God’s Plan Runs Deep - 1 Kings 14-17

 1 Kings 17:8-9 (ESV)

Then the word of the LORD came to him, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”

When Elijah began to pray that there would be famine in the land he was obeying God.  King Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel would be out to get him.   So, God told him to go to a Gentile city to hang out with a Gentile widow named Zarephath.   Why this woman?  Why a Gentile woman?  Remember, everything in the Old Testament is a shadow of what will come to fruition in the New Testament.   We must always read the Old asking ourselves about the fulfillment or use of it or meaning of it in the New.   The fact that Elijah went to the Gentiles is significant.   God’s entire plan for Israel was to be a light to bring the Gentiles to faith.   Note Paul’s statement of that to the church at Ephesus (a Gentile town): 

Ephesians 3:1-6 (ESV)

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Jesus would use this story to tell the leaders of the Temple in His day that He, too, was sent for all mankind, not just the nation of Israel.  Note:

Luke 4:24-28 (ESV)

And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.

They were “filled with wrath” because this was a shot across their bow that Jesus was coming to save the “world” and not just be their King.   So, hundreds of years earlier God directed a prophet to go to a Gentile widow to set up and explain His entire plan to bring faith to the Gentile nation.   Rejoice!! God’s plan runs deep.