A string of hopeless
kings arose after Baasha, who ruled 24 years.
Elah his son ruled for 2 years,
before Zimri killed him and the residue of Baasha, as prophesied.
Zimri reigned 7
years and Tibni 12, followed by Omri, for 11 years.
Then, as if it wasn’t
gloomy enough for a spiritually bankrupt Israel, his son Ahab was made king.
Ahab took as his wife, Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians. A wicked woman, she institutionalized Baal worship and killed the prophets of God, save those that Obadiah saved.
Vs 33 says that Ahab
did more to provoke God than any other king of Israel.
The contrast of a great king in Judah (2
Chronicles 17)
In the meantime
Jehoshaphat had started to rule in Judah. He was the son of Asa.
Like his father, and
like David, he ruled well. He uprooted all remaining groves to Baal and then
sent princes and Levites to teach all his people about God’s law.
Where sin abounded,
grace truly abounded.
Jehoshaphat also
influenced all the surrounding nations, which respected him and his rule,
ensuring a long, peaceful reign of 25 years. Even the Philistines paid tribute
to him.
He built up the wealth
of the nation, including palaces and storehouses. His army swelled to
1.16 million warriors, which he deployed in the walled
cities of Judah.
The rise of Elijah, the Tishbite (1 Kings 17)
He seemingly appeared
out of nowhere to tell Ahab of a severe drought that would descend over Israel
during which there would be no rain or dew.
Then God sent him to
hold up at the brook Cherith, a cutting, now identified as Wadi-el-kelt behind
Jericho. It is fed by perennial mountain streams. Ravens also came and fed
him.
He had obeyed without
question and gone to the brook to sit in God’s presence before being called to stand
up for the truth in Carmel. In that time the brook slowly dried up.
It is often like that
for us. God sees us through certain seasons that provide for us and keep us
going until he is ready to move us on. Then the provision dries up.
When the brook
dried up he went to Zarephath in Zidon, and dwelt with a widow there. The place
was named after the metal forge in the town. Zidon was Jezebel country. It symbolized the melting pot of Israel, the tensions of his time and God's furnace of refinement.
There he had an
unfailing provision. She was ready to share her
last meal with her son when Elijah told her to make some cakes for him. A steady supply of oil and meal ensued.
Even so, her son fell
ill and died. Then Elijah took him to his loft, prayed
over the child three times and saw him completely restored. The woman
witnessed the hand of God.
The demonstration of God’s power on Mount
Carmel (1 Kings 18)
Elijah went to find
Ahab. In the meantime Ahab had told Obadiah to take half of all his horses and
go in search of pasture. That’s when he saw Elijah.
Elijah told him to
tell Ahab that he was there. He was afraid to do so, and his plea revealed what
Jezebel had done to all the prophets and how he had saved 100 of them.
He went anyway and
Ahab then met with Elijah who told him to assemble on the sides of Mount Carmel
with all 950 of Jezebel’s priests of Baal.
When he got there,
Elijah told the priests of Baal to build an altar to Baal, dress and prepare
it, but not light it. They had to invoke Baal to ignite their fire.
He mocked away all
morning as they tried to awaken their dead god, but it was all to no avail. In the
afternoon they cut themselves and danced in a mad frenzy, but it
was futile.
Then he repaired an
altar to God, using 12 stones, one for each tribe of Israel. He laid on it an
ox, duly dressed it and prepared the wood for the fire. A deep trench ran around
the altar.
He them told the people
to pour four barrels of water on the altar, three times over, until the moat
was full. Then he spoke.“How long will Israel
halt between two opinions?”
To that he added, “I alone still serve the Lord”,
but in 1 Kings 19, we see that God reserved 7,000 young men who did not bow to
Baal.
He was angry with the spiritual
deprivation of Israel, but when he called on God fire fell from heaven to consume his offering and lick up the water. The people trembled.
They all turned on the priests
of Baal, none of which escaped. Elijah then turned to Ahab and
told him to eat and drink for there was the sound of abundance of rain.
Then he climbed to the top of Carmel and told his servant to look out to sea and
tell him what he saw. After seven times, he said, “I saw a cloud the
size of a man’s hand”. The drought was over.
Elijah fled from Jezebel (1 Kings 19)
The queen was in a
rage and threatened his life so he fled and found some shade under a Juniper
tree. An angel fed him, twice, for he had a long journey ahead.
He walked on all the way
down to Mount Horeb in the Sinai. It took 40 days. There he retreated to a cave
and told God of his zeal for his faith and that he was alone in that.
Hi defense was born of insecurity and a despondent heart. He felt isolated by his faith, which had not brought the change he had hoped for.
Hi defense was born of insecurity and a despondent heart. He felt isolated by his faith, which had not brought the change he had hoped for.
God then
told him to stand on the mountain and pray. An earthquake came, followed by a
mighty wind and then a great fire. God was not in any of them.
He felt that drama was what the nation needed, but God was not in that. Instead the still,
small, unhurried voice of God assured him that it was well with his soul and his people.
The follow on to the temporary provision of Cherith and the longer-term provision of Zarephath, was a still-small, reassuring voice that would never leave him. It was Elijah's burning bush moment.
The follow on to the temporary provision of Cherith and the longer-term provision of Zarephath, was a still-small, reassuring voice that would never leave him. It was Elijah's burning bush moment.
God told him to
go back via Damascus and anoint Hazael as king of Syria, Jehu as king of Israel
and Elisha as his own replacement, warning: that what Hazael doesn’t kill,
Jehu will and what still remains, Elisha will kill.
He found Elisha
plowing with 12 oxen and threw his mantle over him. Elisha followed him,
but first kissed his family goodbye and sacrificed a yoke of oxen to feed all the people
there.
