Two women from Sidon

Here’s a connection I had not seen before. See what you think. I’m looking at the stories of Elijah and Ahab in 1 Kings. We are told that Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife, is from Sidon, a Gentile nation just north of Israel (16:31). Their marriage was likely part of a political alliance. The text seems to suggest that she influences Ahab to “serve Baal and worship him.” Elijah shows up, announces a drought, and God sends him to the Kerith Ravine for safe keeping. Later, when the brook dries up, God tells Elijah to go to—Sidon—where a widow is going to feed him. [Now, from a human standpoint, this is doubly insane. First, you don’t knock on a poor widow’s door if you want to get fed. Second, you don’t wander into Jezebel’s stomping grounds after you have informed her that the rain spigot for her kingdom has been turned off!] But the unnamed Sidonian woman is saved from starvation when she faithfully does what Elijah tells her to do. She later confesses, “Now I know…that the word of the Lord from your mouth is true” (17:24).

What is the author trying to say? Jezebel (and Ahab), Israel’s leaders, should have been leading the people toward God, but instead they were driving the people away from God. Hebrew readers might think, “Of course, Jezebel was an evil Sidonian (foreigner). She didn’t know any better. And if Ahab was so bad, it was obviously 90% the fault of pagan Jezebel!” So we are introduced to the unnamed Sidonian woman who placed her faith in Elijah and in his God. Israel was deaf and blind to God, but a non-Hebrew knows the truth when she sees it. A foreign widow becomes a model for faith. Jesus saw the irony in this picture and used it to condemn the unbelieving crowd in his hometown, Nazareth (Luke 4:36). We dare not draw conclusions about who is part of God’s family based on genealogy, address, culture or color of passport. Those who think they are in might be out. Those who appear to be out might be in.

Just so the readers are sure to get the point, the Old Testament narrator introduces Naaman, the Syrian army commander (2 Kings 5), as another example of a God-fearing foreigner. Jesus mentioned Naaman, too (Luke 4:37). 

God promised Abraham that all the peoples of the earth would be blessed through him (Genesis 12:3). And God keeps his promises, even if his chosen people disown him.