17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing.
The prophet had been away from some time, over in the Gerasenes, some said. But the child was dying, and how could a parent do anything but hope that the prophet would return soon? Then hope—he’s coming!—dashed by the terrible fact: the child was dead. But the parent still had faith, faith based in part on what had been seen, and in part based on what the prophet had said, and faith based in part because of what had been read. The prophet’s foot crossed the threshold, and despite the dead child within there was still faith; still hope. Into the inner room, away from any onlookers, the prophet stooped to the child, and there the prophet, Jesus, said “Talitha,” (Little girl), “Koum!” (Get up!). “Immediately the girl stood up and walked around…” (Mark 5:42).
Part of what gave Jairus his courage and faith was that Jesus was far greater than a prophet, even a prophet like Elijah; surely Jesus the Christ could do what Elijah the prophet had done in Zarephath all those years ago.
One other thing: I apologize for the intrusion here in my own comments. Skip this little paragraph and read everything else, and then come back to this section if you have time. In this verse, the widow is called “the woman who owned the house.” In Hebrew, she is the baalah ha-bayit. She is a baal herself! A true baal, that is, an owner of something. Every baal is helpless in reality, whether a little statue of the thunder-god or an ordinary husband (also a baal, Genesis 20:30) or the owner of a house (here). God helped this true baal through his true prophet. The little storm-god statues would and will always be helpless, meaningless and useless.
18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
Unlike everyone who came after her, the widow had no Bible story to fall back on, no eager anticipation that something might yet be done. Since the prophet had come, their lives had been sustained by the daily miracle of something still in the pantry; just enough for today, every day. Today was no different, except that now there was flour and oil, but her son was gone.
What parent wouldn’t agonize: Was it something I did? Am I being punished for some sin? Let’s step back and look at this chapter one more time and watch the pattern of God’s workmanship (based on Davis: The Wisdom and the Folly, p. 218):
I. The word of the LORD: Direction (17:2-3) and explanation (17:4).
A. The prophet obeys (17:5)
B. Fulfillment (17:6, Elijah is fed by ravens)
C. Inadequacy / change (17:7, the brook dries up)
II. The word of the LORD: Direction (17:8-9a), and explanation (17:9b)
A. The prophet obeys (17:10a)
B. Fulfillment (17:10b, Elijah finds the widow of Zarephath)
C. Inadequacy / change (17:10c-12, her last meal)
III. The word of the LORD: Direction (17:13) and explanation (17:14)
A. The widow obeys (17:15)
B. Fulfillment (17:15b-16, jar and jug are filled)
C. Inadequacy / change (17:17, but her son dies)
Look at the “A” obedience in parts I and II. Each time, Elijah obeyed. His faith was where it needed to be. Now look as the “A” obedience in part III. Now the widow has been brought to faithful obedience in the Lord. Her brand new faith was strengthened by the word of God—it’s the same for all of us, but she didn’t own a Bible—and she has literally tasted and seen that the Lord is good.
Her tragedy seems to come at the worst possible moment from the standpoint of her faith. Just when it is at its most fragile (a brand new faith) she comes to a crisis that’s just as bad or worse than losing her husband: She loses her one and only son. It’s enough to make parents and pastors wonder, Does God know what he’s doing? It’s enough to make a critical Bible commentator wonder, Does the author know what he’s doing? The critic’s faith is a special problem, but parents and pastors, be assured. God knows exactly what he’s doing. This woman’s test follows along with the same pattern as everything else in this chapter.
19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”
22 The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”
24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.” (NIV)
Let’s look again at the events with a little outline:
a. The widow accuses the prophet and God (17:18)
b. Elijah takes her son away dead (17:19)
c. Elijah prays and asks/accuses God (17:20)
d. Elijah acts and cries out to the Lord (17:21a)
c’. Elijah prays and asks God (17:21b)
* The Lord answers Elijah’s prayer (17:22)
b’. Elijah gives her son back to her alive (17:23)
a’. The widow confesses her faith (17:24)
The boy hadn’t swooned or fainted. He had died. But the Lord’s arm had reached Elijah on the other side of the Jordan with ravens, and the Lord’s arm had reached a jar and a jug outside Israel’s borders in Zarephath. Can God reach across the borderland of death, too? There is no place outside of God’s reach. He rescued Lot from falling lava. He gave 90-year old Sarah a son from her own womb. He made the sun stand still. He patiently played the “wet fleece, dry fleece” game with Gideon (Judges 6:37-40). And then there were plagues in Egypt, too. The Canaanites worshiped and feared “death” (Mot) as one of their demon-gods. But the Lord doesn’t bow the knee to anyone. Not Baal, not Mot, not nobody. The one and only son came to life again, and we will, too, because the One and Only Son came to life again. His Easter means our easter.
Besides his gift to this widow and her son, God has given you a promise about death, too. Paul talks about it toward the end of 1 Corinthians. Whether you, personally, are around when the Last Day comes, you will experience the change that God will bring to everyone in the resurrection. Even if you’re still alive, Paul says, you will be changed instantly. And everyone will rise from the dead, and enter into eternal life in heaven:
Listen: I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep,
but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will
sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we
will all be changed… (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn’s father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
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