21:25-29
A note is added that Ahab was the worst king Israel ever had, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. However, there is a surprising turn in that Ahab repents, and 17:28,29 shows that this was genuine, so God delays the sentence. If only other kings had responded like Ahab.
21:15,16
Ahab was not the most go-ahead of men, so Jezebel urged him to seize the opportunity and take the vineyard, which he did.
21:17-24
God told Elijah what had happened and gave him a word to give to Ahab. Ahab would meet a terrible fate. Ahab was not pleased to see Elijah. Elijah takes no nonsense, and speaks to Ahab plainly, pronouncing judgement upon him. Ahab’s house would be decimated. Jezebel would be devoured by dogs, as would Ahab’s family, and birds "will feed on those who die in the country”.
21:4-6
Ahab went into a sulk. His wife, Jezebel, asked him what was wrong. Ahab told her about Naboth’s refusal to sell his vineyard.
21:7-14
Jezebel was appalled that Ahab was allowing Naboth to get away with this; she thought that Ahab should use his power to get what he wanted.. So she determined to take matters into her own hands . She proclaimed a day of fasting and gave Naboth a prominent seat. So she gave her plan a veneer of religious respectability. She seated two scoundrels next to Naboth, they would falsely accuseNabothof blasphemy, this would lead to Naboth being stoned to death. Many of our church leaders today are utterly stupid when they court favour from the world. The plan was executed, and so was Naboth and Ahab was informed.
21:1,2
We now come to the infamous incident of Naboth’s vineyard. In understanding the incident it is important to realise how important property, and keeping it in the family was in Israel and in the Law. Ahab saw the vineyard and wanted it for himself. He thought that with his one wealth he could easily get it from Ahab, either by buying it, or by giving Naboth another vineyard in exchange. So he makes his offer to Naboth.
21:3
However, Naboth refused because it belonged to his family, it was “the inheritance of [his] ancestors”, and so not his to give away, but his to look after.
20:32-34
So they put sackcloth and ashes on, humbling themselves and seeking mercy from Israel. The king reacts favorably, speaking well of Ben-Hadad, wanting to see him. Ben-Hadad offers to return previously taken cities. Ahab makes a treaty with him, but this proves to be a big mistake.
20:35
The Lord sent a prophet again. Ahab should not have let Ben-Hadad go, \god’s people are not meant to have any relationship with evil. So Ahab would suffer for what he had done. He probably felt pleased with himself, but was then rebuked so he sulked.
20:32-34
So they put sackcloth and ashes on, humbling themselves and seeking mercy from Israel. The king reacts favorably, speaking well of Ben-Hadad, wanting to see him. Ben-Hadad offers to return previously taken cities. Ahab makes a treaty with him, but this proves to be a big mistake.
20:35-39
The Lord sent a prophet again. Ahab should not have let Ben-Hadad go, \god’s people are not meant to have any relationship with evil. So Ahab would suffer for what he had done. He probably felt pleased with himself, but was then rebuked so he sulked.
20:23-27
Ben-Hadad's advisers were not very wise, thinking that Israel;’s gods were gods of the hills; this followed the prevailing idea of the time that “gods” were limited to certain domains. The world does not know God nor understand him, so will make certain mistakes. So their advice is to fight them on the plain. There was a need to replenish the army. Ben-Hadad did this the next spring.
20:28-31
The prophet came to Israel and reassured them, God could fight anywhere. He would show both the Arameans and Israel that He was Lord of all. The battle was eventually joined and Israel inflicted massive casualties on the Aramean foot soldiers. The rest flew to Aphek, but there a wall collapsed on them . Ben-Hadad fled and hid in an inner room. Now his officials advise him to seek mercy from Israel.
20:13,14
Despite Ahab being a terrible king, God has not forgotten about Israel. We may have all sorts of legitimate criticisms of Israel, but we should never forget that God loves Israel. So he sends a prophet to Israel, telling Ahab that he will give Ben-Hadad’s army into his hands, he also tells him what to do. Ahab needs to take action.
20:15-21
They attacked at noon, while Ben Hadad’s leaders were getting drunk. Ahab had assembled his troops according to the prophet's word, i.e. the junior offices were a big part of the force. Ben Hadad had dispatched scouts “who reported that “men are advancing from Samaria”.. Ahab tells his men to “take them alive”, regardless of whether they came for peace or war. As it is, the junior officers killed BenHadad’s men. Ben-Hadad, however, escaped on horseback. Ahab inflicted heavy losses on the Arameaness.
20:22
The prophet warns Ahab against complacency, saying he should strengthen his position and be ready for a further attack in the spring.
20:1-4
Syria was the dominant power at this time, hence Ben Hadad’s ability to muster thirty two “kings” to serve with him. \he makes demands of Ahab, which Ahab initially agrees to.
20:5-9
Ben-Hadad now ups his demands, saying he will send his officials, and they should be allowed to search the palaces and houses and take whatever they want. Ahab sent for the elders saying Ben-Hadad has now gone too far.The elders agree and urge Ahab to reject the demands, which he then does.
20:10-12
Ben-Hadad is not best pleased and makes further threats. Ahab treats the threats with scorn, Ahab reacts by telling his men to prepare to attack.
16:13-21
Elijah heard the voice of the Lord and went out to the mouth of the cave. There can be times when the Lord seems to be nowhere, but when we get a hint of his presence we should make the most of it. \god asks Elijah the same question, “What are you doing here Elijah?” Elijah repeats his sob story. God now gives Elijah instructions, he is to return the way he came and anoint Hazael as king over Aram, then to anoint Jehu as king over Israel, and Elisha as his own successor. Contrary to Elijah’s thoughts, God had not stopped working. He also tells \\elisha that he is far from being the only one,God has “seven thousand" in Israel. So Elijah goes off and finds Elisha. Elijah throws his cost over him. Elish wants to say farewell to his parents before following Elijah, Elijah is not impressed (Matt 8:22), Elisha followed Elijah at once, slaughtering his oxen and burning his plough, signifying his total commitment.
19:6-9
God knew what was going on and sent an angel. The angel spoke to Elijah and said “Get up and eat for the journey is too much for you”. If an angel spoke to me I might expect it to say something more profound than “get up and eat”. However God knew that his physical condition would affect his spirit, and that he still had work to do, and a journey to take. So the angel repeated his words, and Elijah obeyed them. He then got up and travelled to Horeb. Horeb was the mountain where Moses encountered the burning bush, and received the Law, ii is Mount Sinai. The journey took forty days and nights. When he got there he spent the night in a cave.
19:10-12
God spoke to Elijah saying, “What are you doing here Elijah?”. Elijah gives a rather self-pitying reply, reminding God that he has been zealous for the Lord, while Israel has rejected the Lord. Now he thinks he is the only one left, and his own life is now threatened. The Lord tells him to “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then there are three dramatic events, a great powerful wind that shattered the rocks.; an earthquake and finally fire, but the Lord was not in any of these. Then there was a “gentle whisper” and God was in this. There may be dramatic events in our lives, as there certainly was in Elijah’s, but it is a quiet trust in the Lord that we need, there is a gentle assurance from Him. (Is 30:15). Elijah heard the gentle whisper and went out to stand at the mouth of the cave. Again God asked him “What are you doing here Elijah?”.
19:1,2
We now get an interesting turn which demonstrates the humanity of Elijah. Ahab tells Jezebel what has happened, in particular the killing of the prophets of Baal. \jezebel reacts by declaring her intention to kill Elijah.
19:3-5
Elijah has won a great victory, but now he goes into utter despondency. Maybe he hoped that Israel would now see sense and turn back to God, but no. So Elijah flees and runs into the wilderness. He comes to a broom tree, sits under it and wants to die, asking God to take his life. “I have had enough, Lord, take my life; I am no better than my ancestors”. There is self-pity and maybe guilt as well. Our only grounds for hope and acceptance is the blood of Jesus. No matter how skilled or successful we may be at preaching, evangelism or whatever else it is that we do. Our hope must be in Christ alone. Elijah lay down and fell asleep.
18:41-44
Having made it clear that the Lord is God, and Baal was nothing, Elijah tells Ahab to prepare for rain. Ahab went off to eat and drink, while Elijah went to look for rain. James reminds us that Elijah was a man like us (James 5:17), and here we see that Elijah wanted reassurance that it would actually rain, it is not actually clear why he puts his head between his knees. Seven times his servant had to go and look for rain. On the seventh occasion he sees a small cloud. This was sufficient for Isaiah, and he tells his servant to go and tell Ahab, Sometime we just need a little reassurance.
18:45,46
Meanwhile the sky grew black, and a heavy rainstorm came. In the power of the Lord Elijah sped to Ahab at Jezreel.
18:29-32
The prophets of Baal became more desperate , even cutting themselves, but still no response. Elijah then prepares his own sacrifice. This involved repairing the altar of the Lord, and taking twelve stones, one for each tribe. God was the Lord of all Israel. He even doused the sacrifice with water. There could be no doubt that it was the Lord Himself who sent the first.
18:33-40
Elijah had even more water added, then he calmly prayed to the Lord. The sacrifice was now utterly soaked in water. Elijah calls on the Lord to turn the hearts of the people back to him (Mal 4:6). God sent fire and consumed the sacrifice (Heb 12:9). The Lord sent fire and the people fell down in worship. Elijah then ordered that the prophets of Baal be seized and then slaughtered.
18:15-18
Elijah assures him that he will indeed present himself to Ahab that very day. Obadiah agrees to go and speak to Ahab, and Elijah does go to meet Ahab. The meeting begins with the two of them exchanging insults. Ahab calls Elijah “that troubler of Israel”, Elijah tells Ahab the truth, it is Ahab and his disobedience that are the root of the problem. He and his household had abandoned \god and followed the Baals. THis is part of the reason for the confrontation. Rain was about to come, and the Baals were thought to be in command of the weather, so might get the credit for the rain. The confrontation would clearly demonstrate that the Baals were useless.
18:19-28
The confrontation on Mount Carmel begins. Elijah tells Ahab to summon all Israel, all the people needed to see the truth, he also wanted the prophets of Baal and Asherah. So they all assembled on Mount Carmel. Elijah speaks to the people. Challenging them to choose between God and the Baals, whom would they follow? The people did not answer. Elijah called on the prophets of Baal to prepare a sacrifice, and call on their god to send fire. So they did so, but of course no fire came.
They danced and made a big show, but still no fire. Elijah mocks them and their “god”.
18:7-9
Obadiah knew of Elijah and respected him, so he bowed down to him. He also knew that Ahab thought Elijsh to be somewhat elusive. Eliijah knew that Obadiah was a servant of Ahab, and told him to tell Ahab that Elijah was here. This command filled Obadiah with dread, thinking that it would put his life in danger. Obadiah feared that God would carry Elijah off somewhere else, and so it would look as if Obadiah was making a fool of Ahab. Obadih reminds Elijah that he, Obadiah, has been a faithful servant of the Lord. He reminds Elijah how he has protected the prophets of the Lord. How then, can Elijah ask such a thing of Obadiah?
18:10-14
Ahab considered Elijah to be a complete nuisance and had desperately been trying to find him. Obadiah knew that Elijah was a man of God, and was led by the Holy Spirit, so was unpredictable (John 3:8).Obadiah reminds Elijah of what he, Obadiah, had done while Jezebel was killing the prophets
18:1,2
We now come to the most famous incident in lijah’s life, the confrontation with the prophets of Baal. Before that happens there is the meeting with Obadiah. The Lord tells Elijah to go and “present yourself to Ahab” So Elijah obeys the Lord. Earlier Elijah had told Ahab there would be no rain until he said so, God was now about to send the rain. There had been no rain, and so there was a severe famine. Ahab was trying to find Elijah
18:3-6
Obadiah was a man of God, and also the palace administrator. God sometimes has people in the heart of the enemy's territory. Obadiah used his position to protect the prophets of God. Jezebel was trying to kill all the servants of the Lord. Ahab was getting desperate and sent Obadiah to try and find some grass to keep the livestock alive, Ahab joined Obaadiah in this task.
17:15-23
The woman did as Elijah had told her., and so there was “food every day for Elijah”, and for the woman and her family. The flour was not used up, nor did the oil run dry. However, later the son became ill. The woman saw this as God’s judgement upon her. Elijah responded and prayed to the Lord, and the boy came back to life.
17:24
The woman was delighted and declared that she now knew that Elijah was a man of God. One of the ways we get to know God is through His delivering us from situations.
17:5,6
Elijah obeyed the Lord, and the Lord’s promise proved to be reliable.
17:7-14
Because of the drought the brook dried up, but God had also allowed for this eventuality. God spoke to Elijah, telling him to go to Zarephath and stay there. God had prepared a widow to supply him with food. Elijah again obeyed the Lord. \he went to Zarephath And saw the widow gathering sticks,He asked for water and food.
The widow did not see how she could supply him with food, she thought she only had enough for herself and her son. She also thought that her son and her would eat what she had and die.
Elijah heard from the Lord and told the widow what he had heard. Note that it seemed that the woman could not feed Elijah, but Elijah spoke the word of God to her. Sometimes we need to speak the word to people in order for them to help us.
17:1
Elijah now comes on the scene, the first of the two prophets Elijah and Elisha, they are different from the likes of Isaiah, Jeremiah etc, in that it is not their words that are remembered so much as their actions. However the importance of the word is stressed here.Elijah confronts Ahab, with the truth that it is God who determines the weather.
17:2-4
God tells Elijah to go, and assures him that He has made provision for him. We may think that God has forgotten us, but his plans are far wider than we imagine, we need to trust in the Lord not in our own understanding. He may even have made provision in ways we never imagined.
16:29-34
Ahab became king in Asa’s thirty eighth year and he reigned for twenty two years.Ahab proved to be even more evil than any of those who had preceded him, as well as doing the same sins as Jereboam, he married Jezebel,and began to serve Baal, setting up a temple for Baal worship, along with an Asherah pole, he was the worst king ever. During his time Hiel rebuilt Jericho, that was not meant to happen. Joshua has pronounced curse on anyone who rebuilt Jericho (Josh 6:26), and Hiel’s firstborn son died, as did his youngest son.
16:25-28
Sadly Omri “did evil in the eyes of the Lord, this renders everything else worthless. Omri died and Ahab succeeded him.
16:29-34
Ahab became king in Asa’s thirty eighth year and he reigned for twenty two years.Ahab proved to be even more evil than any of those who had preceded him, as well as doing the same sins as Jereboam, he married Jezebel,and began to serve Baal, setting up a temple for Baal worship, along with an Asherah pole, he was the worst king ever. During his time Hiel rebuilt Jericho, that was not meant to happen. Joshua has pronounced curse on anyone who rebuilt Jericho (Josh 6:26), and Hiel’s firstborn son died, as did his youngest son.
16:25-28
Sadly Omri “did evil in the eyes of the Lord, this renders everything else worthless. Omri died and Ahab succeeded him.
16:29-34
Ahab became king in Asa’s thirty eighth year and he reigned for twenty two years.Ahab proved to be even more evil than any of those who had preceded him, as well as doing the same sins as Jereboam, he married Jezebel,and began to serve Baal, setting up a temple for Baal worship, along with an Asherah pole, he was the worst king ever. During his time Hiel rebuilt Jericho, that was not meant to happen. Joshua has pronounced curse on anyone who rebuilt Jericho (Josh 6:26), and Hiel’s firstborn son died, as did his youngest son.
16:8-10
Elah reigned for two years. One of his officials, Zimri, plotted against him. If someone goes against the Lord they will find no rest. Elah was getting drunk, and Zimri seized the opportunity and struck him down dead. Zimri became king and killedBaasha’s whole family, God’s word was fulfilled. Baasha and Elah had caused Israel to follow worthless idols, idols that cou;d not save them.
16:11
In killing off Baasha’s whole family Zimri thought he was securing his future.
16:12-19
Zimri only reigned for seven days. The Israelites did not seem to be too keen on Zimri being king, so they proclaimed Omri as king. Godless regimes are always unstable. Omri besieged Tirzah, Zimri saw that the end was near, so he set fire to the palace and died. All this happened because of his sins., and he had caused Israel to sin. A good leader causes the people to follow the Lord.
16:1-4
Jehu was the son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi. The Lord spoke to him about Baasha. Baasha was king of Israel, but had done evil. God reminds him that it was God who lifted him up to hid high position. We always go wrong if we forget about our utter dependence upon the Lord. Therefore Baasha was about to be wiped out by the Lord. God can raise up and pull down. The worst thing about Baasha was that he caused God’s people to sin (Matt 18:6). We should be people who encourage others to follow the Lord, not to disobey Him. Those belonging to Baasha would not even get a decent burial but would be eaten by dogs, or by birds.
16:5,6
Baasha duly died, but does seem to be buried. He was succeeded by his son Elah as king.
16:7
God spoke to Baasha through the prophet Jehu. Baasha was no better than Jeroboam.
15:30-32
These were not random events, but “happened because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and had caused Israel to commit, and because he aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel”. Note the last but there, “the God of Israel”. Israel’s whole identity lies in her relationship to the Lord, and her well being rests in her obedience to the Lord. This is still true today. The rest of Nadab’s activities were recorded in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. There was war between Asa and Baasha.
15:33,34
Baasga son of Ahijah became king of Israel and reigned for twenty four years.Sadly “he did evil in tde eyes of the Lord”, acting as Jeroboam had.
15:17
Ramah was a crucial town, control of this town would effectively cut off Judah.
15:18,19
Asa then puts his bribery strategy into action. Solomon had had a treaty with Syria, he also wanted to end Syria’s support for Israel. Ben-Hadad agreed with Asa and then attacked Israel. This had the desired effect of forcing Baasha to stop building Ramah
15:20-22
Asa’s plan seemed to work as Ben-Hadad attacked Israel. In response, Baasha stopped building Ramah and withdrew from Tirzah Asa issued an order to all Judah to dismantle Ramah and used the resources to build up Geba and Mizah.
15:23,24
As with most kings, other events of Asa’s reign were recorded in the annals of the kings of Judah, Asa died and was succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat.
15:25-29
Meanwhile Nadab son of Jeroboam became king in Israel, he reigned for only two years, and in those two years “did evil in the eyes of the Lord”. Baasha, son of Ahijah plotted against him, ending up killing him and becoming king. He then went on to kill Jeroboam’s whole family. This all happened in accordance with the word of the Lord spoken by Ahijah (1 Kings 14:10,11), the point is that in the midst of the chaos, the Lord is still in control.
15:11-15
“Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord”. A key question for all of us is how we look at ourselves, do we judge ourselves by how others view us, or by how the Lord views us? Asa was somewhat like David. He took positive action, like expelling the male shrine prostitutes and getting rid of the idols. He even deposed his grandmother Maakah. This latter action is an example of loving God more than family members. He did this because “she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. However, Asa did not remove the high places. He was not the only “good king” to have this failure. The high places were like stubborn weeds. The best thing is not to let them take root in the first place. “Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life”. Even so he had these failings.
15:16
There was continual war between ISrael and Judah. Asa brought the treasures into the temple of the Lord. However, he then used some of the treasures to bribe the king of Damascus, and he wanted to stop Syria supporting Baasha. Asa was seeking to use his own wisdom to bring peace, rather than trusting the Lord.
15:1-3
Things now progress, though the nation regresses.Abijah becomes king of Judah and reigns for three years.His mother was the daughter of abishalom (possibly Absalom).
15:3-5
“He committed all the sins of his father” we are nor given a good picture of Abijah.David is used as the standard of comparison, though the Bible is also fully aware of David’s shortcomings. We are also told that God remembered\his promise to David. David’s failing with Uriah is noted.
15:6-8
There was no peace for there was war between AAbijah and Jeroboam throughout Abijah’s lifetime. Abijah was succeeded by his son Asa. Asa was a fairly good king, and reigned for forty one years.
14:25-31
Egypt attacked Judah, and carried off the gold treasures. Rehoboam replaced these with bronze shields, a clearly inferior substitute, this is what happens when man abandons god’s ways.
We get another reference to the “annals of the kings of judah”. His reign involved constant warfare between him and Jeroboam. He died and was succeeded by his son Abijah.
14:1-3
Having gone against the Lord Jeroboam is now in a mess, and he is leading the nation in a wrong direction. We now see that his sin Abijah is ill. Despite his disobedience he knows that Gis is his only hope. Yet he is scared of God, much like Adam and Eve hid from God after they had sinned. So he gets his wife to go to Ahijah the prophet, who had earlier spoken to Jeroboam (1 Kings 11)
Ahijah was blind, but God could still speak to him, and told him what was happening. A man dedicated to God can see better than any rebellious man. So he knew that Jeroboam's wife was coming, pretending to be someone else, he also gave him a word for the king.
14:4-16
So Jeroboam’s wife did as her husband had told her, disguised. Although Ahijah could not see, the Lord had told him that she would come. So when she arrived he knew exactly who she was and why she had come. He also told her that he had bad news for her. The boy would die when she went back home, Israel would mourn for him and bury him. The Lord would raise up a new king, who would cut off the family of Jeroboam. He would also strike Israel and uproot it from the land. This would happen because of idolatry.
14:1-3
Having gone against the Lord Jeroboam is now in a mess, and he is leading the nation in a wrong direction. We now see that his sin Abijah is ill. Despite his disobedience he knows that Gis is his only hope. Yet he is scared of God, much like Adam and Eve hid from God after they had sinned. So he gets his wife to go to Ahijah the prophet, who had earlier spoken to Jeroboam (1 Kings 11)
Ahijah was blind, but God could still speak to him, and told him what was happening. A man dedicated to God can see better than any rebellious man. So he knew that Jeroboam's wife was coming, pretending to be someone else, he also gave him a word for the king.
14:4-16
So Jeroboam’s wife did as her husband had told her, disguised. Although Ahijah could not see, the Lord had told him that she would come. So when she arrived he knew exactly who she was and why she had come. He also told her that he had bad news for her. The boy would die when she went back home, Israel would mourn for him and bury him. The Lord would raise up a new king, who would cut off the family of Jeroboam. He would also strike Israel and uproot it from the land. This would happen because of idolatry.
14:17-20
Jeroboam’s wife went home and the son died as foretold, he was buried and mourned for. Jeroboam reigned for twenty two years and was succeeded by his son Nadab.
14:21-24
Attention now returns to Rehoboam, who was king in Judah, he reigned for seventeen years in Judah. His mother was an Ammonite. He was not a good king, for “Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Something may be fine in man’s eyes but if it is not fine in god’s eyes we are in trouble. They were heavily into idolatry, setting up many high places and asherah poles. There were male prostitutes in the land, and the nation became just like the nations, who had been driven out. So Judah would also be driven out.. Being “like the nations” is nor what we are meant to be.
13:23-32
The man of God set off home, but was met by a lion and killed. News of the event reached the old prophet , and he set out to see what had happened. He had had no wish to see the man of God die, but his actions had contributed to it happening. Even so, the man of God was responsible for his own death. He had some remorse as he sought to give the man a decent burial, he also recognised that the words the man had spoken against the high places would come true.
13:33-34
Jeroboam, however, did not listen to the man’s word, but continued in his evil ways, appointing priests for the high places. This would lead to his own downfall, and that of the whole nation. The essence of this is the importance of the word of God, it is futile to go against the word of God.
13:15-17
When he caught up with him he invited him home, knowing that this was against what God had told the man. We should always respect another man’s conscience and never try to make them do something against what they believe God wants them to do. Once again the man of God refuses.
13:18-22
The Old Prophet then claimed to know better than the man of God, saying, untruthfully, that \god had spoken to him. If we know that God has spoken to us we should not allow ourselves to be intimidated, even by folk claiming to speak the word of God. The man of God was taken in by the old prophet. The old prophet did then speak the word of God, condemning the man of God for his disobedience, saying he would die because of it.
