The Economics of Faith Text: 1 Kings 17:1-16
Introduction: A Theological Drought
We are plunged into the story in the middle of a war. This is not a war of swords and shields, but a war of worldviews, a war over who runs the world. On one side you have Ahab, the apostate king of Israel, and his wicked queen, Jezebel, daughter of the king of Sidon. They had turned Israel into a franchise of Baal worship. Now, you must understand that Baal was not some abstract deity. He was the god of the storm, the god of rain, the god who made the crops grow. The entire economy of ancient Israel, and the pagan nations surrounding them, was built on the assumption that if you performed the right rituals, often perverse and vile, Baal would send the rain and you would prosper. It was a cosmic vending machine. Put in your worship, get out your grain.
On the other side, you have Yahweh, the God of Israel, the God who brought them out of Egypt. And into this contest steps His champion, a man named Elijah the Tishbite. He appears out of nowhere, a rugged man from the backwoods of Gilead. He is not a polished courtier; he is God's battle-axe. And his first act is to walk into the throne room of Ahab and declare war on Baal, on Baal's turf. He attacks the economy at its source. He announces a divine embargo, a supernatural drought. The central question of this chapter, and indeed of Elijah's entire ministry, is this: who governs reality? Is it the word of the king, the rituals of the priests of Baal, or the simple, declarative Word of the living God?
This passage is about God's provision, but it is a particular kind of provision. It is provision designed to dismantle all our systems of self-reliance. God provides for His prophet, and later for a destitute widow, but He does so in ways that are scandalous, counter-intuitive, and utterly dependent on His spoken word. This is a lesson in the economics of faith, where the only currency that matters is trust in the promise of God, and where the supply chain runs directly from the throne of heaven, often using the most unlikely means.
The Text
Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” Then the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, “Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. And it will be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to sustain you there.” So he went and did according to the word of Yahweh, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. And the ravens were bringing him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. Now it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. Then the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and remain there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you.” 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, “Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink.” So she went to get it, and he called to her and said, “Please get me a piece of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As Yahweh your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.” Then Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that Yahweh sends rain on the face of the earth.’ ” So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of Yahweh which He spoke by the hand of Elijah.
(1 Kings 17:1-16)
The Unseen Hand and the Unclean Bird (vv. 1-7)
The confrontation begins with a solemn oath.
"As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word." (1 Kings 17:1)
Elijah's authority does not come from a seminary degree or a royal appointment. It comes from two things. First, the fact that Yahweh lives. This is a direct shot at Baal, who was a dying and rising god tied to the seasons. Elijah's God is not seasonal; He is the eternally living God. Second, Elijah's authority comes from his position: "before whom I stand." This is the language of a servant in the court of the Great King. He is not speaking on his own initiative; he is delivering a decree from the sovereign of the universe. And notice the audacity. The rain will stop and start "by my word." This is not arrogance. It is the delegated authority of a true prophet. His word is powerful because it is God's Word.
After this stunning public confrontation, God's command to Elijah is completely unexpected. He doesn't tell him to lead a protest or start a revival tour. He tells him to disappear.
"Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith... I have commanded the ravens to sustain you there." (1 Kings 17:3-4)
The man who just shut down the sky is sent into hiding. The first lesson for a man of God after a great public stand is often a private lesson in dependence. God must train His servant in solitude before He can use him on the grand stage of Mount Carmel. And the method of provision is designed to humble him. God doesn't send a wealthy patron. He sends ravens. According to the Mosaic law, ravens were unclean birds. God sustains His prophet through a scandalous catering service. This is a powerful statement. God is not bound by our ceremonial expectations. He can use unclean instruments to accomplish His holy purposes. He fed His prophet with bird-food, morning and evening, a daily liturgy of dependence. Elijah did not have a pantry; he had a promise. He had to trust God for every single meal.
Then the test intensifies. The brook, which was God's provision, dries up. This is a critical point. We have a tendency to confuse God's method of provision with the God who provides. We trust the job, not the God who gave the job. We trust the bank account, not the God who fills it. God will often, in His wisdom and love, allow our brooks to dry up. He is not failing us; He is weaning us. He is teaching us to look past the gift to the Giver. A dry brook is not a sign of God's absence but a prelude to His next instruction.
The Pagan Widow and the Firstfruits Principle (vv. 8-16)
God's next instruction is even more shocking than the first.
"Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and remain there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you." (1 Kings 17:9)
Think about this. God sends Elijah from a dried up brook in Israel deep into enemy territory. Sidon was the heart of Baal worship; it was Jezebel's home country. This is not a retreat; it is a strategic offensive. God is going to display His power not in the holy land, but in the heart of pagan darkness. And His chosen instrument of provision is the weakest, most vulnerable person in that society: a Gentile widow on the brink of starvation. God's strength is made perfect in weakness. He is going to sustain His prophet through a woman who cannot even sustain herself.
Elijah arrives and finds her gathering sticks for her last meal. Her situation is one of utter hopelessness. Her stated plan is to "eat it and die." When Elijah asks for water, and then for a piece of bread, it sounds like mockery. It is a test. Her reply is telling: "As Yahweh your God lives, I have no bread." She knows of Yahweh, but He is Elijah's God, not hers. She is a pagan, but she recognizes the authority of the God who has brought this famine.
Elijah's response is the very structure of the gospel.
"Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty...'" (1 Kings 17:13-14)
First, the imperative against fear: "Do not fear." This is God's word to us when we are at the end of our resources. Second, the test of faith: "make me a little bread cake from it first." This is the principle of firstfruits. God does not ask for our leftovers. He asks for the first and the best, even when it is our last. The world's logic is to secure our own needs first, and then give to God if there is a surplus. God's economy demands the opposite. We are to honor Him with the first portion, trusting that He will provide the rest. This is what tithing is. It is an act of faith that declares God, not our own efforts, is the source of our provision. Third, the promise: "For thus says Yahweh." Her hope is not to be in the flour in the bowl, but in the promise of the God who created the grain. She is being asked to trade her theology of death for a theology of resurrection, to bet her life and her son's life on the bare word of God.
And her response is beautiful in its simplicity: "So she went and did according to the word of Elijah." She obeyed. And the miracle commenced. Notice, God did not give her a warehouse full of flour and a tanker of oil. The bowl was never full, but it was never empty. The jar was never overflowing, but it never ran dry. God provided for them day by day. This is how God keeps His people humble, grateful, and utterly dependent. He gives us this day our daily bread.
Conclusion: The Never-Empty Jar
This story is a powerful lesson in kingdom economics. The Baal system, the world's system, is based on what you can see, what you can accumulate, what you can control. It is a system of sight. And in the end, its brooks always run dry.
The economy of faith is based on what you cannot see. It is based on the naked word of a faithful God. It requires us to give the first slice to God, trusting Him for the rest of the loaf. It requires us to believe that His resources are infinite, even when ours are down to a final handful.
Where is your brook drying up? Is it your finances? Your health? Your career? Do not mistake the empty stream bed for the absence of God. He is simply moving you on. He may be sending you to your own Zarephath, to a place of weakness and desperation where you will be forced to live by faith alone.
This widow, this Gentile on the brink of death, becomes a picture of all of us. We are spiritually destitute, with nothing but a last meal of sin and death before us. And into our desperation comes the Word of God, Jesus Christ. He says to us, "Do not fear." He asks us to give Him our lives first, to trust Him completely. And He makes a promise: "Whoever believes in me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."
Jesus is the true bread from heaven. He is the oil of gladness that never runs dry. He took our last meal, our cup of judgment, on the cross, so that He could give us His bowl of flour that is never exhausted and His jar of oil that is never empty. He is our daily bread, our constant provision, and He sustains us, not for a few years until the rains return, but for all eternity, according to the faithful Word of God.