Luk_4:25-29 - A Widow & A King, Chosen To Sustain A Prophet & Show God's Power
1. Luke 4:25-29 - A Widow & A King, Chosen To Sustain A Prophet & Show God's Power
“But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land. (25) But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. (26) And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. (27) And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath. (28) And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.” Luke 4:25-29
Christ made these statements while speaking in the synagogue as an illustration. Now Mr. Nettleton gives his statement concerning these verses on page 26 of his book, Chosen to Salvation:
“One out of many widows was chosen, and one out of many lepers was cleansed. The result of such teaching was anger. Special mercy was shown to the widow and to the leper.”
We are going to examine the Old Testament account more thoroughly and see what the real purpose of God was in directing Elijah to the widow's house. The record of Elijah going to the widow's home is found in 1 Kings 17:9. When we begin with the 17th Chapter of 1 Kings, we find that there had been a famine in the land and that Elijah had been by the brook, Cherith, that is the brook before Jordan. We find out here that Elijah had been fed by the ravens, but when the brook dried up God then directed him to go to this woman's house. We are going to find out the purpose for this as it is a far cry from electing this woman, and then using this as an illustration for salvation as Nettleton has done.
It is hard for me to believe that someone would do this, when in reality, the Scriptures teach that God had a purpose for sending Elijah to this widow woman. This purpose is found in 1 Kings 17:9 :
“Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.” The reason for this sustenance was that the brook had dried up. You will notice that in 1 Kings 17:7 of this same chapter:
“And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.”
Therefore, God had directed Elijah to go to this particular town where the widow woman lived. She was to sustain him, feed him and to water him, as this was the purpose of God. For one to apply this to salvation is unbelievable!
Let us continue to read the entire story as found in 1 Kings, Chapter 17. We find that after the widow had fed Elijah and given him water, he stayed for a time. Now we pick up the story in 1 Kings 17:17,
“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. (17) 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?” (18)
Perhaps the woman thought her son had been slain because of some past sin that she had committed. We do not know for sure as this is all that is given. But we find out that Elijah had prayed to God for life to be restored to her son. God had seen fit to honor Elijah's prayer as God had a purpose in restoring his life again. He, evidently, had been dead for just a short period of time. Now, the record is found in 1 Kings 17:22-24 :
“And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. (22). And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. (23). And the woman said to Elijah, now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.” (24).
There was a twofold reason for God's directing Elijah to this woman's house. The first reason, of course, being that God had spoken to this woman to care for Elijah. We find this in 1 Kings 17:9, in the last part of the verse:
“…behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.” So we see the first purpose of sending Elijah to the widow woman was to have her sustain Elijah. Could the Lord have stated it any clearer?
Nettleton cites this case as evidence and leverage to support his contention that some are elected to salvation. It would have been nice of Nettleton to have informed his readers of GOD'S PURPOSE for using the widow woman in sustaining Elijah. She could have been the only available person in the vicinity that was saved, we do not really know. Nevertheless, in spite of God's stating His purpose, Nettleton chose to use this event to support his own purpose of endorsing election to salvation. He, himself, is proof of the freewill of man. It would be inconceivable that God would direct someone to use Scripture and apply it contrary to the purpose clearly stated in His word.
Again, He used the widow woman to sustain His servant, Elijah. He could have chosen anyone, but He happened to choose this woman--NOT TO SALVATION--as this has nothing to do with salvation at all. The second purpose was to prove to this woman, by the raising of her son from the dead, that Elijah was truly God's prophet. There were many miracles done in the Old and New Testaments, but this had absolutely nothing to do with salvation. Remember, the purpose of the miracle was to convince the woman that Elijah was a true prophet.
Nettleton also uses Luke 4:27 as support of his doctrine of election:
“And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.”
Let us notice the record of this that Christ quoted is found in the Old Testament in 2 Kings 5:3-15. One should take time and read the whole account for themselves. In essence, we find that Naaman was a Syrian and he was a captain of the host of the king of Syria. He was a great man with his master, honorable, and a mighty man in valor but he was a leper, as recorded in 2 Kings 5:1. We find out how this whole situation took place, how God worked and the reason for all of this concerning Naaman, the leper.
God's purpose for healing him was to prove that there was a true God in Israel! God performed this miracle in healing the leper, to prove to all the company that was with him at that time, that only the true God of Israel could do such a thing. This He did by the prophet, Elisha.
Again we emphasize that this had nothing to do with salvation whatsoever! God performed this miracle to substantiate the fact that there was only one God and that was Israel's JEHOVAH. This was the purpose of God.
We find when we read on in the story and let the Scriptures speak for themselves, the purpose of God is made known. In 2 Kings 5:2 we find that the Syrians had gone out by companies and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid who waited on Naaman's wife. He had taken the girl into his home and she was the maid of the house. She knew that her master was a leper and she told her mistress how he could be cured. The record is found in 2 Kings 5:3 :
“….Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.” This information came to the king of Syria, who sent a letter to the king of Israel, who at that time was Jehoram. When Jehoram got the letter he made the statement, “I'm not God!” It is recorded in 2 Kings 5:7 :
“And it came to pass when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy. Wherefore consider, I pray you…”
Now when Elisha heard of this he said, “Send the man unto me,” and this is exactly what happened. We are told that Naaman came unto the house of Elisha who gave him instructions to follow so his leprosy would be cured. Here is the record found in 2 Kings 5:9-10 :
“So Naaman came with his horses and his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a message unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.” When Naaman heard this he became very angry because he thought Elisha would just come out of the house and put his hand over him and he would be healed. That is not the way God chose to do it. Notice 2 Kings 5:13 :
“And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, my father, if the prophet had bid thee to do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, wash and be clean?”
They talked him into it and he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan River. The last part of 2 Kings 5:14 tells us that he was cleansed. Then in 2 Kings 5:15 the REASON for this is stated:
“And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now, therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.” This was the purpose of God in sending Naaman to his prophet, Elisha. It was to be a testimony by the healing of this man, that God was truly the God of Israel. No idolistic gods could do what the true God had just done.
It taxes my imagination to see someone use these Scriptures to support a false doctrine of electing some to be saved and others to be lost. Again, allow me to quote Nettleton's statement after using these verses in support of his doctrine. (Chosen to Salvation, page 26.)
“One out of many widows was chosen, and one out of many lepers was cleansed. The result of such teaching was anger. Special mercy was shown to the widow and to the leper.”
Also quoting, page 13 and 14 of Chosen to Salvation.
“There are two things man will never understand this side of Heaven: how God could elect to save some sinners and not others…”
How important it is to study the Scriptures for your-self. How contradictory Nettleton's applications are to the clear purpose of God as stated in His word. Allow me to summarize briefly the purpose of God in each event:
A. Elijah sent to the widow's house.
PURPOSE—“I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.” - 1 Kings 17:9
B. Elijah restores life to the widow's son.
PURPOSE—“Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.” - 1 Kings 17:24
C. Elisha directs Naaman who is healed of leprosy.
PURPOSE—“...Behold, now I (Naaman) know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel…” - 2 Kings 5:15 The over-all scene is clearly pictured in Luke 4:14-29. Christ was raised in Nazareth as a child (Luke 2:39-40). In His ministry, He returned to Nazareth and preached in the synagogue (Luke 4:16). He is telling the Jews that he was anointed to heal the brokenhearted, preach deliverance to the captives and open the eyes of the blind (18). They ask Him to do the same miracles here in Nazareth that they heard He had done in Capernaum. Christ knew they would not believe Him, even if He did them; therefore He stated that “…No prophet is accepted in his own country (Luke 4:23-24)." To substantiate this, He uses two Old Testament illustrations, one of Elisha and the other concerning Elijah (Luke 4:25-27). In other words, the same principle was true in Old Testament times as it was in Jesus' day.
“For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.” - John 4:44. To extract theses two illustrations used by Christ and attempt to make them support the doctrine of election to salvation is asinine! May we always take time to examine the Scriptures for ourselves.