Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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1 Kings
Book: 1 Kings
Chapter: 17
Overview:
Elijah fed
By ravens.
(1-7) Elijah sent to Zarephath.
(8-16)
Elijah raises the widow's son to
Life.
(17-24)
1-7 God wonderfully suits men to the work he designs them for.
The times were fit for an
Elijah; an
Elijah was fit for them.
The
Spirit of the
Lord knows how to fit men for the occasions.
Elijah let
Ahab know that
God was displeased with the idolaters,
and would chastise them
By the want of
Rain, which it was not in
the power of the gods they served to bestow.
Elijah was
commanded to hide himself. If
Providence calls us to solitude
and retirement, it becomes us to go: when we cannot be useful,
we must be patient; and when we cannot work for
God, we must sit
still quietly for him. The ravens were appointed to bring him
meat, and did
So. Let those who have but from
Hand to mouth,
learn to live upon
Providence, and trust it for the
Bread of the
Day, in the
Day.
God could have sent angels to
Minister to him;
but he chose to show that he can serve his own purposes
By the
meanest creatures, as effectually as
By the mightiest.
Elijah
seems to have continued thus above a
Year. The natural supply of
water, which came
By common
Providence, failed; but the
miraculous supply of
Food, made sure to him
By promise, failed
not. If the heavens fail, the
Earth fails of course; such are
all our
Creature-comforts: we lose them when we most need them,
like brooks in summer. But there is a
River which makes glad the
City of
God, that never runs dry, a
Well of water that springs
up to eternal
Life.
Lord, give us that living water!
8-16 Many
Widows were in
Israel in the days of
Elias, and some,
it is likely, would have bidden him welcome to their houses; yet
he is sent to honour and
Bless with his presence a
City of
Sidon, a Gentile
City, and
So becomes the first
Prophet of the
Gentiles.
Jezebel was
Elijah's greatest enemy; yet, to show her
how powerless was her malice,
God will find a hiding-place for
him even in her own country. The person appointed to
Entertain
Elijah is not one of the rich or great men of
Sidon; but a
Poor
widow
Woman, in want, and desolate, is made both able and
willing to sustain him. It is
God's way, and it is his
Glory, to
make use of, and
Put honour upon, the weak and foolish things of
the world. O
Woman, great was thy
Faith; one has not found the
like,
No not in
Israel. She took the
Prophet's
Word, that she
should not lose
By it. Those who can venture upon the promise of
God, will make
No difficulty to expose and empty themselves in
his service,
By giving him his part first. Surely the increase
of this widow's
Faith,
So as to enable her thus readily to deny
herself, and to depend upon the Divine promise, was as great a
Miracle in the kingdom of
Grace, as the increase of her meal and
Oil in the kingdom of
Providence. Happy are all who can thus,
against
Hope, believe and obey in
Hope. One
Poor meal's meat
this
Poor widow gave the
Prophet; in recompence of it, she and
her son did eat above two years, in a time of
Famine. To have
Food from
God's special favour, and in such good company as
Elijah, made it more than doubly sweet. It is promised to those
who trust in
God, that they shall not be ashamed in evil time;
in days of
Famine they shall be satisfied.
17-24 Neither
Faith nor obedience shut out
Afflictions and
Death. The
Child being dead, the mother spake to the
Prophet,
rather to give vent to her sorrow, than in
Hope of relief. When
God removes our comforts from us, he remembers our sins against
us, perhaps the sins of our youth, though long since past. When
God remembers our sins against us, he designs to teach us to
remember them against ourselves, and to repent of them.
Elijah's
Prayer was doubtless directed
By the Holy
Spirit. The
Child
revived. See the power of
Prayer, and the power of Him who hears
Prayer.