The Widow's Flour and Oil Do Not Fail

Illustration of The Widow's Flour and Oil Do Not Fail
A widow down to her last handful of flour fed Elijah first, trusting his promise - and her flour and oil never ran out until the famine ended.

During a severe famine, God sent Elijah to a widow in Zarephath who had only enough flour and oil left for one final meal before she and her son expected to die. Elijah asked her to make him a small cake first, promising that her barrel of meal would not empty and her jar of oil would not fail until the famine ended - and so it happened exactly as he said, sustaining the household for many days. The miracle demonstrates God's tender provision for the humblest and most desperate, using a foreign widow rather than anyone in Israel to display his faithfulness.

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Category
Provision
Testament
Old Testament
Performed by
Elijah

Key Chapters

1 Kings 17 Elijah Fed by Ravens 4 min read

Key Passages

The Barrel of Meal Does Not Waste

1 Kings 17:8-16

A8nd the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. 13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. 15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.

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