The Widow of Zarephath was a woman who had to know for sure that she had heard from God.
Widow of Zaraphath
1 Kings 17:8. And the word of the LORD* came to him saying, 9. Get up! Go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain you. 10. So he got up and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the entrance of the city, behold, a widow woman was there gathering sticks and he called to her and said, Bring me, I pray you, a little water in a vessel, so I can drink. 11. And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, Bring me, please, a morsel of bread in your hand. 12. And she said, As the LORD* your God lives, I do not have a cake, but a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a cruse and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, so I can go in and prepare it for me and my son, so we can eat it and die.
Here is where she must be confident that she heard the LORD*!
1 Kings 17:13. And Elijah said to her, Do not be in awe! Go! Do as you have said, but make me a little cake of it first and bring it to me and afterward make for yourself and for your son, 14. for thus says the LORD* God of Israel, The jar of meal will not empty, neither will the cruse of oil fail, until the day the LORD* sends rain upon the earth. 15. And she went and did according to the word of Elijah and she and he and her house ate for many days. 16. The jar of meal did not empty nor did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD*, which He spoke through Elijah.
Then something happens that makes her question if she was to really supposed to sustain Elijah.
1 Kings 17:17. And it was after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18. And she said to Elijah, What have I to do with you, O you man of God? Have you come to me to call my iniquity to remembrance and to slay my son? 19. And he said to her, Give me your son. And he took him from her bosom, and carried him up into a loft where he stayed, and laid him on his own bed. 20. And he cried to the LORD* and said, LORD* my God, have You also brought evils upon the widow with whom I am staying by slaying her son? 21. And he stretched himself upon the boy three times and cried to the LORD*, and said, LORD* my God, I pray you, let this boy’s life come into him again. 22. And the LORD* heard the voice of Elijah and the life of the boy came into him again and he revived. 23. And Elijah took the boy, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother and Elijah said, See, your son lives. 24. And the woman said to Elijah, Now, by this I know that you are a man of God, that the word of the LORD* in your mouth is truth.
The widow is at last firmly confident that she did what the LORD* wanted her to do. She is a Heroine for her obedience.
Enjoy the excellent video below that depicts The Widow of Zaraphath’s faithfulness:
Video credit: Alisa Anglesey
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