Front matter (continued, part 56)
1 Kings 19
The angel's message of grace (19:5–8) When the heart is heavy and the mind and body are weary, sometimes the best remedy is sleep—just take a nap! Referring to Mark 6:31, Vance Havner used to say that if we didn't come apart and rest, we'd come apart—and Elijah was about to come apart. Nothing seems right when you're exhausted.
6:22), and angels attended Jesus during His temptation in the wilderness (Mark 1:12–13). An angel strengthened Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:43) and encouraged Paul on board ship in the storm (Acts 27:23). The angels in heaven rejoice when a sinner is converted (Luke 15:7, 10). When we arrive in heaven and God privileges us to review our earthly walk, we will no doubt discover that strangers who helped us in different ways were actually the angels of God, sent by the Lord to assist and protect us.
But while the prophet was asleep, the Lord sent an angel to care for his needs. In both Hebrew and Greek, the word translated "angel" also means "messenger," so some have concluded that this helpful visitor was another traveler whom the Lord brought to Elijah's side just at the right time. However, in verse 7, the visitor is called "the angel of the Lord," an Old Testament title for the second person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In passages like Genesis 16:10, Exodus 3:1–4, and Judges 2:1–4, the angel of the Lord speaks and acts as God would speak and act. In fact the angel of the Lord in Exodus 3:2 is called "God" and "the Lord" in the rest of the chapter. We assume that this helpful visitor was our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Creator's message of power (19:9–14) It was about 200 miles from Beersheba to Sinai, a journey of perhaps ten days to two weeks. It had been three weeks at the most since Elijah fled from Jezreel, but the trip expanded to consume forty days (19:8)! If Elijah was in such a hurry to put miles between himself and Jezebel's executioners, why did he take such a long time to do it? Perhaps the Lord directed his steps (Ps. 37:23)—and his stops—so that he would spend one day for every year the Israelites had been in the wilderness after they were delivered from Egypt. It was Israel's unbelief and fear at Kadesh Barnea that led to their judgment (Num. 13–14), and it was Elijah's unbelief and fear that led to his journeying in the desert. (Our Lord also spent forty days in the wilderness when He was tempted; Matt. 4:2.) Since he was heading for Sinai, Elijah may have planned the trip so he could spend forty days in the wilderness to imitate Moses who spent forty days on the mount with the Lord (Ex. 34:28). Elijah had to deal with Baal worship, and Moses had to deal with the worship of the golden calf (Ex. 32).4
Elijah and the apostle Peter were both awakened by angels (Acts 12:7), Elijah to get some nourishment and Peter to walk out a free man. The angel had prepared a simple but adequate meal of fresh bread and refreshing water, and the prophet partook of both and lay down again to sleep. (Jesus prepared a breakfast of bread and fish for Peter and six other of His disciples; John 21:9, 13.) We aren't told how long the Lord permitted Elijah to sleep before He awakened him the second time and told him to eat. The Lord knew that Elijah planned to visit Mount Sinai, one of the most sacred places in all Jewish history, and Sinai was located about 250 miles from Beersheba, and he needed strength for the journey. But no matter what our destination may be, the journey is too great for us and we need God's strength to reach the goal. How gracious God was to spread a "table in the wilderness" for His discouraged servant (Ps. 78:19, and see Ps. 23:5). Elijah obeyed the messenger of God and was able to travel for forty days and nights on the nourishment from those two meals.
Elijah made the cave his home and waited upon the Lord. In contemporary religious language, he was "making a retreat" in order to solve some problems and get closer to the Lord. He was so depressed that he was willing to give up his calling and even his life. When the Lord finally came and spoke to Elijah, it wasn't to rebuke him or instruct him but to ask him a question: "What are you doing here?" The prophet's reply didn't really answer the question, which explains why God asked it a second time (v. 13). Elijah only told the Lord (who already knew) that he had experienced many trials in his ministry, but he had been faithful to the Lord. But if he was a faithful servant, what was he doing hiding in a cave located hundreds of miles from his appointed place of ministry?
When you review God's ministries to Elijah as recorded in 1 Kings 18 and 19, you see a parallel to the promise in Isaiah 40:31. For three years, the prophet had been hidden by God, during which time he "waited on the Lord." When the Lord sent him to Mount Carmel, He enabled Elijah to "mount up with wings as eagles" and triumph over the prophets of Baal. After Elijah prayed and it began to rain, the Lord strengthened him to "run and not be weary" (18:46), and now He sustained him for forty days so he could "walk and not faint" (19:8). Elijah wasn't wholly living in the will of God, but he was smart enough to know that he had to wait on the Lord if he expected to have strength for the ministry and for the journey that lay before him.
In this reply, Elijah reveals both pride and self-pity, and in using the pronoun "they," he exaggerates the size of the opposition. He makes it look as though every last Jew in the northern kingdom had turned against him and the Lord, when actually it was Jezebel who wanted to kill him. The "I only am left" refrain5 makes it look as though he was indispensable to God's work, when actually no servant of God is indispensable. God then commanded him to stand on the mount at the entrance of the cave, but it doesn't appear that Elijah obeyed him until he heard the still, small voice (v. 13).
God's angels are His special ambassadors, sent to minister to His people (Heb. 1:14; Ps. 91:11). An angel rescued Daniel from being devoured by lions (Dan.
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a failure. But you must realize that I don't usually work in a manner that's loud, impressive, and dramatic. My still, small voice brings the Word to the listening ear and heart. Yes, there's a time and place for the wind, the earthquake and the fire, but most of the time, I speak to people in tones of gentle love and quiet persuasion." The Lord wasn't condemning the courageous ministry of His servant; He was only reminding Elijah that He uses many different tools to accomplish His work. God's Word comes down like the gentle shower that refreshes, cleanses, and produces life (Deut. 32:2; Isa. 55:10). In this day of mammoth meetings, loud music, and high-pressure promotion, it's difficult for some people to understand that God rarely works by means of the dramatic and the colossal. When He wanted to start the Jewish nation, He sent a baby—Isaac, and when He wanted to deliver that nation from bondage, He sent another baby—Moses. He sent a teenager named David to kill the Philistine giant, and the boy used a sling and a stone to do it. When God wanted to save a world, He sent His Son as a weak and helpless baby; and today, God seeks to reach that world through the ministry of "earthen vessels" (2 Cor. 4:7). Dr. J. Oswald Sanders states that "the whispers from Calvary are infinitely more potent than the thunder of Sinai in bringing men to repentance."6
Another possibility is that he did go out of the cave but fled back into it when God began to demonstrate His great power.
"The Lord passed by" reminds us of the experience of Moses on the mount (Ex. 33:21–22). All Elijah needed to get renewed for service was a fresh vision of the power and glory of God. First, the Lord caused a great wind to pass by, a wind so strong that it broke the rocks and tore the mountain, but no divine message came to the prophet. Then the Lord caused a great earthquake that shook the mount, but nothing from God came out of the earthquake. The Lord then brought a fire, but it, too, gave Elijah no message from the Lord. Certainly the prophet must have thought of the giving of the law as he witnessed this dramatic display of power (Ex. 19:16–18).
What was God trying to accomplish in Elijah's life by means of these awesome and frightening object lessons? For one thing, He was reminding His servant that everything in nature was obedient to Him (Ps. 148)—the wind, the foundations of the earth, the fire—and He didn't lack for a variety of tools to get His work done. If Elijah wanted to resign from his divine calling, the Lord had someone else to take his place. As it turned out, Elijah didn't resign but was given the privilege of calling his successor, Elisha, and spending time with him before being taken to heaven.
The wind, the earthquake, and the fire are all means that the Lord has used to manifest Himself to mankind. Theolo-gians call these demonstrations "theophanies," from two Greek words (theos = God; phaino = to manifest, to appear) that together mean "the manifestation of God." The pagan nations saw these great sights and worshipped the powers of nature, but when the Jews saw them, they worshipped the God who created nature. (See Judg. 5:4–5, Ps. 18:16–18 and Hab. 3.) But these same demonstrations of the awesome presence and power of God will be seen in the last days before Jesus returns to earth to establish His kingdom. The Old Testament prophets called this period "the day of the Lord." (See Joel 2:28—3:16, Isa. 13:9–10, Matt. 24:29, and Rev. 6—16.) Perhaps the Lord was saying to Elijah, "You feel like you've failed to judge the sin in Israel, but one day I will judge it and My judgment is final and complete."
The Lord's message of hope (19:15–21) Elijah had nothing new to say to the Lord, but the Lord had a new message of hope for His frustrated servant. The Lord had many reasons for rejecting His servant and leaving him to die in the cave, but He didn't take that approach. "He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.… For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust" (Ps. 103:10, 14 nkjv).
First, the Lord told Elijah to return to the place of duty. When we're out of the Lord's will, we have to retrace our steps and make a new beginning (Gen. 13:3; 35:1–3). The honest answer to the question "What are you doing here, Elijah?" was "Nothing! I'm having a personal pity party!" But Elijah was called to serve, and there were tasks to perform. When Joshua was brokenhearted because of Israel's defeat at Ai, he spent a day on his face before God, but God's answer was, "Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?" (Josh. 7:10 nkjv). When Samuel mourned over the failure of Saul, God rebuked him. "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go" (1 Sam. 16:1 nkjv), and Samuel went and anointed David to be the next king. No matter how much or how often His servants fail Him, God is never at a loss to know what to do. Our job is to obey His Word and get up and do it!
After this dramatic display of power, there was "a still, small voice," which has also been translated "a gentle whisper, a tone of a gentle blowing." When the prophet heard that voice, he stepped out of the cave and met the Lord. The mighty power and the great noise of the previous exhibitions didn't stir Elijah, but when he heard the still, small voice, he recognized the voice of God. For the second time (see Jonah 3:1), he heard the same question, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" and once again, Elijah repeated the same selfcentered evasive answer.
Elijah's first responsibility was to anoint Hazael to be king of Syria. This was a Gentile nation, but it was still the Lord who chose the leaders. "[The] Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever
God was saying to Elijah, "You called fire from heaven, you had the prophets of Baal slain, and you prayed down a terrific rainstorm, but now you feel like
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had set apart for Himself. No matter how bleak the days may seem, God has His people and knows when to call them.
He chooses" (Dan. 4:25 nkjv). Then he was to anoint Jehu to be king of Israel, for even though the nation had divided, Israel was still under the divine covenant and was responsible to the Lord. His third task was to anoint Elisha to be his own successor. Elijah had complained because the past generation had failed and the present generation hadn't done any better (v. 4). Now God called him to help equip the future generation by anointing two kings and a prophet.7 This is the Old Testament version of 2 Timothy 2:2.
Elisha's conduct seems to contradict what Jesus said in Luke 9:57–62, but this is not so. Elisha was wholehearted in his obedience to follow after Elijah, while the men in the gospel record had hesitations and reservations, and Jesus knew it. Elisha proved his commitment by killing two of the oxen and using the wooden farm implements as fuel to cook them for a farewell feast. In contemporary terms, he was "burning his bridges behind him." He had no intention of taking his hand off the plow and then going back to it. Elijah's reply means, "What have I done? I didn't call you, the Lord did. Am I stopping you? Do as the Lord wants you to do." The New Living Translation reads, "Go on back! But consider what I have done to you." How Elisha's family and friends viewed this sudden change of vocation isn't shared with us, but there's no indication they were opposed to Elisha's decision.
The people the Lord named weren't especially significant in the social structure of that day. Hazael was a servant to King Bed-hadad, Jehu was a captain of the army, and Elisha was a farmer. But by the time Elisha and Jehu completed their work, Baal worship was almost wiped out in Israel (2 Kings 10:18–31). No one generation can do everything, but each generation must see to it that people in the next generation are called and trained and that the tools are made available for them to continue the work of the Lord. God was calling Elijah to stop weeping over the past and running away from the present. It was time for him to start preparing others for the future. When God is in command, there is always hope.
As you review the chapter, you can see the mistakes that Elijah made and how the Lord overruled them and accomplished His will. Elijah walked by sight and not by faith, yet the Lord sustained him. He looked at himself and his failures instead of at God's greatness and power. He was more concerned about doing more than his ancestors had done in the past instead of calling and preparing new servants for the future. He isolated himself from God's people and thereby lost the strength and encouragement of their fellowship and prayers. But let's not be too hard on Elijah, for he did have a sensitive ear to the still, small voice of the Lord, and he did obey what God told him to do. The Lord rebuked him gently and brought him out of his cave and back into active service. Let's keep these things in mind and recall them the next time we're under our juniper tree or in our cave!
But the Lord did more than send His servant out to recruit new workers. He also gave him the assurance that his work and their work would not be in vain. God would use the swords of Hazael and Jehu, and the words and works of Elisha, to accomplish His purposes in the land. Even more, He assured Elijah that his own ministry hadn't been a failure, for there were still 7,000 people in the land who were faithful to Jehovah. Indeed, the prophet was not alone, yet God sent him to touch the lives of three individuals. The Lord didn't command Elijah to gather all 7,000 faithful people together in a mass meeting and preach a sermon. There's certainly a place for sermons and large meetings, but we must never underestimate the importance of working with individuals. Jesus spoke to huge crowds, but He always had time for individuals and their needs.
Finally, let's be among those who look to the future and seek to enlist others to serve the Lord. To glamorize or criticize the past accomplishes little; what's important is that we do our job in the present and equip others to continue it after we're gone. God buried His workers, but His work goes right on.
The phrase "I have left" in verse 18 (kjv) means "I have reserved for myself." This is "the remnant according to the election of grace" that Paul wrote about in Romans 11:1–6. No matter how wicked the world scene may appear, God always has a remnant that is faithful to Him. Sometimes that remnant is small, but God is always great and accomplishes His purposes.
Notes 1 The Hebrew text reads "and when he saw," as do the KJV and the NIV margin. The Septuagint reads "he was afraid," and the NIV and the NASB both adopted this text. What did he see that made him afraid? The dangerous situation? The dangerous messenger? We aren't told and it's useless to speculate. 2 "Sitting under the juniper tree" is a common English phrase that describes a person who is angry at God, sick of life, embarrassed by failure, and ready to call it quits. 3 The scene reminds us of Jonah at Nineveh as he argued with the Lord (Jonah 4). Moses also wanted to die because of the impossible workload he tried to carry (Num. 11:14–15). 4 The Hebrew text of verse 9 reads "the cave" as if a well-known cave was meant. Some students believe that Elijah occupied the
Without delay, Elijah retraced his steps and returned to the place of duty. It was 150 miles from Sinai to Abel Meholah (v. 16) where he would find Elisha plowing a field. Elisha's name means "God has salvation." The fact that Elisha was using twelve yoke of oxen—twenty-four expensive animals—indicates that his family was probably better off financially than most Israelites.8 Elijah didn't say a word to the young man but merely cast his mantle (outer garment) over him to indicate that the Lord had called him to serve the prophet and then be his successor. Elisha and his family were part of that "remnant of grace" that God
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the siege of Samaria lasted, but Syria ultimately brought Ahab to the place of submission. First, Benhadad demanded Ahab's wealth and family, and Ahab agreed. Ben-hadad planned to hold the family hostage just to make sure Ahab didn't back out of his agreement. Instead of Ahab calling for Elijah or another prophet and seeking the help of the Lord, he quickly capitulated. (Contrast this decision with Saul's decision in 1 Samuel 11.) Ben-hadad wasn't satisfied with this arrangement and wanted more, but his covetousness led to his defeat. In addition to taking the king's wealth and the royal family, Ben-hadad wanted to send officers to search all the royal buildings and take whatever they wanted! Agreeing with this request was much too humiliating for proud Ahab, so he and his advisers refused to accept it.
same part of Sinai that Moses did when he saw the glory of God (Ex. 33:12–23). 5 See Psalm 12:1, Micah 7:2, and Isaiah 57:1. 6 Robust in Faith (Moody Press), 135. 7 Elijah called Elisha (19:19–21), and Elisha anointed Hazael (2 Kings 8:7–15). By the authority of his master, Elisha's servant anointed Jehu (2 Kings 9:1–10). From God's point of view, it was Elijah who did all of this. 8 Once again, we see the Lord calling people who were busy. This was true of Moses, Gideon, David, Nehemiah, Amos, and the apostles.
CHAPTER TWELVE 1 Kings 20:1—22:53 AHAB, THE SLAVE OF SIN I
When he received Ahab's message, Ben-hadad was probably drunk and feeling very brave, because he made an unwise decision. He could have gotten most of what he wanted without sacrificing a single soldier, but now he made an oath to grind Samaria to powder, and he had to live up to his boast. To his credit, Ahab replied with a familiar proverb that could have applied to him as much as to Ben-hadad. It's the equivalent of, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch."
n his novel Moby Dick, Herman Melville gave the name Ahab to the deranged captain of the whaling vessel Pequod. (Melville also included a "prophet" named Elijah.) The Ahab in the Bible is a weak man who destroyed himself and his family because he allowed his evil wife, Jezebel, to turn him into a monster. The name Jezebel is familiar to people today and has even made it into the dictionary: "Jezebel—an evil, shameless woman." To call a woman "a Jezebel" is to put her on the lowest level of society (see Rev. 2:20–23). The prophet Elijah described the man accurately when he told Ahab, "I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord" (1 Kings 21:20 nkjv).
The promise (vv. 13–21). In opposing Ben-hadad, Ahab had nothing to stand on, but God in His grace sent him a message of hope: the Lord would give Ahab the victory. The Lord wasn't doing this because Ahab deserved it but because He wanted to honor His own name before the wavering king of Israel and his people. As He did on Mount Carmel, so Jehovah would do on the battlefield: He would demonstrate that He alone is God (18:36–37). We commend Ahab for receiving the promise and asking for further instructions. Perhaps Jezebel wasn't home that day to influence him the wrong way.
These chapters describe four events in Ahab's life: three battles with the Syrians (Aram) and a land-grab scam that involved an illegal trial and several murders. Because he wasn't rightly related to the Lord and His Word, Ahab was enslaved to sin, but "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23), and Ahab received his wages with dividends. We will look at the four events and see Ahab's varied responses.
Following the example of Solomon (1 Kings 4:7ff.), Ahab's father, Omri, had divided the kingdom of Israel into a number of political districts, each in the charge of a "provincial leader" who was also an army officer. The Lord selected these leaders to lead the attack against Syria, and Ahab was to lead the small army of 7,000 men. They went out at noon, knowing that Benhadad and his officers would be eating and drinking and be in no condition to fight a battle. Even when Ben-hadad's scouts reported that a company of men was approaching the Syrian camp, the Syrian king wasn't afraid but told the guard to take them alive. The military strategy for capturing prisoners would be different from that for destroying an invading army, so Ahab's men caught the Syrian guards by surprise and proceeded to wipe out the Syrian army. Instead of measuring the dust of Samaria as he threatened (v. 10), Ben-hadad jumped on his horse and escaped with his life. But because Ahab believed God's word and acted upon it, God gave him a great victory.
Believing God's promise (20:1–30) This is the first of two occasions when wicked King Ahab showed a glimmer of spiritual understanding. Israel was just coming out three years of famine when Ben-hadad, King of Syria, decided to attack and take advantage of their plight. King David had defeated these northern nations (called Syria in the older translations, Aram in the newer ones), but these nations had gradually regained their independence. Another factor in Ben-hadad's attack was the growing strength of Assyria in the north. Ben-hadad wanted to control the trade routes through Israel because he had lost the northern routes to Assyria, and he also wanted to be sure that Israel would provide men and weapons in case of an Assyrian invasion.
The siege (vv. 1–12). The thirty-two "kings" who allied with Ben-hadad were the rulers of northern citystates whose safety and prosperity depended a good deal on the strength of Syria. We aren't told how long
The challenge (vv. 22–30). Another anonymous
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The Lord couldn't allow Ahab to disobey and get away with it, so He instructed one of the sons of the prophets to confront the king about his sin. The "sons of the prophets" were young men who had special prophetic gifts and met in groups to study with elder prophets like Samuel (1 Sam. 7:17; 28:3), Elijah, and Elisha (2 Kings 2:3–7, 16; 4:38, 40). Knowing that he would have to catch Ahab by surprise to get his attention, the man wisely set up an "action sermon" that would arouse the king's interest.2 The young man told a fellow student about God's orders and asked him to strike him with a weapon, but the man refused. We can understand a friend not wanting to injure a friend, but like Ahab, the young prophet was disobeying God, and it cost him his life. This certainly put the fear of God into the other students, because the next one the young man approached was only too willing to comply. Disguised as a wounded soldier, he was ready to deliver his message.3
prophet spoke to Ahab and cautioned him to strengthen his forces and be prepared for another invasion. While Ahab was listening to God's message, Ben-hadad was listening to his officers explain Syria's great defeat. They were healing their king's wounded pride while at the same time protecting their own lives. They explained that their great army wasn't at fault; the defeat was the fault of the terrain. The gods of the Syrians were "gods of the plains," while Israel's God was a "god of the hills." Change the location and Syria will have the victory.
We now have a different scenario, because not only was the enemy challenging God's people, he was challenging God Himself! This was the Mount Carmel contest all over again, and the Lord wouldn't let it go unchallenged. Jehovah is the Lord of all the earth! He sent another man of God to assure Ahab of victory, but only because He wanted Ahab, the army of Israel, and the men of Syria to know that Jehovah alone is God. The Lord gave Israel victory on the battlefield, and when the enemy fled into the city of Aphek, God sent an earthquake and killed 27,000 Syrian soldiers.1 By the grace of God, Ahab won a second great victory!
In those days, a person could approach the king to help decide matters that needed legal clarification, and when Ahab saw this "injured soldier" sitting by the side of the road, his curiosity was aroused. Now we have a replay of Nathan's approach to David after David committed adultery with Bathsheba (2 Sam. 12), for just as David determined his own sentence, so Ahab announced his own guilt! Hearing that the "soldier" had lost an important prisoner of war and would have to forfeit his life or pay an enormous fine (seventy-five pounds of silver), the king replied, "So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it" (v. 40 nasb). The king could have granted the man a pardon and saved his life, but he preferred to let him die. But in so doing, Ahab was declaring his own guilt and passing sentence on himself!
Disobeying God's command (20:31–43) When God sent King Saul to fight the Amalekites, He made it clear that He wanted the Israelites to completely destroy them (1 Sam. 15). Saul disobeyed the Lord and as a result lost his kingdom. The Lord must have given a similar command to King Ahab (v. 42), but he, too, disobeyed. Ahab won the battle but lost the victory. What the enemy couldn't accomplish with their weapons, they accomplished with their deception. If Satan can't succeed as the lion who devours (1 Peter 5:8), he will come as a serpent who deceives (2 Cor. 11:3). Even Joshua fell into a similar trap (Josh. 9). Ben-hadad's officers were clever men who knew it was worth the risk to appeal to Ahab's pride. God had given the victory, but Ahab would take the credit and claim the spoils. In their dress and their attitude, the officers pretended to show humble submission to Ahab as he waited in his chariot (v. 33). Ahab certainly enjoyed the "honor" he was receiving after the great victory, but not once did he give the glory to the Lord. To hear that Ben-hadad was his servant made his heart glad, and he was more than willing to spare the man's life. Later, Hazael would kill Ben-hadad and become the king (2 Kings 8).
How did Ahab recognize that the young man was one of the sons of the prophets? It's not likely that Ahab was that close to Elijah's followers to know them personally. When the bandage was removed, did it reveal some identifying mark? Had Ahab seen the man on Mount Carmel? We have no way of knowing, but the sight must have shocked the king. The man that Ahab judged now became Ahab's judge and announced that one day the Syrians would slay Ahab. But instead of repenting and seeking the Lord's forgiveness, Ahab went home and pouted like a child (v. 43; see 21:4).
Breaking God's laws (21:1–16) Ben-hadad was the man Ahab should have killed, but he set him free, and Naboth was the man Ahab should have protected, but Ahab killed him! When you sell yourself to do evil, you call evil good and good evil, light darkness and darkness light (Isa. 5:20). The infamous episode of Naboth's vineyard reveals the lawlessness of King Ahab and his evil wife, Jezebel. Consider the sins they committed and consequently the commandments of God that they disdained and disobeyed.
Ben-hadad immediately entered into a treaty with Ahab and gave back to Israel the cities his father had taken (1 Kings 15:20). He also gave Ahab permission to sell Israel's produce and wares in the market at Damascus, which amounted to a trade agreement. That the king of Israel should make such a treaty with the enemy is remarkable, but Ahab had no convictions (except those of his wife) and always took the easy way out of any situation. Furthermore, he needed the support of Aram in case the Assyrians should decide to move south. This treaty lasted three years (22:1).
Idolatry. The first two commandments in the
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royal adornment could change the fact that Ahab and Jezebel were breaking God's law.
Decalogue declare that the Lord is the only true God and that true worshippers do not worship and serve other gods, whether things in God's creation or things they make themselves (Ex. 20:1–6). "The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him," wrote A. W. Tozer.4 Jezebel brought Baal worship into Israel and Ahab permitted it to spread throughout the land. When you turn away from truth, it's evidence that you're believing lies, then you start loving lies, and before long, you're controlled by lies.
What right did Jezebel have to write Naboth's death warrant? Her husband was king! Since she came from Phoenicia, she had the Gentile view of kingship, which included being important, getting what you want, and using your authority to take care of yourself. Samuel warned about this kind of monarch (1 Sam. 8:14), and Jesus cautioned His disciples not to follow that philosophy of governing but to serve the people in love (Matt. 20:20–28). A true leader uses his authority to build the people, while a dictator uses the people to build his authority, and people are expendable. Jezebel even threw in some religion and told the local authorities to proclaim a fast. If you can sugarcoat your scheme with something religious, the people will quickly accept it. But no matter how legal and spiritual that royal edict may have looked, in the sight of God it was only a lie—and God judges liars. Everything that God hates, Ahab and Jezebel did (Prov. 6:16–19).
Covetousness (vv. 1–4). Ahab and Jezebel had a summer palace at Jezreel, but the king couldn't enjoy it fully without a vegetable garden. Powerful people acquire one thing after another, but in all their acquiring, there's never any real satisfaction. "A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone," wrote Henry David Thoreau in chapter two of Walden. Then he added later in the book, "Superfluous wealth can buy superfluities only. Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul."
Murder (vv. 11–13). The procedure Jezebel outlined was in agreement with the law (Deut. 17:6–7; 19:15; Num. 35:30), but the accusation was false, the witnesses were liars, and the judges had been bought off by royal intimidation. In every town there were "men of Belial—worthless fellows" who would do anything for money or just to become important. Nobody but Ahab and possibly Jezebel heard Naboth's refusal to sell, and there was nothing in his words that could be interpreted as blasphemy. To curse God was a capital crime (Lev. 24:13–16), and cursing the king was dangerous because he was God's appointed ruler (Ex. 22:28; Acts 23:5).5 Stealing (vv. 14–16). The weak rulers in Naboth's city followed Jezebel's orders, conducted their illegal trial, took Naboth and his sons (2 Kings 9:26) outside the city, and stoned them. Nobody in the family was alive who could inherit the land, so Ahab felt he was free to take it. The officers notified Jezebel, not Ahab, of the execution, so it's obvious who had the power in the royal family. But the land didn't belong to Ahab, and the law says, "Thou shalt not steal" (Ex. 20:15). The vineyard hadn't even belonged to Naboth—it belonged to the Lord. Ahab was stealing property from God!
The king wanted Naboth's vineyard because he coveted a garden convenient to the palace.
"Thou shalt not covet" is the last of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:17), but perhaps it's the most difficult one to obey. Even more, a covetous heart often leads us to disobey all the other commandments of God. The first nine commandments focus on forbidden outward conduct—making and worshipping idols, stealing, murdering, and so on—but this commandment deals primarily with the hidden desires of the heart. It was the tenth commandment that helped Saul of Tarsus, the Pharisee, realize what a sinner he really was (Rom. 7:7–25), and it was this commandment that the wealthy young ruler refused to acknowledge when he looked into the mirror of the law (Matt. 19:14–30).
Ahab masked his covetousness by first offering to buy the vineyard or trade it for another piece of property. It was a reasonable offer, but Naboth was more concerned about obeying God's Word than pleasing the king or even making money. Naboth knew that the land belonged to the Lord and that He loaned it to the people of Israel to enjoy as long as they obeyed His covenant. All property had to be kept in the family (Lev. 25:23–28), which meant that Naboth was forbidden to sell his land to the king. Displaying his usual childishness, Ahab went home, went to bed, and pouted.
If ever two people were guilty of blaspheming God and breaking His laws, it was Ahab and Jezebel, and judgment was about to fall.
False witness (vv. 5–10). "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor" is the ninth commandment and emphasizes the importance of speaking the truth, whether in court or over the back fence. Truth is the cement that holds society together, and when truth is gone, everything starts to fall apart (Isa. 59:14). Jezebel was a resolute woman who never allowed the truth to stand in the way of what she wanted, so she fabricated an official lie, on official stationery, sealed with the official seal. But no amount of
Hearing God's sentence (21:16–29) "Surely the Lord does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7 nkjv). We have heard nothing from or about Elijah since he called Elisha to be his successor, but now God brings His servant into center stage to confront the king. As He always does when he gives an assignment, He told Elijah just what to say to the evil king. Ahab had shed innocent blood and his guilty blood would be licked
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One of Jehoshaphat's great achievements was the defeat of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites, a great force that attacked Judah (2 Chron. 20:10). The king humbled himself before the Lord, called for a nationwide fast, and encouraged the people to seek the face of the Lord. At a mass meeting in Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat prayed for God's guidance and help, reminding the Lord of His covenant with Abraham (v. 7) and God's acceptance of Solomon's prayer when he dedicated the temple (vv. 8–9; 6:12—7:22). If the people would look toward the temple and pray, God promised He would hear and answer. The Lord could see the great army approaching, and the king asked Him to judge them. (The name "Jehoshaphat" means "whom God judges," that is, "God pleads his cause.")
up by the dogs. What a way for the king of Israel to end his reign!
Previously, Ahab called Elijah "the troubler of Israel" (18:17), but now he makes it more personal and calls the prophet "my enemy." Actually, by fighting against the Lord, Ahab was his own enemy and brought upon himself the sentence that Elijah pronounced. Ahab would die dishonorably and the dogs would lick his blood. Jezebel would die and be eaten by the dogs. All of their posterity would eventually be eradicated from the land. They had enjoyed their years of sinful pleasure and selfish pursuits, but it would all end in judgment.
Instead of going home to pout, Ahab actually repented! What his wife thought about his actions isn't recorded, but the Lord who sees the heart accepted his humiliation and told it to His servant. The Lord didn't cancel the announced judgments but postponed them until the reign of Ahab's son Joram. See 2 Kings 9:14–37. Ahab was slain on the battlefield, and the dogs licked his blood at the pool of Samaria (22:37–38). Because of the postponement of the judgment, the dogs licked his son Joram's blood on Naboth's property, just as Elijah predicted (2 Kings 9:14–37). Later events proved that Ahab's repentance was short-lived, but the Lord at least gave him another opportunity to turn from sin and obey the Word. How much more evidence did Ahab need? But the influence of his wife couldn't easily be broken, for when Ahab married her, he sold himself into sin.
The prayer was followed by a declaration of the Word from Jehaziel (20:14–17), assuring the king and his people that the Lord would indeed intervene and give Judah victory. "The battle is not yours, but God's" (v. 15). The king and the people believed the Lord's promise and praised Him even before the battle started. The next day, Jehoshaphat sent the army out with the singers at the very front! God caused the three enemy armies to fight among themselves and destroy themselves, leaving the spoils of war for the army of Judah. The army had praised God before the battle and at the very time of the battle, and now they praised him at the temple after the battle. Faith, prayer, and praise are great weapons!
In chapter 22, the writer of 1 Kings focused primarily on the "battle compromise."
Receiving God's judgment (22:1–53; 2 Chron. 18) At this point we are introduced to godly Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. A summary of his reign is found in 22:41–50 and even more fully in 2 Chronicles 17— 20. He followed in the way of David and sought to please the Lord (17:1–6). He sent teaching priests throughout the land to explain God's law to the people (17:7–9) and assigned the other priests to serve as faithful judges to whom the people could bring their disputes. God gave Judah peace, and Jehoshaphat took advantage of this opportunity to fortify the land (17:10–19).
Ahab compromises God's king (vv. 1–6). When after three years, Ben-hadad hadn't kept his agreement to give Israel back the cities his father took (21:34), Ahab decided it was time to fight Syria and take them back. Jehoshaphat's son was married to Ahab's daughter, so Jehoshaphat had to be friendly toward Ahab and help him fight his battles. He was disobeying the Lord when he took this step (2 Chron. 19:1–3), but one compromise often leads to another. As the descendant of David, Jehoshaphat should have kept his distance from Ahab and never allowed the Davidic line to mingle with that of Ahab. All the court chaplains,6 paid to agree with the king, assured Ahab that he would win the battle, but Jehoshaphat was wise enough to ask Ahab for some word from the Lord.
He was a good king and a godly leader, but he got involved in three costly compromises. The first was the "bride compromise" when he married his son to a daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (2 Chron. 18:1; 21:4–7; 1 Kings 22:44; 2 Kings 8:16–19). This led to the "battle compromise," when Jehoshaphat got entangled in affairs of his son's father-in-law when Syria attacked Israel (18:2—19:3). Ahab's evil influence affected the reign of Jehoshaphat's grandson Ahaziah (2 Chron. 22:1–9), and the "battle compromise" almost cost Jehoshaphat his life (1 Kings 22:32–33). The third compromise was the "boat compromise," when Jehoshaphat foolishly joined forces with Ahab's son Ahaziah (1 Kings 22:48–49; 2 Chron. 20:31–37) and tried to get rich by importing foreign goods. The Lord wrecked his fleet and rebuked him for his sinful alliance.
Yes, there was a prophet of the Lord in Israel, and he was where true prophets are often found— in prison. Ahab sent for his enemy Micaiah, and while the two kings were waiting, the prophets put on quite a demonstration. Zedekiah, who seemed to be their leader, made some iron horns to illustrate how Israel would push back and gore the Syrians and win the battle. All the other prophets agreed and shouted their approval. But it takes more than enthusiasm to win a war, especially when God has decreed otherwise.
Ahab ignores God's warning (vv. 7–28). Micaiah
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was under a great deal of pressure to agree with the false prophets and assure Ahab he would defeat Syria. Not only was Micaiah outnumbered four hundred to one, but the officer who brought him to the two kings warned him to agree with the majority. Often in Scripture, it's the minority that's in the will of God, and Micaiah was determined to be faithful, not popular. The sight of the two kings on their thrones, dressed in their royal robes, must have been impressive, but it didn't sway Micaiah. His words in verse 13 were spoken in sarcasm and Ahab knew it, but Ahab's reply wasn't honest. He was just trying to impress Jehoshaphat and make him think he really did want to know and do God's will.
for the enemy to kill him! If Jehoshaphat had died, then his son would have taken the throne, and Ahab's daughter would have been the Jezebel of Judah! If Ahab then united the two thrones and blended the Davidic line with his own line, what would have happened to the Davidic covenant and the Messianic line? But God is sovereign in all things and protected Jehoshaphat, while at the same time allowing a random arrow to hit an opening in Ahab's armor and kill him. Ahab was disguised and yet was killed, while Jehoshaphat was in his royal robes and never touched. Ahab had set the king of Syria free when he should have destroyed him, and now the Syrians killed Ahab.
Micaiah's prophecy was fulfilled and so were the prophecies of Elijah (20:42; 21:19–21).
The Lord had given Micaiah two visions, both of which announced judgment to King Ahab. In the first, he saw Israel wandering hopelessly, like sheep without a shepherd, obviously a description of a nation without a leader (Num. 27:15–22). Jesus used this image to depict the Jewish people without spiritual direction (Matt. 9:36). Ahab got the message: he would be killed in the battle.
Ahab's son Ahaziah took the throne and continued the evil ways of his father and mother (vv. 51–53). He reigned only two years, and his brother Joram (or Jehoram) succeeded him. The prophecy about the dogs licking blood on Naboth's property was actually fulfilled in the death of Joram (21:29; 2 Kings 9:25–26).
The second vision explained how this would be accomplished: a lying spirit would give Ahab false confidence so he would enter the battle. That the God of truth should allow a lying spirit to accomplish His work is a puzzle to some people, but it's no different from God permitting Satan to attack Job (Job 1—2) or to motivate Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:21–30). God deals with people on the basis of their character. "With the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the devious [crooked niv] You will show Yourself shrewd" (Ps. 18:26 nkjv). Ahab was fighting against God, and like any good boxer or wrestler, the Lord anticipated his moves and countered with the right response. Ahab was a consummate liar and the Lord dealt with him according to his character.
Notes 1 As we have noted before, deciphering the transcription of numbers in the Hebrew language has sometimes caused problems for students, since letters are used for numbers and some letters look very similar. Could that many people be killed just by walls falling on them? But the collapsing of the walls would leave the city defenseless and make it possible for Ahab's troops to kill anybody seeking refuge in the city. The seven days of waiting, the falling of the walls, and the deception afterward all makes us think of the fall of Jericho (Josh. 6). However, Ahab was certainly no Joshua! 2 God sometimes told the prophets to use "action sermons" to get His message across to people who were spiritually blind and deaf. For example, Isaiah dressed like a prisoner of war for three years (Isa. 20); Jeremiah wore a wooden yoke and then an iron one (Jer. 27—28); and Ezekiel "played war," ate prisoners' rations, and cooked over a dung fire (Ezek. 4). 3 Disguises seem to play a significant role in 1 Kings. See 14:2 and 22:30. 4 The Knowledge of the Holy (Harper, 1961), 11. See Psalm 50:21. 5 When in his refusal Naboth said "The Lord forbid" (v. 3), he wasn't taking an oath or blaspheming God's name. But deceivers like Ahab and Jezebel know how to turn nothing into something. Exaggeration is a subtle form of lying. 6 The prophets of Baal had been slain (18:40) but could have been replaced. However, knowing Jehoshaphat's devotion to the Lord, Ahab wasn't likely to parade four hundred prophets of Baal before him. These men were probably attached to the shrines at Dan and Bethel where Jeroboam had put the golden calves. (See Amos 7:10–13.) It was still idolatry, but of a more refined type. These false prophets used the name of the Lord and claimed to speak by His authority (22:11–12). This is the same kind of false prophet that Jeremiah had to put up with years later.
God didn't lie to Ahab; quite the contrary, through the lips of Micaiah He told the truth and gave Ahab fair warning of what lay ahead. The fact that God warned Ahab before the battle clears the Lord of the charge of being guilty of his death. The reaction of Zedekiah proves that the four hundred false prophets didn't believe Micaiah either. A much greater mystery is why a godly man like King Jehoshaphat went into the battle at all and risked his life. Ahab ordered the true prophet to be taken back to prison and given bread and water, as if punishing the prophet would change his message. The test of a true prophet was the actual fulfillment of his words (Deut. 18:17–22; Num. 16:29), and Micaiah knew this. That's why his parting message to Ahab was, "If you ever return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me" (v. 28 nkjv).
Ahab meets his death (vv. 29–40, 51–53). How could King Jehoshaphat not discern what Ahab was doing to him? If Ahab had put a target on Jehoshaphat's back, he would not have made it easier
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Jesus Christ into the world. It was because of His promise to David that the Lord kept one of his descendants on the throne during the years of Judah's decline. Throughout the history of the monarchy, God measured every king against David, and though some of them were exceptional, none of them quite reached his level.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Reviewing 1 Kings REFLECTIONS ON RESPONSIBILITY N
ewspaper columnist Abigail Van Buren wrote, "If you want your children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders." Responsibility isn't a curse; it's a blessing. Adam and Eve had work to do in paradise before sin came into the world, and the perfect Son of God worked as a carpenter before He began His public ministry. Booker T. Washington said, "Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him."
One person can make a difference, if that person is willing to accept responsibility and walk with God. Anybody can run with the herd, but when God finds individuals who are willing to stand alone if necessary, He goes to work and builds leaders. The words of Dr. Lee Roberson have echoed in my mind for many years: "Everything rises or falls with leadership."
Solomon: Success often leads to failure It's good to have the things that money can buy, provided you don't lose the things that money can't buy. Solomon was a brilliant man who could discuss everything from how to grow herbs to how to build fortresses, yet he made a mess out of his life and paved the way for the division of the kingdom. During the golden age of Solomon, the nations marveled at his wisdom and envied his wealth (and perhaps his many wives), but Solomon himself turned out to be a hollow man who forsook the Lord who had so richly blessed him. He was perhaps the wisest fool in Bible history.
After killing his brother Abel and lying about it, Cain asked, "Am I my brother's keeper?" He was dodging both responsibility and accountability, a practice that's becoming very popular today. A bumper sticker announces, "The Devil made me do it," and people smile when they read it. When our first parents sinned, they ran and hid from God, and when they were confronted with their sin, they blamed others. Finally, they had to take the responsibility for what they had done, and with responsibility came hope and promise. Irresponsible people may run away, make excuses, cover up, or blame others, but if they do, they will never know the meaning of healthy character, integrity, a clear conscience, and the joy of walking with God.
When you read between the lines, you find that his living in luxury, surrounded by glamour and pleasure, introduced into Israel the viruses that eventually ate the spiritual heart out of the nation. Yes, we need education, but we also need to ask God for the wisdom to use it as we should. We also need money for food, clothing, and shelter—"For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things," said Jesus (Matt. 6:32)—but to acquire money just for money's sake is to surrender to covetousness and become so concerned about prices that we ignore values.
First Kings begins with the death of King David and ends with the death of King Ahab, and between those two events many other people either succeeded or failed, lived or died, because of decisions that were either responsible or irresponsible. The world of David and Ahab was nothing like our world today, but human nature hasn't changed and the basic principles of life are quite stable. We ought to be able to reflect on what we've learned from 1 Kings and draw some practical conclusions for life today.
Solomon was irresponsible in many areas of life, and his son Rehoboam inherited some of that mindset and ended up dividing the nation. God made a leader out of David by sending him out to care for sheep; challenging him with a lion, a bear, and a giant; forcing him to run for his life for ten years; and making him wait for the promised throne. Solomon grew up pampered and protected; he could have used a few years' service in the wilderness. By accumulating wives, horses, and wealth, he brought peace to the nation, but it was a peace purchased at the price of obedience to the law of God.
David: One person can make a difference The more you ponder the life of David, warts and all, the more you see his greatness. He was born with leadership ability, courage, and practical common sense, and the Holy Spirit gave him sensitivity to God's will and a special power that set him apart as God's man. His predecessor, King Saul, almost destroyed the nation, but David accepted the difficult responsibility of putting it back together again and building it into a mighty kingdom. David defeated Israel's enemies; collected great treasures for building the temple; organized the army, the government, and the ministry at the sanctuary; wrote songs for the Levites to sing; and even invented musical instruments for them to play. What a man!
There's no virtue in ignorance and poverty, but there's no magic in knowledge and wealth. The government leaders tell us, "If people were just smarter and richer, we'd solve society's problems." People do become smarter and richer, and they create a whole new set of problems. Billy Sunday once said, "When I was a kid, we'd go down to the railroad yard and steal things from the freight cars. Now a fellow goes to university and learns how to steal the whole railroad!"
God's covenant with David assured Israel of a king forever and was ultimately fulfilled in the coming of
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parents or grandparents, and older saints treat the younger ones as they would their own children. When a family gets together, they don't always agree on everything, but they try to help each other during the various stages of life. That's the way it should be in the home, the church, and the nation.
People are so smart they can sit at a computer keyboard and rob a bank thousands of miles away. Human nature doesn't change.
National strength and national character begin in the home If David had displayed in his home the kind of discipline and strength he showed on the battlefield, Jewish history might have been different. Part of the problem lay with his having too many wives, plus the fact that it isn't always easy for the children of celebrities to grow up normally. But whatever the causes, some of David's children turned out really bad, and what they were and what they did affected the nation.
Jeroboam: wasted opportunity God offered Jeroboam a priceless opportunity to build the kingdom of Israel for the glory of God, but he wasted it. Instead of looking back to David and imitating his leadership, and looking up to the Lord for help, Jeroboam let his ego take over and did things his own way. He invented his own religion to make it easy for the people to disobey the Lord. He abandoned the divine authority of God's Word and appointed priests who were unspiritual and unqualified. God sent him signs and messages, but he refused to submit. "The sins of Jeroboam" are mentioned over twenty times in Scripture.
According to Genesis 3, Satan came as a liar and his first target was human marriage. He's been attacking it ever since. According to Genesis 4, he came as a murderer and his second target was the human family. He encouraged Cain to be envious and angry so that Cain would kill Abel. It's been said that in the modern home, the stereo and the TV set are better adjusted than the members of the family. People complain because children can't pray in school, but few parents encourage them to pray at home.
The division of the Jewish nation was a tragedy, but if both Rehoboam and Jeroboam had listened to the Lord, they could have rescued both kingdoms from ruin. Once opportunity is lost, it won't be repeated. Each opportunity is a test of the vision and values of the people in charge. The Lord gave Jeroboam a sure promise (11:29–40), but the king wouldn't take it seriously and trust God to fulfill it. Opportunity doesn't shout, it whispers, and our ears must be attentive. Opportunity knocks, it doesn't kick down the door, and we had better be alert to open the door. The American poet John Greenleaf Whittier wrote
Home is a school for character, where we learn to love, listen, obey, and assist. In short, it's where we learn to be responsible.
Rehoboam: Generations must work together Whether it's in the home, in the chambers of government, or in the sanctuary of the local church, generations must work together and learn from each other. Solomon's son Rehoboam foolishly turned a deaf ear to the experience of the mature and chose to win only the applause of his peers, and as a result he lost most of his kingdom. By putting labels on different generations and letting them do their own thing—"Well, that's just the way they are!"—we've weakened social solidarity, divided the family, cut whole generations off from the heritage of the past, and convinced young people that they really can make it alone.
For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: "It might have been!"
To ignore God-given opportunity is to waste the past, jeopardize the future, and frustrate the present.
Baal: The insidious cancer of idolatry Jeroboam put up his golden calves and Jezebel brought in Baal worship, and before long, the people of the northern kingdom had turned from Jehovah to the worship of dumb idols. An idol is not only an insult to God but it's an insult to man, for men and women were created in the image of God to reflect the glory of the true and living God. To create a god in your own image and worship it is a dangerous thing, for we become like the gods we worship (Ps. 115:8).
God has decreed that parents shall be older than their children. He has also commanded parents to love their children, teach them how to listen and obey, protect them from evil, and be good examples before them. But parents can also learn from their children. It's a two-way street. I cultivate the friendship of young people, because I need them and they need me. I help them catch up on the past and they help me catch up on the present. I'm not always right and they're not always wrong. The older generation hands the next generation a valuable heritage from the past, but if we don't understand the world they're living in and the way they feel about it, we can't help them use that heritage for their good and the good of society.
If you want to be religious and still enjoy the pleasures of sin, then the worship of idols is the road to take. But its freedom leads to bondage and its pleasures eventually lead to pain and death. Whether the idol we worship is money, prestige, authority, sex, entertainment, or our own self-righteous satisfaction, it can never equal what we receive when we worship the true and living God through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Paul saw the local church as a family in God (Titus 2:1–8), with one generation ministering to another. Younger people treat the older folks as they would their
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Elijah: Reformation and renewal A nation, a church, a family, or an individual is never so far gone that the Lord can't gave a new beginning. Elijah was Ahab's enemy because Ahab was following his own agenda and not the Lord's. Elijah was God's servant and risked his life to bring the nation back to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. True reformation should lead to spiritual renewal. It isn't enough to tear down the pagan altars and remove the priests of Baal. We must rebuild the Lord's altar and ask God for new fire from heaven to consume the sacrifices.
Page through a review of the twentieth century and marvel at how the nations of the world ever survived such a concerted abuse of power. Much of it was brutal, leading to the annihilation of millions of innocent people. Some of it was done with finesse, the abusers wearing their white gloves, but it still led to destruction. Abusers who didn't use knives, guns, and ovens, used words, and this includes professed Christians in the church. The world looked on and said, "Behold, how they hate one another!" I've been in ministry for over fifty years, and in the past ten years, I've heard more church horror stories than I did in the previous forty years.
Reformation means getting rid of the accretions of the new things to get back to the foundations of the old things. When Israel abandoned her covenant with Jehovah, she ceased to be the people of God and became like the other nations. The beautiful temple that once housed the glory of God became a pile of ruins that bore witness to the sins of an ungrateful and unbelieving people. God's chosen people forgot their glorious past and deliberately manufactured a future that brought shame and ruin.
Whether it's administrative power, financial power, physical and mental power, or the ultimate power of life and death, the power we have comes from God and must be used according to His will. King and queens, emperors and prime ministers, dictators and generals, parents and teachers, the FBI and the KGB—all of them are accountable to the Lord and will one day answer to Him.
King Jesus is the greatest example of the right use of authority. He is a Servant who leads and a Leader who serves, and He does it because He loves us.
The key issue in any nation's faith has always been the struggle between the true prophets and the false prophets, both of whom claim to speak in the name of the Lord. The false prophets tell us what we want to hear while the true prophets tell us what we need to hear. The false prophets don't make a deep and thorough diagnosis of the nation's sicknesses; they barely scratch the surface. True prophets cut deep and expose the hidden cancers; like John the Baptist, they apply the ax to the root of the trees (Matt. 3:10) and don't waste their time plucking off dead leaves from the dying branches.
God is sovereign! Since the days of Job, people have been trying to make sense out of what goes on in this world, and nobody has yet discovered the key. We have a hard enough time predicting the weather let alone fully understanding the dynamics of history or even the personal situations in our own lives. A famous movie star said, "Life is like a B-picture script. It is that corny. If I had my life story offered to me to film, I'd turn it down."1 American playwright Eugene O'Neill had a character in Strange Interlude say, "Our lives are merely strange, dark interludes in the electric display of God the Father." That's not very encouraging.
"Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" asked Elisha as he began his prophetic ministry (2 Kings 2:14 nkjv). We know the answer: "The Lord is in his holy temple" (Hab. 2:20). But the real question isn't "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" but "Where are the Elijahs?" God is still seeking for men and women whose hearts are right with Him, people He can use to recover the past, renew the present, and rescue the future.
Knowing that our God is sovereign in all things gives us the courage and faith we need to live and serve in this fallen world. "The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations" (Ps. 33:10–11 nkjv). He has given us the right to make choices and decisions, and He will not force His will upon us, but if He isn't allowed to rule, He will overrule. In spite of our resistance and rebellion, His will shall be done "on earth as it is in heaven." He runs the universe by His wise decrees and doesn't call a committee meeting to find the consensus of His creatures. "Man's will is free," writes A. W. Tozer, "because God is sovereign. A God less than sovereign could not bestow moral freedom upon His creatures. He would be afraid to do so."2
Ahab and Jezebel: the abuse of power Some years ago I began to read a biography of Adolph Hitler, but the longer I read it, the more depressed I became, until finally I stopped reading the book. I never did finish it. I respond the same way to Ahab and Jezebel. He was spineless and she was heartless and together they were the embodiment of wickedness. If they were living today, Hollywood would make a feature movie about them and they'd be featured in a miniseries on television. Cameras in hand, the press would follow their every move and report every activity in detail. It would make no difference that Ahab and Jezebel were godless unbelievers who lacked character and high ideals. The public feeds its sick imagination on that kind of garbage and keeps asking for more. Thanks to fallen human nature, there's always more.
Yet, how longsuffering God is with both the saved and the lost! He allowed Jezebel to kill some of the prophets of the Lord, and He allowed Elijah to run away from the place of duty. The greatest judgment God can send is to allow people to have their own way
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ing remnant. Before Jesus returns to set up His kingdom, many things are going to get worse and we may become discouraged and be tempted to quit. Then we'll remember that responsibility means our response to His ability. God is still on the throne, so we'll join the heavenly multitude and sing the song of the overcomers: "Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" (Rev. 19:6).
and then suffer the consequences. "How long, O Lord, how long?" has been the painful prayer of believers on earth (Ps. 13:1–2) and in heaven (Rev. 6:10), but our times are in His hands and He knows the end from the beginning. When the news of the day upsets me, I pause and worship the eternal sovereign God who is never surprised or caught unprepared. This keeps me from fretting and getting discouraged and it helps to keep my life in balance.
Notes 1 Kirk Douglas in Look, Oct. 4, 1955. 2 The Knowledge of the Holy (Harper, 1961), 118.
The book of 1 Kings has revealed to us the sinfulness of the human heart, the faithfulness of a loving God, and the seriousness of being a part of God's believ-
2 K I N G S A N D 2 C H R O N I C L E S
E s t h e r J o b P s a l m s P r o v e r b s E c c l e s i a s t e s S o n g o f
G e n e s i s E x o d u s L e v i t i c u s N u m b e r s D e u t e r o n o m y J o s h u a J u d g e s R u t h
J e r e m i a h L a m e n t a t i o n s E z e k i e l D a n i e l H o s e a J o e l A m o s O b a d i a h
1 S a m u e l 2 S a m u e l 1 K i n g s 2 K i n g s 1 C h r o n i c l e s 2 Chronicles E z r a N e h e m i a h
J o n a h M i c a h N a h u m H a b a k k u k Z e p h a n i a h H a g g a i Z e c h a r i a h M a l a c h i
S o l o m o n I s a i a h
OUTLINE OF 2 KINGS Key theme: God's judgment of Israel and Judah CONTENTS
2 Kings 1—2 674 The Parting of the Ways
I. THE MINISTRY OF ELISHA (1—13)
2 Kings 3—4 679 Amazing Grace!
II. THE FALL OF SAMARIA (14—17)
2 Kings 5:1—6:7 684 three Men—Three Miracles
III. THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH (18—25)
2 Kings 6:8—7:20 688 The Battle Is the Lord's
2 Kings 8:1—9:37 (2 Chronicles 21:1—22:9) 691 Reaping the Harvest of Sin
2 Kings 10—11 (2 Chronicles 22:10—23:21) 696 The Sword and the Crown
2 Kings 12—13 (2 Chronicles 24) 701 Focusing on Faith
2 Kings 14—15 (2 Chronicles 25—27) 705 Nine Kings—Five Assassinations