As I flipped through my Bible, I came across a hand-written note next to I Kings 17:9. Here is the verse, which was spoken by God to Elijah:

Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

The note is a reference to Matthew 22:30:

For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

Let me try to explain if the connection is not immediately clear. Whenever any man, whether Christian or secular, lives with a woman we assume that sex is involved. In I Kings, God commands one of his servants to live with an unmarried woman. Doesn’t God know this is a recipe for disaster? Or did Elijah have his eyes on God where they belonged?

Marriage is not bad. In fact, as many people are fond of pointing out, God designed it (ie. see Genesis 2 and Song of Solomon). For all of how good it is, there is more to life than sex. Marriage itself is more than just sex.

I am not saying that you can live completely free and in whatever way you choose – without regard for appearances or consequences. Don’t forget Paul’s infamous admonition in Romans 14:13 that some are weaker than others:

Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.

What I am saying is that if you are sustained by God’s Holy Spirit, you should not be falling. If you read the rest of the I Kings 17, Elijah takes the widow’s dead son into a room by himself. Anyone familiar with our culture might combine stories involving priests and necrophilia. That isn’t at all what happened.

There is so much more that can be learned from the chapter in I Kings but since I do not know who will read this, I will stop there. You and I ought to be living Holy lives.

Oh, one more comment. My note and reference to Matthew 22:30 is not intended to be a statement about the Nephilim. ^_^