Read 1 Kings 17

Confirmation of God’s Truth

While the southern kingdom of Judah saw a mixture of good kings and bad, all those who reigned in Israel did “evil in the sight of the Lord” (1 Kings 15:26, 34; 16:19, 25, 30; etc.). During the reign of Ahab, in the ninth century B.C., the prophet Elijah came on the scene.

Elijah prophesied about a drought in Israel. God told His prophet, “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there” (1 Kings 17:3-4). Elijah did as he was instructed, but in time the brook dried up due to the lack of rain.

God then told him to go to Zarephath and stay with a widow and her son. When Elijah arrived, the widow explained that she had only a little flour and oil left, enough for her son and herself to eat one last time before death. Elijah told her to take care of him first, and the flour and oil would never run out until it rained again. “So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days” (1 Kings 17:15).

Her son became sick and died. She brought this to Elijah’s attention, and Elijah questioned God, “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” (1 Kings 17:20). Elijah prayed for the son’s life to be restored, and it was. Upon seeing her son alive, the widow declared, “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth” (1 Kings 16:24).

The miracle that God worked through Elijah served the same purpose as the miracles of the first century performed through the apostles. They served the purpose of confirming that the word spoken by the prophets and apostles were true, that they were indeed sent by God. Mark explains that the disciples “went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs” (Mark 16:20).

We have no need for the miraculous today – God’s Word has been fully revealed, “that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17). Don’t look for signs, read His Word!