1 Kings 17:9
“Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →The Lord sends Elijah to Zarephath, a Sidonian city, where He has already prepared a widow to care for him.
Context
Zarephath (modern Sarepta) lay on the coast between Sidon and Tyre, in Phoenician territory - foreign land, pagan territory, the very region where Jezebel's gods (Baal and Astarte) were worshipped. The widow mentioned lived in active opposition to everything Elijah stood for, yet the Lord had already spoken to her.
What Does 1 Kings 17:9 Mean?
The word of the LORD now sends Elijah not to another Israelite city, but to Phoenicia itself - to the very region of Israel's spiritual enemies. He must go to Zarephath, a Sidonian city, and there a widow (a pagan, almost certainly) has been prepared by the Lord to sustain him. 'I have commanded' - the Lord has already spoken to this woman, already moved her heart, already prepared her to receive a foreign prophet in the midst of famine. Elijah did not arrange this. He does not negotiate. He simply obeys, trusting that the Lord's reach extends beyond Israel's borders and that His purpose can accomplish itself even through those who do not yet know His name.
This movement from Cherith to Zarephath is a profound expansion of Elijah's faith. At Cherith, he learned that the Lord provides in wilderness places. At Zarephath, he will learn that the Lord's care extends even to the despised, the powerless, and the foreigners - and that through them His purposes are accomplished. When we find ourselves sent to unlikely places, asked to trust unlikely people, directed outside our comfort zones, we too are being expanded in faith. The Lord's kingdom does not respect our categories of safe and unsafe, Israeli and foreign, worthy and unworthy. He moves where He will, and He asks us to follow.
In the Original Language
tzavah (Hebrew), 'commanded' -- the same word used of the ravens being commanded to feed Elijah; emphasizes that the widow's care for Elijah is not accident but divine appointment
Application
When God directs us to serve or receive from unlikely people or places, do we trust that His purpose transcends our categories and follow?