1 & 2 Kings

1 Kings Chapter 17

Elijah Predicts a Drought

• 1Kings 17:1  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. 

Elijah was one of the greatest prophets ever to exist to our knowledge. He was later was taken up to Heaven in a chariot without dying a physical death in later years. Here he warns Ahab of a season coming without any rain until he gives the word.

• 1Kings 17:2  And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, 
• 3  Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 
• 4  And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. 

This brook is somewhere east or west of the Jordan river. This also kept him safe from the vengenance of King Ahab and Jezebel. I marvel that the wicked will keep on trying to harm innocent people that get in their way and fail to repent when it is even pointed out to them that  they are the ones who is causing the evil to come upon the whole nation, not the prophets. Yet all throughout history, the messengers are persecuted instead of those that hear the message and make changes in their lives and actions. We may sometimes wonder about why God said that David was a man after His own heart but one thing about David is that he failed a few times but when it was pointed out to Him, He would receive the message that was from God and make changes.

God is taking care of Elijah here which shows us that God does not abandon those that follow Him faithfully. He provides for Elijah during the coming season of drought. He even sends the birds to feed Elijah. He also uses Elijah to help a poor widow in her time of suffering.

• 1Kings 17:5  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. 
• 6  And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. 
• 7  And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. 

This method of providing for Elijah ended but God was still there and had the next step already planned out. All Elijah had to do is follow God's instructions. Awesome to be in such a place with God but it was not without trials as we shall see. I wonder if Elijah was a little frightened at first until he heard from God again.

The Widow of Zarephath

• 1Kings 17:8  And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, 
• 9  Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 

He was a whole year at the brook being fed twice a day by ravens until the brook dried up because of the lack of water. God was providing a widow to help Elijah on his journey further. God hides Elijah in the very city that Jezebel was from. It was a city of the Gentiles where there was the  worship of Baal. It was a place God chose to hide Elijah right where the origin of evil existed. Yet we see the power of God protecting Elijah during his ministry. God could have chosen a widow from the nation of Israel. Perhaps also Ahab and Jezebel wouldn't dream of looking for him in Zarepheth.

• 1Kings 17:10  So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 
• 11  And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 
• 12  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. 
• 13  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. 
• 14  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. 

This lady somehow believed the prophet. It is sort of a preview to us how God later brings the gospel to the Gentiles after the Jewish nation rejected it. He used Paul the apostle, a man that once persecuted the Jewish people that first believed in Jesus. We see later that Paul was converted and became an apostle to the Gentiles when the nation of Judah rejected Jesus. King Ahab and Jezebel rejected the words of the prophet but a Gentile widow believed.

• 1Kings 17:15  And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 
• 16  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. 

The word of the prophet came to past and the woman and her son survived. This is another example of salvation by faith. It was a physical survival but a hint of the power of God who has mercy and saves.

This widow was mentioned by Jesus in the book of Luke:

• Luke 4:24  And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. 
• 25  But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; 
• 26  But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. 

Zarehath was called Sarepta but it was the same place. A city in Sidon.

Elijah Raises the Widow's Son

• 1Kings 17:17  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. 
• 18  And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? 

Now we see our own weaknesses and trials of faith. She blames her own sins here and assumes that is why Elijah came to slay her son. She even thought it better that he didn't come at all. This shows us that even when we see the miracles of God, we may go through times when it seems God is against us.

• 1Kings 17:19  And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. 
• 20  And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? 

Even Elijah questions God for slaying the son of a woman who helped him survive the drought. This happens to many who choose to follow God. They go through trials of their faith.

• 1Kings 17:21  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. 

Notice this prayer was not an instant immediate miracle. He prayed three times and pleaded for the life of the woman's son. He didn't give up like some of us do. In agony, Elijah prayed.

• 1King 17:22  And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. 
• 23  And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. 
• 24  And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth. 

What rejoicing she must have had to see her son live. God had mercy. No doubt God planned the whole thing. This miracle was not gotten easily and without a trial ahead of it. They didn't know ahead of time that this son was going to live. This was a trial of faith. This was all in God's will and His timing. Trust is not always easy but it is necessary as we decide to follow our Lord instead of the ways of the world.

Our attitude should be, "I have decided to follow Jesus. Though none go with me, still I will follow." Elijah was in this for the long haul and didn't turn back, yet fears and doubts were part of this journey as it is with many that choose to follow the Lord. If we read the book of Revelation we see our final destination where nothing can ever trouble us again. The trials are only in this life, not in eternity. DC

1 Kings Chapter 18