God will provide

Today, we begin reading the First Book of Kings. First of all, let me briefly explain the background.

Christians treat the Hebrew Scripture as their Old Testament, part of the Bible, the Holy Book. Of course Jews do not look at it this way. The Hebrew Scripture is the Holy Book in its totality. Furthermore, Jews categorize the various books of the Scripture in their own way. The first 5 books form the Torah, the Law. Joshua, Judges, Samuels and Kings form the Former Prophets. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the 12 minor prophets form the Latter Prophets. Therefore, there are 21 prophetic books. The rest: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ruth, Daniel, Ezra, Esther, Chronicles etc. are Holy Writings. These are books of wisdom.
Around 200 B.C., most of the Alexandrian Jews no longer spoke Hebrew. They needed a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scripture for their worship. The Septuagint, or LXX, came into existence. The Septuagint introduced 2 new features. It rearranged the order of the books. Ruth, Ezra, Esther, Chronicles were put alongside the Former Prophets to create a new category of History books. Daniel was moved behind Ezekiel to become the fourth Major Prophet. The second feature was the inclusion of some books written in Greek such as Judith, Tobit, I-IV Maccabees, Ben Sirach etc. into the History and Wisdom sections. When Christians made their Bible, they roughly followed the Septuagint to form their Old Testament. Some books such as the III-IV Maccabees, Psalm 151 etc. were not included.

Now, let me return to the Kings and explain why the Jews treat them as Prophetic books.
First of all, "Prophet" has a wider meaning. Not only do they convey the messages of God (angels do likewise), but they are also witnesses of the Covenant with God. Abraham was a prophet (Genesis 20:7). Moses too was a prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15). They were witnesses to the Covenant with God. Joshua, Judges, Samuels and Kings provide a record of how well or badly the Israelites had kept the Covenant. Therefore, these books form the Former Prophets in the Hebrew Scripture.
Prophet is sometimes called "a man of God" (1 Samuel 9:6) or "Seer" (1 Samuel 9:9) with which we are more familiar. Today, we read the story of Elijah who was regarded as the greatest prophet of all because he was directly taken up to heaven and would come back to prepare the way for the Messiah. But that idea was a development of a later age. Though he was the greatest, Elijah did not leave us any writing like Isaiah did. There are only legends about him (the Elijah cycle) and Elisha, his disciple (the Elisha cycle). The Elijah cycle begins at 1 Kings 17 when Ahab was the king of Israel, the Northern Kingdom.

Influenced by his wife Jezebel, Ahab worshipped idols (1 Kings 16:31). As the King of Israel, Ahab failed to keep the Covenant with God. God sent Elijah to announce His punishment.
Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word." (1 Kings 17:1)
Elijah's word was God's word. Elijah executed his office of prophet. Then following God's instruction, Elijah left for the border of Israel.
Depart from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is east of the Jordan.
You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there (1 Kings 17:3-4).
God provided Elijah with bread and meat.
And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.
And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land (1 Kings 17:6-7).
When the brook dried up, God sent Elijah away elsewhere for three years. God will provide.

Brenda will not quit Shung Tak. To a certain extent, it seems good for Shung Tak, but bad for Brenda. It seems good for Shung Tak because her English standard will be guaranteed. It is bad for Brenda because her integrity is thrown into question.
But is it really good for Shung Tak? Not quite. The English Department will continue to rely on Brenda and the panel members will never be able to realize their true potentials. Edmund was sacked by the principal and God provided us with an Adrian. Who knows if God will not provide Shung Tak with a better English teacher than Brenda? Brenda's decision does not seem to be a win-win option. But God will provide.

Dear Lord, for Your name's sake, clean us of our sins and frustrations so that we may be able to glorify Your name in the region. Amen.