WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary
For Sunday October 13, 2019
Over 217,000 readers worldwide
larrydalexander.blogspot.com
ACTIVE
FAITH
(GOD
brings hope in hard times)
(1
Kings 17:8-16)
The
books of 1st and 2nd Kings cover the period of about 350
years, when “the Davidic line of kings”, ruled over Israel. The book of 1st
Kings begins with the death of the GODly King David, and the beginning of the
reign of his son, Solomon, and ends with the death of the evil King Ahab, and
the beginning of the reign of his son, Ahaziah.
The books of 1st and 2nd
Kings were originally one book in the Hebrew text, and they were named such,
because they recorded and interpreted the reigns of all of the kings of Israel
and Judah except Saul, Israel’s first king.
The Septaugint, the first Greek translation
of the Old Testament, written and completed circa 200 B.C., divided “Kings”
into the two parts that are regarded today as “First and Second Kings”. However,
in the Septaugint, these books are called “Third and Fourth Kingdoms”, while
the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel are called “First and Second
Kingdoms”.
The actual title “Kings”, is derived from the
Latin “Vulgate”, the first Latin translation of the Scriptures, which was
written by Jerome (circa A.D. 400), who was commissioned to do so by the
Catholic Church, some 600 years, following the writing of the Septaugint. Jerome
entitled the books “The Book of Kings”.
These books chronicle three major historical
periods in Israel’s past; The “United Kingdom” under David and Solomon, the “Divided
Kingdom”, following the rebellion of northern Israel against Judah (before they
were carried off into captivity by Shalmaneser and the Assyrians in 722 B.C.),
and the “Surviving Kingdom” of Judah, prior to their ultimate defeat and
destruction at the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces in
586 B.C.
First and Second Kings also chronicles the
lives and times of many prophets, particularly Elijah and his divinely chosen protégé,
Elisha. In 1st Kings 17, verses 8-24, we find the, now famous,
account of the Prophet Elijah’s divinely appointed visit to a little town
called “Zarephath”.
This town, Zarephath, where GOD sends Elijah,
is actually located in the homeland of “Jezebel”, the notorious daughter of the
powerful King “Ethbaal III” of the Sidonians (1 Kings 16:31) Jezebel became the
wife of Ahab, King of Judah, and she quite literally, began to rule his castle,
and profoundly influence his decision-making.
King
Ethbaal III was one of the most powerful worshipers of the idol god, “Baal”
that the world has ever known, and in his day, he was widely believed to
actually be “Baal himself”, in human form. It was Ethbaal III who first
introduced Ahab into Baal worship, and thus, Ahab caused Israel to follow suit,
and many of the Israelites began to worship Baal also.
And so, it is into this little town, on the
coast of the Mediterranean, near the city of Sidon (actually between Tyre and
Sidon), that the LORD commissions HIS prophet Elijah to boldly go and
demonstrate, with his own body, the power of GOD over all things.
This passage of Scripture is a dramatic
illustration of “active faith”, or, “faith in action” (on Elijah’s, and, on the
widow’s part), while having to endure under, seemingly insurmountable duress. Active
faith is defined by how one holds up when he or she struggles to exist in a
stressful atmosphere (in this case “drought and famine”), and or, hostile environment
(anti-CHRIST surroundings – prevalent “Baal worship”), over a significant
period of time.
As Elijah entered the town he saw a woman
gathering sticks. This was the woman, who, as it turned out, was the widow that
GOD had already told him about. GOD had told Elijah that HE had instructed the widow
woman to feed him. And so Elijah asked the woman, “Would you please bring me a cup of water?” (v.10) (NLT). And as the
woman was going to get the water, Elijah called to her and asked her to also “bring me a bite of bread too” (v.11).
When Baalism entered into Israel, GOD had
crippled the entire nation, and its surrounding area with drought and famine,
and there was very little food available to its inhabitants in those days. Here
however, when GOD’s great prophet Elijah entered into this widowed woman’s
life, her faith and hope was renewed and strengthened, and little did she know
at that time, GOD would also later restore the life of her son, through Elijah,
because of her, now activated, faith in HIM.
The faithful widow’s factual response to
Elijah’s request for bread was natural and practical when she answered, “I swear by the LORD your GOD that I don’t
have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour
left in a jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just
gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die”
(v.12) (NLT). However, her later response to Elijah will be one of action and
faith, void of human reasoning and words, and after his encouraging remarks in
verses 13-14, she would simply do as he requested.
The widow’s response was one of a person
who is at the end of her hope, and is just about to give up on what she could
do in her own strength. However, GOD comes to us only when “we have come to the
end of ourselves”. It is only then that we are able to hear GOD and be able to exercise
true “active faith”. And so when Elijah encourages the widow to step out on
active faith telling her, “Don’t be
afraid! Go ahead and cook that last meal, but bake me a little loaf of bread
first. Afterwards there will still be enough food for you and your son. For this
is what the LORD, the GOD of Israel, says: There will always be plenty of flour
and oil left in your containers until the time when the LORD sends rain and the
crops grow again!” (Vs.13-14) (NLT)
And so the widow woman of Zarepheth, upon
active faith, did just as the Prophet Elijah instructed her to do, and she and
Elijah, and her son continued to eat from their divine provisions from GOD for
many days. And no matter how much they used, there was always enough left in
the containers, just as the LORD had promised through Elijah.
Our faith is also validated by the impact
that it has on the lives of other individuals. Our personal, positive reaction
to the chances and changes in life can give healing and hope to the people that
we come in contact with on a daily basis. And even though their blessings,
because of GOD, through us, may not necessarily come in bunches, certainly their
blessings will be consistently manifested in GOD’s promise of “providing our
daily needs” little by little. And to the person who has a faithful heart, and
lives by “active faith”, GOD’s daily provisions will suffice and make our
hearts glad and beholding to HIM, the ONE WHO promises to faithfully provide
for us, one day at a time.
A Sunday school lesson
by,
Larry D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website
No comments:
Post a Comment