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and it will be that you shall 
drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed 
you there.' So he went and did according to the word of the 
Lord. For he went and stayed by the brook Kareth, which flows 
into the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread 
and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, 
and he drank from the brook. And it happened after a while 
that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the 
land. Then the word of the Lord came to him saying, arise, go 
to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, 
I have commanded a widow there to provide for you. So he arose 
and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate 
of the city, indeed, a widow was there gathering sticks. And 
he called to her and said, please bring me a little water and a 
cup that I may drink. And as she was going to get it, 
he called to her and said, please bring me a morsel of bread in 
your hand. So she said, as the Lord your 
God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a 
bin and a little oil in a jar. And see, I am gathering a couple 
of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my 
son, that we may eat it and die. And Elijah said to her, Do not 
fear, go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from 
it first, and bring it to me, and afterward make some for yourself 
and your son. For thus says the Lord God of 
Israel, The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the 
jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the 
earth. So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah. 
And she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of 
flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according 
to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Elijah. Now it happened 
after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house 
became sick, and his sickness was so serious that there was 
no breath left in him. So she said to Elijah, what have 
I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring 
my sin to remembrance and to kill my son? And he said to her, 
Give me your son. So he took him out of her arms 
and carried him to the upper room where he was staying and 
laid him on his own bed. Then he cried out to the Lord 
and said, O Lord my God, have you also brought tragedy on the 
widow with whom I lodge by killing her son? And he stretched himself 
out on the child three times and cried out to the Lord and 
said, O Lord my God, I pray, let this child's soul come back 
to him. Then the Lord heard the voice 
of Elijah, and the soul of the child came back to him, and he 
revived. And Elijah took the child and 
brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave 
him to his mother. And Elijah said, See, your son 
lives. Then the woman said to Elijah, 
Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word 
of the Lord in your mouth is the truth. Amen. So here specifically 
we see the emphasis is upon Elijah, a prophet in the northern kingdom 
at the time of Ahab. And as I said earlier, the focus 
of the narrative will be on these two men primarily until the end 
of chapter 22 after Ahab dies, the scene shifts to Jehoshaphat, 
who is a southern king, and then when we get to 2 Kings 1, we 
see the death of Elijah there in chapters 1 and 2. So Elijah 
is a very important figure in redemptive history. Just to quote 
a man by the name of House, Paul House, he says, without question, 
Elijah is one of the most distinctive and diversely talented individuals 
in the Bible. He is a prophet, preacher, political 
reformer, and miracle worker all at the same time. At the 
heart of this multifaceted man, though, rests one overriding 
conviction. Elijah hates Baalism as much 
as Jezebel loves the cult. And he desires to magnify Yahweh 
over Baal and defeat the interloping religion once and for all. And 
I think that is a good description. That's his purpose at this particular 
time, is to oppose Baalism, to oppose idolatry in all of its 
forms, and to oppose the government or political oppression that 
has come as a result of Ahab's turning to Baal rather than to 
Yahweh. So this chapter breaks down into 
three particular sections. First, there is the prediction 
of drought in verse 1. Secondly, the provision for the 
prophet in verses 2 to 16. And then thirdly, the power of 
God in verses 17 to 24. Now that's not to suggest the 
power of God isn't present prior to that, but it's directly connected 
to the raising of this widow's dead son. But note in the first 
place, with reference to the prediction of drought, as I said 
earlier, this is the divine response to a wicked king. Just back up 
for a moment to chapter 16, just to get a bit of a refresher on 
just who this king Ahab was. It says in verse 29, in the 38th 
year of Asa, king of Judah, Ahab, the son of Omri, became king 
over Israel. And Ahab, the son of Omri, reigned 
over Israel in Samaria 22 years. Now Ahab the son of Omri did 
evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before 
him. And it came to pass as though 
it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam 
the son of Nebat. So he outshines even Jeroboam 
the son of Nebat in terms of wickedness. And then it gives 
a particular application of this, or illustration, in who he chose 
as a bride. Notice in the middle of verse 
31, that he took as wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king 
of the Sidonians, and he went and served Baal and worshipped 
him. So here you have the reigning king in Israel marrying this 
woman who's absolutely wicked. As we move through the rest of 
1 Kings, this woman is a terrible human being and oftentimes is 
the impetus behind Ahab. Ahab's a wretch to begin with, 
but Jezebel is something of the power behind the wretch. So he 
goes and he worships Baal and serves him. But notice that's 
not enough. In verse 32, it says, then he, 
this is Ahab, set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, 
which he had built in Samaria. So within the confines of Israel, 
the persons or the people that belong in a peculiar way to Yahweh, 
king of Israel, you see that Ahab sets up a temple and an 
altar for the worship of Baal. It goes on in verse 33, and Ahab 
made a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the 
Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were 
before him. And then notice in chapter 17 
at verse 1, and Elijah the Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead 
said to Ahab, He just drops onto the pages of Scripture, as it 
were, out of nowhere. There's no introduction, there's 
no genealogy, there's no statement concerning his father or his 
mother, where he went to school, the kind of family life that 
he enjoyed. He just suddenly appears on the scene as God's 
response to the wickedness that is Ahab. One particular commentator 
makes this observation. He says, For to see Elijah appear 
thus, i.e. so suddenly, reminds us that 
we need not despair when we see great movements of evil achieving 
spectacular success on this earth. For we may be sure that God in 
unexpected places, has already prepared his counter-movement. 
God has always His ways of working underground to undermine the 
stability of evil. God can raise men for His service 
from nowhere. Therefore, the situation is never 
hopeless where God is concerned. Whenever evil flourishes, it 
is always a superficial flourish. For at the height of the triumph 
of evil, God will be there, ready with His man and His movement 
and His plans to ensure that His own cause will never fail." 
I think that's a very good description of the arrival of Elijah smack 
dab in this particular context. Prior to Ahab, you had a bunch 
of real winners in the northern kingdom. Omri, who made Samaria 
the political capital. You had Zimri, who reigned for 
only seven days. You had Elah, who was drinking 
himself drunk when he was assassinated. So it was a time of tumult and 
turmoil and great apostasy in the land of Israel. And Elijah 
the Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead said to Ahab, We note 
the divine presence with his prophet. I love the statement 
in verse 1 as Elijah describes it. As the Lord God of Israel 
lives before whom I stand. Now he is standing before King 
Ahab, but he's operating in concert with the living and the true 
God. before the Lord or before whom I stand." It's a truly remarkable 
statement concerning God's presence with God's man in opposition 
to a rebel king that needs to be put down. And then notice 
the prophet's prayer for the intervention of God. It's a bit 
ambiguous. Notice that he says, "...there 
shall not be dew nor rain these years except at my word." He 
doesn't say that God sent me to tell you this. Rather, it 
was indeed the prayer of Elijah. James chapter 5 tells us, that 
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly 
that it would not rain. And it did not rain on the land 
for three years and six months. So Elijah prays to bring the 
judgment of God, and it is indeed in accordance with the will of 
God. And this was a proper response to idolatry in the land. Deuteronomy 
11 and the curses of the covenant in Deuteronomy 28 indicate that 
when the nation of Israel goes a whoring from God, when they 
turn to idols, then it would be the case that God would indeed 
bring drought. There would be no rain, there 
would be no fertility, there would be no growth, there would 
be no bounty or benefit, and this is a legitimate and a just 
punishment. If men turn their back upon the 
living and the true God, God will indeed send judgment, and 
He promised to do so in Deuteronomy chapter 28, and that is precisely 
what Elijah says is going to be the case with reference to 
Israel at this time. Now, this was indeed a direct 
assault upon Baal. Remember that Baal was the storm 
god. Baal was in charge of sending 
rain. So you see, when Elijah says, 
there shall not be dew nor rain these years except at my word, 
he is directly attacking the false god or the idol Baal. Now, he was indeed responsible 
for this. Now, of course we know that life, 
God's universe, is seasonal. There are rainy seasons and there 
are non-rainy seasons. How do you think they coped under 
the storm god Baal during the dry seasons? Well, the Baal apologists 
had to explain that there were certain periods of the year, 
vis-à-vis the dry seasons, where Maat, the god of death, would 
overcome Baal. And then Baal's sister, a goddess 
named Ainat, assisted by another goddess, would fetch Baal out 
of the underworld, and then Aenad would bring judgment to bear 
upon Maat. I know it sounds bizarre, and 
I know it sounds odd, but this is the kind of thing that was 
happening during the reign of Ahab. And it's bad enough that 
the pagans subscribe to this. It's bad enough that the Canaanites 
bowed to Baal and to Maat and to Aenad and all the other pantheon 
that they had, but when we see Ahab, The leader of Israel plunging 
the nation down into that same cesspit of idolatry, it truly 
is shocking. And it truly is an affront to 
the living and the true God. And so you see this particular 
judgment, there shall not be dew nor rain these years except 
at my word, is particularly fitted to bring shame to the name of 
Baal. to show him and to demonstrate 
and to highlight the reality that Baal is not God. This will 
be the grand contest in chapter 18. In fact, 17.1 prepares the 
stage for the contest at Carmel in chapter 18. What we have in 
17.2-24 is to show us the early ministry of Elijah, to show us 
that he is indeed God's man, for God's hour to confirm and 
authenticate the reality that Yahweh sent him. So that when 
we get to Mount Carmel in chapter 18, the contest is between Yahweh 
or Baal. Probably a lot of Israelites 
would have liked to have Yahweh and Baal, but this is why Elijah 
the prophet says, choose you this day, whom you will serve. 
If Baal is God, then serve him. If Yahweh is God, then serve 
him. Remember that when this idolatry was introduced into 
Israel, they tried to marry Baal and Yahweh. They had all these 
other gods already. What's one more or two more? And so Elijah lays down the gauntlet 
and says to Israel, you can't have Yahweh and Baal. It's either 
Yahweh or nothing. And so chapter 17 verse 1 and 
the drought that has been imposed by God in answer to the prayer 
of Elijah serves as the background for that particular contest which 
was in essence a battle of the gods and of course Yahweh reigns 
victorious in chapter 18. So let's move now secondly to 
the provision of the prophet. In verses 2 to 16, God provides 
for the prophet first via ravens and secondly via a widow. In the first place, notice that 
Elijah operates according to the word of the Lord. That is 
a conspicuous statement in this chapter. Notice in verse 2, then 
the word of the Lord came to him. Verse 5, so he went and 
did according to the word of the Lord. Verse 8, then the word 
of the Lord came to him. Verse 15, she responds according 
to the word of Elijah. And then in verse 16, according 
to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Elijah. Verse 24, 
that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth. That 
is the conspicuous element in view in this particular chapter. 
Baal is impotent, Baal is weak, Baal is no God, Baal cannot bring 
rain, and Baal cannot bring truth. Yahweh, conversely, is the true 
and living God. He is sovereign and omnipotent 
and powerful, even down to the ravens of the earth. He is sovereign 
and powerful and omnipotent in Baal's background. This is no 
accident that Elijah is dispatched to Zarephath. Zarephath is in 
the very hub of Baal worship. And so God is demonstrating his 
power in Baal's playground to sustain his servant and even 
one of Baal's previous, a previous follower of Baal in this particular 
woman. So God's demonstration of His 
power is evident throughout this chapter. But note the specific 
instructions given to Elijah in verses 3 and 4. The word of 
the Lord comes to him, and it says, God says, get away from 
here and turn eastward, and hide by the brook Kareth, which flows 
into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall 
drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed 
you there. Now the prophet is probably supposed 
to hide from murderers Jezebel and Ahab. Certainly Jezebel is 
in the business of killing prophets. In chapter 18 at verse 10, Elijah 
says, as the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom 
where my master... I'm sorry, this is Obadiah the 
prophet to Elijah. There is no nation or kingdom 
where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you. And 
when they said he is not here, he took an oath from the kingdom 
or nation that they could not find you. So there is no doubt 
a vested interest by God in the protection of his prophet. But 
this hiding probably suggests something more. The problem in 
Israel isn't only a lack of water. The problem in Israel is that 
the mouthpiece of God is hiding. In other words, there is an absence 
of the Word of God for the nation of Israel as a whole. Because 
as Elijah, the mouthpiece of God, goes into hiding, that cuts 
off the nation from the Word of God. So their biggest problem 
isn't a lack of water from the heavens. Their biggest problem 
is a lack of the information that God would convey to them 
through the prophetic word. Davis says, the disappearance 
of Elijah spells the absence of the word of God from the life 
of Israel. Israel's judgment is the drought 
of the land and the silence of the Lord. And that God uses ravens. I mean, the whole scenario as 
we unfold it here is just beautiful. Ravens were unclean animals. 
They were unclean birds according to Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 
chapter 14. Davis has a funny quip. What 
kind of meat does a raven bring? I mean, just think about it. 
Would a raven give meat to a human being? No, ravens are scavenger 
animals and they're going to eat any bit of meat that they 
come across. But Davis says, what kind of 
meat would ravens bring? Don't ask. Simply cook it very 
well and eat up. This is God's provision for his 
prophet at the brook Careth. The brook had not dried up at 
this particular point, so he would be able to drink from the 
brook, and he would indeed command the ravens to bring food to his 
servant. It does image, or it does parallel, 
Israel in the wilderness. Doesn't God feed Israel in the 
wilderness with bread and with meat? God sustains His people 
when they're in that particular situation, and the same is the 
case here with Elijah. So in verses 5 to 7, he obeys 
God. The prophet is sustained by God 
on a continual basis. Notice, the ravens, verse 6, 
brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat 
in the evening, and he drank from the brook. It's a beautiful 
situation. It's a glorious display of God's 
sovereignty and power and purpose in terms of the provision of 
His prophet Elijah. There is drought in the land. 
Some speculate that the ravens took the food. It's really speculation 
at best. Did they take the food from the 
committed people of God, the 7,000 that had not bowed the 
knee to Baal? We don't know. But the ravens 
brought food for Elijah and sustained him. But notice in verse 7, it 
happened after a while that the brook dried up because there 
had been no rain in the land. So it's not the case that God 
is going to let His servant perish. Now He provides provision through 
a widow. Notice in verses 8 and 9, the 
word of the Lord. Then the word of the Lord came 
to him, saying, Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, 
and dwell there. If you're in this section, it's 
not far off to see up in chapter 16 at verse 31. About halfway through, in terms 
of the description of Jezebel, He took as wife Jezebel, the 
daughter of Ephbaal, king of the Sidonians. And he went and 
served Baal and worshiped him. So you've got this region called 
Phoenicia. You've got Tyre and Sidon. And Zarephath is right about 
in the middle. This is the hub. This is sort 
of the origin point of Baal worship. This is where it all began, as 
it were. And so what you have is the significance 
here of Elijah being sent to a Gentile woman of Zarephath. It is going to be her that is 
the means by which God's provision to Elijah is going to continue. And I think what the author is 
indicating is that the storm god Baal failed not only in Israel 
to provide rain and sustenance and nourishment to persons, but 
he failed in his own hometown. Local boy doesn't make good. He can't even water Zarephath 
because this woman is starving to death. She is going to take 
the last bit of flour, the last bit of oil, and have the last 
supper for her and her son. And so when Elijah goes there, 
Yahweh demonstrates his power in Baal's hometown to sustain 
not only his prophet Elijah, but this woman from Zarephath 
who had previously worshipped Baal. God has absolute supremacy 
and God has absolute sovereignty. Matthew Henry says Jezebel was 
Elijah's greatest enemy. Yet to show her the impotency 
of her malice, God will find a hiding place for him even in 
her country. Gotta think geography here, brethren. This is not haphazard. Elijah 
is sent into the very place where Baalism originates, and the text 
specifies that very clearly. Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon. The reader there should go, oh, 
Sidon is in Phoenicia, and that's Baal country. Elijah is going 
to hide out in Baal country, and there God's going to provide 
for him? Yes, Baal can't do it because 
he's impotent. If Jezebel gets wind of this, 
she's going to see how impotent Baal really is. Another commentator 
says, to demonstrate on Phoenician soil where Baal is worshipped 
that Yahweh has power over things in which Baal has failed. You've 
probably heard before that the 10 plagues in Egypt each answered 
to a specific deity in Egypt. They worshipped the river, they 
worshipped the sun, they worshipped this and they worshipped that. 
So each of the 10 plagues was calculated to show the futility 
of the god or the idol that was connected to that particular 
aspect. That's what's happening here. 
Baalism is false. Baalism is wrong. Baalism is 
impotent. Baalism is weak. The God of Israel 
is the one who sustains his faithful Israelite prophet up in the hometown 
of Baal himself. And added to that, this widow, 
who was previously a worshipper of Baal, becomes a worshipper 
of Yahweh, right under Baal's nose. It really is a display 
of the omnipotence of God and the impotence of Baal. Now, notice 
the meeting with the widow in verses 10 to 12. He arose and 
went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate 
of the city, indeed, a widow was there gathering sticks. He 
called to her and said, please bring me a little water and a 
cup that I may drink. And as she was going to get it, 
he called to her and said, please bring me a morsel of bread in 
your hand. You see, this all just fits so nicely together 
because it tells us that of her desperate condition. She doesn't 
have extra food. She doesn't have a pantry at 
all. There's no Costco for her to go to. She is going to serve 
up the last meal for her and her son, and they're going to 
die. Thank you very much, and that is essentially what she 
says. As the Lord, notice, your God lives. She acknowledges Yahweh 
of Israel, but at this particular point, she calls Yahweh your 
God. So it's probably not the case 
she's already a believer, and so Elijah is sent to this little 
bastion. No, she becomes a believer, but 
subsequent to this. We're going to see how Jesus 
refers to this in his own ministry as a proof of sovereign election 
and divine judgment. There were many widows in Israel 
at this particular time, but Elijah was sent to a Gentile 
up in Baal country. God is not only blessing Elijah 
in terms of provision, and this widow at Zarephath in terms of 
provision and conversion, but He is bringing judgment to bear 
upon the Israelites, because they have rejected and refused 
and resisted the Word of God Most High. Now notice, she indicates 
her condition, and then note verse 13. Elijah makes this most 
grave demand. that is completely contrary to 
natural affection. Look at what Elijah says, do 
not fear, go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake 
from it first and bring it to me, and afterward make some for 
yourself and your son. Ladies, if you were in this situation, 
you would probably say, no, my son's going to eat first, thank 
you very much. It is the affection of a mother 
to tend to her son. And the prophet here challenges 
that natural affection and says, what you're going to do is good, 
but feed me first. Think about that. But he doesn't 
do it just like that. He prefaces it with, do not fear. The prophetic encouragement, 
do not fear. And the reason why she is not 
to fear is in verse 14. For thus says the Lord God of 
Israel, the bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the 
jar of oil run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the 
earth. In other words, widow of Zarephath, 
God is going to keep you. God is going to tend to you. 
God is going to provide for you. Now notice the provision of the 
prophet in verses 15 to 16. It says, "...she went away and 
did according to the word of Elijah, and she and her household 
ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used 
up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of 
the Lord which He spoke by Elijah." You see sort of similarities 
here with reference to our Lord Jesus Christ and how the bread 
and the fish just keep multiplying as they're being passed out. 
The Lord Jesus Christ is the antitype in many ways of Elijah 
and Elisha, the prophet. And so the woman does what she 
is told, and Davis makes the observation here, and I think 
it's very excellent. Faith is staking everything upon 
God's sheer word, wagering all upon the veracity of God. So 
this is a faith, right? Look at what verse 15 says. She 
went away and did according to the word of Elijah. She said, 
wait a minute, my son, he's just pining away. My son really needs 
this. No, do not fear. God has promised 
he will sustain you. And she operates based on that. 
That's the kind of faith you and I need to have. What God 
says, we do. What God commands, we obey. How 
is it in the Christian church today? We want to sort of barter 
with God. Well, I know you say that, but I want to do this. 
No, let's be like this woman who just does what the prophet 
commands. Now certainly there's a vested 
interest in her or with her in terms of her sustenance and provision, 
but there's always a vested interest for us in obeying God. It's always 
better to obey. It is always better to follow 
Yahweh. It is always better to do what 
the Lord commands rather than trying to negotiate our way around 
commandments or to try and navigate through the clear word of God 
and say, I know what's written here, and I know what it says 
there, and I know what God commands here, but I want to go and sin, 
or I want to go and be lazy, or I want to go and be apathetic, 
or I don't want to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's be like 
this woman who did according to the word of Elijah. Now, before 
we move on, just admire the surprising ways of God. He uses unclean 
birds and an unlikely candidate to feed Elijah. I mean, isn't 
this God's way? Elijah probably would have thought, 
you know, let me just go sit in Jerusalem and, you know, feast 
on the dainties and the verities that are provided in the royal 
court down in the South. Because they're hostile and they're 
opposing up in the North, so let me go down to the South and, 
you know, chill there for a bit of R&R and eat and whatnot. Matthew Poole said God's providing 
for his prophet First by an unclean bird and then by a Gentile, whom 
the Jews esteemed unclean, was a notable presage of the calling 
of the Gentiles. Many have recognized that the 
prophet Elijah was the very first evangelist to the Gentiles. Remember, 
Phoenicia, not Israel. The woman of Zarephath is as 
Gentile as you and I. She was not an Israelite. She 
was not a covenant member. She was not an obedient servant 
of Yahweh. This was a missionary enterprise 
to the Gentiles. Davis makes this observation 
concerning the birds and the widow. Is this not vintage Yahweh? Who else would ever design to 
use unclean ravens and the unlikely widow as sustainers of his servant? Who am I to object if Yahweh 
delights to use dirty birds and hopeless women? We should, however, 
adore the scintillating, and that means brilliantly and excitingly 
clever or skillful. And it really is scintillating, 
isn't it? I mean, think about it. Brilliantly and excitingly 
clever or skillful. We ought to adore that creativity 
of a God who brings help to His people through channels they 
would never suspect. I mean, who would have thought 
that a prophet of Israel would be sustained by ravens? Now, 
he wasn't contaminated in terms of uncleanness and violating 
the ceremonial law. He wasn't told to eat the raven. 
He was told to eat what fell from the raven's mouth or claws 
or however the raven transported said meat and bread. You know, 
this is absolutely incredible. The fact that he goes to Phoenicia, 
into Baal's background, Baal's homeland, and there, this widow 
is the one who provides sustenance for Elijah. I think Davis is 
right. We should, however, adore the 
scintillating creativity of a God who brings help to his people 
through channels they would never suspect. I think it was in one 
of the Building on the Rock stories where there were some boys that 
saw a woman or a man praying for their daily bread The boys 
that were watching thought it was just a sham and it was foolish. Why would you ever pray to God 
to provide bread? These kids were atheistic or 
deniers of the Lord, and so they thought they'd play a cruel joke 
and put bread on the windowsill for this particular lady or man 
that was praying. Guess what? God provided the 
bread and answer to the prayer through these skeptical wretches. 
You see, it never ceases to amaze us how the Lord operates in ways 
that we would never, ever conceive of. And frankly, brethren, this 
makes the Bible excellent reading. Those who say the Bible is a 
boring old tome haven't read the Bible. How do you not read 
about Elijah at the brook Kerith being fed by unclean birds and 
a woman of Zarephath who was about to eat her last meal with 
her son? How do you read that and not 
be compelled to worship the God who is revealed herein? And the 
God who sends his prophet on a mission to declare, in fact, 
that there would be a drought and direct assault upon Baal, 
the God of rain. I mean, men don't make such things 
up. The divinity of Scripture is 
all over it. Men would never conceive of this 
God. It's absolutely incredible as 
He reveals Himself to us in this passage. Now note, thirdly, in 
terms of the power of God in verses 17 to 24. You have the 
death of the Son in verses 17 and 18. Now, some suspect or 
some suppose that what we have here was a boy who was comatose. 
He wasn't really dead. But the language of the prophet 
in verses 20 and 22, and the fact that the soul returns to 
the boy, indicates that he was dead. He wasn't mostly dead, 
he was in fact dead. So verse 17, it happened after 
these things. So it's directly connected to 
what's gone on before it. That the son of a woman who owned 
the house became sick. And this sickness was so serious 
that there was no breath left in him. Now, I realize that says 
there was no breath left in him. There is a bit of a translation 
issue where some have concluded that it was comatose, but verses 
20 to 22 indicate it wasn't comatose. So she said to Elijah, what have 
I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring 
my sin to remembrance and to kill my son? I thought of something 
interesting today, and I'm always hesitant to say something that 
I don't find in the commentaries, but it is intriguing when she 
says, have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance? 
There is that innate sense that mankind has, according to Romans 
1.32, wherein we know it's righteous with God to punish us for our 
sin. I mean, that is stated and stipulated 
there. But it is intriguing. There's 
probably no bail no redemption for sin and Baalism. Well, I 
know there's not. You know, this pantheon of gods 
that the Canaanites all serve, none of them were a forgiving 
God, none of them were a merciful God. So it was a direct causal 
and effect sort of a thing. I do bad and bad things happen 
to me. And so she indicts the prophet 
here. What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come 
to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to kill my son? Now, if you 
follow the flow of the narrative at this particular point, you 
probably want to scratch your head and say, why would God do 
this? Promise to provide for her and her son until the drought 
is over. Now, we know how the story ends. 
Okay? We know what's going to happen. 
We know that Elijah is going to take that young man up onto 
the bed. He's going to fall on him three times, and the Lord 
is going to restore his life. But at this particular point, 
neither Elijah nor the widow at Zarephath has any clue whatsoever 
that this is going to transpire. So why? Well, I think it does 
illustrate to us that even in the midst of God's provision 
and kindness and mercy, it doesn't remove all trials and difficulties 
and tribulations from our lives. You know, this was a lesson that 
a new believer learned at this particular instance, that new 
believers learn today. You know, we get saved, we get 
converted, everything's great, we're walking with the Lord, 
and then some calamity happens. We go to the doctor, we find 
out we have cancer, and we wonder, why is that, Lord? Because we 
operate on this particular level, that I'm in Christ and no bad 
thing should ever touch me. But why do we operate on that 
level? Because our Christ says that 
in this world you will have tribulation. And she is realizing this all 
too early in her own Christian experience. She has come to embrace 
Israel's God. She has come to be blessed by 
Israel's God, and now she sees that there's not just blessing 
to be had from Yahweh, but there is genuine bafflement. There 
is genuine perplexity. There is genuine hardship and 
difficulty that the Christian life brings. It's not all peaches 
and cream. It's not all zippity-doo-dah. It's not all bluebirds and never-ending 
jars of oil or never-ending bins of flour. That's just not the 
reality for most of us as God's people. So she learned very quickly 
that indeed the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed 
be the name of the Lord. And it might be a tough lesson, 
and if the text or the narrative stopped at verse 18, and her 
son was dead, and she continued on, you know, that is a display 
of the sovereignty and the power and the majesty of God. Now, 
I suspect that the narrative continues the way that it does 
to further confirm and affirm that Elijah is indeed God's man, 
and to further demonstrate that God is the God of the universe. Baal can't even make rain. God 
not only provides rain, but God also provides sustenance during 
drought. God also provides even to a widow 
in Zarephath, right in Baal's hometown, and God is able to 
raise from the dead. This is the God that Israel has 
refused, rejected, and resisted in favor of this loser named 
Baal. In many respects, the text really 
does indict the Israelites of that age for their absolute wretchedness 
in rebelling against God. So nevertheless, the son dies, 
and then in verses 19 to 23, we see Elijah act. Verse 19, 
he says, give me your son. Give me your son. When he comes 
back down, he says, see, your son lives. Beautiful. But he 
says, give me your son. He takes him upstairs, up to 
the upper room where he was staying, laid him on his bed. Then he 
cried out to the Lord and said, oh Lord, my God, have you also 
brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodged by killing 
her son? Isn't that beautiful? He takes her complaint and voices 
it to God in prayer. Notice that he doesn't reprove 
the woman. He doesn't say, how dare you 
say that about my God? No, he goes to God with her complaint 
and he brings it to the mercy seat. What does God do? God answers 
his prayer. You see, sometimes people may 
not need a lecture. They may need us to pray on their 
behalf. They may not need a particular 
theological bit of education at that juncture or time. They 
may need us just to take their complaint to the mercy seat. 
And this is what is evidenced here specifically with Elijah. 
He takes her complaint, he brings it before the Lord. He cries 
out to the Lord and says, O Lord my God, have you also brought 
tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge by killing her son? I 
mean, he is expressing her grief at the throne of grace. Job's 
friends could have learned from Elijah. Instead of lecturing, 
instead of reproving, instead of reprimanding him, they should 
have just prayed for the man. They should have wept with the 
man. They should have ached with the man. And sometimes, brethren, 
that needs to be our response with people as well. You know, 
not everybody needs a three-point sermon when they mess up. They 
may need you to go to the throne of grace, take their complaint, 
take their agony, take their misery to God, and pour it out 
on their behalf. This is what Elijah does. Notice, 
verse 21, he stretched himself out on the child three times. 
Some suggest he was doing a form of, you know, ancient Hebrew 
CPR. It was probably an acted parable. 
You see this through the prophets. You see acted parables. They 
do symbolic things as they communicate the word of God Most High. It's 
not that the symbol, it's not that the act has any intrinsic, 
you know, magical properties. It's just an acted parable. You 
see it done even in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. So 
he does this three times upon this child, and then he prays. 
He says, O Lord my God, I pray, let this child's soul come back 
to him. Then the Lord heard the voice 
of Elijah, and the soul of the child came back to him, and he 
revived. John Gill makes the observation, 
which shows that the child was really dead. So even Gil had 
to contend with people at that day and age that said, oh, no, 
it wasn't death. He was just in a coma. Gil also makes the 
observation and a proof that the soul dies not with the body, 
but exists in a separate state without it. If you ever want 
to debate the existence of souls, this would be a great text to 
go to. The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, 
and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. Now notice, verse 23, Elijah 
took the child and brought him down from the upper room into 
the house and gave him to his mother, and Elijah said, See, 
your son lives. Then the woman said to Elijah, 
Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word 
of the Lord in your mouth is the truth. Proven, Ian Proven 
says this, here is the ultimate test of the Lord's authority. 
Think about this, up to this point, God has preserved Elijah 
and the widow from death. But up to this point, he hasn't 
reclaimed anyone back from death. You see how this is sort of shaping 
up. Here is the ultimate test of 
the Lord's authority. It is one thing to rescue people 
from the jaws of death, but can God do anything when death has 
clamped tight its jaws and swallowed the victim up? God can, rather, 
act across the border from Israel and Sidon. But is there a border 
that He ultimately cannot cross? A kingdom in which He has no 
power? When faced by Mot, this God of death, the God of the 
underworld, must the Lord, like Baal, bow the knee? Of course 
not. Baal must bow the knee because 
he ain't real. But God doesn't bow the knee 
to Maat because Maat's not real. And God is the one sovereign 
over life, death, underworld, whatever you want to call it. 
So he brings this boy back to life to demonstrate his sovereignty, 
his power, and his glory, to confirm the prophet Elijah, and 
to further humiliate the storm god Baal. And with reference 
to her confession, brethren, I submit that this is the reason 
for miracles in the Bible. Now, by this, I know that you 
are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth 
is the truth. This is the purpose for miracles. 
Certainly the woman's son was returned, and that's a blessing. 
But the miracles conducted in scripture come with the revelatory 
word. In other words, miracles come 
at the time of Moses, miracles come at the time of the prophets, 
miracles come at the time of the apostles, and miracles come 
at the time of Jesus and the apostles. That's it! They come 
when the Word is being revealed, and the miracles attest that 
the one speaking the word is in fact a mouthpiece of God. 
This woman could teach the Pentecostals and Charismatics something about 
the purpose for miracles. It is to confirm and verify that 
God the Lord is speaking through Elijah the prophet. And with 
reference to her confession, again, Proven says, in one sense, 
she already believed it, but now that she has seen death transformed 
into life, she knows. She is the first to know what 
will soon be public knowledge when Elijah's credentials are 
put to the test in confrontation with hundreds of others who claim 
to be prophets of a living God, but who are found wanting. You 
see, chapter 17 is the necessary background for chapter 18. You know, we think about those 
450 prophets of Baal that are on Ahab and Jezebel's dime. Actually, 
the taxpayers' dime. There were also 400 prophets 
of Asherah. When Elijah stands up on Mount 
Carmel on that day, he is grossly outnumbered. He is the one alone 
who stands before the living God. But when we the reader come 
with him to Mount Carmel in chapter 18, we say, he's got this. because of chapter 17. If God 
can command the ravens to drop food into the mouth of Elijah 
at the brook Kareth, and he can command this woman of Sidon to 
be the provider and benefactress of Elijah, and if he can, through 
Elijah, bring this young boy back to death, these 850 false 
prophets ain't nothing. They're going down. See, by the 
time we get to chapter 18, if we've rightly understood chapter 
17, there ought not to be any fear whatsoever. And we'll murmur 
and scoff and laugh when we hear Ahab actually accuse Elijah of 
being the troubler of Israel. Now, we've already seen about 
your total destruction of a marriage to Jezebel. We have seen how 
you've built an altar and a temple to Baal in Israel, we have seen 
that you are the true troubler of Israel. So when we get to 
chapter 18 in Mount Carmel, we know who's going to win that 
exchange. We know because chapter 17 tells us so. Well, in conclusion, 
we do see, again, I think the excellence of the prophet Elijah. 
That's a good name for boys. Many of you young mothers need 
a bit of encouragement. Man, Elijah, what a hero. I mean, 
just chapter 17. If we had nothing else in the 
pages of scripture. I mean, he just appears right 
there. Elijah the Tishbite of the inhabitants 
of Gilead said to Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel lives before 
whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years except 
at my word. He is standing before the reigning 
king and he is not flinching one bit. This is the kind of 
man that should serve as heroes to our sons, to our daughters. This is the kind of man that 
we as God's men ought to aspire to be. This is the kind of confidence 
and courage, not in our own strength or in our own ability, but in 
the God before whom we stand, we ought to conduct ourselves. Let us live like Elijah the prophet 
in this present evil age. Secondly, we ought to appreciate 
the condemnation of Baalism. It will be more obvious when 
we get to chapter 18 and we see those false prophets cutting 
themselves and dancing around in a frenzy, bleeding on themselves, 
trying to get Baal to consume their sacrifice. I mean, the 
narrator must have had a bit of fun or pleasure as he wrote 
this, just to show the absolute futility of Baalism. But we see 
that futility even in this chapter. the presence of a drought, the 
storm God couldn't produce rain. I mean, that just tells me you 
shouldn't have that job. I mean, isn't that Trump's response 
in terms of Comey? He was doing a bad job, so he 
got fired. Bail's doing a bad job. If you've got three and 
a half years of drought, you don't deserve to be the storm 
god. You may have an off season. You may miss a few months. We'll 
grant you that. But for three and a half years, 
you don't rain on your people, you ought to be fired. You ought 
to be sent packing. As well, the inability to sustain 
life. The widow in bail land was about 
to die, her and her son. Elijah comes and God continues 
to supply bread, or flour rather, in the bin and oil in the jar. And the inability to bring back 
life, God raised this boy from the dead. And of course, throughout 
we see the glory of the God of Israel, judgment upon Israel 
by a drought, the provision of the prophet through ravens and 
the widow, the conversion of a Gentile, the resurrection from 
the dead, and the absolute truthfulness of His Word. But I want to end 
with reference to the typical significance. There's a lot going 
on here that should point us to the New Testament. In the 
first place, the conversion of a Phoenician woman. You see this 
happen in the ministry of the Lord Jesus. You can turn to Matthew 
15. Matthew 15. the conversion of a Phoenician 
woman, that same region where this widow of Zarephath was. 
Matthew 15, specifically in verse 21, then Jesus went out from 
there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, 
a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to him, 
saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David, my daughter is 
severely demon-possessed. He is merciful, He is gracious, 
He saves her. Great is your faith, verse 28, 
let it be to you as you desire. And her daughter was healed from 
that very hour. You have a widow in Phoenicia, 
a woman in Phoenicia with a sick daughter and Jesus comes and 
He heals. This is Elijah-like conduct on 
the part of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is intriguing as well. In 
the previous section there in Matthew 15, what does Jesus say 
concerning the Pharisees? They reject the Word. They want 
nothing to do with the Word. How does chapter 16 in 1 Kings 
end? In verse 34, we read of this man, Heel, in the days of 
Ahab, Heel, tried to fortify the city of Jericho. And he paid 
with his sons, Abiram and Segub, in accordance with the prophetic 
word from Joshua chapter 6 at verse 26. So in chapter 16, verse 
34, you see the absolute repudiation of the word of God. How does 
chapter 17 end? A Gentile embracing the word 
of God. It's the same flow that you see 
here in Matthew 15. The Pharisees and the religious 
leaders reject the Lord Jesus Christ, and this Phoenician woman 
shows and displays great faith right here in the presence of 
Christ. As well, the resurrection of a widow's son, Luke chapter 
7. Jesus comes into the city of 
Nain. There he sees a woman. who has a widow whose son is 
dead. And it says that he had compassion 
on her and said to her, do not weep. And he raised the boy from 
the dead. So I mentioned previously the 
doctrine of sovereign election and divine judgment. Look at 
Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4. This is that 
intriguing section where Jesus takes the prophet Isaiah in the 
synagogue on the Sabbath. He reads it and he says, today, 
this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Notice in verse 
22, so all bore witness to him and marveled at the gracious 
words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, is 
this not Joseph's son? They're marveling at this. They 
are just in awe and in a favorable way. Now notice what Christ goes 
on to do. He said to them, you will surely 
say this proverb to me, physician, heal yourself. Whatever we have 
heard done in Capernaum, do also here in your country. Then he 
said, assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his 
own country. But I tell you truly, many widows 
were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut 
up three years and six months, and there was a great famine 
throughout all the land. But to none of them was Elijah 
sent. You hear what Christ is doing? 
Christ is bringing judgment to bear upon his generation. He 
is saying this is the same sort of situation that we saw in the 
days of Ahab, when Elijah could have gone to any number of widows 
in Israel, but God said, no, go to the Gentiles. Because in 
that, there is the blessed provision for the salvation of the Gentiles, 
but there is condemnation upon the God-rejecting rebels who 
resist the prophets in their midst. Notice, but to none of 
them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, 
to a woman who was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel 
in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed 
except Naaman the Syrian. Now, do not miss the significance 
of what follows here. They knew what he was saying. 
They got his point. So all those in the synagogue, 
when they heard these things, were filled with wrath. They 
were just marveling at the gracious words that dripped from his mouth. 
Now they're filled with wrath because he preaches sovereign 
election and their exclusion from the covenant promises of 
God. He is saying Gentiles from Phoenicia are included, but you 
have been neglected. Just like it was in the days 
of Elijah when there were no shortage of widows in Israel, 
but God sent the prophet up to Zarephath to deal with that Gentile 
woman. So they are filled with wrath. They rise up and thrust him out 
of the city. They led him to the brow of the 
hill on which their city was built, that they might throw 
him down over the cliff. So next time you're on Facebook 
and you start throwing down Calvinistically and somebody gives you a thumbs 
down, do not think that you have been persecuted for sovereign 
grace. They wanted to throw him off 
a cliff for preaching sovereign grace. That is what we find in 
1 Kings 17 as well. Davis makes this comment. He 
says, Yahweh's grace is being extended through Elijah beyond 
Israel because that grace has been ignored within Israel. It is a sobering personal word 
as well. If you go on despising his word, 
God may withdraw his light and allow you to walk in the darkness 
you seem to prefer. It's a very sobering way to end. There's other things we could 
draw out, the whole idea of resurrection from the dead. It's not as developed 
as that empty tomb in Matthew's gospel in chapter 28, but the 
raising of this woman's son from the dead functions the way Lazarus 
functions, the way Jairus' daughter functions, the way that this 
widow at Nain's son functions. It shows us that God the Lord 
is the one who removes the sting from death. and then Elijah as 
an effective man, the effective fervent prayer 
of a righteous man avails much. James says, he's like us. He was a man of like passions. 
The doctrine of impassibility, that's the same language. Elijah 
was passable like us. He's just like us. I mean, certainly 
he comes on the scene as wearing a cape and superhuman and all 
that sort of a thing, but he wasn't. He was a man of passions 
like us. And we'll see that after the 
victory at Carmel. Does he go and celebrate with a bottle of 
champagne? No, he sits under a broom tree and asks God to 
take his life. So he was a man like us, and 
so James tells us we can pray like that too. We can ask God 
to intervene on behalf of the situation we find ourselves in. 
Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for 
Your Word, we thank You for its unity, its consistency, its consent 
of all the parts, and our Father, we just thank You that You provide 
men like Elijah in the Old Testament to show us the glory of Jesus 
Christ, to show us the power of the Word, to show us Your 
power over nature, over humans, over life, over death. God, certainly 
You are the true and the living God, and we thank You that You've 
called us to fellowship in Your Son, and we just pray that You 
would cause us to be obedient to that Word, cause us to glorify 
and honor You, and we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.