1 Kings - Chapter 17

The Amazing Bible. Book Club

Elijah came to king Ahab, the most wicked king of the northern tribes of Israel, and said, "As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except by my word!" This began the showdown between the God of Israel, and Baal and Asherah, the gods of the Phoenicians. Baal was supposed to be the god of storms and rain, but this drought showed that it is the God of Israel that is Lord over the rain. After the announcement, the Lord sent Elijah to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan River, and there the Lord gave him water from the brook, and the Lord sent Ravens to bring Elijah bread and meat to eat both night and day. Once the brook dried up, the Lord sent Elijah to Zarephath of Sidon, and the Lord had commanded a Phoenician woman to provide for Elijah. When he arrived, he asked for water, and she went to fetch some, even though they were in a drought, but then Elijah asked for a small loaf of bread, and she informed him she had none, and was preparing a fire to make her last little bit of bread so she and her son could have their last meal and die. Elijah said if she made the first loaf for him, the Lord would not allow the flour or the oil to run out until it began to rain. She made it, gave the first to Elijah, and the Lord kept His word. While there, her son became sick and died. She asked, "What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?" Elijah did not know what the Lord was doing, but he took the boy's body upstairs and cried out to the Lord 3 times, "O Lord my God, let this boy's life return to him!" He did. Elijah presented her son to the widow and said, "LOOK! your son is alive!" She responded, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth!"