1 Kings Chapters 19 and 20

My second favorite person in the Old Testament comes up in these chapters…can you guess who it is? Here is a hint, his name is very similar to Elijah and you really have to pronunciate in order to tell the difference between the two! Still don’t know? No worries, you will soon find out! 

So we left off with Elijah pretty much making Ahab and Jezebel look dumb for supporting the false god of Baal. I bet their faces were priceless. You know the phrase, “Hell hath no fury like a woman (scorned),” well we will see this with Jezebel. She threatens to take down Elijah ASAP. So Elijah fled to Beersheba in Judah to drop off his servant and then he went off into the wilderness! Elijah exclaimed under a broom tree (I need to google this…I have never heard of such a thing), “‘It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers,'” 1 Kings 19:4. God responds by simply sending an angel down to him and the angel tells Elijah to eat and drink twice for he will need his strength for his journey. He was in the wilderness for the magical amount of 40 days and 40 nights (the longest amount of time the human body can go without food or water –> Jesus does the same thing in the New Testament), on his way to Horeb aka Mount Sinai. Once he is in the cave in Mount Sinai, God speaks to Elijah. God asks Elijah why he is there, and Elijah says that he is the only true believer left in Israel and he will be dead whenever he is seen; so he pretty much would like to die because of this. God then tells Elijah to stand out on the mountain and when he does, God passed him and there were strong winds and earthquakes, fires, and then finally a low whisper. Elijah covers his face (a common thing to do when one speaks to God directly, Moses did the same things years before). God gives Elijah a long list of instructions which include: going to Damascus and anoint Hazael as king of Syria, and Jehu as the king of Israel, and Elisha(!!!!) as the new prophet to take Elijah’s place. He also told Elijah this, “‘And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not ‘kissed him,”” 1 Kings 19:17-18. If people say God does not have a plan, this most definitely proves them wrong! Following this meeting with God, Elijah leaves the wilderness to find Elisha (my second favorite person in the Old Testament), and to anoint him as the new prophet. This is what is so cool about this meeting: Elijah threw his cloak onto Elisha and instantly Elisha was ready to leave and then sacrificed all 12 oxen that he was taking care of in honor of God. In that instant, Elisha knew his calling…that is so awesome!

Chapter 20 is a lot of battles and defeats, so be prepared. Ben-hadad of Syria decides that he wants to take down Ahab and add new territory to Syria. Ahab refuses to bow down to Ben-hadad in any respect, so Ben-hadad prepares to strike against Israel. A prophet then comes to speak to Ahab with a message from God which is, “‘Thus says the LORD, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the LORD,'” 1 Kings 20:13. Ahab lead the troops at noon to attack Ben-hadad, whom was drunk. The Syrians were taken down easily by Israel, but Ben-hadad escaped. Next is what makes God very VERY angry with the Syrians. Ben-hadad’s servants tell him, “‘ Their gods are gods of the hills, and so they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they,'” 1 Kings 20:23. That following spring Ben-hadad attacked Israel again. God tells the prophet to tell Ahab again, “‘Because the Syrians have said, ‘The LORD is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,’ therefore, I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD,'” 1 Kings 20:28. The Syrians were defeated again but Ben-hadad was not killed. His advisors told him to go with pity to Ahab and the offer of territory and Ahab would let him free. Ahab ACTUALLY went for it, despite all God told him, and made a covenant with Ben-hadad. God told a prophet to tell Ahab, “‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore, you life shall be for his life, and your people for his people,'” 1 Kings 20:42. Ahab merely responded to God by heading to Samaria. Ahab is gonna have something come to him for sure, but we will just have to wait for the next chapter for God to take action! 

Here is a picture of a broom tree, if you were as interested in it as I was to see what it looked like:

1 Kings Chapter 16, 17, and 18

Stick with me on this! It is going to be even more names thrown out within these three chapters! It will be fun! I am sending my history loving ways towards you, so you will love all the names and arraignments being thrown out! Lets do this! Oh and one of my all time favorite people from the whole Bible comes into play within these chapters! I will point him out when we get there! 🙂

So at the end of chapter 15 we read how Baasha lead in the same path as Jeroboam, so God pronounces in chapter 16 that Baasha’s household will end like Jeroboam’s did, “Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat,” 1 Kings 16:4. So following Baasha’s death, his son Elah reigned in Israel. He only reigned for two years, until his servant, named Zimri, attacked Elah when he was drunk and killed him. Zimri took the throne and killed all that were alive in the family line of Baasha. So Zimri’s reign lasted A WHOLE SEVEN DAYS! The people were not happy with his coup and instead made the military leader, Omri, king. So while Omri reigned, only half followed him while the other half wanted Tibni to be the ruler. Omri’s supporters overcame Tibni’s supporters, so Tibni died. Once Omri eventually died after ruling for 12 years his son, Ahab came to power. Ahab is a key figure in the Old Testament, and plays a huge role with my favorite person of the Old Testament. Him and his wife Jezebel worshipped the god Baal….aka not our LORD. God was not happy about this at all. SO yes a lot happened within a short span of time I would say. This is better than a soap opera in my opinion? If you love battles and conspiracy, then this chapter was for you!  

YAY! My favorite person finally comes into play. His name Elijah…hopefully you all have heard of him?! Elijah predicts a drought for the kingdom of Israel, because God is punishing Ahab. God then tells Elijah, “‘Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by he brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the rook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there,’” 1 Kings 17:3-4. Elijah did exactly what God told him to do, and he was able to survive by the water from the brook and from the food that the ravens brought him. If you were in Elijah’s shoes, would you be so eager to go to the middle of nowhere and depend on birds to feed you? I love Elijah because of his strong faith in God. I aim everyday to have such a strong faith in our LORD. Next God tells Elijah, “‘Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you,'” 1 Kings 17:9. Of course Elijah once again obeyed and listened to God’s orders. The widow was scared to feed Elijah because she barely had any flour or oil to make bread with, but Elijah told her that God would ensure that she would always have flour and oil, and it will never go empty until the drought ends. Not only does God provide food for the widow, Elijah, and the widow’s son, but He allows for the widow’s son to be brought back to life after he died from an illness! Elijah cried out to God for Him to save her son, and God did just that! The woman was amazed and proclaimed, “‘Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth,'” 1 Kings 17:24. Elijah is just an amazing person to read about because of all that God does for him.

This is the last chapter for the day, I promise! A lot happens though, so be ready for action packed happenings! God tells Elijah after 3 years to confront Ahab, and as soon as he does it will begin to rain; like the prophecy that Elijah told Ahab 3 years previously. Obadiah worked Ahab but feared God and had protected one hundred prophets in caves. SO he was ecstatic to see Elijah, and when Elijah told Obadiah to send Ahab for him, he was hesitant. Obadiah did listen to Elijah, for he was instructed by the LORD. Elijah tells Ahab to bring all 450 prophets of Baal to Mount Caramel, and he will prove whom the real God is: Baal or our LORD. Elijah creates a form of competition between himself and prophets of Baal, he said, “‘Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one full for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is God,'” 1 Kings 18:23-24. Elijah watched the prophets of Baal prepare their bull and call out to Baal, but nothing happened. Now when Elijah built his altar he wanted to get his point across! He built the altar and put a total of 8 jars of water on the wood. So not only was the altar not lit but it was also soaked. Elijah called out for God, and the bull on the altar was lit on fire. The people all believed and fear God, and listened to Elijah as Elijah said to bring all the Baal prophets to the river. Elijah had all the false prophets slaughtered. God finally brings rain to Israel and Ahab witnesses it. What is interesting about the Mount Caramel incident is how the Bible tells of the prophets of Baal by saying that they “limped” around, because of how they go back and forth on whether or not to believe. The last sentence of chapter 18 tells of Elijah being held by God and RUNNING forward, because of his confidence and faith in God. Be a sprinter, not a limper in God! 

1 Kings Chapters 14 and 15

As a history major I truly love 1 Kings and 2 Kings because it reads more as a narrative and tells great historical happenings while talking about the various kings over the lands! I have always loved it since I was a little kid learning about Solomon and Elijah in Sunday school, and I appreciate and love it even more now; now that I understand what real faith is and the gloriousness of God!

We left off with Jeroboam leading the kingdom. Chapter 14 begins by saying Jeroboam’s son, whose name is Abijah, is ill and Jeroboam wants his wife to disguise herself and go to the prophet Ahijah and find out what is wrong with their son. Just remember that this is the same prophet that Jeroboam had talked to previously and whom told him that he would be king. This next verse is what I find interesting and shows how God interacts with Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife did so. She arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. And the LORD said to Ahijah, ‘Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her,'” 1 Kings 14:4-5. Jeroboam and his wife were trying to be slick, but God prevents that from happening. God was not pleased with Jeroboam for He had taken the kingdom out of David’s lineage and given to Jeroboam and Jeroboam just created false idols and ruled wickedly. Ahijah tells his wife this along with the bad news for Jeroboam, which is that their son will die when she returns to the city but he will be the only one to be bury. The house of Jeroboam will be kicked out of rule and all of those that die will be eaten by dogs in the city or by birds in the countryside. Very morbid, but God is not playing when it comes to his children, and we are truly blessed to be his children! Jeroboam reigned for 22 years. Now the narrative is being switched back to Rehoboam. Rehoboam was ruling Jerusalem at the time but doing so evilly as well. Shishak the king of Egypt took away all of the treasures in the house of the LORD. Along with this downfall, Rehoboam was in constant war with Jeroboam. I am guessing that having “boam” at the end of your name was a popular thing at the time. The end of chapter 14 consists of telling us that when Rehoboam ends his reign, his son Abijam (“Abi” must have been a popular syllable in names during this time as well) takes over.

Abijam’s reign is not talked about a lot, other than the fact that he ruled in sin like his father had, and God still protected him because of His promise to David. Abijam continued war with Jeroboam like his father had done as well, and after reigning for 3 years until his death. His son Asa became king of Jerusalem. Finally Asa ruled for 41 years and “Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as David his father had done,” 1 Kings 15:11. Asa took down all the idols and got rid of all of the male prostitutes that his father had allowed; he even removed his mother from the throne because of how she worshipped other gods! Asa brought back wonderful gifts to the house of the LORD as well. Baasha the king of Israel after Jeroboam and his son Nadab, was in constant war with Judah. Asa sent all of his finest items to Syria hoping Syria would side with them and break their covenant with Israel. Ben-hadad was the king of Syria and he listened to Asa; he sent in his troops against Israel. Asa continued on with many great actions for Judah that pleased the LORD, but eventually his time ended and his son Jehoshaphat began to reign Judah. Now the narrative moves back to Israel instead of in Judah. The focus is on the ruler after Jeroboam but before Baasha and this is Nadab. Nadab did not rule long before there was a coup conspired against him by Baasha. Baasha took over and killed the whole house of Jeroboam, which is what God told the prophet Ahijah. 

So many wars, battles, coups, etc. Who wouldn’t want to read 1 and 2 Kings?! They are full of so much action and lessons! 

1 Kings Chapters 12 and 13

I know that it has been such a long time since I have posted and I feel terrible about it! Work and school were just overwhelming me and keeping me from spending much needed time on the Word and reflecting on the Word. I was able to read the Word, but reflecting on my blog did not occur! I thought that I would just pick up where I left off anyway! So chapters 10 and 11 described the end to Solomon, because of his many relationships with women outside of the Israelites. Now his son Rehoboam rules the kingdom. 

The people within Rehoboam’s kingdom said they would only follow him if he removed the yoke that had been thrust upon them by Solomon. He did not know how to respond to the people, so he went to his old council (the council that was under his father) and the council said, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, then they will be your servants forever,” 1 Kings 12:7. Rehoboam did not receive the response well and decided to form his own new council which consisted of younger members. They tell Rehoboam to tell the people that he is going to make their yoke even heavier and will enforce more discipline than his father did. Rehoboam relayed what his new council said to people by saying, “My father made your yoke heavy but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions,” 1 Kings 12:14. God made this turn of events because he wanted to ensure that Rehoboam would keep his word. The people of course rebelled against Rehoboam, because who would want to know that they would be even burdened more. Only the people of David continued to follow Rehoboam and everyone else crowned a new king, Jeroboam. Rehoboam actually wanted to go into a type of a civil war to regain his thrown, but God told Shemaiah (described as the man of God), to tell the troops to go home and to not fight their own relatives in Israel. Now Jeroboam was constantly afraid of the people turning to God, and God telling them to return the throne to the kingdom of David (Rehoboam), so he decided to make his own religion of a sense. He got 2 golden calves and told the people to begin to worship these calves, and to sacrifice as these calves. He even made feasts at the same times as the followers of God. People throughout this kingdom would travel far and wide to worship golden calves…

A man of God went to Jeroboam because God told him to do so and he said, “O altar, altar, thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you and human bones shall shall be burned on you.’ This is a sign that the LORD has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that on it shall be poured out,'” 1 Kings 13:2-3. What I think is pretty awesome about this is that when Jeroboam raises his arms to seize this man of God, his arms became paralyzed. That is so freaky, but I love when God makes such a known appearance in life. It is truly evident, and whom can deny, that God was doing this to Jeroboam. Jeroboam begged for the man to pray for his arm to be healed and the man did so. Jeroboam’s arm was restored, and wanted the man of God to come back to his palace with him. God had told the man to say no, so he did just that. A prophet heard of this occurrence and decided to find this man of God and invite him to dinner. The man of God rejected his offer of a meal in Bethel because God told him not to return to the way in which he came; however, the prophet lied to the man of God and said, “I also am a prophet a you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.’But he lied to him,” 1 Kings 13:18. The man of God that had talked to Jeroboam believed him an decided to go home with the prophet. Following his meal with the prophet, the man of God was eaten by a lion for disobedience. It is just so crazy to hear of a man being torn apart by a lion, through the words of God. We are truly blessed to have Christ, whom died for our sins, like a sin that the man of God took part in. Even after all these happenings against Jeroboam, Jeroboam continued to rule in sin and with much force.