1 Kings 17
A women, who lived in a city near to the land of Israel, had used nearly all her food. It was a time of famine, because there had been no rain to make the grain grow. The woman’s husband was dead, and she was too poor to buy more. She decided to make a fire and mix the last of her meal with a little oil she had, and cook it for her little boy and herself to eat. After that she thought they must starve and die.
So the woman went out near the gate of the city to find some sticks of wood. While she was picking up the sticks, a man, who had come a long way, asked her to get him a drink of water. This man was Elijah whom God had told to come to this place to keep him safe from King Ahab who was very angry at him.
The woman started for the water and Elijah asked her if she could bring him a little bread also. Then she told him that all the food she had was one handful of meal and a little oil which she was just going to bake in a little cake for her boy and herself to eat.
Elijah told her to bake a little cake for him, and then to make one for her boy and for herself. He said for her to “Fear not”, that the Lord had said her meal and oil should last until rain came to give food in the land.
The people of that city worshiped idols, and were not a part of Israel, but the woman had heard of the true God and, perhaps, of Elijah, and that he was a prophet of God, for she spoke of “thy Lord”, but she did not call God, “her Lord”. But when she heard His promise that her meal should last, she believed it: she built a fire, mixed a cake from her handful of meal and a little oil, and baked it for Elijah and then one for herself and her child. Was her meal all gone? No, there was meal and oil left for the next day. Perhaps it was not easy to give the stranger the cake before her child, and she gave him also a room where he could stay, but she was well repaid by God.
Then each day for many days, she made cakes of the meal and oil for Elijah and her boy and herself. Yet her meal barrel was not empty nor the oil from the bottle! This seems even more wonderful to us than for the ravens to carry-food to Elijah. God can do what we cannot understand.
Afterward that woman saw still greater power by God: her little boy became very sick and grew worse, until his life was gone from him. The poor mother was in the greatest sorrow. She cried to Elijah and he felt very sad also. He took the child in his arms, carried him up the stairs to his low room above, and laid him on his bed.
Then Elijah prayed God to give life again to the boy. God did so, and Elijah carried him down stairs to his mother, saying, “See, thy son liveth!” How happy she must have been! Then she told Elijah that she was sure all he said was true and from God, so surely after that she must have prayed to God instead of to idols.
ML 02/26/1939