Luke 4:25

But of a truth I say unto you, There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land; and unto none of them was Elijah sent, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.

The Old Testament record of this event (1Kings 17,1 Kings 18) should be read in connection with this, as it clears up the questions some of the scholars have regarding the "three years and six months" in which the heavens were shut up and it did not rain. 1 Kings 18:1 states that "in the third year" God sent Elijah to Ahab with a promise of rain; however, that promise was not fulfilled immediately, the rain coming after a long contest between Elijah and the false prophets, resulting in the slaughter of the prophets of Baal. Besides that, "the third year" mentioned in 1Kings is a clear reference to the "third year" after Elijah had moved to the home of the widow, the actual drought having gone on a considerable time previously. The critical community who suggest that Luke erred in attributing these words to Jesus are themselves in error. James also affirmed that the drought lasted "three years and six months" (James 5:17).

The big point of the passage, however, is that it was a Gentile widow, a Sidonian, to whom Elijah was sent, and not to any widow in Israel. The reason for this choice lay in the unbelief prevalent in the Israel of that period, and in the contrasting faith of the widow of Zarephath.