Widow's Son, Page 5

Steiner then discusses things that take place deep within the soul of Naboth, typical of those things each Biblical prophet goes through upon receiving a call to mission, resulting in the clairvoyant development of the soul and firm resolve to “do all that in me lies.” He was instructed by God to go to Ahab and say to him, “In the God Jahveh must ye have faith, until such time as He may again bring rain upon the earth” [1 K17,1; cf. Jn 4,32-34]. Naboth also knew “that henceforth he must devote himself to the further unfoldment” of the soul powers necessary for him to apprehend his full mission. “He then resolved that he would eschew no sacrifice, but [would] share in the sufferings of those who were exposed to the greatest measure of want.” He gave himself “over to unceasing inner contemplation of that God who had revealed Himself to him.” Confirmation came to him in the form of the following spiritual seeing and hearing:

1. He was told, “Abide in patience—endure all things—for He who feedeth mankind and thee also will of a surety provide that which thou needest; but thou must ever hold to a true faith in the soul’s eternal life.” At the same time

it appeared to him . . . that he was led by a hermit to the brook which is called Cherith, where he concealed himself and drank of the waters of the brook so long as any remained; and that he was nourished, so far as the conditions prevailing at the time permitted, by food which the Lord provided. It further seemed . . . [that] this nutriment was brought by ravens.

2. “It was next ordained that [Naboth] should pass through a more advanced stage of development” in regard to his soul forces through “intensive contemplation” and “meditation” whereby he realized the necessity to “change utterly the nature of [his] inner being .. . bring[ing] to [his] inner Ego a new life.”

3. Next we read:

Then came to [Elijah-Naboth] yet another experience which was, however, only in part a vision,¹⁰ .. . [thus] of less spiritual significance. . . . In the vision, it appeared to him that his God . . . set him upon a journey to Zarepath [where] he met a widow who had a son and he there saw . . . personified, as it were, in the fate of this widow and her son, the manner and way in which he was now to live. It seemed to his spiritual sight that their food was well-nigh spent, and even that which they had was about to be consumed, after which they would die. Then it was that he spoke to the widow as in a dream, . . . using in effect those same words which, day by day, and week by week, throughout his solitary meditations, he had repeated over and over again to his own soul:— “Fear not,—from that meal which remaineth, prepare the repast which must be made ready for you and your son, and for me also. In all that may yet come to pass trust alone in that God Who doth create both joy and sorrow, and in Whom we must ever abide in faith.”

In this dreamlike vision it was clearly impressed upon [Elijah-Naboth] that the barrel of meal would not become empty nor would the cruse of oil fail; for the oil and the meal would ever be renewed [cf. Mt 14,13-21; 15, 32-39; 16, 5-12; Mk 6, 32-44; 8,1-10, 13-21; Lk 9,10-17; Jn 6,1-14; 2 K 4,42-44; also “Feedings”]. It is worthy of note that at this point his whole soul-state . . . expressed itself in the vision in such manner that it seemed to him as if his personality went to live in the upper part of the house which belonged to the widow. But in reality the inner truth was that his own soul had .. . risen to a higher level.

4. And finally,

It next appeared to [Elijah-Naboth], again as in a vision, that the son of the widow lay dead. This we must regard as merely a symbolical representation of the fact that [Naboth] had overcome, and slain, as it were, the Ego which had been his up to that time. . . . It then happened that after the widow’s son was dead, she reproached him. This signifies that his subconscious spirit reproached him, in other words, aroused in him a misgiving of his nature:—“My old Ego-consciousness has now left me—what am I to do?” In the description given of these events it is stated that he took the child unto himself and plunged unhesitatingly still further into the depths of his soul, and we are told that power was vouchsafed to him through which he brought the dead son once more to life. Then did he gain more courage to stimulate and quicken the new Ego, who was now his, by virtue of those qualities which were in the Ego that he had lost.¹¹