Part 14) The Widow

1 Kings 17:7-16

Last week we looked at Elijah standing up to king Ahab. How Elijah had fled to the brook Cherith where God provided for him by means of Ravens. Today we join Elijah as the brook dries up. For starters we know that if God wanted to He could have kept the brook flowing, that it was part of His sovereign plan to have the brook dry up and for Elijah to move on.

God brings Elijah to Zarephath which belongs to Sidon. This is not in Israel, this is the very land that Jezebel herself is from, where the worship of Baal is from. You could say that Elijah is brought to the home turf of Baal. When Elijah gets to the land of Sidon you see that the famine wasn’t just in Israel. God has demonstrated His power across multiple nations showing that Baal the false god doesn’t have the power to stop Yahweh God omnipotent and reveals Baal to be the worthless chunk of wood that he is. Remember that the book of Kings was written while the Israelites were in captivity to Babylon. The story of the one true God showing He is powerful whether in Israel, Sidon, or Babylon for that matter would have been a comfort for the Israelites knowing that their God was stronger than any of their circumstances and hopefully deter them from entering into idol worship while in Babylon.

God tells Elijah to go to a widow in Sidon. He asks her first for a drink of water, then follows that request with a morsel of bread. Her response is “as Yahweh your God lives I have nothing baked.” It’s hard to know exactly what she means by this. Two things we can be sure of 1) She recognized Elijah is a follower of Yahweh. 2) She recognized that Yahweh lives. The news that the rains were held off because of the God of Israel is news that had apparently spread and this statement could have been her recognizing that Yahweh has power over the rains.

Elijah then tells the widow “do not fear,” and to make him a cake first and then make one for her and her son after and the oil and flour wouldn’t run out. Two things that can be learned from this passage. 1) That faithfully following God and doing what He calls you to do doesn’t always make sense. Our faith in God is not blind, we can see the effects of God all around us, and there is too much evidence for Jesus, His death and resurrection to not be true. However, sometimes when He calls us to follow His will, it is in blind faith, but we follow Him because we have proven faith in a loving God. This widow giving up the last of her food to this prophet was a tremendous act of faith. Faith that would later be demonstrated by another gentile during the time of Jesus in Luke 7:9. 2) Despite the food shortage that is going on, Elijah asks that she gives him the first cake. When we are dealing with the kingdom of God, we must do so with trust and “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”(Matt 6:33). God promises to take care of us, and that we shouldn’t worry over these things. That God will provide for our basic needs when we diligently seek Him first. The widow experienced the love and provision of God firsthand and remembering to have faith in our loving redeemer is something that we should all try to grow in when we go through trials.

Elijah must have wondered what God was doing when the brook dried up. Many times it is after the discouragement passes that we see the hand of God working in those very circumstances. Have you thanked God for those times that He has given to build faith? Not always, although I should

What is significant about the famine being in Sidon as well as Israel? Sidon is the home turf of Baal.

God demonstrated His lordship over nations other than in Israel. How do we see His lordship demonstrated today? We sometimes cannot see the plan of God unfolding. Sometimes we cannot even see it after. But through scripture we know that in all, God has a plan.

The widow demonstrated her faith in God by feeding Elijah first. Is there a time when God has called you to do something that took great faith? Did you obey? If not have you asked for forgiveness? Yes, Joining VM and moving to Montana took great faith. I’m not sure if there was anything else that I did or didn’t do.

After the widow served God did she receive wealth, a herd of cattle, and luxury for obeying? No, her needs were provided for during the famine. But that was all we saw

When we serve, is it to bring glory to God, or for selfish gain? If we are angry at God for not giving us something, it is probably idolatry. We aren’t serving God, we are trying to gain something from Him. Luke 17:7-10