#2: The Widow of Zarephath
I Kings 17:7 – 12
Sitting 20 miles north of the ancient city of Tyre and along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea was the famous capital city of Sidon*. The tribe of Asher was supposed to have Sidon as its northern border, which would also have been the northwestern border of Israel had Asher conquered the land (Joshua 19:28).
Sidon is notable in the book of Kings for at least three reasons: 1) It is a city notorious for its idol worship.** The king not only served Baal but took the name Ethbaal which means “with Baal”; 2) Jezebel, the notoriously wicked wife of Israel’s king Ahab, was the daughter of Ethbaal of Sidon; and 3) it is to Zarephath, a town of Sidon, that God sent the prophet Elijah (7:9).
Often God’s manner of provision for His people changes. The brook of water that satisfied Elijah’s thirst dried up. Consider all the changes in your own life in recent weeks. God did not forget Elijah and God does not forget you. Instead, God had another calling for His servant – to go to the Gentile city of Zarephath, where he would minister to and be ministered to by a widow. There in Gentile Zarephath, God had commanded a woman to care for Elijah’s needs (17:9-12).
The interaction between Elijah and the widow is remarkable in light of verse 12. The woman is not merely going about her routine to care for her family but she is gathering sticks to build a fire, prepare a meal for herself and her son, “and die.”
This widow was on her last meal. She was not begging bread of others, for presumably they had none to spare. She was not complaining about her situation, she was simply going to gather sticks one last time, make one last meal, and with her son wait for the cruel death by starvation. In spite of this terrible distress, when Elijah the prophet of God asked her for some water, she went to get it for him.
What amazing faith this widow had in the Lord God! No matter her circumstances she would still treat a stranger with kindness. She had faith that the Lord would provide. Even if she and her son were to die, they would die serving the Lord faithfully. The woman turns away to bring the water and Elijah gives her a further test. “Bring me a morsel of bread…”
Perhaps this reminds you of another woman of Sidon, a Syrophoenician by birth who came to Jesus in Mark 7:24-30 because her daughter was possessed by a demon. Like the widow of Zarephath, the woman in Mark confessed her low estate and pleaded with the Lord for even the crumbs of His grace to be given to her daughter. In testimony of her faith and the Lord’s mercy, Jesus heals the woman’s daughter.
Are you experiencing changes in God’s provision today? Are you doubting God’s faithfulness through this period? The Lord uses Elijah and the widow of Zarephath to teach us that the Lord our God is a faithful God. He does not leave His children or forsake them, so trust Him and be always ready to serve Him even in the difficult times you are now facing. “For the Scripture says, Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame” (Rom. 10:11).
*Some translations spell the Hebrew word as “Zidon” instead of “Sidon.” They refer to the same place. In the present day, Sidon is a small town in Lebanon.
**Idol worship was not new to Sidon in the days of Ahab nor was it a new thing for Israelites to be attracted to their idols. All the way back in Judges, “the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon…” (Judges 10:6)
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