Part 15) The Widow's Son

1 Kings 17:17-24

For the widow, the experience of relief from the drought was the calm before the storm. For her and her son were on the brink of death before Elijah showed up. After he showed up it seemed that they were saved from death only to be faced with the sudden death of her son. The widow seems confused, “What have you against me, O man of God?” She has been helping the man of God, and yet her son still died. We must remember that while we are in the service of God, it doesn’t mean we will have no trouble, no hardship. It does mean that when we are going through hard times we know that God is with us, that he will give us the strength we need to get through whatever we are going through (Isaiah 41:10).

The widows reaction is one where she sees the death of her son as an attack from God as a penalty for her sins. Just because someone is sick doesn’t mean that it is caused by God because of sin. Sometimes it is, in 1 Kings 14 Jeroboams son became sick and died because of the evil that Jeroboam had brought on the kingdom. But in John 9:1-3 there is a man born blind, solely for the purpose that the works of God might be displayed in him. I’m not saying that this is the reason that the child died. But there is a good chance that the reason that he died was so that the power of God would be displayed.

Elijah takes the boy upstairs to his room. Elijah has been lodging with the boy and his mother for some time now and has probably grown attached to the lad. Him crying out to God wouldn’t just be from the pain that he saw in the widows eyes but also that he had lost a friend as well. Then Elijah stretched out, this physical contact was a symbolic ritual emphasizing the request for warmth and life to be returned to the boy. Despite the fact that this is the first time someone had been raised from the dead this doesn’t stop Elijah in demonstrating his faith in God and requesting just that, and the Lord listened to Elijah. This would have been startling for people who worshipped Baal. In Canaanite mythology Baal died every year and couldn’t escape from the underworld without help. But here, Yahweh once again shows He has power. Not only over the rains, flour and oil, but over life itself.

When Elijah brings the child down to his mother she makes a statement that “now I know you are a man of God.” This is a statement that you thought would have been made when the jar of oil and flour never ran out, but instead this is a statement that comes at the end of the passage. Sometimes when we see our daily needs being met we don’t consider or see the providential hand of God working behind the scenes and can take it for granted. When it is a miracle that is extreme like someone being raised from the dead, we know that this is something that only God almighty can accomplish.

The widows immediate reaction to her son dying is anger and confusion. How do you react to undesirable life circumstances?

God has promised us trials and tribulations, so why do we feel that if we are following God, nothing bad will happen to us?

What are some practical ways we can endure through trials?

Have you felt like God is angry with you because of circumstances in your life?

Have you gotten mad at God because you didn’t understand why God would allow certain circumstances?

If so how did you overcome this negative view on God and how did that strengthen your walk with Him?

What are real life examples of how we can help others who are suffering?

God demonstrated His power over death to the widow and also in 1 Corinthians 15:54b-55 “death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?.” How does knowing this bring us comfort?