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1 Kings 17

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1 Kings 17 Overview

Elijah announces to Ahab that there will be no dew or rain except by his word. God sends him first to the brook Cherith, where ravens feed him, and then to Zarephath in Sidon, where a poor widow’s meal and oil are sustained through the drought. When her son dies, Elijah cries to the LORD, and the child’s life returns. The widow then confesses that Elijah is truly a man of God whose word is truth.

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Before you read 1 Kings 17

Coming from

Chapter 16 ended with Ahab and Jezebel institutionalizing Baal worship in Israel.

In this chapter

Elijah’s drought strikes at the claims of Baal, while God shows control over rain, food, life, and death—even in Sidonian territory.

Leads into

Chapter 18 brings the conflict into public view at Mount Carmel and ends the drought.

Key understandingExplore deeper

Zarephath lies in Sidonian territory associated with Jezebel and Baal worship, making God’s provision there especially striking. The widow’s son genuinely dies and is restored to life. The chapter is later explicitly recalled in the New Testament.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Truth 1

The LORD controls the rain that Baal worship claimed to influence.

Truth 2

God sustains Elijah through changing and unlikely means.

Truth 3

The widow’s last provisions become enough because God’s word proves reliable day after day.

Truth 4

God restores the dead child, displaying authority over death as well as drought.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Connection 1

Luke 4:25-26 explicitly recalls Elijah and the widow of Sarepta.

Connection 2

James 5:17-18 explicitly recalls Elijah’s drought and later prayer for rain.

Connection 3

First Kings 18 continues the same drought narrative and public contest.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep this clear 1

Do not turn the widow’s meal into a prosperity formula for giving money to religious leaders.

Keep this clear 2

Her location outside Israel is important but does not mean God had abandoned Israel entirely.

Keep this clear 3

The child’s restoration is a historical resurrection miracle, not the final resurrection body.

Read 1 Kings 17 watching for…

The authority in Elijah’s opening announcement.

Each way God provides food.

The widow’s actual condition when Elijah arrives.

The repeated fulfillment concerning meal and oil.

Elijah’s response to the child’s death.

Chapter outline4 sections

1Elijah announces that there will be no rain except by his word 2-7The LORD feeds Elijah by ravens at the brook Cherith 8-16The widow of Zarephath feeds Elijah, and her meal and oil do not fail 17-24The widow’s son dies and is raised through Elijah’s prayer

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.

And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

And 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.

And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.

And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?

And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.

And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.

And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.

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1 Kings 17:8

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