The Widow of Zarephath

From: Elijah the Tishbite By: William Woldridge Fereday

• 8 min. read • grade level: 9

This Zidonian woman is one of the outstanding characters in Bible history. Nearly a thousand years after her day, the Lord Jesus made public reference to her, without, however, revealing her name. But her name is as well known in heaven as that of the woman who put her two mites into Jehovah’s treasury (Luke 21:2²And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. (Luke 21:2)). In the coming day of recompense these widows will receive warm divine commendation. The widow of Zarephath will have a prophet’s reward for her care of Elijah when his life was in danger (Matt. 10:41⁴¹He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. (Matthew 10:41)). All such deeds are carefully recorded by our appreciative God. Lovers of hospitality are very agreeable to Him; and when the Son of man sits upon the throne of His glory, as in Matt. 25:31-46³¹When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: ³²And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: ³³And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ³⁵For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: ³⁶Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. ³⁷Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? ³⁸When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? ³⁹Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? ⁴⁰And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. ⁴¹Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: ⁴²For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: ⁴³I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. ⁴⁴Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? ⁴⁵Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. ⁴⁶And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:31‑46), He will praise to the uttermost those who have been kind to His needy messengers. What joy it will give to those hospitable folk to hear His voice, and what honor to be commended before the hosts of angels who will surround the throne of the King of Kings on that great day! Earth has witnessed many wonderful sights, but has seen nothing yet to be compared with the majesty described by our Lord Himself in Matt. 25

It is not given to angels to lodge the servants of their turd, although they may, and do, care for them in other ways. If we cannot now prepare a meal for the Lord Himself as Martha did, we can perhaps prepare one for some hungry man who seeks to serve Him in the Gospel of His grace. Such messengers are described in 2 Corinthians 8:23²³Whether any do inquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellowhelper concerning you: or our brethren be inquired of, they are the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ. (2 Corinthians 8:23), as “the glory of Christ.” “We therefore ought to receive such,” writes the Apostle John to his friend Gaius, “that we may be fellow-helpers to the truth” (3 John 8⁸We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth. (3 John 8)). Dear Christian reader, open your doors wide to those who go forth in the Lord’s name, and be assured that He regards loving attentions to them as done to Himself. Do not compel the preacher to say on his return home, “They received me as an angel of God. It never occurred to them that I needed food!”

To return to our Lord’s public reference to the widow of Zarephath. When He stood up in the synagogue in Nazareth, and read Isaiah 61:1-2¹The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; ²To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; (Isaiah 61:1‑2), telling the people that this Scripture was being fulfilled amongst them by His presence, they presently said contemptuously, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” The Lord warned them that such unbelief would drive the blessing of God elsewhere, and He forthwith reminded them of two notable instances when the blessing of God reached Gentiles to the passing by of the seed of Abraham. Naaman the Syrian was cleansed from his leprosy at a time when there were many lepers in Israel who had not the faith to seek healing from God. Also and the Lord was very full about this case— “I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up for three years and sip; months, when great famine was throughout all the land; but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow” (Luke 4:25-26²⁵But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; ²⁶But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. (Luke 4:25‑26)). The Lord’s way of stating the case suggests that it was a great honor that was put upon the Gentile widow; and the sequel proved that she received rich blessing from the God of Israel in one of the darkest periods of Israel’s history. This being true, Elijah has been justly called “the first Apostle to the Gentiles.” But our Lord’s mention of the widow and of Naaman in the synagogue of Nazareth only aroused the anger of the people, and they forthwith sought to kill Him. The very suggestion that God would take any notice of Gentiles (unless to destroy them) was anathema to them. Even the prophet Jonah to some extent felt similarly.

Jehovah’s instructions to Elijah at this juncture demand careful attention; they were most extraordinary, and Elijah was probably surprised when he received this fresh communication from God. He had waited patiently at Cherith until the brook dried up, confident that Jehovah would remember his need in good time. Here is the fresh word of the Lord to him: Arise, and get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there; behold, I have commanded a widow woman to sustain thee” (1 Kings 17:9⁹Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. (1 Kings 17:9)). Our God is not always pleased to explain Himself, but He expects His saints to trust Him. Philip was called away from a great work in Samaria to go down to a desert place (Acts, 8:26). As an obedient servant “he arose and went.” It is not that our God resents a humble inquiry from a perplexed messenger. Ananias of Damascus was startled to be told to call upon a man called Saul of Tarsus, and he said: “Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to Thy saints at Jerusalem; and here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on Thy name” (Acts 9:13-14¹³Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: ¹⁴And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. (Acts 9:13‑14)). This was no spirit of rebellion in Ananias; he was just surprised and perplexed, and quite frankly said so to his Lord, who answered him very graciously. What a Lord is ours! What a contrast to the petty tyrants of earth!

Elijah, when he received his instructions from Jehovah, “arose, and went to Zarephath.” He asked no questions, and made no difficulties; but surely thoughts arose in his mind! Jehovah expressly said that Zarephath “belonged to Zidon.” He was thus sending His servant outside Israel’s land for bread! When Abram went down into Egypt in a time of famine, he did wrong, and nothing but trouble came out of it (Gen. 12:10¹⁰And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. (Genesis 12:10)). When Elimelech and Naomi, with their family, went into Moab in another time of famine, they also did wrong, and they all suffered deeply for it (Ruth 1:1-5¹Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. ²And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. ³And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. ⁴And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. ⁵And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. (Ruth 1:1‑5)). On the other hand, when the Shunammite woman with whom Elisha had to do, went with her household into the land of the Philistines when bread was lacking in Israel, she did right, for she had a “thus saith the Lord” for the step that she took (2 Kings 8:1-2¹Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the Lord hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years. ²And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. (2 Kings 8:1‑2)).

In Elijah’s case, Jehovah was not merely sending him out of Israel’s land, He was sending him into the kingdom of Jezebel’s father. Israel’s calamities throughout Ahab’s reign proceeded principally from Zidon. This is the more remarkable when we go back somewhat in Scripture. Zidon— “called great Zidon” was a part of the promise to Abraham, and at the time of Joshua’s conquest, was actually allotted to Asher, but Asher never had sufficient faith and energy to extirpate the evils which had their seat there, and take possession of the city. Judges 1 is a miserable chapter of slothfulness and indifference; and Asher is specially mentioned in verses 31 and 32 as having failed to drive the Amorites out of Zidon, and various other cities. (Read also Josh. 11:8⁸And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephoth-maim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining. (Joshua 11:8) and 19:28). Let us not miss the lesson of Asher’s failure. If we do not in faith get the mastery over evils within ourselves, they will acquire terrible influence over us as the years pass.

Moreover, Jehovah said to Elijah, “I have commanded a widow woman to sustain thee.” We are accustomed to think of widows as needy persons who should be compassionately cared for by others. Yet Elijah was deliberately told by his God to place himself under a widow’s care! The prophet’s national instincts would be against going into a Gentile area; his religious instincts would lead him to abhor a hotbed of Baal-worship; and his manly instincts would cause him to shrink from being a burden upon a widow! But all who desire to serve the Lord acceptably in any age must of all things learn to be obedient. His servants must go where He sends; do what He bids; and deliver the messages that He gives them. Paul wrought in the spirit of this; and at a time when the dealings of God with him in service were somewhat strange, he said; “Thanks be unto God, who always leadeth us in triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place” (2 Cor. 2:14¹⁴Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. (2 Corinthians 2:14)). He felt that he was just a captive in the Lord’s hands, being led hither and thither as seemed good in His sight; but the chains were chains of love, and all the leadings were in perfect wisdom. So long as he was unto God a sweet savor of Christ, it mattered nothing to him what form the service might take, nor where that service might be rendered. Troas, Corinth—all were alike to him if it was the will of God. But oh, the grace that can transform a ravening wolf into “a sweet savor of Christ!”

“To God be the glory;

Great things He hath done!”

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