Old Testament Story List

Elijah

About sixty years after the division of Israel into two kingdoms, Asa, a good king who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, ruled in Judah, while Ahab ruled in Samaria.

It came to pass that Ahab, who did evil in the sight of the Lord, took as a wife Jezebel, a princess of Zidonia who worshiped Baal.

Then did the prophet Elijah the Tishbite say unto Ahab, "According to the word of the Lord God of Israel, there shall be neither rain nor dew in the land for many years."

Lest the people blame Elijah for the drought he had prophesied, God sent him to hide himself by a brook, Chernith, near Jordan, and He commanded the ravens to feed him. After a while, since there was no rain, the brook dried up. Then God sent Elijah to dwell in Zarephath, saying, "I have commanded a widow woman there to feed you."

Elijah did as he was told, and when he came to the gates of the city, he met the widow gathering sticks. He called to her and said, "Bring me a little water, for I am very thirsty, and a morsel of bread."

The widow answered, "A little water I can bring you, but I have no bread, only a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil left in my pitcher. I am gathering sticks now to cook it for me and my son so that we may eat before we die."

And Elijah said to her, "Do as you have said, but also give some to me. For the Lord has said that neither the barrel nor the pitcher shall be empty until the day He sends rain to end the famine." And they had food for many days from the widow's small storehouse.

Then the widow's son fell sick and was near death. The poor woman went to Elijah and cried, "What have I done that my son should die?"

Elijah took her son and carried him up into the loft where he slept, and laid him on his own bed. He cried to God, "O Lord, why do You bring evil upon the widow who has fed me?" And he bowed beside the child and prayed, "O Lord, my God, let this child live."

The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the child revived. Elijah took the boy, carried him down to his mother, and said, "See, your son lives."

Then the widow answered, "Now I know that you are a true prophet of God and that you speak the words of the Lord."