were harsh. Instead of lightening the yoke, Rehoboam and chosen the wrong mediator. What else wrong

were harsh. Instead of lightening the yoke, Rehoboam and chosen the wrong mediator. What else wrong

1 Kings 12—14 nkjv). However, Rehoboam's leadership was motivated by pride, not humility, and pride knows nothing of gentleness and kindness. "There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health" (Prov. 12:18 nkjv). Apparently Rehoboam hadn't taken time to read and copy Deuteronomy 17:18–20.

officers to the assembled ten tribes to try to bring peace or at least keep the discussion going. His choice of mediators was unwise because Adoram was in charge of the forced labor, and forced labor was one of the irritating areas in the dispute.5 Perhaps Adoram was authorized to negotiate easier labor arrangements or even lower taxes, but if he was, he failed miserably. The people stoned him and the frightened king took off for Jerusalem as soon as he heard the news. Rehoboam had followed the wrong counsel, used the wrong approach, and chosen the wrong mediator. What else wrong could he do?

The king answered the people roughly, which is the same Hebrew word that is translated "grievous" in verse 4. The way he spoke was rough and the words he used were harsh. Instead of lightening the yoke, Rehoboam announced that he would make it heavier and more cutting. His little finger was bigger than his father's waist, and if his father used whips, he would use scourges. ("Scorpions" was the name for a whip with metal pieces in it, similar to the Roman scourge.) Both in his words and his manner, the new king made it clear to the people that he was important and powerful and they were unimportant and weak, a dangerous message indeed.

He could declare war! After all, he was the king, and by declaring war he could assert his authority and demonstrate his military strength, and perhaps Jeroboam his rival might be one of the casualties. Didn't Solomon, his father, want to have Jeroboam killed (11:40), and wasn't his father the wisest man in the world? Didn't the ten northern tribes rebel against the king and even kill an innocent man whose only task was to encourage peace? The beloved King David declared war on the Ammonites for only embarrassing his envoys (2 Sam. 10), while Rehoboam's envoy was murdered. The ten northern tribes were dividing what the Lord had put together and they deserved to be chastised. They had even called an assembly and appointed Jeroboam as their king! To defy the covenants of God and desert the Davidic line was wicked. It seemed that every consideration pointed logically to one conclusion—war.

Rehoboam represented the third generation of the Davidic dynasty, and so often it's the third generation that starts to tear down what the previous generations have built up. The people of Israel served the Lord during Joshua's days and during the days of the elders he had trained, but when the third generation came along, they turned to idols, and the nation fell apart (Judg. 2:7–10). I've seen this same phenomenon in businesses and local churches. The founders worked hard and sacrificed much to start the business or the church, and the second generation was faithful to the examples and beliefs of the founders. But when the third generation arrived, they inherited everything without working for it or paying for it, and they tore down what others had worked so hard to build up. Of course, if the second generation doesn't teach the third generation the ways of the Lord, or if they won't receive the teaching, it's no wonder the new generation goes astray (Deut. 11:18–21; 32:46; Eph. 6:4). The consequences of Rehoboam's speech were predictable: "all Israel" (meaning the ten northern tribes)4 announced their decision to leave the other two tribes and establish their own kingdom. They shouted the words of Sheba, a troublemaker in David's day (2 Sam. 20:1), left the assembly, and made Jeroboam their king. The only exceptions were the citizens of the ten tribes who had settled in Judah for one reason or another. They remained faithful to the throne of David.

Every consideration except one: was this war the will of God? After Rehoboam had assembled an army of 180,000 men,6 he discovered that he had wasted his time. The Lord sent the prophet Shemaiah7 to tell the king to call off the fight and send the men home. Though what happened was the consequence of Rehoboam's foolishness and Jeroboam's aggressiveness, it was God who had ruled and overruled to bring about the division, thus fulfilling Ahijah's prophecy. Each man had acted freely and so had their counselors, yet the Lord's will was done. (See Acts 2:23.) Our sovereign God is so great that He lets people make their own decisions and yet accomplishes His purposes.

The plan of God was only one factor; a second factor was that it was wrong for Judah and Benjamin to fight against their brothers (v. 24). It seems strange, yet family and national conflict appears repeatedly in the history of Israel. Abraham and Lot disagreed (Gen. 13), and Abraham reminded his nephew that they shouldn't fight because they were brothers (13:8). Jacob and Esau had a lifelong battle that their descendants continued for centuries (Gen. 27:41–46; Ps. 137:7; Obad. 10–13). Joseph's brothers hated him (Gen. 37), and Aaron and Miriam criticized their brother Moses (Num. 12). Saul was David's enemy and on many occasions tried to kill him. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity" (Ps. 133:1 nkjv).8

Solomon's first official decision brought him the reputation for great wisdom (3:16–28), but his son's first official decision told the nation that he was foolish and unwise. For centuries, the Jews considered the division of the nation the greatest tragedy in their history and measured every other calamity by it (Isa. 7:17).

An angry king (12:18–24; 2 Chron. 10:18–19; 11:1–4) While Rehoboam was still in Shechem, he attempted some belated diplomacy and sent one of his trusted

Frequently in Old Testament history we find a

1 Kings 12—14 group stayed in Israel but traveled to Jerusalem three times a year for the annual feasts (v. 16). (To some extent, we have these same three groups in the churches today.) The addition of these godly priests and Levites and their families to the population of Judah strengthened the kingdom and brought the blessing of the Lord. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen as his own inheritance" (Ps. 33:12).

prophet confronting a king with "Thus says the Lord." Whenever a king, a priest, or even another prophet stepped out of line, a prophet would step forward and rebuke him, and if the prophet's message was ignored, God's hand of judgment would fall. (See 1 Kings 13:21–22; 14:6–11; 16:1–4; 20:28ff.; 2 Kings 1:16; 22:14–15.) Israel was to be a people of God's Word, and God's Word must be held higher than even the word of the king.

God blessed his family (vv. 18–23). Like both David and Solomon, Rehoboam disobeyed the Word and took many wives (Deut. 17:17). Only two of his wives are named in the record: Mahalath, a granddaughter of David through both her father and mother, and Maacah, the daughter of Absalom. Since David's son Absalom had only one daughter, Tamar (2 Sam. 14:27), Maacah could have been his granddaughter. Maacah's father's name is given as Abishalom in 1 Kings 15:2, and in 2 Chronicles 13:2, Maacha is called the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. If this Uriel was indeed the husband of Tamar, the only daughter of Absalom, then Maacah was the granddaughter of Absalom and the great-granddaughter of King David. At least two of Rehoboam's eighteen wives were from solid Davidic stock.

To Rehoboam's credit, he called off the attack, although in the years that followed, there were repeated border skirmishes and other irritating conflicts between Rehoboam and Jeroboam (14:20; and see 15:6, 16, 32; 2 Chron. 11:1). However, it's possible that Rehoboam was grateful that his plans never succeeded. Like his father, he wasn't a military man and he couldn't be sure of winning. It was God's plan there be two kingdoms, and that settled the matter. At least he submitted to the Word of God.

At this point in the record, the writer interrupted the Rehoboam story to tell us about Jeroboam. The Rehoboam account is amplified in 2 Chronicles 11:5–22 and then picked up and concluded in 1 Kings 14:21–36 (2 Chron. 12:1–16).

An astute king (2 Chron. 11:5–22) Rehoboam heard and obeyed God's message from Shemaiah, and the Lord began to give him wisdom and bless his life and his work. Had he stayed on that course, he would have led Judah into godliness and true greatness, but he turned from the Lord and lost the blessings he and his people could have enjoyed.9

It was important that kings and queens have large families so that there would be an heir to the throne and replacements if anything should happen to the crown prince. King Rehoboam was blessed with many children—twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. The king did a very wise thing when he appointed his grown sons to royal offices and distributed them throughout Judah and Benjamin. This accomplished several things that made for peace and efficiency in the palace. To begin with, the princes weren't engaged in their own pursuits and getting involved in palace intrigues, as some of David's sons had done to the sorrow of their father. Rehoboam had grown up in the lap of luxury, but he was smart enough to put his sons to work.

God blessed his building projects (vv. 5–12). His father, Solomon, had strengthened the borders of the kingdom by putting up fortress cities for his soldiers, horses, and chariots (1 Kings 9:15–19; 2 Chron. 8:1–6), and Rehoboam followed his good example. The cities he selected formed a wall of protection for Jerusalem on the east and west and across the south. The king knew that Jeroboam was a favorite in Egypt, so perhaps he had Pharaoh in mind when he set up this line of defense. It's interesting that he didn't put defense cities across the northern border. After Shemaiah's warning, perhaps the king hesitated to provoke the northern tribes or to give the suggestion that Judah was preparing for war. He may have hoped that an "open door policy" would ease the tension and make it easier for the people in the ten tribes to come to Jerusalem.

The second benefit was that Rehoboam could assess their character and skills and decide which son would succeed him. God called David to be king and later told him that Solomon would be his successor. There's no evidence that God named Solomon's successor, so Solomon must have appointed Rehoboam to take the throne. After watching his sons, Rehoboam selected Abijah, son of Maacah,10 to be his heir, even though Jeush, his son by Mahalath, was the firstborn (vv. 18–19). First, Rehoboam made Abijah "ruler among his brethren" (v. 22; "chief prince" niv), which suggests that Abijah was his father's right-hand man, perhaps even coregent. Rehoboam recognized in this son the ability that was needed for a successful reign. Unfortunately, Abijah didn't live up to his name, "Jehovah is father."

God blessed his people (vv. 13–17). King Jeroboam ordained his own priests and turned the ten northern tribes into a center for worshipping idols, but for three years Rehoboam kept the people of Judah true to the law of Moses. As a result, the priests and Levites in Israel who were devoted to the Lord came into Judah and enriched the nation greatly. Some priests and Levites merely "sided with Rehoboam" (v. 13) and remained in Israel, but others gave up their property in Israel and moved permanently to Judah (v. 14). A third

The "many wives" that Rehoboam secured for his sons may have been "treaty wives" to guarantee peace between Judah and her neighbors. This was the plan his father, Solomon, followed.

1 Kings 12—14

14:21–31 An apostate king (14:21–31; 2 Chron. 12:1–16) Rehoboam walked with the Lord for three years after becoming king (2 Chron. 11:17), but in the fourth year of his reign, when his throne was secure, he and all Judah turned away from Jehovah to worship idols (2 Chron. 12:1–2). "And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord" (2 Chron. 12:14 nkjv). The phrase "forsaken [abandoned] the commandment of the Lord" occurs frequently in the record of the reigns of the kings of Judah and Israel (1 Kings 18:18; 19:10, 14; 2 Kings 17:16; 21:22; 22:17; 2 Chron. 12:1, 5; 13:10–11; 15:2; 21:10; 24:18, 20, 24; 26:6; 29:6; 34:25). David had warned Solomon about this sin (1 Chron. 28:9, 20) and so had the Lord Himself (1 Kings 3:14; 9:4–9; 11:9–13), but Solomon in his latter years worshipped both the Lord and the abominable idols of the heathen. Solomon was influenced by his pagan wives to worship idols; perhaps Rehoboam was influenced by his Ammonite mother. Whatever the influence, the king knew that he was breaking the covenant and sinning against the Lord.

people outside the church. The materialistic and humanistic idols of the unsaved world have made their way into the church and are both tolerated and promoted. The Lord punished Rehoboam for his sins. How long will it be before the Lord punishes His church?

God's loving discipline (vv. 25–31; 2 Chron. 12:1–16). For a year, the Lord was patient with Rehoboam and the people of Judah, but by the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, the longsuffering of the Lord had come to an end. God directed Shishak, king of Egypt, to invade Judah with a huge army and, in spite of Rehoboam's new defenses, he defeated town after town.12 (One Egyptian inscription states that Shishak took 156 cities in Israel and Judah.) When the Egyptians got as far as Jerusalem, the prophet Shemaiah once again appeared on the scene with a message from God, short and to the point: "This is what the Lord says, 'You have abandoned me; therefore, I now abandon you to Shishak'" (12:5).

Whenever God's people experience discipline because of their sins, they can make a new beginning by hearing the Word of God and humbling themselves before the God of the Word. This was the promise God gave His people when Solomon dedicated the temple (2 Chron. 7:13–14). Rehoboam and his officers humbled themselves before the Lord and He stopped Shishak from attacking Jerusalem. However, Judah was now subject to Shishak and had to pay him tribute. God's people discovered that their "freedom to sin" brought them into painful and costly bondage to Egypt, for the consequences of sin are always costly.

God's holy jealousy (vv. 21–24). When the Bible speaks of the Lord being "a jealous God" (14:22), it refers to His jealous love over His people, a love that will not tolerate rivals. Israel was "married" to the Lord at Mount Sinai when they entered into the covenant, and the worship of idols was a terrible breach of that covenant, like a wife committing adultery.11 Surely Rehoboam knew what God said to the nation at Mount Sinai: "For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God" (Ex. 20:5 nkjv). This same truth is included in the Song of Moses as well: "They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; they have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols" (Deut. 32:21 nkjv; see also Ps. 78:58; Jer. 44:3). Paul used the marriage picture when he warned the church to avoid pagan idolatry (1 Cor. 10:22), and James called worldly believers "adulterers and adulteresses" (James 4:4). The king allowed and encouraged the building of idolatrous shrines in the land ("high places"), the erecting of sacred stones ("images") and phallic images and Asherah poles ("groves"). He also permitted the shrine prostitutes, male ("sodomites") and female, to serve the people at these shrines, a detestable practice expressly forbidden by the law of Moses (Deut. 23:17–18). Idolatry and immorality go together (Rom. 1:21–27), and it wasn't long before the pagan sins condemned by the law became commonly accepted practices in Judah (Lev. 18, 20; Deut. 18:9–12). The Jewish people were no longer a light to the Gentiles; instead, the darkness of the Gentiles had invaded the land and was putting out the light.

To satisfy Shishak's demands, Rehoboam gave him gold from the temple and from the king's palace. This included the five hundred gold shields that Solomon had made for the palace (1 Kings 10:16–17). Rehoboam was too poor to make duplicate shields, so he replaced them with shields made of bronze, and the royal ceremonies went on as if nothing had happened. How often the precious treasures of former generations are lost because of sin and then replaced by cheap substitutes. Life goes on and nobody seems to know the difference. That's what happened to the church at Laodicea (Rev. 3:17–19).

After the invasion of Shishak in 925 BC, Rehoboam reigned for twelve more years and died in 913 BC. Had he continued to walk with the Lord and to lead his people to be faithful to God's covenant, the Lord would have done great things for him. As it was, his sins and the sins of the people who followed him left the nation weaker, poorer, and in bondage. As Charles Spurgeon said, "God does not allow His people to sin successfully."

Before we pass judgment on the king and people of Judah, perhaps we had better examine our own lives and churches. Surveys indicate that, when it comes to sexual morality, the "born-again" people in the churches don't live much differently than the unsaved

Rehoboam went the way of all flesh and died at the age of fifty-eight. We trust that the humbling that he and his leaders experienced lasted for the rest of their lives and that they walked with the Lord.

1 Kings 12—14

Notes 1 Some question that a man forty-one years old could be called "young and indecisive" (2 Chron. 13:7), but age and maturity are two different things. During the latter part of Solomon's reign, Rehoboam took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and his family consisted of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters (2 Chron. 11:18–21). 2 With two exceptions, when information is given about a king of Judah, the name of his mother is included. It was important that David's line be identified accurately. The exceptions are Jehoram (2 Kings 8:17) and Ahaz (2 Kings 16:2). 3 Some students think that Jeroboam was holding a meeting for the northern kingdom and Rehoboam saw this as an opportunity to get a hearing and build some bridges into the northern kingdom. If so, Rehoboam certainly turned a good opportunity into a terrible calamity. 4 The phrase "all Israel" can mean both kingdoms (9:30; 12:1) or only the northern ten tribes (10:16; 11:13). The reader must consider the context and be discerning. 5 Did this man have several names or were there three different men with similar names, each of whom served a different king? Adoram was over the forced labor when David was king (2 Sam. 20:24) and Adoniram when Solomon reigned (4:6). The man Rehoboam sent was named both Adoram and Hadoram (2 Chron. 10:18). It's difficult to believe that one man could serve so many years, but perhaps he did. Some students believe that three men are involved: Adoram served David, Adoniram served Solomon, and the first Adoram's son or grandson (Adoram/Hadoram) served Rehoboam. But would Rehoboam send an untried and relatively unknown officer on such an important diplomatic mission? It's more likely that Adoram is another form of Adoniram, the man who served Solomon, because it was Solomon's yoke that the people were opposing, not David's. 6 In David's last census, Joab reported 500,000 able-bodied men in Judah available to bear arms (2 Sam. 24:9), while there were 800,000 men available in the northern tribes. Those numbers were over forty years old, but perhaps the population hadn't changed that much. 7 In 1 Kings 12:22, Shemiah is called "a man of God," a title often used for prophets, especially in 1 and 2 Kings (1 Kings 12:22; 13:1, 26; 17:18, 24; 20:28; 2 Kings 1:9, 11; 4:7, 9, 16, 22, 25, 27, 40, 42; 5:14). Moses bore this title (Deut. 33:1; Josh. 14:6) and Paul applied it to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11, and to all dedicated believers in 3:17. 8 The Jewish people should be recognized and applauded for being the only nation in history that has left an accurate portrait of their leaders and a factual report of their history. The Bible is a Jewish book, yet it doesn't always show Israel in a good light. Of course, the Scriptures are inspired by God, but it still took a good deal of honesty and humility to write the record and admit that it is true. 9 In both Kings and Chronicles, the message of obedience and blessing comes through loud and clear. However, we must not conclude that everybody who obeys God will escape suffering and trial, for more than one good king had personal troubles, and some were assassinated. No king was perfect, but God's covenant with Israel assured them that He would bless the nation if they obeyed His will.

10 Abijah was also known as Abijam (1 Kings 14:31; 15:1, 7–8 kjv). This change in spelling may reflect a desire to eliminate from the name of an ungodly man (1 Kings 15:3) the syllable "Jah," which refers to Jehovah. 11 This theme is expanded and illustrated in the book of Hosea. The prophet Hosea's wife became a prostitute and he had to buy her back out of the slave market. 12 This is not the Pharaoh who made a treaty with Solomon and gave him a daughter to be his wife. The new Pharaoh was not friendly toward Judah.

CHAPTER EIGHT 1 Kings 12:25—14:20 A NEW KING, AN OLD SIN K

C.Jeroboam's folly—12:25—14:20 ing Jeroboam I1 was a doer, not a philosopher; he was a man who first caught Solomon's attention because he was busy, efficient, dependable, and productive (11:26–28). He was the ideal popular leader who knew how to fight the people's battles and champion their causes. Ask him about his personal faith in the Lord and his answers might be a bit foggy. He had lived in Egypt long enough to develop a tolerance toward idolatry as well as an understanding of how religion can be used to control the people. In this skill, Jeroboam was one with Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 3), Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:19–25), and the Antichrist (Rev. 13, 17), and today's latest demagogue. But Jeroboam made three serious mistakes during his twenty-two-year reign.

He didn't believe God's promises (12:25–33) Success in life depends on doing God's will and trusting God's promises, but Jeroboam failed in both. When Ahijah gave Jeroboam God's message that guaranteed him the throne of the kingdom of Israel (11:28–39), the prophet made it clear that political division did not permit religious departure. God would have given Jeroboam the entire kingdom except that He had made an everlasting covenant with David to keep one of his descendants on the throne (2 Sam. 7:1–17). This protected the Messianic line so that the Savior could come into the world. The Lord tore the ten tribes away from Rehoboam because Rehoboam had followed Solomon's bad example and turned the people to idols. This should have been a warning to Jeroboam to be faithful to the Lord and stay away from false gods. The Lord also promised to build Jeroboam a "sure house" (a continued dynasty) if he obeyed the Lord and walked in His ways (v. 38). What a promise, yet Jeroboam couldn't believe it.

Fear (vv. 25–28). One of the first evidences of unbelief is fear. We get our eyes off the Lord and start looking at the circumstances. "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Jesus asked His disciples (Matt. 8:23–27 nkjv), reminding them that faith and fear can't coexist in the same heart for very long. Jeroboam's

1 Kings 12—14 fear was that the southern kingdom would attack him and his own people desert him and go back to Jerusalem to worship. The law not only appointed the temple in Jerusalem as the only place of sacrifice (Deut. 12), but it also commanded all Jewish men to go to Jerusalem three times a year to observe the appointed feasts (Ex. 23:14–17). What if the people decided to remain in Judah and not return to Israel? Even if they returned north after worshipping, how long could they live with divided loyalties? Perhaps Jeroboam recalled the plight of Saul's successor, Ish-Bosheth, who tried to rule over the ten northern tribes but failed and was slain (2 Sam. 4). If there was ever a popular movement in Israel toward uniting the two kingdoms, Jeroboam would be a dead man.

calves and put one at Bethel, on the farthest southern border of the kingdom, just a short distance from Jerusalem, and the other at Dan, on the farthest northern border (see Hos. 8:5–6; 13:2–3). Worshipping the Lord couldn't be more convenient! "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem," the king told the people (v. 28), and they were more than willing to believe him. The king built shrines at Bethel and Dan and allowed the people to make their own high places closer to home. By royal fiat, he instituted a "do-it-yourself religion" and, as in the book of Judges, everybody did what was right in his own eyes (Judg. 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). If the Canaanites and Egyptians could worship calves, so could the Hebrews! He forgot about Exodus 20:1–3 and 22–23—but the Lord didn't forget! A religion needs ministers, so Jeroboam appointed all kinds of people to serve as "priests" at the altars in Dan and Bethel (13:33–34; 2 Chron. 11:13–17). The only requirement was that each candidate bring with him a young bull and seven rams (2 Chron. 13:9).3 God had made it clear when He gave Moses the law that only the sons of Aaron could serve as priests at the altar (Ex. 28:1–5; 29:1–9; 40:12–16) and that if anybody from another tribe tried to serve, he would be put to death (Num. 3:5–10). Even the Levites, who were from the tribe of Levi, were not allowed to serve at the altar on penalty of death (Num. 3:5–10, 38; 4:17–20; 18:1–7). Unauthorized priests at unauthorized temples could never have access to God or present sacrifices acceptable to God. It was a man-made religion that pleased the people, protected the king, and unified the nation—except for the faithful Levites who abandoned the northern kingdom and moved to Judah to worship God according to the teaching of the Scriptures (2 Chron. 11:13–17). The law of Moses required the Jews to celebrate seven divinely appointed feasts each year (Lev. 23), so Jeroboam instituted a feast for the people of the northern kingdom. The Feast of Tabernacles was scheduled for the seventh month for one full week. This was a joyous festival when the people recalled their wilderness years by living in booths and celebrating the goodness of the Lord in giving the harvest. Jeroboam's feast was set for the eighth month so that the people had to choose which one they would attend, and this separated the loyal Jews from the counterfeit worshippers in Israel. But why travel all the way to Jerusalem when Bethel and Dan were much easier to reach?

Security (v. 25). Like both Solomon (9:15–19; 11:27) and Rehoboam (2 Chron. 11:5–12), King Jeroboam fortified his capital city (Shechem) and strengthened other key cities against any invaders. Penuel (Peniel) was east of the Jordan and was famous as the place where Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord (Gen. 32). It appears that Jeroboam later moved his capital from Shechem to Tirzah (14:17), or perhaps he had a second palace there. Instead of trusting the Lord to be his shield and defender, Jeroboam trusted his own defenses and strategy.

Substitutes (vv. 26–33). The easiest solution to Jeroboam's problem of holding the loyalty of his people was to establish a worship center for them in the territory of Israel. But what authority did he have to devise a rival religion when the Jews had received their form of worship from the very hand of God? He certainly couldn't build a temple to compete with Solomon's temple in Jerusalem, or write a law that matched what Moses received from Jehovah, or set up a sacrificial system that would guarantee the forgiveness of sins. He was no Moses and he certainly couldn't claim to be God!

What Jeroboam did was to take advantage of the tendency of the Jewish people to turn to idols, and the desire of most people for a religion that is convenient, not too costly, and close enough to the authorized faith to be comfortable for the conscience. Jeroboam didn't tell the people to forget Jehovah but to worship Him in the form of a golden calf. In both Egypt and the land of Canaan, the king had seen statues of calves and bulls that were supposed to be "holding up" the invisible forms of the gods. In the pagan religions that Jeroboam was copying, calves and bulls symbolized fertility. Jeroboam turned his back on the most important message given at Mount Sinai: Israel's Lord Jehovah is a God who would be heard but not seen or touched. Hearing His Word is what generates faith (Rom. 10:17), and faith enables us to obey. But most people don't want to live by faith; they want to walk by sight and gratify their senses.

Along with setting up his own religious calendar, temples, altars, and priesthood, Jeroboam made himself a priest (vv. 32–33)! He offered incense and blood sacrifices just as the authorized priests did at the temple, except that the Lord never acknowledged his sacrifices. The sacrifice on the fifteenth day of the eighth month was in connection with the feast that he had ordained, and this sacrifice may have been in imitation of the annual day of Atonement. He had all the ingredients needed for a "religion" but lacked the most necessary one—the Lord God Jehovah!

Jeroboam's words in verse 28 suggest that Aaron's golden calf (Ex. 32:1–8, especially v. 4) was also in his mind.2 But the king went one better: he made two

1 Kings 12—14 became "the king's sanctuary" (Amos 10–12). When you devise your own religion, as Jeroboam did, you can do whatever you please, and Jeroboam chose to be a priest as well as a king. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were priests who were called to be prophets, but the Mosaic law didn't permit kings to serve as priests (2 Chron. 26:16–23). Jesus Christ is the only King who is also Priest (Heb. 7—8), and all who believe in Christ are "kings and priests" (Rev. 1:6) and "a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9). Jeroboam's "priesthood" was spurious and rejected by the Lord. That may be why the anonymous prophet from Judah delivered his message while the king was at the altar.

Apostasy. We live today in an age when "manufactured religion" is popular, approved, and accepted. The blind leaders of the blind assert that we live in a "pluralistic society" and that nobody has the right to claim that only revelation is true and only one way of salvation is correct. Self-appointed "prophets" and ministers put together their own theology and pass it off as the truth. They aren't the least bit interested in what Scripture has to say; instead, they substitute their "feigned [plastic] words" (2 Peter 2:3) for God's unchanging and inspired Word, and many gullible people will fall for their lies and be condemned (2 Peter 2:1–2). Jeroboam's "religion" incorporated elements from the law of Moses and from the pagan nations that the Jews had conquered. His system was what is today called "eclectic" (selective) or "syncretic" (combining many parts), but God called it heresy and apostasy. When the prophet Isaiah confronted the new religions in his day, he cried out, "To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isa. 8:20 nkjv).

The prophet spoke to the altar, not to the king, as though God no longer wanted to address Jeroboam, a man so filled with himself and his plans that he had no time to listen to God. The message declared that the future lay with the house of David, not with the house of Jeroboam. Because of Jeroboam's evil ways, the kingdom of Israel would become so polluted with idolatry and its accompanying sins that the kingdom would be wiped out within two centuries. In 722, the Assyrians captured Israel and the ten northern tribes moved off the scene.4 David's dynasty continued until the reign of Zedekiah (597–586). He was Judah's last king before the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586.

Because Jeroboam didn't believe God's promise given by the prophet Ahijah, he began to walk in unbelief and to lead the people into false religion. The religion he invented was comfortable, convenient, and not costly, but it wasn't authorized by the Lord. It was contrary to the revealed will of God in Scripture and it had as its purpose the unification of his kingdom, not the salvation of the people and the glory of God. It was man-made religion and God totally rejected it. Centuries later, Jesus told the woman of Samaria (the former kingdom of Israel), "You worship what you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22 nasb). When He made that statement, He instantly wiped out every other religion and affirmed that the only way of salvation is from the Jews. Jesus was a Jew and the Christian faith was born out of the Jewish religion. Our modern "pluralistic society" notwithstanding, the apostle Peter was right: "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved''(Acts 4:12 nasb).

The prophet's message looked ahead three hundred years to the reign of godly King Josiah (640–609) who rooted out the idolatry in the land, including the king's shrine at Bethel (2 Kings 23:15–16). Josiah desecrated the altar by burning human bones on it, and then he tore down the altar and let the ashes spill out. The prophecy was fulfilled just as the prophet announced. So sure was this promise that the prophet even named the king! (See also Isa. 44:28; 45:1, 13.)

The miracles (vv. 4–6). The king paid no attention to the message from God; all he wanted to do was punish the messenger. He was infuriated to hear that a king from Judah would one day desecrate and destroy his successful religious system. When Jeroboam stretched out his hand and pointed to the prophet, the Lord touched his arm and it suffered a stroke. What a humiliating experience for such a powerful king and priest! At that moment, the pagan altar split and the ashes came pouring out. Often the Lord authenticated His Word by giving miraculous signs (Heb. 2:1–4) but only to give emphasis to the message. In spite of Jeroboam's stubborn pride and willful disobedience, the Lord graciously healed his arm. (See Ex. 8:8; Acts 8:24.) It's too bad that the king was more concerned about physical healing for his body than moral and spiritual healing for his soul.

He didn't heed God's warnings (13:1–34) This long chapter is not about young and old prophets; it's about King Jeroboam and his sins. The young prophet's ministry is very important in this account, for all that he said and experienced, including his death, were a part of God's warning to King Jeroboam. According to verse 33, the king didn't turn back to God: "After this event Jeroboam did not return from his evil ways" (nasb). In this chapter, a prophet died, but in the next chapter, the crown prince died! Obviously, God was trying to get Jeroboam's attention.

The king witnessed three miracles in just a few minutes, yet there's no evidence that he was convicted of his sins. Of themselves, miracles don't bring conviction or produce saving faith, but they do call attention to the Word. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, some of the witnesses believed in Jesus while others went straight to the Jewish religious leaders and stirred

The message (vv. 1–2). The anonymous prophet came from Judah because there were still faithful servants of God there whom the Lord could use. He met Jeroboam at the shrine in Bethel, which eventually

1 Kings 12—14 king and about his commission from the Lord (vv. 8–10). When the old prophet caught up with the messenger of the Lord, he deliberately tempted him to disobey the Lord's commission, and the younger man fell into the trap! The older prophet should not have tempted a fellow servant to disobey, but the younger man shouldn't have hastened to accept the older man's words. If God gave the man from Judah the message and the instructions for delivering it, then God could also give him the changes in the plan.

up trouble (John 11:45–54). Miracles aren't necessary for evangelism (John 10:40–42), and those who claimed to believe on Christ only because of His miracles were really "unsaved believers" (John 2:23–25).

The maneuver (vv. 7–10). Jeroboam was a clever man and tried to trap the prophet by inviting him to the palace for a meal. Satan comes as the lion to devour us (1 Peter 5:8), and when that fails, he comes as a serpent to deceive us (2 Cor. 11:3; Gen. 3:1ff.). The king's "Lay hold of him!" became "Come home with me!" But the prophet refused, for he knew his commission from the Lord compelled him to leave Bethel and not tarry. Had the prophet eaten a meal with the king, that one simple act would have wiped out the effectiveness of his witness and ministry. In the east, sharing a meal is a sign of friendship and endorsement. The prophet certainly didn't want to be a friend to such an evil man or give others the impression that he endorsed his wicked works. "Like a trampled spring and a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked" (Prov. 25:26 nasb). A compromising servant of God muddies the waters and confuses the saints. The prophet refused the king's friendship, food, and gifts. Like Daniel, he said, "Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another" (Dan. 5:17 nkjv).

When an emotionally disturbed man told Charles Spurgeon that God had told him to preach for Spurgeon the next Sunday at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Spurgeon replied, "When the Lord tells me, I'll let you know." Other believers can use the Word to encourage us, warn us, and correct us, but beware of letting other believers tell you God's will for your life. The Father loves each of His children personally and wants to convey His will to each personally (Ps. 33:11). Yes, there's safety in a multitude of counselors, provided they're walking with the Lord, but there's no certainty that you have the will of God just because a committee approved it.

Since he knew what the prophet from Judah was supposed to do, why did the old man deliberately lie to the young man and encourage him to disobey the Lord? Was the old man worried that the visiting prophet might stir things up in comfortable Bethel and create problems for him and other satisfied compromisers? Perhaps the young prophet was feeling proud of what he had done—preaching a powerful message and performing three miracles—and the Lord used the old man to test him and bring him back to essentials. By telling the lie, the old prophet tempted the young man, but by going back to Bethel, the young prophet tempted himself (he was out of God's will) and tempted the Lord. Why didn't the young visitor seek the face of the Lord and find out His will? The text tells us only the events, not the motives in the hearts of the participants, so we can't answer any of these questions with finality.

The mistake (vv. 11–34). The faithful man from Judah couldn't be deceived by a wicked king but he could be fooled by an old retired prophet!5 This narrative presents some things to puzzle over, but we must not forget the main message: if the Lord punished a deceived prophet for his disobedience, how much more would he punish a wicked king who was sinning with his eyes wide open? If a true prophet disobeyed and was disciplined, what will happen to the false prophets? The prophet from Judah didn't compromise in his message, but he did compromise in his conduct, and he paid for his disobedience with his life. The Lord was saying to King Jeroboam, "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" (1 Peter 4:18 nkjv; see also Prov. 11:31).

There are some characteristics of the old prophet that bother me. First of all, what was he doing living in Bethel when by traveling just a few miles he could be in Judah? We get the impression that the prophet wasn't exactly a spiritual giant, otherwise the Lord would have called him to rebuke the king. The fact that he lied to a fellow prophet raises some questions about his character. It's also disturbing that he wept over the younger man's death when he helped to cause it, and then buried the man he helped to kill. Was he trying to atone for his own sins against the prophet?

One of the strangest events of all is that the Lord sent His word to the old prophet who was out of His will! But God spoke to Balaam, who was not necessarily a separated and dedicated man, as well as to Elijah (1 Kings 18) and Jonah (Jonah 3–4). After the meal, the younger prophet started back home and the lion met him and killed him. But even this event had miracle aspects to it, because the lion didn't maul the body or attack the mule, and the mule didn't run away. The animals must have remained there a long time because witnesses told the tale in Bethel and people came out to see the sight, including the old prophet who carried the body away and buried it. Surely the news arrived at the palace, and perhaps the king rejoiced that his enemy was dead. But the prophet's words were not dead! And the very death of the prophet was another warning to Jeroboam that he had better start to obey the Word of God.

The younger prophet did his work well and got out of town. Had he kept going and not lingered under the tree he would have escaped the tempting offer of the old prophet. God's servants often face great temptations after times of great success and excitement. (See 1 Kings 18 and 19.) The old man's sons witnessed the confrontation with Jeroboam at the altar and told their father what the prophet from Judah had said about the

1 Kings 12—14 prophet reminded Jeroboam of God's grace in the past (vv. 7–8a). The Lord had chosen Jeroboam and raised him from being a district leader to ruling over the northern kingdom.7 God had torn ten tribes away from the house of David and had given them to Jeroboam. But then Ahijah revealed Jeroboam's sins in the present (vv. 8b-9). Unlike David, who had a heart wholly dedicated to the Lord, Jeroboam did more evil than Saul, David, and Solomon put together. He turned from the true God of Israel and made false gods, and then allowed the people of the ten tribes to worship them. He organized a counterfeit religion, provoked the Lord to anger, and refused to listen to the prophets who were sent to warn him.

The old prophet must have recovered his courage, for he publicly declared that the prophecy given at the Bethel altar would be fulfilled (vv. 31–32), and it was (2 Kings 23:15–18). Three hundred years later, King Josiah saw the old prophet's tomb and took courage that the Lord does fulfill His Word. But did any of these unusual events convict the heart of King Jeroboam and bring him to a place of repentance? "But even after this, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil ways" (v. 33 nlt). However, God's next warning would come closer to home.

He didn't receive God's help (14:1–20) We don't read in Scripture that Jeroboam sought the Lord's will, prayed for spiritual discernment, or asked the Lord to make him a godly man. He prayed for healing for his arm, and now he asked the prophet Ahijah to heal his son, the crown prince and heir to the throne. It's obvious that physical blessings were more important to him than spiritual blessings. Like many nominal believers and careless church members today, the only time Jeroboam wanted help from God's servant was when he was in trouble.

This led to Ahijah's revelation of Jeroboam's future (vv. 10–16). To begin with, unlike King David, Jeroboam would not establish a dynasty, even though God had promised to bless him with a "sure house" if he obeyed the Lord (11:38). All of Jeroboam's male descendants would be cut off; the Lord would make a "clean sweep" of Jeroboam's family and take away every potential heir, just the way servants remove dung from a house. (God didn't think much of the king's children!) But even worse, none of them except Abijah, the ailing crown prince, would have a decent, dignified burial. Between the scavenger dogs in the city and the carrion birds in the fields, the children's corpses would be devoured and never buried, a terrible humiliation for any Jew.

The pretending wife (vv. 1–3). Abijah wasn't a little child at this time. He was old enough to be approved by the Lord (v. 13) and appreciated by the people, for they mourned over him when he died (v. 18). No doubt the godly remnant in Israel pinned their hopes on the young prince, but God judged the royal family and the apostate citizens by calling the boy away from the cesspool of iniquity that was called Israel. "The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart; and devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from evil" (Isa. 57:1 nasb).

Then Ahijah got to the matter at hand, the future of the sick heir to the throne. Abijah would die, have a dignified burial, and be mourned by the people. The one son of wicked Jeroboam who could have ruled justly would be taken from them, not because he was wicked but because he was good and God wanted to spare him the suffering that lay ahead of the kingdom (Isa. 57:1). As he looked ahead (v. 14), Ahijah then saw Nadab, Jeroboam's son and heir, reign for two years and then be assassinated by Baasha, a man from the tribe of Issachar (15:25–31). Baasha would not only kill Nadab, but he would exterminate the family of Jeroboam, in fulfillment of Ahijah's prophecy (15:29).

The king wanted help from the prophet, but he was too proud to admit it or to face Ahijah personally. The prophet still lived in Shiloh (11:29) because he was too old and infirm to relocate in Judah, and he wanted to be faithful to the very end and warn Jeroboam of the consequences of his sins. Did the king think a disguise would fool the godly prophet, blind as he was? Ahijah could see more in his blindness than Jeroboam and his wife could see with their gift of sight.6 The gifts the queen carried were those of a common laborer, not gifts fit for a king to give.

Then the blind prophet looked even further ahead (vv. 15–16) and saw the entire kingdom of Israel defeated by the enemy (Assyria), rooted out of the land, and scattered among the nations. This happened in 722 BC. The kingdom of Israel had a new religious system, but they were still under the Lord's covenant (Lev. 26; Deut. 28—30). That covenant warned that their disobedience to God's law would bring military defeat and national dispersion to the nation (Deut. 28:25–26, 49–52; Lev. 26:17, 25, 33–39; and see Deut. 7:5 and 12:3–4). What would be the cause of this terrible judgment? "[T]he sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin" (v. 16). Just as David was God's standard for measuring the good kings, Jeroboam was God's example of the worst of the bad kings. See 1 Kings 15:34; 16:2–3, 7, 19, 26, 31;

The discerning prophet (vv. 4–6). It was about twenty miles from Tirzah to Shiloh, but the prophet knew she was coming before she even arrived in the city. The aged prophet knew who was coming, why she was coming and what he was supposed to tell her. "The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him" (Ps. 25:14 nkjv). "Surely the Lord does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7 nkjv). Jeroboam sent his wife to Ahijah, but Ahijah said that he was sent to her! He gave her the message she was to give to her husband, and it wasn't a very happy one.

The revealing message (vv. 7–16). First, the

1 Kings 12—15

26:7), and James wrote his epistle to "the twelve tribes scattered abroad" (James 1:1). In his vision of future events, John the apostle saw twelve tribes sealed by God (Rev. 7:4) and twelve gates named for the twelve tribes (21:12). 5 Nowhere in Scripture do we read of any servant of the Lord "retiring" and doing nothing for the Lord as he waited to die. Instead of relocating in Judah, or staying in Israel to oppose the false religion, the old man accepted the status quo and became comfortable. Moses and the other prophets served to the very end, and there's no evidence that the apostles abandoned their calling when they became old. Dr. William Culbertson, for many years dean and then president of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, often ended his public prayers with, "And, Lord, help us to end well." 6 Saul disguised himself and both Samuel and the witch saw through it (1 Sam. 28). Wicked King Ahab disguised himself in battle, hoping King Jehoshaphat would be killed, but a random arrow hit him just the same (1 Kings 22:30ff.). Godly King Josiah foolishly interfered with Pharaoh Neco, disguised himself, and was killed in battle (2 Chron. 35:20–25). God can see through disguises. 7 The prophet Nathan took a similar approach in confronting King David (2 Sam. 12:7–8a). 8 Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, in The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Adrienne Koch and William Peden (New York: Modern Library), 258.

22:52; 2 Kings 3:3; 9:9; 10:29, 31; 13:2, 6, 11; 14:24; 15:9, 18, 24, 28; 17:21–22. The distressing fulfillment (vv. 17–20). Jeroboam apparently had a palace in Tirzah as well as the palace in Shechem, and it must have been at the edge of the city. Ahijah had told Jeroboam's wife that the child would die as soon as she entered the city (v. 12), but v. 17 indicates that he died when she stepped on the threshold of the door. All Israel did mourn the loss of this son and they gave him a funeral suited to a crown prince. The king's hand had been healed and his altar destroyed (13:1–16), and now his son had died. His army would be defeated by the king of Judah, also named Abijah (2 Chron. 13). How many times did God have to warn him before he would repent?

Nobody could sin like Jeroboam, son of Nebat. During his twenty-two years as king of Israel, he led his family and the nation into ruin. One day Jeroboam died and was succeeded by his son Nadab who was assassinated. The day would come when not a single male descendant of King Jeroboam would be alive, nor would you be able to identify the ten tribes of Israel.

"Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.…"8 Thomas Jefferson wrote those words in 1781, but they are just as applicable to us today.

IV. The kingdoms destroyed (1 Kings 15:1—22:53) A.Judah—15:1–24

Notes 1 Don't confuse Jeroboam I with Jeroboam II, Israel's fourteenth king, who reigned from 782–753. His history is found in 2 Kings 14:23–29. 2 It's unlikely that Aaron was trying to introduce a new god to Israel but rather was presenting Jehovah in the form of the golden calf (Ex. 32). The calf was supposed to be a "help" to the Jews in their worship of the Lord. Aaron certainly knew that Jehovah was the only true God, but he also knew that the weak people couldn't live by faith in an invisible Jehovah, especially when their leader Moses had been absent for forty days. This fact doesn't exonerate Aaron, but it does help us better understand the mind-set of the people. It was easier to worship the invisible Lord by means of the visible calf, and it wasn't long before the idolatry gave birth to indecency and immorality (Ex. 32:6, 19; 1 Cor. 10:1–8). No matter what excuse Aaron gave, he had sinned in giving the people what they wanted and not what they needed. Jeroboam also gave the people what they wanted, and false teachers are doing the same thing today (2 Peter 2; Jude 1ff.). 3 According to Exodus 29 Aaron and his sons needed for their consecration one bull for a sin offering, a ram for a burnt offering, and another ram for a fellowship offering. It took seven days for the consecration service to be completed. Obviously, Jeroboam wasn't following God's directions. 4 People talk about "the ten lost tribes of Israel," but this is not a biblical concept. God knows where children of Abraham are and He will call them together when it's time. Some nations have claimed to be the descendants of the so-called ten lost tribes, but these claims are unfounded. Jesus spoke of the "twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. 19:28; Luke 22:30), and Paul spoke of "our twelve tribes" as living entities in his day (Acts

CHAPTER NINE 1 Kings 15:1—16:28 (2 Chronicles 13—16) KINGS ON PARADE W ere it not for the overruling hand of a sovereign God, the Jewish nation could never have accomplished what God called them to do: bearing witness of the one true and living God, writing the Scriptures, and bringing the Savior into the world. There were now two kingdoms instead of one, and leaders and common people in both kingdoms had departed from the Lord to serve idols. The priests still carried on the temple ministry in Judah, but during the 345 years from Rehoboam to Zedekiah, only eight of Judah's nineteen kings were classified as "good." As for Israel's twenty kings, for the most part they were all self-seeking men who were classified as "evil." Some were better than others, but none was compared with David.

Keep in mind that the books of Kings and Chronicles don't record history from exactly the same perspective. The focus in 1 and 2 Kings is on the kings of Israel, but in 1 and 2 Chronicles, the emphasis is on David's dynasty in Judah. The northern kingdom of Israel, later called Samaria, is mentioned in Chronicles only when it had dealings with Judah. Another thing to remember is that the two kingdoms used different systems in keeping official records. In Judah, the king's

1 Kings 15 ple of the Lord was in Jerusalem, and there the priests, the sons of Aaron, conducted the form of worship commanded by the Lord through Moses. Judah worshipped the one true and living God, while Israel worshipped two golden calves. Israel's priests were hirelings, not divinely appointed servants of the Lord. In Judah, the people honored the Lord God Jehovah. "God himself is with us!" Therefore, if Israel attacked Judah, Israel was fighting against the Lord!

reign was counted from the beginning of the next calendar year after he began his reign, while in Israel, the count began with the year the king actually ascended the throne. Also, some kings had their sons as coregents during the closing years of their reign. These factors complicate calculating how long some kings reigned, and this helps us understand why biblical chronologists don't always agree.

A dynasty continues (15:1–24; 2 Chron. 13—16) The northern kingdom of Israel had nine dynasties in about 250 years while the Southern kingdom faithfully maintained the Davidic dynasty for 350 years, and that was the dynasty from which the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David, would come (Matt. 1:1). With all of its faults, the kingdom of Judah was identified with the true and living God, practiced authorized worship in the temple, and had kings who came from David's family. Two of these kings are named in these chapters—Abijah and Asa.

Abijah's sentries weren't doing a very good job, for while Abijah was speaking, some of Jeroboam's soldiers moved behind him and set up an ambush. If Judah did attack, they'd find their smaller army fighting on two fronts, surely a dangerous situation. It's important to have good theology, but it's also important to have good strategy and alert guards on duty. But Abijah was up to the challenge and he cried out to God for deliverance. At the same time, the priests blew their trumpets (Num. 10:8–10) and the army of Judah gave a great shout, just as the people had done at Jericho (Josh. 6), and the Lord sent immediate victory.2 Over half of Jeroboam's army was slain by the army of Judah, and Abijah's soldiers moved north to capture the city of Bethel, ten miles from Jerusalem. From Bethel they moved five miles north and took Jeshanah and four miles northeast to take Ephrain (Ephron). Abijah not only defeated the army of Israel and recovered some lost territory, but he gave Jeroboam a blow from which he never recovered. Then the Lord struck Jeroboam and he died (2 Chron. 13:20; 1 Kings 14:19–20).

Abijah (vv. 1–8; 2 Chron. 13). This son of Rehoboam was handpicked by his father because of his proven ability (2 Chron. 11:22), but he wasn't a godly man (15:3). He reigned only three years (913–910). He was from David's line through both parents, for David's infamous son Absalom was Abijah's paternal grandfather. Abijah may have had David's blood flowing in his veins, but he didn't have David's perfect heart beating in his breast. Abijah's father, Rehoboam, had kept up a running war with Jeroboam, and Abijah carried on the tradition.

It was for the glory of His own name that the Lord acted as He did. In 1 Kings, Abijah isn't marked out as a godly ruler, but we commend him for his understanding of God's truth and his faith in God's power. Abijah was no Joshua, but the God of Joshua was still the God of His people and proved Himself faithful. Abijah become more and more powerful, fathered many children, and helped to continue the dynasty of David. God uses imperfect people to do His will, if only they will trust Him.

However, Abijah knew his history and had faith in what God said to Moses and David. He had the courage to preach a sermon to Jeroboam and his army of 800,000 men, twice as large as Judah's army, reminding them of the true foundation for the Jewish faith (2 Chron. 13:4ff.). For his platform, he used Mount Zemaraim, a prominent place located on the border between Benjamin and Israel (Josh. 18:22). He opened his sermon by reminding Jeroboam that the line of David was the true royal dynasty as stated in God's unchanging covenant with David (vv. 4–5; 2 Sam. 7) The phrase "covenant of salt" means "a perpetual covenant" (Num. 18:19).

Asa (vv. 9–24; 2 Chron. 14—16). Abijah's son Asa ruled for forty-one years (910–869). He began his reign with a heart like that of David (1 Kings 15:11; 2 Chron. 14:2), but though a good king for most of his life, during the last five years of his reign, he rebelled against the Lord. The word "mother" in 15:10 (kjv) should be "grandmother" for it refers to the same person mentioned in v. 2. The Jewish people didn't identify relatives with the same precision we do today. There were three major divisions to Asa's life and reign.

Anticipating the argument that the Lord had also made Jeroboam king, Abijah explained why the nation divided (2 Chron. 13:6–7). Jeroboam had rebelled against both Solomon and Rehoboam and had to flee to Egypt to be safe. Then Rehoboam, in his immaturity, listened to unwise counsel and made a foolish decision that led to Jeroboam becoming king.1 But God's original plan was that the line of David would reign over a united kingdom. In 1 and 2 Chronicles, the emphasis is on the legitimacy of the Davidic dynasty (1 Chron. 17:14; 28:5; 29:11, 23; 2 Chron. 9:8). Having settled the matter that the sons of David should sit on the throne, Abijah reminded Jeroboam that only the sons of Aaron could serve in the temple (2 Chron. 13:8–12). The only divinely authorized tem-

(1) Peace and victory (vv. 9–11; 2 Chron. 14:1— 15:7). Thanks to his father's victory over Jeroboam (2 Chron. 13), Asa had peace during the first ten years of his reign (2 Chron. 14:1). During that time, he led a national reformation, cleansed the land of idolatry, and urged the people to seek the Lord (vv. 2–5). He also fortified the land by building defense cities and assembling an army of 580,000 men (vv. 6–8). The emphasis, however, wasn't on military achievements

1 Kings 15 but on seeking the Lord (v. 7). It was God who gave them peace because they sought His face. They used that time of peace to prepare for any war that might occur, for faith without works is dead. It's a good thing Asa was prepared, because the Egyptian army attacked Judah, led by Zerah, who was a Cushite. The two armies met at Mareshah, about twenty-five miles southwest of Jerusalem.

ormation, and certainly he dealt more severely with sin in the land than in the first phase. He expelled the shrine male prostitutes, for this practice was prohibited by God's law (Deut. 23:17), as was sodomy itself (Lev. 18:22; 20:13; see also Rom. 1:27 and 1 Cor. 6:9). He also removed his own grandmother from being the queen mother because she had an idolatrous shrine in a grove. That took some courage! We aren't told where this dedicated wealth had been kept, but Asa brought it to the temple treasury because it had been dedicated to the Lord. This was probably booty taken from the enemies he and his father had defeated with the Lord's help.

Like his father, Asa knew how to call on the Lord in the day of trouble (14:11; 13:14–18). The king wasn't ignorant of his plight, because he identified Judah as "those who have no power." Zerah's army was almost twice as large as Asa's, and Asa's men had no chariots. Whether by many soldiers or by few, the Lord could work in mighty power. He may have had the words of Jonathan in mind when he prayed that way (1 Sam. 14:6). He might also have been thinking of what Solomon asked in his prayer of dedication (2 Chron. 6:34–35). Sudden deliverance in the midst of battle is a repeated theme in 2 Chronicles (13:14–18; 14:11–12; 18:31; 20:1ff; 32:20–22). Asa's motive wasn't simply to defeat a dangerous enemy but to bring glory to Jehovah. Like David approaching Goliath, he attacked the enemy army "in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel" (1 Sam. 17:45). In response to Asa's prayer of faith, the Lord soundly defeated the Egyptian army and enabled Asa and his men to pursue them south to Gerar. There the men of Judah and Benjamin plundered the cities around Gerar and brought back an immense amount of spoils. This defeat of the Egyptian army was so thorough and so humiliating that the Egyptians didn't attack the people of Judah again until nearly three hundred years later when King Josiah met the forces of Pharaoh Neco at Carchemish (2 Chron. 35:20–24). The Lord sent the prophet Azariah to meet Asa and the victorious army and give them a message of encouragement and warning (see also 1 Kings 12:21–24; 2 Chron. 16:7). More than one general has won a battle but afterwards lost the war because of pride or carelessness, and the Lord didn't want Asa to fall into that trap. Azariah's message was the same as that of King Asa: seek the Lord, obey Him, trust Him, and be strong in the Lord (2 Chron. 15:1–7; see also 14:4 and Deut. 4:29). Azariah reviewed the the dark days of the judges, when the nation didn't have a king, a godly priest, or anyone to enforce the law (Judg. 2:11–21). Because the people had turned to idols, their land was overrun by the enemy and it wasn't safe to travel (Judg. 5:6; 19:20). This was a fulfillment of God's covenant warning (Deut. 28:25–26, 30, 49–52). But whenever the people cried out to God and forsook their idols, He mercifully forgave them and defeated the enemy. Azariah admonished the king and the people to get to work, build the nation, and serve the Lord faithfully.

Once again, he removed the idols from the land, and he also repaired the altar of sacrifice that stood in the court of the priests before the temple. How or why the altar was damaged, the text doesn't say, but without the altar, the priests had no place to offer sacrifices. Solomon dedicated the temple in about 959, and Asa's fifteenth year was 896 (2 Chron. 15:10), so the altar had been in constant use for over sixty years. Perhaps it was just worn out, but a neglected altar isn't a very good testimony to the state of religion in the land. The Hebrew word can also mean "to renew," so perhaps the altar was rededicated to the Lord.

It's one thing to remove idols and repair the altar, but the greatest need was to rededicate the people. In the fifteenth year of his reign, Asa called for a great assembly to gather at Jerusalem to worship the Lord and renew the covenant.3 Not only did the people of Judah and Benjamin attend, but devout people came to Jerusalem from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon. The thing that drew them was the obvious fact that the Lord was with Asa. Since they assembled in the third month, they were probably celebrating the Feast of Pentecost (Lev. 23:15–22). The king brought the spoils of battle to be dedicated to the Lord, including valuable metals (1 Kings 15:15) and animals for sacrifice (2 Chron. 15:11).

At significant times throughout Jewish history you find the leaders and the people renewing their commitment to the Lord, a good example for the church to follow today. After the nation crossed the Jordan and entered the land, they renewed their covenant with the Lord (Josh. 8:30ff.). Joshua called for a similar meeting near the close of his life (Josh. 24). When Saul was named king, Samuel called for an assembly and a time of renewal (1 Sam. 11:14—12:25). King Joash and King Josiah both renewed the covenant between themselves and the people and God (2 Kings 11:4ff.; 23:1ff.). Spiritual revival or renewal doesn't mean asking God for something new but for the renewal of our devotion to that which He has already given to us. Asa didn't reorganize the priesthood or remodel the temple, nor did he import new worship ideas from the pagan nations around him. He simply led the people in rededication to the covenant that God had already given them. They sought the Lord with all their hearts and He heard them.4 God was pleased with this new

(2) Reformation and renewal (vv. 12–15; 2 Chron. 15:8–19). This is the second phase of Asa's ref-

1 Kings 15—16 defenses but the king's lack of faith. Unlike David, whose heart was sincere before the Lord (see 1 Kings 15:5, 11), Asa's heart was divided—one day trusting the Lord and the next day trusting in the arm of flesh. A perfect heart isn't a sinless heart but a heart wholly yielded to the Lord and fully trusting Him. King Asa revealed the wickedness of his heart by becoming angry, rejecting the prophet's message, and putting him in prison. Apparently some of the people opposed Asa's foreign policy and his mistreatment of God's servant, so the king brutally oppressed them.

step of commitment and He gave Judah and Benjamin peace for another twenty years.

(3) Relapse and discipline (vv. 16–24; 2 Chron. 16:1–14). Apparently King Asa had become careless in his walk with the Lord, because the Lord sent Baasha, king of Israel, to war against him.5 Baasha fortified Ramah, which was located about six miles north of Jerusalem. From this outpost he would be able to monitor his own people who might go to Jerusalem and also launch his own attack on Judah.

After all that the Lord had done for Asa, you would think he would have called the people together to confess sin, seek the Lord, and learn His will about this serious situation. But instead, in his unbelief, he resorted to politics. He took the dedicated treasures from the temple and gave them to Ben-hadad, king of Syria, and entered into a pact with a pagan nation. (David had defeated Syria! See 2 Sam. 8:3–12 and 1 Chron. 18:3–4.) With Syria attacking Israel from the north, Baasha would have to abandon Ramah and move north to defend his country. King Asa not only followed the bad example of his father Abijah in making an unholy alliance, but he insisted that Ben-hadad lie and break his treaty with Israel! Scripture doesn't tell us when Abijah made a pact with Ben-hadad, but perhaps he married one of the Syrian princesses and in that way secured peace, following the example of Solomon (2 Chron. 13:21).

God gave Asa time to repent, but he refused to do so. In the thirty-ninth year of Asa's reign, the Lord afflicted him with a disease in his feet, which must have brought him considerable pain and inconvenience. Once again, he turned his back on the Lord and refused to confess his sins and seek Jehovah, but he turned for help to his physicians. Two years later, he died, and the throne was given to his son Jehoshaphat, who had probably served as coregent during the last years of his father's life.6 Asa was a man who made a good beginning and lived a life of faith, but when it came to his final years, rebelled against the Lord. The people made a very great bonfire in his honor, but in God's sight, the last years of Asa went up in smoke (1 Cor. 3:13–15).7

A dynasty concludes (15:25—16:22) At this point, the historian turns to the account of the kings of Israel and will remain there until the end of the book. The story of the kings of Judah is found primarily in 2 Chronicles. David's dynasty is mentioned in 1 and 2 Kings only where there is some interaction between Judah and Israel. The dynasty that began with Jeroboam is now about to end.

B.Israel—15:25—22:53

Ben-hadad took the silver and gold, broke his promise with Israel, and helped Judah. He captured the cities of Ijon, Dan, and Abelmaim in the north, and then marched through the tribe of Naphtali and took all the important storage cities. In this way, he gained control over the major trade routes and crippled Baasha's power and income. Having achieved his purpose, Asa conscripted the people to go to Ramah and carry off the stones and timber, and with that material the king built two fortified cities: Mizpeh about two and a half miles north of Ramah, and Geba about the same distance to the east. Judah had extended its border as far as Bethel (2 Chron. 13:17), and these new military sites would make their position even more secure.

Nadab is assassinated (15:25–31). Jeroboam reigned over Israel for twenty-two years (14:20) and became the prime example in Scripture of an evil king (see 15:34; 16:2, 19, 26, etc.). Nadab inherited his father's throne as well as his father's sinful ways. He had reigned only two years when a conspiracy developed that led to King Nadab being assassinated by Baasha, a man from Issachar. Nadab was with the army of Israel, directing the siege of Gibbethon, a Philistine city south of Ekron. This border city had been a source of friction between Israel and the Philistines. It actually belonged to the tribe of Dan (Josh. 19:43–45) and was a Levitical city (Josh. 21:23), and Nadab wanted to reclaim it for Israel.

Everyone was happy with the results of the treaty except the Lord. He sent the prophet Hanani to rebuke the king and give him the word of the Lord. It was the task of the prophet to rebuke kings and other leaders, including priests, when they had disobeyed the law of the Lord. The prophet's message was clear: if Asa had relied on the Lord, the army of Judah would have defeated both Israel and Syria. Instead, Judah merely gained a few towns, the Lord's treasury was robbed and the king was now in a sinful alliance with the Syrians. Hanani reminded Asa that the Lord hadn't failed him when Zerah and the huge Egyptian army attacked Judah. The king had done a foolish thing in hiring the Syrians. Judah would pay for his mistake for years to come, and Syria did become a constant problem to the kingdom of Judah.

Baasha not only killed the king but he seized his throne and proceeded to fulfill the prophecy of Ahijah that Jeroboam's family would be completely wiped out because of the sins Jeroboam committed (14:10–16). Had Jeroboam obeyed God's Word, he would have enjoyed the blessing and help of the Lord (11:38–39), but because he sinned and caused the nation to sin, the Lord had to judge him and his descendants. That was the end of the dynasty of Jeroboam I.

The fundamental problem was not Judah's lack of

Baasha disobeys God (15:32—16:7). Baasha set

1 Kings 16—17 people who refused to submit knew what the covenant said, so in declaring their allegiance to a foreign god, they were taking their own lives in their hands. 5 There's a chronological problem here since Baasha ascended the throne during Asa's third year and reigned for twenty-four years (1 Kings 15:33). This means he died in Asa's twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth year and therefore could not have attacked Judah in Asa's thirty-sixth year. Dr. Gleason Archer suggests that the word translated "reign" in 2 Chronicles 16:1 (kjv, niv) should be understood as "kingdom," that is, "in the thirty-sixth year of the kingdom of Judah." Therefore, the writer was dating this event from the division of the kingdom in 931–930, and not from Asa's accession to the throne in 910. The Hebrew word translated "reign" is translated "kingdom" or "realm" in 2 Chronicles 1:1, 11:17 and 20:30. Some students see these numbers as a copyist's error, for in the Hebrew, the difference between the letters used for 36 and 16 is very slight. See Archer's Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties (Zondervan), 225–226. 6 The inability of the physicians to help Asa must not be interpreted as a divine rejection of the medical profession. God can heal either with or without means (Isa. 38:21), and Paul had Luke "the beloved physician" on his missionary staff (Col. 4:14). Even Jesus said that sick people need a physician (Luke 5:27–32). To use 2 Chronicles 16:12 as an argument for "faith healing" and against going to the doctor is to misinterpret and apply a very plain statement. Asa's sickness was a judgment from the Lord, and his going to the physicians was a rebellion against the Lord. He refused to repent, so God refused to let him be healed. 7 Asa's body was placed in his prepared tomb. The burning had nothing to do with cremation, a practice that the Jews considered reprehensible. 8 The phrase "because he killed him" in verse 7 indicates that though Baasha fulfilled God's will when he killed Nadab and then wiped out the house of Jeroboam, he was still responsible for his motives and his actions. Baasha didn't enter into his grisly work as a holy servant of God but as an evil assassin who wanted the throne.

up his palace at Tirzah and reigned over Israel for twenty-four years. Instead of avoiding the sins that brought about the extinction of Jeroboam's family— and he was the man who killed them—Baasha copied the lifestyle of his predecessor! It has well been said that the one thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history. Baasha had destroyed Jeroboam's dynasty, but he couldn't destroy the word of God. The Lord sent the prophet Jehu to give the king the solemn message that after he died, his family would be exterminated, and another dynasty would be destroyed because of the father's sin. Baasha's descendants would be slain and their corpses become food for the dogs and the vultures. For a Jew's body not to be buried was a terrible form of humiliation.8

Elah is assassinated (16:8–14). Baasha had a normal death, but his son and successor did not. Elah appears to be a dissolute man who would rather get drunk with his friends than serve the Lord and the people. Arza was probably the prime minister. Both men forgot the words of Solomon, who knew a thing or two about kingship: "Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning! Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your princes feast at the proper time—for strength and not for drunkenness" (Eccl. 10:16–17 nkjv).

The assassin this time is Zimri, the captain of half of the charioteers in the army of Israel. As a noted captain, he had access to the king, and what better time to kill him than when he was drunk? Like Elah's father, Zimri seized the throne, and once he was in power, he killed every member of Baasha's family. Baasha had fulfilled the prophecy of Abijah and Zimri fulfilled the prophecy of Jehu. But it must be pointed out that a person who fulfills divine prophecy is not innocent of sin. Both Baasha and Zimri were murderers and guilty of regicide, and the Lord held them responsible and accountable. The dynasty of Jeroboam was no more and the dynasty of Baasha was no more. In Judah, the dynasty of David continued.

CHAPTER TEN 1 Kings 17—18 LET THE FIRE FALL! E

Notes 1 This interpretation of Rehoboam's foolish decision is that of his son and not that of the Lord. It did not come from an inspired prophet. We would expect a son to defend his father. 2 Joshua's victory at Jericho seems to be the backdrop for this event. The Lord is called "captain" (v. 12; Josh. 5:13–15), the priests blew the trumpets, and the people shouted (Josh. 6:1–21). The victory was completely from the Lord. 3 The calling of assemblies is a significant thing in the history of the Jews, both before and after the division of the kingdom. (See 1 Chron. 13:2–5; 28:8; 29:1; 2 Chron. 5:6; 20:3ff; 30:1ff.) 4 The fact that submitting to the covenant was a matter of life or death (2 Chron. 15:13) doesn't imply that Judah had become brutal or that the sword brought about the revival. Those who refused to seek God and renew the covenant were declaring that they were practicing idolatry, and according to Deuteronomy 13:6–9, idolaters were not to be spared. The lijah the Tishbite1 suddenly appears on the scene and then leaves as quickly as he came, only to reappear three years later to challenge the priests of Baal. His name means "The Lord (Jehovah) is my God," an apt name for a man who called the people back to the worship of Jehovah (18:21, 39). Wicked King Ahab had permitted his wife Jezebel to bring the worship of Baal into Israel (16:31–33) and she was determined to wipe out the worship of Jehovah (18:4). Baal was the Phoenician fertility god who sent rain and bountiful crops, and the rites connected with his worship were unspeakably immoral. Like Solomon who catered to the idolatrous practices of his heathen wives

1 Kings 17 trolled by a prophet of Jehovah, would make it clear to everybody that Baal the storm god was not a true god at all.

(11:1–8), Ahab yielded to Jezebel's desires and even built her a private temple where she could worship Baal (16:32–33). Her plan was to exterminate the worshippers of Jehovah and have all the people of Israel serving Baal.

Food from unclean birds (17:2–7) After Elijah left the king's presence, Jezebel must have instigated her campaign to wipe out the prophets of the Lord (18:4). As the drought continued and famine hit the land, Ahab began his search for Elijah, the man he thought caused all the trouble (18:17). In one sense, Elijah did cause the drought, but it was the sins of Ahab and Jezebel that led the nation into disobeying God's covenant and inviting His chastening. The Lord had a special hiding place for His servant by a brook east of the Jordan, and He also had some unusual "servants" prepared to feed him. The Lord usually leads His faithful people a step at a time as they tune their hearts to His Word. God didn't give Elijah a three-year schedule to follow. Instead, He directed his servant at each critical juncture in his journey, and Elijah obeyed by faith.

The prophet Elijah is an important figure in the New Testament. John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17), and some of the people even thought he was the promised Elijah (John 1:21; Mal. 4:5–6; Matt. 17:10–13). Elijah was with Moses and Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:3), and some students believe that Moses and Elijah are the two witnesses described in Rev. 11:1–14. Elijah wasn't a polished preacher like Isaiah and Jeremiah, but was more of a rough-hewn reformer who challenged the people to abandon their idols and return to the Lord. He was a courageous man who confronted Ahab personally and rebuked his sin, and he also challenged the priests of Baal to a public contest. He was not only a worker of miracles, but he also experienced miracles in his own life. These two chapters record seven different miracles that Elijah either performed or experienced.

"Go, hide yourself!" was God's command, and three years later the command would be, "Go, show yourself!" By leaving his public ministry, Elijah created a second "drought" in the land—an absence of the word of the Lord. God's word was to the Jewish people like the rain from heaven (Deut. 32:2; Isa. 55:10): it was essential to their spiritual lives, it was refreshing, and only the Lord could give it. The silence of God's servant was a judgment from God (Ps. 74:9), for not to hear God's living word is to forfeit life itself (Ps. 28:1). At the brook Cherith ("Kerith Ravine" niv), Elijah had safety and sustenance. Until it dried up, the brook provided water, and each morning and evening the ravens brought him bread and meat. The raven was considered "unclean" and "de-testable" on the Mosaic list of forbidden foods (Lev. 11:13–15; Deut. 14:14), yet God used these birds to help sustain the life of his servant. The ravens didn't bring Elijah the carrion that they were accustomed to eat, because such food would be unclean for a dedicated Jew. The Lord provided the food and the birds provided the transportation! Just as God dropped the manna into the camp of Israel during their wilderness journey, so He sent the necessary food to Elijah as he waited for the signal to relocate. God feeds the beasts and the ravens (Ps. 147:9; Luke 12:24), and He can use the ravens to carry food to His servant.

A nationwide drought (17:1) The Jewish people depended on the seasonal rains for the success of their crops. If the Lord didn't send the early rain in October and November and the latter rain in March and April, there would soon be a famine in the land. But the blessing of the semiannual rains depended on the people obeying the covenant of the Lord (Deut. 11). God warned the people that their disobedience would turn the heavens into bronze and the earth into iron (Deut. 28:23–24; see Lev. 26:3–4, 18–19). The land belonged to the Lord, and if the people defiled the land with their sinful idols, the Lord wouldn't bless them.

It's likely that Elijah appeared before King Ahab in October, about the time the early rains should have begun. There had been no rain for six months, from April to October, and the prophet announced that there would be no rain for the next three years!2 The people were following Baal, not Jehovah, and the Lord could not send the promised rain and still be faithful to His covenant. God always keeps His covenant, whether to bless the people for their obedience or to discipline them for their sins.

God had held back the rain because of the fervent prayers of Elijah, and He would send the rain again in response to His servant's intercession (James 5:17–18). For the next three years, the word of Elijah would control the weather in Israel! The three and a half years of drought would prepare the people for the dramatic contest on Mount Carmel between the priests of Baal and the prophet of the Lord. Like a faithful servant, attentive to his master's commands, Elijah stood before the Lord and served him. (Later, his successor, Elisha, would use this same terminology. See 2 Kings 3:14 and 5:16.) An extended drought, announced and con-

As the drought grew worse, the brook dried up, leaving the prophet without water, but he never made a move until the word of the Lord came to tell him what to do. It has well been said that the will of God will never lead us where the grace of God cannot keep us and care for us, and Elijah knew this from experience. (See Isa. 33:15–16.)

Food from empty vessels (17:8–16) Elijah lived at Cherith probably a year, and then God

1 Kings 17

Back of the loaf is the snowy flour, And back of the flour is the mill, And back of the mill is the wheat, sun, and shower, The farmer—and the Father's will.

told him to leave. God's instructions may have shocked the prophet, for the Lord commanded him to travel northeast about a hundred miles to the Phoenician city of Zarephath. God was sending Elijah into Gentile territory, and since Zarephath was not too far from Jezebel's home city of Sidon, he would be living in enemy territory! Even more, he was instructed to live with a widow whom God had selected to care for him, and widows were usually among the neediest people in the land. Since Phoenicia depended on Israel for much of its food supply (1 Kings 5:9; Acts 12:20), food wouldn't be too plentiful there. But when God sends us, we must obey and leave the rest to Him, for we don't live on man's explanations—we live on God's promises.

Life for a dead boy (17:17–24) This is the first recorded instance in Scripture of the resurrection of a dead person. The evidence seems clear that the widow's son actually died and didn't just faint or go into a temporary swoon. He stopped breathing (v. 17), and his spirit left the body (vv. 21–22). According to James 2:26, when the spirit leaves a body, the person is dead. The great distress of both the mother and the prophet would suggest that the boy was dead, and both of them used the word "slay" with reference to the event (vv. 18 and 20 kjv).

"Because of our proneness to look at the bucket and forget the fountain," wrote Watchman Nee, "God has frequently to change His means of supply to keep our eyes fixed on the source." After the nation of Israel entered the Promised Land, the manna ceased to fall into the camp and God changed His way of feeding the people (Josh. 5:10–12). During the early days of the church in Jerusalem, the believers had all that they needed (Acts 4:34–35), but a few years later, the saints in Jerusalem had to receive help from the Gentile believers in Antioch (Acts 11:27–30). Elijah was about to learn what God could do with empty vessels!

The mother's response was to feel guilty because of her past sins. She believed that her son's death was God's way of punishing her for her misdeeds. It isn't unusual for people to feel guilty in connection with bereavement, but why would she point her finger at her guest? She recognized Elijah as a man of God, and perhaps she thought his presence in the home would protect her and her son from trouble. Or maybe she felt that God had informed her guest about her past life, something she should have confessed to him. Her words remind us of the question of the disciples in John 9:2, "Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?"

The fact that the woman had been instructed by the Lord (v. 9) isn't proof that she was a believer in the God of Israel, for the Lord gave orders to a pagan king like Cyrus (2 Chron. 36:22) and even called him his "shepherd" (Isa. 44:28). The widow spoke of Jehovah as "the Lord your God" (v. 12, italics mine), for she could easily discern that the stranger speaking to her was a Jew, but even this isn't evidence she was a believer. It's probable that Elijah remained with her for two years (18:1), and during that time, the widow and her son surely turned from the worship of idols and put their faith in the true and living God.

Elijah's response was to carry the lad to his upstairs room, perhaps on the roof, and to cry out to the Lord for the life of the child. He couldn't believe that the Lord would miraculously provide food for the three of them and then allow the son to die. It just didn't make sense. Elijah didn't stretch himself out on the boy's dead body in hopes he could transfer his life to the lad, for he knew that only God can impart life to the dead. Certainly his posture indicated total identification with the boy and his need, and this is an important factor when we intercede for others. It was after Elijah stretched himself on the child for the third time that the Lord raised him from the dead, a reminder that our own Savior arose from the dead on the third day. Because He lives, we can share His life by putting our faith in Him. (See 2 Kings 4:34 and Acts 20:10.)

The woman's assets were few: a little oil in a flask, a handful of barley in a large grain jar ("barrel" kjv), and a few sticks to provide fuel for a fire. But Elijah's assets were great, for God Almighty had promised to take care of him, his hostess, and her son. Elijah gave her God's promise that neither the jar of grain nor the flask of oil would be used up before the end of the drought and famine. God would one day send the rain, but until then, He would continue to provide bread for them—and He did.

The result of this miracle was the woman's public confession of her faith in the God of Israel. She now knew for sure that Elijah was a true servant of God and not just another religious teacher looking for some support. She also knew that the Word he had taught her was indeed the Word of the true and living God. During the time he lived with the widow and her son, Elijah had shown them that God sustains life (the meal and oil didn't run out) and that God imparts life (the boy was raised from the dead).

In our modern society, with its credit cards and convenient shopping, we need to remember that each meal we eat is a miracle from the hand of God. We may live far from the farmers who grow our food, but we can't live without them. "Give us this day our daily bread" is more than a line in a prayer that we may too casually recite. It's the expression of a great truth, that the Lord cares for us and uses many hands to feed us.

Elijah hadn't been in public ministry for a long time, yet his private ministry to the woman and her son was just as important both to the Lord and to

1 Kings 17—18 that He had sent to punish the idolatrous nation for over three years.

them. The servant who won't "hide himself" and minister to a few people isn't really ready to stand on Mount Carmel and call down fire and rain from heaven. People who have proved themselves faithful with a few things in small places can be trusted by the Lord with many things before many people in the bigger places (Matt. 25:21). Elijah had proved the power of God in Baal's own home territory, so he was now ready to challenge and defeat Baal in the kingdom of Israel.

Obadiah meets Elijah (vv. 1–16). Students don't agree on the character of Obadiah, the governor of the palace. A man of great authority, he was administrator of the royal palace as well as steward and supervisor of whatever estates the king possessed. But was he a courageous servant of God (his name means "servant of Jehovah") or a timid compromiser who was afraid to let his witness be known? The text informs us that Obadiah "feared the Lord greatly" and proved it during Jezebel's "purge" by risking his life to rescue and support one hundred prophets of the Lord.3 That doesn't sound like a man who was compromising his testimony! Why should he tell the king and queen what he was doing for the Lord? The Lord had put Obadiah in the palace to use his God-given authority to support the faithful prophets at a time when openly serving the Lord was a dangerous thing.

During these three years as an exile and a hunted man (18:10), Elijah has learned a great deal about the Lord, about himself and about the needs of people. He has learned to live a day at a time, trusting God for his daily bread. For three years, people have been asking, "Where is the prophet Elijah? Is he able to do anything to ease the burdens we carry because of this drought?" But the Lord is more concerned about the worker than the work, and He has been preparing Elijah for the greatest challenge of faith in his entire ministry.

The king and Obadiah were searching the country for grass and other foliage that could be used to feed the horses and mules used in the army. Ahab wasn't especially concerned about the people of the land, but he wanted his army to be strong just in case of an invasion. It's remarkable that the king was willing to leave the safety and comfort of the palace to scour the land for food for the animals. It seems that when Ahab was away from Jezebel, he was a much better man.

Before we leave the account of Elijah's sojourn with the widow of Zarephath, we must consider how our Lord used this story in the sermon He preached in the synagogue in Nazereth (Luke 4:16–30). During the first part of the sermon, the listeners approved of what Jesus said and complimented Him on His "gracious words." But then He reminded them of the sovereign grace of God that reached other nations besides the covenant people of Israel. The great Jewish prophet Elijah actually ministered to a Gentile widow and her son and had even lived with them, and yet he could have ministered to any of the many widows in the nation of Israel. His second illustration was from the ministry of Elisha, Elijah's successor, who actually healed a Gentile general of leprosy (2 Kings 5:1–15). Certainly there were plenty of Jewish lepers he might have cured!

The Lord led Elijah to the road that Obadiah was using and the two men met. Obadiah had such reverence for Elijah and his ministry that he fell on his face on the earth and called him, "My lord, Elijah." But Elijah's aim was to confront wicked King Ahab, and he wasn't about to go looking for him, so he commissioned Obadiah to tell the king where he was. We can understand Obadiah's concern lest the king come back and not find the prophet. During the three years Ahab had been searching for Elijah, no doubt he had followed up many false leads, and Ahab wasn't interested in wasting time and energy at such a critical point in the nation's history. Furthermore, Ahab might punish Obadiah or even suspect him of being a follower of Elijah's God. But when Elijah assured the officer that he would remain there and wait for the king, Obadiah went off to give Ahab the message.

Our Lord's emphasis was on the grace of God. He wanted the proud Jewish congregation in the synagogue to realize that the God of Israel was also the God of the Gentiles (see Rom. 3:29) and that both Jews and Gentiles were saved by putting their faith in Him. Of course, the Jews wouldn't accept the idea that they were sinners like the Gentiles and had to be saved, so they rejected both the messenger and the message and took Jesus out of the synagogue to cast Him down from the hill. Elijah's ministry to the widow and her son was proof that God is no respecter of persons and that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). Whether a person is a religious Jew or a pagan Gentile, the only way of salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ.

Not all of God's servants are supposed to be in the public eye like Elijah and the other prophets. God has His servants in many places, doing the work He's called them to do. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea didn't make a big fuss about their faith in Christ, yet God used them to give proper burial to the body of Jesus (John 19:38–42). Esther kept quiet about her Jewish heritage until it was absolutely necessary to use it to save the life of the nation. Over the centuries, there have been numerous believers who have kept a low profile and yet made great contributions to the cause of Christ and the advancement of His kingdom.

Fire from heaven (18:1–40) For three years, Elijah had hidden himself at the brook Cherith and then with the widow in Zarephath, but now he was commanded to "show himself" to wicked King Ahab. But along with God's command was God's promise that He would send rain and end the drought

Elijah meets King Ahab (vv. 17–19). Everything that Elijah did was according to the Word of the Lord

1 Kings 18

Who originally built the altar that Elijah used? Probably a member of the believing remnant in Israel who privately worshipped the Lord. But the altar had been destroyed, probably by the prophets of Baal (19:10), so Elijah rebuilt it and sanctified it. By using twelve stones, he reaffirmed the spiritual unity of God's people in spite of their political division. Elijah had given the prophets of Baal some advantages, so now he gave himself some handicaps. He had a trench dug around the altar and filled it with water. He put the sacrifice on the wood on the altar and had everything drenched with water.

(v. 36), including confronting the king and inviting him and the priests of Baal to a meeting on Mount Carmel. Ahab called Elijah "the troublemaker in Israel," but it was really Ahab whose sins had caused the problems in the land. Surely Ahab knew the terms of the covenant and understood that the blessings of the Lord depended on the obedience of the king and his people. Both Jesus and Paul would be called "troublemakers" (Luke 23:5; Acts 16:20; 17:6), so Elijah was in good company.

Mount Carmel was located near the border of Israel and Phoenicia, so it was a good place for the Phoenician god Baal to meet Jehovah, the God of Israel. Elijah told Ahab to bring not only the 450 prophets of Baal but also the 400 prophets of the Asherah (Astarte), the idols that represented Baal's "wife." It seems that only the prophets of Baal showed up for the contest (vv. 22, 26, 40).

At the time of the evening sacrifice, he lifted his voice in prayer to the God of the covenant, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. His request was that God be glorified as the God of Israel, the true and living God, and make it known that Elijah was His servant. But even more, by sending fire from heaven, the Lord would be telling His people that He had forgiven them and would turn their hearts back to the worship of the true God. Elijah may have been thinking of God's promise to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:12–15. Suddenly, the fire fell from heaven and totally devoured the sacrifice, the altar, and the water in the trench around the altar.5 There was nothing left that anybody could turn into a relic or a shrine. The altar to Baal still stood as a monument to a lost cause. The prophets of Baal were stunned, and the people of Israel fell on their faces and acknowledged, "The Lord, He is God!"

The prophets of Baal meet the God of Israel (vv. 20–40). Representatives were present from all ten tribes of the northern kingdom, and it was this group that Elijah addressed as the meeting began. His purpose was not only to expose the false god Baal but also to bring the compromising people back to the Lord. Because of the evil influence of Ahab and Jezebel, the people were "limping" between two opinions and trying to serve both Jehovah and Baal. Like Moses (Ex. 32:26) and Joshua (Josh. 24:15) before him, Elijah called for a definite decision on their part, but the people were speechless. Was this because of their guilt (Rom. 3:19) or because they first wanted to see what would happen next? They were weak people, without true conviction.

But Elijah wasn't yet finished, for he commanded the people to take the false prophets of Baal and slay them. This was in obedience to the Lord's command in Deuteronomy 13:13–18 and 17:2–5. The test had been a fair one, and the prophets of Baal had been exposed as idolaters who deserved to be killed. The law required that idolaters be stoned to death, but Elijah had the prophets killed with the sword (19:1). This action, of course, angered Jezebel, from whose table these men had been fed (v. 19), and she determined to capture Elijah and kill him.

Elijah weighted the test in favor of the prophets of Baal. They could build their altar first, select their sacrifice and offer it first, and they could take all the time they needed to pray to Baal. When Elijah said he was the only prophet of the Lord, he wasn't forgetting the prophets that Obadiah had hidden and protected. Rather, he was stating that he was the only one openly serving the Lord, and therefore he was outnumbered by the 450 prophets of Baal. But one with God is a majority, so the prophet had no fears. Surely the prayers of 450 zealous prophets would be heard by Baal and he would answer by sending fire from heaven! (See Lev. 9:24 and 1 Chron. 21:26.) By noon, Elijah was taunting the prophets of Baal because nothing had happened. "He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision" (Ps. 2:4 nkjv). The prophets of Baal were dancing frantically around their altar and cutting themselves with swords and spears, but still nothing happened. Elijah suggested that perhaps Baal couldn't hear them because he was deep in thought, or busy in some task,4 or even traveling. His words only made them become more fanatical, but nothing happened. At three o'clock, the time of the evening sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem, Elijah stepped forward and took charge.

The rains return (18:41–45) Elijah had announced three years before that it was his word that stopped the rain and only his word could start it again (17:1). He was referring to the power of his prayers, the words that he spoke to the Lord (James 5:17–18). It had been a long and disappointing day for King Ahab, and Elijah sent him to his retainers to get something to eat.6 Elijah went to the top of Carmel to pray and ask the Lord to send the much-needed rains. "Every day we live," wrote missionary Amy Carmichael, "we have to choose whether we should follow in the way of Ahab or of Elijah." Matthew 6:33 comes to mind.

Elijah's unusual posture was almost a fetal position and indicated the prophet's humility, his great concern for the people, and his burden for the glory of the Lord. Unlike the answer to the prayer at the altar, the

1 Kings 18—19 answer to this prayer didn't come at once. Seven times Elijah sent his servant to look toward the Mediterranean Sea and report any indications of a storm gathering, and six of those times the servant reported nothing. The prophet didn't give up but prayed a seventh time, and the servant saw a tiny cloud coming from the sea. This is a good example for us to follow as we "watch and pray" and continue to intercede until the Lord sends the answer.

5 Satan is a counterfeiter of the miracles of God (2 Thess. 2:9–10) and could have sent fire from heaven (Job 1:9–12; Rev. 13:13), but the Lord restrained him. 6 Some have suggested that Ahab ate some of the sacrificial meat, but that doesn't seem possible. Elijah's sacrifice was completely consumed and the sacrifice to Baal was never exposed to any fire.

CHAPTER ELEVEN 1 Kings 19 THE CAVE MAN I

The little cloud wasn't a storm, but it was the harbinger of the rains that were to come. Elijah commanded the king to mount his chariot and return to his palace in Jezreel as soon as possible. We aren't told how he broke the news to Jezebel that Baal had been publicly humiliated and declared to be a false god, and that the prophets of Baal that she supported had been slain. But neither the drought nor the famine had brought Ahab and Jezebel to repentance, and it wasn't likely that the fire from heaven or the coming of the rain would change their hearts (Rev. 9:20–21; 16:8–11). All the evidence notwithstanding, Jezebel was determined to kill Elijah (19:1–2).

t encourages me when I read James 5:17, "Elijah was as human as we are" (nlt). I have a tendency to idealize the men and women in Scripture, but the Bible is the "word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15) and describes the warts and wrinkles of even the greatest. When James wrote those words, he undoubtedly had 1 Kings 18 and 19 in mind, for in these chapters we see Elijah at his highest and at his lowest. When the psalmist wrote that "every man at his best state is altogether vanity" (Ps. 39:5), he included all of us except Jesus. An old adage reminds us, "The best of men are but men at their best," and Elijah's history proves how true this is.

Strength for the journey (18:46) Soon the heavens were black with clouds and great torrents of rain began to fall on the land. The Lord not only proved that he was the true and living God, but He also put His approval on the ministry of His servant Elijah. Elijah had neither chariots nor retainers to drive them, but he did have the power of the Lord, and he ran ahead of Ahab and reached Jezreel ahead of the king, a distance of about seventeen miles. This was quite a feat for an older man and in itself was another sign to the people that God's powerful hand was upon His servant.

However, the outstanding leaders in Scripture, with all their humanness, knew how to find their way out of what John Bunyan called "the slough [swamp] of despond" and get back on track with the Lord. We can learn from their defeats as well as their successes. Furthermore, by studying passages like 1 Kings 19, we're reminded to give glory to the Master and not to His servants (1 Cor. 1:27–29). We're also reminded to prepare for what may happen after the victories God gives us. How quickly we can move from the mountaintop of triumph to the valley of testing! We need to humble ourselves before the Lord and get ready for the trials that usually follow the victories.

God had chastened His people with drought and famine but had cared for His special servant Elijah. God had sent fire from heaven to prove that He was the true and living God. Now He had answered the prayer of His prophet and had sent the rains to water the land. You would think that Elijah would be at his very best spiritually and able to face anything, but the next chapter records just the opposite. As great a man as Elijah was, he still failed the Lord and himself.

If Elijah could have described to a counselor how he felt and what he thought, the counselor would have diagnosed his condition as a textbook case of burnout. Elijah was physically exhausted and had lost his appetite. He was depressed about himself and his work and was being controlled more and more by self-pity. "I only am left!" Instead of turning to others for help, he isolated himself and—worst of all—he wanted to die. (Elijah never did die. He was taken to heaven in a chariot. See 2 Kings 2.) The prophet concluded that he had failed in his mission and decided it was time to quit. But the Lord didn't see it that way. He always looks beyond our changing moods and impetuous prayers, and He pities us the way parents pity their discouraged children (Ps. 103:13–14). The chapter shows us how tenderly and patiently God deals with us when we're in the depths of despair and feel like giving up.

Notes 1 "Tishbite" probably refers to the town of Tishbe in Gilead, located west of Mahanaim. 2 The six-month period from April to October is the factor that explains the seeming discrepancy between 1 Kings 18:1 (three years) and Luke 4:25 and James 5:17 (three years and six months). When the expected early rains didn't appear in October, Elijah explained the cause. The drought was already six months old by the time Elijah visited Ahab. 3 On the schools of the prophets, see 1 Samuel 10:5 and 2 Kings 2:3–7 and 6:1–2. 4 The Hebrew word in verse 27 that is translated "pursuing" in the KJV and "busy" in the niv can also mean "relieving himself." Idolaters make their gods in their own image.

The chapter begins with Elijah running away and trying to save himself. Then the prophet argues with

1 Kings 19 the Lord in order to save his own life. When God's servants get out of God's will, they're liable to do all sorts of foolish things and fail in their strongest points. When Abraham fled to Egypt, he failed in his faith, which was his greatest strength (Gen. 12:10ff.). David's greatest strength was his integrity, and that's where he failed when he started lying and scheming during the Bathsheba episode (2 Sam. 11—12). Moses was the meekest of men (Num. 12:3), yet he lost his temper and forfeited the privilege of entering the Promised Land (Num. 20:1–13). Peter was a courageous man, yet his courage failed and he denied Christ (Mark 14:66–72). Like Peter, Elijah was a bold man, but his courage failed when he heard Jezebel's message.

the Lord and tries to defend himself. Finally, he obeys the Lord and yields himself and is restored to service. In all of this, Elijah was responding to four different messages.

The enemy's message of danger (19:1–4) When the torrential rain began to fall, Jezebel was in Jezreel and may have thought that Baal the storm god had triumphed on Mount Carmel. However, when Ahab arrived home, he told her a much different story. Ahab was a weak man, but he should have stood with Elijah and honored the Lord who had so dramatically demonstrated His power. But Ahab had to live with Queen Jezebel and without her support, he knew he was nothing. If ever there was a strong-willed ruler with a gift for doing evil, it was Jezebel. Neither Ahab nor Jezebel accepted the clear evidence given on Mount Carmel that Jehovah was the only true and living God. Instead of repenting and calling the nation back to serving the Lord, Jezebel declared war on Jehovah and His faithful servant Elijah, and Ahab allowed her to do it.

But why flee to Judah, especially when Jehoram, king of Judah, was married to Ahab's daughter Athaliah (2 Kings 8:16–19; 2 Chron. 21:4–7). This is the infamous Athaliah who later ruled the land and tried to exterminate all of David's heirs to the throne (2 Kings 11). The safest place for any child of God is the place dictated by the will of God, but Elijah didn't stop to seek God's will. He traveled 90 to 100 miles to Beersheba and left his servant there. Did he say, "Stay here until I return?" or did he just set the man free for his own safety. If the enemy came after Elijah, his servant would be safer someplace else. Furthermore, if the servant didn't know where Elijah was, he couldn't inform against him.

Why did Jezebel send a letter to Elijah when she could have sent soldiers and had him killed? He was in Jezreel and the deed could have been easily accomplished on such a wild and stormy night. Jezebel wasn't only an evil woman; she was also a shrewd strategist who knew how to make the most of Baal's defeat on Mount Carmel. Ahab was a quitter, but not his wife! Elijah was now a very popular man. Like Moses, he had brought fire from heaven, and like Moses, he had slain the idolaters (Lev. 9:24; Num. 25). If Jezebel transformed the prophet into a martyr, he might influence people more by his death than by his life. No, the people were waiting for Elijah to tell them what to do, so why not remove him from the scene of his victory? If Elijah disappeared, the people would wonder what had happened, and they would be prone to drift back into worshipping Baal and letting Ahab and Jezebel have their way. Furthermore, whether from Baal or Jehovah, the rains had returned and there was work to do!

Beersheba had a special meaning to the Jews because of its associations with Abraham (Gen. 21:22, 33), Isaac (26:33), and Jacob (46:1). The "juniper tree"2 is actually a flowering shrub ("the flowering broom tree") that flourishes in the wilderness and provides shade for flocks and herds and travelers. The branches are thin and supple like those of the willow and are used to bind bundles. (The Hebrew word for this shrub means "to bind.") The roots of the plant are used for fuel and make excellent charcoal (Ps. 120:4). As Elijah sat under its shade, he did a wise thing—he prayed, but he didn't pray a very wise prayer. "I've had enough!" he told the Lord, "so take my life."3 Then he gave his reason: "I'm no better than my fathers." But God never asked him to be better than anybody else, but only to hear His Word and obey it.

Jezebel may have suspected that Elijah was a candidate for a physical and emotional breakdown after his demanding day on Mount Carmel, and she was right. He was as human as we are, and as the ancient church fathers used to say to their disciples, "Beware of human reactions after holy exertions." Her letter achieved its purpose and Elijah fled from Jezreel. In a moment of fear,1 when he forgot all that God had done for him the previous three years, Elijah took his servant, left Israel, and headed for Beersheba, the southernmost city in Judah. Charles Spurgeon said that Elijah "retreated before a beaten enemy." God had answered his prayer (18:36–37), and God's hand had been upon him in the storm (18:46), but now he was walking by sight and not by faith. (See Ps. 16:7–8.)

The combination of emotional burnout, weariness, hunger, and a deep sense of failure, plus lack of faith in the Lord, had brought Elijah into deep depression. But there was also an element of pride involved, and some self-pity, for Elijah was sure that his courageous ministry on Mount Carmel would bring the nation to its knees. Perhaps he was also hoping that Ahab and Jezebel would repent and turn from Baal to Jehovah. His expectations weren't fulfilled, so he considered himself a failure. But the Lord rarely allows His servants to see all the good they have done, because we walk by faith and not by sight, and Elijah would learn that there were 7,000 people in Israel who had not bowed to Baal and worshipped him. No doubt his own ministry had influenced many of them.

For three years, Elijah had not made a move without hearing and obeying the Lord's instructions (17:2–3, 8–9; 18:1), but now he was running ahead of

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.

1 Kings 19 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

1 Kings 19 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

1 Kings 20 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

1 Kings 20—21

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

1 Kings 21 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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