Introduction: Elijah, the prophet. He was and is one of the most well-known men in the Bible. He seemed to come out of nowhere, and eventually was one of only two people (so far) to go to Heaven but never died!
But like most people, Elijah had a lot to endure before he began his ministry. Actually, we don’t know much about his early days except that he lived in the land of Gilead (east of Jordan, where the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and part of Manasseh settled). His parents are unknown, his home town is never given (only that he was from Gilead, the land east of the Jordan River), and he appears to be an only child—no mention of any siblings. Even so, his name, Elijah, means “my God is the LORD” and he did his best to honor this all his days. This first message attempts to highlight what little we know about Elijah’s first encounters.
1 The first message and miracles
Text, 1 Kings 17:1-7, KJV: 1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD 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, 3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. 5 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. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. 7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
Elijah’s first message was a prophecy to King Ahab that there would be no dew or rain unless Elijah said so (paraphrasing). The whole land of Israel was prone to droughts and famines (witness Abraham’s day, Genesis 12; Isaac’s time, Genesis 26’ Jacob’s time, Genesis 42-43; and in the days of the kings—e.g., 2 Kings 25:3 to name a few). We’re not told how Elijah expressed the prophecy except that he “said [it] unto Ahab”. Elijah, then, may have found a way to speak directly to the king, or he may have used other means. The important thing was to give a message from the LORD to Ahab and Elijah did it.
And this led, in my opinion, to the first miracle. Supposing Elijah had met Ahab in person, Ahab could have had Elijah arrested and thrown into prison (like Micaiah, at a later time) or even put to death! That didn’t happen, praise God, and Elijah was able to make a clean departure from Ahab and any threats or punishments Ahab might have tried to inflict on Elijah.
This, then, leads to the second miracle. Remember that God had promised that there would be no rain or dew unless Elijah gave approval. Those conditions would apply to Elijah as well, meaning he would have had to endure famine and drought (after all, little rain little harvest; no rain, not much hope for a harvest!) But now, what was he going to do? Where could he go?
The answer came as a word from the LORD Himself. “The word of the LORD came to” Elijah and told him to hide by the brook Cherith, before the Jordan River. Just where this “brook” was located is not certain, but Dr. Barnes, and several others, believes was a “torrent course”, perhaps a wadi or dry stream bed except when storms or water from melting snow and ice flowed into the Jordan. (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/1_kings/17.htm) These are sometimes called “arroyos” in the south-western United States.
It’s been said that people can, and sometimes do, live for as long as six weeks (40 days plus or minus) without food, but only a few days (maybe 3-4) without water. The brook Cherith would give Elijah plenty of water, at least for a while, but what about food? Even a prophet like Elijah had to east at least once in a while! Well, God was going to take care of that problem, too.
The LORD did this by commanding ravens to bring bread and flesh (meat) to Elijah! We don’t know why the LORD chose this type of bird for this mission, so to speak, especially since most birds tend not to associate very often or very much with humans (excepting, of course, small birds which live in cages such as parakeets or canaries). The LORD overruled the nature of these ravens, directing them to bring Elijah bread and meat twice every day. In one sense, Elijah had it better than the Israelites in the wilderness, who only received manna once daily (Exodus 16)!
Elijah stayed secluded by the brook for an unknown period of time. Here, the LORD was of course protecting him from Ahab and other problems, I’m sure; plus, the LORD provided Elijah with food and water. Eventually, though, the brook ran dry. That was, of course, because there had been no rain or dew, and now Elijah, like the rest of the Ten Northern Tribes was out of water to drink. What was going to happen now?
2 The second set of miracles
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.
It’s been said, sometimes, “the Lord moves in mysterious ways” and for Elijah, this next command might have seemed very mysterious indeed! He’s been secluded near the Jordan River for an unspecified period of time, being completely dependent on water from the brook and food from the birds! But when the water from the brook dried up, Elijah knew he would have to do something—or perish, if he remained where he was but didn’t find any water or food.
As mentioned, Elijah received a “word from the LORD” to head to Zarephath “. . .which belongeth to Zidon (Sidon)”. This was a very long journey for anyone, let alone Elijah, who was probably on Ahab’s hit list (don’t let Elijah get away, you fools!). Ahab probably remembered the message (no rain unless I say so) and if the waters of the brook Cherith had dried up, then chances are there wasn’t much water anywhere else. Revenge is a powerful motivator, no?
At any rate, leaving from the brook Cherith, Elijah would not have had an easy journey, no matter which way he went. Given that Ahab was most likely living in Samaria, relatively new since Omri, Ahab’s father, had only recently built the place, Elijah may not have wanted to go on any direct routes leading to the capital. The only other choices I can see, by looking at a few Bible maps (at sites like https://bibleportal.com/bible-maps, for example), was try to stay close to the Jordan Valley as much as possible until he found a relatively safe way to Zarephath. Another choice might have been to cross the Jordan, heading north until he was out of Ahab’s reach (so to speak) and then go west until he arrived at Zarephath that way. All of this is speculation, of course, because Elijah would have followed the LORD’s directions.
Eventually Elijah did reach the city of Zarephath (“smelting place” in Hebrew according to (https://biblehub.com/hebrew/6886.htm), located between Tyre and Sidon on the Mediterranean coast. He had completed the first part of the commands of the LORD, by arriving; now he was trying to determine how to complete the other part. The LORD had told him there was a widow who would “sustain” or take care of him while he was there. We don’t know the size or how many people were in Zarephath, let alone how many widows, so how would Elijah know just who was the right widow to find?
The book “God’s Smuggler” by Brother Andrew has a story that is both gripping and refreshing. While in a certain city, closed by the government to most religious activity, Andrew wondered how he would know the person he needed to meet. While walking, one evening, Andrew met this person, although he didn’t know it at the time, but he said, “our spirits recognized each other.” He decided to keep pace with the stranger, even going to the other person’s residence. Andrew went on to say that if this was the wrong person, the embarrassment would be great! But he was right, and the stranger he met turned out to be the contact he had been seeking.
Elijah, though, had no names, no addresses, or much of anything else, only that the LORD told him “I have commanded a widow woman to sustain you (paraphrased)”. But he did find one particular widow who turned out to be the very woman God had chosen. Again, how he knew she was a widow is not something I’ve been able to find. Ruth was known to be a widow when she began to glean grain in the fields of Boaz (Ruth 3) but I’ve not found any description of any special clothing or anything else she wore to identify as a widow. Many years ago, a widow was more or less expected to wear “widow’s weeds”, or black garments, for at least a year before she could consider remarriage, according to various books I’ve read plus on-line definitions at brave.com and wiktionary. This was to show the widow’s grief and devotion to her husband.
Well, nothing like that was taking place in Zarephath because this widow was trying to find sticks. Elijah noticed her—she’s called “the widow” in the text—and asked her for a drink of water. Remember, there hasn’t been any rain or dew for a long time and water, always precious, was apparently in short supply, even here.
Showing incredible hospitality, she went to get Elijah some water, even though she may not have had any idea who he was, but that was the code of that era: if a stranger asks, you will provide. But that wasn’t all, as Elijah also asked her to bring him something to eat! He asked for a “morsel of bread” but this woman didn’t even have that. She told Elijah, in so many words, “I don’t have a ‘morsel of bread’ for you, and I only have a handful of meal and just a little bit of oil. You saw me gathering these sticks? After I mix the oil and meal together, I’m going to use these sticks as fuel to heat up the dough. After we eat that, my son and I are going to die!”
But Elijah gave her one simple test and request. He said, “Go ahead but if you make a little cake for me first, the LORD God of Israel says you won’t run out of meal or oil until the day He sends rain on this earth.”
And she believed him!
She listened, and believed what Elijah had to say and sure enough, the LORD God of Israel kept His promise. The widow didn’t run out of oil or meal, just as the LORD had promised.
In closing this message, one thing stands out. Not only did God provide Elijah with everything he needed at the brook, God also provided him with all his needs in Zarephath—which was in the home country of Jezebel herself! And besides that, Baal was supposed to the “god” of rain, fertility, and I guess some other things too—but he was powerless before the LORD God of Israel. The LORD provided meal and oil whereas Baal gave none of the above!
What a mighty God Elijah served! Best of all, this same God of Elijah loves us just as much as He did Elijah, the widow, and everyone in the world. He loves you, too. Don’t forget that!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
