"FEAR NOT!"

1 Kings 17:13-24              (1599 Geneva Bible)

“¹³ And Elijah said unto her, Fear not, come do as thou hast said, but make me thereof a little cake first of all, and bring it unto me, and afterward make for thee and thy son.

¹⁴ For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, ^[i]The meal in the barrel shall not be wasted, neither shall the oil in the cruse be diminished, unto the time that the Lord send rain upon the earth.

¹⁵ So she went, and did as Elijah said, and she did eat: so did he and her house ^[j]for a certain time.

¹⁶ The barrel of the meal wasted not, nor the oil was spent out of the cruse, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by the hand of Elijah.

¹⁷ And after these things, the son of the wife of the house fell sick, and his sickness was so sore, that there was no ^[breath left in him.

¹⁸ And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?

¹⁹ And he said unto her, Give me thy son: and he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a chamber, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

²⁰ Then he called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou punished also this widow, with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?

²¹ And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.

²² Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

²³ And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother, and Elijah said, Behold, thy son liveth.

²⁴ And the woman said unto Elijah, Now I KNOW that thou art a man of God, and that the WORD OF THE LORD in thy mouth is true.

 

I find this remembrance of The LORD’s provision very informative, to say the least.  Elijah didn’t just happen upon any woman who was just happening to prepare the last meal for her and her son, and they were going to “eat it, and die”!  The thing that astounds is Elijah telling this woman to “FEAR NOT”!  She and her son are preparing to eat their last meal and Elijah says “FEAR NOT”!  Elijah did not just happen upon this woman who was preparing her last meal for her son and herself. GOD "directed" Elijah to this very house, at this exact moment, so that GOD could be glorified!

Why did Elijah instruct the lady to make him a "little cake" first and then to fix for her needs? What kind of man would take from a family who was almost out of food and eat for himself? It seems almost selfish to want to eat some of the last victuals for a family and not let them have food.  How did Elijah know that GOD would supply the needs of the woman? Was he guessing, or maybe Elijah had an inside track on what GOD was up to????

I find it interesting, that even though the meal and oil was supplied continuously, there was never any praise offered to GOD for HIS providence. Soon, the child fell ill, so much so that he stopped breathing.  Elijah carried the child into a chamber and laid on him three times and without explanation, the child revived.  Oh, Elijah prayed, but that is no big deal is it? 

 

The Bible says “Then the LORD HEARD THE VOICE OF ELIJAH, and the Soul of the child came into him again!”  The child’s mother then said “Now I KNOW that thou are a man of GOD, and that the WORD OF THE LORD in thy mouth is true”! 

 

The woman knew that the WORD OF THE LORD was true, but now, everyone who has reads this account is the Bible knows that GOD will provide your needs!   Even when you are down to your last amount of meal and oil!   HE has not grown weary or tired.  Isaiah 59:1 says ”Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save: neither is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear”!  

 

GOD is waiting for us to call on HIM to help us.  Elijah had to stretch himself out on the child THREE times.  Elijah had told the woman from the start to “FEAR NOT”!  It is difficult to come to HIS THRONE with fear in your heart!  More than 500 times the Bible says for us to overcome  FEAR!  King David wrote in Psalms 56:4 to not fear what man can do to you.  So whatever you are facing………….FEAR NOT!!!