I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Kings 15-17.

    Rehoboam’s son was no improvement over his father and did not rule long. However, Rehoboam’s grandson was a different matter. He did what was pleasing in God’s sight. He got rid of the shrine prostitutes and destroyed the idols which Solomon, Rehoboam, and his own father had built. One thing which is unfortunate is that we do not know how Asa, Rehoboam’s grandson, was influenced to become a godly man. Clearly there were some godly people among those who raised Asa. Asa was clearly a man of some courage. He deposed his grandmother from her role as Queen Mother because of her idolatry. He clearly led a revival in the land of Judah. And he raised a son who followed in his footsteps.

    During the time Asa ruled over Judah, the Northern Kingdom had seven kings, none of them good. When Ahab became king, God sent Elijah to prophesy against him. Elijah told King Ahab that it would not rain in Israel until further notice. Then, at God’s direction, he ran away and hid. Elijah first went to a remote stream, where God caused ravens to bring him food. Think about that> Elijah spent some period of time eating food left for him by birds. Considering our many modern food phobias I wonder how many of us would eat food brought to us by ravens.
“Is that bread gluten free?”
“Are you sure that meat was not exposed to nuts?”
“What about food borne illness?”
Elijah’s willingness to survive in this manner indicates his level of faith. Then when the brook finally dried up, God sent Elijah to a widow living outside of the land of Israel. There we see not just Elijah’s faith, but that of the widow. When Elijah arrived and asked for food, she had just enough for one last meal for herself and her son. Yet, the woman was willing to stretch that meal to feed Elijah as well. I think it is worth noting that the widow likely fed Elijah out of her faith driven hospitality more than out of her belief that doing so would not deplete her food supply.