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| LINDSAY ROBERTS |
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DAILY GUIDE TO MIRACLES from Oral Roberts Ministries Sunday, March 26, 2006 www.orm.cc A THOUSAND MEALS Lindsay Roberts Oral Roberts Ministries www.orm.cc "There's an amazing story in the bible that shows God can supply our natural needs in supernatural ways. In 1 Kings 17 NIV, the prophet Elijah meets a widow who has almost run out of food. He asks her for some bread to eat. 'As surely as the Lord your God lives,' she replied, 'I don't have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die' (v. 12). When Elijah asked the widow for the first portion of her food, he was really asking for the tithe—the first tenth. The word 'tithe' actually translates as increase. That doesn't make sense in the natural, does it? How can you give away 10 percent of your income and call it increase? That's just how it works. When the tenth is given to God, He supernaturally increases it. The widow believed the word of the Lord, and she gave the first portion of her last meal to His prophet. Because of her obedience, her family lived in God's supernatural supply for nearly a thousand more meals! Like the widow, when we step out in faith and obey God's Word, he proves how He can supply our natural needs...often in supernatural ways. Consider Malachi 3:10, which says: Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse...and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." ON DOCTRINE NOTE: The miracle in 1 Kings is truly amazing, but the spin that Lindsay Roberts puts on the event is amazing in itself. What she claims about the nature of the event is absolutely without foundation, is a fabrication of definitions and is an unacceptable attempt at biblical exposition. The word "tithe" does not translate as increase. A tithe, in relation to the person who pays a tithe, is a portion of income received by an individual, a multiple of percentages based on 10's that is applied to the total income of a person, and applies to cash as well as crops, cattle, goods or any other form of income, which is paid by the tither or given away. To say that a "tithe" is increase, is to deliberately misstate the meaning of the word in order to make it conform to the pre-determined theology of "Seed Faith" [Giving and Receiving] giving created by Oral Roberts. The claim that Elijah's request for a cake was actually a tithe, goes beyond any reasonable comprehension of the request. The flour and oil that the woman had were not an increase against which a tithe was owed, but they were her possessions which she had purchased, either with her labor or money that she had previously owned, inherited or was given. No tithe was owed on those items by any definition and no tithe is mentioned in the narrative. Additionally, the woman was not giving Elijah ten percent. She was going to make 3 cakes, of which Elijah would receive the first one, she would eat one and her son would eat the other. That means she was giving away one-third of what she had and keeping two-thirds. She might even have been generous with the cake she made for Elijah, so he may have received more than one-third and she may have kept less than two-thirds. Lindsay Roberts would like the reader to believe that everything that happened to the widow was a result of her faith and related to her "tithing," but that is not the case. Lindsay Roberts ignores some key points in order to make her view of the events conform more closely with her pre-determined belief and teaching about "Seed Faith." First, she ignores the fact that the incident is not really about the widow, but about the provision of God in relation to Elijah. The whole narrative actually begins in 1 Kings 17:1 when Elijah pronounced that there would be a drought. Then, for his protection from Ahab, God then instructed Elijah to go hide by the Brook Cherith, ". . . you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens TO FEED YOU THERE," 1 Kings 17:4, (NKJV). Did the ravens appear because Elijah had faith? Did the ravens obtain food for Elijah by the exercise of their faith? The right answer is that they appeared at the command and good pleasure of God which had nothing to do with the faith of Elijah. The ravens had already been instructed prior to Elijah receiving the message from God, and they did the bidding of God not that of Elijah. Secondly, she ignores the fact that the incident with the widow is a continuation of the provision of God in relation to Elijah, "Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 'Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there TO PROVIDE FOR YOU," 1 Kings 17:8-9 (NKJV). Just like the ravens had been commanded and provided bread and meat twice a day for Elijah, the widow was also commanded to provide food for Elijah without any conscious understanding of why. The response of the ravens and the response of the widow were alike, because they both represent the sovereign action of God to bring about a specific end. The ravens were obedient because of the power of God which they could not resist. In the same manner, the widow was obedient because of the command of God which she also could not resist. Obedience is not necessarily the result of faith, and in the case of the widow, her obedience was the result of a direct work of God in her life which she did not ask for and which she did not initiate. Her plans were not part of an action of faith, but to eat one last meal and then die of starvation, but it was God's sovereign plan that she should live and provide the food that would not only continue the life of she and her son, but the life of the prophet Elijah as well. Did the widow understand what had been commanded of her by God? Certainly not, because when Elijah appeared, she did not know about what God had commanded and, instead, explained to him why she could not fulfil his request. There was no conscious understanding on her part that she was to provide food for Elijah, because she did not fulfil the request until after Elijah explained the miracle regarding the flour and oil. At that point she went to make the bread, not actually knowing why except that a person she believed to be a prophet had told her to do so. Even at that, if she had faith in the possibility that she would have a continuing supply of food, she was not necessarily convinced of the source being God or that Elijah was a true prophet or even spoke the truth of God. This is revealed by the statement she made to Elijah after he raised her son from the dead, "Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth." 1 Kings 17:24 (NKJV). The miracle of the flour and oil was not sufficient to satisfy her questions or her doubts, and it was not until she saw her son resurrected from the dead that she expressed confident belief. Her faith was very small indeed. But the point of the incident was that the flour and oil given to Elijah by the woman was not actually hers, but was a direct provision from God by means of a miracle. The woman was simply the conduit by which God provided for Elijah. The words of Jesus spoken to the apostle Thomas aptly apply: "Jesus said to him, 'Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,'" John 20:29 (NKJV).From her erroneous treatment and application of a tithe to the event, Lindsay Roberts then introduces Malachi 3:10, in which tithes are a part, and then tries to connect both events together as an example in which tithing will return every need that a person may require for living. However, in the "Seed Faith" giving theology, there are not just needs that are met through tithing, there are personal desires that are met also which may not have any connection to a need. These desires can be confirmed by having another person come into agreement with those desires and then both express those desires to God in faith, and God is required to fulfill those desires because of some mystical laws to which He is bound. That is called the "Prayer of Agreement" doctrine, and is said to be based on Matthew 18:19, which is also an erroneous and false teaching. Conveniently, the faith required to cause God to act is also obtained through "Seed Faith" giving of money to God, which is defined as giving to a ministry and also conveniently, in the case of Oral, Richard and Lindsay Roberts, it is giving to the Oral Roberts ministry. The claim is also made that not only will God supply every want or need through "Seed Faith" giving, He will also heal every disease, mend every personal relationship and best of all, He will return the "Seed Faith" gift with a hundredfold interest added. That means, for every $1.00 given to the Oral Roberts ministry, God is supposed to return to the giver $101.00. Unfortunately, for Lindsay Roberts, the incident regarding the widow and Elijah contains no such teaching. SEE: "God's Will" - Malachi 3:7, Lindsay Roberts "Breaking the Power of Debt" - Malachi 3:10-11, Lindsay Roberts "There's Power In Agreement" - Matthew 18:19, Lindsay Roberts Oral Roberts "Seed Faith" or "Giving and Receiving," On Doctrine Prayer Of Agreement - Matthew 18:19, On Doctrine |
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