Category: OTC

1 Kings 20-22

The last three chapters in 1 Kings includes much of the story of Ahab, King of Israel (and Samaria from and outsider’s perspective). This is covered 2 Chronicles as well, but here we find some interesting interactions between Ahab and Ben-Hadad (King of Aram), prophets, Naboth and finally Micaiah (a Nathan-like prophet).

Ben-Hadad

Ben-Hadad king of Aram and Ahab exchange words and begin a war of threats in chapter 20. BH tells Ahab he’s going to take everything after a siege against Samaria. Ahab’s response, “Just as you say, my lord the king. I and all I have are yours” (1 Kings 20:4). BH sends messengers again and threatens Ahab further, but this threat seems more personal, “they will seize everything you value and carry it away” (1 Kings 20:6). Ahab is not happy about this threat and lashes back at BH,

“Tell my lord the king, ‘Your servant will do all you demanded the first time, but this demand I cannot meet.'” 1 Kings 20:9

Game on! The taunting reaches its pinnacle. BH’s response:

Ben-Hadad: May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if enough dust remains in Samaria to give each of my men a handful.

Ahab: One who puts on his armor should not boast like one who takes it off.1 King 20:10

Oddly enough, a prophet is sent by the Lord in support of Ahab. This is odd to me because Ahab is far from God as we read in the closing remarks about Ahab. Still, these are God’s people. Somewhere in the multitude there are those who love the Lord.

“But who will do this? asked Ahab (1 Kings 20:14) and how will it be done? The prophet provides details and 232 junior officers along with 7,000 set out against BH, a ridiculously small number compared to the Arameans. BH sent out a comparable force, but they were completely defeated and the Israelites “inflicted heavy losses on the Arameans” (1 Kings 20:21). End of scene.

BH’s advisors explain the Ahab’s god is the god of the hills and in order to win, they must be drawn out onto the plains. Great idea! Next Spring, the battle is taken to the plains, but the Lord will not be ridiculed. A prophet speaks on behalf of the Lord,

Because the Arameans think the Lord is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord.1 Kings 20:28

Once again, the Lord gives Ahab a chance to honor him as the true Lord by coming to his aid–a one-sided deal.

The Israelites camped opposite them like two small flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside. 1 Kings 20:27

There was no way Ahab could possibly win this battle, the odds were heavily in BH’s favor. But that day was the Lord’s day.

The Israelites inflicted 100,000 casualties on the Aramean foot soldiers in one day. The rest of them escaped to the city of Aphek where the wall collapsed on 27,000 of them. And Ben-Hadad fled to the city and hid in an inner room. 1 Kings 29-30

BH has a plan that seems ok with Ahab. He puts on sack-cloth and begs for his life. Ahab ignores all that the Lord has tried to speak to him and simply lets Ben-Hadad go. The prophets provide God’s response.

The Prophets

The last part of chapter 20 includes strong words by the prophets against Ahab. The prophet provides a parable (like Nathan did for David) and Ahab responds as expected, trapped by his own words.

This is what the Lord says: “You have set free a man I had determined should die. Therefore it is your life for his life, your people for his people.” 1 Kings 20:42

Ahab departs sulking and angry–he takes out his frustration on Naboth.

Naboth

Naboth has a nice garden close to Ahab’s palace. The king decides he should have the garden so he gives Naboth a choice: give it to me or sell it to me; either way Ahab wants the garden. Naboth refuses. This is his land, the inheritance from his ancestors. No deal. Ahab whines to Jezebel and she lets her husband know she will handle the issue promptly. She hires two “scoundrels” to trump up false charges against Naboth then incite the community to stone him for his transgression. The plan works, of course, and Naboth is stoned. The garden is now available.

When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard. 1 Kings 21:16

Elijah returns to the narrative…nothing good happens when Elijah talks to Ahab!

This is what the Lord says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood–yes, yours! 1 Kings 21:19

Elijah is not done. Finally, Jezebel’s demise is prophesied as well,

And also concerning Jezebel the Lord says: ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel’ 1 Kings 21:23

Dogs must be the insult of insults for that age. Sadly this seems to foretell a fitting end for Ahab and Jezebel. Both stood against the Lord.

There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel. 1 Kings 21:25

Micaiah

Enter Micaiah, a prophet of the Lord and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. The kings meet, oddly enough, after 3 years of “no war” (I wonder if “no war” is equivalent to “peace” ??). Ahab inquired of his prophets, but Jehoshaphat wants a “real” prophet and Micaiah is recommended. Ahab doesn’t like him because he never has anything good to say! Not surprising, after some interaction (quite interesting), Micaiah predicts Ahab’s death and is, of course, rebuked, led away as a prisoner.

Ahab has this great plan: let’s go to war, you put on kingly garments and I’ll wear a disguise. Seriously Jehoshaphat, what are you thinking? They go into battle and surprise, the Armeans recognize the king. Jehoshaphat announces he is not the king they are looking for so they back off. But in the heat of battle, something odd happens,

But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, “Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.” All day long the battle raged, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot, and that evening he died.1 Kings 21:34-35

When they washed out the chariot, the dogs licked up his blood.

The end of a despicable king, followed by another bad egg, Ahaziah, his son.

Compare that to Jehoshaphat (king of Judah), Asa’s son who did pretty well. The northern kingdom is not doing so well as the book of 1 Kings comes to a close.

1 Kings 19 and Psalm 57

The Lord, the God of all, showed up on Mount Carmel and the words that Elijah spoke were once again shown truthful, even beyond expectation. What is Ahab’s response? Run to momma! Jezebel strikes out against Elijah, she threatens to kill him within 24 hours so he runs.

“I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.1 Kings 19:4-5

An angel appears to Elijah twice, feeds and nourishes him to support his journey to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God, the place where Moses met with God and received the Ten Commandments.

(side note: I searched, Mount Horeb to Mount Carmel, to see how far apart they are and Google provided a map from Mount Carmel, SC to Mount Horeb, WI: 942.4 miles. Wrong. But interesting.)

The NIV Study Bible puts the journey at about 250 miles…on foot! When Elijah finally gets to Mount Horeb, he hides in a cave.

The Lord Appears to Elijah

One of the most powerful scenes in this part of the Old Testament unfolds.

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”1 Kings 19:11-13

Pause. Soak it in. God revealed himself on Mount Carmel in a mighty way, supernatural to be sure, but beyond expectations–he was the powerful wind and fire for all to witness. That’s the God I want to see! Enough of this waiting around Lord, kick some butt, let’s get this show going!! No. God is not the Lord of my fantasy, he is the Creator and he will show up in his way in his time.

A gentle whisper.

Elijah knew this was the Lord. Think about it. For the last 60 years Jeroboam and his family has been systematically and boldly destroying everything that Moses lived for. David and Solomon faithfully created the kingdom of Israel in the Promised Land. They had everything they could have wanted until Solomon married and adopted pagan rituals. The whole nation of Israel is torn apart and being flipped upside down. Few can see what is happening. Most just go along with the ridiculous Jeroboam rituals, but Elijah (and others no doubt) can see the turmoil. It’s personal. It’s overwhelmingly difficult. Elijah cries out to God,

He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” 1 Kings 19:14

He trusts God, absolutely no doubt, but that doesn’t make it any easier. This is painful to consider. Oh Elijah, how you must be hurting. God does not rebuke Elijah for his outrageous run. He speaks to him in a whisper and gives him instructions for the next chapter in Israel’s history.

The narrative is only a few verses in length, but the whole trial took weeks to endure. Elijah feels like he’s alone, the only one who gets it, but the Lord assures him he has a plan. God names Elisha as Elijah’s successor, defines who to anoint as the next king and comforts Elijah by letting him know,

“…Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” 1 Kings 19:18

There are so many times when we feel alone. I know it’s ridiculous even when that emotional reaction happens, but Elijah is an emotional guy. The narrative gives us all grace and reminds us that God is able, even willing, to meet us where we are.

The Call of Elisha

Three verses are used to describe Elijah’s appointment of Elisha, 1 Kings 19:19-21. That’s it! Elijah shows up while Elisha is on the job working the fields. No fanfare, no procession, just shows up and throws his robe on Elisha and says, “tag, you’re it!” Elisha understands. He takes the oxen he was driving to support his vocation and slaughters them, cooks them over the wooden equipment and feeds those around him then departs. He leaves it all behind to follow Elijah, to follow the call of God.

Who is willing to do that today? Am I willing to burn it all and follow God’s call? Or am I holding on tightly to what I have in flagrant disobedience? Decision time.

 

1 Kings 15-16 and Psalm 56

Southern Kingdom

Abijah succeeds Rehoboam. Bad becomes worse! “He committed all the sins his father had done before him” (1 Kings 15:3). The civil war that started with Rehoboam and Jeroboam continued throughout Abijah’s reign.

Asa follows Abijah. “Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord…Although he did not remove the high places, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life” (1 Kings 15:11,14). The civil war continues.

Northern Kingdom

Nadab takes over after Jeroboam. “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways of his father” (1 Kings 14:26). He only lasted for 2 years. Nadab was killed by Baasha.

Baasha ruled for 24 years. “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways of Jeroboam” (1 Kings 15:34).  Baasha killed the entire family of Jeroboam. The civil war continued.

Elah, Baasha’s son, was next…for 2 years. Elah was killed by one of his officials (Zimri).

Zimri took the throne from Elah and killed all of Baasha’s family as predicted by the prophet Jehu. Zimri lasted 7 days! One week.

Omri declared king after Zimri’s suicide. There was division within division, but Omri won out by killing the opposition. He reigned for 12 years. “But Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord and sinned more than all those before him” (1 Kings 16:25).

Ahab followed Omri. He was even worse than those before him!

He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 1 Kings 16:31

Jeroboam set the stage for the Northern Kingdom to go from bad to worse while Asa attempted to correct the Southern Kingdom. Though there is war between the two, there are few details about these battles (more in 2 Chronicles), it seems that the kings are mostly focused inwardly. Solomon’s vast business efforts seem to have bought freedom for some time, but trouble is brewing outside of Israel and Judah. It won’t be long before the Assyrians and Babylonians enter the scene. For now, we see how sin controls the thoughts and actions of our ancestors. Not a pretty sight to say the least.

 

1 Kings 13-14

God is not pleased with Jeroboam, to put it mildly. “By the word of the Lord,” a phrase repeated twice in the first two verses, a man of God has this message for Jeroboam,

On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you. 1 Kings 13:2

The narrative takes a strange turn here. Jeroboam hears the prophet’s words and reaches his hand out against him. His hand shrivels as he does and he asks “the man of God” to intercede and heal his hand. The man of God does that, but when invited to eat and drink with Jeroboam, he refuses because of the command God had given him to deliver the message and return without eating or drinking with these people.

That part makes sense, these are crazy people following Jeroboam’s new religion. Mingling with them can only lead to trouble, so he leaves. Here’s where it goes off-rail. An old prophet (whatever that means) hears about the interaction and tells his sons to “saddle the donkey” so he can catch up with the man of God. He meets him and invites him to eat and drink with him, but again, the man of God refuses. The old prophet then lies to him,

“I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.'” (But he was lying to him.) 1 Kings 13:18

Trapped in a lie, the man of God returns and eats with the old prophet. The Lord gives the old prophet a vision and tells the man of God he will die because he defied the Lord’s instructions. The man of God leaves and is killed by a lion on the roadside. The old prophet retrieves the body, mourns for him and buries his body in his own tomb. He tells his sons to buy himself beside these bones when he dies.

Kinda like a dream within a dream, the man of God comes and goes. Sad, really, he proclaimed truth and was caught in a lying old prophet. Why did he turn back? If he would have simply continued on, there would have been no story.

Even after this Jeroboam did not change his evil ways…the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth. 1 Kings 13:33-34

I’m sure Jeroboam heard that the man of God was killed since his body was not mauled and the old prophet easily recognized him. Perhaps he figured he could continue his religion since the man of God was gone. Foolish.

Chapter 14 includes Ahijah’s prophecy again Jeroboam, the disaster that is coming to his household as a result of his great sin. Jeroboam sends his wife on a secret mission, but the blind prophet, Ahiijah, was told by God that she was coming, the purpose of her visit (sick son) and the message to give her. Of course the message is NOT good and their son dies when she steps into the house on her return.

Jeroboam reigns for 22 years. Nothing good to be said about his legacy. Still, 22 years? In my mortal thinking this is a very long time to lead 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel on a journey far from God.

Meanwhile, the last section in chapter 14 goes back to Rehoboam. He started out on the right path, but soon got lost and somehow forgot all that was holy. Crazy. At this point, he had an incredible palace and temple — I mean INCREDIBLE! The twin towers of its day. But he begins to worship idols, sets up Asherah poles all over the place, even has male shrine prostitutes,

the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 1 Kings 14:24

By the fifth year, it all comes crashing down on Rehoboam and on Judah (the southern kingdom).

Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. 1 Kings 14:25-26

His life was calamity. He lost everything of value to Egypt, constantly fighting Jeroboam, then dies and is succeeded by Abijah. The narrative of the kings continues.

As I read through the stories of those in power at the time, I wonder what the common people must have been thinking and doing. The temple is routed, so what happens now? The land is filled with idols and despicable activity. Yet some, no doubt, kept the faith. Those strongest in their faith kept passing down the mantle of righteousness. Lord help us to be strong in you! We have such an advantage with the Bible printed, online, anytime and anywhere. Help us to look only to you and not these lewd activities of the world. Build up your people Lord. Make us strong as the years tick by. Give us patience, but not complacency. You ways Lord, not ours.

1 Kings 6-7

It’s difficult to appreciate how much time elapses in reading through the Old Testament. Chapter 6 begins by simply stating that Solomon’s construction project began in the fourth year of his reign as king. For three years he planned the construction effort. The foundation was laid in the fourth year and the temple completed in the eleventh year–eight years to build!

So Solomon built the temple and completed it. 1 Kings 6:14

Well, Solomon gets the credit, but thousands of workers actually built the temple!

Interestingly, he spent 13 years building his palace. At first, I thought this was a concurrent project that to an extended time because of the work on the Temple, but 2 Kings 9:10 tells us it took 20 years to complete both structures–20 years!

In the course of building, Solomon and Huram (king of Tyre) have no doubt established some significant bonds. In 2 Samuel 5, we read about the king of Tyre (Hiram) and his relationship with David, supplying cedars in particular. The notes on the Bible suggest that Hiram and Huram are either the same guy (really old by this time) or Huram is the son of Hiram who carried on the legacy. The reference in 2 Chronicles 2 identifies king Hiram of Tyre. Well…I’m not knowledgeable enough to know the importance, but it is quite interesting to know the deep connection between Jerusalem and Tyre.

Isaiah 23 provides a prophecy against Tyre as it appears the wealth and success, fame and fortune, led to arrogance and pride. Ezekiel 28 gives even more insight into the decay of Tyre. This important city is talked about in several parts of the Bible. It would be an interesting side study to research it a bit. Some day.

I’ve glossed over the details of the Temple and Palace, but it is obvious that much care was taken in creating each and every part of these structures; care for the architecture as well as everything inside and outside. For architects, this must sound like a beautiful song! Everything carefully made and placed for a very specific reason. Frank Lloyd Wright would be pleased. Perhaps this reinforces the concept of God as one of order and not chaos.

The good news is there is no lengthy description of someone creating a bigger-than-life statue of Solomon (or even David). No reference to Solomon drawing attention to himself. Everything that is built has a purpose and the intention is to honor God in every single detail.

When all the work King Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated–the silver and gold and the furnishings–and he placed them in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple. 1 Kings 7:51

Everything for God and for His Glory. I hope I can learn that lesson and give all I can for Christ today.

1 Kings 4-5 and Psalm 52

It seems all is well with Solomon at the helm of Israel,

The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy.
During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree. 1 Kings 4:20,25

Spoiler alert: It’s interesting to note the phrase Judah and Israel, as if there are two separate kingdoms.

Solomon was notorious for his wisdom on all subjects.

Chapter 5 is the beginning of building the temple. Solomon makes a deal with the Hiram, King of Tyre to purchase cedars of Lebanon for the building of the temple. “There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon and the two of them made a treaty.” (1 Kings 5:12)

To effect this massive effort, Solomon “conscripted laborers” from Israel: 30,000 men were sent to Lebanon, 10,000 at a time spent a month in Lebanon, then home for two months. Force labor. Not so sure this group ate, drank and were happy!

The Israelite population is in the millions at this point, but forced labor on a few (percentage-wise) is simply not a good idea. Nonetheless, the building project begins and there is no mention of war.