May 8 Daily Devotional

1 Kings 16–17

Ahab sat on the throne of Israel. He took to wife Jezebel the daughter of the king of the Zidonians; he worshipped Baal, and did more to provoke the Lord to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. And Elijah the Tishbite came and said to 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 to Elijah, saying, “Get thee hence, turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith … that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.” Elijah went and did according to the word of the Lord. And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening; and he drank of the brook. And it came to pass that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. Then the Lord said to him, “Arise, get thee to Zarephath … and dwell there: behold I have commanded a widow there to sustain thee.”

Elijah arose and went to Zarephath. And behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called her and said, “Fetch me … a little water … that I may drink. Bring me … also a morsel of bread in thine hand.” And she replied, “As the Lord thy God liveth, I have … 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.” Elijah said to 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 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 earth.” She went and did as she was told, and they did eat. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord.

After this the son of the widow got very sick and died. And she said to Elijah, “O thou man of God, art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance? and to slay my son?” He said, “Give me thy son.” He took him and carried him up to his chamber and laid him on his bed, and he stretched himself over the child three times, praying, “O Lord, my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.” And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Elijah: the soul of the child returned and he revived. Elijah took the child to his mother and said, “See thy son liveth.” And the mother 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.”