Unsung Heroines-The Widow Of Zarephath

Introduction: this widow woman probably wasn’t even an Israelite but she believed the words of Elijah, the prophet of the LORD, God of Israel. She received much more than she gave Elijah!

Text: 1 Kings 17:8-16, KJV: 8 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, 9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of 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 thine hand. 12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a 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 unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 14 For thus saith the LORD 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. 15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16 And 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.

Thoughts: As this study concerns the widow woman herself, we’ll concentrate on her:

First, she was in dire straits!

Famine had hit Israel and other parts of the region, it seems. Elijah had prophesied, by the Word of the LORD, that it wasn’t going to rain and there was not going to be any dew on the grass, unless he said so. Elijah was on his way to Zarephath, in Zidon (Sidon) to meet a widow woman. The LORD had told Elijah she would “sustain” him.

They met, once Elijah reached the city gate, and Elijah made a strange request of the woman. I’ve wondered how he knew she was the one—perhaps this was a sort of test, like Abraham’s servant had proposed for Isaac’s bride (Genesis 24:10-14)? This widow proved she was indeed the one by going to get Elijah some water, as he had asked. I wouldn’t be surprised if other widows (and I’m sure there were some) refused to give him the time of day, so to speak.

But when Elijah made his second request, while the woman was on her way to the well or wherever she got her water, this was too much for her. He wanted her to make his a “morsel of bread”, probably the same as a loaf or “piece of bread”, but she didn’t have it! She told him in no uncertain terms that she didn’t have anything in the house to eat except a handful of meal and a little oil in a vessel, which is probably not nearly enough for an entire “morsel” of bread.

And further, she said she was going to find two sticks “that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” Surely, I don’t think she meant they were going to eat the sticks! She probably meant she didn’t even have anything to even make fire or heat to bake the ingredients and make the bread. I don’t know the size of the sticks, or how much heat/fire would be needed to convert meal and oil into bread, but I do know this woman was in dire straits!

Second, she believed the words of Elijah

There must have been something about Elijah that convinced those who saw him that he was a prophet. The widow of Zarephath took him at his word—even though he was a total stranger to her—and “did according to the saying of Elijah,” meaning she probably baked the little bit of oil and meal into a “morsel” and gave it to Elijah. At the very least she used not only the little bit of food but a lot of faith to take this stranger at his word. Then again, she may have thought, what have I got to lose?

Thing is, she didn’t lose anything! She received a lot more than she gave!

Third, she received more than what she gave up

Verses 15 and 16 declare this miraculous reward for this widow’s faith, or taking Elijah at his word. Note how the writer declares “the barrel of meal wasted not” or, we might say “never went empty”; and “neither did the cruse (vessel to hold oil) of oil fail”. We don’t know any of the dimensions, volume, or other data for either item, but we do know the woman never ran out of oil or meal for a long time.

Something else that may be easy to overlook is that this widow had more than just herself and her son to be concerned about. Verse 15, in the last part of the verse, mentions the widow’s “house”. It’s not known if she meant her immediate family only, or if she had other visitors, boarders, and so on. But it was known that she never ran out of meal or oil, as Elijah promised.

There’s another incident involving this widow woman but that’s another message for another day. The main thing to take away is first, give whatever assistance you can for a true prophet or man of God. You’ll be blessed for it. Then, whatever you give to the LORD is never gone for good—but it can do a lot of good when properly used! Finally, when the LORD gives you faith, be sure to act on that faith. You don’t want it to go to waste.

She only had a little to use but that was enough. And God truly blessed her!

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).