Bad Times for God’s People

KEY VERSE: “How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.” —I Kings 18:21

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: I Kings 16:21-25, 29-33; 22:37-39

AFTER the death of Solomon there was a long succession of evil kings who ruled over the ten tribes of Israel. Each of these kings seemed to surpass the other in sinfulness and doing evil in the sight of the Lord. The Lord, of course, withheld his blessings from the people because they willingly followed their kings.

During the reign of Ahab, who was one of the most wicked of all the kings of Israel, the Prophet Elijah, the Tishbite, was sent by the Lord to Ahab to announce the punishment which would be upon the king and the people, saying, “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.” (I Kings 17:1) Immediately the Lord sent Elijah away into hiding. God provided for him a resting place near a brook where the ravens fed him. After a time, however, the brook dried up because there was no rain; the Lord made other provisions for Elijah, saying, “Arise get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.”—vs. 9

The woman was of gentile extraction and apparently lived among people who were idol worshipers. But she was of a different cast of mind, and God, reading her heart, knew that she would accept and care for Elijah. The fact that God chose to sustain his prophet, first, by ravens, and then, subsequently, by a gentile, was a terrible indictment of the people of Israel. But it certainly demonstrated that the Lord’s arm is not shortened when it comes to carrying out his purposes. As the drought deepened, Ahab sent searching parties throughout the land trying to find Elijah to have him say the word that would bring the rain. But Elijah was safely hidden and could not be found.

The effect of the drought and famine were also severe in the land of Zidon and, of course, affected the widow and her supply of food. When Elijah came to her house, he was hungry and asked for water and food. She replied that she had only enough meal and oil to make a cake for herself and her son, and that then they would have nothing to look forward to but death. Elijah said, “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. For this said 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.”—I Kings 17:13,14

The widow did as the prophet requested, thus demonstrating her faith in the God of Israel and his messenger. She could see from the appearance of Elijah that he was an Israelite and she must have known something of his God. For a period of about two years, the prophet, the widow, and her son were fed from the cruse of oil and the barrel of meal. After a time the son of the woman became sick and died. The widow knew that Elijah had been sent by God to bring the drought upon the land, and she apparently felt that he had also brought the judgment of God upon her for her past sins, and she said, “What have Ito do with thee, O thou man of God? Art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?”—vs. 18

Elijah took the lifeless body of the widow’s son up into the loft, or upper room, and prayed to the Lord to restore the boy to life. Elijah himself could not understand the reason why the Lord permitted the lad to die and bring sorrow upon the woman who had kept him for the Lord’s own purposes. The words of Elijah, and his actions, demonstrated his intense desire for the Lord to restore the lad to life. Up until this time, as far as we know, no one had ever been resurrected from the dead and because of this we can better appreciate the faith of the prophet in asking for this miracle. The Lord heard the prophet and restored the life of the lad. Elijah brought the child down from the loft and gave him to his mother. The widow said, “Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.”—vs. 24

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