CHAPTER 17

(910 B.C.)

THE ENTRANCE OF THE PROPHET ELIJAH

¹And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead (his name means God is Jehovah; he is considered one of the greatest of the Prophets; he is brought on the scene by the Holy Spirit without fanfare, and even without introduction), said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel lives, before Whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. (The idolatrous priests no doubt claimed for Baal dominion over nature and absolute control over the clouds and rain; however, Elijah would portray the fact that it was Jehovah Who ordered the elements, and not Baal. The impotency of Baal to remove the ban would prove the impotency of their god and their claims.)

THE RAVENS FEED ELIJAH

²And the Word of the LORD came unto him, saying (in all this which he did, Elijah was guided by the Word of the Lord, which cannot fail),

³Get you hence, and turn you eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan (Cherith means separation; even though Elijah was in Israel, which at the time was notoriously wicked, he was separate from its impurity, which the Lord intended; as Believers, we are to be in the world, but not of the world).

⁴And it shall be, that you shall drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there (as the Lord had total control over the elements, as well, He had total control over the fowls of the heavens, which He had created and, in fact, He has control over everything; when we tap into His Resources, we are tapping into an unlimited supply).

⁵So he went and did according unto the Word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

⁶And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook (to deny this is to deny the fact that God has total control over His Creation).

⁷And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land (as to exactly how long this was, we arent told; it is almost positive, however, that it was more than two years that the Prophet dwelt there).

ELIJAH RAISES THE WIDOWS SON

⁸And the Word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

⁹Arise, get you to Zarephath, which belongs to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain you (this woman was a Gentile, and, as we shall see, she was also poverty stricken; Jesus mentioned this incident [Lk. 4:25-26]).

¹⁰So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray you, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink (even though this woman was a Gentile and, therefore, not a part of the Covenant of Abraham, it must have been that she had turned her back on the heathen gods which she had previously worshipped, and had now called on Jehovah, the God of Israel; irrespective as to where it is, or from whom it comes, God will always honor Faith).

¹¹And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray you, a morsel of bread in your hand (what Elijah knew at this point, we arent told; however, the Lord was about to test her, just as He tests all of us).

¹²And she said, As the LORD your God lives (notice, she subscribed Jehovah to Elijah, and not to herself; she had not been serving Jehovah, but rather heathen idols; but things are about to change), I have not a cake (a piece of bread), but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die (as is obvious, her situation was desperate!).

¹³And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as you have said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for you and for your son. (This was her test. What would she do? A great lesson is taught here. The economy of the Lord was about to be introduced to this woman. The world says, Give to me first, and then maybe Ill give something back to you. However, the Lord says, Give to Me first, whatever it is you have, however meager it might be, at least if it represents your best, and then I will give back to you.)

¹⁴For thus says the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the Earth. (The woman now had the Promise before her. Would she believe it and act upon it? Or would she reject it? Thank God, she believed the Promise, and acted accordingly.

To be sure, that Promise given by the Holy Spirit through Elijah so long, long ago is just as apropos today as it was then. If we seek first the Kingdom of God, and His Righteousness; then all of these things shall be added unto us [Mat. 6:33].)

¹⁵And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days (her house refers to her relatives, and possibly even her friends; no matter how much meal she took out of the barrel, or how much oil was taken from the cruse, as much or more remained; once again, please allow me to state that this is a Law of God, which applies even now, at least for those who will dare to believe Him).

¹⁶And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the Word of the LORD, which He spoke by Elijah (having received a Prophet in the name of a Prophet, she received a Prophets reward [Mat. 10:41-42]).

¹⁷And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him (he was dead!).

¹⁸And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with you, O you man of God? are you come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son? (Whenever the Lord moves mightily, as He did here, Satan will then attack. This means that the second trial of Faith is oftentimes harder than the first trial. But please remember: all of it, irrespective of the course it might take, is a test of our Faith.)

¹⁹And he said unto her, Give me your son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. (Elijah laid the corpse upon his own bed. Why did the Prophet take the boy to his own personal room, afforded him by the widow? It was done as a token to show that his presence in her house was definitely a blessing and not a curse.)

²⁰And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, have You also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son? (Elijah proclaims the fact that God controls all things, and especially life and death.)

²¹And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray you, let this childs soul come into him again. (Again, this shows that the boy was dead. Why three times? The Lord evidently told him to do this. It actually had nothing to do with the miracle which transpired, but was rather to symbolically portray the Triune God God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.)

²²And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived (recovered, and did so instantly!).

²³And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, your son lives. (Death had been suspended by and through the barrel of meal and the cruse of oil not failing, and now, again, it had been suspended by being miraculously dismissed [Jn. 10:10].)

²⁴And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the Word of the LORD in your mouth is truth (presents a statement of Faith far greater than the present miracle; this Gentile woman is exclaiming the fact that Israels God is now her God).