Elijah and The Widow

This article isn’t exactly original with me (well, which of them are, really). But in this case, it is actually something I heard when a friend of mine was speaking to a church; I felt the message was so pertinent to today’s time that it should be recorded. I therefore have been inspired to write a few articles on the life of Elijah, beginning with this one, and with perhaps one or two to follow it. In the life of this prophet we see more clearly than almost any other the working-out of those two most precious messages for our time: the Victory over sin and the matter of the Trademark Apostasy.

n 1 Kings, Chapters 17 and 18, we have the story of a man named Elijah, who received a special message for a king named Ahab. This ruler had fallen into gross and open idolatry, and it is said of him he “did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.” (1 Kings 16:33) A heavy charge indeed.

As punishment, and in an attempt to return the king’s heart to the Father, Elijah prayed that no rain should fall upon the soil of the kingdom until such a time as a second prayer would release it. This was granted, according to the will of the Lord, and a drought resulted. Knowing that the wrath of the evil ruler would fall not upon God (who had been the one to withhold the rain for the sake of bringing about repentance), but upon the messenger, Yah commanded that His prophet leave inhabited areas and live for a time in the wilderness. This he did, and was provided for abundantly, while the rest of the land suffered under the results of the king’s sins.

When the time was right, Elijah was commanded to leave his place of safety and return to the people of the kingdom. First, however, he was to receive something of a period of training to prepare him for the dangers that lay ahead of him. Coming in his wanderings upon the dwelling place of a woman who was living alone except for her son, he approached her and said to her, “Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” Moreover, as she was going to get the water, he added, “Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.” (1 Kings 17:10, 11)

The widow, in her response to Elijah’s request, showed that she had just about given up on life. She declared that they had only enough food for perhaps another paltry meal before death overtook them. So much had the land suffered for Ahab’s great sins that in many places the people of Yah were starving to death and falling into a fatal despair. But Elijah told the woman not to fear, to make food for herself and her son, but FIRST to make provision for him, because the supply would not run short, though it seemed but little.

What a test this was for the widow! She was lamenting already over the little she had, and now she had to provide for this unknown wanderer first? She had to provide for the needs of this strange man before her own son? And yet, she saw in Elijah the presence of the Holy Spirit, and perceived that the authority of the Father rested upon him. Most importantly, though, she trusted him, and the faith that he had in the provisions of their all loving Provider, and she did as he said.

And because of her faith, “the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which He spake by Elijah.” (1 Kings 17:16) This story already has GREAT significance for believers this day, but the next event which took place will make the lesson even more clear, and so I will tell of this also before going back to look at the principles at work here.

Verse 17 in chapter 18 of 1 Kings says that after some time of living under this miraculous provision by Yah, the widow’s son became severely ill, and died. Although they had been daily witnessing the blessings provided by the inexhaustible supply of grain and oil for food, the widow was quick to assign blame to the Lord’s messenger, saying to Elijah, “Art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?” (1 Kings 17:18) This was the purpose for which Elijah’s return to the confrontation with Ahab had been delayed.

It was not only the wicked king who considered Elijah an enemy, but also his heathen queen Jezebel, whose worship of the demon then calling himself Baal quickly led Ahab himself to this awful idolatry. Under his wife’s influence, the faltering monarch had erected altars to the false god, and dedicated groves for his worship. Moreover, Jezebel had personally set out to ensure that Baal was the only god of the kingdom, and had ordered the death of all of the prophets of Yah.

Against this great danger, Elijah would need to be carefully prepared, and as is His best way of dealing with potential problems, Yah placed his servant in a situation where any flaws in character that would be a restriction to the safety and example to be set by the individual would reveal itself. Sure enough, Elijah revealed a tiny blemish when he prayed, “O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?”

Yes, even Elijah, who eventually came to know the Father so clearly that he needed not even taste death, but was taken up to Heaven directly – even He did not fully understand the nature of Yah perfectly well just yet. For truly, would He preserve their lives for so long only to arbitrarily kill off the woman’s only son? In the book of Job we have a clear enough explanation of why “bad things happen to good people,” and this prophet would need to learn this also, before he was to be considered “perfect.”

But here is shown something significant also – to misunderstand is not to sin. To not know is not fatal, if one’s character is true, and one’s motive is sincere. For indeed, one of the greatest miracles ever performed by Yah through the instrument of a man was brought forth. Taking the boy’s body up into a room, the servant of the Most High prayed earnestly that the young man be restored back to life. Stretching himself out over the lifeless figure three times, Elijah prayed with sincere and utter trust, and the child was restored to life.

Returning downstairs, Elijah restored the child to his mother, who had been so devastated by the event she had not even the presence of mind to follow the traveler upstairs when he took the body of her son with him. She said to him, overwhelmed with awe and joy, “Now by this I know thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.” (1 Kings 17:24) It seems as if the daily supply of never-ending food had not been enough to convince her of the divine authority that Elijah had come to represent. But here we see the infinite pity and mercy of our Father, stooping to the lowest depths of patience to ensure that we have enough evidence upon which to base our faith. He will have intelligent service, rendered unto Him by faithful children out of love only – not by fear or by tradition or any such thing. Our Father would rather we die than to become slaves to these awful things.

But now I will show you the parallel here. Do we not see in the mourning widow the servants of Christ that were left behind when He lay three days dead in the tomb? Christ had been with them for three and a half hears, being their never-ending supply of blessings, and yet, when He died, they were thrown into despair. More than this, Yahshua had repeatedly told them of His coming self-sacrifice, and had tried to prepare them as well as they would allow themselves to be prepared for their great trial. How happy they had been when their beloved Teacher had been restored to them! If His constant love and wisdom, if His perfect character was not evidence enough of His divinity, they would have His resurrection as the final, decisive proof.

Notice also that it had been said, “Elias must first come.” (Matthew 17:10, Mark 9:11) Before Christ would arrive, an “Elijah-person” would come to prepare His way. The spirit of this great prophet was seen mirrored in the mission of the fiery and dynamic John the Baptist. As Christ explained, “Elijah” had indeed come first, and made his path straight. But, that is not the only application of this teaching!

The Bride of Christ is a widow now, you see. In these days of so much compromise with the world... the principles of Heaven are often left out of churches. Soft messages, appeals to emotion rather than intellect, feelings rather than faith, in all of this, the Son of God may as well be truly dead. For all that many of the churches rely on His true power, for as little as they grasp the true meaning of the word “Christian,” many are widows indeed. But before Christ shall return to gather His children, we are again promised an “Elijah-people” to prepare His way.

These people, these faithful ones, will be remnants (seed) of the true and original woman (church), and will “keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Revelation 12:17) By this testimony, by this true and clear revelation of His character in their lives, these loyal few will restore the Son to the widow, and will declare, “thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15:57) By a putting away of sin, by rejoicing when trials come upon us to reveal our faults, by accepting the atoning blood of the Redeemer, we become the “Elijah People” for these last days, preparing the way of our Lord, and hastening His return, so that all will finally be set right, and Creation can rest from its groanings.

The name Elijah (Eli-Yah as it was pronounced in Hebrew) comes from the union of two very important words: Eloi (Lord) and Yah (I AM, the name given to Moses by which to call the Father). The combination therefore means “The Lord is Yah,” or “Yah is my God.” The “EliYah-people,” then, will have no other God but the Father as revealed through the Son. They will have the Letter and the Spirit of the principles of Heaven, and by this, they will put away all doubts and defects of character, just as the original Elijah did, and will so perfectly reflect the nature of God that they will declare, as Christ did, “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

They will so clearly demonstrate the love of Christ to the world that they will indeed have restored the resurrected child to the grieving widow, and there will be rejoicing forevermore. “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:3)

David.