Warning to the Sheep and Shepherds

1 Kings 22:1-28
    1 Now three years passed without war between Syria and Israel. 2 Then it came to pass, in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went down to visit the king of Israel.  3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, "Do you know that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, but we hesitate to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?" 4 So he said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to fight at Ramoth Gilead?"  Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses." 5 Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Please inquire for the word of the LORD today."
    6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, "Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain?"  So they said, "Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king."  7 And Jehoshaphat said, "Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of Him?"  8 So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the LORD; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil."  And Jehoshaphat said, "Let not the king say such things!"
    9 Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, "Bring Micaiah the son of Imlah quickly!"  10 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, having put on their robes, sat each on his throne, at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. 11 Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself; and he said, "Thus says the LORD: 'With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed.'" 12 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, "Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the LORD will deliver it into the king's hand."
    13 Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, "Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Please, let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement."  14 And Micaiah said, "As the LORD lives, whatever the LORD says to me, that I will speak."  15 Then he came to the king; and the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall we refrain?"  And he answered him, "Go and prosper, for the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king!"  16 So the king said to him, "How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?"
    17 Then he said, "I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the LORD said, 'These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.'"  18 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?"
    19 Then Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left. 20 And the LORD said, 'Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?' So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. 21 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, 'I will persuade him.' 22 The LORD said to him, 'In what way?' So he said, 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And the LORD said, You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.' 23 Therefore look! The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you."
    24 Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, "Which way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to you?"  25 And Micaiah said, "Indeed, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide!"  26 So the king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah, and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son; 27 and say, 'Thus says the king: "Put this fellow in prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction, until I come in peace."'"  28 But Micaiah said, "If you ever return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me." And he said, "Take heed, all you people!"

There was peace with Syria for three years, but then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went to Ahab the king of Israel, who wanted to start a fight with Syria to reclaim Ramoth Gilead and involve Judah for help.  Therefore the king of Israel called four hundred prophets together to get the LORD’s backing for his plan at the request of the king of Judah; Jehoshaphat heard and then asked if there was one good and true prophet left, knowing this unanimous message to be untrue.  Micaiah the prophet was called against the king of Israel’s wish, for he told the unpleasant truth which was not wanted.  At first Micaiah said the same message as the other prophets, but was mocking in reality.  When pressed for the truth, the message which really was from the LORD was that a lying spirit was given to the other prophets in order to seal the doom of Ahab’s disastrous defeat and death when attempting to reclaim Ramoth Gilead.  It was a trap to stop the evil king for his rebellion and rejection of God’s word, and it was effective because Micaiah was thrown in prison to avoid Ahab hearing the truth anymore.  Micaiah warned them all to watch out, and that he would not be released by Ahab if he was telling the truth of God’s message.  We learn that sometimes everyone will assent to say what sounds good and profitable as men-pleasers (Galatians 1:10) when we should listen to what rings true in alignment with the scriptures in context and in whole.  It is easy to hear what we want to hear, but it is absolutely essential to instead hear and follow what the Lord says.  This is a warning to both sheep and shepherd, for we were once all lost sheep before knowing and following our Master’s voice, that of Christ our Lord (1 John 2:20).  We were lost sheep, but now are found in Him whose voice we follow in accordance with His word made understandable by His Spirit living in us giving us the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).

Covetousness Which is Idolatry

1 Kings 21:1-29
    1 And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, "Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near, next to my house; and for it I will give you a vineyard better than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money."  3 But Naboth said to Ahab, "The LORD forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!"
    4 So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, "I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers." And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food. 5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, "Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?"  6 He said to her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.' And he answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'"
    7 Then Jezebel his wife said to him, "You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."  8 And she wrote letters in Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. 9 She wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people; 10 and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, "You have blasphemed God and the king." Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.
    11 So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. 12 They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. 13 And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, "Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!" Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, "Naboth has been stoned and is dead."
    15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, "Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead." 16 So it was, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
    17 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 "Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. 19 You shall speak to him, saying, 'Thus says the LORD: "Have you murdered and also taken possession?"' And you shall speak to him, saying, 'Thus says the LORD: "In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours."'"
    20 So Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, O my enemy?"  And he answered, "I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD: 21 'Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free. 22 I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin.' 23 And concerning Jezebel the LORD also spoke, saying, 'The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.' 24 The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field."
    25 But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up. 26 And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
    27 So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.  28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 "See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house."

In Jezreel next to Ahab’s palace was a plot of land with a vineyard which the king wanted for himself as a vegetable garden.  He offered to buy it at a good price from Naboth the owner, but he did not want to part with his family inheritance (the land was the wealth and inheritance in the land from the LORD as Numbers 36:7 and Ezekiel 46:18 say).  After sulking a while, Ahab’s evil wife Jezebel came up with a scheme to give a fake feast for Naboth with false accusations brought against him there to show him a blasphemer against God and the king, and be put to death by stoning to get the land for her husband.  Elijah was sent by the LORD to tell Ahab that he was a murderer and that the dogs would eventually lap up his blood where they had already done so for the blood of the innocent man.  Even Jezebel would be eaten by the dogs. The LORD prophesied calamities on Ahab and his descendants for this heinous premeditated murder out of covetousness, which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5).  Ahab had broken the commandments by these acts of greed and murder (Exodus 20:13, 17, 23:7), and faced the divine justice due him.  He had given the example to cause Israel to sin as a king, and would answer for it along with his wife who made it happen.  The scriptures here say just how bad Ahab was to sell himself to such wickedness by her goading.  He broke the first commandment by his idolatry, imitating the ungodly around him whom they should have killed off in the beginning, but let live to corrupt all Israel.  But Ahab did repent, and God held off on the punishment until he died.  But his descendants and Jezebel would pay the price.  We see then that disobedience and rejection of worship and honor to the LORD bring certain consequences; we have all sinned in our hearts as well as in action (Romans 3:23, 6:23), and will face divine justice absolutely and irrevocably unless pardoned by God’s work in Christ (Hebrews 9:27-28).  There is a price for our sin, but there is redemption and reconciliation in His Son (Psalm 2:12). 

Deceit by Sackcloth

1 Kings 20:31-43
    31 Then his servants said to him, "Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please, let us put sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare your life." 32 So they wore sackcloth around their waists and put ropes around their heads, and came to the king of Israel and said, "Your servant Ben-Hadad says, 'Please let me live.'"  And he said, "Is he still alive? He is my brother."
    33 Now the men were watching closely to see whether any sign of mercy would come from him; and they quickly grasped at this word and said, "Your brother Ben-Hadad."  So he said, "Go, bring him." Then Ben-Hadad came out to him; and he had him come up into the chariot.  34 So Ben-Hadad said to him, "The cities which my father took from your father I will restore; and you may set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria."  Then Ahab said, "I will send you away with this treaty." So he made a treaty with him and sent him away.
    35 Now a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor by the word of the LORD, "Strike me, please." And the man refused to strike him. 36 Then he said to him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, surely, as soon as you depart from me, a lion shall kill you." And as soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him.  37 And he found another man, and said, "Strike me, please." So the man struck him, inflicting a wound. 38 Then the prophet departed and waited for the king by the road, and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. 39 Now as the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said, "Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and there, a man came over and brought a man to me, and said, 'Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.' 40 While your servant was busy here and there, he was gone."  Then the king of Israel said to him, "So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it."
    41 And he hastened to take the bandage away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 42 Then he said to him, "Thus says the LORD: Because you have let slip out of your hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.'"  43 So the king of Israel went to his house sullen and displeased, and came to Samaria.

Ahab made a treaty with Ben-Hadad when he cried for mercy that he might not be killed as the Syrian army he had pitted against God’s people.  The servants of Ben-Hadad talked him into deceit by sackcloth and seeking to latch onto the words of Ahab as his brother to gain sympathy.  Ahab agreed in disobedience to God’s command to eliminate him for defying the LORD and minimizing His power and authority to a god of the mountains alone.  Ahab was conned into sparing Ben-Hadad and doing business in Damascus with the added concession of getting his cities back to Israel.  The prophet brought a message in a visual parable to show the error to Ahab for giving freedom to one whom God had set aside for complete destruction.  Ahab would pay the price with his own life and with the people of Israel for this blatant disregard of God’s command.  This made Ahab depressed, but godly repentance is nowhere to be seen.  Do we listen and follow God’s word, or do we listen to deceitful sad stories moving our feelings above obedience and end up following the world opposed to Him?  When we do fail in disobedience, do we then feel sad, resentful, and angry, or do we seek true repentance (2 Corinthians 7:9-10) and seek to turn from repeating such sin?  There is mercy and grace at His throne when we need help, and heartfelt repentance with resulting changes leads to certain forgiveness. 

God’s Enemies Defeated Once More

1 Kings 20:23-30
    23 Then the servants of the king of Syria said to him, "Their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they. 24 So do this thing: Dismiss the kings, each from his position, and put captains in their places; 25 and you shall muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain; surely we will be stronger than they."  And he listened to their voice and did so.
    26 So it was, in the spring of the year, that Ben-Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. 27 And the children of Israel were mustered and given provisions, and they went against them. Now the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, while the Syrians filled the countryside.
    28 Then a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, "Thus says the LORD: 'Because the Syrians have said, "The LORD is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys," therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.'" 29 And they encamped opposite each other for seven days. So it was that on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand foot soldiers of the Syrians in one day. 30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; then a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men who were left.  And Ben-Hadad fled and went into the city, into an inner chamber.

The Syrians made the mistake of being enemies of Him by considering the LORD of all creation to be less in the open plain than on the tops of the hills.  They made Him into just another idol in their estimation, and foolishly thought that they could defeat His people this way, not acknowledging or even realizing who He is.  The king’s advisers therefore told Ben-Hadad to put army captains in place of the kings allied with him who were handsomely routed in the previous battle with this shortsighted strategy.  The people of God were so outnumbered that they resembled two small flocks of goats against an overwhelming army camped all around, filling the area.  Ah, but God sent a messenger to Ahab to demonstrate His power and will for His honor and glory, and for the good of His people.  He was told the word of the LORD which was the enemy delivered assuredly into their hands in victorious battle because the Syrians mocked His majesty by limiting His power in the open field by their blasphemous taunting.  After seven days of sitting opposite each other, the battle was begun and ended quickly with one hundred thousand of them killed in just one day.  Twenty-seven thousand who ran away were crushed by a falling wall in the town they ran to hide in.  Ben-Hadad himself hid inside the city in a hidden room to escape destruction.  This recounting of God’s power and fighting for His glory while also for the good of His people demonstrates that nothing is too difficult for Him, that He will silence the blasphemous mockers who oppose Him with judgment and justice, and that He looks over His chosen ones in the battles against them.  We know that the Lord is to be honored and glorified by we who know Him truly in Christ, and we therefore trust His goodness to us (Romans 8:28, 31, 37-39).  We know the ultimate victory in in Christ alone and that He will bring justice in the final judgment to avenge His people as well as His glory and honor (Revelation 6:10).  Therefore, let us fight the good fight of faith as we look to God’s word for His guiding promises and the eternal outcome as promised.  His multitude of enemies who reject Him and His person will be defeated once more and forever against the few sheep of His flock who entered by the narrow gate (Acts 4:12, Matthew 7:13-14) which He has called as His own amidst the countryside filled with those running to the denial of destruction. 

Threats and Defeat

1 Kings 20:1-22
    1 Now Ben-Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his forces together; thirty-two kings were with him, with horses and chariots. And he went up and besieged Samaria, and made war against it. 2 Then he sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, and said to him, "Thus says Ben-Hadad: 3 'Your silver and your gold are mine; your loveliest wives and children are mine.'"  4 And the king of Israel answered and said, "My lord, O king, just as you say, I and all that I have are yours."
    5 Then the messengers came back and said, "Thus speaks Ben-Hadad, saying, 'Indeed I have sent to you, saying, "You shall deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children"; 6 but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants. And it shall be, that whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they will put it in their hands and take it.'"
    7 So the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, "Notice, please, and see how this man seeks trouble, for he sent to me for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold; and I did not deny him."  8 And all the elders and all the people said to him, "Do not listen or consent."  9 Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, "Tell my lord the king, 'All that you sent for to your servant the first time I will do, but this thing I cannot do.'"  And the messengers departed and brought back word to him.
    10 Then Ben-Hadad sent to him and said, "The gods do so to me, and more also, if enough dust is left of Samaria for a handful for each of the people who follow me."  11 So the king of Israel answered and said, "Tell him, 'Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.'"
    12 And it happened when Ben-Hadad heard this message, as he and the kings were drinking at the command post, that he said to his servants, "Get ready." And they got ready to attack the city.  13 Suddenly a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel, saying, "Thus says the LORD: 'Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the LORD.'"  14 So Ahab said, "By whom?"  And he said, "Thus says the LORD: 'By the young leaders of the provinces.'"  Then he said, "Who will set the battle in order?"  And he answered, "You."  15 Then he mustered the young leaders of the provinces, and there were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he mustered all the people, all the children of Israel—seven thousand.
    16 So they went out at noon. Meanwhile Ben-Hadad and the thirty-two kings helping him were getting drunk at the command post. 17 The young leaders of the provinces went out first. And Ben-Hadad sent out a patrol, and they told him, saying, "Men are coming out of Samaria!" 18 So he said, "If they have come out for peace, take them alive; and if they have come out for war, take them alive."
    19 Then these young leaders of the provinces went out of the city with the army which followed them. 20 And each one killed his man; so the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them; and Ben-Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the cavalry. 21 Then the king of Israel went out and attacked the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter.
    22 And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, "Go, strengthen yourself; take note, and see what you should do, for in the spring of the year the king of Syria will come up against you."

Ben-Hadad the king of Syria threatened God’s people through king Ahab by first attacking Samaria, the city his father built (1 Kings 16:24, 28).  Then the threats to invade Israel and take whatever the Syrians desired from Ahab as if they reigned over them came.  The elders encouraged Ahab to resist the invaders and Ahab listened.  He answered the threats with a bold defiance in an analogy of boasting to win a war not yet begun by not suited up and equipped even to start it.  This is when a prophet came to Ahab to bring the LORD’s deliverance of victory over the enemy in the battle not yet begun; God would equip Israel with the ability of the armor of His protection as they fought.  This was no boast of man, but a promise of God.  God put Ahab in charge of rallying the province leaders and people to attack the overconfident drunken Syrians with the thirty-two kings alongside Ben-Hadad.  The arrogance of Ben-Hadad sent men out to the approaching rabble to capture them or accept their surrender, but they attacked and scattered Ben-Hadad and the others with him.  It was a slaughter.  Finally, the prophet came again to warn that the war was not settled quite yet, but that it would resume on the spring.  This was the beginning of their resistance to the invading Syrian enemy.  We find a parallel in our spiritual battles against unseen and visible evil set against the kingdom of God in Christ.  The adversary is defeated, but continues to rattle sabers and threatens to take all we have and hold dear.  Our victory is in Christ and His gospel, knowing that the final battle will bring judgment and heavenly justice to all in the end.  We are on the winning side against all those against us (Romans 8:31-32, 1 Corinthians 15:57, Romans 8:37, 1 John 5:4, Hebrews 2:14-15), but none are truly so in light of our King of kings reigning sovereignly in heaven and on earth.  He wins the final battle as He won the war upon the cross and out of the grave of His resurrection (Revelation 17:14, 19:16)!  We are therefore victorious in Him in the midst of threats and defeat. 

Escape, Still Small Voice, Revelation, Successor

1 Kings 19:1-21 

    1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time." 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
    4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!"  5 Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat." 6 Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came back the second time, and touched him, and said, "Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you." 8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.
    9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"  10 So he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life."
    11 Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
    13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
    14 And he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life."
    15 Then the LORD said to him: "Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him."      
    19 So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. 20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, "Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you."  And he said to him, "Go back again, for what have I done to you?"  21 So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen's equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

Here Jezebel sought revenge for the prophets of her false gods by seeking to kill Elijah.  He ran to escape.  Elijah came to a point where he asked to be killed by God, saying he was no special man, but as sinful and unworthy as all the rest before him.  The Lord sustained him and answered the request to vindicate him in all that he had done to uphold His name and honor when all others rejected God’s covenant of mercy and worship of Him alone.  The LORD answered not in the fantastic and miraculous power expected, but in a calming small whisper.  His word to Elijah challenged him to reveal why he was there before the LORD, and he repeated his woes of standing alone for Him while others rejected their God and pursued Elijah’s life for doing what was right and righteous as a child of God.  In this revelation, God charged him to continue the work by setting up kings chosen by Him and a successor as prophet to speak God’s word and work His will in the midst of opposition.  There was also the charge to execute justice against those opposing His remnant who remained true in worship and allegiance to the LORD.  Elisha therefore was chosen and followed his teacher after sacrifices and gifts to his family and others.  We learn much in this passage on not giving up in following the Lord when all seem against us or not wanting to worship and serve Him above all other things.  God has a purpose and mission for the remnant who stay the course to be living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) and true worshipers (John 4:23-24) who will not relent in doing righteousness (2 Corinthians 4:1-3, 9, 16, Galatians 6:9).  Let us find encouragement and strength (Isaiah 35:3, Hebrews 12:12-13) in our calling for the gospel’s sake that more of the remnant might hear and be reconciled to the Lord and serve in true worship, even as many choose other gods.  Isaiah 30:21 reminds us to listen for His voice as the Holy Spirit brings His word to us for guidance (John 14:26) as we follow to worship in spirit and in truth.

The LORD, He is God! (Victory Over Idols and Drought)

1 Kings 18:20-46

    20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. 24 Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, He is God."  So all the people answered and said, "It is well spoken."
    25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it."  26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us!" But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.
    27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. 29 And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.
    30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Israel shall be your name." 32 Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, "Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood." 34 Then he said, "Do it a second time," and they did it a second time; and he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.
    36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again."
    38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!"  40 And Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!" So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.
    41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain." 42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, 43 and said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea."  So he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And seven times he said, "Go again."  44 Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, "There is a cloud, as small as a man's hand, rising out of the sea!" So he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.'"
    45 Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. 46 Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

Elijah had gathered all God’s people together to challenge them to take a stand for their God; they had to definitively choose and follow either their false dead idol as a god, or the true and Living Lord over them and all creation.  Then those false prophets and deceived people promoting the false gods were challenged to engage in a trial to determine which god was real.  They would erect two altars with wood but no fire, one calling on their respective gods,  and the people of Israel upon the LORD God.  The one who answered with fire to accept the offering was the true God.  Of course, the idol worshippers jumped about and screamed all day to no avail, not even getting results by shedding their own blood as of such personal sacrifice could make an acceptable sacrifice to a diety.  There was no answering voice giving attention to them, for their gods did not exist.  Then Elijah's instructions were followed to repair the LORD’s altar with twelve stones for the tribes of God’s people, and they drenched the wood and bull with water to keep it from easily igniting.  At the prescribed time for an offering, Elijah spoke loud and clearly that there is bit one God and that he was His servant who was obeying orders for what the LORD was going to do next.  This is when the true God lot the fire from heaven and licked up both sacrifice and water, even out of the trench!  The fear of the LORD moved the people of God to acknowledge Him finally, crying out, “The LORD, He is God!”  They admitted His victory over idols and the three year drought, and over them as His.  The LORD had turned their hearts back to Him.  The false prophets were eliminated and then Elijah prayed for rain to return as he had predicted three years earlier at his word (1 Kings 17:1) as he came to Mount Carmel to do before Ahab (1 Kings 18:1).  The rain finally came, Ahab ran back to see Jezebel, and Elijah outran him back to Jezreel.  We see from this historical telling of God’s people and false prophets how in the end we must all bow before the true and living God in the person of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 45:23-24, Philippians 2:10) in true worship, and to serve Him only.  The Lord, He is God, our great God and Savior (Titus 2:13), Jesus Christ! 

Call to True Worship

1 Kings 18:1-19
    1 And it came to pass after many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, "Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth."  2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab; and there was a severe famine in Samaria. 3 And Ahab had called Obadiah, who was in charge of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly. 4 For so it was, while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.) 5 And Ahab had said to Obadiah, "Go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the brooks; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so that we will not have to kill any livestock." 6 So they divided the land between them to explore it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
    7 Now as Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him; and he recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, "Is that you, my lord Elijah?"  8 And he answered him, "It is I. Go, tell your master, 'Elijah is here.'"
    9 So he said, "How have I sinned, that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you; and when they said, 'He is not here,' he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you. 11 And now you say, 'Go, tell your master, "Elijah is here"'! 12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the LORD will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared the LORD from my youth. 13 Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, how I hid one hundred men of the LORD's prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now you say, 'Go, tell your master, "Elijah is here."' He will kill me!"  15 Then Elijah said, "As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely present myself to him today."  16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
    17 Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, "Is that you, O troubler of Israel?"  18 And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and have followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."

Elijah's message from the LORD to Ahab was clear.  After three years of drought, he was to tell Ahab that it would now rain again by His command according to His will and in His time.  In the meanwhile, Ahab had sent Obadiah to look for water in one direction while he searched in another.  Then Obadiah met Elijah, who instructed him to let his master know of Elijah’s presence there whom he could not find on his own those three years.  This is the Obadiah who had saved the lives of one hundred prophets when Jezebel killed them off in hatred of the LORD and His word against her.  After convincing Obadiah that he would actually show himself to Ahab, he went and delivered the message.  However, when Ahab met Elijah, he tried to blame him for Israel’s troubles with the drought when it was His and Jezebel’s sin which brought the troubles as consequences for their rejection in rebellious sin of false worship against the LORD as the first commandment stated clearly.  Elijah followed God’s plan for the response as a challenge to bring all the idol worshippers of Baal together on Mount Carmel to decide the matter.  We learn that God will judge those who reject Him and worship other gods.  Only those acceptable to Him in taking Him at His word and obeying it will live; Christ is that word and only way.  This is the call to true worship. 

Reviving the Widow's Dead Son

1 Kings 17:17-24

    17 Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him. 18 So she said to Elijah, "What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?"
    19 And he said to her, "Give me your son." So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20 Then he cried out to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?" 21 And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, I pray, let this child's soul come back to him." 22 Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.
    23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, "See, your son lives!"
    24 Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is the truth."

The widow which God providentially brought His spokesman to stay with her in the drought and famine now found her son had become deathly ill.  Finally, the boy stopped breathing and the woman was angry at Elijah and accused him of bringing the catastrophe on her.  She forgot the extended life given them both through the LORD’s miraculous provision of flour and oil all the time since he arrived and saved them.  The prophet took her son with permission and cried out to the LORD for intervention and then prayed for life from out of death for the boy.  God answered, and the child’s life returned to him!  Then Elijah loudly told the good news to the mother and she then acknowledged that he was a man of God with the word of Him in Elijah as his servant and messenger, as an ambassador of sorts.  We who are in Christ recall this event recorded in Hebrews 11:35, and how Jesus later healed a widow’s son in Luke 7:11-15.  In Mark 5:40-41 Jesus also raised a couple’s dead daughter and there was Lazarus as a grown man as well as others.  This passage with Elijah was as a representative of the LORD God doing the healing, whereas Jesus as the Lord Himself had the power and authority over death to directly bring life from death!  We then have a certain hope and expectation in Him of resurrection from our final death in the grave to eternal, unending life where death will no longer be a sting of concern or final end anymore.  That is the hope of the gospel in the grace of God in which we stand (Romans 5:2).  We will certainly be raised and have life again when He returns. 

Provision and Purification in Drought

1 Kings 17:1-16
    1 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word."
    2 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3 "Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there."
    5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
    8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9 "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink." 11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."
    12 So she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."
    13 And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.'"
    15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah.

Elijah the prophet spoke the word of the LORD against evil Ahab and Israel who imitated his bad example.  He proclaimed a prolonged drought which would last for years on end until the LORD moved him to speak and stop it.  God sent Elijah to hide from Ahab by a stream of water and was fed by birds which He sent to keep the prophet alive; he stayed there until the water dried up, then to a widow who lived in Zarephath of Sidon between Tyre and Sidon whose meaning was refining (as of smelting and purifying precious metal).  He approached the widow and she agreed to make him a meal, supposing it would use up the last of her food and then they would all die of starvation afterwards.  God had another plan, however.  The LORD told her through Elijah that the flour and oil would be perpetually renewed as long as God willed it in His plan - this daily test of patience while relying on the provision of the LORD was the refining of faith in the word of the LORD.  We are not prophets, nor do we need such miracles to build our faith to trust God’s word, but we are faced with day to day living and trust for our daily bread to sustain us, as we are taught to pray for as well in Matthew 6:11 and Luke 11:3.  Proverbs 30:8-9 reminds us to be content by asking for only what we need to refine our faith, not too much or too little in order to avoid stepping aside from reliance and godly contentment (1 Timothy 6:6). 

Plumbing the Depths of Evil

1 Kings 16:21-34
    21 Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. 22 But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri reigned. 23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel, and reigned twelve years. Six years he reigned in Tirzah. 24 And he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; then he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, Samaria, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill. 25 Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all who were before him. 26 For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols.
    27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?  28 So Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. Then Ahab his son reigned in his place.
    29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. 31 And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the LORD, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.

Omri and Ahab were the next kings venturing deeper into sin and further away from the LORD.  Omri won the people over when Israel was split between him and a rival, and took the throne to rule for twelve years.  He did such evil in God’s estimation against Him that he is described as worse than all those before him who ruled Israel, following the horrible example of Jeroboam in false worship and disregard of God’s word.  This is the one who started Samaria by buying the hill of Shemer and naming his new city after the original owner.  That in itself became a problem later as the Samaritans were later looked down on by Israel.  The mountain was called Shemer when Omri bought it, from a root meaning of preserved, which also meant "guard" or "watch mountain.”  This is the place where Jesus later met the woman by the well who questioned whether worship should be there or in Jerusalem (John 4:5, 9, 20-21), but the trouble was solved as Jesus made it clear that true worship is to the living God from the place of a heart made right with the Father through the Son (the temple being individual believers).  The other king of Israel after him, Ahab, did even more evil than Omri!  He also sinned grievously against the LORD and led the people of God further from Him by word and deed.  He worshiped Baal and built a pagan temple, built Jericho, and sacrificed his sons to build that city as foretold with a warning after it was earlier destroyed in Joshua 6:26.  These kings led God’s people away from the first commandment and into the evil of worshiping false and lifeless deities, making them so worldly that there was no longer a distinction between them and the nations they were to wipe out when taking the promised land.  If their ancestors had listened and obeyed God in the beginning, this never would have gone so far, yet their disobedience was a result of the corruption of their nature from Adam and Eve from the Fall of mankind, only possible to undo by God’s hand of His righteousness in the Messiah, the Christ who we know as Jesus.  Reconciliation through His sacrifice of blood to die for our sins (and subsequent hope demonstrated in His resurrection for us to share in) is the only possible answer to the ever increasing evil of our hearts as we plumb the depths of evil in our rebellion and rejection of Him and His word.  This is why accepting His word of the gospel in His work by trust (faith) is the way to truth and life in Christ alone (Acts 4:12). 

Evil Kings Leading Israel Astray

1 Kings 16:1-20
    1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying: 2 "Inasmuch as I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made My people Israel sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins, 3 surely I will take away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 4 The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Baasha and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the fields."
    5 Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 6 So Baasha rested with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah. Then Elah his son reigned in his place.
    7 And also the word of the LORD came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he killed them.
    8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel, and reigned two years in Tirzah. 9 Now his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him as he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, steward of his house in Tirzah. 10 And Zimri went in and struck him and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.
    11 Then it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he was seated on his throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave him one male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends. 12 Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, 13 for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, by which they had sinned and by which they had made Israel sin, in provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols.
    14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
    15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri had reigned in Tirzah seven days. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. 16 Now the people who were encamped heard it said, "Zimri has conspired and also has killed the king." So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. 17 Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon, and they besieged Tirzah. 18 And it happened, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the citadel of the king's house and burned the king's house down upon himself with fire, and died, 19 because of the sins which he had committed in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he had committed to make Israel sin. 
    20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the treason he committed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

The rest of the reign of Baasha from the last chapter is told here, along with other evil rulers who sinned and made Israel sin by their evil examples.  Elah and Zimri are mentioned first after Baasha.  Baasha not only imitated the evil of Jeroboam in committing the same sins, but also killed him (1 Kings 15:27, 29).  The sins were so odious that the prophet Jehu pronounced the curses of the LORD on him and all his descendants after him!  As for Elah and Zimri, they both successively sinned and caused the people to sin, murdering and worshiping idols when only the LORD was God in heaven to be worshiped with no other gods as the commandment of His word clearly was written.  These all followed the evil example of Jeroboam, reminding us again of the influence of leadership in not following God according to His word.  Isaiah 30:21 gives us the answer, namely that we are to listen for God’s word as written and follow it, not the bad examples of ungodly leaders, yet we ourselves are to carefully consider our own walk and example to others of God’s people in Christ.  Let us therefore learn from the examples of scripture to avoid such inevitable consequences of living in sin and causing little ones to stumble (Mark 9:42). 

Examples Set by Bad Kings in Israel

1 Kings 15:25-34
    25 Now Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. 26 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin.

    27 Then Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Baasha killed him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon. 28 Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. 29 And it was so, when he became king, that he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, 30 because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he had sinned and by which he had made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he had provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.
    31 Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 32 And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
    33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah, and reigned twenty-four years. 34 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin.

Nadab and Baasha were the next two kings in Israel after Jeroboam reigned over Israel, the Jeroboam who walked away from the LORD and whose descendants were destined for destruction along with the tribes of Israel who followed in the sins of idolatry and disobedience to the word of God (1 Kings 14:15-16).  Nadab only sat on the throne for two years, just one year longer than Abijam in Judah.  Nadab sinned and caused all God’s people of the tribes of Israel to sin with Him by his evil example.  Baasha of the tribe of Issachar was only somewhat better, killing Nadab as the avenger of the LORD, taking the throne and wiping out the remaining members of the descendants and family of Jeroboam (1 Kings 14:10-14) as God had promised.  He was used by the LORD to end that line because Jeroboam had done two evil things; he had sinned and led Israel to sin by his leadership example, and he had provoked the LORD God of Israel, necessitating His wrath to be dealt out on them.  In the end, however, Baasha also did evil in God’s eyes and imitated Jeroboam in sin and causing the others to sin.  These were two bad kings in Israel who led by evil example and helped Israel slide further away from the LORD who had chosen and delivered them out of bondage and into the promised land in mercy and great grace.  This is a sobering reminder how the examples we set and leadership we may give to God’s people in Christ has reverberating repercussions.  What we do and how we serve the Lord who bought us at such a great price matters immensely and eternally.  May we imitate what is good (Psalm 34:14, 37:27, 1 Timothy 4:12, 3 John 1:11).  Let us imitate godly men’s examples as Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 4:16, 11:1 as we imitate Christ in living to please and honor our holy Father in heaven, worshiping and serving Him alone above all else. 

Good and Bad Kings of Judah

1 Kings 15:1-24
    1 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. 2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maachah the granddaughter of Abishalom. 3 And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David. 4 Nevertheless for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem; 5 because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 6 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. 7 Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.  8 So Abijam rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Asa his son reigned in his place.
   9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah. 10 And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother's name was Maachah the granddaughter of Abishalom. 11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did his father David. 12 And he banished the perverted persons from the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. 13 Also he removed Maachah his grandmother from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. And Asa cut down her obscene image and burned it by the Brook Kidron. 14 But the high places were not removed. Nevertheless Asa's heart was loyal to the LORD all his days. 15 He also brought into the house of the LORD the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils.
    16 Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. 17 And Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 18 Then Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the treasuries of the king's house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants. And King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, 19 "Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you a present of silver and gold. Come and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me."
    20 So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. He attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maachah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. 21 Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah, and remained in Tirzah.  22 Then King Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted. And they took away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
    23 The rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. 24 So Asa rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father. Then Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

After Jeroboam of Israel and Solomon’s son Rehoboam of Judah died, there arose new kings of Judah, Abijam and Asa.  Abijam only reigned for three years because he continued the evil tradition of the sins of his father, replaced by Asa after him.  The actions of the sin were not the root of the problem, but the fact that his heart was disloyal to the LORD was the real issue.  We see again that the wages earned by sin are duly paid out in the currency of death.  It is interesting to note that God let him rule for more than even a day in order to honor his father Rehoboam’s father, king David because of the promise and because David had a loyal heart.  God honors his promises even when we do not.  After Abijam came Asa his son.  This one did what God called right, not what his own imagination of morality and self-serving conjured up.  He honored God.  Asa eliminated most of the immorality and idol worship, restoring the temple to honor and glorify the LORD as his grandfather had given the good example of worship lived out.  He fought the good fight for his people, both in war with enemies and in peace with God.  This is our example to follow, not the immoral and disloyal ones we find in scripture like that of Rehoboam and Abijam.  We need to have a heart for God and for His glory and honor with His chosen people as David and Asa. 

Death, Rampant Evil, and Defeat

1 Kings 14:19-31
    19 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he made war and how he reigned, indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 20 The period that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. So he rested with his fathers. Then Nadab his son reigned in his place.
    21 And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king. He reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. 22 Now Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. 23 For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree. 24 And there were also perverted persons in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
    25 It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. 26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house; he took away everything. He also took away all the gold shields which Solomon had made. 27 Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the doorway of the king's house. 28 And whenever the king entered the house of the LORD, the guards carried them, then brought them back into the guardroom.
    29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. 31 So Rehoboam rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. His mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. Then Abijam his son reigned in his place.

The end of both Jeroboam and of Rehoboam reflected the state of God’s people in sliding further away from Him.  Jeroboam who ruled Israel was one who sinned and who made Israel sin.  The son of Solomon, Rehoboam, ruled Judah gave the example and Judah did immense evil in the sight of the LORD, worshiping false gods and engaging in the ungodly practices of the nations who did not know the true and living God.  This led to defeat by Egypt who once enslaved God’s people in the symbolic bondage of sin, but points us all as His people to Christ and a New Covenant of grace (Hebrews 8:8-10).  The promises through Abraham to us all (Hebrews 6:17-19) are unchangeable and absolute in Him.  The failure of Israel in their downward spiral begun here proved that man cannot work the righteousness of God, but that we stand in Christ’s righteousness alone.  Our own efforts only lead to death, rampant evil, and ultimate defeat, but His work is effectual and eternal.  In this grace we therefore stand.  Amen.

Judgment on Continuous Sin

1 Kings 14:1-18
    1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. 2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, "Please arise, and disguise yourself, that they may not recognize you as the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Indeed, Ahijah the prophet is there, who told me that I would be king over this people. 3 Also take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him; he will tell you what will become of the child." 4 And Jeroboam's wife did so; she arose and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were glazed by reason of his age.
    5 Now the LORD had said to Ahijah, "Here is the wife of Jeroboam, coming to ask you something about her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus you shall say to her; for it will be, when she comes in, that she will pretend to be another woman."
    6 And so it was, when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door, he said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another person? For I have been sent to you with bad news. 7 Go, tell Jeroboam, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel, 8 and tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you; and yet you have not been as My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes; 9 but you have done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back— 10 therefore behold! I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone. 11 The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field; for the LORD has spoken!"' 12 Arise therefore, go to your own house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. 13 And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he is the only one of Jeroboam who shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something good toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.
    14 "Moreover the LORD will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam; this is the day. What? Even now! 15 For the LORD will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their wooden images, provoking the LORD to anger. 16 And He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned and who made Israel sin."
    17 Then Jeroboam's wife arose and departed, and came to Tirzah. When she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. 18 And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.

Jeroboam continued unrepentant in his sin against the LORD, and the script of his life and that of Israel was finally sealed in this last attempt at deception.  He imagined to fool a prophet of God who could barely see anymore with his eyes, to trick him into healing his dying son.  This prophet, Ahijah, was the one who was used to deliver the word of the LORD to give Jeroboam the tribes of Israel torn from Judah (1 Kings 11:29-30).  But there was a condition to the rule over Israel, and that was the same to Solomon and to Rehoboam his son and successor.  They were to live obediently to the word of the LORD, not serving other gods in worship or following any other.  Jeroboam had failed in this, and his attempt to deceive a spokesman of the LORD brought the finality of judgment upon him.  The result was not only Jeroboam losing the throne over Israel, but all Israel herself having their land revoked and the people scattered until a remnant was brought back.  The sins of Jeroboam caused Israel to sin with Him and caused the LORD to give them up for their continued sin of rebellion against Him as the first commandment clearly told them (Exodus 20:3).  This shows how leaders can bring down the flock by wrong examples of continuance in and justification of sin (2 Peter 2:18-20, Jude 1:4, 8).  But our certain hope is that God forgives and calls back those who are His.  Those who continue unchecked in sin as a way of life need to examine themselves if they are actually of Christ (2 Corinthians 13:5, 1 John 3:6-7, 9).  He is able to save to the uttermost all He calls and turn from sin to him. 

The Wages of Sin is Death

1 Kings 13:11-34
    11 Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. 12 And their father said to them, "Which way did he go?" For his sons had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah. 13 Then he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it, 14 and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?"  And he said, "I am."
    15 Then he said to him, "Come home with me and eat bread."  16 And he said, "I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. 17 For I have been told by the word of the LORD, 'You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.'"
    18 He said to him, "I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.'" (He was lying to him.). 19 So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.
    20 Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back; 21 and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, "Thus says the LORD: 'Because you have disobeyed the word of the LORD, and have not kept the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you, 22 but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the LORD said to you, "Eat no bread and drink no water," your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.'"
    23 So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse. 25 And there, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road, and the lion standing by the corpse. Then they went and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
    26 Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, "It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the LORD. Therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke to him." 27 And he spoke to his sons, saying, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled it. 28 Then he went and found his corpse thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing by the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor torn the donkey. 29 And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. So the old prophet came to the city to mourn, and to bury him. 30 Then he laid the corpse in his own tomb; and they mourned over him, saying, "Alas, my brother!" 31 So it was, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, "When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32 For the saying which he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the shrines on the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely come to pass."
    33 After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he made priests from every class of people for the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. 34 And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth.

This recollection teaches us that the price we pay and the wages we earn for disobedience to God (which is sin) is death.  This principle of truth is repeated clearly in Romans 6:23, given in multiple examples such as here in 1 Kings where the man of God who first refused to associate with the rebellious king now is easily talked into compromise.  The second prophet told the first that the LORD said it was good for the first to now come with him to eat and drink after having been clearly commanded by the LORD not to.  He believed the second at the expense of heeding the One above all.  The second made it sound good by claiming an angel told him it to him; the first should have remembered the voice of clear command and not of a lesser being.  This disobedience to the word of the LORD cost him his life, for the wages of sin is death.  The second prophet still grieved over the first who suffered for his sin and asked that his body be buried on top of the first when he would die, for the prophecy against the idolatrous altar in Bethel was from the LORD.  Jeroboam, however, sadly refused to turn to God after all this, for He was a vessel prepared for destruction by the LORD (Romans 9:22).  We all now know from the further explanation revealed in the New Testament scriptures that this principle fact that all are born in sin and need the Messiah to deliver us is the truth in shadow in stories such as the prophet here.  The need for redemption has been answered in the channel of redemption who is Christ our Lord.  Let us then remain true to His calling and not listen to false revelations of angels and those who would lead us away from the truth of the gospel.  We learn from these examples (1 Corinthians 10:11). 

Prophetic Bad News

1 Kings 13:1-10
    1 And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, "O altar, altar! Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's bones shall be burned on you.'" 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign which the LORD has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out."
    4 So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, "Arrest him!" Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. 5 The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. 6 Then the king answered and said to the man of God, "Please entreat the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me."  So the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king's hand was restored to him, and became as before. 7 Then the king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward."
    8 But the man of God said to the king, "If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. 9 For so it was commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.'" 10 So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel.

Here we find prophetic bad news to Israel in the presence of Jeroboam before the altar of sacrifice in a temple which was most definitely not of the LORD.  The messenger was sent the place where Jeroboam had one of the golden calves to sacrifice to (1 Kings 12:32-33) in Bethel, literally meaning “the house of God,” which added to the irony of the blasphemous sacrifices Jeroboam was making there.  The bad news given was that Josiah would be born of the lineage of king David who would sacrifice those ungodly priests on the altar and bones of the dead burned on the altar.  The sign to validate the message was from God was that the altar there was split, spilling ashes on the ground.  When Jeroboam refused to accept the bad news, he pointed from the blasphemous altar of the golden calf at the prophet to have him arrested, but came up short in God’s judgment on his withering hand to take back the rebellion against the bad tidings.  Jeroboam begged for mercy to restore his hand and found it, but had his heart really changed towards obedience and to take heed to the unpleasant message?  He even offered to reward the prophet as if money could buy the favor of the LORD (just as the Romans tried to buy forgiveness with indulgences in the 1500’s which sparked a Reformation of the church).  Of course the man of God refused even food or drink from him and went home another way.  We learn that not all news is good from God, especially when our sin earns judgment for us as it has (Romans 3:23, Hebrews 9:27, compare Romans 6:23 and Hebrews 9:28 for hope of the good news to answer the requisite bad).  When we hear bad news from God, confession and turning in heartfelt repentance is the answer lest a worse thing come upon us (John 5:14) in the form of due consequences of continuing in sin.  The good news of Jesus Christ delivers us now from the ultimate penalty of sin, but not its presence and results in this life (1 Corinthians 11:30, Acts 5:5, 9-10).  We therefore do not set up our own altars of ungodly worship of anything or anyone but the Lord our God and quickly confess and forsake sin in our conformity to Christ.  There is always good news in Him for the bad news of our sinful nature. 

Gold Calves Cannot Deliver

1 Kings 12:25-33
    25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he went out from there and built Penuel. 26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: 27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah."
    28 Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!" 29 And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 

    30 Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. 

    31 He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.
    32 Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. 33 So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.

Jeroboam tried to stop Israel going back to the house of David with God’s promise and blessings.  If they went to Jerusalem to worship, they could also realign with Rehoboam and reunite with Judah, leaving Jeroboam out of the picture.  He forgot that the LORD had handed him the other tribes, leaving only Judah to the king.  Blinded by pride to lose control, he made golden calves for Israel to worship just as Aaron did long before (Exodus 32:4, 8).  He even used the same phrase saying, “Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt.”  This idolatry repeated itself in rebellion against the LORD’s first commandment to have no other gods before the one true God. The LORD.   Fear of losing control to the king who rebelled against God led Jeroboam to make the same fatal mistake.  Therefore the people of God were led further from obedience and its fruits of the promise.  They proved that the fallen sinful nature of man was absolutely corrupt and that they needed redemption unobtainable by human effort to keep God’s law which was His word (Romans 3:20, 8:3, Galatians 2:16).  We learn that our reasoning and works cannot lead is to the righteousness of obedience that is only possible in a regenerated life with God Himself living in us to choose rightly in the New Covenant of grace.  We do not therefore pursue other gods or worship golden calves of our own construction, but serve the living God through His Son Jesus the Christ by the enabling and guidance of His indwelling Holy Spirit.