1 Kings 17:8-24
The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 1 Thess. 4:16.
WHERE did God tell Elijah to go when the brook was dried up? He told him to go a great way off to a place where a poor widow lived, who would give him food. You know that a widow is a woman, who has lost her husband. Widows are generally poor, because they have no husbands to work for them: but this widow was very poor indeed, because, since there had been no rain, people could get very little food to eat, and so little corn grew in the fields.
But Elijah went where God told him. He went all across the land of Canaan, till he came to a town, just outside Canaan. Now the people who lived in this town were heathen people, and worshipped idols.
When Elijah was come to the gate of the town, he saw a poor woman gathering sticks, and Elijah knew that she was the widow who was to give him food: and Elijah called to her, and said, 'Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a cup, that I may drink.'
I do not wonder that Elijah was thirsty, for he had walked a long way, and there was now very little water in the land of Canaan.
Now this widow was so kind that she was going to fetch the water for Elijah. Then Elijah called to her again, and said, 'Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.'
Then the poor widow said, 'I have not got any bread; I have only a handful of flour in a barrel, and a little oil in a jar; and I was just gathering some sticks, that I might make a fire, and make the flour and oil into a little cake, that I and my son may eat it; and as we have no more food, when we have eaten it we must die.'
Would Elijah take all the poor widow's food? God had told Elijah what to say.
Elijah said to the widow, 'Go and make a little cake for me first, and afterward make one for you and your son: for God has said that there shall always be some flour in your barrel, and some oil in your jar, till He sends rain again upon the earth.'
What a wonderful promise this was! Did the widow believe it? Yes, she did. She went and made a fire, and mixed the flour and oil together, and made some bread for Elijah, and then she made some for herself and her son; and still there was flour in the barrel, and oil in the jar; and every day she found enough flour and oil to make bread for them all.
Elijah came and lived with this poor widow: he lived in a room upstairs in her house. I think it was a very small house. This widow found it was a good thing to have such a man as Elijah in the house. Why was it such a good thing? Because God made the flour and oil last. Besides this, Elijah could teach this poor woman about God; for you know that she had been brought up to worship idols.
Elijah loved God, and wished all people to love Him.
Now, you shall hear of a very sad thing that happened to this poor woman. One day her son, who was a little boy, fell sick, and he was so very sick that he died, and there was no breath left in him. The poor widow was very unhappy. She knew that God had let him die, and she thought that God was angry with her; and she wished that Elijah had not come to her house; and she went to Elijah, and spoke angrily to him. It was very ungrateful of her to behave in this manner. Then Elijah said, 'Give me thy son.'
Now, the widow was holding the dead child in her arms, and Elijah took the child in his own arms, and carried him to his own room, and laid him on his bed. Then Elijah began to pray to God. 'O Lord my God,' he said, 'hast Thou made this sad thing happen to the widow I live with? Hast thou killed her son?
Then Elijah stretched himself upon the child as it lay dead: he did so three times, and he prayed to God, saying, 'O Lord my God, I pray Thee let this child's soul come into him again.'
And the Lord heard Elijah's prayer; and He let the child's soul come into him again, and then the child was alive again. Then it was warm, and it breathed. O how glad Elijah must have been! How kind it was of God to hear Elijah's prayer! In this way God let the poor widow know that Elijah's God was the true God, and could make people live. Elijah took the child in his arms, and brought him downstairs, and gave him to his mother again, and said to her, `See, thy son is alive.'
Was she now angry with Elijah? O no. `Now,' said she, 'I see that you are a man of God, and that all you tell me about God is true.'
Now I hope the widow believed all that Elijah said, and I hope she loved the God Who had been so very kind to her and given her food, and made her child alive again.
God still hears people when they pray: but he does not always make children alive again; but He will make you alive again, dear child, when the last trumpet sounds, if you love Him. Some day perhaps your body will be laid in the ground, and then I hope your soul will be with God; and when Christ comes in the clouds, and the trumpet sounds, then your body will rise from the grave: and your soul and body will be joined together again. O what a happy day that will be!
Questions on Lesson 25
Was the widow, who fed Elijah, a heathen or an Israelite?
What food had she in her house?
What promise did Elijah make to her if she would feed him?
Did the woman believe this promise?
Why was the widow angry with Elijah?
How did Elijah show the widow that his God was the true God?
When will dead people be made to live again?