Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him. She said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?” And he said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. Then he cried out to the LORD and said, “O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the LORD and said, “O LORD my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “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 17:17-24
This is an interesting passage of Scripture for in it you see the full range of emotions that takes place in the widow. First, it seems as though she is blaming Elijah for the death of her son and then the joy when her son’s life is restored and finally there is the realization that he really is a man of God. All after she had “sustained” the man of God through her flour box and cruse of oil for the better part of three years (really it was God sustaining the three of them).
We also see the emotional appeal of Elijah when he cries out to God for the child’s life to come back into him. It almost sounds like he is addressing God in an accusatory manner for he said, “Have you brought tragedy on the widow by killing her son.” He then, literally, laid out his body on the body of the dead boy and did this, three times. (Nowadays if a preacher did this they would probably throw him in the psych ward and declare him insane.)
Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah and the child’s life was restored. When her child’s life was restored she believed that Elijah was a man of God and spoke the truth. What would it take for you to be persuaded that the man of God is of God and speaks the truth? Would you be persuaded if you were in need and your food supply never ran out? Would you have to see a miracle of the restoration of life of a loved one? Is the proclamation of the Word of God not enough for you? The Bible said of John that he did no miracles. Do you believe the books that John wrote? Jesus was rejected because He spoke the truth.
Do you believe?
