Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 15 October, 2023
“And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed,
and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29)
Morning Service – 11:00 AM
Nehemiah, a Man Who Sought the Welfare of Israel (22)
Mixed Marriages in Judah [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 13:15-31
Text: Nehemiah 13:23-31
I. The Terrible Effects of It
II. The Vigorous Opposition to It
III. The Worst Cast of It
Psalms: 138:1-6; 78:14-21; 106:34-42; 128:1-6
Evening Service – 6:00 PM
The Autonomy of the Local Church [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Acts 20:17-38
Text: Acts 20:17, 28
I. The Meaning
II. The Basis
III. The Importance
Psalms: 96:8-13; 78:22-29; 2:1-8; 84:4-11
For CDs of the sermons and DVDs of the worship services, contact Stephen Murray
If you desire a pastoral visit, please contact Rev. Stewart or the elders
CPRC Website: www.cprc.co.uk • Live Webcast: www.cprc.co.uk/live-streaming
CPRC YouTube: www.youtube.com/cprcni
CPRC Facebook: www.facebook.com/CovenantPRC
Quote to Consider
Derek Kidner on Nehemiah 13:23-27: “Much is made in the Old Testament of the immediate disloyalties inherent in mixed marriages, but Nehemiah was struck by another aspect, barely touched on in the law or the prophets (except in the words ‘Godly offspring’, Mal. 2:15), namely the corruption of the next generation. The babble of languages among the children (24) was not only a symptom but a threat: it meant a steady erosion of Israelite identity at the level of all thinking and expression, and a loss of access to the Word of God, which would effectively paganize them. A single generation’s compromise could undo the work of centuries” (Ezra and Nehemiah, p. 131).
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
A new issue of the Beacon Lights is available on the back table for subscribers.
Catechism classes tomorrow:
5:00 PM: Corey, Jason, Katelyn, Maisie & Sebastian (Seniors NT)
5:45 PM: Felicity, Grace, Jonas, Keagan, Liam, Lucas, Sammy, Somaya, Sophie & Yossef (Beginners OT – Book 1)
6:30 PM: Eleanora, Hannah, Jorja, Penelope & Xander (Juniors NT)
7:15 PM: Angelica, Bradley, Jack, Josh, Samuel & Taylor (Essentials)
The Council meets tomorrow , 16 October, at 8 PM.
Tuesday Bible study will meet at 11 AM to consider the relationship between the local and the universal church.
Belgic Confession class on Wednesday at 7:30 PM will discuss apostasy as a sign of Christ’s return.
Ladies Bible Study Fellowship meets this Thursday 7:30 PM at church. We will be discussing Psalm 37. All the ladies are welcome. Ask Beth, if you have any questions.
The Saturday night Bible study is to be this Saturday, 21 October, at 7:30 PM on-line looking at lesson 4 of the study guide on II Thessalonians.
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s day (Gospel 846 MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. Bruinsma is entitled, “The Scripture of God’s Word” (2 Pet. 1:20-21).
Offerings: £1,388.92. Donations: £130 (England).
Translation Additions: 1 Chichewa, 2 Polish, 1 Russian and 5 Swahili.
PRC News: Georgetown PRC—called Rev. Eriks (Unity, MI). Hudsonville PRC—Rev. Decker (Grandville, MI) is considering their call. Loveland PRC—Rev. Noorman declined their call. Lynden PRC—called Rev. Noorman (Southwest, MI). Randolph PRC—Rev. Smit is considering their call. Zion PRC—Rev. Kortus (Redlands, CA) is considering their call.
Israel’s Famine and a Gentile’s Faith
Brian D. Dykstra
I Kings 17
Elijah makes his abrupt appearance as this chapter begins. Scripture tells us nothing of his genealogy. Some commentators have speculated, very imaginatively, that this hints Elijah was Gentile by birth or that, since he seems to drop in from nowhere, he was an angel. Elijah means, “Jehovah is my God.” He came from Tishbi which was likely in upper Galilee in the tribe of Naphtali. However, he was an inhabitant of Gilead, where the tribes of Gad and Manasseh had their inheritance. Elijah must have moved to Gilead from Naphtali, without ever being considered a citizen there.
Elijah appears before Ahab to announce that Jehovah is sending a famine upon Israel as His judgment for Israel’s idolatry. Drought and famine are still feared today, even though we have modern transportation which can bring us food from sources all around the world. Ahab must have realized how devastating such a drought could be, especially one in which there would not even be refreshing dew.
The solution to this dilemma should be clear to Ahab. As Israel’s king, Ahab must oversee Israel’s religious life. He, with his pagan wife Jezebel, chose to lead Israel to Baal. Elijah’s dreadful announcement reveals God’s judgment of Ahab’s decision for shameless idolatry. Ahab must repent and lead Israel back to the proper worship of God. Ahab and Jezebel would never do that, their hatred for God and His truth being great enough to make them blind and foolish. The royal couple view Israel’s current relative prosperity as indication that they don’t need to change anything. Material prosperity caused spiritual complacency.
Once Elijah delivered God’s announcement, God directs His servant to go to the brook Cherith. This brook is east of the Jordan River, in the wilderness. God provides Elijah with all he needs there, just as He will provide for the church in today’s spiritual wilderness. God provides water in a manner which is natural, a brook.
The miracle of Cherith is how God provides bread and meat. Ravens brought Elijah his food two times each day. Old Testament law taught that ravens were unclean. Elijah must have wondered why unclean animals brought him his food instead of clean animals.
God’s use of unclean animals is surprising not only from the viewpoint of Old Testament law but this use of ravens also runs contrary to the nature of ravens. Farmers detest ravens because ravens never seem to have enough to eat. Ravens reduce the farmer’s harvest far too much. Also they don’t share the food they find. They eat everything they can. This explains why one can see “raven” in the word we use to describe someone who is hungry enough to devour everything before them, “ravenous.” These ravens obey God’s command to them, “I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.” God’s powerful command causes behaviour contrary to nature.
The brook carries no more water as God works out the effects of the drought. God could have provided water by means of another miracle. He has done that before. God could tell Elijah to go to the Jordan River which still had water. God has a different plan.
God directs Elijah to Zarephath. God has commanded a Gentile widow there to sustain him. Elijah goes from being fed by unclean ravens to going to an unclean land. Zarephath was a heathen city located about midway between Sidon (or Zidon) and Tyre. While Sidon and Tyre are seacoast cities, Zarephath is just inland. Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, ruled there. Ethbaal was Jezebel’s father. No doubt he would have cooperated with Ahab and Jezebel in their search for Elijah.
When Elijah meets the widow, she is gathering a few sticks to prepare a final meal for herself and her son. Elijah tries her faith by stating she must feed Elijah first, for God would provide meal and oil. What was the widow to do? How did she know if Elijah had not pulled this trick before, making empty promises to destitute women, feeding himself, leaving his victims to starve and then moving on to try his trick again?
The widow recognizes Elijah as a prophet of God, probably because of how he dressed. She does say, “As the Lord thy God liveth.” The widow, just as the ravens, had been commanded by God to sustain Elijah. In obedience to God’s efficacious command, she does what was contrary to her nature. She trusts not in what little she had but in God’s word. God’s Spirit worked in her a new will, a will which looks to God, not self. We do the same in salvation. Our nature is either careless about God’s judgment or it wants to list our works before God to show we are worthy to be saved. God works in us so that we see the corruption in our works, even the best of them, and realize our justification is only in Christ and the cross.
The widow’s barrel of meal does not waste, neither does her cruse of oil. The barrel is not a fifty-gallon drum. The barrel was small. Also the widow does not scoop a little meal from the top, just to find that the barrel is full to the brim again the next day. The barrel and cruse were empty after each meal. She would then find just enough for the next day. God provides blessings for us, not in our hoarding of them but in using them with gratitude.
Elijah did not now spend his time sitting under the shade of a cedar tree, waiting for the widow to bring him food a couple of times each day. The widow is a new convert in need of instruction. She wants to know about the God who delivered her. She and her house learned of sin and how God would save His people by sending the promised Messiah.
When the widow’s son dies, she believed that this was God’s judgment of her sins. “Art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?” She and her house had lived in idolatry. Would the widow believe there is no deliverance from sin? Would she think there is no room for mercy in a God who is perfectly righteous and just? Elijah prays to God and stretches himself on the son three times, reflecting the blessing of the Triune God. The son is raised from the dead, the first such resurrection mentioned in Scripture. There is contact between the living Elijah and the dead son, just as there is the living contact of faith between dead sinners and our risen, living Saviour. Mercy and justice meet in Christ giving life to the dead, a life so powerful that it will never end.
Now the widow truly knows “that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.” She believed the truth that, though she was a sinner, she was saved by a gracious, forgiving God. This is a great comfort for saints who have experienced conversion. The Canons of Dordt state this beautifully, “… it was the will of God that Christ by the blood of the cross, whereby He confirmed the new covenant, should effectually redeem out of every people, tribe, nation, and language all those, and those only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation and given to Him by the Father; that He should confer upon them faith, which, together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit, He purchased for them by His death; should purge them from all sin both original and actual, whether committed before or after believing; and, having faithfully preserved them even to the end, should at last bring them free from every spot and blemish to the enjoyment of glory in His own presence forever” (II:8). What redemption we have in Christ!
