Our story of Elijah and the mother of Zarepheth continues this morning. Jesus refers to this story when he speaks in Nazareth early in his ministry. He makes the point that God often works through people who are unexpected, not even part of Israel. He uses this woman who lives in Zarepheth, which belongs to Sidon, not Israel, as an example. Perhaps not surprisingly, Jesus is almost killed for his message. The story itself is a weird healing story, but a powerful one too. God's healing power shows that the prophet speaks for God.
God bless,
Sam
1 Kings 17:17-24
17After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18She then said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!” 19But he said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. 20He cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?”
21Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” 22The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” 24So the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
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