Verse 14 ½ of 1 Kings 17 (Episode #122)

Verse 14 ½ of 1 Kings 17

Jesus volleys  the tennis ball of the Bible back to the Old Testament.  You recall the story of the Widow of Zarephath don't you?  Wait, you don't?!?  He basically tells us that we SHOULD; that there is something there for us; that it is important for the New Testament story.  We'd best give it a look.

What we find there is bleak.  Famine. Drought. Nothing in storage. Food insecurity to the point of starvation. Dead husbands. Not in the main place where God is active on the earth at the time. And yet, we find God speaking, meeting and challenging this desperate widow who thinks she has ONE meal left on earth.  Then this prophet shows up and asks that she MAKE HIM A LITTLE CAKE.  

This widow had a little heads up that Elijah was coming.  She was "commanded" (which she could disobey, it is a common phenomenon in the history of the Bible and the world) to feed Elijah.  So, she had been waiting and if she is like every other person who is commanded by God, WRESTLING. This all happens in "Verse 14 ½". She is at the end of her rope; the end of her food; the end of her life.  WHAT WILL SHE DO?  Who gets the last handful of flour and splash of oil?

As in all time BEHAVIOR BETRAYS BELIEF.   What ever you do, don't read verse 15.