Originally posted: 2/25/2020
Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth,” (17:24).
God sends His prophet to King Ahab with His prediction.
Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “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,” (17:1).
There will be a drought. Rain often symbolizes God’s blessings in Scripture. The coming drought would signify the absence of His blessings, indicating judgment. A drought would usher in a famine as crops withered, and widespread death as sustenance disappeared for a people living off the land.
“If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, 4 then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. 5 Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time. You will thus eat your food to the full and live securely in your land,” (Leviticus 26:3-5
Elijah’s forecast delivered to Ahab, the most wicked king the northern kingdom had ever known, would bring judgment against the adulterous king and nation; and equally significant, against the impotent god they now followed.
From NIV Study Bible: “The drought was not only a divine judgment on a nation that had turned to idolatry, but also a demonstration that even though Baal was considered the god of fertility and lord of the rain clouds, he was powerless to give rain.”
As His Word went forth, perhaps many would choose to discount it, ignore it, reject it. But the years would confirm “the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” And as the years of drought persisted, God Sovereign over creation, God Powerful to stop and send rain to water His earth, God Whose Word is Truth would be confirmed as the One True Living God; and perhaps some would choose to seek Him for salvation and deliverance.
“Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’” (Ezekiel 33:11).
His heart and His desire for us is that we turn to Him and live. Consider the extent to which He has gone to express His heart, desire, and will for all creation. By His Word He continually communicates His Care, His Sufficiency, His Provision, His Power, His Faithfulness, and His Supremacy.
Consider Him Whose Word is Truth
- His Word is Truth when provision seems unlikely, communicating His Care.
- “Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.4 It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there,” (17:3).
- His Word is Truth when support seems feeble, communicating His Sufficiency.
- Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you,” (17:8).
- His Word is Truth when supplies are exhausted, communicating His Provision.
- 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. 14 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,’” (17:13-14).
- His Word is Truth when expectations crumble, communicating His Power.
- So she said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!” (17:18).
- His Word is Truth when His character is questioned, communicating His Faithfulness.
- He called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?” (17:20).
- His Word is Truth and is confirmed by His works, communicating His Supremacy.
- Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth,” (17:24).
How do we respond to Him Whose Word is Truth?
- When provision seems unlikely, let us trust Him Whose Word is Truth as He communicates His Care.
- The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want… (Psalm 23) - “Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!” (Luke 12:24).
- The Lord is my shepherd,
- When support seems feeble, let us trust Him Whose Word is Truth as He communicates His Sufficiency.
- And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed, (2 Corinthians 9:8).
- And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me, (2 Corinthians 12:9).
- When supplies are exhausted, let us trust Him Whose Word is Truth as He communicates His Provision.
- Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, (2 Corinthians 3:5).
- And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus, (Philippians 4:19).
- When expectations crumble, let us trust Him Whose Word is Truth as He communicates His Power.
- “O Lord, the God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens? And are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can stand against You,” (2 Chronicles 20:6).
- Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit, (Romans 15:13).
- When His character is questioned, let us trust Him Whose Word is Truth as He communicates His Faithfulness
- “God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent;
Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). - For the word of the Lord is upright,
And all His work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord, (Psalm 33:4). - But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one, (2 Thessalonians 3:3).
- “God is not a man, that He should lie,
- Let us daily choose to recall all He has confirmed by His works in our life; His Word is Truth communicating His Supremacy.
- “…For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure,’” (Isaiah 46:9-10). - For nothing will be impossible with God,” (Luke 1:37).
Let us come to Him in faith, believing as we call upon Him Whose Word is Truth, He will faithfully communicate His Care, His Sufficiency, His Provision, His Power, His Faithfulness, and His Supremacy.
But let us not seek only for ourselves, but that He would receive the glory. Oh, that we would live with the kind of faith that surpasses our wildest imagination as we communicate His Life to a dying world that they too would also come to know Him Whose Word is Truth.
Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray You, let this child’s life return to him.” 22 The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. 23 Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, 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 in your mouth is truth,” (17:21-24).
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen, (Ephesians 3:20-21).