Elijah Eating Bread with the Widow of ZarephathBible World
4:26Luke 4:26
But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
In Elijah's time heaven was shut for three years and six months with great famine over the land, and though many widows lived in Israel Elijah was sent to none of them except the widow at Sarepta, also called Zarephath, a city of Sidon outside Israel in a heathen Gentile region. Jesus recalled this in the Nazareth synagogue where He announced Himself as the Anointed One to His own people who had known Him from childhood, answering their demand for miracles with the rule that no prophet is accepted in his own country. His example shows that God's favor and help were not confined to Israel nor secured by belonging to the chosen people, but could reach Gentiles outside it, which challenged national pride and self-righteousness and the belief of being specially favored above Gentiles. God passed by the homes of Israel because apostasy, unbelief, self-exaltation and rejection of warning cut them off from blessing, while the poor heathen widow who had lived faithfully by the light she possessed with a heart open to greater light was counted more righteous and acceptable. That contrast rebukes unbelief to the end of time, teaching that those with hearts to feel and faith to believe are specially favored with evidences of power, while hard-hearted unbelief closes eyes and ears to the Spirit, turns hostile to the messenger, and enraged at Nazareth drove them to reject Christ and seek to kill Him.
Elijah's Mission Recalled
The time recalled was a three-and-a-half-year famine in Elijah's day, when heaven was shut for three years and six months and great famine covered the land. In that time many widows lived in Israel, but Elijah was sent to none of them except one widow at Sarepta, also called Zarephath. That place was a city of Sidon outside Israel, in a heathen Gentile region.
Elijah was sent there for refuge and shelter during the drought. The widow received him and cared for him, giving God's servant a home among a heathen people when apostate Israel could not be trusted to protect him. She was a poor heathen woman who had lived faithfully in strict accordance with the light she possessed. Her heart was open to greater light sent through the prophet, and because she valued the light and lived up to it she was favored with evidence of God's power.
Israel at that time was in apostasy, having turned from God in unbelief and rebellion. The people clung to sins, exalted themselves, abused privilege, and rejected prophetic warning through the Lord's messengers. By departing from God in that way they cut themselves off from the channel by which blessing could come to them.
Nazareth Synagogue Rejection
This verse belongs to Jesus' visit to the synagogue at Nazareth, His own town where the people had known Him from childhood. There He announced Himself as the Anointed One and proclaimed salvation to His own people, but they refused to listen and gave Him an unfavorable reception. His work there was not only to bring consolation but also to restore and reprove. He read the secret thoughts of His hearers as evidence of His divinity and met their demand for miracles with the rule that no prophet is accepted in his own country.
At first His gracious words caused all to wonder, received under the influence of the Spirit. Then doubt grew when He spoke words that cut across their ideas and exposed their unbelief, until doubt passed into open unbelief. In this way hearers could feel divine influence and recognize it, yet turn to unbelief and even utter falsehoods when what was said did not agree with their ideas. Their course illustrates how people resist truth and reject light even when God sends it to them.
Enraged by the reminder that God's blessings had been given to Gentiles, they rejected Him. They tore Him from His elevated place as speaker, drove Him from the synagogue, and hurried Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built to cast Him down headlong. They pushed Him hither and thither and quarreled among themselves over how to stop His voice entirely, and would have killed Him if divine power had not saved Him. He was guarded by angels and by divine agencies, and disappeared from their sight to a place they did not know.
After that unfavorable reception He left Nazareth and withdrew to temporary refuge elsewhere. He sought more welcoming places and people who would listen and receive His message and accept His preaching. That rejection at Nazareth was one part of a life of persecution and insult, driven from Bethlehem by a jealous king, rejected at Nazareth, and condemned to death without cause at Jerusalem. After public labor in healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and speech to the dumb, feeding the hungry, comforting the sorrowful, walking upon the billows and stilling the sea by a word, casting out devils, raising the dead, and holding thousands entranced by words of wisdom and teaching, He was driven from those He had labored to save because hearts blinded by prejudice and hatred resolutely rejected the light.
Favor Beyond Israel
During the famine in Israel Elijah was sent past the many widows in Israel to a widow at Sarepta, also called Zarephath, a city of Sidon outside Israel in a heathen Gentile region. That sending shows God's favor and help were not confined to Israel and were not secured by belonging to the chosen people, but could reach people outside Israel. The widow was a heathen who had lived faithfully in strict accordance with the light she possessed and whose heart was open to greater light, and she received the prophet's help through a responsive heart, while Israel had turned from God in unbelief and rebellion and rejected His light. When the chosen reject light, He may bless people outside Israel who receive it.
Elijah's mission to the widow at Sarepta in Sidon stands as the example of God's blessings and power reaching Gentiles. It belongs to Jesus' proclamation of salvation to His own people at Nazareth, who refused to listen and rejected Him, showing that blessing was not confined to Israel.
Jesus used the example to challenge national pride and self-righteousness, exposing the belief of the people of Nazareth that they were specially favored by heaven and entitled to favor above Gentiles. His reminder that God sent Elijah to a Gentile widow while many Israelite widows were in need, and that Nazareth was no more entitled to heaven's favor than Gentiles, cut against their claim to special standing as God's people. Their fierce pride resented truth that favored outsiders over them.
That exposure angered the hearers and contributed to their rejection of Him and of the truth. Their anger at favor toward Gentiles exposed unbelief and self-righteousness.
Faith and Unbelief
In Elijah's day Israel had departed from God, clung to its sins, and rejected the warnings of the Spirit through His messengers, and by apostasy, unbelief, self-exaltation and abuse of privilege cut itself off from the channel by which blessing could come. Therefore the Lord passed by the homes of Israel and sent Elijah past its many widows to Sarepta in Sidon, to a widow who did not belong to the chosen people. This is the rule that men chosen by God for special work are not allowed to labor for a hard-hearted and unbelieving people, while those who have hearts to feel and faith to believe are specially favored with evidences of His power. God's power working through the prophets is shown especially for receptive hearts willing to receive it, while hard-hearted unbelief rejects their work.
The widow of Sidon was favored because she had followed the light she had received, lived in strict accordance with it, valued it, and her heart was open to the greater light God sent her through His prophet. Though a poor heathen woman outside Israel, she lived up to what she knew, received God's servant and cared for him, and was counted more righteous and more acceptable to God than His backslidden chosen people who had sacrificed principle for convenience and worldly honor. That contrast stands to the end of time, that even heathen with little light who do right so far as they are able to distinguish right from wrong may be regarded with greater favor by God than those with great light and high pretensions to godliness whose daily lives contradict their profession.
Apostate Israel in unbelief and rebellion could not be trusted to protect God's servant, so the Lord found refuge for him in a heathen land. Christ used this history to warn that a faithful messenger of God finds no safety or welcome among a people who reject the truth. When the chosen reject His light, He may reveal Himself and bless people in a heathen land who have not rejected heaven's light.
Warning and Application
The verse rebukes unbelief, lays bare its true condition, and presses home unrighteousness by exposing the path of those who reject the message God sends. In the days of Elijah heaven was shut for three years and six months and great famine covered the land when many widows lived in Israel, yet Elijah was sent to none of them except a heathen widow at Zarephath, also called Sarepta, in Sidon. That passing by of Israel happened because of apostasy, unbelief and self-exaltation, while God's power through His chosen workers is not given to a hard-hearted and unbelieving people but specially favors those with hearts to feel and faith to believe. The widow was favored because she lived in strict accordance with the light she possessed and did right so far as she could distinguish right from wrong, and to the end of time even heathen who live by the best light they have are regarded with greater favor than those with great light and high pretensions to godliness whose daily lives contradict their profession. Such blindness closes eyes and ears to the manifestations of the Spirit of God, which is dangerous because it leads to calling the work of the Spirit of God the work of Satan.
Those who resist the Spirit's correction turn from light, become hostile to the messenger, and may seek to silence him. Rejecting the message sent by God is rejecting Christ, as the men of Nazareth refused the light He brought just as Israel was passed by for the widow in Sarepta of Sidon. The same unbelief shown at Nazareth is shown now when the Lord speaks through His delegated messengers. Men close their hearts against Jesus while supposing they preserve dignity, freedom, and the right to think, believe, or doubt, and so fall into bondage to Satan. After excitement and confusion are over, those who have taken the course of the men of Nazareth are given a second opportunity to accept the gracious light of truth from the divine Messenger, and must not harden their hearts in prejudice and pride in final rejection of the message that would work for their salvation, for to continue encased in pride is to continue rejecting Christ in the person of His messengers. Those now warned by the example of the Jews in rejecting Christ and His apostles are less excusable if they fall after the same example of unbelief.
Christ's reproof at Nazareth also applies to Paul's rejection by church leaders. Their failure to accept his calling to preach to the Gentiles helped bring his work to an early end, and their bitterness and jealousy toward God's chosen messenger could deprive them of his continued ministry and of the blessings his work brought. The discourse to which the verse belongs explains why His work was confined to a small circumference among the Jewish nation and was not extended to converting the heathen nations surrounding Palestine. The heathen nations were not prepared for His work, and had He devoted His time to the conversion of the Gentile world He would have closed the door by which He could bear His message to the Jewish nation. Even within that limit Jewish prejudice against Him was already strong, and this one discourse so enraged the people of Nazareth that they drove Him from the synagogue, turned Him out, pushed Him hither and thither and quarreled among themselves over how to stop His voice entirely, and would have killed Him if divine power and divine agencies had not saved Him until He disappeared from their sight to a place they did not know. Studying and understanding its lessons of eternal consequence benefits teachers and their students, while neglecting those lessons leaves teachers unprepared to teach others.
In Elijah's time heaven was shut for three years and six months with great famine over the land, and though many widows lived in Israel Elijah was sent to none of them except the widow at Sarepta, also called Zarephath, a city of Sidon outside Israel in a heathen Gentile region. Jesus recalled this in the Nazareth synagogue where He announced Himself as the Anointed One to His own people who had known Him from childhood, answering their demand for miracles with the rule that no prophet is accepted in his own country. His example shows that God's favor and help were not confined to Israel nor secured by belonging to the chosen people, but could reach Gentiles outside it, which challenged national pride and self-righteousness and the belief of being specially favored above Gentiles. God passed by the homes of Israel because apostasy, unbelief, self-exaltation and rejection of warning cut them off from blessing, while the poor heathen widow who had lived faithfully by the light she possessed with a heart open to greater light was counted more righteous and acceptable. That contrast rebukes unbelief to the end of time, teaching that those with hearts to feel and faith to believe are specially favored with evidences of power, while hard-hearted unbelief closes eyes and ears to the Spirit, turns hostile to the messenger, and enraged at Nazareth drove them to reject Christ and seek to kill Him.
Elijah's Mission Recalled
The time recalled was a three-and-a-half-year famine in Elijah's day, when heaven was shut for three years and six months and great famine covered the land. In that time many widows lived in Israel, but Elijah was sent to none of them except one widow at Sarepta, also called Zarephath. That place was a city of Sidon outside Israel, in a heathen Gentile region.
Elijah was sent there for refuge and shelter during the drought. The widow received him and cared for him, giving God's servant a home among a heathen people when apostate Israel could not be trusted to protect him. She was a poor heathen woman who had lived faithfully in strict accordance with the light she possessed. Her heart was open to greater light sent through the prophet, and because she valued the light and lived up to it she was favored with evidence of God's power.
Israel at that time was in apostasy, having turned from God in unbelief and rebellion. The people clung to sins, exalted themselves, abused privilege, and rejected prophetic warning through the Lord's messengers. By departing from God in that way they cut themselves off from the channel by which blessing could come to them.
Nazareth Synagogue Rejection
This verse belongs to Jesus' visit to the synagogue at Nazareth, His own town where the people had known Him from childhood. There He announced Himself as the Anointed One and proclaimed salvation to His own people, but they refused to listen and gave Him an unfavorable reception. His work there was not only to bring consolation but also to restore and reprove. He read the secret thoughts of His hearers as evidence of His divinity and met their demand for miracles with the rule that no prophet is accepted in his own country.
At first His gracious words caused all to wonder, received under the influence of the Spirit. Then doubt grew when He spoke words that cut across their ideas and exposed their unbelief, until doubt passed into open unbelief. In this way hearers could feel divine influence and recognize it, yet turn to unbelief and even utter falsehoods when what was said did not agree with their ideas. Their course illustrates how people resist truth and reject light even when God sends it to them.
Enraged by the reminder that God's blessings had been given to Gentiles, they rejected Him. They tore Him from His elevated place as speaker, drove Him from the synagogue, and hurried Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built to cast Him down headlong. They pushed Him hither and thither and quarreled among themselves over how to stop His voice entirely, and would have killed Him if divine power had not saved Him. He was guarded by angels and by divine agencies, and disappeared from their sight to a place they did not know.
After that unfavorable reception He left Nazareth and withdrew to temporary refuge elsewhere. He sought more welcoming places and people who would listen and receive His message and accept His preaching. That rejection at Nazareth was one part of a life of persecution and insult, driven from Bethlehem by a jealous king, rejected at Nazareth, and condemned to death without cause at Jerusalem. After public labor in healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and speech to the dumb, feeding the hungry, comforting the sorrowful, walking upon the billows and stilling the sea by a word, casting out devils, raising the dead, and holding thousands entranced by words of wisdom and teaching, He was driven from those He had labored to save because hearts blinded by prejudice and hatred resolutely rejected the light.
Favor Beyond Israel
During the famine in Israel Elijah was sent past the many widows in Israel to a widow at Sarepta, also called Zarephath, a city of Sidon outside Israel in a heathen Gentile region. That sending shows God's favor and help were not confined to Israel and were not secured by belonging to the chosen people, but could reach people outside Israel. The widow was a heathen who had lived faithfully in strict accordance with the light she possessed and whose heart was open to greater light, and she received the prophet's help through a responsive heart, while Israel had turned from God in unbelief and rebellion and rejected His light. When the chosen reject light, He may bless people outside Israel who receive it.
Elijah's mission to the widow at Sarepta in Sidon stands as the example of God's blessings and power reaching Gentiles. It belongs to Jesus' proclamation of salvation to His own people at Nazareth, who refused to listen and rejected Him, showing that blessing was not confined to Israel.
Jesus used the example to challenge national pride and self-righteousness, exposing the belief of the people of Nazareth that they were specially favored by heaven and entitled to favor above Gentiles. His reminder that God sent Elijah to a Gentile widow while many Israelite widows were in need, and that Nazareth was no more entitled to heaven's favor than Gentiles, cut against their claim to special standing as God's people. Their fierce pride resented truth that favored outsiders over them.
That exposure angered the hearers and contributed to their rejection of Him and of the truth. Their anger at favor toward Gentiles exposed unbelief and self-righteousness.
Faith and Unbelief
In Elijah's day Israel had departed from God, clung to its sins, and rejected the warnings of the Spirit through His messengers, and by apostasy, unbelief, self-exaltation and abuse of privilege cut itself off from the channel by which blessing could come. Therefore the Lord passed by the homes of Israel and sent Elijah past its many widows to Sarepta in Sidon, to a widow who did not belong to the chosen people. This is the rule that men chosen by God for special work are not allowed to labor for a hard-hearted and unbelieving people, while those who have hearts to feel and faith to believe are specially favored with evidences of His power. God's power working through the prophets is shown especially for receptive hearts willing to receive it, while hard-hearted unbelief rejects their work.
The widow of Sidon was favored because she had followed the light she had received, lived in strict accordance with it, valued it, and her heart was open to the greater light God sent her through His prophet. Though a poor heathen woman outside Israel, she lived up to what she knew, received God's servant and cared for him, and was counted more righteous and more acceptable to God than His backslidden chosen people who had sacrificed principle for convenience and worldly honor. That contrast stands to the end of time, that even heathen with little light who do right so far as they are able to distinguish right from wrong may be regarded with greater favor by God than those with great light and high pretensions to godliness whose daily lives contradict their profession.
Apostate Israel in unbelief and rebellion could not be trusted to protect God's servant, so the Lord found refuge for him in a heathen land. Christ used this history to warn that a faithful messenger of God finds no safety or welcome among a people who reject the truth. When the chosen reject His light, He may reveal Himself and bless people in a heathen land who have not rejected heaven's light.
Warning and Application
The verse rebukes unbelief, lays bare its true condition, and presses home unrighteousness by exposing the path of those who reject the message God sends. In the days of Elijah heaven was shut for three years and six months and great famine covered the land when many widows lived in Israel, yet Elijah was sent to none of them except a heathen widow at Zarephath, also called Sarepta, in Sidon. That passing by of Israel happened because of apostasy, unbelief and self-exaltation, while God's power through His chosen workers is not given to a hard-hearted and unbelieving people but specially favors those with hearts to feel and faith to believe. The widow was favored because she lived in strict accordance with the light she possessed and did right so far as she could distinguish right from wrong, and to the end of time even heathen who live by the best light they have are regarded with greater favor than those with great light and high pretensions to godliness whose daily lives contradict their profession. Such blindness closes eyes and ears to the manifestations of the Spirit of God, which is dangerous because it leads to calling the work of the Spirit of God the work of Satan.
Those who resist the Spirit's correction turn from light, become hostile to the messenger, and may seek to silence him. Rejecting the message sent by God is rejecting Christ, as the men of Nazareth refused the light He brought just as Israel was passed by for the widow in Sarepta of Sidon. The same unbelief shown at Nazareth is shown now when the Lord speaks through His delegated messengers. Men close their hearts against Jesus while supposing they preserve dignity, freedom, and the right to think, believe, or doubt, and so fall into bondage to Satan. After excitement and confusion are over, those who have taken the course of the men of Nazareth are given a second opportunity to accept the gracious light of truth from the divine Messenger, and must not harden their hearts in prejudice and pride in final rejection of the message that would work for their salvation, for to continue encased in pride is to continue rejecting Christ in the person of His messengers. Those now warned by the example of the Jews in rejecting Christ and His apostles are less excusable if they fall after the same example of unbelief.
Christ's reproof at Nazareth also applies to Paul's rejection by church leaders. Their failure to accept his calling to preach to the Gentiles helped bring his work to an early end, and their bitterness and jealousy toward God's chosen messenger could deprive them of his continued ministry and of the blessings his work brought. The discourse to which the verse belongs explains why His work was confined to a small circumference among the Jewish nation and was not extended to converting the heathen nations surrounding Palestine. The heathen nations were not prepared for His work, and had He devoted His time to the conversion of the Gentile world He would have closed the door by which He could bear His message to the Jewish nation. Even within that limit Jewish prejudice against Him was already strong, and this one discourse so enraged the people of Nazareth that they drove Him from the synagogue, turned Him out, pushed Him hither and thither and quarreled among themselves over how to stop His voice entirely, and would have killed Him if divine power and divine agencies had not saved Him until He disappeared from their sight to a place they did not know. Studying and understanding its lessons of eternal consequence benefits teachers and their students, while neglecting those lessons leaves teachers unprepared to teach others.