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DAILY GUIDE TO MIRACLES from Oral Roberts Ministries Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006 www.orm.cc The Widow's Last Meal Richard Roberts Oral Roberts Ministries www.orm.cc "God once proclaimed a three-year drought on Israel because its king had built an idol. The resulting famine was severe, and people were desperate. The Lord told Elijah to go to a town called Zarephath, where He said He had commanded a widow to provide food for him. When Elijah arrived in the city, he learned that the widow had just enough flour and oil left to fix herself and her son one last meal. But Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid.... First make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land'" (I Kings 17:13-14 NIV). Can you imagine how Elijah must have felt to take a portion of that widow's last meal? To ask her to feed him first? She did as Elijah said and fed him first. God kept His promise, and the supply of flour and oil lasted throughout the famine. It's estimated that the widow was able to make more than a thousand meals for herself and her son. God multiplied her one meal over 1,000 times! When we sow into God's work, He multiplies it back. But guess who gets the harvest? We do! Elijah didn't need the widow to feed him. The Lord had already commanded ravens to bring him bread and meat twice a day (I Kings 17:6). He went to the widow, not to take her last meal, but so God could multiply it and sustain her until the rains came. It was God's plan for the widow to give to Him first and trust Him for her needs to be met. This is how Seed-Faith works. And it will work for you and me also!" ON DOCTRINE NOTE: Richard Roberts would claim that the story about the widow and her jug of oil is an example of how "Seed Faith" works, but the reality is that faith is not even part of the issue presented. The story is not about the woman, but it is about God's sovereign acts of provision for Elijah that transcend the actions of Elijah and the woman, something that is left out of Richard Roberts' explanation in order to insert the "Seed Faith" teaching. Richard Roberts begins his explanation in the middle of the narrative, which makes it appear that the woman was much more responsive to Elijah's request than she actually was. There was no faith being expressed by her when Elijah first asked her for a little water and a morsel of bread, because she answered: "'As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar and see, 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,'" v. 12.There is a very great difference between faith and obedience, and in response to the first request by Elijah, the woman expressed neither, because she was a Gentile and did not worship the true God. Her response to Elijah was, "'As the Lord YOUR God lives,'" and NOT the Lord HER God. She expressed an ephithet, hoping to convince Elijah of the fact that she spoke the truth, similar to saying, 'I swear to your God that I am telling the truth.' She recognized Elijah as an Israelite and acknowledged his God, and perhaps she even realized that Elijah was a prophet, but her first thought was to deny his request. It was only at the second request by Elijah, in which he explained the miracle of the flour and oil that was promised, that she acquiesed and was obedient. Even then her obedience was not based on faith or even a belief that Elijah was a true prophet who represented a true and living God. However, she was obedient, and it seems that she did not actually understand why. The woman was hard to convince, because even after many days in which the flour was not used up and the oil did not dry up, the woman was still not convinced of the legitimacy of Elijah's prophetic position. It was not until Elijah raised her son from the dead that she understood and believed who he was and who he represented: "Then the woman said to Elijah, '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.The chapter ends with her final affirmation of faith and belief, but not until after all the miracles had taken place in her life. As an example of Richard Roberts' "Seed Faith" teaching, the life of the widow utterly fails to support his claims. SEE: RICHARD ROBERTS ORAL ROBERTS "Giving and Receiving," another name for "Seed Faith" "Does God Promise Health and Wealth?" - Part 1 "Does God Promise Health and Wealth?" - Part 2 |
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