The Widow of Zarephath:
God had caused that the rain in Israel and the surrounding area, would be stopped…..because of their turning to idols….according to the prayers of Elijah. (James 5:17)
Without rain, there is thirst, hunger, famine…..is a terrible plague. It slowly kills….everything
God would send rain, in His time…..but He had a lesson He wanted to show His people, first.
But Elijah, God’s Prophet, had been saved,…..fed with bread by ravens, next to a brook; during part of the famine.
1 Kings 17:7 “And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.”
(Could not the Lord have kept that creek running? Or a spring? After all it was a miracle that the ravens fed him every morning and every night!
Of course, but when God allows circumstances to change….it is so we may seek Him….and what is next.)
Yet God would not forsake His Prophet. And Elijah was told what to do next.
1 Kings 17:9 “Arise, get to Zarephath, which belongeth to Sidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.”
Let us take a look at this “command to this widow woman”.
First, God said it; and is He not able to deliver? Of course!
So Elijah goes to the next country over, Sidon; and to the city of Zarephath.
At the unknown command of God (What else made this woman gather sticks at just this time) a widow was at the gate, preparing for her and her son, a last meal.
I say “unknown command”, because she had not heard God’s voice. But rather it was the Lord moving her to do this, with His sovereign power.
Seeing her, Elijah asks her to get him a small drink of water. Even in her extremity, she was courteous, and was going to go to get it.
Then Elijah, believing that this was the woman to whom he had been sent, asks her another favor.
1 Kings 17:11 “And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand.”
This stranger would have seemed very presumptuous, in my way of thinking. After all, wasn’t I being nice enough to get him a drink?
But remember: The Lord said He had “commanded”. This was a test to see if indeed this was the woman he had been sent to.
1 Kings 17:12 “And she said, As the Lord, thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”
She was not rude.
She just told this man the truth. But notice; she recognized him as an Israelite; and a Godly one; since she said, “As the Lord, thy God liveth”.
Convinced that this was the woman to whom he was sent, Elijah gave a command, and a promise to her.
1 Kings 17:13-14 “And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.”
She was to feed him first. This, again, may seem presumptuous, but how else would he have known if she believed the Lord’s Word?
If she had made three cakes, one for her son, one for him, and one for her….that would have been generous, but unbelieving.
It would have been the wait and see attitude.
Maybe you’re right, maybe not; here is what we have, we will all eat, and see.
But she was to believe God’s Word, make him a cake, and see him eat it.
Then return and make for herself and her son.
What an amazing God we have, who can move a heart,…..any heart, to truly believe enough to obey,…..especially in hard times.
1 Kings 17:15-16 “And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which He spake by Elijah.”
God’s Word is always true.
Our believing enough to obey, is often the problem.
But if we, like the widow,…..will yield to God’s “command” within us,….then, we too, can know real power for our spiritual and temporal lives.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 