Bible

We’re returning to the Bible room today for the final reading in 1 Kings.  Here is Part 3 of the summary, chapters 15 through 22.

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1 Kings – Part 3

Chapter 15.  Legacies

Kings rise and fall, leave behind disparate legacies:

• Abijah’s short reign is marked by war with Jeroboam;
• For these three years Abijah continues Rehoboam’s legacy;
• Idolatry, pagan worship flourish, unabated;
• Dying young, Abijah is succeeded by his son, Asa;
• Asa’s forty-one-year reign begins during Jeroboam’s term;
• King David’s legacy is renewed under King Asa of Judah;
• Asa was committed to the Lord his entire life;
• In the kingdom of Israel, Baasha has come to power;
• For twenty-four years war rages between Asa and Baasha;
• At Asa’s death, Jehoshaphat, his son, becomes Judah’s king;
• In Israel, Baasha kills Nadab, Jeroboam’s son, seizes power.
• An evil legacy, Baasha kills everyone in Jeroboam’s family.

Chapter 16.  Succession

The line of evil succession for Israel’s rulers continues:

• Baasha dies, his son, Elah, succeeds him to the throne;
• Two years as king, Elah is drunk, struck, killed by Zimri;
• Zimri assumes power as king, reigns for seven days;
• As promised, he kills every person in the family of Baasha;
• Evil in the sight of God continues unabated in Israel;
• The army learns of Zimri killing King Elah, takes action;
• On the battlefield, Omri is named the new king that day;
• The army finds Zimri in the city of Tirzah, makes attack;
• Hopeless, Zimri enters the city palace, sets it on fire, dies;
• Ruling for twelve years, Omri builds a city called Samaria;
• He leads Israel into evil more than any ruler before him;
• At Omri’s death his son, Ahab, succeeds him as king;
• Ahab also sets new standards for evil, wickedness in Israel;
• He considers pagan worship, idolatry, to be trivial matters;
• More than all before him, he provokes the Lord to anger.

Chapter 17.  Miracles

Among the wickedness, downfall in Israel, miracles abound:

• Elijah, a Godly man from Gilead, confronts King Ahab;
• Years of drought, famine will come to Israel for Ahab’s sins;
• Elijah tells Ahab the drought will last until Elijah stops it;
• For his safety, Elijah is to hide in a ravine east of the Jordan;
• A brook will provide water, ravens will bring him food;
• With a miracle, Elijah has plenty of food and water;
• The drought deepens, the brook dries up, Elijah moves;
• The Lord sends him to a town called Zarephath;
• There, he meets a widow outside gathering sticks for a fire;
• He asks her to get him some water and a piece of bread;
• Explaining she has no bread, she details her situation:
• She has a small son at home, they have little to eat;
• She is going home to cook the last of her flour and oil,
• It will be their last meal before they die; Elijah understands;
• Then he details their miracle: She will fix him some bread,
• She will fix bread for herself and her son, they will not die;
• The Lord will not allow the flour and oil to diminish,
• They will have plenty to eat until it rains again on the earth;
• Then one day her son becomes deathly ill, stops breathing;
• Devastated, she blames Elijah for her son’s death;
• Elijah takes the boy upstairs, lays him on a bed;
• Fervently, he asks the Lord to restore this boy’s life;
• The Lord answers the prayer, a miracle, the boy revives;
• The woman attests that Elijah is a man of God, speaks truth.

Chapter 18.  Answers

The God who answers by fire, He is God:

• Obadiah is a prophet of God working in Ahab’s palace;
• Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, is stalking, killing Israel’s prophets;
• Obadiah has sheltered one hundred prophets in caves;
• Three years of drought, the famine deepens;
• As promised three years earlier, Elijah will visit King Ahab;
• At the meet, Ahab calls Elijah a ‘trouble maker;’
• Elijah confronts Ahab over his Baal worship;
• He challenges him to bring his prophets to Mt. Carmel;
• Ahab brings nine hundred pagan prophets, Baal, Asherah;
• Elijah challenges the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal;
• Standing before Israel, Elijah asks the question:
• “How long will you falter between two opinions?”
• He tells the people to make up their collective minds;
• The altar is prepared with two bulls, the wood is in place;
• Elijah sets the decisive terms for the sacrifice:
• “The God who answers by fire—He is God;”
• The prophets pray to Baal for fire, there is no answer;
• Elijah taunts them to call louder, no answer;
• They cut themselves, blood flows, they shout, no answer;
• Elijah rebuilds the Lord’s altar with twelve stones;
• He places the wood, the meat, digs a trench all around;
• Everything is soaked with water, three times over;
• Elijah prays to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel:
• That this people will know who is the real God, and that he is turning them back to worshipping Him, not Baal;
• The sacrifice, the stones, wood, water, the dirt around, are all consumed by fire falling from heaven;
• The people repent, declare the Lord is God in Israel;
• Elijah commands the false prophets all be killed;
• He tells Ahab to relax, rain is on the way;
• Soon, a small cloud appears in a clear sky, then turns black;
• As Elijah promised three years earlier, the rain falls;
• The Lord’s presence in power also falls on Elijah;
• For thirty miles he outruns Ahab’s chariot back to Jezreel.

Chapter 19.  Exhausted

Elijah is the lone remaining prophet of God in Israel:

• Jezebel, wife of King Ahab, threatens Elijah’s life;
• Fearful, exhausted, Elijah runs into the desert to hide;
• Finding a small tree for shade, he lays down to rest, sleeps;
• A miracle, the Lord brings him some hot bread, water;
• More sleep, more food is delivered;
• Rested, he decides to go way south, takes a forty-day hike;
• Crosses the Sinai Desert, ends up at Mt; Sinai;
• The Lord tells him to get ready for a divine visitor;
• Not the wind, not the earthquake, not fire, just a whisper;
• Hearing the voice of the Lord, Elijah has more work to do;
• (There is more about Elisha at 2 Kings, chaps. 8,9)
• Hundreds of miles to the north, he is to find Elisha;
• For now, Elisha will serve as assistant to Elijah.

Chapter 20.  Condemned

Ahab is condemned:

• Ahab is threatened twice by Ben-Hadad, king of Aram;
• Ben-Hadad is arrogant, getting drunk; Ahab is afraid;
• Israel’s army looks like two small flocks of goats;
• Ben-Hadad’s army covers the countryside;
• In one day, Israel’s army kills 100,000 enemy soldiers;
• Hiding from Israel, Ben-Hadad begs for mercy;
• The Lord has commanded all must die, Ahab lets them go;
• Failing his responsibility, a weak Ahab is condemned;
• The prophet tells him it will cost him his life.

Chapter 21.  Corruption

Corruption in the king’s palace in Israel:

• Ahab covets a vineyard nearby the palace at Samaria;
• Naboth, the owner, says it is an inheritance, will not sell;
• Sullen, angry, Ahab complains to Jezebel;
• Soothing his feelings, she hatches a plan against Naboth;
• Two scoundrels say Naboth has cursed God and the king;
• Naboth is framed; The penalty is death by stoning;
• The corruption of Ahab and Jezebel has gone too far;
• Elijah pronounces the death sentence on Ahab and Jezebel:
• As the dogs licked up Naboth’s blood from the ground, so the dogs will do the same for Ahab at his death;
• Likewise, Jezebel will be devoured by dogs at her death;
• There has been no king as vile as Ahab, his wife Jezebel;
• In the future, Ahab’s family will all be eaten by animals.

Chapter 22.  Conclusion

Ahab is ruling the northern kingdom, Israel; Jehoshaphat is ruling the southern kingdom, Judah:

• The treaty made between Ahab and Aram is still in effect;
• There has been peace in the region for three years;
• Gilead, east of the Jordan River, is home to Israelites of old;
• However, Gilead is ruled by the king of Aram for years;
• Ahab proposes he and Jehoshaphat go to war, take Gilead;
• Jehoshaphat agrees, but wants to consult a prophet of God;
• Micaiah, a true prophet of God, is called to a meeting;
• Many other so-called prophets assured Ahab of success;
• Micaiah gets serious with Ahab, he will die if they attack;
• These other prophets are saying what he wants to hear;
• The Lord has decreed disaster for Ahab if this happens;
• The two kings finally agree, they will attack the Arameans;
• The battle is engaged, Ahab is dressed in ordinary armor;
• A random arrow pierces Ahab between the armor plates;
• He is propped up all day, bleeding in his chariot floor;
• The battle lost, he dies on the ride back to Samaria;
• Blood and water are washed from his chariot to the ground;
• As Elijah had given the Lord’s word to Ahab, the dogs lick his blood from the ground;
• Ahaziah succeeds his father, Ahab, as king in Israel;
• In Judah, Jehoshaphat reigns for twenty-five years;
• He follows the example of his father, Asa, follower of God;
• He clears the land of male shrine prostitutes;
• The people, however, continue to burn incense and offer pagan sacrifices;
• Jehoshaphat dies, his son, Jehoram becomes king in Judah;
• Ahaziah succeeds his father, Ahab, as king of Israel;
• During his brief, two-year reign, he is evil as his father was, provoking the Lord’s anger. 

END OF 1 KINGS – PART 3