You ever wonder how much a bar of iron is worth?   FB Meyer “A bar of iron worth $2.50 (.10), when wrought into horseshoes is worth $5 (.20).  If made into needles it is worth $175 (7.00).  If into penknife blades it is worth $1,625 (65.00). If made into springs for watches it is worth $125,000 (500.00). What a ‘trial by fire’ that bar must undergo to be worth this! But the more it is manipulated, and the more it is hammered and passed through the heat, beaten, pounded, and polished, the greater its value.”

I wonder how many of us are wondering about the trials through which we are passing. I wonder how many are saying, “How long, O Lord?”  The heat of the flame and the blows of the hammer are necessary if you are to be more than an unpolished, rough bar of iron. God’s all-wise plan, though it calls for the fire, produces the valuable watch spring of maturity.

God is preparing Elijah for the work of eradicating Baal-ism from Israel.  Elijah has an appointment with Ahab, Jezebel and the 450 prophets of Baal around the corner.  God knows the kind of strength Elijah will need to stand firm in the battle ahead.  “God knows this is no job for a wimp.  Thin skinned softies need not apply.”  And so he prepares Elijah for battle.  We left Elijah last week in the Cherith Ravine.  We learned that this was a significant location because of name of the ravine.  Cherith means “to cut”.  And in Cherith, the prophet was cut down to size and learned obedience and faith in God. 

Just like the name of Cherith Ravine was significant, so is the title of the little town of Zarephath.  Zarephath in the Hebrew means smelting furnace, or crucible.  It is a place where metals are refined.  They are heated to such a degree that all the impurities of the metals, called slag or dross, rise to the surface and is skimmed off.  The metal is purified and shaped into a useful object. 

Elijah is being sent to the crucible.  God is going to continue to refine and purify and strengthen Elijah for the task ahead.  Any Christian who will be used of God must be taken through a similar refining process.  This causes us to grow strong for the service.  The flames of refining trial will come into your life.  It’s to strengthen you. 

There are four refining flames in this passage of Scripture.  We see four challenges that Elijah faced here in this narrative.  They were to strengthen him.  As the Lord prepares us for His purpose for us, we might expect to be refined by the same flames.

1.      The Flame of Fearful Circumstances (9a).

As God refines his people, he will sometimes do so by placing them in situations that seem dangerous.  They seem hazardous to our health.  But they are used of God to refine us and develop our understanding that he can be trusted.   

Let’s notice this in what happens here with Elijah.  Verse ⁷ And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. ⁸ Then the word of the LORD came to him, ⁹ "Arise, go to Zarepath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there…”

The journey from Cherith to Zarephath was a journey of about 80-90 miles.  But this is not the real fearful circumstance that we see.  Notice he is to go to “Zarephath which belongs to Sidon”. 

Does that ring a bell for anyone?  Do you remember who comes from Sidon?  Look back at chapter 16:31.  Jezebel is the daughter of Ethbaal king of Sidon!   Elijah is walking right into Jezebel’s backyard.  And he is walking right into the center of Baal worship!  Zarephath was directly between Tyre and Sidon.  This place was crawling with the prophets of Baal.  As he walked in this region he was walking through a labyrinth of shrines.  The place was decorated with graven images and worshippers of Baal. 

In Utah, there are wards and statues and figurines and paintings.  I’ve been to Buddhist temples that are much the same way.  I think it’s kind of freaky.  Likewise, Elijah saw shrines and graven images everywhere to remind him where he was.  He was in the lion’s den.  This was a dangerous place for a prophet of the Lord.

Not only that (according to 18:4) Jezebel was killing the prophets.  Elijah especially would have been a man marked by Jezebel for death.  And God has directed Elijah, the one who has defied Baal, to go straight into the heart of Baal territory from where Jezebel came.  I have to wonder if Elijah was constantly looking over his shoulder, wondering if he would be recognized and incarcerated. 

Elijah is feeling the flame of the fearful circumstance.  Elijah is feeling the fire of jeopardy.  But he would learn as he lived here for these years, right in the middle of the all the Baal worship, that God would protect him!   Here is the defiant prophet of God right here under the nose of Ethbaal.  Yet God keeps him safe for years!

Perhaps you will find yourself in hostile surroundings serving God in a foreign country.  Perhaps you are in a lions den in your own home.  Remember the flame of dangerous circumstances.  God is refining you.  The slag is coming to the surface.  Purified! 

2.      The Flame of Scarcity (9b)

We are talking about the difficulty of having very little possessions.  God sometimes refines his people by making them live with little resources. 

"Arise, go to Zarepath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there.  Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you"

God does very strange things.  Sometimes, the exact opposite of what we might expect.  Here we have the most illustrious prophet of the OT being cared for by a Gentile peasant in a heathen city. 

Modern day excavations of Zarepheth indicate that there was some wealth in this region.  It was along a major road and there was a market for purple dye and metal goods and pottery.  They produced high demand goods here.  There was some affluence here.  But it is not a wealthy merchant or a chief man of the city who will provide for you, but a widow.  A widow was generally at the bottom of the social chain in ancient times.  A widow was someone that you went a took care off.  You didn’t go to them to be taken care of. 

Elijah is going to be placed upon the flame of humble provision and scarcity.  And as he lives there for a while, the dross is going to be burned off of him.  A person who is effective for God will know that there is more to life than gold and possessions.  God will pry our fingers from possessions and make it so that we will accept his resources from whatever source God provides. 

I think it is very significant that Elijah was sent to a woman who was poor in possessions, yet rich in affection for her family.  We see in this passage of Scripture her deep anguish.  She has already lost a husband, and she comes close to losing her son.  And her heart is filled with grief because she loves that child so much. 

Elijah is placed in a situation where he sees the value of people above possessions.  This is one of the lessons of Katrina.  No one was lamenting the loss of their plasma screen TV.  Nor was anyone splashing through the waters for their golf clubs or fine china.  When there was weeping, it was for people lost.  When there was rejoicing, it was for people found.  And this is a lesson that Elijah would learn living with this widow and her son.   You can be scarce in resources and rich in love and affection.

3.      The Flame of Negativity (10-12)

Sometimes a servant of God is going to encounter pessimism.  And when they do they need to surge through it understanding God’s call upon their lives.  Even the things that are absolutely ordained of God may no go without their major hitches.  Notice here the first impression that Elijah is greeted with.

Look back at verse 9.  "Arise, go to Zarepath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there.  Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you."  The heart of this woman is in the hand of God.  He is going to move her to care for Elijah.  This is God’s will.  We might expect someone to be waiting there is Zarephath with open arms and a warm friendly smile!

¹⁰ So he arose and  went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks.  There is the providence of God at work.  God’s will has decreed that this woman will be used to care for Elijah needs.  And by his providence, his working in the world, she is right there gathering fuel for a fire when he completes his long journey.

 And he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink." ¹¹ And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." ¹²And she said, “As the LORD your God lives I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug.  And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die."

Whoa!  Welcome to Zarephath!  That is one of saddest things I’ve ever heard.  But here is this woman.  She is ordered of the will of God to care for Elijah.  So Elijah asks for what God promised.  And she responds with one of the most pathetic and dismal sentences in the Bible.   Notice that she says she will make the meal for her and her son.  None for Elijah!  Then she will die.  She is not going to feed Elijah now or in the future.

Elijah is experiencing the flame negativity.  It’s a bad first impression.  Have you ever been blindsided by a negative first impression?  You were planning to go to a school, or to start a job, or go to a new church.  And you find it is different than you had expected.  It is much worse?  That could be all part of God’s refining plan. 

As we encounter negative people, situations, or circumstances, it refines us.  It makes us go back to God for assurance in the things that we believe that he has called us to do. 

Elijah came to Zarephath and found nothing but a woman looking for sticks so she cook build a fire, make her last meal, and die of starvation.  What a letdown after a long journey.  Should God have provided something a little nicer? 

Elijah responds to her negativity with an encouraging word.  He does not flinch.  He tells her, “Do not be afraid.”

4.      The Flame of Impossibility

Sometimes we face situations as we walk with God.  These situations are, from a human viewpoint, impossible to handle.  This is what Elijah faced.  What this woman said was true.  Elijah has overcome the despair of her response.  He would also have to deal with the fact that there was, in fact, not enough bread. 

What would Elijah do?  Would he just roll over and say, “O Well!”  No!  Elijah has been to Cherith.  He watched the ravens bring him food.  He survived the dry brook.  He walked across the scorching desert.  And so by the time he faces this test, he is ready to go!

    ¹³ And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said.  But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son.”

Do you notice the man’s confidence?  He is certain that God is going to work.  He just shrugs it off and says, “Not enough oil or flour, that’s no problem for God!  Get in their and fix those biscuits.  And fix some for you son too!” 

I used to know a guy who would say “God said it, I believe it, that settles it!”  Do you have that kind of faith in the promises of God?  Do you trust him with your tithe?  He promises that He will provide for you.

¹⁴ For thus says the LORD the God of Israel, 'The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.' "

Elijah learned something else at Cherith!  Notice the contrast here and when he confronted Ahab, he said “No rain except by MY word.”  He tells the widow “This is what the Lord says.”

    ¹⁵ And she went and did as Elijah said.  And she and he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶ The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that He spoke by Elijah.

She went and she did.  That is simple obedience linked with God’s faithfulness.  And as a result, that widow met God in that kitchen.  She looked into the jar, and the flour kept coming every morning.  She looked into the jug, and there was more oil.  I imagine that every morning she must have burst with praise to the Lord. 

This is the flame of the impossible situation.  When there seems no human remedy for the situation at hand, we must trust God to provide in accordance with his promises.  Have you heard the song “

“God will make a way, when there seems to be no way.  He works in ways we cannot see, He will make a way for me.  He will be my guide, hold me closely to His side.  With love and strength for each new day, He will make a way.”

Swindoll:  If you walk with the Lord long enough, you will discover that his tests often come back to back.  Or perhaps it would be even more accurate to say back to back to back to back…Usually His preparatory tests don’t stop with one of two.  They multiply.  And as soon as you climb out of one crucible, thinking, Okay, I made it through that one, you’re plunged into another one, where the flame gets hotter.  Crucibles create Christlikeness. 

We learn this lesson as we continue on in the life of Elijah.  Remember that Elijah is being used of God as the one who will eradicate the Baal cult from the land of Israel.  King Ahab married of woman from Sidon named Jezebel.  Jezebel was zealously filling the land of Israel with Baal worship as she sought to exterminate the prophets of God.  As soon as Ahab and Jezebel come onto the scene, and all seems dark in that land of Israel, God sends his man onto the scene like a flash of lightening.  And God is preparing Elijah for a major work of confrontation on Mt. Carmel.  Carmel is truly the climax of the Elijah narrative! 

There is something else that I’d like to suggest here.  Surrounding Elijah are constant reminders of the evils of this cult.  Not only is he in Sidon, but I read that this coastal city of Zeraphath was central to Baal worship.  So as he walked into this city, he would see the prophets of Baal and his mother Asherah swarming the place.  He would see temples and shrines to Baal.   He would hear the cries of infant sacrifices being offered to Baal.  Here he would receive a first hand education of the depravity of this cult. 

Elijah’s zeal is already demonstrated by the stand that he took against Ahab in 17:1.  But here in Zarephath, I believe his blood will begin to run like liquid fire through his veins.  Seeing first hand the atrocities of the Baal cult would fuel Elijah for the justice that God will administer through this man when he meets the prophets of Baal at the top of Mt. Carmel.

This was a desert journey to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the middle of a drought.  Walking through the desert terrain during a drought is no journey for a wimp!  Courage and physical endurance were required for that journey.  Think of those nights out in the desert and those walks in the scorching sun.  That’s a tough journey.

One of my favorite preachers, John Piper says, “I’ve never met anybody who can say that their greatest advancements in holiness (or christlikeness) have come during times of prosperity.  Rather, they come during times of trial.”

Listen friends, whatever you’re going through, God is in control!  Call on Him and He will either deliver you from it or give you the strength to get through it, but he won’t leave you hangin’! 

As we close, let me read you a story about a man named Gordon MacDonald.  He told this story at a Promise Keepers conference in 2000.

“When I first ran track in prep school, my coach invited me to his home for dinner one night.  After the meal, he pulled out a notebook displaying my name on the front cover.  He immediately turned to the back page, which bore the heading “June 1957”—three and a half years away. 

‘Gordon,’ he said.  ‘These are the races I’m going to schedule you to run almost four years from now.  Here are the times you will achieve.’

I looked at those times.  Impossible!  They were light years from where I was at that moment as a runner.

Then Coach began turning back the pages of that book, page by page, showing the 42 months he had scheduled for workouts.  These were the graduated, accelerated plans for my increasing skill on the track as the months and years would go by.  He had a sense of direction and development when it came to my athletic growth.

Coaches and leaders of all kinds understand the absolute necessity of strategic, long-range planning.  Similarly, a wise and all-knowing God has a plan for our total lives—gradually, inevitably, down through the years, we become more like Jesus.”

We learned last week that God rarely shows us that plan in the big picture.  Rather, step by step He leads us.  We learn this week that every step along the way is preparing us for the next step in our journey of becoming more and more like Christ. Many of those steps are in the Refiner’s fire.  Wherever you are in life right now, you’re not alone.  God is there with you.  He’s either there to deliver you from it or give you the strength to go through it.  But He is definitely there!

He provided for Elijah through a poor widow.  Unlikely source!  Take a minute to reflect on how He’s providing for you.  It probably hasn’t come to you as clearly as it came to Elijah.  God told Elijah a widow would feed him.  But, how is He providing for you? 

Author – Pastor Lance Skifter

www.faithchristiansv.org