(1) “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the sojourners of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As Jehovah, the God of Israel, liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.” (2) And the word of Jehovah came unto him, saying, (3) Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan. (4) And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. (5) So he went and did according unto the word of Jehovah; for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before the 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 was no rain in the land.
(8) “And the word of Jehovah came unto him, saying, (9) Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Sidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain thee. (10) So he arose and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering 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 thy hand. (12) And she said, As Jehovah thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in the jar, and a little oil in the 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 forth unto me, and afterward make for thee and for thy son. (14) For thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, The jar of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that Jehovah sendeth rain upon the earth. (15) And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. (16) The jar of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spake by Elijah.”
(1) What prophet is brought to view in this lesson? From what part of the country did he hail? What message did he bring to King Ahab? Verse 1. Note 1. (2) Then what word came to the prophet from the Lord? Verses 2, 3. Note 2. (3) Where should he find water? And how would he be fed? Verse 4. (4) How did Elijah respond to this command? Verse 5. (5) Then how was the prophet’s life sustained for a time? Verse 6. (6) What came to pass after awhile? What caused this drying of the brook? Verse 7. (7) What further word came to Elijah from the Lord? Verses 8, 9. Note 3. (8) Therefore what did the prophet do? When he approached the gate of the city, what did he see? What did the prophet request of the woman? Verse 10. (9) As she went to fetch the water, what further request did the prophet make? Verse 11. (10) What did the woman say of her stock of food? What was her ultimate expectation? Verse 12. Note 4. (11) What encouraging word did Elijah speak to her? Then how did he repeat his former request? Verse 13. (12) What encouraging promise was added to this request? Verse 14. Note 5. (13) How did the woman show her faith in the prophet’s promise? Verse 15, first part. (14) How was the promise fulfilled? Verse 15, last part, and 16. Note 6.
NOTES.
1. Elijah is abruptly introduced in history, this being the first mention of him, without genealogy even so much as the name of his father. So his message to Ahab is as abrupt as his appearance as a prophet. Then, after an active career of about sixteen years, he was as suddenly removed by a translation to heaven without the experience of death. His positive declaration is evidence of his extraordinary faith, and, after a test of three and a half years, his word was doubly vindicated in a most remarkable manner on Mount Carmel. See chapter 18; James 5:17, 18. There were two prominent reasons for this dreadful visitation: 1. The people were so utterly given over to idolatry that nothing short of severe chastening would bring them to a sense of their apostate condition. 2. The drought was a direct challenge to Baal, who was regarded as the god of agriculture and fertility. If he could not help the people in the emergency of an extended drought, it would naturally emphasize the further tests which were in the mind of the Lord.
2. “Eastward.”—That is, from Samaria, where King Ahab’s court was located. “Before Jordan.”—Or across Jordan, on the east side.
3. The command to go to Zarephath, which was in Phoenicia, in the jurisdiction of Ethbaal, was another test of Elijah’s faith and courage, especially as he was to depend upon a poor widow for support in a time when the scarcity of food was being felt by even the wealthy.
4. The water had not yet failed in Phoenicia, for the woman said nothing of scarcity when Elijah asked for a drink. But when he mentioned even a morsel of bread, she felt obliged to plead her poverty in that respect. “Thy God.”—The woman was a heathen, and she knew that Elijah was an Israelite. It is well to keep this fact in mind. It is not the first nor the only time that the true servants of God have had to seek refuge among the heathen from the vengeance of professed servants; and Elijah is a type of a people who shall stand in his spirit and power just “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord”—a people who, like Elijah, will be translated without seeing death. See Mal. 4:4-6; 1 Thess. 4:15-17.
5. Self-sacrifice for the cause of the Lord is always more than repaid. He never asks any one to do anything for Him for nothing. He tests faith by apparently exorbitant or even apparently impossible demands; but the answer of faith makes all things possible (Mark 9:23), and “verily there is a reward for the righteous” (Ps. 58:11).
6. A double purpose is manifest in this providence of God—the sustenance of His servant, and the conversion and care of a needy widow whose heart the Spirit knew was susceptible to the truth. There were many widows in Israel, but the prophet was sent to this stranger. Luke 4:25, 26. This act of Elijah’s was an example of “pure religion.” James 1:27.
