Elijah: A Man Just Like Us - Part 5

1 Kings 17v10-16

Continuing the story of Elijah, and remembering that James 5v17 says that Elijah was a man just like us, we read:

1 Kings 17v10-12
So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?" As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread."
"As surely as the LORD your God lives," she replied, "I don't have any bread - only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it - and die."

In Verse 9, God had told Elijah to go to Zarephath, where a widow would look after him. Now he arrives, not knowing anyone, and with no idea how to find the widow that God had in mind. He needed God to reveal her to him. God will do so, but Elijah needs to be actively looking. As he reaches the gate, he sees a widow, so he speaks to her, to find out if she's the right one.

But it doesn't seem promising; the widow can't even feed herself and her son. let alone Elijah. Should Elijah assume that this is not the widow God wants him to meet? Should he move on and look for someone else?

Elijah remains tuned into the Holy Spirit. God gives him a prophesy, and he delivers it:

1 Kings 17v13-14
Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 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.'"

This seems to me to be the most difficult thing Elijah ever did. How could he say such a thing to a vulnerable, starving woman? How could he ask her for a portion of her and her son's last meal? How dare he say such a thing? If a Christian leader today were to say something similar, wouldn't the newspapers tear his reputation to shreds?

But Elijah was obeying God. Perhaps his previous experience of prophesying to Ahab and surviving, and of being fed by ravens in the Kerith Ravine, had helped him to learn to do whatever God told him to do. So he obeyed God this time as well, despite his inevitable feelings that this was not an appropriate thing to say.

1 Kings 17v15-16
She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.

Why did she do as Elijah suggested? We'll look at that next time. But the short answer is that it was in God's purposes for her to do so. In verse 9 God had 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."

God had a plan for Elijah's future, but he had to actively seek its fulfillment. Elijah also had to listen for God's voice, and obey Him when he spoke. And when he did, he was provided for, and salvation came to another family.

And he was a man just like us.

Nothing changes much, does it?