God Cares for Elijah

Baking Fun

Gather

Muffin Mix ingredients

Mixing Spoons, bowl, utensils, muffin tins

Muffin tin liners

1 .Guide the students in doing as much of the measuring and mixing for the muffins as possible. Send a helper to bake the muffins in the kitchen.

2. Discuss where food comes fro. Talk about farms, raising crops, and livestock. Determine what a farmer needs in order to grow good crops - Just the right amount of rain.

In Bible times rain was very important. In the Promised Land, the heavy rains came twice a year, once from October to November and then again in March and April. In between those two times, rain almost never fell. The farmers were dependent on these rains. They needed good crops of grain and fruits and vegetables to feed their cattle and sheep. The farmer also need to feed his family. Without the rains, a famine would occur. This could mean death for animals and people.

3. Transition to the Bible lesson. Serve the Muffins when you have a break in the lesson or at the end.

Introduction

In our Bible lesson today, we will learn about God's prophet who announced there would be no rain for three years! We will find out more about that in our lesson for today.

Did you know the human body can go for eight weeks without food as long as it gets enough water? In our Bible lesson today, a woman and her son prepared to eat their last meal and then wait to starve to death. We will learn what caused such a drastic circumstance and what God did to help them.

God Saves Elijah's Life

Things were going from bad to worse. The nation of Israel had been divided into the Southern Kingdom, called Judah, and the Northern Kingdom, called Israel Jeroboam was the first king of the Northern Kingdom. He was proud and rebellious. He came up with his own ideas of how God should be worshiped. He built golden calves for the people to bow down to. And he established priests, including himself, that were not from God's appointed tribe of Levi. The people of Israel followed Jeroboam into idol worship. Jeroboam eventually died. After him came a string of bad kings. There was bloodshed, treason, and a complete disregard for God and His law. The Bible records five kings after Jeroboam. Each of those kings "did evil in the sight of the Lord." Then came Ahab, the sixth king.

1 Kings 16:30 KJV 1900

And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.

1 Kings 16:33 KJV 1900

And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

Ahab made things worse. He was married to Queen Jezebel. She had no regard for the Lord. She worshiped Baal the false god of the Phoenicians. Ahab built her a temple to Baal and led Israel in worshiping the false god. Jezebel wanted to wipe out the worship of God altogether.

God sent a prophet to King Ahab and the people of Israel. God wanted the king and his people to see their sin and repent. The prophet's name was Elijah. Elijah's name means "The Lord is my God." What a fitting name for a prophet who preached to Israel about worshiping God instead of Baal. Elijah went to King Ahab with a serious announcement.

1 Kings 17:1 KJV 1900

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

ASK: What did Elijah say would happen? (There would be no rain in the land for three years.)

This was terrible news! No rain? Three years? Everything would dry up and die. People didn't go to the grocery stores to buy food. They didn't drive to a restaurant. They grew all their food themselves on their own land. They fed all their herds and flocks from the grain they raised on that land. If there was no rain, everything would die!

God came to Elijah and told him to get out of town! His life must have been in danger. And sure enough, Jezebel started killing off the prophets of God. Perhaps she began her killing of God's prophets because of Elijah's announcement.

ROLE PLAY: Designate a section or corner of the room to be the Brook Cherith. Set up several clear cups of water in a line to represent the brook. Take your students to the brook. Pretend like you are in a hurry and trying to not be seen by Queen Jezebel.

1 Kings 17:5–6 KJV 1900

So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

ASK: How did God provide for Elijah? (He gave him water to drink from the brook, and ravens brought him bread and meat twice a day.)

ROLE PLAY: Appoint several students to pretend to be ravens. Give them small cubes or bread to distribute to their classmates at the brook. (Be sure they have sanitized their hands first.) Then send the students to the brook to get a drink from one of the cups (don't let them share cups).

God provided exactly what Elijah needed. God kept Elijah alive even when Jezebel was hunting him down to kill him. But, before long, even the brook dried up. God came to Elijah with instructions to go to the town of Zarephath. God had already arranged for a widow to provide for him there.

God Saves the Widow's Life

Elijah journeyed to the town of Zarephath. As he came into town, he saw the a widow gathering a bundle of sticks.

A widow is a woman whose husband has died. In Bible times this was very difficult. Women usually did not have jobs. They could not go out and earn money to buy food and clothes. If women had small children, it was hard to tend crops and herds; they were to take care of their children and homes. This widow was very poor. She had only one son and no one to help her.

Could you please bring me a little water to drink?" Elijah asked.

"Yes," she responded. Perhaps Elijah looked worn and tired from his journey.

She turned away to fetch the water, and Elijah called after her. "Oh, and could you also bring a little bit of bread to eat?"

The woman stopped in her tracks. She turned around and looked into Elijah's eyes. Her eyes must have looked sad. Maybe her eyes filled with tears as she spoke.

1 Kings 17:12 KJV 1900

And she said, 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.

This poor woman was going to die of starvation. All she had left was a tiny bit of oil and flour. She was planning to make a small loaf of bread for son and herself. Then they would have nothing at all. They would simply wait to die.

Elijah spoke to the widow. "Go and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf and bring it to me. Then make one for yourself and your son. God has told me that your bin of flour will not run out, and neither will your oil run dry until God sends rain to the earth."

ROLE PLAY: Use the large container and small jar to act out this section as you teach. Use your facial expressions and voice to add drama and emotion to this incredible miracle.

The widow woman obeyed! She went to her house and scraped out the last of her flour from the flour barrel and placed it in a mixing bowl. Then she dribbled out the final drops of oil from her oil jar until not another drop would come out.

She mixed the dough and baked it. She brought the little loaf to Elijah and he ate.

Imagine how she felt as she watched Elijah eat the last of her food! She continued to obey Elijah. She went back to her house. Maybe she stood quietly in front of the flour barrel for a few moments. Maybe she remembered what Elijah had said, "Make one for me. Then make one of yourself." How? With what? She took a deep breath and reached her scoop down into the barrel.

It came up full! It came up full of flour! Imagine her excitement. She ran to her oil jar. She poured oil into the mixing bowl! By now, she must have been crying happy tears and smiling all at the same time! God provided! God miraculously provided for her need! Now, she and her son would not die! The bread and the oil did not run out. Each day, when she went to her barrel, she was able to scoop out another portion of flour. Each day, she poured out oil. God provided each day for Elijah, the widow, and her son!

God Restores the Boy's Life

Elijah stayed with the widow and her son for many months, perhaps as long as two years. During those years, the flour and oil did not run out. God provided life sustaining food for them all.

Then one day tragedy struck.

1 Kings 17:17 KJV 1900

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.

ASK: What happened? (The widow's son got sick and died.)

The widow cried out in anguish. "What did I ever do to you, Elijah? Did you come here to remind me of my sin and bring death to my son?"

Elijah must have been sad too. Why would God allow this? Why would God provide food for them and save their lives only to have the widow's son die? Who would care for this poor woman after Elijah left and the woman grew old? Elijah took the boy's limp, lifeless body in his arms and carried him upstairs. Elijah carried the boy to Elijah's own room and placed the body on his own bed. Three times Elijah stretched himself out over the boy's body and prayed to the Lord.

1 Kings 17:21–22 KJV 1900

And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

The widow's son came back to life! The boy arose from the dead! God heard Elijah's prayer, and the life came back to him. Elijah brought the boy to his mother.

The widow exclaimed, "Now I know that you are indeed a man of God and that the words you speak are from God. You speak the truth!"

God is the protector and provider of life! He has the power to sustain life and to give life. We can trust Him to care for us, provide for us, and protect us.