Elijah the Prophet

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 23, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 25.

Elijah the Prophet

The Sunday School • International Series

Lesson II.—Sunday, July 10, 1898.

Elijah the Prophet.

Lesson Scripture, I Kings 17:1-16, R.V.

1 “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the sojourners of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord, 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 the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 3 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. 4 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. 5 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. 6 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. 7 “And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there; behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 8 So he arose and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow woman 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. 9 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. 10 And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in the barrel, 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. 11 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. 12 For thus saith the Lord, the 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. 13 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah; and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 14 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.”

Golden Text: “And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord.” 1 Kings 17:16.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

(1) Of what part of the country was Elijah? V. 1. (2) Who was Ahab? Same verse. Note 1. (3) What message did Elijah carry to Ahab? Same verse. (4) Then what did the Lord tell Elijah to do? Vs. 2, 3. (5) What did the Lord promise to do for him there? V. 4. (6) How did Elijah show his unwavering faith? V. 5. (7) How was the Lord’s promise fulfilled? V. 6. (8) What came to pass after a while? V. 7. (9) Then what further command did the Lord give Elijah? Vs. 8, 9. (10) What provision had the Lord made for His servant’s sustenance at Zarephath? Same verse. (11) How did Elijah again show his obedience? V. 10. (12) When he came to the gate of the city, whom did he see? Same verse. Note 2. (13) What did he say to her? Same verse. (14) As she went to bring the water, what further request did he make? V. 11. (15) What was the woman’s pathetic reply? V. 12. (16) What encouraging words did he use as he still urged his request? V. 13. Note 3. (17) With what promise of the Lord did the prophet assure the widow? V. 14. (18) What was the result of her obedience? V. 15. Notes 4, 5. (19) What further blessing attended these manifestations of faith in God’s word? V. 16. Note 6.

NOTES.

1. Ahab was the son of Omri, and was the seventh in the line of the kings of Israel after the division of the kingdom. He married a woman named Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, the sun-worshiping king of Zidon, and “did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.” He also “reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And he made a grove,” and “did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.” See 1 Kings 16:29–33. This is why the judgment of God was visited upon Israel, as indicated in our lesson.

2. Elijah’s faith did not fail when the water of the brook dried up, although the Lord had sent him there to drink of that water. The drying of the brook was but the consequence of his own prayer that there might be no rain for three years and six months. So he went to Zarephath as the Lord directed him, and readily found the person to whom he was to minister, and who was to minister to him.

3. It was not selfishness on Elijah’s part that caused him to require the first service, else God would not have wrought a miracle for his benefit. But the spirit which had led him tested in this way the widow’s faith, through which so great a blessing was to come to her.

4. God never is at a loss for means or for instrumentalities. In the instance of Elijah’s being sent to the widow of Zarephath the Lord worked through a reciprocity of good deeds,—the woman helping Elijah, and Elijah helping the woman. Yet in both cases it was God who did the work, as saith the apostle Paul, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good-pleasure.” Phil. 2:13.

5. “She, and he, and her house, did eat many days.” Note that the margin reads, “a full year.” It was probably even more than that; the brook Cherith would likely become dry in one season without rain, and from the time that Elijah went to Zarephath till the coming of rain and food again, was no doubt between two and three years.

6. Widows are noted in the Word of God as objects of His special care; therefore they would do well to avail themselves of this fact and trust Him implicitly. “A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in His holy habitation.” Ps. 68:5.