Luke 4:24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; 26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
This strange providence of God did not go unnoticed by Jesus, as He delivered one of His earlier sermons given in the temple at Jerusalem. At that time, He referenced the fact that a prophet of God is not usually accepted by his or her kindred, and because of the unwarranted animosities manifested towards them they are at times instructed to “turn to the gentiles.”
Before we proceed it is necessary to have some historical context, so as to fully grasp the meaning of that move on the part of God. At that time, the Hebrew people were divided into the northern and southern kingdoms. The northern kingdom under the rule of Ahab and the notorious Jezebel, had descended deep into an abyss of idolatry of the darkest hue, while the tribes of Judah and Benjamin had comprised the southern kingdom, in which was to be found the written law of God, and the ark of His testimony.
Thus, it was, that the twelve tribes of Israel were divided into two distinct entities, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin under Rehoboam to the south, and the other ten tribes under Jeroboam, to the north, which gradually departed from the true worship of Jehovah, and who then set up an alternative system and times of worship, to try to dissuade their members from ever joining ranks with the southern tribes.
1st Kings 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!