Sidon is a Gentile country. It is the country of origin of Queen Jezebel who introduced the sinful religion of Baal worship to her husband, King Ahab, who then made it the state religion of the northern kingdom of Israel. There's a sense of poetic justice in that Jezebel brought Baal to Elijah's nation and now Elijah is going to bring God to Jezebel's nation. Jezebel will later become Elijah's greatest enemy and may already be his greatest enemy since he came to her husband, denounced him for his sins, and proclaimed that a drought was coming that would not end until he---Elijah---said so. It's sad that Elijah is actually safer with heathen Gentiles at this time than he is within his own country. But the Lord accomplishes two merciful purposes by sending Elijah into Sidon: He protects Elijah's life and at the same time uses Elijah as a prophet to the Gentiles. While in Zarephath, Elijah will proclaim the name of the Lord in both word and deed.
"Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: 'Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.'" (1 Kings 17:7-8) Jesus makes reference in Luke 4 to our passage from 1 Kings 17. He uses the story of Elijah to illustrate the fact that "no prophet is accepted within his own country". Many of Jesus' own people rejected His teachings just as Elijah's people rejected his call to repent and turn back to the living God. Jesus pointed out that Elijah was sustained by a Gentile widow rather than by any of his own people. At this point in Israel's history, Elijah's people are rejecting the Lord and they are rejecting his message from the Lord.
"So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, 'Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?' As she was going to get it, he called, 'And bring me, please, a piece of bread.'" (1 Kings 17:10-11) She graciously moves to get him the drink he asked for, though water must have been scarce in Zarephath too, but his request for food is going to be more difficult for her to agree to.
"'As surely as the Lord your God lives,' she replied, 'I don't have any bread---only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it---and die.'" (1 Kings 17:12) She recognizes Elijah as an Israelite and she takes an oath in the name of the God of Israel, saying something like: "If I had anything with which to cook a full meal, I'd share the meal with you, but I swear by the name of the God you serve that there isn't a morsel of food left in my house except for just enough flour and oil for my son and I to share one last bite together. After that we will end up dying of starvation." I don't believe she uses the name of the Lord because she serves him but because she knows Elijah does. Taking an oath in the name of Baal is proof of nothing to a person who does not acknowledge Baal as a god so she uses the name she knows is holy to this man.
But Elijah knows something the widow does not know. The Lord has told him that this widow will provide for him. On the surface it doesn't appear as if she has any means of providing more than a small morsel to eat but Elijah knows that the God who instructed a raven to feed him is able to multiply the food this widow has on hand. Elijah is going to make a statement of faith in God and his words will touch something in the woman's spirit. The Lord told Elijah He has "instructed" a widow to provide for him, and although the widow doesn't appear to realize this calling has been placed upon her life, her spirit knows. The Holy Spirit has spoken to her on a subconscious level in a way she wasn't even aware of until Elijah says what he says next. "Elijah said to her, 'Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.'" (1 Kings 17:13-14)
According to the way the human mind thinks, it's not logical for Elijah to ask the woman to share the little bit of food she has left. It's not logical for the woman to grant his request. But, as the Lord says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." (Isaiah 55:8) The Lord often asks us to do things that don't seem logical to the human mind---things that cause us to have to exercise our faith. Elijah has enough faith to believe that the Lord will multiply what little the widow has if she will exercise her faith to give up part of it. There is just enough faith within her, perhaps only the size of a mustard seed, to do as he asks. "She went away and did as Elijah had told her." (1 Kings 7:15a)
"So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah." (1 Kings 17:15b-16) I wonder how many times in our lives we miss out on great blessings because we use our human logic to pick apart the instructions the Lord gives us instead of just obeying them in faith. What if we just immediately did what He says without trying to reason ourselves out of it? What if we didn't allow doubts and fears to creep into our minds when we can't see every step of the way between where we are and where the Lord wants to take us? The widow of Zarephath and her son likely would have starved to death if she had refused to believe in the possibility (however remote it may have seemed) of a miracle. But she received a miracle because a small grain of hope remained in her heart. She will receive an even greater miracle in tomorrow's study. Because she stepped out in faith, she will be blessed. Because she will be blessed, I believe many others of her Gentile nation were blessed by her testimony about what the God of Israel did for her.
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