When the Creator uses the Incinerator- 1Kings 17 I. For Elijah- IT WAS A TRIAL of THE MIND. II. For the Widow- IT WAS A TRIAL of THE HEART. • Conclusion:

1. Slide 1
When the Creator uses the
Incinerator
1 KINGS 17:1,4,7,9
When the Creator uses
the Incinerator
Incinerator:
An apparatus for burning waste
material, especially industrial
waste, at high temperatures until
it is reduced to ash.
Fireis the way God gets rid of
garbage.
1Kgs 17:1
1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who
wasof the inhabitants of Gilead,
said unto Ahab, As the LORD God
of Israelliveth, beforewhomI
stand, there shall not be dew nor
rain these years, butaccording to
my word.
Sounds good till Elijahgets
thirsty…
1Kgs 17:4
4 And it shall be, that thou shalt
drink of the brook; and I have
commanded the ravens to feed
thee there.
Not bad roomservice onthe
house, till the tabruns out…
1Kgs 17:7
7 And it came to pass after
a while, that the brook
dried up, because there
had been no rain in the
land.
1Kgs 17:9

2. 9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath,
which belongeth to Zidon, and
dwell there: behold, I have
commanded a widow woman
there to sustain thee.
Two words inthis new
command that would strike
fear;Zidon and widow.
Slide 2 For Elijah each time he saw light
at the end of the tunnel
Slide 3 Itwas an oncoming train…
As a third-party observer wecan
see what Elijah couldn’t.
Lets zoomin to the lastleg of
this journey
The Widow of Zarephath
1Kgs 17:10-24
10 So he aroseand wentto
Zarephath. And when he came to
the gateof the city, behold, the
widow woman wasthere
gathering of sticks: and he called
to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray
thee, a little water in a vessel,
that I may drink.

3. 11 And as she was going to fetch
it, he called to her, and said,
Bring me, I pray thee, a morselof
bread in thine hand.
12 And shesaid, As the LORD thy
God liveth, I havenot a cake, but
an handfulof meal in a barrel,
and a little oil in a cruse: and,
behold, I am gathering two
sticks, thatI may go in and dress
it for me and my son, that we
may eat it, and die.
13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear
not; go and do as thou hast said:
but make me thereof a little cake
first, and bring it unto me, and
after make for thee and for thy
son.
14 For thus saith the LORD God
of Israel, Thebarrelof meal shall
not waste, neither shall the
cruseof oil fail, until the day that
the LORD sendeth rain upon the
earth.
15 And shewent and did
according to the saying of Elijah:
and she, and he, and her house,
did eat many days.
16 And the barrelof meal wasted
not, neither did the cruseof oil
fail, according to the word of the
LORD, which he spakeby Elijah.
17 And it came to pass after
these things, that the son of the
woman, the mistress of the

4. house, fell sick; and his sickness
was so sore, that there was no
breath left in him.
18 And shesaid unto Elijah,
What haveI 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 loft, wherehe abode, and
laid him upon his own bed.
20 And he cried unto the LORD,
and said, O LORD my God, hast
thou also broughtevil upon the
widow with whomI sojourn, by
slaying her son?
21 And he stretched himself
upon the child three times, and
cried unto the LORD, and said, O
LORD my God, I pray thee, let
this child's soulcome into him
again.
22 And 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
broughthim down out of the
chamber into the house, and
delivered him unto his mother:
and Elijah said, See, thy son
liveth.

5. 24 And the woman said to Elijah,
Now by this I know that thou art
a man of God, and that the word
of the LORD in thy mouth is
truth.
Slide 4 Zarephath [N] [H] [S]smelting-
shop, "a workshop for the
refining and smelting of metals",
a small Phoenician town, now
Surafend, abouta mile fromthe
coast, almostmidway on the
road between Tyre and Sidon.
Here Elijah sojourned with a
poor widow during the "great
famine," when the "heaven was
shutup three years and six
months" ( Luke 4:26 ; 1 Kings
17:10 ). Itis called Sarepta in the
New Testament ( Luke 4:26 ).
- Easton's Bible Dictionary –
The smelter knows when the
precious metal has achieved
purity when he looks in the
crucible and sees his reflection.
God never wastean opportunity,
both Elijah and the Widow need
some refining.

6. Slide 5
I. For Elijah- IT
WAS A TRIAL of
THE MIND.
• He had toleave his hiding
place.
For months he had dwelt safely
in the deep, sequestered,
peaceful place.
 But now he is commanded to
go forth into the world, to run
the risk of recognition, of
betrayal, of death;
2. He had to seek a home in
Zidon.
Zidon was the capital of Ethbaal.
The father of Jezebel, his enemy,
held sway there.
Itwas like going into the lion's
den. Of all hiding places, that
would seem to him to be the
mostto be dreaded.
How would he escape detection
there!
• He might well havetaken
flight, as at a later period, and
havefled further into the
desert.
• Or he might havepetitioned,
like Lot, (Gen 19:20) to be
allowed to find someother
refuge.
Gen 19:20
20 Behold now, this city is near
to flee unto, and it is a little one:

7. Oh, let me escape thither, (is it
not a little one?) and my soul
shall live.
• But he did neither. "He arose
and wentto Zarephath." He
was "strong in faith, giving
glory to. (Rom4:20)
Rom 4:20
20 He staggered not at the
promiseof God through
unbelief; but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God;
3. He had to be sustainedby a
widow woman.
And this widow a foreigner,
probably an idolater an alien
both in race and religion.
This was a trial both of his faith
and of his obediencehere.
4. He finds the widow in the
mostextreme poverty.
She is "gathering sticks."
That was not an encouraging
sign.
Next, he hears fromher lips that
her cupboard is empty.
She who was to sustain his life is
herself ready to die.
But he knows in whomhe has
believed.
"Make me a littlecakefirst."
Ps 37:9 For evildoersshall
be cut off: but those that
wait upon the LORD, they
shall inherit the earth.

8. Ps 89:8 O LORD God of
hosts, who is a strong
LORD like unto thee? or to
thy faithfulnessround
aboutthee?
5. He is sequestered in her house
for two years (18:1).
Those two years wereyears of
banishment fromhis country
and his work.
3 ½ years he had to wait, and
mostof the time in a strange
land,
I like John the Baptist at this
point would haveask “Is this the
answer or should I seek
another?”
He knew all this time his people
weresuffering.
If you can’tdo some greatwork
for God can you do the great
work of God to “waitpatiently”
Ps 37:7
7 Restin the LORD, and wait
patiently for him: fret not thyself
becauseof him who prospereth
in his way, becauseof the man
who bringeth wicked devices to
pass.
Acts 6:2-4
2 Then the twelvecalled
the multitude of the
disciples unto them, and
said, Itis not reason that
we should leave the word
of God, and servetables.

9. 3 Wherefore, brethren,
look yeout among you
seven men of honest
report, full of the Holy
Ghostand wisdom, whom
we may appoint over this
business.
4 But we will give
ourselves continually to
prayer, and to the ministry
of the word.
The table waiters andthe
laborers inthe wordboth were
serving God.
6. In the perfectwill of God there
is still sickness.
Of the three inmates of the
cottage, one sickens and droops
to his grave.
This sickness wouldn’tcause
surprisefor the times, but it did
Elijah (ver. 20);
1Kgs 17:20
20 And he cried unto the
LORD, and said, O LORD
my God, hastthou also
broughtevil upon the
widow with whomI
sojourn, by slaying her
son?
Elijah lived under the
dispensation of temporal
rewards.

10. Sickness was regarded as the
scourgeof the Almighty (Deu
7:15 Deu 28:61; cf. 1Co 11:30)
Deut 7:15 And the LORD
will take away fromthee
all sickness, and will put
none of the evil diseases
of Egypt, which thou
knowest, upon thee; but
will lay them upon all
them that hate thee.
Deut 28:61 Also every
sickness, and every
plague, which is not
written in the book of this
law, them will the LORD
bring upon thee, until
thou be destroyed.
1Cor 11:30 For this cause
many are weak and sickly
among you, and many
sleep.
Itwas a trial of Elijah"s faith. It
looked as he was to be always
the author of misfortune.
The widow by whomhe had
beenhoused, and who had
hiddenhim at the risk of her life,
was to be repaid with cruel
punishmentfor her good deeds.
These werethe spots needing
close attention by the creator
and nothing would polish as pure
as the Incinerator of personal
affliction.

11. Slide 6
II. For the Widow- IT
WAS A TRIAL of
THE HEART.
• A stranger demands thefirst
shareof her last meal.
"Make me a little cake first."
She is reducedtoher last morsel
At this moment a stranger
suddenly appears beforeher,
and says hemusteat first.
Itis true that he wears the
“mantle of a prophet”, and that
of the Lord God of Israel, but
prophets wereoften deceivers,
(1Ki13:18 1Ki22:12)
1Kgs 13:18 Hesaid unto
him, I am a prophetalso
as thou art; and an angel
spakeunto me by the
word of the LORD, saying,
Bring him back with thee
into thine house, that he
may eat bread and drink
water. But he lied unto
him.
1Kgs 22:12 And all the
prophets prophesied so,
saying, Go up to
Ramothgilead, and
prosper: for theLORD shall
deliver it into the king's
hand.

12. and her foreign gods could be
expected to show her no favour.
And at home, her own flesh and
blood, he only son stretches out
his skinny fingers, emaciated by
famine, and cries for food.
After all - if this prophet could
multiply food, as he professed to
be able to do, why should he ask
her for bread?
Was it reasonable that she
should part with her last morsel
for this strangers promise?
1Sam 25:11
11 Shall I then take my
bread, and my water, and
my flesh that I havekilled
for my shearers, and give
it unto men, whomI know
not whence they be?
But her faith stood the test; she
"went and did according tothe
saying of Elijah."
2. Then Her son falls sick and lies
apparently lifeless.
"The only son of his mother and
she was a widow": (Luk 7:12)
Luke 7:11-12
11 And it came to pass the
day after, that he went
into a city called Nain; and
many of his disciples went
with him, and much
people.
12 Now when he came
nigh to the gateof the city,

13. behold, there was a dead
man carried out, the only
son of his mother, and she
was a widow: and much
people of the city was
with her.
And the tie would be all the
stronger in this case because
they had sufferedtogether;
becausehe had beengivenback
to her from the jaws of death
(ver. 12).
1Kgs 17:12
12 And shesaid, As the
LORD thy God liveth, I
havenot a cake, but an
handfulof meal in a
barrel, and a little oil in a
cruse: and, behold, I am
gathering two sticks, thatI
may go in and dress it for
me and my son, that we
may eat it, and die.
We value things in proportion to
whatthey have costus.
Was the prophet who had given
them bread unable to defend
themfrom sickness?
Or was this God’s recompense
for her hospitality?
She only lays blame on her own
sin. Sin the man’s problemno
matter how much spiritual
growth you’veseen to be a
vesselfor the finer you’ll haveto
see the refiner.
Isa 1:25

14. 25 And I will turn my hand
upon thee, and purely
purgeaway thy dross, and
take away all thy tin:
This was notreprimand for
rebellion it was refining for a rare
jewel.
Jas 1:12
12 Blessed is the man that
endureth temptation: for
when he is tried, he shall
receive the crown of life,
which the Lord hath
promised to them that
love him.
Prov 17:3
3 The fining pot is for
silver, and the furnacefor
gold: but the LORD trieth
the hearts.
Only something of valuecan be
refined.
Only a cross barer can be a
crown wearer.
1Kgs 17:24
24 And the woman said to
Elijah, Now by this I know
that thou art a man of
God, and that the wordof
the LORD in thy mouth is
truth.

15. Slide 7
 Conclusion:
The Widow of Zarephath had no
way of knowing whatgreat
destinies lay in the hand of that
gauntfigure at the city gate,
worn with travel, and famine,
and drought.
She accommodated his request;
and shesaved, him the deliverer
of herself and her son.
Itmay be that this incident is the
basis of the blessing of the
Prophet-receiving a prophet in
the name of a prophet, shall
receive a prophet’s reward.
Our Prophethas made “many
exceeding great and precious
promises” to us…
will you receivethem?
Job 23:10
But he knoweth the way that I
take: when he hath tried me, I
shall come forth as gold.
1Cor 3:13-14
13 Every man's work shallbe
made manifest: for the day shall
declare it, because it shallbe
revealed by fire; and the fire
shall try every man's work of
whatsort it is. 14 If any man's
work abide which he hath built
thereupon, he shall receive a
reward.