The Jar of Flour Shall Not Go Empty

In those days, Elijah the prophet went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the entrance of the city, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called out to her, “Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.” She left to get it, and he called out after her, “Please bring along a crust of bread.” She said, “As the Lord, your God, lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a few sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Afterwards you can prepare something for yourself and your son. For the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.” She left and did as Elijah had said. She had enough to eat for a long time—he and she and her household. The jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord spoken through Elijah.

1 Kings 17:10-16

---

The Faith of the Widow in Zarephath

Elijah’s story in the Hebrew Bible begins with his pronouncement of a years-long drought upon Ahab, the faithless king of Israel. At the Lord’s word, the prophet journeys into the wilderness to be fed by ravens and nourished by the stream, east of the Jordan. When the stream finally runs dry, the Lord sends him to a poor widow in Zarephath of Sidon to feed him. Leaving his country and people, who had fallen captive to Baal worship, Elijah seeks sustenance from a Gentile widow in a foreign land. 

Finding the widow gathering sticks to prepare her last meal with her son, Elijah asks for water and bread. The widow, starved from the drought, laments that she has only a handful of flour in her jar and a little oil in her jug; after consuming them, they will die. “Fear not,” Elijah assures her, asking her to do the impossible: first make him a little cake, and then prepare something for herself and her son. Although she does not know the Lord, the God of Israel, she receives his extraordinary promise: “The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.” Heeding the prophet, the widow serves him the last of her provisions and finds her jar and jug full again. Joy fills their home that day as Elijah, the widow, and her son celebrate the miraculous, ever-replenishing jar and jug over freshly baked bread.

I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.

John 6:35

Traditional Chinese Translation

《麵粉罐必不變空》
在稀缺的時候不要害怕。
信心的罐子和瓶子不會變空。

Related post: 

The Widow’s Mite