The NIV 365 Day Devotional
The Widow of Zarephath
After one of his many confrontations with King Ahab and Queen Jezebel of Israel, Elijah was sent by God to hide in the Kerith Ravine, where the ravens fed him during the drought he had predicted. When the brook dried up, God instructed Elijah to go to the town of Zarephath, a small town seven miles south of Sidon on the Mediterranean coast, to stay with a widow whom he had commanded to take care of the prophet.
Among the poorest members in the society, this widow apparently had no kinsman to take care of her, and she in turn had to provide for a young son. She was facing either the wrenching heartbreak of watching her child die before her eyes or of knowing that her son would be left without love and care if she died first. As a Phoenician, she had no claim upon Israel’s God. Notice her words, “the Lord your God” (1Ki 17:12).
In spite of her despair, she still was able to feel some compassion for Elijah as she moved to get him some water. But when he also asked for a small morsel of bread, she revealed to the prophet the seriousness of her own plight: she had only a handful (not even a cup) of flour and a little bit of oil.
Elijah’s request that she make him a small cake before she prepared food for her son and herself called for a tremendous exercise of faith on the part of this Gentile woman. What elicited from her this response of faith in Elijah’s God? Was there something compelling in the tone of Elijah’s voice? Was it the desperation that she had little to lose, since one small meal was all that stood between them and starvation? Clearly she believed Elijah, did what he asked, and was rewarded for her obedience by the constant provision of flour and oil from the Lord as Elijah had promised.
This widow learned to trust God during those days. What must she have felt when her son fell ill and died, after all that miraculous provision? Why had Elijah allowed such tragedy to happen? Had she committed some sin for which her son’s death was punishment (a common belief)?
The days of trusting God for daily provision surely must have made it a bit easier to follow the prophet’s instructions. Her joy at seeing her son restored to life was crowned by a deeper degree of faith in Israel’s God, the provider for all who trust him (see Lk 4:25-26).
Taken from The NIV Woman’s Study Bible.