destry just went**

Unfortunately, Olliver & I had to leave them this morning... We are both sad... So I have Olliver with me & Destry has Draek with him... It is hard to have our family split in half... Especially knowing that the wedding is still 173 days away - which means that's how long it is until we can all be together all the time. But, we will make it through... enjoying our time that we do all still have together.

**Draek & Destry**

My goal...to try and do homework while Olliver sleeps in the hopes that we will not cry as we miss Destry & Draek...

Draekon Arieh Ditto

DESTRY & I ARE PARENTS AGAIN!

**Draek**

LoL

Okay - let me clarify... We adopted a little puppy last night! Destry found him online & as soon as I got off work yesterday I went to the local shelter here in Mansfield to take a look at him. We went into the play room and he just captured my heart. All he wanted was some love. He had been taken into the shelter as a stray. They estimated him at about 3months old...so Destry & I decided to make his birthday 24Dec2010. He is a shepherd mix, but they aren't sure what he is mixed with.

**Laying in the middle of all the toys Olliver left at the house**

Destry is taking him to the vet today to ensure that he is healthy and is up-to-date on all of his shots. Then tomorrow afternoon I will take Olliver over to meet him. We are so excited about the addition to our family! Destry chose "Draekon" as his name... we will call him "Draek" for short. Then I chose "Arieh" as his middle name because it is the name of a Biblical bodyguard...the name means "lion"...

**All curled up in Destry's coat**

The Queen of Sheba

I know I haven't written in a while... I have been swamped with school though and it has consumed all of my time. With that said - I did not even teach my class last night at church. :-( Mom taught for me and she did a wonderful job. She taught us on "The Queen of Sheba"! Yes, a name so many of us have heard over the years, but yet, what do we really know about her? Well, that is just what mom taught us last night.

The Queen of Sheba was an amazing woman. She was a great queen and very rich. She loved adventure and enjoyed going out and looking for adventure. Also - she had heard of King Solomon and all that he was saying. See, King Solomon was very rich as well, and he openly served God and thanked God for everything that happened in his life. Word of this got all the way to the Queen and she wanted to know more about what King Solomon was talking about.

So she packed up her caravan and traveled to where King Solomon was...it was a 6 month long journey. This did not sway her from wanting to go and talk with the King and learn. See, the Queen of Sheba was a pagan. She served "gods" but not God. But after talking with King Solomon and learning about God from him, she went back to her country & was actually credited with bringing Christianity to her people.

See - she heard what was being said by King Solomon...and she wanted to learn more. She was not satisfied with just hearing through the grapevine... She wanted to learn directly from the King himself. That is how people should be today. And we, as Christians, should be like King Solomon. Giving God praise, openly for all to hear, for all He is doing in our life. Then, the "Queens" of the world will want to come and hear from us more information on God and how to make Him the leader in their life as well.

Look her up. There is SOOOOO much information on her. I barely skimmed the surface here!

Miss Hannah

So this week in the G2 class to my church I chose to teach/talk about Hannah. Now her name is more commonly heard of, but do we really know what she is known for in the Scriptures? Or is it just a pretty name with a good meaning ("graciousness" or "favor") that we use to name baby girls?

Well Hannah is found in 1 Samuel 1:1-2:11 and 2:19-21. When you read her story you quickly realize that she had many problems in her life. First, her husband, Elkanah, had another wife, Peninnah. Second, Peninnah had many children with Elkanah but Hannah, though she longed to have children, had none. Third, Peninnah taunted, teased and ridiculed Hannah for being barren. Fourth, Elkanah did not understand why Hannah was so distraught about not having children.

In 1 Samuel 1:5-6, it states twice that "the Lord had closed her womb." So it was no accident that she was not having any children, her womb was closed by the Lord.

When reading Hannah's story, we see that every year she went with the entire family to worship in Shiloh at the temple. This particular year, the harassing by Peninnah became unbearable. The Scriptures state that Peninnah "provoked her till she wept and would not eat (v.7)." Now that is some harassing! How many of us women (or men!) have allowed someone else's words to get to us so much that we could not even eat? It made us sick to listen to what they were saying to us...

To make matters worse, she went to the temple to talk to God and pour her heart out to Him and Eli, the priest, misunderstood her to the point of saying "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine (v. 14)." Now that is some misunderstanding!

So, not only has the Lord closed her womb and she cannot have children, her husbands other wife picks on her non-stop, her husband does not understand her and now the priest is calling her a drunk! And you thought you had problems! Haha

Having a child at the time that Hannah lived was more than just having a child. It was expected. It was a way of life. Women were around to have children to carry on the family line. I am sure that Peninnah was not the only one who was picking on her and whispering about her. Imagine all the women she grew up with. When they saw her around town and they had all these kids, yet she had none, I am sure they picked on her too. Being infertile brought about disapproval of the womans family and rejection of society. Israelites saw children as a blessing from God. Since she could not have children, she was considered "subfemale."

Through all of these situations - Hannah replied to Eli calling her drunk and said:

v.15-18
"Not so, my lord," Hannah replied, "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief."
Eli answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him."
She said, "May your servant find favor in your eyes." Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.

Hannah could have went off on Eli for calling her a drunk (since it was pretty much the last straw in all the bad that was happening in her life) but instead she told him what was going on. I am sure she said it with some sort of attitude, I mean she is a woman!

But did you see what happened? In verse 18 it says that "her face was no longer downcast." She believed what God said to her through Eli, trusted it to be true and did not question it to the point that it caused a PHYSICAL change in her. Think about it... She was continually ridiculed, misunderstood time and time again... She was probably depressed. Then, she gets a word from God & it changes her.

How many times are we longing for something in our life, asking God for something, and when He gives us an answer and yet we question Him? She took His answer as comfort and leaned on His words to change her. Why don't we do the same? Insert your situation into the story. What are you longing for so badly, what are people picking on you about continually, what are you being misunderstood about? Do you complain continually about it and let their words get to you? Or do you turn to God and allow His reply, His words to comfort you?

It's time we learn from Hannah and when God gives us revelation we do not question it! We take His words and stand firm on them, leaning on them when times get hard, and do not falter when it takes longer than we wish it would for His promise to come true.

Read, study and learn from Hannah. She is an amazing woman in the bible that we can use in our own lives today!

Building an ark...

So last week we had all of that snow & ice. If that wasn't bad enough, Sunday night we had a huge thunder storm which raised temperatures and dropped over 2 inches of rain... which melted the snow and ice. This created massive flooding all over the state.I did not realize it was even raining (yes, I slept through the storm!) but the rain just did not seem to stop.

Turns out that the rain, and all the melting snow together created massive damage all over the state. So many roads were closed (some still are) and majority of schools were effected in one way or another. I drove home from Lima yesterday morning and there were so many fields that were flooded. The amount of water was just amazing.

With all the damage that has occurred to peoples houses, cars, businesses and everything else, I want everyone to know that I am praying. This is a crazy time with how much the schools have already been closed this year... people not having flood insurance on their houses... and even our local post office being severely damaged in the rains...

We need to turn to God & allow Him to help us through this time. It is the perfect time to allow God to take over the worry, pain and suffering from this time.

Praying for all of those who are affected by the flooding....