A bad king's bad choice
Jeroboam (Israel) -------------/Nadab--
(22 years) (2 years)
/Baasha------------/Elah---/Zimri/Omri-----/Ahab
(24 years) (2 years) (7 days) (12 years) (22 years)
Rehoboam (Judah)----------/Abijah---
(17 years) (3 years)
/Asa -----------------------------------------/Jehoshaphat
(41 years) (25 years : 4th year of Ahab)
_ _ _ _
Above, you see a rough (OK, very rough) comparison timeline of the kings of Israel and Judah. There was not only a lot of turn-over in the kingdom of Israel (Ahab is the 7th king in Israel, and Jehoshaphat is only the 4th king in Judah) but while Nadab, Jeroboam's son, follows him, Jeroboam's whole family line is wiped out by Baasha. Then while Baasha is followed by his son, Elah, Baasha's whole family is wiped out by Zimri. Then ~ horribly ~ Zimri commits suicide by going in his house and setting it on fire when the people make Omri king...he had been king for 7 days. When we are introduced to Ahab, as bad as everyone before him has been (remember? bad king after bad king), :
Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD
than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial
to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also
married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians,
and began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar
for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria.
Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke
the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did
all the kings of Israel before him.
1 Kings 16:29-33
Wow! With that glaring, clanging introduction, I would expect that God should write him off and ignore him and maybe hit him with lightening bolts as He turns his back on him. . . but . . . NO!
Actually we know QUITE A BIT about what happened during the reign of Ahab. Now, we are told in 2 Chronicles 11 that when Jeroboam became king in Israel the priests that had been given towns in Israel moved down to Judah. Jeroboam hired a bunch of new priests who were NOT from the tribe of Levi. I would have thought that when the priests left, the prophets would have also left. . . but . . . NO!
1 Kings 16 ends telling us that the horrible King Ahab is now king. 1 Kings 17 begins the amazing stories of Elijah. These stories, and the saga that continues with the stories of Elisha, are maybe my favorite stories in all of scripture. (OK...it is very VERY hard for me to say 'favorite' -- there are so many great stories in the Bible...and if you haven't read the whole book, read it for the stories! They are great!!!) With these men, Elijah and Elisha, the miracles are wild, the action is non-stop, there is drama in nearly every verse. (I plan to spend time on these crazy-wild prophets). But my point here is God sends Elijah to Ahab--in rebuke granted -- but we get a long, long story about it. As part of the story we meet a prophet named Obadiah. We are told
Obadiah was a devout believer in the LORD.
While Jezebel was killing off the LORD's prophets,
Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden
them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied
them with food and water.
1 Kings 18:3-4
Then we see Obadiah working with ~ YES WITH ~ Ahab to try to find grass for the animals because of the 3 years of drought. They divide up the land, like a team, and one goes one way and the other goes the other way. This 'devout believer in the LORD', who hid and cared for 100 prophets -- protecting them from Jezebel -- works WITH Ahab. And though they are hidden because Jezebel is killing off the LORD's prophet, there are 100 prophets to hide. Why aren't they down in Judah with the priests??? There is the VERY public drama with the contest between the prophets of Baal and Elijah. (story dealt with in a future blog...I promise) Ahab is there because after the prophets of Baal are slaughtered
"Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain."
1 Kings 18:41-42
and then finally
"The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and,
tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead
of Ahab all the way to Jezreel. "
1 Kings 18:45-19:1
So -- one of Ahab's right hand men is the prophet, Obadiah the 'devout'. There are at least 100 prophets in Israel. Ahab sees Elijah win the contest with the prophets of Baal. Ahab sees the crowd repent and hears them proclaim, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!"
THEN... Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, musters his army and brings along 32 other kings to attack Israel.
Ahab pays him, essentially, to back off. Then Ben-Hadad ups the anti, and Ahab says, basically, 'no way.' As the battle is about to start, a prophet shows up and says to Ahab,
'This is what the LORD says: 'Do you see this vast army?
I will give it into your hand today, and then
you will know that I am the LORD.'
1 Kings 20:13
WHAT?????
Ahab asks for specifics and follows God's directions and wins. . . 2 years in a row!! Really -- the story is in 1 Kings 20. REALLY you should go read the story now.
Does Ahab then know that God is LORD, and honor and obey him?
Nope! At the end of the second war, Ben-Hadad asks Ahab to make a treaty with him, and, in direct disobedience to God -- who had OH YEAH just delivered Ahab the wicked wicked wicked king from Ben-Hadad -- Ahab makes a treaty with Ben-Hadad. A prophet shows up and says that God told him 'You have set free a man I had determined should die. Therefore it is your life for his life, your people for his people.
1 Kings 20:42
Then the Bible says, "Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went back to his palace in Samaria."
Sullen and angry? What? Ahab sounds like a petulant 13 year old who was told he was being punished. God gives him prophets, God does miracles, and then God delivers him from Ben-Hadad and lets him win a war with Ben-Hadad TWO YEARS IN A ROW. How, after all that, do you NOT repent, and turn to God? WHY worship Baal? God pours out mercy on Ahab, is patient with him, does miracles right before his eyes, and delivers him miraculously from his enemies and lets him win wars. You cannot say Ahab did not know about God. He chose -- he chose Jezebel and Baal. Wow!!!
(22 years) (2 years)
/Baasha------------/Elah---/Zimri/Omri-----/Ahab
(24 years) (2 years) (7 days) (12 years) (22 years)
Rehoboam (Judah)----------/Abijah---
(17 years) (3 years)
/Asa -----------------------------------------/Jehoshaphat
(41 years) (25 years : 4th year of Ahab)
_ _ _ _
Above, you see a rough (OK, very rough) comparison timeline of the kings of Israel and Judah. There was not only a lot of turn-over in the kingdom of Israel (Ahab is the 7th king in Israel, and Jehoshaphat is only the 4th king in Judah) but while Nadab, Jeroboam's son, follows him, Jeroboam's whole family line is wiped out by Baasha. Then while Baasha is followed by his son, Elah, Baasha's whole family is wiped out by Zimri. Then ~ horribly ~ Zimri commits suicide by going in his house and setting it on fire when the people make Omri king...he had been king for 7 days. When we are introduced to Ahab, as bad as everyone before him has been (remember? bad king after bad king), :
Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD
than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial
to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also
married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians,
and began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar
for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria.
Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke
the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did
all the kings of Israel before him.
1 Kings 16:29-33
Wow! With that glaring, clanging introduction, I would expect that God should write him off and ignore him and maybe hit him with lightening bolts as He turns his back on him. . . but . . . NO!
Actually we know QUITE A BIT about what happened during the reign of Ahab. Now, we are told in 2 Chronicles 11 that when Jeroboam became king in Israel the priests that had been given towns in Israel moved down to Judah. Jeroboam hired a bunch of new priests who were NOT from the tribe of Levi. I would have thought that when the priests left, the prophets would have also left. . . but . . . NO!
1 Kings 16 ends telling us that the horrible King Ahab is now king. 1 Kings 17 begins the amazing stories of Elijah. These stories, and the saga that continues with the stories of Elisha, are maybe my favorite stories in all of scripture. (OK...it is very VERY hard for me to say 'favorite' -- there are so many great stories in the Bible...and if you haven't read the whole book, read it for the stories! They are great!!!) With these men, Elijah and Elisha, the miracles are wild, the action is non-stop, there is drama in nearly every verse. (I plan to spend time on these crazy-wild prophets). But my point here is God sends Elijah to Ahab--in rebuke granted -- but we get a long, long story about it. As part of the story we meet a prophet named Obadiah. We are told
Obadiah was a devout believer in the LORD.
While Jezebel was killing off the LORD's prophets,
Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden
them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied
them with food and water.
1 Kings 18:3-4
Then we see Obadiah working with ~ YES WITH ~ Ahab to try to find grass for the animals because of the 3 years of drought. They divide up the land, like a team, and one goes one way and the other goes the other way. This 'devout believer in the LORD', who hid and cared for 100 prophets -- protecting them from Jezebel -- works WITH Ahab. And though they are hidden because Jezebel is killing off the LORD's prophet, there are 100 prophets to hide. Why aren't they down in Judah with the priests??? There is the VERY public drama with the contest between the prophets of Baal and Elijah. (story dealt with in a future blog...I promise) Ahab is there because after the prophets of Baal are slaughtered
"Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain."
1 Kings 18:41-42
and then finally
"The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and,
tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead
of Ahab all the way to Jezreel. "
1 Kings 18:45-19:1
So -- one of Ahab's right hand men is the prophet, Obadiah the 'devout'. There are at least 100 prophets in Israel. Ahab sees Elijah win the contest with the prophets of Baal. Ahab sees the crowd repent and hears them proclaim, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!"
THEN... Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, musters his army and brings along 32 other kings to attack Israel.
Ahab pays him, essentially, to back off. Then Ben-Hadad ups the anti, and Ahab says, basically, 'no way.' As the battle is about to start, a prophet shows up and says to Ahab,
'This is what the LORD says: 'Do you see this vast army?
I will give it into your hand today, and then
you will know that I am the LORD.'
1 Kings 20:13
WHAT?????
Ahab asks for specifics and follows God's directions and wins. . . 2 years in a row!! Really -- the story is in 1 Kings 20. REALLY you should go read the story now.
Does Ahab then know that God is LORD, and honor and obey him?
Nope! At the end of the second war, Ben-Hadad asks Ahab to make a treaty with him, and, in direct disobedience to God -- who had OH YEAH just delivered Ahab the wicked wicked wicked king from Ben-Hadad -- Ahab makes a treaty with Ben-Hadad. A prophet shows up and says that God told him 'You have set free a man I had determined should die. Therefore it is your life for his life, your people for his people.
1 Kings 20:42
Then the Bible says, "Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went back to his palace in Samaria."
Sullen and angry? What? Ahab sounds like a petulant 13 year old who was told he was being punished. God gives him prophets, God does miracles, and then God delivers him from Ben-Hadad and lets him win a war with Ben-Hadad TWO YEARS IN A ROW. How, after all that, do you NOT repent, and turn to God? WHY worship Baal? God pours out mercy on Ahab, is patient with him, does miracles right before his eyes, and delivers him miraculously from his enemies and lets him win wars. You cannot say Ahab did not know about God. He chose -- he chose Jezebel and Baal. Wow!!!
Comments
Post a Comment