Elijah

==== Widow of Zarephath ====
{{main|Raising of the son of the widow of Zarephath}}
After Elijah's confrontation with Ahab, God tells him to flee out of Israel, to a hiding place by the brook [[Chorath]], east of the [[Jordan river|Jordan]], where he will be fed by [[Cultural depictions of ravens|raven]]s.<ref>{{bibleref2|1 Kings|17}}</ref><ref name=Peraea-etc>{{cite web |title=The Peraea and the Dead Sea |publisher=The Madaba Mosaic Map |url=http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/sources/sources017.html |access-date=13 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727182851/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/sources/sources017.html |archive-date=27 July 2011}}</ref> When the brook dries up, God sends him to a widow living in the town of [[Sarepta|Zarephath]] in [[Phoenicia]].

When Elijah finds her, he asks her for some water and a piece of bread, but she says that she does not have sufficient food to keep her and her own son alive. Elijah tells her that God will not allow her supply of flour or oil to run out, saying, "Do not be afraid ... For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of flour will not be used up, and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land."<ref>{{bibleref2|1 Kings|17:13,14|NRSV}} ''New Revised Standard Version''</ref> She feeds him the last of their food, and Elijah's promise miraculously comes true.

[[File:ElijahByLouisHersent.JPG|thumb|right|''Elijah reviving the Son of the Widow of [[Sarepta|Zarephath]]'' by [[Louis Hersent]]]]
Some time later the widow's son dies and the widow cries, "You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!"<ref>{{bibleref2|1 Kings|17:18|NRSV}} ''New Revised Standard Version''.</ref> Elijah prays that God might restore her son so that the trustworthiness of God's word might be demonstrated, and "[God] listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived."<ref>{{bibleref2|1 Kings|17:22|NRSV}} ''New Revised Standard Version''</ref> This is the first instance of raising the dead recorded in Scripture. The widow cried, "the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth."<ref>{{bibleref2|1 Kings|17:24|NRSV}} ''New Revised Standard Version.''</ref>

After more than three years of drought and famine, God tells Elijah to return to Ahab and announce the end of the drought. While on his way, Elijah meets [[Obadiah (1 Kings)|Obadiah]], the head of Ahab's household, who had hidden a hundred Jewish prophets from Jezebel's violent purge. Obadiah fears that when he reports to Ahab about Elijah's whereabouts, Elijah would disappear, provoking Ahab to execute him. Elijah reassures Obadiah and sends him to Ahab.