Elijah and the Ravens

“The jar of flour was not exhausted and the jug of oil did not run dry.” — 1 Kings 17:16

After Solomon, the kingdom split into two. There were many kings, and most of them were bad. The worst of all was King Ahab. He and his wife, Queen Jezebel, worshipped a false god called Baal, and they led the people of Israel to worship Baal too.

So God sent a prophet called Elijah to King Ahab. “As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives,” said Elijah, “there will be no dew or rain in the next few years, until I say so.”

The people thought Baal sent the rain. But now everyone would see that the Lord was the one who ruled the rain.

Then God told Elijah, “Go and hide by the brook called Kerith. You can drink from the brook, and I have told the ravens to feed you there.”

So Elijah went and lived by the brook. And every morning and every evening, big black ravens flew down with bread and meat for him! And he drank water from the brook.

But there was no rain. After a while the brook dried up.

Then God said to Elijah, “Go to the town of Zarephath. I have told a widow there to feed you.”

When Elijah came to the town gate, he saw a widow gathering sticks. “Please would you bring me a little water to drink?” he called to her. As she was going to get it, he called, “And please bring me a piece of bread too.”

“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she said, “I don’t have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I’m gathering a few sticks to make a fire. Then I’ll go home and bake one last meal for my son and me. We’ll eat it, and then we’ll die.”

“Don’t be afraid,” said Elijah. “Go home and do what you said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me, and bring it to me. Then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not run out and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”

It must have been very hard to give away her very last bit of food. But the widow did what Elijah said.

And every day after that, when she went to the jar, there was flour in it. And when she tipped up the jug, there was oil in it. Day after day after day, there was always enough for Elijah and the widow and her son. The jar of flour never ran out, and the jug of oil never ran dry, just as God had promised.

Looking ahead to Jesus: Jesus told this story Himself. He said there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, “Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to the widow of Zarephath in Sidon” (Luke 4:26). She wasn’t even an Israelite! Jesus came for people from every country, too.

Read it in your Bible: 1 Kings 17:1–16

Dear God, thank you that you take care of your people, even when it seems impossible. Help me to trust you and to share what I have. Amen.