We have had the commemoration of 500 years of Reformation. I have seen pieces of it, images from Wittenberg and Utrecht. In both places the reform was portrayed as church renewal that should still take shape today. A church that continues to renew, which mainly means that we Protestants would become Church again together with the Roman Catholic church. You also tasted the undertone: had it all really been necessary, that whole separation from the mother church?
The fact that people say these kinds of things in public is on the one hand astonishing and it makes you suspect that people are (willingly and knowingly?) blind to what happened in the past and have lost what the Christian faith means.
On the other hand, it is nothing more than the beginning of what the Bible says will happen at the end of this age: the apostasy from what is called 'the church' (2 Thessalonians 2:3). An apostate Christianity in which the charismatic and the contemplative way together form the broad way of idolatry (1 Timothy 4:1-3), which puts it under God's judgment.
In 1 Kings 17 we find a story of Elijah that also has a lot to say to us.
Ahab
Ahab was a king in Israel in the line of evil rulers who preceded the people of God in idolatry. In this he was worse "than all those who were before him" (1 Kings 16:30). In addition, he married Jezebel. Her name means something like 'Baal praises or exalts', 'Baal is husband' or 'unchaste'. Jezebel was someone who knew better than anyone what it was to have 'intimacy with God', the intimate association with the demons, which had given her 'a better self-image' and a 'more positive attitude to life'. Ahab himself also followed that path (16:31), actively spreading this ideas in Israel (16:32) and 'did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to wrath than all the kings of Israel who were before him." (16:33).
The judgement
Idolatry is judged by God. In Deuteronomy 11 (:16-17) we read
“Beware lest your heart be deceived, so that you turn aside, serve other gods, and bow down to them. Otherwise the wrath of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no more rain, and the ground will no longer yield its produce, and you will soon be gone from the good land which the Lord is giving you.”
Elijah doubtless knew this word and told Ahab it. The blessing from heaven would cease and God's people would suffer. So much so that they would perish.
The fact that the people of Israel were taken out of the land into captivity is ultimately a direct result of the idolatry they have constantly committed, in accordance with the warning that the Lord has given in the verse quoted above, among other things.
God's views on idolatry have not changed. Even if Christians do not repent of their Christian idolatry, God will withhold His blessing from them and bring about decay and death.
Crisis is judgment
The day before yesterday an article was published entitled “Crisis threatens the evangelical-charismatic world” in the Reformatorisch Dagblad. drs. JG Hoekstra briefly and clearly describes recent developments in the evangelical-charismatic field. At the end of the article he describes the so-called Global Leadership Summit Conference and concludes with
“(…) All this is not inferior to what "there is more", which has meanwhile conquered the Evangelical Werkverband and New Wine, and which suggests one and the same, unbridled active source: the darkness! Indeed: death is in the pot!
To counteract death in the pot, Elisha used flour (2 Kings 4:38-41). A reference to the Bread of Life? (…)”
The development that is going on has its sources in the darkness and is a crisis. But the New Testament word "crisis" means judgment. We can say without hesitation that the current development is a judgment of the Lord about what calls itself 'the Christian church'. And in such a crisis, those who want to remain faithful to the Lord also suffer.
The brook dries up
After he announced the judgment of God to Ahab, Elijah had to go to the brook Krith. God took care of him there in solitude, until the brook dried up there too because no rain had fallen on the land (1 Kings 17:3-7). In the same way Elijah is confronted with the consequences of the judgment of God on the people.
Isn't it the same these days? If you want to remain faithful to the Lord and to His Word, you are forced to speak out about it before others and you end up alone. How many believers don't sit at home alone on Sundays because they don't know where to go? Denominations abound in this country, but where do you go if you want to serve the Lord and have nothing to do with all the terrible things happening in many places today? You would long for a real revival to come and to be able to serve the Lord with others, in a way that you know that He is 'pleased'.
Zarephath – trial
Elijah had to go to Zarephath, a place whose name refers to purification in fire, to a trial of faith. That is what a crisis is to a believer: a test of faith. Circumstances in which it comes down to whether you really know what your faith is and who it is about in your life. Everyone has a choice. Do I go with Ahab and his religious stuff or do I want to distance myself from it and accept it as a test of my faith?
The widow and her son were in that situation, but it got really hard. So heavy that speaking of man there was no view. What they had left was next to nothing. History tells (in verses 10-13) always of small amounts such as “a bit water”, “a piece bread”, “a handful flour”, “a bit oil”, “a few pieces wood” and “a little cake". Poor trump! No light at the end of the tunnel and soon death would be theirs.
And then someone comes to you and asks if he can also join us for dinner. First some water and later a cake. As if it isn't bad enough without that.
Christ first!
I think in the prophet Elijah in Zarephath we may see a picture of the Lord Jesus. What He asks in the affliction is really: 'Remember Me first' and 'Give Me something first for refreshment and for food'. He asks us—even in the midst of the trial—to subordinate our own needs and desires to His desire.
Christ asks us to subordinate our own needs and desires to His desire.
It was the same as what David asked of his men. While Bethlehem was occupied by the Philistines, he asked, "Who will give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate?" Three mighty men penetrated the lines of the Philistines and fetched water for David. That water was so valuable to David that he did not use it for himself, but poured it out to the Lord (2 Samuel 23:13-17).
This focus on the desire of the Lord was no doubt the reason why Paul and Silas in prison praised God and sang songs of praise to Him (Acts 16). Above all, God longs for our praise in which we sing Him about our Lord Jesus Christ, as we have already discussed on this site.
The flour and oil – a miracle!
It is the beginning of the miracle, for when we first think of Him, then 'the flour in the pot will not run out, and the pitcher will not lack oil' (1 Kings 17:14). The flour also reminds us of the Lord Jesus, who gave Himself 'the bread from heaven' and 'the bread of life' (John 6:31-35 and 48-58). Throughout our lives and in all circumstances, the Lord Jesus is great enough to nourish our souls.
We cannot do that on our own. But God provided it and gave us His Holy Spirit for it, so that we can love and sing praises to Him and the Lord Jesus, as well as love and obey His Word. The oil in the pitcher does not stop. We have received God's Spirit and the Lord Jesus says of Him “He stays with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).
When we first meet Christ's desire, it keeps ourselves alive. Life in abundance! What a miracle of God!
Therefore, when David is in a valley full of the shadow of death, he can say,I fear no evil, for You are with me” (Psalm 23:4a). God has prepared a table for him and anointed his head with oil (23:5). You could say: he feeds his soul with Christ and God's Spirit makes it possible!
How great is our God, that He has provided all things! His Son and His Spirit given for our salvation, now and forever!
Revival – the desire for life
In dark times like today, many of God's children long for revival. But how do you do that? Or can you do nothing about it and God's Spirit has to work it out? Do you just have to wait and see if it comes and 'it may happen'? Or should you learn from revivals of the past? Is the key to a revival in Christ-centered preaching? Or in a lot of Bible reading? Or praying a lot together for a revival?
Things went well in Zarephath for a time, but in time the widow's son became seriously ill. So sick that there'no breath left in him' (1 Kings 17:17). He had given up the ghost. An image of a believer in which the spiritual life was extinguished.
When the spiritual life is extinguished and there is a longing for life, then we must be with our Elijah, with the Lord Jesus.
Impressed with Christ the Crucified
Elijah stretched out over the boy three times and prayed to God for new life (17:21). That is not the case with us, but the picture is clear.
When my spiritual life is extinguished, then I have to go to the Lord Jesus with confession and be impressed again with Who He is and what He has done for me very personally. Then I must mentally go to the cross of Calvary to see what He has accomplished. Being determined by who I am in myself and how great He, the Savior, is. Does not a consciousness of infinite grace overwhelm you? Won't you then give thanks and praise Him?
We must persevere in this. It does not end with one prayer of thanks. Elijah stretched out over the boy three times. It is a learning process and we too must learn to stop and think about the cross of Golgotha and give thanks. Actually, it is about the relationship between us and the living Lord, the Son of God who became man and died for us sinners.
Lifechanging
In this way we learn in the practice of life what priesthood is and do what is most pleasing to God (see here and also here). That brings joy to your life!
Many people long for what they call “a life-changing experience” and try to chase the most wonderful experiences and experiences to give life some meaning. Many Christians hunt for 'more of the spirit', but a born again person may experience that praising and glorifying God the Father and His Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, is a life-changing experience. God is looking for people who worship Him in spirit and in truth. When you become such a worshiper, you experience a renewal of your spiritual life. That is the relationship with Christ: a new creation
“the old has passed away, behold everything has become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Paul says to the Galatians
“(…) I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
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