Women with a Story to Tell: The Widow at Zarephath 2.

 Elijah was hiding from a rogue king and queen who did not like his prophecies that called for the worship of the one true God. YHWH, unlike Ba’al, was not a God of reckless war and hyper-vengeance. Here is how God described himself, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…" (Exodus 34: 5-6). 

 That is why, when Jesus arrived to reveal God to us in person, we learned to “love our neighbors as ourselves” (Luke 10: 26-28), and we are told to “love our enemies, and do good to those who persecute us” (Luke 6: 27). That is the Christian way.

 Elijah realized that he did not live in a true Israel with leaders dedicated to YHWH because this king and queen did not follow these same ideals which also appear in the Old Testament (Leviticus 19: 18, II Kings 5: 1-19, II Kings 6: 8-23). Elijah lived in a country that called itself 'Israel' but was not acting in a godly manner. It follows then that if one is living in a country that calls itself 'Christian' but has leaders who do not act in a Christ-like manner, then one doesn’t really live in a Christian country.  

 Elijah fled his country to find the widow at Zarephath whose story we introduced last week. At first, things went well. The faith of both of them had been kindled and tested by the ordeal of Elijah’s refugee status, but then something unexpected occurred. Was this another test of faith? If so, can we expect such tests along the way?

 There was still a drought going on, and the resultant famine was still a problem for people. Even though the widow had enough flour and oil to serve her household plus the refugee prophet, people still got sick.

“After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. She then said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” (I Kings 17: 17-18).

 Now before you get started, I do not blame the widow at all for this outburst. Neither did Elijah; and neither did God. 

 She did edit her story to leave out the part about how close to death they were when Elijah first showed up. She was gathering sticks, she said, to light a cooking fire and bake her last loaves. After that, she intended to sit down with her son until they wasted away from hunger. In other words, the son was as good as dead when Elijah arrived, and God saved them all. 

 It is interesting that she sees this new calamity as punishment for some unconfessed sins.

It is true that a time of testing can lead to reflection about one’s life. However, not all sickness is punishment for sin. There was no such blame laid in the death of Jesus’ friend Lazarus. And Jesus did not take the bait when some people suggested great sin might be the cause for the deaths of “the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, ‘Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way that they were worse sinners that all other Galileans?  No, I tell you….” (Luke 13: 1-3).

Elijah offered no such explanation. He simply said, “Give me your son.” Now, it takes an act of faith for a bereaved mother to let go. Anyone who has seen Michelangelo’s Pieta sculpture can feel the pathos of a woman holding her deceased son. Without promise, Elijah asks for this widow’s son; and the widow gives him up. 

Now it is Elijah’s turn to pass his test of faith. He took the boy upstairs to his room, laid him out on his bed, stretched himself over the boy and cried out, “O LORD my God, let this child’s life come into him again.”

The text says, “The LORD listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.”

 Like Jesus did when he resurrected the son of the widow at Nain, “Elijah … gave him to his mother.” Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.”

 Her response shows that her faith has grown, similar to the response of Naaman, the Syrian general whom Elisha cured of leprosy, who said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel” (II Kings 5: 15). 

“So, the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of YHWH in your mouth is truth’” (I Kings 17: 24).

 And that is how faith grows. Israel was not a country of God, but some people and prophets were wise enough to see through the apostasy of their leaders. Through

tests that lead devotees from one level of faith to another, one disciple helps another, and faith spreads and grows.

A remnant was faithful to God, not their country, and they still carried out the mission of God for Israel which was to spread the faith to other peoples. Elijah opposed the king, became a political refugee, and spread the faith beyond his borders. The widow of Zarephath saw the love of God and became a believer. Bless her memory.