Beside the Smelter

When Elijah heard the voice of God he must have been excited. Finally, some direction a sense of purpose, perhaps even a revelation of God’s will. Now things will start to happen, everything will be clear, somehow some sense will come out of this time wasted in the wilderness. “What do you want me to do Lord? Go back to Ahab; see if there has been any change? Maybe end the drought, show them how mighty you are. Do you want me to perform some miracles, preach about repentance, smash a few idols?” Imagine the shock when Elijah heard “Go to Zarephath and live there”. “You have got to be kidding God. I mean that’s 160 kilometres through the desert, in Sidon. And you know that’s in Jezebel’s country. What’s happening in Zarephath that needs me there? It’s a heathen place and we’ve got enough troubles of our own. I could understand a quick visit, but you want me to live there? What in the world for?” All of this dialogue is of course imagined. I don’t know what went on in the conversation between Elijah and God, may be he just quietly went along with it. I know that I would be likely to ask questions and complain and I suspect that Elijah would at least think these things even if he didn’t speak them out.

Zarephath means a ’smelting place’. It was a town on the Mediterranean coast about 160 kilometres away from Brook Cherith, through the desert. It was in the kingdom of Phoenicia, which was ruled over by Queen Jezebel’s father. Why would God send Elijah there? Zarephath had not escaped the famine and drought; this was no refuge from the crisis affecting Israel. It was a heathen place, not a spiritual retreat. Why would God send him to this place, what plan did he have, how did this new direction fit in with what had gone before? What was the point of sending a shepherd from Tishbe to a coastal town named after a furnace? The Bible doesn’t reveal immediate answers to these questions although in commenting on it in Luke 4:26, Jesus makes it quite certain this was no mistake, but God’s definite plan.

Apart from any other reason that God had, there may have been a clue in the name of the town. While Zarephath means a smelting place, the word itself also means a place of refining or testing. This was to be a place of further testing of Elijah. A place of preparation for the future. No metal is used for important purposes unless it has been first tested and refined to remove all the impurities that would weaken it. A warrior in battle would not use a weapon made of metal unless he was sure it would stand up under stress. The metal would be tested through the furnace before it was put to use. Elijah was about to be put into the furnace. If you want God to use you then you need to be refined. You may need to go to your own Zarephath to be tested. This may be a physical place, or a circumstance that is difficult, or even a job that you find frustrating or difficult. It is not the wilderness of solitude but the furnace of adversity that will bring out the precious metal from the dross.

Zarephath was a place of testing, but also a place of ministry for Elijah. There are two recorded miracles that he performed here, and one of them was later referred to by Jesus. God will put you through testing times, but in these times and circumstances you will still have the opportunity to serve him. God will still do mighty things in and through you even while you are in the refining process. You do not need to wait until you are fully refined before God will use you. Do not back off from ministry because you are not good enough. In the midst of his testing and refining of you God will use you to bring glory to his name. If and when God tells you to go to Zarephath, go – not without some trepidation but also in anticipation of what God is preparing you for and how he is going to use you, even while you are being refined.