06-28-09
Sorry, you must have Windows Media Player 9 or higher. This is a large file which may take a few seconds to start Windows Media Real Audio MP3 Click here, or scroll down to view today's diagram (Amos 8:11,12) Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine [hunger] in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. (1 Ki 17:1) And Elijah the Tishbite [Heb: of Tishbeh (in Gilead)], who was of the inhabitants of Gilead [Heb: mass of testimony], said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years [because of the idolatry of the people of the ten northern tribes (Israel) under the leadership of King Ahab and Jezebel], but according to my word. 1. (Deu 11:13-17) And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain [the early rain in the autumn encouraged the sprouting of seed and new growth] and the latter rain [in the spring brought the crops to maturity], that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; And then the LORD'S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you. 2. (Luke 4:25,26) But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months [a reference to the Great Tribulation], when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elijah sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. 3. (James 5:17,18) Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit [i.e., the word of God]. FIRST A NATURAL REFUGE HERE (1 Ki 17:2-7) And the word of the LORD [an angel, or Christ: John 1:14] came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself [from Ahab and Jezebel] by the brook Cherith, that is before [east of] Jordan [in the wild-erness]. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there [God uses the saved and the unsaved to His own purpose]. So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land [the natural dried up because of the lack of the spiritual – is your brook drying up?]. 1. Dictionary: raven = any of several large corvine [resembling a crow] birds with lustrous black plumage and raucous voice, esp. the raven, of the New and Old Worlds, which has from time immemorial been considered a bird of ill omen. SECOND A SPIRITUAL REFUGE THERE (1 Ki 17:8-11) And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon [the king of Zidon was Jezebel’s father], and dwell there [i.e., in the bosom of the enemy]: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was [obediently] going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 1. Zarephath = Heb: refinement [the purpose of the Great Tribulation] /// to fuse (metal), i.e. refine:--cast, (re-) fine (-er), founder, goldsmith, melt, pure, purge away, try. [To refine who? The widow woman represents you and I] 2. Zidon = Heb: in the sense of catching fish; fishery. 3. widow = Heb: a widow; also a desolate place:--desolate house /// in the sense of bereavement; discarded (as a divorced person):--forsaken. (1 Ki 17:12) And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake [of bread], but an handful of meal [ground seed: flour] in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse [a saucer]: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks [a type of the cross], that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. (1 Ki 17:13,14) And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth [a period of time that lasted 3 ˝ years]. (1 Ki 17:15,16) And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah [food and nourishment (strong implication of growth) provided in refuge]. PARALLELS (Rev 12:1-6) And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman [the born-again church universal] clothed with the sun [the white (Gk: light) robe of righteousness, the shed blood of Jesus Christ], and the moon under her feet [Satan a defeated foe], and upon her head a crown of twelve stars [the twelve tribes, the twelve disciples]: And she being with child [pregnant] cried, travailing [in Great Tribulation] in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars [angels] of heaven, and did cast them to the earth [as fallen angels, devils, demons, unclean spirits]: and the dragon [defiantly] stood before the woman [in the courtyard of the Tabernacle] which was ready to be delivered [in the Holy/Most Holy Place], for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, [FIRST A NATURAL REFUGE HERE] where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days [1260 days % 30 = 42 months = 3 ˝ years]. (Rev 12:13,14) And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness [SECOND A SPIRITUAL REFUGE THERE] [This is commonly described as the rapture], into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time [3 ˝ years], from the face of the serpent. Amen Click here, or on the diagram for a printable (pdf) version. Previous Chapter Table Of Contents Next Chapter Click here to download a printable version of this message Click here to download a DOC version of this message
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(Amos 8:11,12) Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine [hunger] in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
(1 Ki 17:1) And Elijah the Tishbite [Heb: of Tishbeh (in Gilead)], who was of the inhabitants of Gilead [Heb: mass of testimony], said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years [because of the idolatry of the people of the ten northern tribes (Israel) under the leadership of King Ahab and Jezebel], but according to my word.
1. (Deu 11:13-17) And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain [the early rain in the autumn encouraged the sprouting of seed and new growth] and the latter rain [in the spring brought the crops to maturity], that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; And then the LORD'S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.
2. (Luke 4:25,26) But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months [a reference to the Great Tribulation], when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elijah sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
3. (James 5:17,18) Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit [i.e., the word of God].
(1 Ki 17:2-7) And the word of the LORD [an angel, or Christ: John 1:14] came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself [from Ahab and Jezebel] by the brook Cherith, that is before [east of] Jordan [in the wild-erness]. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there [God uses the saved and the unsaved to His own purpose]. So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land [the natural dried up because of the lack of the spiritual – is your brook drying up?].
1. Dictionary: raven = any of several large corvine [resembling a crow] birds with lustrous black plumage and raucous voice, esp. the raven, of the New and Old Worlds, which has from time immemorial been considered a bird of ill omen.
(1 Ki 17:8-11) And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon [the king of Zidon was Jezebel’s father], and dwell there [i.e., in the bosom of the enemy]: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was [obediently] going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
1. Zarephath = Heb: refinement [the purpose of the Great Tribulation] /// to fuse (metal), i.e. refine:--cast, (re-) fine (-er), founder, goldsmith, melt, pure, purge away, try. [To refine who? The widow woman represents you and I]
2. Zidon = Heb: in the sense of catching fish; fishery.
3. widow = Heb: a widow; also a desolate place:--desolate house /// in the sense of bereavement; discarded (as a divorced person):--forsaken.
(1 Ki 17:12) And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake [of bread], but an handful of meal [ground seed: flour] in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse [a saucer]: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks [a type of the cross], that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
(1 Ki 17:13,14) And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth [a period of time that lasted 3 ˝ years].
(1 Ki 17:15,16) And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah [food and nourishment (strong implication of growth) provided in refuge].
(Rev 12:1-6) And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman [the born-again church universal] clothed with the sun [the white (Gk: light) robe of righteousness, the shed blood of Jesus Christ], and the moon under her feet [Satan a defeated foe], and upon her head a crown of twelve stars [the twelve tribes, the twelve disciples]: And she being with child [pregnant] cried, travailing [in Great Tribulation] in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars [angels] of heaven, and did cast them to the earth [as fallen angels, devils, demons, unclean spirits]: and the dragon [defiantly] stood before the woman [in the courtyard of the Tabernacle] which was ready to be delivered [in the Holy/Most Holy Place], for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, [FIRST A NATURAL REFUGE HERE] where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days [1260 days % 30 = 42 months = 3 ˝ years].
(Rev 12:13,14) And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness [SECOND A SPIRITUAL REFUGE THERE] [This is commonly described as the rapture], into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time [3 ˝ years], from the face of the serpent.
Amen
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