The prophet Elijah
1 ① Now Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As Yahweh, the God of Israel whom I serve lives, neither dew shall drop nor rain fall except at my command.”
2Then the word of Yahweh came to Elijah, 3“Leave this place and go eastward. Hide yourself by the brook Cherith, east of the Jordan. 4You shall drink from the brook and, for your food, I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5So Elijah obeyed the word of Yahweh and went to live by the brook Cherith, east of the Jordan. 6There the ravens brought him bread in the morning and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.
The widow of Zarephath
7 ② After a while, the brook dried up because no rain had fallen in the land. 8Then Yahweh spoke to Elijah, 9“Go to Zarephath of the Sidonites and stay there. I have given word to a widow there to give you food.” 10So Elijah went to Zarephath. On reaching the gate of the town, he saw a widow gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel that I may drink.”
11As she was going to bring it, he called after her and said, “Bring me also a piece of bread.” 12But she answered, “As Yahweh your God lives, I have no bread left but only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am just now gathering some sticks so that I may go in and prepare something for myself and my son to eat – and die.”
13Elijah then said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you have said, but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me; then make some for yourself and your son. 14For this is the word of Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of meal shall not be emptied nor shall the jug of oil fail, until the day when Yahweh sends rain to the earth.”
15So she went and did as Elijah told her; and she had food for herself, Elijah and her son from that day on. 16The jar of flour was not emptied nor did the jug of oil fail, in accordance with what Yahweh had said through Elijah.
The widow’s son raised to life
17 ③ After this, the son of this housewife became ill. And such was his illness that he stopped breathing. 18She then said to Elijah, “What did you do, O man of God? Have you come to uncover past sins and cause my son’s death?” 19He answered, “Give me your son.”
Taking him from her lap, he carried him up to the upper room where he was staying and laid him on his own bed. 20Then he called on Yahweh, “O Yahweh, my God, will you afflict even the widow with whom I am residing by letting her son die?” 21Then he stretched himself on the child three times and called on Yahweh, “O Yahweh, my God, let this child’s breath return to him.” 22Yahweh listened to the pleading of Elijah and the child’s breath returned to him, and he lived. 23Elijah then took the child and brought him down from the upper room. He gave him to his mother and said, “See, your son is alive.”
24Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I am certain that you are a man of God, and that your words really came from Yahweh.”
- 1 K 17,1 Now Elijah appears; his name will remain the greatest among the prophets. At Jesus' transfiguration, Elijah will be beside him (Mk 9:2). Elijah's name is symbolic, meaning: Yahweh is my God. He is from Tishbe, a town beyond the Jordan. This poor and remote region, protected from new influences, had remained faithful to its faith. Facing apostasy, i.e., the infidelity of all the people, Elijah stands alone. He feels himself responsible for God's cause, and acts without waiting for others to begin. Neither dew shall drop nor rain fall. Elijah, the man of faith, knows that his words come from God and will be true. With regard to this, see Jas 5:17 where Elijah is presented as a model of faith. There will be neither dew nor rain. Of course, drought is a natural event. God, however, without directly intervening at every moment, arranges events. The faith of the believer is a force, like the physical laws of the universe, and when we ask of God the impossible, confident that he himself wants to give it, he is not without the means to make this happen. The people consider the Baals as gods of rain and nature. The drought that comes will show them that Yahweh, God of hosts, is also God of creation. Elijah begins his mission as a prophet by at-tacking the greatest disorder: failing to place God above all. 1 K 17,7 Go to Zarephath. The drought harms everybody, including Elijah who had asked God for this sign. But for the believer, the very plague is an opportunity to experience that the heavenly Father does not abandon the believer. I have given word to a widow there to give you food. The prophet will receive his food, and he will also get comfort from God through discovering this believing woman. the poor widow has something to give the great prophet, and this is a grace for both of them. Bring me a little water is a first step. Bring me a piece of bread. Elijah tests her faith: First you shall make me a little bread, and the widow gives him this. This widow is similar to the one whom Jesus praises in Mark 12:41. The jar of meal shall not be emptied. God rewards this kind of faith which goes to the extent of risking everything one possesses. 1 K 17,17 This is the first resurrection we encounter in the Bible. God usually directs the world and his church through the natural process of things, by the effect of the laws of nature which he himself established. He also reserves to himself the right to make exceptions to these laws sometimes: the water changes into wine, the bread is multiplied. Have you come to uncover past sins and cause my son's death? The death of her only son is enough to arouse in the poor woman the unfounded fears of those who see God as an accuser who spies on people to punish them. She thinks that the prophet's presence has attracted Yahweh's attention to her house and that he is punishing her with this grief. He stretched himself on the child three times. In this gesture of the prophet, who communicates life with his own breath, who would fail to recognize Christ who comes to unite himself closely with humanity to communicate to it the power of resurrection? Yahweh listened to the pleading of Elijah. Elijah is the man chosen to reverse a desperate situation and to upset all human foresight. Yahweh allows him to resuscitate the widow's son and, a little later on Mount Carmel, he will let him resuscitate the faith of his people.
- 1 K 17,1 Now Elijah appears; his name will remain the greatest among the prophets. At Jesus' transfiguration, Elijah will be beside him (Mk 9:2). Elijah's name is symbolic, meaning: Yahweh is my God. He is from Tishbe, a town beyond the Jordan. This poor and remote region, protected from new influences, had remained faithful to its faith. Facing apostasy, i.e., the infidelity of all the people, Elijah stands alone. He feels himself responsible for God's cause, and acts without waiting for others to begin. Neither dew shall drop nor rain fall. Elijah, the man of faith, knows that his words come from God and will be true. With regard to this, see Jas 5:17 where Elijah is presented as a model of faith. There will be neither dew nor rain. Of course, drought is a natural event. God, however, without directly intervening at every moment, arranges events. The faith of the believer is a force, like the physical laws of the universe, and when we ask of God the impossible, confident that he himself wants to give it, he is not without the means to make this happen. The people consider the Baals as gods of rain and nature. The drought that comes will show them that Yahweh, God of hosts, is also God of creation. Elijah begins his mission as a prophet by at-tacking the greatest disorder: failing to place God above all. 1 K 17,7 Go to Zarephath. The drought harms everybody, including Elijah who had asked God for this sign. But for the believer, the very plague is an opportunity to experience that the heavenly Father does not abandon the believer. I have given word to a widow there to give you food. The prophet will receive his food, and he will also get comfort from God through discovering this believing woman. the poor widow has something to give the great prophet, and this is a grace for both of them. Bring me a little water is a first step. Bring me a piece of bread. Elijah tests her faith: First you shall make me a little bread, and the widow gives him this. This widow is similar to the one whom Jesus praises in Mark 12:41. The jar of meal shall not be emptied. God rewards this kind of faith which goes to the extent of risking everything one possesses. 1 K 17,17 This is the first resurrection we encounter in the Bible. God usually directs the world and his church through the natural process of things, by the effect of the laws of nature which he himself established. He also reserves to himself the right to make exceptions to these laws sometimes: the water changes into wine, the bread is multiplied. Have you come to uncover past sins and cause my son's death? The death of her only son is enough to arouse in the poor woman the unfounded fears of those who see God as an accuser who spies on people to punish them. She thinks that the prophet's presence has attracted Yahweh's attention to her house and that he is punishing her with this grief. He stretched himself on the child three times. In this gesture of the prophet, who communicates life with his own breath, who would fail to recognize Christ who comes to unite himself closely with humanity to communicate to it the power of resurrection? Yahweh listened to the pleading of Elijah. Elijah is the man chosen to reverse a desperate situation and to upset all human foresight. Yahweh allows him to resuscitate the widow's son and, a little later on Mount Carmel, he will let him resuscitate the faith of his people.
- 1 K 17,1 Now Elijah appears; his name will remain the greatest among the prophets. At Jesus' transfiguration, Elijah will be beside him (Mk 9:2). Elijah's name is symbolic, meaning: Yahweh is my God. He is from Tishbe, a town beyond the Jordan. This poor and remote region, protected from new influences, had remained faithful to its faith. Facing apostasy, i.e., the infidelity of all the people, Elijah stands alone. He feels himself responsible for God's cause, and acts without waiting for others to begin. Neither dew shall drop nor rain fall. Elijah, the man of faith, knows that his words come from God and will be true. With regard to this, see Jas 5:17 where Elijah is presented as a model of faith. There will be neither dew nor rain. Of course, drought is a natural event. God, however, without directly intervening at every moment, arranges events. The faith of the believer is a force, like the physical laws of the universe, and when we ask of God the impossible, confident that he himself wants to give it, he is not without the means to make this happen. The people consider the Baals as gods of rain and nature. The drought that comes will show them that Yahweh, God of hosts, is also God of creation. Elijah begins his mission as a prophet by at-tacking the greatest disorder: failing to place God above all. 1 K 17,7 Go to Zarephath. The drought harms everybody, including Elijah who had asked God for this sign. But for the believer, the very plague is an opportunity to experience that the heavenly Father does not abandon the believer. I have given word to a widow there to give you food. The prophet will receive his food, and he will also get comfort from God through discovering this believing woman. the poor widow has something to give the great prophet, and this is a grace for both of them. Bring me a little water is a first step. Bring me a piece of bread. Elijah tests her faith: First you shall make me a little bread, and the widow gives him this. This widow is similar to the one whom Jesus praises in Mark 12:41. The jar of meal shall not be emptied. God rewards this kind of faith which goes to the extent of risking everything one possesses. 1 K 17,17 This is the first resurrection we encounter in the Bible. God usually directs the world and his church through the natural process of things, by the effect of the laws of nature which he himself established. He also reserves to himself the right to make exceptions to these laws sometimes: the water changes into wine, the bread is multiplied. Have you come to uncover past sins and cause my son's death? The death of her only son is enough to arouse in the poor woman the unfounded fears of those who see God as an accuser who spies on people to punish them. She thinks that the prophet's presence has attracted Yahweh's attention to her house and that he is punishing her with this grief. He stretched himself on the child three times. In this gesture of the prophet, who communicates life with his own breath, who would fail to recognize Christ who comes to unite himself closely with humanity to communicate to it the power of resurrection? Yahweh listened to the pleading of Elijah. Elijah is the man chosen to reverse a desperate situation and to upset all human foresight. Yahweh allows him to resuscitate the widow's son and, a little later on Mount Carmel, he will let him resuscitate the faith of his people.
