The woman said—Now by this I know that thou art a man of God— The woman certainly had sufficient reason to believe that Elijah was a prophet, or person sent from God, when she saw the miraculous increase of the meal and oil; but upon his not curing her son when he lay sick, but rather suffering him to die, her faith began to droop, whereas, upon seeing him revive, her faith revived with him; and in the joy of having him restored to her again, she accounted this latter miracle much greater than the former. See Le Clerc, and Bishop Hall's Contemplations.
REFLECTIONS.—When we have been most eminently employed for God, and have received the most reviving tokens of his regard, we must not wonder if we are called to the severest trials. Whose house could one have thought so secure from evil as this widow's; yet behold its desolations!
1. She had but one son, and he dies. Though fed by a miracle, he was not beyond the arm of death.
2. Distress and anguish weigh down the afflicted widow; and, though she cannot but own that her sin provoked the visitation, she perversely reflects upon Elijah, as if his prayers, which had brought the famine on the land, had for her sin brought death into her family. Note; (1.) The more unexpectedly the stroke falls, the more difficult it is at first to be resisted. (2.) In our troubles we are apt to quarrel with our best friends. (3.) We speak that in haste, which, in our cooler hours, we cannot but condemn. (4.) When God visits our families, we should humbly confess and acknowledge our sins, which are the causes of our troubles.
3. Elijah exceedingly interests himself in her affliction, and, taking the dead child from her bosom, retires to lay the sad case before a compassionate God. He cries with importunity, pleads his interest with God, humbly reasons with him on the poor widow's afflictions, whose kindness had been so great to him, and whose circumstances were so pitiable; and stretching himself on the child, as if longing to re-kindle the vital heat in the lifeless clay, he fervently entreats that God who can awake the dead, to restore again the soul (which supposes its separate existence,) to the deserted corpse. Note; (1.) If we have christian hearts, we shall not behold the sorrows of the afflicted without tender sympathy, and a strong desire to relieve their distresses. (2.) Is Elijah so earnest to restore a dead body, and ought not Christ's ministers to be as importunate with him to quicken poor souls dead in trespasses and sins? (3.) Not all our prayers and labours can effect this spiritual resurrection, but God's power alone.
4. God hears, and graciously answers him. The child, though dead, revived, and with joy Elijah brought him down to the transported mother. Her faith had before wavered: after all that she had seen and known, she almost doubted whether he were a man of God; so apt are sore temptations to bring us under the power of unbelief.
But now she is assured of it to demonstration, and without doubt professes her full confidence in all that he had told her, whether concerning the God of Israel, or the prophesies yet to be fulfilled. Note; As the oak grows more rooted by tempestuous winds, so faith grows stronger after the blasts of temptation.