Elijah Announces the Drought
Study note
Elijah the Tishbite appeared without introduction and boldly told King Ahab that there would be no rain or dew in Israel except by his word. This was a direct challenge to Baal, whom the Canaanites worshipped as the god of rain and storms. God then told Elijah to hide by the brook Cherith east of the Jordan. Ravens brought him bread and meat morning and evening. Eventually the brook dried up because of the drought.
1 Elijah, a prophet from Tishbe in Gilead, faced Ahab. He said, "I swear by the living Lord, the God of Israel, whom I serve. There will be no dew or rain in the coming years unless I say so." 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 Then the Lord told Elijah, And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
3 "Leave this area. Head east and hide yourself by the Kerith Brook, which flows into the Jordan River." Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
4 "You can drink from the brook, and I have arranged for ravens to bring you food there." And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
5 Elijah did exactly what the Lord said. He went and camped beside the Kerith Brook, east of the Jordan. 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 Ravens brought him bread and meat every morning and evening, and he drank water from the brook. 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 After a while, the brook dried up because no rain had fallen anywhere in the land. And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
The Widow of Zarephath
Study note
God sent Elijah to Zarephath, a town in Sidon, the homeland of Jezebel. There he met a widow gathering sticks to make her last meal for herself and her son before dying of starvation. Elijah asked her to make him food first, promising that her flour and oil would not run out until the rain returned. She obeyed, and God miraculously kept her supplies from running out, just as Elijah had promised.
8 The Lord spoke to Elijah again: And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
9 "Go to the town of Zarephath in Sidon territory and stay there. I have arranged for a widow there to feed you." Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
10 Elijah set out for Zarephath. When he reached the town gate, he spotted a widow gathering sticks. He called to her, "Please bring me a cup of water." 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 As she turned to get it, he added, "And please bring a piece of bread too." 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 She replied, "I swear by the Lord your God, I do not have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour in a jar and a tiny bit of oil in a jug. I am out here collecting a few sticks so I can go home and cook one last meal for my son and me. After we eat it, we will starve." 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 Elijah told her, "Don't be afraid. Go home and do what you planned. But first, use what you have to bake a small loaf for me. Bring it out to me, and then make something for yourself and your son." 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 "Israel's God makes this vow. 'The flour jar will not run out. The oil jug will not dry up. This will last until the Lord sends rain again.'" 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 She went and did what Elijah told her. And there was food for all of them -- Elijah, the woman, and her son -- day after day. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
16 The jar of flour never ran out, and the jug of oil never dried up. This was just as the Lord had promised through Elijah. 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.
Elijah Raises the Widow's Son
Study note
Later, the widow's son became sick and died. The grieving mother blamed Elijah, thinking God was punishing her sins. Elijah carried the boy upstairs, stretched himself over the child three times, and cried out to God. The Lord heard Elijah's prayer and brought the boy back to life. The woman declared that she now knew for certain that Elijah was truly a man of God.
17 Some time later, the woman's son got sick. He grew worse and worse until he stopped breathing completely. And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
18 The woman said to Elijah, "What have I done to deserve this, man of God? Did you come here to remind God about my sins and cause my son to die?" And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
19 "Hand him to me," Elijah said. He took the boy from her arms, carried him upstairs to his room, and laid him on his own bed. And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
20 Elijah called out to the Lord: "Lord my God, why have you brought such terrible grief on this widow who has taken care of me? Why did you let her son die?" And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
21 Three times he stretched his body over the child and prayed: "Lord my God, please bring this boy's life back into him!" And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.
22 The Lord heard Elijah's prayer. Life flowed back into the child, and he started breathing again. And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
23 Elijah picked up the boy, carried him back downstairs, and placed him in his mother's arms. "Look!" Elijah said. "Your son is alive!" And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
24 The woman told Elijah, "Now I know for sure that you are a man of God. Every word the Lord speaks through you is completely true." And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.