It’s a tough time in Israel’s history. Bob Hartman’s rhyme reminds us that God keeps his promises
Elijah was one of God’s prophets.
That means he would listen to God,
And pass on whatever message he heard,
No matter how good, bad or odd.
Ahab was king over Israel.
A not very nice king they say.
His wife was the wicked queen Jezebel.
They led all God’s people astray.
They filled up God’s temple with idols
Of Jezebel’s false foreign gods.
Encouraged God’s people to worship those statues
And couldn’t see why that was flawed.
So God sent Elijah to Ahab
To give him this message plain,
“Your gods are all false. But I’m the real deal.
To prove it I’ll stop the rain.”
And, just then, the rain stopped falling,
And nothing green grew from that day.
The drought and the famine hit Israel hard,
So God sent Elijah away.
He went to a brook called Cherith,
And there found a watery haven.
And much better still, at dusk and at dawn,
Elijah was fed by a raven!
Meat for his breakfast, meat pies at night,
Elijah just stuffed his face.
Eventually, though, Cherith brook dried up, too.
So God found another place.
God sent Elijah to Zarephath,
A village both foreign and fair,
Right at the edge of Jezebel’s land,
To find some refreshment there.
He watched a poor widow collecting
Sticks at the city gate.
“Brink me a drink of water,” he asked
Oh, and a little cake.”
“A jarful of flour, a small jug of oil
Is all that I have,” she replied.
“I’ll cook one last meal for me and my boy.
We’ll eat it and then we’ll die.”
“My God tells you this,” said Elijah.
“Make cakes, one for me, one for you,
And the jar full of flour and jug full of oil
Will last till this famine is through.”
So the widow made cakes for Elijah,
And cakes for herself and son, too.
The oil and flour never ran out.
And all that God promised came true!
