Luke 4:25, commentary and pictures

In the days of Elijah the sky was closed for three years and six months, bringing severe famine upon the land when many widows were living in Israel, yet he was sent to none of them but to a poor widow in Sarepta of Sidon outside Israel. Jesus spoke this history in the synagogue at Nazareth on the Sabbath, after reading Isaiah and declaring it fulfilled in himself, to answer the doubt and demand for miracles of those who knew him only as Joseph's son. He gave it as proof that no prophet is accepted in his own country, to rebuke unbelief and to show that his hearers were no more favored than Gentiles. Israel was passed over because apostasy, rebellion and unbelief cut it off from blessing and made it unfit to be trusted with God's servant, while the heathen widow who lived faithfully by the light she had was more acceptable. So God's help was not confined to Israel but reached into heathen lands, as also shown when Elisha cleansed Naaman the Syrian, teaching that receptive faith matters more than belonging to the chosen people.

Elijah's Drought and Widows

In the days of Elijah the sky was closed and rain was withheld from Israel for three years and six months, producing drought. That shutting of heaven brought a great and severe famine throughout all the land. The three-and-a-half-year period marks the time of Elijah's ministry and the length of the dearth that lay upon the country.

At that same time many widows were living in Israel and shared in the suffering of the famine. They remained in the land through the years of drought and want when food failed everywhere.

Elijah was sent to none of those Israelite widows. He was sent instead to a poor widow at Sarepta, also called Zarephath, a city of Sidon in a heathen land outside Israel.

Jesus Speaking at Nazareth

On the Sabbath in the synagogue at Nazareth Jesus preached His first sermon there, reading Isaiah's promise and declaring it fulfilled in their hearing. He stood in an elevated place as speaker, announcing Himself as the Anointed One and explaining the prophets concerning Himself. His work was to console, but also to restore and reprove.

At first all wondered at the gracious words that proceeded from His lips under the influence of God's Spirit. Then doubt followed, and they questioned Him as Joseph's son and demanded miracles like those heard of in Capernaum. Their resistance exposed an expectation that the Messiah would use power to advance their nation, and their unfavorable reception showed how familiarity can keep those who have known a man since childhood from recognizing admirable qualities in him.

He answered that no prophet is accepted in his own country, and gave the history of Elijah as proof and rebuke of their unbelief. He recalled that though many widows were in Israel during three years and six months of shut heaven and great famine, God's sending passed them by. By pointing to God's blessings upon Gentiles He showed His hearers they were no more favored than Gentiles, for God's power works through faithful prophets for those who have faith and not for a hard-hearted and unbelieving people.

His pointed words about their spiritual condition and about Israel's untrustworthiness stirred national pride, unbelief, resistance and murderous anger. Despite the power of God and the Holy Spirit bearing witness to Him, the very ones who had admired Him opened their lips to utter falsehoods, tore Him from His place, and drove Him from the synagogue. They hurried Him to the eminence on which their city was built to cast Him down headlong and would have killed Him, but divine power and angels guarded Him until His work was done. He left Nazareth after a life of persecution, though He healed, fed, stilled the waves, cast out devils, raised the dead, and taught with wisdom.

Why Israel Was Passed Over

Israel's apostasy, rebellion and unbelief brought the famine of three years and six months, and led the people to reject God's warnings. By that rejection Israel cut itself off from the channel of blessing and shut itself off from the good offered. Its apostasy made it unfit to be trusted with God's servant, so Elijah was sent to none of the many widows in Israel but to one outside Israel.

God therefore passed over people who had received great light and religious privilege when they rejected it. Privilege and claims to godliness do not win favor when life contradicts profession. Those who reject greater light are passed by in favor of those who value God's gifts and respond to the light they have, even when they are Gentiles.

The widow of Sarepta, also called Zarephath in Sidon, was a heathen with less light, yet she was more acceptable and more righteous than backslidden Israel. She lived faithfully by the light she had, responded to it, and was open to further light, and for that reason she received special help. She had lived up to all the light she received, while Israel had not rejected heaven's light less but had rejected it.

God's power works through faithful prophets for those who have faith and are open to blessing, not for a hard-hearted and unbelieving people. Israel had rejected God's warnings while the Sidonian widow was receptive to the light she had received, so blessing was given to those open to it and not simply to those who belonged to Israel. Receptive faith matters more than belonging to the chosen people, and God's favor is not secured by that belonging.

Favor Beyond Israel

God's help and favor and blessing were not limited to Israel and not confined within it, but could reach outward into heathen lands and were also given to Gentiles. In the days of Elijah the heaven was shut for three years and six months, bringing severe famine throughout all the land while many widows were living in Israel and suffering in it, yet Elijah was sent to none of those Israelite widows. He was sent instead to a poor widow in Sarepta, also called Zarephath, a city of Sidon outside Israel, showing that divine aid passed beyond the borders of the chosen nation.

That sending belongs together with the cleansing of Naaman the Syrian by Elisha as a paired proof of the same truth. In both cases God turned from His own chosen people to those in heathen lands who had not rejected heaven's light, because Israel's unbelief and rebellion had made the faithful messenger unwelcome there. The widow of Sarepta and Naaman had lived up to the light they had received and were more righteous than backslidden Israel, so the two histories stand side by side to reprove a people that refused blessing.

Christ's own personal work was likewise confined to a small circumference in Palestine and was not extended to the heathen nations surrounding it. Those nations were not prepared for His work, and for Him to devote His time to the conversion of the Gentile world would have closed the door by which He could bear His message to the Jewish nation. Even with that limit, Jewish prejudice against Him was strong, and the discourse at Nazareth so enraged the hearers that they drove Him from the synagogue and would have killed Him if divine power had not preserved Him.

Mere belonging to the chosen people does not secure God's favor. Israel had rejected God's warnings and cut itself off from the channel of blessing, while the foreign widow received help because she followed faithfully the light she had and was open to further light. In this way the people of Nazareth were shown to be no more favored by heaven than the Gentiles, for blessings are given to those open to them through receptive faith rather than to those who merely hold privilege of birth.

Prophecy and Present Warning

The three years and six months defines the length of the period connected with the prediction in 1 Kings 17:1, when the heaven was shut and famine spread throughout the land. It stands as one of many predicted events that were once only a matter of prophecy and were then fulfilled within the given time in accordance with the prediction. In this it proves that God foretells events to occur within a set time and fulfills them accordingly.

The verse exposes the path of unbelief that rejects God's sent message, as seen when Christ confronted unbelief in His own hometown synagogue at Nazareth on the Sabbath after reading Isaiah's promise and declaring it fulfilled in their hearing. When the hearers first wondered at His gracious words and then questioned Him as Joseph's son and demanded miracles like those heard of in Capernaum, He answered that no prophet is accepted in his own country and gave Elijah's time as proof that though many widows were in Israel during the shut heaven and great famine, God's sending passed them by. That unbelief brings smitten blindness with closed eyes and ears and darkened understanding, stirs wrath against Christ, and leads to the dangerous sin of calling the work of the Spirit of God the work of Satan. Received light itself can become a stumbling block when people oppose truth because it differs from their views, as the people of Nazareth opened their hearts to unbelief and resisted the light sent them.

It warns that faithful messengers are unsafe among people who reject their message, for Israel's apostasy made it unfit to be trusted with God's servant. People who turn from light and conviction may reject God's messenger and become violently hostile, as Jesus reminded Nazareth that during three years and six months of drought and famine with many widows in Israel, Elijah was sent to a widow outside Israel. Christ used Israel's history of unbelief and rebellion to show that God had turned from His chosen people and revealed Himself to people in heathen lands who had not rejected heaven's light, the widow of Sarepta and Naaman the Syrian having lived up to the light they received. Rejecting a message God sends through His messenger is a rejection of Christ, as shown by Nazareth refusing the light He brought.

The reproof applies when God's people reject His messenger and points to God's work among Gentiles as well as Israel. When believers reject or hinder a faithful servant whom God has called, their envy and failure to value his work can deprive them of the blessing his ministry brings, and God may allow the consequences rather than miraculously prevent them. This was seen when the church leaders' bitterness and failure to accept Paul's calling to preach to the Gentiles helped bring about the early end of his work, which God did not miraculously prevent. The same lack of honor appears when a prophet is unfavorably received upon announcing himself as the Anointed One among those who have known him since childhood, for familiarity can keep people from recognizing admirable qualities in someone from their own community even as they become excited by a stranger or pretender.