Tuesday, June 3, 2008
" . . . the prophets who through faith . . . escaped the edge of the sword" (Hebrews 11:32b-34).
IDEA: Sometimes when we trust God, He works for us in ordinary ways.
PURPOSE: To help listeners see that not all of God's dealings have to be miraculous.
Do you think God works miracles today?
Do you think there is a possibility that we overwork the term "miraculous"?
Do you think that God often works in what seems to be the ordinary?
I. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews describes people of faith who stopped the mouths of lions, who quenched the fury of the flames, and who escaped the edge of the sword (Hebrews 11:34).
The first two represent two of the stirring miracles God did for His people in the Old Testament.
How did God work for those who escaped the edge of the sword?
Did He curl the edge of the enemy's sword so that it would not cut?
Did He enable the people to hide behind an invisible shield and be delivered?
II. The Old Testament records three incidents that happened to three different prophets who escaped the edge of the sword.
1 Kings 19:2ff tells of Elijah's escape from Queen Jezebel:
"Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets [of Baal] with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, 'May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.' Elijah was afraid and ran for his life . . . "
2 Kings 6:24ff tells of Elisha's escape from the king of Israel:
"Ben-hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria. There was a great famine in the city. Their siege lasted so long that a donkey's head sold for 80 shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab (about 2 pounds) of seed pods for 5 shekels. As the king of Israel passed by on the wall, a woman cried to him, 'Help me, my lord the king!'
"The king replied, 'If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?' Then he asked her, 'What's the matter?'
"She answered, 'This woman said to me, "Give up your son so that we may eat him today, and tomorrow we'll eat my son." So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, "Give up your son so that we may eat him," but she had hidden him.'
"When the king heard the woman's words, he tore his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked and they saw that under his robes he had sackcloth on his body. He said, 'May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha, son of Shaphat, remains on his shoulders today!'
"Now Elisha was sitting in his house and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, 'Don't you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master's footsteps behind him?' " [Elisha bolted the door against the king's men.]
Jeremiah 36:19 and 26 tell of Jeremiah's encounter with Jehoiakim when Baruch had written down all that Jeremiah dictated to him (prophecies of coming destruction by the Babylonians). The prophecies were read to the people in the temple. When King Jehoiakim heard about this, he burned the scroll of prophecies and vowed to kill Jeremiah and Baruch. But the Lord had hidden the prophet from the king.
Conclusion: God works in different ways at different times on behalf of the people who put their trust in Him.