Things were not going well in the kingdom of Israel, where the people were worshiping the golden calves instead of the true God. Each new king who sat upon the throne did just as wickedly as the king who ruled before him, and sometimes even worse. Finally, in the last years that Asa ruled in Judah Ahab took the throne of Israel. Now Ahab was not fit to be a king. He did more evil in the sight of the Lord than any king who had ruled before his time. Not only did he worship the golden calves which Jeroboam had made, but he married Jezebel, a wicked princess, who brought her heathen religion into his land. And Ahab built temples for her gods and went into the temples to worship the gods with her. Ahab’s wife brought much distress into the land of Israel. She was not satisfied to see her husband worshiping her idols; she wanted to destroy all the true religion out of the land. She brought many priests of Baal from her home country and commanded that all the prophets of the Lord should be killed. And her wickedness was great before the Lord.
One day Ahab was much surprized to see a strange-looking man, dressed in a hairy mantle, standing before him. This man was the prophet Elijah, and God had sent him to speak to the King of Israel. Before the King had time to ask his visitor what he wanted, Elijah said to him, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain any more in all your land until I announce it.” Then Elijah turned and walked away as suddenly as he had come.
At first Ahab paid no attention to what Elijah had spoken. But when the days began to pass and no more dew formed on the ground, Ahab remembered Elijah’s words. He sent men out to search every-where for this strange-looking prophet; but they could not find him. And Ahab grew alarmed. He knew there would be a famine in his country if there should be no more dew nor rain, so he sent to other countries, asking the kings to help him find the man who had brought trouble and sorrow upon him and upon his people.
Now God had told Elijah where to go to hide from King Ahab. And Elijah had walked rapidly away from the King’s palace to a hid-ing-place by the Brook “Cherith. Here, when the rains no longer fell, he could drink water from the Brook that trickled over the rocks at his feet. And here the birds brought bread and meat to him every morning and every evening, just as God had said they would do.
But when the days passed by and no rain fell anywhere in the land, the water of the Brook began to dry up. Elijah saw that it was not going to last much longer, and perhaps he wondered what he should do. Then, God spoke to him again and told him to leave his hiding-place and go to a heathen city called Zarephath. God said that a widow would take care of him in that city. And although Elijah had to cross through the land of Israel, he was not afraid to obey God’s voice.
Near the gate of Zarephath Elijah noticed a poorly dressed woman gathering sticks to burn. He saw by her dress that she was a widow, and he thought, “Perhaps this is the widow to whom the Lord has sent me.” So he spoke to the woman and asked her for a drink of water. Although she did not know him, the widow started into the city to get water for him to drink. Then Elijah called her and said, “Please bring me a little food also, for I am very hungry.”
Now the widow stopped and turned around to speak to the stranger who was asking for both water and food. She said, “I have no bread to give you. I have only a handful of meal and a little oil in my house, and I was picking up sticks when you came, intending to make a fire to bake my last bit of food for myself and my son before we die of hunger.”
“Do not be afraid,” said Elijah; “do just as you had planned, but first make a little cake for me and then bake cakes for yourself and for your son. For the Lord God of Israel has commanded that your barrel of meal and your bottle of oil shall not become empty as long as the famine lasts.”
The widow hurried into the city to do as Elijah had commanded, and she found that she had plenty of meal to bake three cakes instead of only two. And every day after that time she baked cakes from her handful of meal and from her little drop of oil. And always she found just enough meal and just enough oil to feed herself and her family. And she kept Elijah, the prophet, in her home for a whole year.
Now Elijah was very thankful to the poor widow who showed such kindness to him. And when one day her son took very sick, and died, Elijah felt sorry for her. She came to tell him about her trouble and said, “Oman; of God, have you come here to remind me of my sins, that I should be punished in this why?” And Elijah answered, “Give me your son.” He picked up the breathless body of the young child and carried it upstairs to the loft, where he hid himself. Then he placed the child upon his bed and prayed earnestly to God and said, “Q Lord my God, let this child’s soul come into him again.” And the Lord heard Elijah’s prayer and restored life into the child. Then Elijah took him in his arms and carried him down-stairs again to give him to his mother.
The widow was very happy when she saw that her son was alive once more. She said, “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the words of the Lord in your mouth are true words.”