1 Kings 17:14, commentary and pictures

God promised through Elijah that the believing Gentile widow's nearly exhausted supply of meal and oil would be miraculously sustained day by day until rain returned to end the drought. It was spoken at Zarephath on the very day she expected to cook her last handful for herself and her son and die, when she was asked not to fear but to share that last morsel with God's prophet first, testing her trust to the utmost. She received this favor because she walked in all the light she had and willingly received and cared for God's servant, while many needy widows in Israel were passed over because apostasy, unbelief and rejection of light shut them off from help. Jesus recalled it at Nazareth to show that God's power is displayed for hearts open to faith rather than for an unbelieving people, challenging claims to special favor and provoking national pride and hostility. Her preservation with her son shows that God rewards faith and generosity to those who help others in need, assuring self-sacrificing believers that even in persecution and famine their bread and water will be sure and they will not be left to perish.

Setting and Promise

The promise was given in Elijah's work as prophet to the northern kingdom during the drought, when he stood in stern confrontation with King Ahab with the charge that Ahab and his father's house had troubled Israel. After Elijah had been hidden by the brook Cherith and miraculously fed there for many months, the continued drought dried the brook. With no safety for him in Israel, God sent him to find refuge and asylum in a heathen land at Zarephath, which belongs to Zidon and was known in New Testament times as Sarepta. The widow God had commanded to sustain him there was not an Israelite and had never had the privileges and blessings of the chosen people, yet she was a believer in the true God who had walked in all the light shining on her pathway.

Elijah met her at the gate of the city gathering sticks and asked her for water to drink and a morsel of bread. At that time famine pressed sore on her poverty-stricken home and her meager food was about to fail. It was the very day she expected to cook a last handful of meal with a little oil for herself and her son and then die. Spoken by Elijah as God's word, the promise was that the barrel of meal would not waste and the cruse of oil would not fail until the day the Lord sent rain upon the earth. Her small supply therefore sustained the widow, her son, and Elijah for many days.

Food was supplied daily and renewed every day until rain returned, so that meal and oil did not run out during the drought. Elijah told her not to fear but to share that last morsel with him first and then provide for herself and her son. The promise tested to the utmost her faith in the power of the living God to provide for her needs. Even in dire extremity her compliance bore witness to that faith, trusting the God of Israel to supply every need regardless of suffering to herself and her child.

Faith, Favor, and Care

The widow of Zarephath, though a foreigner and a heathen, received this sustaining favor because she had walked faithfully in all the light shining on her pathway and then responded with faith and openness to the greater light God sent through Elijah. Her willingness to receive and care for God's servant made her a recipient of divine power, and her unfailing meal and oil until rain returned stood as a sign of God's power and provision toward one who lived by the light she had. Many widows in Israel in severe need during the famine were passed over because Israel was in apostasy and unbelief, with self-exaltation, abused privileges, hardened hearts, and rejection of heavenly light shutting them off from help. Because she lived up to the light she had, this heathen woman was counted more righteous and more favorably placed before God than backslidden Israelites who had received great light and privileges but had not lived according to them. Those Israelites had sacrificed principle for convenience and worldly honor and had become hardhearted and resistant to the truth.

When the widow shared her nearly gone provisions with Elijah and made a home for him, God miraculously kept her supply from running out and preserved her life and her son's for many days. Her lack did not prevent hospitality, and God rewarded her faith and generosity with daily preservation, showing that He blesses those who help others in need and that His power and promises remain sure. Through this Gentile widow God gave Elijah refuge, asylum, safety, succor, and help when hatred and persecution drove him to flee Israel. He was safer living among heathen than among those who had hardened their hearts against the truth, for he could not be trusted with Israel.

Jesus recalled this sending to Sarepta at Nazareth to show that God's help reached a widow outside Israel when many widows in Israel were in need. It illustrated that God displayed His power through a prophet for people whose hearts were open to faith rather than for an unbelieving, hard-hearted people, and the reference challenged His hearers' claim to special favor as God's people and provoked their national pride and hostility toward Him. God's directing Elijah away from Jezebel's power to safety in the mountains by Cherith, feeding him there morning and evening by an angel, and then keeping Elijah and the widow's family alive at Sarepta by food renewed every day are evidences of God's love and care that should have kept Elijah from ever distrusting God. That same care in famine assures self-sacrificing believers that He will provide for their needs, so that even when the wicked lack bread and His faithful children suffer persecution, privation, and want of food, they will not be left to perish, for their bread and water will be sure and He will satisfy them in a time of famine.