Doing Faith
1 Kings 17:8-16
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Key Verse: 1 Kings 17:14 –
“For thus says the LORD the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth.”
The prophet Elijah was a character – but maybe not your favorite character. He shows up in 1-2 Kings as a transitional figure, not like the frenetic bands of ecstatic prophets that Saul was known to join (1 Sam. 10:9-13, 19:18-24), or the calmer prophets Nathan and Gad who advised David. Elijah was more like Samuel – occasionally irascible and prone to anger when things didn’t go his way, even capable of considerable violence (1 Sam. 15:32-33, 1 Kgs. 18:40, 19:1).
Both occasionally spoke of things to come, but mainly stood up for Yahweh, preaching sermons that called the people of Israel to faithfulness. And, both were also known as agents of miraculous works, especially Elijah. [DD]
Knowing his reputation, you might have wanted to keep your distance from Elijah, but today’s text is the story of a poor woman who showed no fear of him, and even dared to confront him. She already felt near death, and had little to lose by entertaining the prophet who just might have the power to save her life. [DD]
Drought for a king (vv. 1-7)
First Kings 17 records Elijah’s first appearance in scripture, as he came full-blown onto the scene as a rustic prophet who dared to challenge King Ahab with a strongly worded oath, declaring that the rains and even morning dew would cease until he gave the word (v. 1).
Interestingly, the narrator does not immediately describe Elijah as a prophet or a “man of God,” but only as “Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead.” Elijah’s identity is found in his name ’eli-yahu, which means “My God is Yahweh.” Confirmation of his identity as a Yahweh’s prophet would be revealed by his actions, not by means of a title.
At this point in the story, we know little more about Ahab, who was introduced at the end of the previous chapter. The narrator’s summary judgment insists that he was a wicked king who had married Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Sidon, and allowed her to promote the worship of Baal, sacred to her people. Ahab had reportedly built a temple to Baal and erected a sacred pole to Asherah, acts that should be anathema to a worshiper of Yahweh (16:29-34).
If Ahab recognized Elijah or offered any response, we don’t know what it was, because the next verse declares that “the word of the LORD” sent Elijah to hide out by a brook called “Cherith,” a tributary of the Jordan. We no longer know the location, but the word “kerith” means “cutting,” and it probably refers to a deep ravine cut by seasonal rains. Several such ravines are found along the Jordan valley, and any one of them would have provided an ideal, isolated place for Elijah to hide from the angry king. [DD]
Searchers would not have expected that anyone could survive in such rugged surroundings, but Yahweh appointed ravens to bring him food, and Elijah did not have to emerge from hiding until the brook eventually ran dry (17:2-7).
Food for a prophet (vv. 8-16)
Acting again on “the word of the LORD,” Elijah left the brook and hiked a considerable distance north and west to a city called Zarephath, located near the coastal city of Sidon, north of Israel proper and within the kingdom of Jezebel’s father (vv. 8-9).
We learn later that Ahab and Jezebel had sought diligently for Elijah during the period of the drought, even into foreign lands (18:10), but had been unable to find him. Jezebel would have been particularly aggravated to know that her nemesis had relocated near her own hometown.
No one would expect to find Elijah staying in the home of a poor Phoenician widow – including the widow herself, who was taken aback by Elijah’s sudden appearance and request for food and water (vv. 10-11). The NRSV translation implies that Elijah was brusque and demanding, but the Hebrew construction suggests a more polite query, on the order of “Would you please give me a little water in a cup?” and “Would you please bring me a handful of bread?”
Elijah asked for very little. Unfortunately, that’s all the woman had: Elijah met the poor widow as she was gathering a bit of firewood to prepare a final meager hoecake for herself and her son before the last of her flour and oil was gone.
It seemed that Elijah had left a location with food but no water only to find a place with water but no food. Once again, a miracle would be required if he was to find sustenance.
The widow did not hesitate to fetch Elijah a drink, but was slower to comply with his request for bread. She explained the pitiful state of her vanishing resources (v. 12) [DD], but Elijah challenged her to feed him first nevertheless, promising that her paltry supply of grain and oil would last for as long as the drought, not failing until the rains returned and she could replenish her larder with grain (vv. 13-14).
How would you have responded to such a request, however polite? Elijah would no doubt have looked like an unkempt oddball after his long trek. A widow living near Sidon would not be expected to worship Yahweh (the LORD) or look after Yahweh’s prophet, though God told Elijah that the woman had been instructed to provide for him. Why should she trust this strange man?
But why should she not? The story implies that the poor widow and her son were down to their last piece of bread, with no other prospect than starvation beyond. As wild and crazy as Elijah’s request may have seemed, it did offer a breath of hope, and that was more than the woman had before. So, we read, “she went and did as Elijah said,” and Elijah’s prediction proved true, so that he lived with the widow and her son “for many days” and the story declares that all of them had bread to eat for the entire time (vv. 15-17). [DD]
Life for a son (vv. 17-24)
Like v. 7, v. 17 jumps forward in time. Elijah had dwelt with the widow and her son for an unknown period when tragedy struck: the boy grew ill and died. Yahweh’s provision of grain and oil through Elijah’s presence had extended the boy’s life and filled the woman with hope that the child would not starve – but he died anyway! [DD]
In her grief, the woman turned to Elijah with a sharp accusation. She called him a “man of God,” but implicitly accused him of being complicit in her son’s death. “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!” (v. 18).
The primary theology running through the Old Testament (and still common in many minds today) is that God gives people what they deserve, especially when they sin. The woman spoke as if Elijah’s presence had drawn God’s attention to her shortcomings, causing God to kill her son as punishment for her failures.
Notice how Elijah responded: instead of defending himself, he took the boy from her and carried him upstairs, an action some commentators think may have symbolizing movement toward a higher sphere, where the prophet could commune more directly with God (v. 19). [DD]
Once there, Elijah laid the boy on a bed and cried out to God in strong language, using words very similar to those of the woman: “O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?” (v. 20).
With this action we see the dual roles of the prophet: he speaks God’s word to the people, but he also speaks the people’s words to God. Like the widow, Elijah believed God was responsible for the boy’s death, and he didn’t understand why God would respond to the poor woman’s hospitality so cruelly (v. 20).
Elijah’s action of prostrating himself upon the boy appears to be a symbolic effort to transfer some of his own living vitality to the lifeless body of the widow’s son, like a modern medic administering CPR to someone in cardiac arrest. Again he prayed, but more respectfully and indirectly: “Yahweh, my God, please let the life of this boy return within him” (a literal translation of v. 21).
God’s response is reported in indirect fashion. The text doesn’t say something like “So God brought the child back to life,” but “The LORD listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived” (v. 22).
As Elijah carried the child back downstairs to his mother, we’re reminded that the boy had returned to the land of the living, to ordinary life, much to the delight of his mother (v. 23).
If we expect the mother to be overflowing with gratitude, however, we will be disappointed. The narrator has a different focus in mind, so he fashions her words to affirm that “now I know you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth” (v. 24). [DD]
This story holds a challenge for us. Though we may occasionally have the opportunity and ability to save someone’s life, it is rarely through a miracle. That doesn’t mean we should not aspire to be more like Elijah, however.
Do our words and actions lead others to think of us as a man or woman of God, as one through whom God may speak, as one who can be trusted to speak truth? Who are the poor widows whom God has called us to minister, and what do they have to say about us?
Adult Teaching Resources
Download the PDF of teaching resources for this lesson.
This PDF contains the Teaching Guide, Digging Deeper, and Hardest Question pages.
Read Scripture online: 1 Kings 17:8-16
Youth Teaching Resources
Parent Prep
What do your words and actions reveal about you? Not who you think you are, but if someone were to watch and listen to you for a month, what would they come away saying? Our students pick up on what we say and do, and not just for a month, but their entire lives. You see it in their mannerisms and how they speak, but you will also begin to recognize it in how they act and what they say. You are the biggest influence on your students! If you want your students to act a certain way, you must first make sure you are doing it yourself.
Additional Links/Resources
Read Scripture online: 1 Kings 17:8-16
Download the PDF for youth teaching resources using the button below. This PDF contains the Teaching Guide for this lesson:
Video
Encourage youth to check out this video ahead of the lesson.
“Being Spontaneous” from The Truman Show
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