Friday February 14th, 2025
« And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel »
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.”
11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”
12 So she said, “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.”
13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.
14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ ”
15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days.
16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.
In our Bible text for today, we read about the widow of Zarephath who had only one meal left.
She and her son were going to eat and die.
She sacrificed that one meal and she and her son lived on.
In Psalm 50:14-15 , the Bible says if you offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and pay your vows, God will deliver you in the day of trouble.
In 2 Samuel 24:11-25 , seventy thousand men had died from a pestilence that arose in Israel due to David conducting a census that displeased God.
This was a big disaster and something had to be done immediately to stop it.
They had prayed and, although God had stopped the angel that was spreading the plague, He did not recall him; the angel remained at the threshing place of Araunah the Jebusite.
This still meant trouble, so David’s seer – Gad decided that they should apply a principle to avert the disaster as in 2 Samuel 24:18.
« And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite »
When David wanted to make the sacrifice, Araunah tried to give everything needed to him for free, but he refused.
He insisted that he had to bear the cost.
He gave the sacrifice and the disaster was immediately averted.
And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel ( 2 Samuel 24:25 ).
The funny thing is that many non-Christians know this principle: that, in the face of impending doom or disaster, a really big sacrificial offering can avert it, 2 Kings 3:26- 27 .
We as the children of the living God should follow David’s example and be ready to give a sacrificial offering, especially in troubled times.
May God help us – the true children of God to apply this principle in order to avert looming disasters, in Jesus’ name.
Prayer focus – Father, when a disaster seems to be looming around me, teach me what to do and give me the grace to do it.
Author – Bishop Enoch Adejare Adeboye; General Overseer of the RCCG
Posted by Naomie Joseph
Soul-restoring, mind-recalibrating Praise and Worship sessions – Evangelist Jemps Benoit ; Minister Paola Médi
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