The Omnipotence of God. Winds and clouds, dew and rain obey Him, and by His command a terrible drought pervaded Israel for three years and a half. The unreasoning ravens did His will, and twice each day brought food to the prophet of God. "The most ravenous of birds”, says St. Basil, "were compelled to supply the prophet with food; and they, whose nature it was to seize the food of others, waited on the man of God. Completely forgetful of their nature, they obeyed the divine behest.” It was by God’s almighty will that the meal in the widow’s pot and the oil in her cruse remained undiminished. And He who is Lord of life and death called the widow’s son back to life, commanding his soul to return to his dead body.
The Goodness of God. God lovingly provided for the safety of His persecuted servant, hid him from Achab’s bloodthirsty emissaries, and fed him by a continuous miracle in the desert. He protected him on his perilous journey to Sarepta, increased the meal and oil by a miracle for the sustenance of himself and the widow, and called the poor woman’s dead son back to life.
Justice and Mercy. The long drought which was sent by God at the prayer of Elias (James 5, 17 &c.), was a miracle both of divine justice and of divine mercy. On the one hand it most justly punished the idolatrous king and people; on the other hand it proved to the Israelites that the fruits of the earth did not come from Baal, but from God, who is the Lord of heaven and earth. The famine was sent to them as a means of inducing them to return to the true faith.
Confidence in God. Elias showed admirable courage by fearlessly announcing the impending judgment. The prophet drew his courage from his great confidence in God, giving himself over entirely to His gracious guidance. When the brook dried up, he gave way neither to fear nor lamentation. He did not say : "Now I must die of thirst,” but on the contrary he said to himself: "God will help me.” When he was sent to the poor widow of Sarepta, a town in the kingdom of Sidon, he might naturally have thought: "Why am I to go among Jezabel’s people? Are they not sure to kill me? And why am I to go to a poor widow ? How can she support me ? Why should I not seek hospitality of some rich person?” But the holy man of God gave ear to no such doubts and obeyed God’s commands with simplicity and confidence. It is in this way that we ought always to trust in God.
Faith. Achab and his people would not believe Elias when he foretold the coming drought. On the other hand the Gentile woman did believe the promise which he made to her in God’s name. To find faith the prophet of God had to go into a heathen country. It was hard for the widow, herself dying of hunger, to be told to divide her last morsel of food with the prophet; but she did so, because she believed and obeyed a secret inspiration of God; and God rewarded her faith and charity by miraculously increasing her meal and oil, by
