Revelation 2:17

Blessed to be a Blessing

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches: To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. 

Revelation 2:12-16

To the Church in Pergamum
12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.

14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. 15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Proverbs for the Week

• Where has your discerning heart been able lead you?
• Where has your foolish mouth been able lead you?
• (if you dare, this is what you share with fellow disciples)
  

1 Kings 17:1-6

Elijah and the Ravens

Elijah Announces a Great Drought
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

Elijah Fed by Ravens
2 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: 3 “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”

5 So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

Elijah was a prophet of God to Israel. God’s goal with the historical nation of Israel was for their human king to willingly subject himself to the Divine King of Israel, the Lord God himself.

While that worked fairly well with David and so-so with Solomon, other kings of Israel fell well short of this ideal. King Ahab was one of the worst. Rather than following God, Ahab’s pursuit of and marriage to Jezebel led him to worship and serve Baal rather than the Lord God of Israel. As a result the Lord God told Ahab – through Elijah – there would be a years-long famine in the land.

Then, making Elijah inaccessible to King Ahab, God tells Elijah to go and hide promising to care for his needs in a miraculous way. Read 1 Kings 16:29-34 below to get the full background for this story from God’s Word.

1 Kings 16:29-34

Ahab Becomes King of Israel

29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.

34 In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord spoken by Joshua son of Nun.

Prayer 

As a contrast to the approach of King Ahab, ask God to be king in your life. Check with Him about whether your other pursuits in your life are clashing with His kingship. Second, thank God for feeding you, body and soul, and pray for more profound spiritual feedings moving forward.