Elijah and the woman Pastor Marco Vinicio Castillo First Service Guatemala, May 29th Year of Abundance
Regarding the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have learned a scheme where first come the days of Elijah, then the days of Noah, and then the days of Lot. When we take a look at the Old Testament, in the days when the Prophet Elijah was ministering, there were many things, and everything concluded with his personal rapture; in this time, he comes back from God to complete what the church needs before leaving the Earth in the rapture. Afterwards, we take a look at the days of Noah, and Lot there are several activities in common like eating and drinking; yet later on it speaks about different activities in each phase; those activities are signals marking the coming of the Lord. However, when we watch international news we are able to verify that many activities of the end times are already manifested though not to the fullest; it is like we were looking at the tip of the iceberg that is emerging and soon will be totally seen. We have also learned the days of the prophet Elijah represent a pre-tribulation time, also known as a time of labor pains for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ; the days of Noah will be tribulation time, and the days of Lot the great tribulation time, though these last 2 conform the 70 week of Daniel. Nowadays, we need to highlight the phase of the days of the prophet Elijah, learning what happened when he ministered, thus we will have a shadow of what he will come to minister, besides family reconciliation, therefore we will begin looking at the following verses: Revelation 12:1-2 (DLNT) And a great sign appeared in heaven: there was a woman, having been clothed-with the sun, and the moon was under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head, 2 and having a child in her womb. And she is crying-out, suffering-birth-pains and beingin-torment to give-birth. Revelation 17:3 (DLNT) And he carried me away in the Spirit to a wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast being-full-of names of blasphemy having seven heads and ten horns. These verses show us the labor pains the Church will suffer before give birth. Now, the point is when prophet Elijah walked on Earth for the first time according to the Bible, he directly treated 2 women: the widow at Zarephath is one of them, and the other was Jezebel. We will consider the first woman is a figure of the women in distress, a figure of the Church, the second woman represents the power referred in Revelation 17:3. 1 Kings 17:8-9 (ESV) Then the word of the Lord came to him “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.� One of the things we see here is God appointed a widow for a determined task in favor of Prophet Elijah:
This study is allowed to be copied and printed by any mean, only if the source of the information is quoted.
www.ebenezer.org.gt
1
Elijah and the woman Pastor Marco Vinicio Castillo First Service Guatemala, May 29th Year of Abundance
Luke 4:25-26 (ESV) But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. This is a scenery in which we must identify as the woman to whom God sends His servant just as in the Old Testament; she wasn’t just any woman; she was a specific one like today is not to any religion to whom God sent His servant; we ought to feel truly privileged since He will come indeed to us. Revelation 3:7-8 (ESV) “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts 8 and no one opens. “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. The special characteristic we observe in this verse is God sending Prophet Elijah as we already mentioned, though we are not stating only us will listen to Him, we may be the only ones who take heed, and obey because we know He comes from God, besides we know this is part of the signs of the soon coming of the Lord since because we truly love His coming; today we are very aware of what we must do to obey God. 1 Kings 17:10-11 (ESV) So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” Regarding this verse, we could say it is highly regrettable, in the present time, to see people using it, manipulating it to obtain a financial benefit, and taking advantage of the love of the people of God for our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, when a servant of God appears asking for money, there must be a sign verifying that he truly comes from the Lord, otherwise, it is better for us to avoid even listening to that kind of people in order to avoid contamination. 1 Kings 17:12-13 (ESV) And 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 in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 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. That widow knew this Prophet came from God, however, at some point it seemed like she did not assimilate all that he was asking her to do for him; this makes it clear that in the present times there will be people fully convinced that servants of God are equipping them, however due
This study is allowed to be copied and printed by any mean, only if the source of the information is quoted.
www.ebenezer.org.gt
2
Elijah and the woman Pastor Marco Vinicio Castillo First Service Guatemala, May 29th Year of Abundance
to a poor administration, their priorities will be moved, and that will cause them to hesitate doing what they ought to do. Let us keep in mind that God looks at the intentions of the heart, and if our priority is to honor Him with our wealth that He provided for us, and if we obey, if God truly is our priority, we will witness the same that widow did: 1 Kings 17:14-15 (ESV) 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.’” And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. God will allow us to experiment abundance before we leave from Earth, yet it is necessary for us to believe the word of God in order to do so; we must tithe indeed, and to make it a priority in our budgets; we are to do so, and ask God to help us do it with love, then we will lack nothing. 1 Kings 17:22-24 (NOB) Yahweh heard Elijah’s request, and the child’s life returned to him. He was alive again. Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upstairs room of the house, and gave him to his mother. He said, “Look! Your son is alive.” The woman said to Elijah, “Now I’m convinced that you are a man of Elohim and that the word of Yahweh from your mouth is true.” In the days of Elijah, literal resurrections will take place, this is before the rapture; there will be dead in Christ that will manifest among us, but also there will be spiritual resurrections, those relatives that were once praising, and worshiping God with us, will come back to spiritual life, yet not obliged, since once again their resurrected spirits will be strong enough to move the lives of those who were away from God; we only need to believe the word of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we will witness His fulfilment.
This study is allowed to be copied and printed by any mean, only if the source of the information is quoted.
www.ebenezer.org.gt
3