They had kings like Saul, David and Solomon. The woman was happy that Elijah was there because her son became ill and died, and Elijah raised him from the dead.Īll of God’s people used to be one country. The woman agreed to hide Elijah, and because of the Lord’s power, the flour and oil supply never ran out. They had just enough flour and oil to make one last loaf of bread. When the brook dried up, the Lord sent Elijah to a widow’s home in Zarephath of Sidon (right in the middle of the area where Jezebel was from!) The widow and her son had been affected by the severe drought. The Lord protected Elijah from both the famine and Ahab’s anger. Ravens brought food twice a day for Elijah. Since it was best that no one knew where Elijah was, God even provided the food for him to eat. He probably lived in a cave near the brook. The brook of Kerith is believed to be located within the territory of Gilead on the eastern side of the Jordan River. God knew that Ahab would try to blame everything on Elijah, so He sent Elijah to a safe place. The drought came just as Elijah had prophesied.

A drought in this area of the world would bring massive famine to the people. People, crops, and cattle would die from lack of food and water. The rivers would be nothing but dry earth. In this case, the drought went on for three and a half years. Not even grass would grow in the open fields for the cattle to eat. If no rain came for even one year, they could not raise crops. The people rely on the winter and spring rains to get them through these dry months.

Israel is a hot, dry country during the summer months. This would happen because Ahab and Jezebel did not obey God. God sent Elijah to King Ahab to warn him that Israel was going to experience a terrible drought. The prophet, Elijah, was from a small town in Gilead on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Jezebel tried to kill off the prophets of the Lord (1 Kings 18:4). He even built altars and places of worship to Baal and other gods.

He worshipped false gods and married an evil foreigner named Jezebel. The prophets were often in mortal danger.īackground information on the Divided Kingdom.Īt the time of this week’s story, Ahab was the king of Israel. Disobedient kings did not want to hear about God’s judgement on them. Preaching the plain truth of God could be very dangerous. They prophesied of the rise and fall of kings in both kingdoms. They travelled among the people of Israel and Judah, declaring the word of the Lord. During these times, prophets of God were abundant. Israel’s religious decline went on for its entire history. Israel, on the other hand, only ever had bad kings. Over the years, Judah went on to be ruled by both good and bad kings. Many years have passed since the nation of God divided into two separate kingdoms – Israel and Judah.

Elijah project bible study