Sojourner in Zarephath
Thoughts on Elijah
A friend and I are going through Priscilla Shirer's excellent Bible study, Elijah (which you can find here…https://www.lifeway.com/en/product-family/elijah-bible-study)
We have definitely been taking our time with it, as life with kids and family make meeting together interesting! But it is SO GOOD! I love how the Lord has spoken individually to us through this study, and how digging in to Elijah's life has yielded additional insights as we receive directly from the Lord.
A central theme of the study is Elijah's journey from his hometown in Gilead to the dramatic showdown with the priests of Baal at Mount Carmel. The Lord had to put Elijah through an apprenticeship of faith until he was ready to call down fire in front of all of Israel. My favorite part so far is his stay with the Widow of Zarephath. Back story: Israel had turned from the Lord and served Baal, at with the encouragement of King Ahab. The Lord, through Elijah, promises three years of drought. After a stay beside the brook Cherith, where the Lord sustains him, Elijah gets new marching orders:
Then the Word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you” 1 Kings 17:8-7
There is so much in this verse! First of all, if Jesus is The Word (John 1:1-4), I love to think of Jesus speaking to Elijah in this verse. A Christophany of sorts. “And the Word of the Lord came to him…” It feels so personal and tender. Also, I love how the Lord said he had commanded the widow to feed Elijah, because she obviously had no idea that she had been commanded to do anything of the sort:
So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, “please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink.” As she was going to get it, he called to her, and said, “please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go and prepare it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.” vs. 10-12
It's so encouraging to me because even though the widow didn't yet have the ability to hear from God directly, He was still able and willing to make Himself known to her. Even though she had no idea that God had commanded her to do anything, God was able to speak to her through Elijah. But my favorite part is probably when her son got sick and died, a few verses later:
So she said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!” He said to her, “Give me your son.” Them he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed. He called to the Lord, saying, O Lord my God, have you also brought calamity on the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray you, let the child's life return to him.” The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. vs 18-22
As Priscilla Shirer mentions in her study, this is the first instance in recorded scripture of prayer resulting in resurrection from the dead. It was a truly unprecedented act of faith. But what strikes me even more is the mother's reaction on receiving her resurrected son:
…”Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” vs 24
When her son died, she asked why. Elijah asked why. I found myself asking Why!? Why would the Lord kill her son? Just to give Elijah an opportunity to perform a miracle? The Lord spoke to my heart and said, “Because I cared about her heart.” Living with miraculous flour and oil wasn't enough. She still believed God was out to punish her. But He knew what she needed to truly know Him. What she needed to correct her incomplete understanding of Him. He cared about her heart. As Jesus says in Luke 4:25-26,
But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
This verse underscores God's sovereign choice. He chose this one woman, not only to provide for Elijah, but also for her. And not only to save her from starvation, but that she would know Him.
Bread of the Week: Pita
Last week I was so excited to make pita for the first time! It was sourdough, and it actually puffed up and made a pocket! Yay! Pita and bread like it has been made in the Middle East for millennia, and is made by cooking on a baking stone in a very hot oven. In fact, it was probably something like pita that the widow of Zarephath served to Elijah, although the pocket feature may have come later in bread's development. I always wondered how she was able to bake bread so quickly, or did he just stand around awkwardly for a few hours until it was done? Now I know, fun fact, that pita only takes 3-5 minutes to bake. It's nice to have that biblical mystery cleared up!
Until next week,
Emily
Gods love is everything. It is enough and all we really need. His heart is for us!!