Bible Study 1 Kings 17
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1 Kings 17 · WEB

Elijah the Prophet: Drought, Ravens, and the Widow of Zarephath

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Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except according to my word."
2Yahweh's word came to him, saying,
3"Go away from here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan.
4It shall be that you will drink from the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there."
5So he went and did according to the word of Yahweh; for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan.
6The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.
7After a while, the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
8Yahweh's word came to him, saying,
9"Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you."
10So he arose and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and said, "Please get me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink."
11As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."
12She said, "As Yahweh your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in the jar and a little oil in the flask. Behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die."
13Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go and do as you have said; but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it out to me, and afterward make some for you and for your son.
14For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'The jar of meal will not run out, and the flask of oil will not fail, until the day that Yahweh sends rain on the earth.'"
15She went and did according to the saying of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate many days.
16The jar of meal didn't run out, neither did the flask of oil fail, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke by Elijah.
17After these things, the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.
18She said to Elijah, "What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to memory and to kill my son?"
19He said to her, "Give me your son." He took him out of her bosom, carried him up into the upper room where he lived, and laid him on his own bed.
20He cried to Yahweh, and said, "Yahweh my God, have you also brought evil on the widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?"
21He stretched himself on the child three times, and cried to Yahweh, and said, "Yahweh my God, please let this child's soul come into him again."
22Yahweh listened to the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
23Elijah took the child, brought him down out of the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, "Behold, your son lives."
24The woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that Yahweh's word in your mouth is truth."
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Summary

Elijah bursts onto the scene of Kings with a dramatic word to Ahab: there will be no rain except at his word. God then hides him by the brook Cherith, where ravens bring him food twice daily — until the brook dries up. He is then sent north to Zarephath (in Phoenicia, Jezebel's home territory) where a destitute widow in her last extremity is commanded to feed him. Her flour and oil miraculously do not run out. When her son dies, Elijah prays over him and God restores him to life, prompting the widow's confession: the word in Elijah's mouth is truth.

Themes

  • God's provision in extreme conditions — ravens, a widow's oil, resurrection
  • The prophet hidden and sustained before his public confrontation
  • Grace extended to a foreigner while Israel suffers judgment
  • The word of God confirmed by power over life and death

Key verses

  • 1 Kgs 17:1 — “As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except according to my word.”
  • 1 Kgs 17:14 — “The jar of meal will not run out, and the flask of oil will not fail, until the day that Yahweh sends rain on the earth.”
  • 1 Kgs 17:24 — “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that Yahweh's word in your mouth is truth.”

Context & background

Elijah appears with no introduction except that he was a Tishbite from Gilead — a wild, eastern region across the Jordan (modern northern Jordan). The drought he announced was a direct assault on Baal, who was worshiped as the storm god who controlled rain — Yahweh demonstrating his superiority over the god Jezebel had imported. Cherith Brook was likely a seasonal wadi east of the Jordan. Zarephath (modern Sarafand, Lebanon) was a Phoenician city between Tyre and Sidon — Jezebel's home territory — which makes God's choice of it as Elijah's refuge shockingly counterintuitive. Jesus later cited this episode (Luke 4:25-26) to argue that God's grace was never limited to Israel. The resurrection of the widow's son is the first recorded resurrection in scripture.

Cross-references

  • 1 Kgs 18:1 — The drought ends at God's command after three years
  • 2 Kgs 4:32-35 — Elisha performs a similar resurrection of the Shunammite's son, modeling himself on Elijah
  • Deut 11:17 — God warned that covenant unfaithfulness would result in shutting up the heavens — now literally happening
  • James 5:17-18 — James cites Elijah's prayer as a model for the effective prayer of a righteous person
  • Luke 4:25-26 — Jesus cites the widow of Zarephath as evidence that God's grace reaches beyond Israel

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  1. Observe

    Where did God send Elijah to hide first, and how was he fed there?

  2. Observe

    What was the widow of Zarephath's situation when Elijah arrived, and what did he ask her to do?

  3. Interpret

    Why is it significant that God sent Elijah to Zarephath in Sidon, of all places?

  4. Interpret

    What does the widow's confession after the resurrection (v. 24) — but not after the miraculous food — suggest about what produces genuine faith?

  5. Apply

    What does the widow's obedience to give her last meal first teach us about trust in God's word?

  6. Apply

    How does Elijah's bold, questioning prayer over the dead child (v. 20) instruct our own prayer life?

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