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1 Kings 17 – Praying through the Bible #111 – A Prayer for Resurrection
It has taken untold number of years, and untold deaths, to reach the beginning. The first resurrection story actually contains two resurrection stories – one literal, and the other foreshadowing it through symbolic means…and maybe even a third, and a fourth.
Ahab is the wickedest king of the Northern Kingdom. Hence, the people are cursed with famine, symbolizing death. Even God’s righteous ones suffer alongside the wicked. By God’s command, Elijah leaves to live by the Wadi Cherith which only has water during the rainy season. There he will drink, and be fed bread and meat by ravens by God’s command. God not only commands man, He commands nature. After the wadi runs dry, he flees to Zarephath in Sidon by God’s command, to stay with a widow. Strangely, this is the homeland of Ahab’s wife, Jezebel. As Ahab is searching for God’s prophet, God will hide and protect Elijah right under the nose of Jezebel’s parents. God is full of surprises. This time, God sustains Elijah by never-ending flour and oil jugs. While there, the widow’s son dies. This too is a surprise. After all, she had been saved by God to save Elijah. The prophet takes the dead child to an upper room. While praying, Elijah stretches himself out over the boy three times. The boy lives. The first resurrection.
God uses Elijah to demonstrate the power of God in resurrecting the dead. While Abraham and Isaac typify the resurrection (Romans 4; Hebrews 11), the raising of the widow’s son is the first recorded, actual, physical resurrection. As Elijah stretches himself out over the boy three times praying, Jesus is raised on the third day. This divine power is foreshadowed in the never ending, overflowing, jar of four and jug of oil (1 Kings 17:14). Out of certain death comes continued life. The famine lasts into the third year (1 Kings 18:1; James 5:17). Again we have the number three.
Death is uncleanness. To touch a corpse brings uncleanness. And yet this story is filled with uncleanness. The raven is an unclean bird bringing continued life to Elijah. Israel is a dying nation needing spiritual revival. The widow herself is unclean and lives in an unclean land being a Gentile. The very mention of the story brings wrath upon Jesus in a Jewish synagogue (Lk.4:25-30). Out of so much uncleanness comes life.
When Jesus comes the first time, He will touch the unclean and remain clean. He will resurrect another widow’s son. And He too will walk out of an unclean tomb, clean, new, after three days, resurrected. When Jesus comes again, all will be resurrected. The saints’ unclean bodies will be clean. This is the last resurrection.
Prayer Challenge: Don’t limit our prayers to what we have experienced, or witnessed. Prayer is only limited by God and His will. While God’s will is limited, God is unlimited.
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