Dei Time

Dei Break

1 Kings 22:29 – 2 Kings 1:18

The kings of Israel and Judah rode together to the battle field. It is a wonder that Jehoshaphat accompanied Ahab into battle even after Micaiah's prophecy. Perhaps he believed that it was too late to back out, or that he needed an alliance with Ahab. Whatever his reason, the writer places the event (22:44) along with Jehoshaphat's sins, indicating that God did not approve. Ahab probably proceeded with the battle out of pure defiance, hoping that by disguising himself he could avoid God's judgment.

Isn't it odd that Jehoshaphat would go along with Ahab's suggestion that he go into battle wearing his royal uniform—an obvious attempt to use him to bait the enemy? The ruse was recognized, and Ahab was killed, even without being recognized as the king. Ahaziah replaced his father as king. He was evil as his mother, Jezebel.

As 1 Kings concludes, Jezebel and her son, Ahaziah, rule in Israel, pursuing the sins of pagan worship, arrogance, and general evil. Jehoshaphat has died with a generally good record as king of Judah, though false worship continued to plague the nation. He died around 850 B.C. Judah's glory was losing the fame and strength it had held during Solomon's reign, less than a hundred years earlier.

As 2 Kings begins, evil Ahaziah is in trouble. Having fallen through a window, he is near death. Representatives sent to enquire of Baal for his recovery encounter Elijah, who has a very nasty message for the king. Ahaziah recognized from his description who his men had encountered and sent soldiers to force Elijah to come to him.

The leader of the third group of soldiers to approach Elijah knew when to bow before God and His messenger. Elijah may have been in danger from the king or from the first two captains to approach him, but the angel tells him to go with this group. Did Ahaziah want Elijah to come to him so that he could threaten him into a more favorable prophecy? But, Elijah's words would not bring comfort.

Next time: Ahaziah's fate

Vineyards and Wars

Dei Break

1 Kings 21:1 - 22:28

Naboth refused to sell his land to Ahab partly because of the laws in Leviticus and Numbers. The land of one's father could be sold unless absolutely necessary, and only temporarily. If it could not be redeemed immediately, it returned to the family in the year of Jubilee (every fiftieth year). This didn't matter to Ahab, who went home to pout and lay on his bed in a bad mood—quite a king. Ahab apparently had "issues" .

Jezebel's power-hungry, evil actions and attitude make it clear that she wondered why Ahab was king when she wanted the job. In this instance she revealed not only an utter lack of scruples but a totally amoral character. Jezebel sensed no good or evil—there was only her own desire, and nothing would keep her from it.

After Naboth's murder, Jezebel sent Ahab to claim Naboth's property. God sent Elijah to confront the king (vs.18-19). At first Ahab greeted the prophet with a sneer, but then came the word of God.

The prophecy was terrible. Naboth's murderers would meet their just ends in Naboth's home of Jezreel. Apparently Ahab's repentance at the news was genuine, because in verse 29 we find that even Ahab could find mercy from God. For Jezebel, on the other hand, repentance would never have crossed her mind.

Apparently the alliance with Aram had come to an end. Ahab wanted King Jehoshaphat of Judah to act against Aram with Israel. Jehoshaphat wasn't so sure. Four hundred "prophets" called by Ahab failed to convince the king of Judah that they were anything but royal "yes" men.

Ahab hated the prophet Micaiah "because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad." But, he also knew that Micaiah would speak God's word without fear. Micaiah's sarcastic pronouncement of the same good news of the false prophets led Ahab to demand the truth, but the king could not accept it.

The puzzle of this passage is why did Jehoshaphat accompany Ahab into battle after Micaiah's prophecy and imprisonment?

Next time: Ahab's Defeat

God Grants Ahab Victory

Dei Break

1 Kings 20:1 – 43

Thirty-two kings besieged Ahab, from north of Samaria. Ahab would have acceded to their demands, except that the enemy went one step too far in degrading the king and Israel. His advisors said it was time to fight.

Ahab eagerly promised to obey a prophet of God, promising to do whatever God demanded in order to achieve victory. God granted Ahab victory over the Arameans so that Ahab and the enemy would know that the Lord was God of all. (Even evil Ahab could be used by God against His enemies (vs.13, 28).) Ahab loved victory, but failed to totally trust God.

Ahab treated God's enemy as his friend. He did not destroy God's enemy, he did not even subjugate him. He welcomed Ben-Hadad as an ally. Both recognized the growing power of another nation, Assyria.

Though not mentioned in the Bible, the king of Assyria recorded a battle against the united front of Ben-Hadab and Ahab just three years later. Does this excuse Ahab's action? Not at all, because in depending on his own strength and an enemy of the Lord, Ahab turned his back on God, who was well able to protect Israel. In addition, his action helped convince the people of Israel to trust in their own power.

As modern Christians we may wonder at the death of the prophet who refused to harm his brother prophet (vs.35, 36). Again, we must remember that the prophet going to see Ahab made it clear that God had commanded the deed. In refusing to meet the request, the prophet disobeyed God. Living under God's grace, we forget that God demands obedience. Without Jesus' payment for our disobedience, we could not approach God because our sin would bar us from His presence.

Remember Nathan, who confronted David with a story demonstrating the king's sin? The account of the prophet confronting Ahab (vs.39-42) is similar. Prophets throughout the Old Testament often demonstrated their messages by their physical appearance and/or actions. Unlike David, Ahab responded by retreating to his house "sullen and vexed."

Next time: Vineyards and Wars

Elijah Whines; God Responds

Dei Break

1 Kings 19:9-21

Sorry that the blog has been empty the last couple of mornings. I had a hard drive totally crash—couldn't get anything off, either. But, now we are back up and running, so the schedule of Dei Break should get back to normal. Thanks for your patience!

The story of God and Elijah in chapter 9 continues: This meeting of God and Elijah is worth pursuing further today, so if you are behind in your reading, this is your chance to catch up!

God comes to Elijah and asks him, "Elijah, what are you doing here?" This gives Elijah the chance he wanted—to whine about the terrible position he was in. Like us, Elijah had come to the conclusion that he was the only one left that had his beliefs, or his problems.

Upon God's invitation, Elijah waited to see God pass by. God came in a gentle breeze. Again He asked the prophet what he was doing there. God did not sit with the prophet and put His arm around him and share his misery. God ordered Elijah back down the mountain and to work.

We all have times of frustration and discouragement. How often is it in the midst of victory and blessings from God? Elijah had just witnessed a great victory, yet he ran away and began complaining at the first sign of trouble. Sometimes when we are our "crankiest" it may be that we have chosen to be affected by the little while neglecting the magnificent. We complain about having to cook, forgetting that we have food; we complain that our jobs are frustrating, forgetting that many have no job; we stress out on vacation, forgetting the blessing of time with the family.

God sent Elijah back to work. He sends us back out into life, after reminding us that He is the power in all things, including our days. His blessings to us are innumerable, even when we let our attention drift from them.

We also meet Elisha in chapter 9, who will travel with Elijah and become his successor. We will learn more about Hazael and Jehu in 2 Kings where the details of their stories are recorded.

Next time: God grants Ahab victory

What are you doing here?

Dei Break

1 Kings 19:4 – 21

Fear and panic sneaks up on us when we least expect it. Elijah had just been in a face to face confrontation with 450 priests of Baal. He had watched God defeat and destroy them all. Evil Queen Jezebel was a worshipper and promoter of Baal, trying to drive God from Israel. She swore that Elijah would die for his success against her priests. Elijah, who had stood his ground days before, ran for his life. In his fear Elijah ran toward the mountain of God until exhausted, over sixty miles on foot. Then he prayed that he might die. He was tired and discouraged.

We also can suddenly become discouraged and fearful, even in the middle of living successful, happy lives. Stress is a word that every one of us knows intimately. Things can be going along fine. We don't even notice the tension building inside of us. It is not surprising that we suddenly find ourselves tired and discouraged; often we have unintentionally drifted away from God. We just don't have time to pray or to read His word, or to listen to what He might have to say. If Elijah, who had just witnessed miracles from God, could panic and run, how could we expect to do less during times when we are probably least attentive to our Lord?

But there is one thing about Elijah's flight that is good and amazing—he ran toward the mountain of God. That's the secret to overcoming tiredness and strain—to run toward God, not away from Him. He awaits us with open arms, assurance, and wisdom.

God came to Elijah, as He will always come to us, even when we doubt that even He can make us feel better. Elijah had to come to the point of collapse, and sleep from exhaustion before God could begin to strengthen him. Aren't we the same?

What is surprising is God's response to Elijah's flight and discouragement. How would we react to God's words, "What are you doing here?"

Next time: Elijah Whines; God Responds

Elijah Wins—and Runs

Dei Break

1 Kings 18:1 - 19:

Elijah was not alone in defying the powerful, and pagan, Jezebel. In her eagerness to see Israel worship Baal and his consort goddess she ordered the prophets of the True God killed. Obadiah, chief steward of the royal palace, defied her by hiding many of them in caves (18:4).

Obadiah hid his faith and, as Ahab's trusted steward, was sent to find food for the herds during the famine. Elijah met him and sent Obadiah to inform Ahab that he wanted to meet face to face. Though fearful that God was tricking Ahab, and Elijah would not show (costing the steward his life) Obadiah obeyed (vs.16). Verse 19 cites Elijah's challenge to the king—and Jezebel, and her gods and priests.

Of course the whole population showed up for the festivities and confrontation. Elijah's next challenge was presented to the people of God (vs.21). Then the battle began. Not a battle of strength or even of wit, but an undeniable demonstration that there really is only one God. The story, in verses 21 through 38 is a great read.      

Elijah's comments in the confrontation on Mount Caramel show that Ahab was in total rebellion against God, but the people were waffling between Baal and the Lord. God gave them an indisputable witness as to which was the most powerful.

Elijah spoke scathing sarcasms to the 450 priests of Baal. He shouted that perhaps Baal did not answer the priests' wild antics because he was "busy" (vs.27). The word translates literally as "relieving himself".

God, through one lone prophet, eradicated hundreds of His enemies and called to His people to return.

Even the end of the drought did not move Jezebel, or penetrate her closed mind. When Ahab arrived at the palace and told her of the great defeat of her priests, she seethed in anger. She sent a message to Elijah promising that he would suffer the same fate. Elijah, the prophet who had just witnessed great miracles sent from God, ran like a rabbit (19:3).

Next time: "What are you doing here?"

Ahab and Jezebel

Dei Break

1 Kings 16:24 – 17:24

Chapter 16 described court life in Israel. Zimri plotted against Elah (who reigned only two years); Zimri held the throne only seven days (shortest of all the kings of Israel); then Omri for twelve years, but only after a six-year civil war within Israel. The Bible says he was the most wicked of Israel's kings to that time. He was succeeded by his son, Ahab. It was 874 B.C. and Omri had founded the fourth family dynasty since then, a period of only 57 years. Judah, on the other hand, was much less violent in its court intrigues because God was fulfilling His promise that the kingship of Judah would not pass from the family of David.

So we come to Omri's son Ahab, one of the most wicked kings of Israel. His greatest enemy was the prophet Elijah, who would stand with Jesus at His transfiguration 900 years later.

Jezebel was not only a pagan, she was a strong promoter of Baal in Israel. She actively tried to erase the God of David from the northern kingdom. Apparently over a hundred true prophets of God were witnessing the truth in Israel at the time, but King Ahab would not (or could not) stand against Jezebel. He worshiped Baal along with her.

We find an aside in 16:34 in the story of Hiel trying to rebuild Jericho. God had declared that such an action would bring disaster, and Hiel lost two sons in the process.

Chapter 17 tells the story of Elijah's life during a drought that God had brought on the land. This chapter tells of the ravens bringing food to the prophet; the widow whose oil and flour miraculously lasted throughout the drought, as she allowed the prophet to stay at her home. This chapter also tells the story of the widow's grief at the death of her young son, and the miracle God performed through Elijah to bring the boy back to life. And these were only the beginning of Elijah's adventures with God.

Next time: Elijah Wins—And Runs

   

Kings and Dynasties

Dei Break

1 Kings 15:1 - 16:23

After Jeroboam's eighteenth year as king in Israel, Abijam, Rehoboam's son became king in Judah. His religious loyalty was as divided his father's had been. He only reigned about two years, and his son, Asa, became king of Judah as Jeroboam's spent his twentieth year ruling Israel. (Isn't it nice that some expert somewhere waded through all those dates for us?)

Asa was as committed to God as David, his great grandfather. He attacked false worship in Judah, even removing his own grandmother, though she's listed as "mother", from her position for building an idol (15:13). He knew that the time of worshiping on the "high places" without staining themselves with idol worship had ended. The temple now provided a God-pleasing place of worship. However, even Asa was unable to totally accomplish his purpose of eliminating pagan worship in Judah.

In Israel the dynasty of Jeroboam was already ending. Nadab, his son, was assassinated by a man named Baasha, who then (15:29) killed Jeroboam's entire family.

Baasha's family ruled only until Zimri assassinated his son (16:10). Zimri then killed all the household of Baasha. Zimri ruled only a week before committing suicide to avoid being killed by the military, led by Omri, another who wanted to be king of Israel.

And so the story would go for the next couple of hundred years for the two nations. Multiple dynasties would rule in the north (Israel). However, God would preserve David's line in Judah continuously, even though many of David's descendant kings were guilty of the same sins as the kings of Israel to the north. What a reminder that it is not our goodness that brings us into God's kingdom, but his grace and choice.

The character of the kings of both kingdoms was defined by their relationship to God. Today we tend to gauge the success of our leaders by their actions in and for society. But, in God's eyes a person like Mahatma Gandhi (as an example), was a failure because he did not follow the true God.

Next time: Ahab and Jezebel

Israel and Judah Fail God

Dei Break

1 Kings 14:1-31

    When Jeroboam sent his wife to the very prophet who had given him God's promise of becoming king, he probably hoped for confirmation that his dynasty would continue in Israel. He only found that God was far ahead of him, and knew everything going on in the king's mind and heart. The future of his family was destruction (The verses concerning the total destruction of Israel restate the prophecy of the future given in Chapter 13) and as a sign of the truth of this message, his son would die when his wife reentered the house. That is a terrible thought—that she knew that her child would die as she crossed into the house, yet what else could she do?

God's justice is total and demanding. We of the New Testament often forget that. We receive only God's love because out of his love, even for Jeroboam and Rehoboam, He was willing to send His only Son to die for our sin. Whenever we begin to think of the cross as simply an object hanging or standing at the church, we need to stop and think—without Jesus' willing death on that instrument of torture we would be awaiting God's justice instead of an eternal life in His love.

While Jeroboam was busy ruining the nation of Israel, Rehoboam in Judah wasn't doing much better. His age at coronation of 41 years demonstrates that his errors were not due to his "young" age. His mother was an Ammonite—perhaps a sign of Solomon's unwise choices in marriage? Old Canaanite practices thrived in Judah as well as Israel, from false worship on "high places" to "male shrine prostitutes." All of the sins of Canaan had found their way into Judah.

According to today's reading civil war continued throughout Rehoboam's 17-year reign. Egypt also successfully attacked Judah from Egypt, the nation that had sheltered Jeroboam during Solomon's life. More details of the reigns of these two kings will be added in 1&2 Chronicles.

Next time: Kings and Dynasties

Link to a timeline of the kings of Judah and Israel

Jeroboam’s Fall

Dei Break

1 Kings 13:1 - 34

The prophet confronting Jeroboam was from Judah (vs.1). He traveled north to deliver God's prophecy concerning a time almost 300 years in the future, even naming the king who would destroy Israel's false worship. The prophet did not foretell human sacrifice at the false altar, but simply that the offenders' bones would be destroyed there (vs.2). Since the coming justice was hundreds of years away, God sent a sign (splitting the altar in verse 5) so that Israel would not think the message was false.

Though some describe Jeroboam as a man trying to establish the worship of God in Israel as well as Judah, the fact is that he defied numerous holy laws concerning worship and rebelled against God. In verse 4 he tries to seize God's messenger. In verse 6, after being miraculously struck by God, he asks the prophet to consult "his" (the prophet's) God. That a king chosen by God fell so far is tragic, but believable. If false worship, fueled by ego, began to fill even Solomon's life, and crowding out God, why would we expect better of Jeroboam?

The story of the two prophets (vs.11-32) is interesting. Apparently both prophets of God, perhaps he of the North could not believe that God would bring destruction to Jeroboam and Israel (vs.32). Maybe he could fix it—even if it meant lying. We don't really know.

It seems odd that the prophet from Judah was struck down for disobedience. Perhaps he should have been able to discern; perhaps he did discern the lie and chose to go with the prophet of Israel anyway—it was probably a hot, dusty trip after all. Or, perhaps eating and drinking with the old prophet would ruin his witness to the people of Israel. How do we see this story? Does it tell us to be aware of the tricks of Satan; to ask God to guide us with His wisdom each day? The prophet of Israel surely repented, as his request concerning his burial attests.

Next time: Israel and Judah Fail God