Things That I Used To Do
You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death! 1 Kings 17:18 NASB
Iniquity – This word, translated “iniquity,” is one of the principal words for sin and evil found in the Old Testament (awon in Hebrew). This word carries the idea of something twisted, something especially perverse. In addition, it incorporates the thought of the punishment that goes along with the sin. While we see the evil act as a separate event from its consequences, this word views both the act and the consequence as parts of the same thing. One automatically and inevitably follows the other.
The widow of Zarephath shouts at Elijah. “Why have you done this to me, you holy man of God?” She has been providing Elijah with housing for two years during a great drought, and now her son dies. Is this the way that God repays her obedience? Is God visiting punishment upon her for her past twisted deeds? Is she to be stripped of what she loves simply because she is not from Israel?
I often wonder if I am any different than this widow. I remember many occasions when I echoed her desperate cry. “Is this the way you’re going to treat me, God? Are you going to punish me now for all twisted acts of my past? Are you taking away something that I love to get even with me over things I used to do?” When life suddenly turns sour after years of obedience, don’t we often cry out in the same way as this poor widow? She acknowledges that her life used to be filled with twisted sins. She admits that she deserves punishment. But she has been faithful for a long time now. Does God wait until just the right moment to strike us down once again?
If you read this story in 1 Kings 17, you will see that Elijah does not answer this question. He doesn’t say a word about her accusation. He just takes her son and brings him back to life through the power of God. He knows that no amount of religious debate will have any effect. He knows that if this widow is to have her confidence in God restored, something impossible must happen – her son must live. What she treasured most in her life of poverty must be restored to her. There is only one demonstration that counts – God must show His compassion!
The amazing grace of this story is that the widow never asked to have her son restored. It was Elijah who knew what she needed. She never prayed, never petitioned and never pleaded. It was Elijah who did the praying. He interceded for her – and God responded to his intercession. Where are the Elijah’s of intercession today? Where are the ones who take action on God’s behalf simply because someone else needs to see God’s compassion? Are you the widow or the intercessor?
And in case you want to know just how Elijah knew the widow’s son must be revived, go read Exodus 34:6-7 where you will see how awon is connected to the very nature of God.
Topical Index: intercessor, awon, iniquity, 1 Kings 17:18, Exodus 34:7
Faith is what I lose in the places where the curse of sin reigns. Some people say that they do not believe in curses, but then go on to complain how hard (faithless) their lives are. I just shake my head. The curses operate in our lives in all the places we lack the faith to employ (invoke) the love of God. There is no difference, I have decided, between saying that I lose my faith when I sin, and saying that a lack of faith IS my sin. Faith (trust) is what love operates ON: its like the light switch for love. The widow was suffering from the curse of death, and in that place she lost her faith. Notice that faith (connection medium) was restored when the curse was lifted.
So many people tell me they struggle with a lack of faith, but then just sigh and shrug their shoulders when I ask them if they want to do something about it! Trust is a choice, even in (especially in) the places where we lack it. The struggle comes from our “agreement with hell” – our agreement with what fear is telling us. I have to quit listening to Radio Satan! (I like that term. Its graphic.) The curses in my life are active (have power) as long as I agree that there is ‘nothing I can do’. As long as I believe that, I am agreeing with hell! Faith (trust) is hardest in the places where it has been lost – just ask Peter: he thought water looked pretty hard to walk on, too, but as long as he trusted (kept his focus on) his Master, he managed it just fine. I lose my faith (focus) in all the places where I have been convinced that I have to focus on my self. That change in focus is what opens the door to the confirmation of that focus. If I want faith back in my life, I have to change my focus. Teshuvah (turn around and look/go the other way) is highly recommended.
What is the confirmation of the focus on self? Sin. When I turn my attention to ME, I open the door to sin. Sin is what I do to confirm (validate) the choice of that focus. If I turn around and focus on my King (which corresponds to the bitten Israelites looking at the serpent Moses put on the pole), I then restore the faith required to operate love (life) on. My trust in Him returns when I decide to put Him first again.
Skip, you wrote (in a response) once that you might like to write a piece (s) on the differences between behavioral and theological applications and that it might be interesting to see the responses. As I read this, I was struck by the contrast between Elijah and us of contemporary faith. I’m not writing this to criticize, but to, perhaps, explore the level and subtlety of the deception we have been subjected to. One of the things I find in this passage is that Elijah, as a true warrior, is petitioning not so much for the woman as he is for the reputation of God, and he’s very aggressive concerning those things. As Laurita said, it’s about the focus. The other related area seems to be the confusion between “turning the other cheek” and our fight being in the spiritual realm. While the fight may exist there, the implications of that war are made manifest where we live. We’ve been so convinced that we are to be meek and mild (the world wants us to be doormats) that we’ve become largely ineffective in holding evil at bay, much less defeating it. I’ve often wondered why, in revelation, that the armies are so willing to war against the Messiah, you would think they would know better. Maybe it’s because they, mistakenly, think He’s a Christian.
Skip,
What is the relevance of Elijah’s stretching out on the boy
three times? Is it similar to Paul doing likewise to the young
man in Acts 20:10?
(Great to meet you yesterday. My wife and I look forward
to doing so again.)
“It was Elijah who did the praying. He interceded for her – and God responded to his intercession. Where are the Elijah’s of intercession today? Where are the ones who take action on God’s behalf simply because someone else needs to see God’s compassion?”
Hear I am, LORD. Use me. Hear my pleas.
Ooops, I meant, “Here I am, LORD.”
Elijah is a fascinating and amazing character, such zeal and passion, revealing his intimate relationship with YHWH.
And he obeys WITHOUT question. To the point of submitting to meals of bread and meat brought by a raven. (Don’t ever doubt that YHWH would bring him unclean, non-kosher food!)
He hears from the LORD, and the LORD hears him! YHWH and Elijah is in constant communication! He understand the heart and mind of YHWH. Is that a mark, or sign, of a great prophet?
He understood the needs of the widow, probably astonished by her outburst when her son “died”, as the little flour and oil that she had lasted longer than expected. Were that not so, she and her son would have died earlier.
Elijah was sent there to reveal to her WHO God really is, a God of chesed and rahamim.
She was rewarded for her hospitality taking in a stranger, and accepting his word that the little flour and oil will last without question. Perhaps she sensed that Elijah was different from the other folks, she saw his need; she has shown a kind and compassionate heart and YHWH honoured her in reciprocating that. How beautiful!
Looking excitedly to Elijah’s return! SOON, I hope. Amein!
Shalom!
And the prayer of the righteous shall have great power. So Esther we need to seek the righteous in today’s world…
Any idea how we will identify these as it seems that there deeds are the white linen that God seeks in us…
Shalom Seeker,
I guess this is addressed to me.
Yes, ABBA respects the prayers of the faithful and righteous.
I would say- the Jews have of old, learned Torah by word of mouth, known as Oral Torah.
When Torah was committed in writing, they conscientiously learn the entire Torah through memory, in the Hebrew language of course. Then when/ should anyone quote from Torah/ Tanakh, they can certainly pinpoint/ identify misquotes.
Thus that would maintain their sharp sense of discernment, to hear the voice of God (through the Tanakh memorized in their hearts), to choose to walk in His ways, to reject the yetza ha’ra, errors and deceptive agendas, to bring forth obedience, as with Elijah.
Shalom!
That has been my experience, too, Ester! My head is in very poor shape, however, so to overcome that frustration, I read the Bible over and over and have spent many happy hours finding the verses that were saying similar things as other verses and writing them in the margins (I have big margins) and praying earnestly about the promise that the Holy Spirit will “bring to remembrance” the Word in all applicable places Well, that promise works! I may not be able to quote chapter and verse from memory, but the Word is in my heart, and that has been changing the way I think and act. Halleluah!
Esther.
Who be righteous in our view today…
Laurita
If God be a God of the living why did he want us to reflect using the life experiences of those that have gone before us…
Learning what he desires, and is it not this that Skip is facilitating for us.
We are only righteous when God empowers, we are knowledgeable when we reflect… My 2c….
Seeker, Skip says (I think I am remembering correctly) that God views us as a continuum of those that came before. The East and other cultures who worship the dead I think have perverted this understanding, but we in the West have lost it entirely. Also, those that have gone before us are awaiting a resurrection: i.e. asleep. Asleep is not dead. Dead is annihilated. Difference. We continue those that came before us in our biological and spiritual (and, yes, mental) realities, also. For example, we were given the Seder meal to participate in this understanding. We also got handed the puzzles of their iniquities to straighten out, as well as the legacy of the blessings that their righteousness produced. When I reflect on their life experiences it gives me the correct starting reference point for my life. I am part of the relay race.
Yes, God empowers us to be righteous, but He waits for us to choose to be so. Love cannot show up until I open the door. Um, that would be knowledge, too…