The Place of Preparation

God had great things in store for Elijah, but he needed moulding and preparing. This process had started at Brook Cherith and now was to continue in the home of a poor, destitute widow in a foreign land. Elijah had been stripped of all the things that were familiar to him. He had been removed from the sheep and hills of Tishbe and taken via Samaria and a dwindling brook to a town named after a smelter. The brook that he had come to rely on had run dry, his calling and authority as a prophet of Israel was of little value in the heathen town of Zarephath and his reputation counted for nothing. All the things that Elijah had relied on for his strength; his own inner resources, his religious calling and life, his resourcefulness were all stripped away, he was not the centre of attention, and there was no obvious ministry for him, In Zarephath he was just a shepherd from out of town looking for a handout. Elijah was going to be prepared in the home of a widow and her son, among ordinary, everyday cares and concerns and in the middle of real need.

The widow and her son were in difficult circumstances. There had been a famine for some time and she was down to the ingredients for her last meal. There was no social security system in Zarephath and it does not appear that she had friends or family to draw on. Now a houseguest arrives insisting that she feed him out of her last remaining food supply. The widow fully expected to die, the prospect of watching her son starve to death in front of her must have been devastating and yet she responded to Elijah’s request and provided for him. Few, if any of us would have experienced the enormity of the distress this woman would have felt and yet all of us understand the pressures of having to cope with the demands of the world with meagre resources. The pressure on relationships and frayed emotions when added demands are placed on us cause us to act in ways we would rather not, and the atmosphere of the home can be anything but calm and peaceful. But this is the home that Elijah was called to.

There was no male figure, apart from the son, in the home and the fact of Elijah living there may have raised some questions among the neighbours. On top of this there is no record of Elijah having any experience as a father or family man and now he was going to live with this woman and her son for some time. He was going to be forced to deal with all the challenges of home life without the benefit of being eased into it. How was he expected to cope with the burdens of being part of a home in difficult circumstances? What preparation did he have for dealing with the highly charged emotional atmosphere of a single mother and her son coping with every day needs when they didn’t have the resources to meet them? How was Elijah going to conduct himself and maintain his testimony as a righteous man?

Most of us are familiar with the demands of every day home life. They can be frustrating and challenging. Things don’t always go as they are planned and not everyone in the household shares the same dreams and expectations. How do we maintain our faith and vision while coping with the pressures of home life? The way we do it reflects the real character of our Christian life and it is how well we conduct ourselves there that will determine how much God can use us in the ministry he has prepared for us. Most of us know how much easier it is to be spiritual in our place of ministry or service than it is at home. Home is where everybody knows what we are really like, it is where our patience is tested, where our frustration levels rise and where annoyance gives way to irritation and quickly becomes anger. Home is where we are when the bills seem overwhelming, when those we say we love seem to be able to say just the wrong thing at the wrong time and when the last argument leaves us bitter and resentful. But home is also the place of refuge, the place where we run when everything seems to be going wrong, where people forgive our indiscretions. Home can be a place of refreshment but it is certainly a place of testing.

The home that Elijah was to live in was beset with great difficulties and problems, probably beyond those we have experienced and it was the ideal preparation for him. The widow is unknown beyond the pages of the bible, but Jesus testified of her, and elsewhere declared that whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the person who receives another because he is righteous will receive a righteous persons reward (Matthew 10:41). This woman’s reward would be great, in fact no less than Elijah’s own, but your reward is equally as great if your home is one in which others are prepared for the work of God’s kingdom. Does your home provide an atmosphere in which people are prepared for service? Are others received into your family or do they feel uneasy or even unwelcome? Is our care for our possessions greater than our willingness to receive strangers?

Elijah needed to be prepared for his encounters with the prophets of Baal and King Ahab by seeing the miracle working power of God in the home. It is your home that will not only prepare others for their work but will prepare you for the spiritual battles that you will face. The way you and I live in our home reveals our character and the depth of our spiritual life, the widow was able to say of Elijah ‘Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth’, what would your family testify of you?

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.

Strength for the Journey

‘You found new life for your strength and so you were not faint’ At first reading these words in Isaiah 57:10 seem greatly encouraging, but when they are seen in their context they are in fact puzzling. God is criticizing and judging the nation of Israel because of their constant failure and disobedience. He accuses the nation’s leaders of immorality, idolatry, lying and rebellion and in the midst of this he declares that they did not find their way hopeless but instead found renewed strength for the journey. God is speaking about a disobedient people who had deliberately and determinedly turned their back on him and followed their own desires. They had pursued their chosen course so vigorously that they had become worn out. But even in their exhaustion they had somehow found the strength to continue. No matter the displeasure that they had incurred from God and the judgments that came as a consequence they could still dig deep and find the energy to continue down their path to destruction.

The truth is that these people put their trust in those things that gave them short term satisfaction and motivation, even though the result would be catastrophic. They could always find some benefit that would cause them to continue on their chosen course. We are surrounded by the illusion of those things that are attractive to behold but produce emptiness and loss in the longer term. The road we are on may be surrounded by glitz and glamour, public adulation and material success. In achieving these things we find motivation to press on. It is these illusory rewards that keep us going. When life gets hard and our path becomes almost unbearably difficult, the praise of men or a financial reward will give us the strength to keep on going until the time when we seek these benefits rather than the goal of the calling to which God has brought us. We may even choose a course of life which is clearly inconsistent with what we know God’s will to be and it is the little benefits along the way that keep us going, pursuing a goal we know to be wrong.

 God declares through Isaiah that he dwells on a high and holy place and with the contrite and lowly of spirit so that he can revive their spirit and their heart. The strength for the journey that God calls you to is first of all found in the High and Holy place. It is in that union with God that can only be found by holiness of life and character. Access to the holy place is through the blood of Jesus Christ but is maintained by holy character and lifestyle. Secondly God chooses to dwell with the lowly and contrite. He is not looking for the movers and shakers, the Christian celebrities who tour the revival circuit, but the lowly, self-effacing, humble and broken who are prepared to give themselves up to the plans and purposes he has for them.

The badges of success and accomplishment that the world has to offer may sustain you for a while. They may give you the illusion of hope and provide some meaning to the life you choose to live. But unless these things flow from a humble and contrite heart that is determined to live in obedience to the word of God, no matter what it requires they will fail and leave behind a vacuum that no amount of worldly rewards will fill. If you have become tired by the length of your road be careful to make sure that the road you are on is the right one, don’t just summon up the strength to go on. If you are on the wrong road take the first exit you see and start heading in the right direction.

Days of Ahab, or Elijah?

King Ahab was not one of Israel’s better kings, while skilled in battle and having led Israel to victory on a number of occasions he was an evil person who carried on the sins of his father, King Omri and his ancestor King Jeroboam. He even managed to add a few new ones of his own. King Omri is not mentioned much in the Bible, but Assyrian records of the time show that he achieved impressive military and political gains, so much so that Israel was called the ‘the Land of Omri’ long after his death. Omri was responsible for building Samaria, a vast fortress city that became the capital of the northern tribes.

Despite his own ability and reputation for skill in battle, Ahab tried to further secure his future by marrying the Phoenician princess Jezebel of Sidon. Jezebel was the daughter of King Ethbaal who had claimed his throne by murdering his own brothers; he was also high priest of the cult of Baal. Jezebel followed her father’s practices after her marriage to Ahab convincing him to introduce Baal worship to Israel. She arranged the murder of the prophets of Israel and replaced them with prophets of Baal and Ashereh, the supposed wife of Baal.

Despite his moral failure, Ahab prospered. He surrounded himself with pomp and luxury, even to the extent of building an ivory house. His court was filled with all the trappings of royalty where no expense was too great or comfort denied. Ahab was given the privilege of leading God’s people, and while his own ability and that of his father had given him great opportunities to do good he instead turned his back on God and gave himself up to greed and pursuit of power. Even in his success he was insecure and tried to protect himself through alliances with other nations, contrary to God’s command. Ahab thought that he was secure, he had used his own ability to gain a reputation for himself and then formed alliances to gain added protection, but God had had enough, he had seen his prophets slain and replaced with idol worship and he was not going to let it continue. Elijah was the messenger he was going to use to get Ahab’s attention.

Elijah is often identified as the embodiment of the prophetic line, in him all of the prophecies of the future kingdom of God are expressed. He looked forward to a time of righteousness being restored, but in his own day he did not see these things realized. He lived in a time of idolatry and profligate living. Where the royal court was more concerned with pomp, circumstance and power than in righteousness. A time when political intrigue, unholy alliances, corruption and moral bankruptcy was normal. Surely these are not the days he or we look for?

The days’ we seek are those that Elijah looked forward to but the distinction between righteousness and the state of societal life that existed in his day, remain even now. In fact there are many parallels between Elijah’s day and our own. The rulers of the day paid lip service to God but shored up their future by making alliances with the corrupt and ungodly nations round about. They acknowledged God in public life but denied his reality in the way they conducted their personal or corporate affairs. Trade was more important than godliness and if necessary they would engage in trade agreements with other nations contrary to God’s direct instructions if they thought there was a profit in it. The bottom line of profit was more important than equity or fairness and labourers were routinely oppressed in order to increase the profit margin. The living God was replaced with idols of their own manufacture. Then it was stone and wood, now it is careers, houses, cars, sporting achievement and so on. The nation of Israel was blessed so that it could be a blessing to others. It was the herald of righteousness to its neighbours. But it took its blessings for granted and turned its back on God.

When our own nations suffer drought or famine our political leaders will often encourage us to pray for God’s favour, and the church may well lead in this direction, but now, as then the only thing that will avert God’s judgment is genuine repentance. To simply pray in times of trouble without acknowledging our failure and determining to turn from it is less honest than to simply carry on as before.

Elijah emerged from obscurity to bring a message to Ahab, there was to be a drought. This drought would continue until corrupt practices and injustice was dealt with. It was not a message of judgement but of hope.

Robin Mark, the author of the song ‘These are the days of Elijah’, wrote this: How do you express the sense that these might be days, not of failure and submission, but of the sort of resilient, declaring, even arrogant trust and hope that Elijah had in his God? That these are not days of God stepping back and allowing the world and the church to roll uncontrolled towards eternity, but rather days when he is calling on his body to make a stand, to offer right praises and to declare that He is totally in control.

It is time for you, me, and the church gathered together to make a stand, raise a voice and confidently proclaim that these are indeed the ‘days of Elijah’ where righteousness will be restored.

Living on Purpose

It is a new year. For many a time of resolution and commitment to do better, be better or at least be different. The prospect of a new year fills some with hope, some with dread and yet others with a sense of the unknown.

I am not a fan of New Year resolutions, at least for me. It seems that I am just setting myself up for failure –if history is anything to go by! On the other hand it is an opportunity to recommit to those things that are of value and to reflect on how the last year has gone. I am mindful at this time of the words of John Lennon in a song to his son, Sean: ‘Life is just what happens to you when you are busy making other plans’. For many of us it seems that we get so busy planning our future that we forget how to live. Of course the opposite is also true, we can get so busy with dealing with the everyday issues of life that we forget to plan! Another year ends and all the good intentions, ideas and aspirations seems to have fallen by the wayside.

If we want to achieve those goals, we need to be intentional about how we live, in short we need to live on purpose. What is the purpose that we commit ourselves to? The Westminster Shorter Catechism suggests that the chief end of man (and I am sure this can be extended to women also!) is to ‘Glorify God and enjoy him forever’. And while this is a good statement it is a little short on detail and doesn’t speak much to the context of our lives.

Each of us have or have had ideas and visions for the future. Sometimes the circumstances of life have given them a bit of a battering and we struggle to see how they can ever be reached, but they can be. There does need to be some reflection, some taking of stock and maybe some re-aligning of priorities but the good news is God’s plans for you are for success!

The prophet Habakkuk said that he would put himself in the right place and then watch and wait until he heard what God would say. God in reply said that when he heard the message he was to write it down, because even though it seemed a long time in coming, it would happen and it would not fail (Hab. 2:1-3). Many of us have had a dream, or a vision of what could be, and yet nothing has happened. After a while our enthusiasm dampens and the normal activity of life has taken over. Sometimes we have just given up and decided to do something different. Now is the time to rediscover those dreams. The writer of Proverbs said that without a vision, people are undisciplined or even run wild. When we have no vision to guide us, we have no purpose to guide the decisions we make and the behaviour we exhibit.

The champion athlete who has a vision of an Olympic Gold medal makes sure that all of her behaviour contributes to her goal. It will affect her eating, her recreation, her spending, and her social activities and so on. The Academic in pursuit of higher honours will likewise subject every area of his life to achieving his dream. The mother who wants to build the home of her dreams will plan and budget her time and resources to seeing that vision fulfilled. Whatever the dream or vision that God has planted in your life, if you want to see it become reality, you will need to live with purpose.

As you start a new year, ask God to reveal to you those dreams and visions that were yours but have somehow become lost in the daily grind. Don’t accept the lie that they were just fanciful imaginations, but live in the expectation that they will become your reality. If you have not yet had that dream or vision, then put yourself in a place where you can hear from God. Remove yourself from distraction, adopt an attitude of expectancy and listen! God will speak and when he does, write it down, share it with others and plan to make it happen. Make 2014 a year of living on purpose!

Nevertheless...

Things were looking bad for the nation. The countries to its north had progressively been invaded and taken over, and now it was in the sights of this militaristic power. The people’s failed attempts at appeasement had only turned others against them and on top of that they were struggling with dissent from within, threat from without and the daily struggles with poor harvests and oppression. The future was gloomy to the point of being black. Instead of joy and laughter the lives of the people were full of anguish and despair. They had lost hope and were afraid of what was to come.

In the midst of this most dismal set of circumstances a lone voice cried out ‘Even though it is your own foolishness and rebellion that has caused this situation, nevertheless it will not always be this way’. He went on to say that in fact the misery and anguish would be turned to gladness. In particular he identified four sources of this newfound joy: Their darkness would be turned to light, the gloominess of their future would be transformed into the clearest light. Their harvest would be bountiful, their poverty would be replaced by abundance, no more would they face the prospect of scrimping and saving but would have all their needs met. They would no longer be victims but conquerors. The history of defeat would be turned around – they would be returned to the winner’s side. Finally the chains of oppression that held them captive would be broken – they would be set free.

Understandably this news would bring some excitement and hope to the hearers, but what would cause this miraculous turnaround? What momentous event would change their dire circumstances to joy and expectation? The speaker replied ‘A baby will be born!’ Seriously – the birth of a baby will change all this? That seems highly unlikely. What is so significant about this baby that the world as we know it will change?

This was no ordinary baby – this is the Christ, God himself coming to live amongst us. Immanuel – God with us. The lone voice in this story was the prophet Isaiah and he was speaking to a people chosen by God but who were now under threat from Assyria. He was calling them to believe that a deliverer would come and rescue them from their plight – a Messiah, the Christ. By faith the people believed that which was dark would become light, that poverty would become abundance, defeat would become victory and captivity would be replaced by victory. It was some time off but it would happen.

Christmas is the time we remember that event, the coming of the Christ into the lives of men and women. What the people of Isaiah’s day looked forward to in faith, we look back on – likewise in faith. The Christ who was promised to the Jews as a future deliverer is given to us as the one who has delivered.

There are many whose prospect of the future is gloomy, who rather than enjoy abundance struggle with meeting the demands of everyday life. There are others for whom every day is a battle, a procession of skirmishes characterised more often by defeat then victory and who are bound by the chains of habits, circumstances or history. The Christmas message is one of deliverance, one of joy and celebration.  A baby has been born!

This baby, this child is a wonderful counselor, a mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace. His peace will never end. He invites us to come and worship him because it is Christmas. He has come into our lives.

What about you? Is your future looking gloomy? Are you struggling to see a light ahead, do you walk in darkness? Jesus the Christ will change your darkness into light, he will guide your footsteps so that you will not stumble but will emerge into the light of his radiance. Has your harvest been poor, do you see failure when you look for success? Does the daily grind of making ends meet rob you of your joy? He is the great provider, he it is that assures us that we need be anxious for nothing but that his peace will keep us. Do you face daily battles? Are you feeling beaten and defeated and just worn out by the relentless nature of the warfare? Remember you are more than conquerors through him who loves you. Yes there is a battle, but it is being fought in the heavenly places where Christ rules. All you need to do is stand, for the battle is not yours but his. And do you feel that you are held captive by your past, or your weakness, or your sin? It is for freedom that you have been set free, if Christ shall set you free, you shall be free indeed.

How do we experience this? By faith. Belief that the one who came as a babe at the first Christmas is Christ the Lord and he comes to deliver you. The only reasonable response is to worship and to celebrate. Make Christmas a time of rejoicing for the hope that is in you. Let your hair down – laugh, sing, dance it is a time of rejoicing. You have been set free - act like you believe it!

A Vision for your Future

 After years in the wilderness the people of Israel were finally on the verge of entering their promised land. But just at the crucial time their leader, Moses, died.  In his place Joshua responded to God’s challenge and, with the people crossed into the Promised Land, ready to take possession of it. But they weren’t going to get it without faith and without a fight.

They needed to drive out their enemies. As Joshua camped near Jericho contemplating his plans and strategies he looked up and saw a man facing him with sword drawn. Joshua faced him and asked whose side he was on and in response the man told him that he was the Captain of the Lord’s army. Joshua fell on his face and asked, “What do you want me to do?” He was told to take of his shoes because he was standing on holy ground.

Why did this man appear to Joshua? Joshua was about to undertake a major challenge for God and he needed a vision that would be sufficient to prepare him for the task. He was about to embark on a military campaign – he needed to know that Lord’s army was with him. Like Joshua before we take on any mission for God, we too need a vision of him that is sufficient for the task.

In Isaiah 6, God revealed himself to Isaiah, In Ezekiel 1 and 8, to Ezekiel and in Revelation 1 and 4 to the apostle John. In each case the vision he gave to the prophet was appropriate to the task they were to perform. God has called us in to the land of promise, the land of service. He has given us a commission – go into the world make disciples, preach the word, set the captives free, feed the poor, heal the sick. But we cannot hope to accomplish this mission without a revelation of God.

We can plan, strategize and theorise, we may even see some success. We can adopt spiritual disciplines, pray, read, give, fellowship and serve. We can pump ourselves up with self-motivation, the 7 keys to success, the be-happy attitudes and the power of positive thinking. But without a vision of God, our successes won’t be sustained and we will find ourselves once again in the wilderness hopping from hilltop to hilltop scanning the horizon for some fresh motivation and blessing or reward for our labour.

The only way Joshua could face his enemies was for God to reveal himself to him. The only way Isaiah and Ezekiel could preach was to see God first, the only way John could prophecy was to have a vision of Jesus. Unfortunately for many of us our only experience of God is hearsay. We have heard of the revivals, God’s blessing and miracles. We may even have seen them – but they are always someone else’s. Job had this same experience. He was a righteous man and suffered because of his righteousness, yet his experience of God was based on hearsay – until God spoke out of the whirlwind (Job 38). After God revealed himself Job could say “Before I had heard about you but now I have seen you for myself” (Job 42:5). Is your knowledge of God based on hearsay, or have you seen him for yourself? Have you delighted in the testimony of others as you go from those hilltops to hilltops or have you had your own revelation of him?

When Joshua saw the Captain of the Lord’s army he fell down at his feet and asked ‘what do you want me to do?’ When Isaiah saw God he confessed his sin, when Ezekiel received his vision he fell down and worshiped while John fell down as though dead. In each case their response was recognition of God’s holiness and their uncleanness. All they could do was worship.

As you seek God’s help, expect him to reveal his holiness and your need. Expect to recognize your inadequacy, and then rejoice that Jesus has reconciled you to him and that you can approach this Holy God. The vision we need today is a vision of a Holy God who allows us to approach him though Jesus and then to show us that aspect of his character that will prepare us for the mission to which he call us. It is this God who will equip us and motivate us to complete the commission he has given – our only response is to worship.