DEAD RAISED TO LIFE
Thursday – June 21, 2018, Tamuz 8, 5778
Greetings and welcome back to this wonderful study to promote our growth and the development our faith. Nothing meaningful happens in the Kingdom of God without faith, faith in God, faith in the Word of God, with the proper motives (love). The featured picture is Patti and me four or five years ago. That beautiful smile in the picture is eclipsed today by the glorious smile on her face in Heaven. God is so good! Let’s dive back into our illuminating Bible Study by reviewing our primary Scriptural text.
Hebrews 11:35-37 (KJV)
35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
As you will remember we have been examining where our faith is, in what do we have the most faith. I will deal today with the phrase: “Women received their dead raised to life again”. I think that we can all agree that it takes uncommon faith for the raising of the dead. I suspect that none of us have seen someone raised from the dead or know someone who was raised from the dead. Like every other supernatural act of God, it will occur only in line with the laws of the Spirit, of God. Just think of all the people who must have died in Israel during the earthly ministry of Jesus, yet we are never told that He raised them all to life. On the other hand, it appears that He raised many from the dead. A few of those are recorded in Scripture and we will look at one of those shortly. First let us look at a couple of other examples. Remember, where is our faith? First let us look at the following Scripture reminder.
2 Chronicles 20:20 (KJV)
20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. (Bold added)
Now we will look at the account of the Prophet Elijah and the widow at Zarephath whose son dies.
1 Kings 17:8-9 (KJV)
8 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
God sends Elijah specifically to this woman, this widow, and her son. God knew the heart of this woman and that she would believe God and act upon it. When Elijah gets there she and her son are starving to death due to famine, but God had a plan.
1 Kings 17:13-16 (KJV)
13 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.
14 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.
15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
16 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.
It is one thing to be told to get fear out and it is quite another to get fear out. I do not know whether this woman still had the emotion, or the feeling of fear brought by the spirit of fear, but she believed the Prophet who brought the Word of the Lord and acted. Saying we believe but not acting is hypocrisy. However, some time later calamity strikes this widow.
1 Kings 17:17-18 (KJV)
17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
She is upset about the death of her son, but she does not doubt that Elijah is a man of God. She knows that the solution lies with him and the God that he serves and whose Word (God’s Word through Elijah) she obeyed. This is the Prophets reward. She received Elijah as a Prophet and ministered to him. Now God through Elijah ministers to her.
1 Kings 17:21-22 (KJV)
21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.
22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
Lord willing, I will pick up right here tomorrow as we finish out the week in our study of Hebrews. Until our next publication, I speak this Scriptural prayer for your life right now, receive it in the name of Jesus, confess it, and walk it out with thanksgiving.
Ephesians 1:16-17 (KJV)
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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