The Widow at Zarephath – Part I

I Kings 17:13-16

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 oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. 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.

Elijah the Tishbite was an inhabitant of Gilead that belonged to Gad, Reuben and half Manessah living on the east of river Jordan. Elijah prophesied to Ahab, the King of Israel that Israel would be struck by famine until Elijah spoke again. Little did Ahab or Jezebel realize that the Omnipotent had the authority over the land, water and air. After this, the Lord spoke to Elijah requesting him to hide by the brook Cherith. The Lord God had a plan for Elijah’s survival during famine and He wanted Elijah to drink water from the brook of Cherith and He commanded the ravens to feed Elijah. Ravens brought him just enough bread and meat every morning and evening.

When the brook Cherith dried up, Lord spoke to Elijah and wanted him to go to Zarephath of Zidon where God commanded a widow woman to take care of Elijah. Now Zidonians were not friendly to Israelites but the Lord God sent Elijah to Zidon which is near Jezebel’s native town of Tyre while Jezebel was in Israel. Jezebel’s first enemy was Elijah and he was a prophet in Israel but was now sent by God to Zarephath. Elijah would be a blessing to this widow and her son, to the people not his own. This is similar to us gentiles receiving the gift of salvation because Jesus Christ chose to save us gentiles and grant us repentance to life as it says in Acts 11:18, “When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.” The famine was a result of Israelites’ worship to Baal instead of the Lord God. Ahab was heavily acting under the influence of his wife Jezebel and the land was struck by famine and this is very much a spiritual famine too.

The widow at Zarephath had no hope of survival at this point. She was gathering sticks when Elijah entered Zarephath. Elijah requested for water and as the lady was going to fetch water, Elijah requested for a morsel of bread. He was not just limiting to water but had more demand from this lady when she did not have enough food for her and her son. She could have easily refused to fetch water in the first instance. Her honest answer was, “As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an 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.” Her response says that she had no hope of surviving after her last meal with her son.

I Kings 17:13 says, “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.” Elijah was demanding a cake first for himself. Would this lady have enough for her and her son after serving this morsel of bread for Elijah first? But, Elijah continued, “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.” Can she trust Elijah’s words and prepare a cake for Elijah first? Not only was Elijah a foreigner to Zidonians, he was aggressively demanding from this poor widow. But she trusted his words and went in faith to prepare cake for Elijah.

The woman did according to Elijah’s words and she, Elijah and her house did eat for many days because “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.” Here the woman was immensely blessed because she believed the words of Elijah which were not his words but the words of the Lord God Almighty. She not only had the provision of food during famine but also must have received spiritual food while this prophet resided in her house. She had bread and oil enough to sustain the three of them when the whole land was struck by famine. She was receiving manna from heaven because the Lord God favored her. She who had no hope of survival was now going with God’s promise to keep her at this tough time.

This widow who was ready to die was visited by the man of God, Elijah by whose words the land would experience rain and dew or not. This woman had no idea that Elijah was this powerful prophet who loved God and obeyed Him. She acted upon his words and trusted Elijah’s God to provide for her. God sometimes brings us to a point where we give up all hope and our only hope is Him. And, in a miraculous way would lead us out of a tough trial or at the least sustain us all through the trial. The Lord God has everything under His control. Wind, rain, sky, earth and everything were created by the word of His mouth and now are controlled by the word of His mouth. We can completely bank on Him to sustain us in times of economic peril and also to provide spiritual bread when spiritual famine is prevalent. He sustained Elijah, the widow and her son and today He can and will sustain you and me. Do you trsut the Lord today? May the Lord help us to trust Him completely to provide us with bread for our spiritual and physical lives!

Tomorrow: The Widow at Zarephath - Part II