After Elijah had been hidden by the drying brook Cherith, the Lord told him to leave and live at Zarephath belonging to Sidon, where He had appointed a widow to provide for him, whom Elijah found gathering sticks at the city gate. He was sent there for refuge because there was no safety for him in Israel amid unbelief, hostility and Jezebel's power, and he was safer among heathen than among those who had rejected light. Though Israel had great privilege, its apostasy and rejection of warning cut it off from blessing, so God passed by the many widows in Israel and sent His prophet to a widow outside Israel. She was not an Israelite, yet she believed in the true God and had lived faithfully by the light she had, and God counts such responsive faith above privilege rejected. By a daily miracle He sustained Elijah and her household in famine, showing that welcoming His servant and sharing with the needy brings His blessing and sure provision.
Setting and Command
After remaining hidden many months in the mountains by the brook Cherith where he was miraculously provided with food, the continued drought dried the brook and the word of the Lord told him to go to Zarephath, which belongs to Zidon. That place is also called Sidon or Sarepta, a heathen land, and he was bidden to dwell there because God had commanded, appointed, a widow woman there to sustain, provide for, him. Elijah came to the gate of the city and found her gathering sticks. The direction came during a severe famine and gave him continued care and a place of safety, for God then wrought a daily miracle to keep Elijah and the widow's family supplied with food.
The direction continued Elijah's divinely commissioned mission after his time at Cherith and before his commission to return to Israel, to stand before the idolatrous priests on Carmel, and to guide the king's chariot to Jezreel. It stands at the beginning of the record of his work during the withheld dew and rain that leads to his stern face-to-face confrontation with King Ahab, where with tall staff in hand he tells the richly robed, bearded king that he and his father's house have troubled Israel while men and women gather listening under a tree nearby in a rocky mountain landscape. Going to Sarepta was because God sent him by His word, in contrast to his later flight into the wilderness which God did not send and which was not part of that commission.
God sent Elijah to the widow's home at Sarepta, among a heathen people, for refuge and help, to find an asylum there, when he was no longer safe in Israel. There was no safety for the faithful messenger in the land of Israel amid unbelief, rebellion, backsliding, hatred, hostility, and persecution, and amid Jezebel's power, so that he turned away from Israel and sought protection and aid beyond his own people. He was safer among the heathen at Sarepta than among those in Israel who had rejected heaven's light and hardened their hearts against God.
Rejection and Favor
Israel was in apostasy, unbelief, rebellion and disobedience, rejecting God's warnings and misusing its great privileges and light, and by that course cut itself off from blessing and from the prophets' help. God's chosen people had backslidden and sacrificed principle for convenience and worldly honor. Their unbelief and misuse of greater light kept many from receiving the prophets' help, while forfeiting the benefits that light might have brought.
During the severe famine God passed over the many widows in Israel and sent Elijah to a widow in Sarepta in Sidon, outside Israel, rather than to homes in Israel or Samaria. Because the people rejected God's warnings, the Lord sent His servant to the heathen land of Sidon rather than to the homes of Israel. Turning Him away from Israel made it necessary to provide refuge for Elijah elsewhere.
The widow was not an Israelite and had never had the privileges and blessings of God's chosen people. Yet she was a believer in the true God who had walked in all the light shining on her pathway, having lived faithfully and lived up to the light she had received. She was open to greater light, help and divine truth through the prophet, and willing to receive help and to shelter His servant.
God regards, favors and works for those who act on and value the light and blessings they receive. The faithful widow was counted more righteous than His chosen people who rejected light and chose convenience and worldly honor. The power displayed through faithful prophets is received by receptive hearts and faith, not by the unbelieving and hard-hearted. Those who respond to the light they have are more open to God than those who profess godliness while living contrary to it, a pattern repeated in Israel's later rejection.
Provision and Training
God directed Elijah to leave after the brook dried and go to the widow at Sarepta, and then worked a daily miracle to supply food so that Elijah and the widow's household were sustained through famine and severe want. Through that hospitality her life and her son's life were preserved, as God miraculously sustained her and her son when she shared her small supply of food with His servant. That care is evidence of His love and stands as assurance that He will not abandon His faithful, self-sacrificing children but will provide for them, making their bread and water sure even when the wicked around them lack food and bread.
The widow's sharing of her small supply with God's servant is an example of hospitality. Welcoming and providing for a needy servant of God, giving sympathy and help to people in need, and receiving His messengers brings His blessing and preservation, and His power and promise to reward such help remain sure.
The command to move on from where Elijah had been staying was part of God's preparation of him for translation. It kept him from settling into ease, drew him into closer dependence on God, and helped him gain spiritual power. God also intended that through Elijah's influence many would gain a wider and more helpful experience.
After Elijah had been hidden by the drying brook Cherith, the Lord told him to leave and live at Zarephath belonging to Sidon, where He had appointed a widow to provide for him, whom Elijah found gathering sticks at the city gate. He was sent there for refuge because there was no safety for him in Israel amid unbelief, hostility and Jezebel's power, and he was safer among heathen than among those who had rejected light. Though Israel had great privilege, its apostasy and rejection of warning cut it off from blessing, so God passed by the many widows in Israel and sent His prophet to a widow outside Israel. She was not an Israelite, yet she believed in the true God and had lived faithfully by the light she had, and God counts such responsive faith above privilege rejected. By a daily miracle He sustained Elijah and her household in famine, showing that welcoming His servant and sharing with the needy brings His blessing and sure provision.
Setting and Command
After remaining hidden many months in the mountains by the brook Cherith where he was miraculously provided with food, the continued drought dried the brook and the word of the Lord told him to go to Zarephath, which belongs to Zidon. That place is also called Sidon or Sarepta, a heathen land, and he was bidden to dwell there because God had commanded, appointed, a widow woman there to sustain, provide for, him. Elijah came to the gate of the city and found her gathering sticks. The direction came during a severe famine and gave him continued care and a place of safety, for God then wrought a daily miracle to keep Elijah and the widow's family supplied with food.
The direction continued Elijah's divinely commissioned mission after his time at Cherith and before his commission to return to Israel, to stand before the idolatrous priests on Carmel, and to guide the king's chariot to Jezreel. It stands at the beginning of the record of his work during the withheld dew and rain that leads to his stern face-to-face confrontation with King Ahab, where with tall staff in hand he tells the richly robed, bearded king that he and his father's house have troubled Israel while men and women gather listening under a tree nearby in a rocky mountain landscape. Going to Sarepta was because God sent him by His word, in contrast to his later flight into the wilderness which God did not send and which was not part of that commission.
God sent Elijah to the widow's home at Sarepta, among a heathen people, for refuge and help, to find an asylum there, when he was no longer safe in Israel. There was no safety for the faithful messenger in the land of Israel amid unbelief, rebellion, backsliding, hatred, hostility, and persecution, and amid Jezebel's power, so that he turned away from Israel and sought protection and aid beyond his own people. He was safer among the heathen at Sarepta than among those in Israel who had rejected heaven's light and hardened their hearts against God.
Rejection and Favor
Israel was in apostasy, unbelief, rebellion and disobedience, rejecting God's warnings and misusing its great privileges and light, and by that course cut itself off from blessing and from the prophets' help. God's chosen people had backslidden and sacrificed principle for convenience and worldly honor. Their unbelief and misuse of greater light kept many from receiving the prophets' help, while forfeiting the benefits that light might have brought.
During the severe famine God passed over the many widows in Israel and sent Elijah to a widow in Sarepta in Sidon, outside Israel, rather than to homes in Israel or Samaria. Because the people rejected God's warnings, the Lord sent His servant to the heathen land of Sidon rather than to the homes of Israel. Turning Him away from Israel made it necessary to provide refuge for Elijah elsewhere.
The widow was not an Israelite and had never had the privileges and blessings of God's chosen people. Yet she was a believer in the true God who had walked in all the light shining on her pathway, having lived faithfully and lived up to the light she had received. She was open to greater light, help and divine truth through the prophet, and willing to receive help and to shelter His servant.
God regards, favors and works for those who act on and value the light and blessings they receive. The faithful widow was counted more righteous than His chosen people who rejected light and chose convenience and worldly honor. The power displayed through faithful prophets is received by receptive hearts and faith, not by the unbelieving and hard-hearted. Those who respond to the light they have are more open to God than those who profess godliness while living contrary to it, a pattern repeated in Israel's later rejection.
Provision and Training
God directed Elijah to leave after the brook dried and go to the widow at Sarepta, and then worked a daily miracle to supply food so that Elijah and the widow's household were sustained through famine and severe want. Through that hospitality her life and her son's life were preserved, as God miraculously sustained her and her son when she shared her small supply of food with His servant. That care is evidence of His love and stands as assurance that He will not abandon His faithful, self-sacrificing children but will provide for them, making their bread and water sure even when the wicked around them lack food and bread.
The widow's sharing of her small supply with God's servant is an example of hospitality. Welcoming and providing for a needy servant of God, giving sympathy and help to people in need, and receiving His messengers brings His blessing and preservation, and His power and promise to reward such help remain sure.
The command to move on from where Elijah had been staying was part of God's preparation of him for translation. It kept him from settling into ease, drew him into closer dependence on God, and helped him gain spiritual power. God also intended that through Elijah's influence many would gain a wider and more helpful experience.