The last handful of flour: Elijah and the widow of Zarephath

She was gathering sticks to cook her last meal. A widow in the town of Zarephath, in the middle of a drought, had a handful of flour and a little oil left. She planned to bake bread for herself and her son, eat it and wait to die. Then a stranger asked her to feed him first.

The drought and the ravens

The story is in 1 Kings 17. The prophet Elijah had told King Ahab of Israel that there would be no rain except at his word. Israel had turned to the god Baal, who was worshipped as a god of rain and fertility. The drought was a direct challenge to Baal’s supposed power. God first sent Elijah to the brook Kerith, where ravens brought him bread and meat and he drank from the stream. When the brook dried up, God told him to go to Zarephath, a town near Sidon outside Israel, where a widow would feed him.

The widow

Zarephath was in the heartland of Baal worship, the region of Jezebel’s father. God sent his prophet to a poor foreign widow, not to a wealthy Israelite. Jesus later pointed to this in Luke 4:25-26, noting that there were many widows in Israel, yet Elijah was sent to one in Sidon.

Elijah asked her for water and then for bread. She explained that she had only enough for one last meal. Elijah told her not to be afraid. “First make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have,” he said, and promised that her flour and oil would not run out until the Lord sent rain.

The son raised

She did as Elijah said. The flour did not run out, and the oil did not fail. She, her son and Elijah ate for many days. Later, the widow’s son fell ill and died. She cried out to Elijah. He carried the boy upstairs, prayed and stretched himself over him three times. The boy came back to life. The widow said, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

What it teaches

The story is often preached as a lesson about giving, but its heart is trust. The widow did not have much to give. She gave what she had in obedience, and God provided. The story also shows God’s care for the poor and the outsider, and his power over death. What is the “last handful” in your life: time, money, strength? Ask God for the faith to place it in his hands, trusting that he can make it last longer than you can.