Home » Monday: Family Reunion    

Comments

Monday: Family Reunion — 6 Comments

  1. The authors missed out the episode of Elijah's story that I think gives us a real message of hope. No doubt you will recall that Elijah had a moment of triumph on Mount Carmel, when he demonstrated the power of God over Baal. His triumph was short-lived however because Jezebel, on hearing of the result and the loss of her priests promised that she would make mince-meat of Elijah. Elijah did a quick disappearing act into the desert and was lost for about 6 weeks in despair, fearing for his life and lamenting that his work had not been successful.

    And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 1 Kings 19:10

    And at that point, God gave a demonstration that was more powerful than self-igniting sacrifices that consumed rocks. After a powerful demonstration of wind, earthquake and fire, God spoke with a quiet voice from within. Among other things God said:

    Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. 1 Kings 19: 18

    That message, delivered with a quiet inner voice was the encouragement that Elijah needed. In a sense, it was a reunion with God and a reconnection with the faithful family of God in Israel.

    Perhaps there is a lesson for us too when we claim that we have the Elijah message for the end-time and feel discouraged that we are ineffective.

    (44)
    • Hi Brother Marcus,
      Like you, I went further and read the rest of the story. There was another miraculous event that happens during this time that Elijah had a one-on-one conversation with God; being a bird watcher and lover, I'm sure you will appreciate God's additional of birds into the story.

      "You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”...6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 1 Kings 17:4-6".

      Can you imagine, while on one of your bird watching adventures, that one of the birds comes and bring you a handful of berries to eat for breakfast? That really happen to Elijah, and not for just one day; the raven feed him breakfast and supper until the brook dried up. Wow!!

      Be blessed today everyone!

      (3)
  2. Iam wondering why the widow who was left with a single meal to eat and die ,,took the blessing for granted after the flour and oil multiplied for a quite number of days,,Maybe family reunion is more heartfelt than anything else, The widow was ready to die with his son after eating their last meal,but could not accept to be left alone by his only son for he was already a widow living in agony due to the loss of his husband,,,The more reason she was convicted when the son was re-united to her

    (4)
    • Like us, the widow had lived her life with family traditions, and other religions, mingled with a little bit of knowledge of the true God.

      The Bible doesn't say whether she was a Jewish woman or not, it just says that she was a widow who lived in Zarephath, which as the Sabbath School author tells us, is a small town near Sidon, the hometown of Jezebel. She had probably grew up hearing the words of the Jewish prophets (there were still a lot of prophets in the land), as she witnessed the barbaric religious rituals of the citizens of Sidon (rituals that the people of Israel were adapting).

      Doubt settles in the mind of anyone when you grow up in a religion that mixes the Truths of God's word with a little error, as many of us have done as well (I grew up in another religion until I was 19 years old). The widow had enough knowledge of God to recognize Elijah as a "man of God", and to make the decision to obey him in the first miracle of the flour and the oil. But because of her mixed religious heritage, she did not have total faith in God. After God brought her son back to life, through Elijah, that is when she trusted God fully, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

      What is it going to take for us to stop Doubting, and totally put our trust in God? Be blessed!

      (6)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>