OLD TESTAMENT 31
D
uring the time of the prophet Elijah, God
becomes incensed by Israel’sruler, Ahab,
who has encouraged the worship of an-
other religion, according to the Book of
Kings. Elijah warns Ahab that his nation
will suffer because of his actions and that soon a terrible
drought will descend on Israel. After his message is de-
livered, Elijah hears the voice of God instructing him to
retreat to a secluded spot by the brook Cherith, near the
river Jordan, and stay there. The prophet obeys, sustaining
himself on water from the brook and the divine provision
of bread and meat, brought to him by ravens each morning
and night.
When the brook dries up, Elijah again follows God’s
word and travels to the home of a widow in the city of Za-
rephath. Weary from the journey, he asks the woman for
a drink of water and a little bit of bread. “As the Lord God
lives,” she replies, “I have nothing baked,
only a handful of meal in a jar and a lit-
tle oil in a jug.” She has been planning
to use these ingredients in a final meal
for herself and her little boy before they
succumb to starvation.
Elijah tells the woman to make hercake as she has intended and to bring it to him; then she
is to make another for herself and her child, “For thus says
the Lord God of Israel: ‘The jar of meal will not be emptied
and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord
sends rain on the earth.’”
Marveling, the widow prepares one cake—and then an-
other, and another. Elijah remains her guest for many days,
and the stores of flour and oil never run low. But the widow’s
happiness is short-lived: Her young son falls gravely ill and
dies. She blames Elijah for the death of her boy.
Elijah feels responsible. He carries the child’s body to
an upper room, lays it upon the bed, and calls out to God in
agony, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even
upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her
son?” He stretches his own body across the little corpse
three times and begs for a miracle. “Oh Lord my God,” Eli-
jah cries, “Let this child’s life come into him again.” God
hears the prayers of his faithful prophet
and breathes life back into the little boy,
whom Elijah returns safely to his moth-
er. She rejoices at her son’s resurrection.
“Now I know that you are a man of God,”
she tells Elijah, “and that the word of the
Lord in your mouth is truth.” ▪DEATHUNDONE
LET THIS
CHILD LIVE
After the prophet Elijah performs a life-sustaining miracle,
he must turn to God to reverse a tragic death that followsTHE BOTTOMLESS JAR
Elijah Resuscitating the Son
of the Widow of Sareptaby
Louis Hersent (1777–1860).
God responded to his servant
Elijah’s prayer and brought the
boy back to life.