FEEDING THE HUNGRY AND RAISING THE DEAD

Elijah was a changed man when he left the Cherith Ravine—challenging circumstances will do that to a person. Difficulties cause us to grow and mature, press in to God and learn to walk in faith, or they have the totally opposite effect. If Elijah had complained and whined instead of listening and learning, he would have been just another prophet who disappeared and was never heard from again.

Elijah left Cherith as a man of God in the making. What happened to him at Zarephath would complete the preparations for his encounter with the demonic prophets of Baal and Asheroth on Mt. Carmel.

God told Elijah, “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there, I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food” (1 Kings 17:9 NIV). Right away we see a test of Elijah’s faith because Zarephath was in enemy territory. Sidon was ruled by Jezebel’s father, the high priest of Baal. God was hiding Elijah right under the nose of his enemies.

Zarephath means “the place of refining.” At Cherith God had begun to cut away everything that hindered Elijah’s becoming a man of God and at Zarephath God would polish and refine to get him ready for the encounter with demonic power on Mt. Carmel. Elijah would remain at Zarephath until the refining was complete.

We are given the opportunity to see and understand two major events at Zarephath. The first involved the word God gave to Elijah regarding the widow and her food supply.

Under Old Testament law, widows were protected by God Himself and no one (and that included priests and prophets) was to put demands upon widows.

So was God contradicting His own law? No! God’s statement to Elijah was, “I have put it in the heart of this woman to feed you.” Elijah instantly understood what was happening when he met the widow, recognized the desperate circumstances she was in, and realized he needed to give her an opportunity to respond.

While it appeared that the woman was going to feed Elijah—and she did—actually Elijah was there to care for her and her son and to bring the miraculous power of God into their lives. This was a powerful lesson for him about faith and obedience.

After the widow provided Elijah a drink of water, he said to her, “For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land’” (17:14 NIV). And that is exactly what happened.

Elijah stayed with the widow and her son for two to three years. Sometime late in the stay, the young boy took sick and died. The widow was angry and heartbroken and she accused Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” (v. 18).

Elijah did not respond to the woman’s accusation; he simply said, “Give me your son” (v. 19). Elijah then retreated to his room with the body of the boy and began to pray
.
There is no scriptural record of anyone being raised from the dead before this time. New ground was being broken as the man of God prayed a prayer of faith that had never been prayed before.

I believe that Elijah was operating within the understanding of the same word that brought him to Zarepheth—that he was to care for this woman and her household. It was at Zarephath that Elijah’s faith matured so that he could speak the word of the Lord with faith over the flour and oil, and then with confidence pray the prayer of faith over the dead boy.

Elijah knew what he was to do because of the word the Lord had given him, and because at Cherith he had learned to walk in daily communion with Him. Elijah had learned to know and to understand the voice of God.

Verse 20 says, “Then he [Elijah] cried out to the Lord.” This is deep intercession. Verse 21 tells us that three times he stretched himself out on the body of the boy. This is equivalent to the laying on of hands (Mark 16:18), indicating that God’s power was passing from the man of God to the sick.

Verse 22: “The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.”

As Elijah left Zarephath, he was a much more mature man of God than when he first met Ahab. Elijah had not faltered in the trimming down process of Cherith, and he had matured further through the refining and polishing at Zarephath.

Soon Elijah would meet Ahab again and then at the “Grand Smackdown” on Mt. Carmel, he would stand as the lone representative of the God who answers by fire. He would participate in one of the greatest examples of deliverance that the world has ever seen!