Days of Elijah 3

The Widow of Zarephath

1 kings 17:8-9 “Then the word of the Lord came to him, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.””

God continues to provide for Elijah even in declining situations. The way He does so though is not conventional. He tells Elijah to go to a widow in Zarephath which was north of Israel in Phoenicia. In those days there was no such thing as an “independent” woman. Women relied on men for nearly everything in life. So, this is a woman who is suffering through a major drought with no support. God tells Elijah to go to her and she will provide for him. It makes no sense. But in verse 11 what is the reaction we see from Elijah? So he arose and went. No questioning or anything of that sort. Simply that he trusted that God was right? How? He was prepared. God had just miracuously fed him through the ravens to spare him. God was growing his faith proving to him that He had power over the universe. So to does God prepare us to have faith in him. He is always asking us to have more faith in Him and to trust Him to do greater things, but we have all seen him work in some other way in our lives before. Look back on your life and you will see how God has blessed you and you can use that experience to help you have faith that He can do more.

Elijah tells her to get him some food and something to drink. Here is where we see the severeness of the situation across Israel due to this drought.

1 Kings 17:12 “And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.””

She basically tells Elijah that she has nothing to offer him. She is getting ready for her and her son to eat their last meal before they die. They are suffering, they are miserable. They have given up on life and accepted that they are going to die. But the most important thing that we see in her statement is what she refers to God as. She says the Lord YOUR God. She does not serve God or see Him as being Her God. Likely she would have been a worshipper of Baal as she was from Phoenicia not Israel. She was not a believer in the Israelite God and had no ties to Him whatsoever.