A Skeptics Journey through the Bible

2 Kings 5 (Naaman Healed of Leprosy)

Summary: Naaman of Aram was a leper. Elisha told him to wash in the Jordan and he was healed. Gehazi asked for a gift and became leprous. 

5:1 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.

5:2 Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife.

5:3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

5:4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said.

5:5 “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing.

5:6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

5:7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”

5:8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

5:9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house.

5:10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

5:11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.

5:12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

5:13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!”

5:14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

5:15 Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant.”

5:16 The prophet answered, “As surely as the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.

5:17 “If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the LORD.

5:18 But may the LORD forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD forgive your servant for this.”

5:19 “Go in peace,” Elisha said. After Naaman had traveled some distance,

5:20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

5:21 So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

5:22 “Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’ ”

5:23 “By all means, take two talents,” said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi.

5:24 When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.

5:25 Then he went in and stood before his master Elisha. “Where have you been, Gehazi?” Elisha asked. “Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered.

5:26 But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants?

5:27 Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and he was leprous, as white as snow.

Final Thoughts on Chapter 5:

The king of the Aramites had a commander named Naaman at this time, who although being well loved by the people, had the disease of leprosy. After he heard from a captive girl that there was a healing prophet in Israel, Naaman asked the Aramite king to vogue for him, which the king did by sending the king of Israel a letter explaining the situation. The king of Israel assumed it was some kind of a snare, and that there was some hidden agenda in it, and he became enraged.

Elisha soon heard about Naaman’s letter and explained to the Israelite king that everything would soon be okay. Elisha invited Naaman down to his home for the healing. When Naaman arrived, Elisha told him to wash seven times in the Jordan River for the healing. Naaman was at first furious at this idea, as he just wanted the prophet to quickly heal him, but in the end he agreed to try Elisha’s treatment. After he grudgingly took a bath in the Jordan, Naaman’s leprosy disappeared. Naaman was awed by the miracle and vowed allegiance to God only, but he asks for a free pass: he asks Elisha to allow him to worship God in his heart, but to avow another religion publicly so that he doesn’t lose his life or job back home. Elisha grants him this request.

And finally we come to the negative part about this chapter. After Naaman’s healing, he begs Elisha to pay for his services in some way. Elisha refuses and Naaman sets off on his way. Elisha’s servant Gehazi covets what Naaman was willing to give and he runs after Naaman. When Gehazi reaches him, he lies saying, “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’” For doing this, Elisha inflicts Gehazi and all of his descendants with leprosy “forever.” It appears to me to be an extreme punishment for Gehazi himself, but isn’t it the ultimate cruelty to cause an endless amount of descendants to have a terrible disease for something one of their ancestors did and of which they had no part? 

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2 Kings 4 (The Widow’s Oil)

Summary: Elisha told a Shunammite woman that she would have a son. The child died but Elisha revived him. Elisha cleansed the food at Gilgal.

4:1 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”

4:2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.”

4:3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few.

4:4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”

4:5 She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring.

4:6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

4:7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

4:8 One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat.

4:9 She said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God.

4:10 Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”

4:11 One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there.

4:12 He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him.

4:13 Elisha said to him, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’ ” She replied, “I have a home among my own people.”

4:14 “What can be done for her?” Elisha asked. Gehazi said, “Well, she has no son and her husband is old.”

4:15 Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway.

4:16 “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord,” she objected. “Don’t mislead your servant, O man of God!”

4:17 But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

4:18 The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers.

4:19 “My head! My head!” he said to his father. His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.”

4:20 After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died.

4:21 She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.

4:22 She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.”

4:23 “Why go to him today?” he asked. “It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath.” “It’s all right,” she said.

4:24 She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.”

4:25 So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite!

4:26 Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’ ” “Everything is all right,” she said.

4:27 When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me why.”

4:28 “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”

4:29 Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.”

4:30 But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.

4:31 Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”

4:32 When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch.

4:33 He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the LORD.

4:34 Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the boy’s body grew warm.

4:35 Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

4:36 Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite.” And he did. When she came, he said, “Take your son.”

4:37 She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out.

4:38 Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these men.”

4:39 One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine. He gathered some of its gourds and filled the fold of his cloak. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were.

4:40 The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, “O man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.

4:41 Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He put it into the pot and said, “Serve it to the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

4:42 A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said.

4:43 “How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked. But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the LORD says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’ ”

4:44 Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the LORD.

Final Thoughts on Chapter 4:

Chapter 4 sees Elisha come into his full abilities as a prophet, mimicking some of the miracles Elijah performed a couple of chapters ago such as turning a struggling widow’s empty jars into endless oil so that she could pay off her debt. To pay back a woman’s kindness to him, Elisha enables her to get pregnant with a son. Later, that boy dies but Elisha revives him by lying on the boy’s body a few times. He also cures a pot of food men were eating out of that had poison in it and made a ton of bread miraculously appear for the people to eat.

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2 Kings 3 (Moab Revolts)

Summary: Israel, Judah and Edom went to fight Moab. Elisha said, “The LORD will send water and give you Moab.” The Moabites were defeated. 

3:1 Joram son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned twelve years.

3:2 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father and mother had done. He got rid of the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made.

3:3 Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.

3:4 Now Mesha king of Moab raised sheep, and he had to supply the king of Israel with a hundred thousand lambs and with the wool of a hundred thousand rams.

3:5 But after Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

3:6 So at that time King Joram set out from Samaria and mobilized all Israel.

3:7 He also sent this message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” “I will go with you,” he replied. “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

3:8 “By what route shall we attack?” he asked. “Through the Desert of Edom,” he answered.

3:9 So the king of Israel set out with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. After a roundabout march of seven days, the army had no more water for themselves or for the animals with them.

3:10 “What!” exclaimed the king of Israel. “Has the LORD called us three kings together only to hand us over to Moab?”

3:11 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of the LORD through him?” An officer of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.”

3:12 Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the LORD is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

3:13 Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What do we have to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother.” “No,” the king of Israel answered, “because it was the LORD who called us three kings together to hand us over to Moab.”

3:14 Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you or even notice you.

3:15 But now bring me a harpist.” While the harpist was playing, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha

3:16 and he said, “This is what the LORD says: Make this valley full of ditches.

3:17 For this is what the LORD says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink.

3:18 This is an easy thing in the eyes of the LORD; he will also hand Moab over to you.

3:19 You will overthrow every fortified city and every major town. You will cut down every good tree, stop up all the springs, and ruin every good field with stones.”

3:20 The next morning, about the time for offering the sacrifice, there it was—water flowing from the direction of Edom! And the land was filled with water.

3:21 Now all the Moabites had heard that the kings had come to fight against them; so every man, young and old, who could bear arms was called up and stationed on the border.

3:22 When they got up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water. To the Moabites across the way, the water looked red—like blood.

3:23 “That’s blood!” they said. “Those kings must have fought and slaughtered each other. Now to the plunder, Moab!”

3:24 But when the Moabites came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and fought them until they fled. And the Israelites invaded the land and slaughtered the Moabites.

3:25 They destroyed the towns, and each man threw a stone on every good field until it was covered. They stopped up all the springs and cut down every good tree. Only Kir Hareseth was left with its stones in place, but men armed with slings surrounded it and attacked it as well.

3:26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle had gone against him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but they failed.

3:27 Then he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him as a sacrifice on the city wall. The fury against Israel was great; they withdrew and returned to their own land.

Final Thoughts on Chapter 3:

Another war. The king of Israel makes an alliance with the king of Judah, and together with their armies, they travel towards the Moabites who have rebelled against Israel. After some time had passed, the army found themselves without water for themselves or their animals. The kings beg Elisha to ask God to save them, and Elisha responds that he is only helping them because he has respect for the king of Judah. Rock star Elisha can only use his prophet powers when music is playing: he has a harp player come and play for him and he delivers floodwaters into the land that save the army and its animals.

Elisha commands them to block up every Moabite water spring, cover up their good fields with stones, and to chop down all of their good fruit trees. They do so, but this seems to go against God’s own law we saw back in Deuteronomy 20:19 about not cutting down good trees. The defeated Moabite king horribly has his own firstborn son killed and hung on the city wall as a sacrifice, which causes the Israelites to return to their homeland. 

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christianengineer submitted: Elijah and the Bears

I have put your submitted text in bold and will respond in the unbolded text:

The passage with Elijah and the bears can be a challenging one, and I think it merits further study and thought. First, the word translated as youths can mean anything from infants to men over 40. However, in those times the countryside was very dangerous, so it is very unlikely that parents would send their little kids out to a wilderness preschool. These were most likely what we would consider young adults. Next, 42+ is a lot of men to be out roaming the country and teeming together to harass people. We have a word for that: we call it a gang. 

If the word translated as “youths” can mean anything from infants to men over 40 as you claim, why do virtually all of the translations call them “boys” “little children” etc. (as seen here: http://biblehub.com/2_kings/2-23.htm)? Your next point about it being unlikely that parents would be sending their kids to a dangerous, countryside preschool seems to not line up with what’s said in the text. Plainly in the verse it says that the boys came “out of the town” or “out of the city” making it clear this wasn’t out in the middle of nowhere, but right outside of the city gates.

“Baldhead” is also significant. Hair was seen as a sign of vigor, vitality, and ability back then. Do you remember the details they went into when talking about Absalom’s hair? Since Elijah was described as a hairy man and baldness is uncommon among Jews, coupled with the fact that the books of the law lay out strict penalties for going against the Lord’s anointed one, this was probably a disavowal of the prophetic office. They were saying he wouldn’t be able to do anything, and the bears prove them wrong.

Don’t you think you’re reading a little too much into it? If the boys were trying to say that he wasn’t going to be (or had no right to be etc.) a prophet, wouldn’t they say something related to that? Instead, it sounds just like what kids would say when making fun of someone: making fun of something on his outer appearance, in this case his baldness. (P.S. the last line there about “They were saying he wouldn’t be able to do anything, and the bears prove them wrong” doesn’t strike you as creepy? Wouldn’t there be other ways a just man could ‘prove them wrong’ other than causing bears to come out of the woods and maul them?)

On to the bears and the “mass murder”. There have been several other places recently where the same author has talked about people being attacked and killed by wild animals. Remember the two different lion attacks? In both of those, the author uses a Hebrew word which actually means killed. Here, they use a different word meaning to tear. The conclusion of biblical scholars is that many of the “mauled” boys would have lived. This is further supported by the very fact that there were 42 victims. If you’re in a group of friends and you see two massive bears come out of the woods and tear the heads off 3 of your pals, I’m pretty sure the group would scatter. If the group scatters, how many do you think the bears can chase down and slaughter? Probably not 42 is my thought. Conclusion: people were getting hurt but not killed so instead of fleeing the gang stuck together and fought the bears. 

I see your point, but again, even if some of group survived the bear onslaught, to me that still doesn’t make the whole affair good and right. Imagine this situation in a different modern context: a congressman is going in to do his business and is heckled by some men outside as he walks in to the building about his vote on a recent bill he helped pass they don’t agree with. He gets frustrated at them and has two alligators released in front of the building, which attack the men there that were heckling him. Wouldn’t this man be thrown in jail for a very long time and seen as crazy and evil? Why then do we try to justify Elisha’s behavior here?

Finally, Elisha himself. His prophecy is characterized by him doing miraculous good. From purifying the drinking water we saw earlier to healing foreigners, providing for widows, acting diplomatically to avert wars, to simple miracles that help out someone down on his luck, Elisha is someone who is shown to be exceedingly kind and good, especially to his enemies. So my thought is that we can’t know all the details and specifics of this case, but Elisha deserves the benefit of the doubt. What I see when I read this story is God showing his full support for his newly instated prophet and proving to everyone that he will keep him safe, a necessary thing when Elisha is going to be going around dealing with the highest earthly authorities, many of whom would be happy to see him dead.

Even if Elisha does good with his life doesn’t negate the fact that this seemed to have been a harsh abuse of his power. Just like Moses who did great things also did very evil things (such as the revolting “save for yourselves” alive the virgin girls incident described in Numbers 31:17-18) so Elisha can do bad things. I see some of your points, but overall, this story still rings negative for me.

2 Kings 2 (God Sends Bears to Kill 42 Boys for Making Fun of Elisha’s Baldness)

Summary: Elisha followed Elijah. A chariot of fire appeared and Elijah went up to heaven. Boys were making fun of Elisha’s baldness, so God sent bears to kill 42 of them.

2:1 When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.

2:2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

2:3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “but do not speak of it.”

2:4 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

2:5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied, “but do not speak of it.”

2:6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on.

2:7 Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan.

2:8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

2:9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

2:10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise not.”

2:11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.

2:12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart.

2:13 He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

2:14 Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

2:15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.

2:16 “Look,” they said, “we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.” “No,” Elisha replied, “do not send them.”

2:17 But they persisted until he was too ashamed to refuse. So he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him.

2:18 When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”

2:19 The men of the city said to Elisha, “Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive.”

2:20 “Bring me a new bowl,” he said, “and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.

2:21 Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.’”

2:22 And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.

2:23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. “Go on up, you baldhead!” they said. “Go on up, you baldhead!”

2:24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.

2:25 And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.

Final Thoughts on Chapter 2:

The ending of this chapter is one of the most brutal, disgusting, and faith damaging couple of verses in the entire Bible. However, the chapter starts off more innocently. As the prophet Elijah and his disciple Elisha are walking along, they come to the Jordan River and Elijah strikes the water with his cloak, causing the waters to part. As they continue to walk, all of a sudden a “chariot of fire and horses of fire” sweep down from the sky, grab Elijah up in a “whirlwind” and take him up into heaven.

This episode is quite odd as first, it appears to contradict verses like John 3:13 which say that “No man hath ascended up to heaven.”  Secondly, we’ve never heard of anyone traveling on a chariot of fire before; when people die in the Bible so far, they just die and that’s it. Even when the most important figures in the Bible have died they have just expired and were buried. Even Moses didn’t qualify for ascension into heaven by chariot, so why would Elijah?

After Elijah ascends into heaven, his cloak is left behind, and Elisha uses it to strike the river again with it, and it parted the waters as before. When Elijah’s other disciples see the miracle, they acknowledge that Elisha has been given some of Elijah’s power. His second use of his new power is to make a polluted spring of water run fresh again.

And finally, we come to the inexplicably terrifying end to this chapter. As Elisha begins to walk to a new town, a group of small boys (“some youths”) come out and begin to make fun of his baldness saying, “Go on up, you baldhead!” Elisha turns towards the boys and issues them a curse in the name of God. “Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.”

God sends bears to commit a terrifying mass murder of 42 young boys because they were making fun of a guy being bald! What kind of a compassionate God would do such a thing?! Think about the chaos of that scene as the boys are ripped apart and are screaming, with Elisha just walking away and God sitting there watching it all go down. Disgusting.

(Gory animation of this scene: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/191437)

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2 Kings 1 (God’s Judgement on Ahaziah)

Summary: Ahaziah consulted Baal-Zebub. Elijah said that he would die. Ahaziah sent men to Elijah but they were consumed by fire. Ahaziah died.

1:1 After Ahab’s death, Moab rebelled against Israel.

1:2 Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, “Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.”

1:3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’

1:4 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!’ ” So Elijah went.

1:5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you come back?”

1:6 “A man came to meet us,” they replied. “And he said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, “This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending men to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!” ’ ”

1:7 The king asked them, “What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?”

1:8 They replied, “He was a man with a garment of hair and with a leather belt around his waist.” The king said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”

1:9 Then he sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down!’ ”

1:10 Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men.

1:11 At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him, “Man of God, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’ ”

1:12 “If I am a man of God,” Elijah replied, “may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

1:13 So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. “Man of God,” he begged, “please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants!

1:14 See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life!”

Note: I feel some compassion for those 100 men who were scorched alive by God. They were just doing their job in arresting Elijah; that’s evident by the fact the captain of the last group begged for his life even as he was approaching Elijah, showing that he wasn’t enraged about the situation and trying to attack Elijah.

1:15 The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.

1:16 He told the king, “This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!”

1:17 So he died, according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. Because Ahaziah had no son, Joram succeeded him as king in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah.

1:18 As for all the other events of Ahaziah’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

Final Thoughts on Chapter 1:

After King Ahab died at the end of 1 Kings, his son Ahaziah became king and ruled for a few years. His kingship was short lived however because in the beginning of 2 Kings here, he accidentally falls through the lattice in an upper room of his palace and is severely injured. He’s injured enough that he fears for his life, and sends messengers to inquire of the god Baal-Zebub if he will recover or not. Unfortunately for him, this is a terrible mistake. Elijah intercepts the messengers and informs them that because Ahaziah was inquiring of Baal-Zebub and not God, he will die.

Ahaziah tries to arrest Elijah with 50 men led by a captain, but God incinerates these men with fire from the sky. Another 50 men are sent, but they too are burned alive. When the third party sent arrives to where Elijah is sitting, the captain of the group begs for his life, knowing what happened to the previous groups. At the nod of an angel, Elijah agrees to go back with the third group of men to face Ahaziah. Even in person, Elijah sticks to his word: because Ahaziah sought a different god’s protection than God, he will die. And sure enough, Ahaziah dies.

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2 Kings

2 Kings 1

2 Kings 2

2 Kings 3

2 Kings 4

2 Kings 5

2 Kings 6

2 Kings 7

2 Kings 8

2 Kings 9

2 Kings 10

2 Kings 11

2 Kings 12

2 Kings 13

2 Kings 14

2 Kings 15

2 Kings 16

2 Kings 17

2 Kings 18

2 Kings 19

2 Kings 20

2 Kings 21

2 Kings 22

2 Kings 23

2 Kings 24

2 Kings 25

Final Thoughts on the Book of 2 Kings

Final Thoughts on the Book of 1 Kings:

Now in his old age, David is always cold and could never get warm no matter what he was wearing. His assistants decided to try and help his body warm up by finding the most attractive young virgin girl in the land (named Abishag – pretty face but terrible name) and making her cuddle with him. David doesn’t try to do anything sexual with the girl, which is odd because his libido used to be through the roof! Meanwhile, David’s son Adonijah rallies support around him for his own succession into kingship over Israel while his father is dying. Some of the high-ranking people (such as General Joab) give Adonijah their approval and his kingship seems bulletproof. But Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan speak with David, reminding him of the oath he gave to Bathsheba that their son Solomon would be the next king. David agrees to allow Solomon to be king, and Solomon rides to the throne on David’s donkey. Once Solomon has finally been anointed to the throne, Adonijah realizes his 15 minutes are up and worries for his life. Adonijah asks Solomon not to kill him, and Solomon grants that request. (1 Kings 1)

David’s deathbed scene isn’t very pretty. Yes, he gives Solomon some sound advice like,  “Be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the LORD your God requires,” but it suddenly turns into a score settling fest. He implores Solomon to kill Joab, even though he was a great commander for Israel, because of some people he pointlessly killed during peacetime. Oddly, David also commands Solomon to kill Shimei, who if you remember, was the relative of Saul who shouted curses and threw rocks at David back during Absalom’s short reign. Back when that happened, David vowed not to kill Shimei by the sword, but now for some reason is trying to get around that vow by having Solomon execute the man. And then that’s it: David dies. I can’t think of one inspiring deathbed speech thus far in the Bible. Soon after David’s death, his son Adonijah asks Bathsheba to ask Solomon for him if he can marry Abishag (who David must truly not have had sexual relations with, despite being the prettiest girl in the land). Bathsheba asks Solomon about this, and he explodes at her: “Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well request the kingdom for him!” It appears that Solomon was so upset at this request because sexual dominance can sometimes lead to dominance in other areas. So, if Adonijah beds the woman his father couldn’t, and Solomon hasn’t yet, he could gain status in the kingdom. Because of this simple request, Solomon has Adonijah killed. Eek, I am not liking Solomon already. After Adonijah’s death, Joab fears for his own life and flees to the sanctuary, grabbing a hold of the altar. Joab thinks that no one will kill him on that sacred ground. But he’s wrong: Solomon has him executed as well. To take care of Shimei for his father, Solomon sentences him to house arrest in Jerusalem. However, after a while Shimei leaves his house to go and catch some escaped slaves, and Solomon has him put to death as well. (1 Kings 2)

Despite all of God’s laws against intermarriage with polytheists, Solomon surprisingly marries the Pharaoh of Egypt’s daughter. This Pharaoh would have been a descendant of the same Pharaoh that enslaved his ancestors, so on many levels this was an odd choice for a marriage. However, it may have proven to have been a strategic marital alliance. God certainly doesn’t seem to care as he doesn’t say a word and Solomon is seen burning many offerings to God. God appears to Solomon while he’s dreaming and offers to give Solomon anything that he wants. Solomon tells God that he is just a young man and that he wishes to have an understanding mind in order to rule the right way over his nation. This impresses God, who thought he was going to ask for things like wealth or power over his enemies like everyone else. So God grants his request for wisdom, but also grants him those things he didn’t ask for, both riches and glory. Soon after this dream, the God granted wisdom begins to show itself: two prostitutes approach Solomon and are fighting over custody of a newborn. Both women recently gave birth, but one of the women’s babies died. Both women claim to be the mother of the surviving son. In order to discern whom the true mother is, Solomon gives the order to have the baby cut in half, to give one half to each mother in order to see what each would say. One of the women is willing to give up her motherhood so that the child may live, while the other wants the child to die so that neither will get it. So with his wisdom, Solomon discovered the real mother, the one who was willing to give up her child to the other in order that the child may live. (1 Kings 3)

Just like our current president has his own administration, as did Solomon. That cabinet is listed throughout Chapter 4. There are similarities to our government’s current cabinet, such as having a “commander in chief” but there is no separation of church and state. Some of Solomon’s top officials are priests. (1 Kings 4)

Solomon’s kingdom has gotten far larger than his father David’s was, and his empire is very rich, being fueled by many tributary kingdoms. There’s an unusual peace during this part of Solomon’s reign, which is odd because Solomon isn’t credited with any battles, and the nations surrounding Israel have been fighting them for the last 400 years. How can we account for the sudden quiet? In any account, Solomon takes advantage of this new peace and decides he’s going to finally build a temple for God. He creates a treaty with the king of Tyre and they exchange wood from trees for food. (1 Kings 5)

God’s promise to Solomon was that if he built a temple to God and followed all of his commands, God would live among the Israelites and “not abandon my people Israel.” So Solomon set out and built the temple, which took seven years to complete. Most of the chapter has lots of details about the actual construction of the temple. (1 Kings 6) 

The temple that Solomon built for God is less than one-quarter of the floor space of Solomon’s grand palace. It also only took seven years to complete while Solomon’s palace took thirteen years. Does Solomon care more about his own house or God’s? (1 Kings 7)

After Solomon’s temple for God had been built, Solomon gathered all of Israel for the opening ceremony. Solomon then gave a long speech, the bulk of which was prayer to God. This prayer recognized that God didn’t need a temple built for him because Solomon acknowledged that he fills the whole universe. Solomon asked of God many things for the Israelites like, to hear their prayers, to forgive them, and to save them from trouble. After his speech, Solomon and the Israelites feast for an entire week, feeding on 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep! (1 Kings 8)

Solomon spent the last few chapters building God’s temple and feasting with the people in celebration once it was finished. He also gave a lengthy speech that was mostly a prayer to God asking him essentially to look out for the Israelites and to dwell in the temple. In this chapter, God answers Solomon’s prayers in a dream. God tells Solomon that he will dwell in the temple forever and gives Solomon assurance that his descendants will always rule Israel – so long as they are obedient to God’s laws. To finish paying off his debt to the King of Tyre, who sent Solomon lots of trees and gold to build God’s temple, Solomon gives 20 towns to him. However, when the King visits his newly acquired towns, he is very displeased as apparently they are dumps. (1 Kings 9)

The Queen of Sheba hears about how wise and wealthy Solomon is and travels into Israel to meet him. Being somewhat skeptical, she asks him many hard questions, but Solomon has no trouble answering even her toughest of questions. Unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t tell us the questions that she asked him. Were they math-type questions? Philosophical? Questions about God like, if God is all-powerful and all good, why does he allow natural disasters to kill millions of people? What was it? The Queen of Sheba was entirely impressed by Solomon’s wisdom and wealth, praising him to no end. After exchanging many expensive gifts, the Queen returned to Sheba. Much of the rest of the world followed suit after hearing about Solomon’s wisdom and wealth, and made the trip to visit him, lavishing gifts on him as well. He becomes so rich that everything he has basically is covered in gold. He’s also very successful in trading with foreign nations. (1 Kings 10)

Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, many of these women being from foreign nations. Unfortunately, many of these foreign wives worshipped their nation’s gods, and Solomon was coerced into following them as well. He begins following and building shrines for “abominable” gods like Chemosh and Molech. God is enraged at this betrayal and sets out to take away the kingship in Israel from Solomon’s descendants. After being encouraged by a prophet named Ahijah, a man named Jeroboam rebels against Solomon. God declares that Israel will be split in parts, with Solomon’s descendants ruling only over Judah, while Jeroboam becoming king over the remaining part of the country. For the sake of Solomon’s father David, whom God loved so much, God says that he will not allow this to happen until Solomon dies. Solomon in the meantime chases after Jeroboam who escapes out of Israel. But during the interim, Solomon dies and his son Rehoboam takes over, but I have a feeling it’s only going to be for a short while. This story is a little odd because Solomon is supposed to be the “wisest man in the world.” If he were so wise, why would he allow himself to be coerced into worshipping false gods? Furthermore, is God more pleased with wisdom and morality or with faith? Early in the Bible, God was clearly more in favor of wise people than with morally good ones. However, God loved David more than Solomon because of David’s faith in him. But, Solomon had a much greater kingdom than David as he was at peace, he was extremely rich and wise, and he was able to build a palace for himself and a temple to God. And while God loved David more than Solomon because of his faith, David did terrible things such as the Uriah incident, while Solomon seemed to have lived a relatively more moral life. When you look at all of it, God still favors David more than Solomon. God favors more unwavering faith in him, than in being morally good and wise. (1 Kings 11)

Unfortunately, Rehoboam, Solomon’s son who succeeded him on the throne, isn’t as wise as his father. Now with Solomon out of the picture, the Israelites seize their opportunity to ask King Rehoboam to reduce their harsh forced labor. King Rehoboam asks his older advisers what they think he should do, and they advise to indeed lighten the workload, so that the Israelites will be loyal to him. But the king’s friends – literally, “the young men who had grown up with him” – advise him to instead make their workload harder as punishment for their request. At their urging, King Rehoboam tells the Israelites, “My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” Look at the word “waist” in the first sentence again. Other translations say “loins” there. Is that saying what I think it’s saying? Solomon’s son is saying that his little finger is bigger than Solomon’s you know what? All of the Israelites, except the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, form a rebellion against Rehoboam because of his rejection of their plea. When Rehoboam’s minister of forced labor goes out to carry out Rehoboam’s punishment, the people stone him to death. The other 10 tribes of Israel establish Jeroboam as king over them. Unfortunately, Jeroboam is a terrible king, setting up idols in new shrines so that the Israelites won’t go to worship God back close to Rehoboam and possibly be persuaded to side with him again. The idols Jeroboam made were two golden calves. Golden calves again? Have the Israelites learned nothing? (1 Kings 12)

A “man of God” interrupts a sacrifice on one of the golden-calf altars where Jeroboam is present. This man of God shouts out the command that God gave him to express, which is that the altar be destroyed. Jeroboam raises out his hand in order to have the man arrested or worse, but his arm miraculously withers away and is paralyzed. The altar is torn down, and Jeroboam begs the man of God to ask God to give him back his arm, which he does. So Jeroboam’s arm hurt a little, which hardly seems to compare with God’s punishment of mass slaughter that occurred after the worshipping of the first golden calf. One of the most disturbing parts we’ve read in the Bible for a while then occurs. Jeroboam offers to take the man of God back to his palace in order to feed him and give him gifts. The man of God refuses because God has ordered him not to eat or drink in Jeroboam’s kingdom. Later, another prophet of God hears about what the man of God did, and chases after him on the road in order to meet him. When he finds the man of God, he begs him to come back and eat and drink with him, but the man of God refuses him for the same reason he refused Jeroboam’s offer. The prophet then lies, saying that an angel told him that God wouldn’t mind if the man of God went back and ate and drank with him. Convinced that this is true, the man of God goes back with the prophet and eats with him. While they are eating, the same prophet who lied to the man of God in order to get him to come back to the house announces that the man of God has broken God’s commands and will not be buried in the tomb of his fathers as punishment. To add on to that, as soon as the man of God leaves the prophet’s house, God “has given him over to a lion” and he is attacked and killed by it. The prophet, feeling guilty for having lied to the man of God and subsequently gotten him killed, goes and gets the body and buries it in his own tomb. The man of God’s death is terrifying and makes absolutely no sense. God allowed Jeroboam to break some of his most important laws by casting idols and having them worshipped and also by allowing anyone who wanted to become priests become them, even if they weren’t Levites. But God does nothing serious to Jeroboam in punishment. But when a man of God does his will, and trusts another prophet of God who lies to him, God doesn’t punish the prophet who lied to him, no, he has the man who did everything he could for God mauled apart by a vicious lion. This is disgusting. How could God do such a thing? (1 Kings 13)

King Jeroboam’s son becomes ill and Jeroboam tries everything he can in order to save him. Jeroboam becomes so desperate that he sends his wife, in disguise, to the prophet Ahijah in order to garner his help. Ahijah knows that its Jeroboam’s wife as God told him she was coming. Ahijah gives her bad news: because of the idolatry and other sins Jeroboam committed and influenced Israel to commit, those belonging to Jeroboam will die, with their corpses being eaten by dogs and birds. He also tells her that as soon as she steps back into town, her son will die as well. All of this comes to pass, with Jeroboam dying too. Back in Judah, where the son of Solomon, Rehoboam, was ruling, debauchery was going on there as well. He had even hired “male shrine prostitutes” (at least it wasn’t a woman prostitute this time). Rehoboam also loses a war to the Egyptians, who take all of the amazing objects Solomon had placed in the palace and God’s temple. Rehoboam tries to replace some of the things, for example, he replaces some gold shields with bronze ones, but it’s just not the same. (1 Kings 14)

1 Kings is quickly turning into a Judges-esque type of book. It’s becoming more and more chaotic as leadership in Israel (and Judah) begins to unravel. King Asa gets back on God’s side for a moment by getting rid of the shrine prostitutes, and even expelling his own mother who was caught doing idol worship. But Jeroboam’s family, just as prophesied, soon loses their rule in Israel and a man named Baasha slaughters all of Jeroboam’s family. Baasha then becomes king over Israel, but he too does evil. (1 Kings 15)

Chapter 16 is a confusing, fast paced account of the rapid changes in kingship over Israel during this time period there. The King Baasha we learned about in the last chapter dies and is replaced by his son Elah. Elah reigns for two years and then is killed by one of his officials, named Zimri. Zimri becomes king and kills off all of the former king Baasha’s clan, in accordance with God’s prophecy as Baasha and his son Elah were very sinful. Unfortunately, Zimri is only king for one week, because when the army hears about what Zimri did, they immediately proclaim their leader, Omri king over Israel.  Omri and the army lay siege to where Zimri was reigning. When Zimri saw that they were winning, he lit the citadel he was in on fire and killed himself there. After Zimri was killed, Israel was trying to figure out who should be king next. Half of the people wanted Omri, but the other half supported Tibni. Omri’s followers proved more powerful and killed Tibni, so Omri became king. Omri became king, but he too was very sinful and an idol worshipper. After Omri died, his son Ahab assumed he throne, but he “did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him.” Ahab began to serve Baal, and set up Asherah poles, as well as committed many other sins. (1 Kings 16)

The prophet Elijah appears for the first time in Chapter 17. While the terribly sinful King Ahab was reigning, Elijah appeared before him and told him God was sending a drought, and that it wouldn’t end except at Elijah’s word. Probably fearing for his life after making such a threat to the king, Elijah escapes the palace and disappears into hiding in a ravine. God orders ravens to bring Elijah food, and Elijah drinks from a small river close by. The drought began to happen, just as Elijah had predicted, and Elijah left his hideout ravine and went towards a town. On the outskirts, Elijah found a woman and asked her if he can have some food and drink. The woman refuses, saying that she only has enough for one last meal before her and her son die in this drought. Foreshadowing Jesus, Elijah performs the miracle of causing the woman’s food (oil and flour) to be never ending. Later, when the woman’s son begins to die, she blames Elijah. In another proto-Jesus moment, Elijah lays across the boy’s corpse three times and prays to God to save him. God brings him back to life. (1 Kings 17)

After some deliberation between Elijah and a secret supporter of God named Obadiah, Elijah presents himself to wicked King Ahab. Elijah challenges Ahab to a religious duel between God and Ahab’s god Baal: to see who’s god can actually set a sacrificial bull on fire. Ahab accepts the challenge and all of his prophets meet Elijah on the mount for the challenge. The prophets of Baal go first, screaming out all day for his help, even cutting themselves in their effort to get his help. But there is no response from Baal. Elijah even sarcastically mocks them: “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”(I probably shouldn’t have but I found that hilarious). At the end of the day having watched Baal’s prophets attempt to get his help, Elijah sets up his alter and even pours water on it to make it harder for it to ignite. Elijah calls out to God for help, and fire promptly comes from heaven and consumes the bull and even the water around the altar. When he is obviously the victor, Elijah commands that the Baal prophets be slaughtered. Ouch! A cloud begins to form and rain is soon upon them. Elijah tells Ahab to return to his wife before the rain gets him, and Ahab rides back on his chariot, but Elijah is filled with God-given super speed and returns before Ahab’s chariot. My only question – why was God willing to put on displays like this to show he is the one true god back then, but is not willing nowadays especially as we now have cameras and equipment that would prove once and for all he exists? Wouldn’t he want to do that in order to save billions who would otherwise not believe from damnation? (1 Kings 18)

Having executed all of the prophets of Baal in the last chapter, Elijah runs for his life from Jezebel who has vowed revenge for the deed. Elijah flees into the wilderness, and in a moment of weakness, begs God to end his life. God instead sends an angel to comfort him, and the angel gives Elijah cakes of bread and some water in order to nourish him. Elijah survives on just that angel bread for 40 days and 40 nights as he travels toward Mount Horeb where God has commanded him to go. A fierce wind picks up, an earthquake occurs, and a fire rages on the mountain as God approaches it. Once everything dies down, God speaks to Elijah in a “gentle whisper.” God tells Elijah to anoint Hazael king over Aram, Jehu king over Israel, and Elisha to succeed him as prophet. Elijah sets off immediately and finds Elisha first, who is busy plowing a field with a team of oxen. Elisha agrees to set off with Elijah, and he kills his team of oxen, celebrating with the meat from them with his town as a goodbye feast. Then Elisha and Elijah ride out into the sunset. (1 Kings 19)

I thought King Ahab was long gone, but I was wrong. He comes back in full force this chapter in defense against an attack from Ben-Hadad who is king of Aram. God gives victory to Ahab the first time the two go to battle in order to show Ahab that he “is the LORD.” Ben-Hadad and his officials try to figure out why they lost and decide that it’s because God “is a God of the hills” meaning that if they fought Israel in the lowland plans, they would be able to win. The Arameans assemble their army the following spring in the lowland plains and the Israelites go out to meet them in battle, and God assures them victory a second time. This story helps to illustrate the point that the author of 1 Kings is trying to make: a few chapters ago when Elijah had the religious duel with the prophets of Baal, it was proven to them that God was the only true god because he sent fire from heaven to devour the bull that Elijah set up. Now, the Arameans think they can win in battle on the lowland plains because they believe that God is a god of the hills. But this victory shows that God is the god of everywhere. (1 Kings 20)

A man named Naboth had a large vineyard near King Ahab’s palace, and Ahab wanted it bad. He made an offer to Naboth of a larger vineyard elsewhere or money for whatever it was worth, but Naboth refused stating that he could never give up his father’s inheritance. Crybaby Ahab went home, pouting in his bed, and refused to eat. His wife Jezebel refused to see him look so pathetic as the king of Israel so she elicited him to get up and to get something to eat, telling him that she would secure the vineyard for him. Jezebel writes a letter to the town’s government, commanding them to frame Naboth for blasphemy against God and the king (which is ironic as who could be more blasphemous against God then idol worshipping Jezebel?). The elders of the town have two “scoundrels” frame Naboth, and he is consequently stoned to death. After which, Ahab immediately seizes control of his vineyard. Thankfully, God steps up to see that there is justice done here. He sends Elijah to tell the king, “In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’” Ahab then surprises by appearing to have truly humbled himself, repenting of his crime before God. We see this because God is moved with some compassion for him, as he prolongs the punishment until after Ahab has died, “in the days of his son.” The only real question is how could God cause “dogs” to “eat those belonging to Ahab” or to cause destruction to rain down on his son’s life when those people were not responsible for Ahab’s and his wife’s evil deeds? How can they be punished when Deuteronomy 24:16 says, “Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin”? (1 Kings 21)

King Ahab allies himself with King Jehoshaphat in order to recapture an Israelite town that had been overrun by the Arameans. King Ahab asks his hundreds of prophets what he should do, and they advise him to go to battle with the Arameans as they say he will surely win. However, the only prophet who is still faithful to God, Micaiah, says that God has said Ahab will die if he attempts this battle. Sick and tired of Micaiah’s negative prophecies about him, Ahab throws Micaiah in jail with the command he not be released until he comes home from battle safe. Micaiah responds darkly, “if you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me.” True to his words, Ahab dies in the battle, and just as God predicted earlier, “the dogs licked up his blood.” The thing that was most troubling about this chapter for me was the way in which God set all of this up. Look closely at verses 20-23. God is sitting on his throne with the heavenly assembly around him. He asks the spirits around him for a volunteer to entice Ahab into battle in order that he be killed. Verse 23 says that God, through the volunteer, “has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets.” How can God ever be involved in a lie, however indirectly? (1 Kings 22)

1 Kings 22 (Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab)

Summary: Ahab and Jehoshaphat planned for war. Micaiah said, “I saw Israel scattered. Your prophets are lying.” Ahab was killed in battle.

22:1 For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel.

22:2 But in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to see the king of Israel.

22:3 The king of Israel had said to his officials, “Don’t you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram?”

22:4 So he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

22:5 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the LORD.”

22:6 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” “Go,” they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”

22:7 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?”

22:8 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that,” Jehoshaphat replied.

22:9 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.”

22:10 Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them.

22:11 Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.’ ”

22:12 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious,” they said, “for the LORD will give it into the king’s hand.”

22:13 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, as one man the other prophets are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably.”

22:14 But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what the LORD tells me.”

22:15 When he arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” “Attack and be victorious,” he answered, “for the LORD will give it into the king’s hand.”

22:16 The king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?”

22:17 Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’ ”

22:18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?”

22:19 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left.

Micaiah says in verse 19 that he “saw the LORD sitting on his throne…” but how can this be when John 1:18 says, “No man has seen God at any time”?

22:20 And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ “One suggested this, and another that.

22:21 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, ‘I will entice him.’

22:22 ” ‘By what means?’ the LORD asked. ” ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. ” ‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’

22:23 “So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you.”

22:24 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. “Which way did the spirit from the LORD go when he went from me to speak to you?” he asked.

22:25 Micaiah replied, “You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room.”

22:26 The king of Israel then ordered, “Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king’s son

22:27 and say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.’ ”

22:28 Micaiah declared, “If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, all you people!”

22:29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead.

22:30 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.

22:31 Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.”

22:32 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, “Surely this is the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him, but when Jehoshaphat cried out,

22:33 the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel and stopped pursuing him.

22:34 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, “Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.”

22:35 All day long the battle raged, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot, and that evening he died.

22:36 As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army: “Every man to his town; everyone to his land!”

22:37 So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried him there.

22:38 They washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria (where the prostitutes bathed), and the dogs licked up his blood, as the word of the LORD had declared.

22:39 As for the other events of Ahab’s reign, including all he did, the palace he built and inlaid with ivory, and the cities he fortified, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

22:40 Ahab rested with his fathers. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.

22:41 Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.

22:42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.

22:43 In everything he walked in the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were not removed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

22:44 Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the king of Israel.

22:45 As for the other events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, the things he achieved and his military exploits, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

22:46 He rid the land of the rest of the male shrine prostitutes who remained there even after the reign of his father Asa.

22:47 There was then no king in Edom; a deputy ruled.

22:48 Now Jehoshaphat built a fleet of trading ships to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail—they were wrecked at Ezion Geber.

22:49 At that time Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my men sail with your men,” but Jehoshaphat refused.

22:50 Then Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of David his father. And Jehoram his son succeeded him.

22:51 Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.

22:52 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, because he walked in the ways of his father and mother and in the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.

22:53 He served and worshiped Baal and provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger, just as his father had done.

Final Thoughts on Chapter 22:

King Ahab allies himself with King Jehoshaphat in order to recapture an Israelite town that had been overrun by the Arameans. King Ahab asks his hundreds of prophets what he should do, and they advise him to go to battle with the Arameans as they say he will surely win. However, the only prophet who is still faithful to God, Micaiah, says that God has said Ahab will die if he attempts this battle. Sick and tired of Micaiah’s negative prophecies about him, Ahab throws Micaiah in jail with the command he not be released until he comes home from battle safe. Micaiah responds darkly, “if you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me.” True to his words, Ahab dies in the battle, and just as God predicted earlier, “the dogs licked up his blood.”

The thing that was most troubling about this chapter for me was the way in which God set all of this up. Look closely at verses 20-23. God is sitting on his throne with the heavenly assembly around him. He asks the spirits around him for a volunteer to entice Ahab into battle in order that he be killed. Verse 23 says that God, through the volunteer, “has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets.” How can God ever be involved in a lie, however indirectly?

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1 Kings 21 (Naboth’s Vineyard)

Summary: Naboth would not sell his vineyard, so Jezebel had him killed. Elijah said to Ahab, “Dogs will lick up your blood and eat Jezebel.”

21:1 Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

21:2 Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.”

21:3 But Naboth replied, “The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”

21:4 So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.

21:5 His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?”

21:6 He answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”

21:7 Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

21:8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city with him.

21:9 In those letters she wrote: “Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people.

21:10 But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them testify that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.”

21:11 So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them.

21:12 They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people.

21:13 Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.

21:14 Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”

21:15 As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.”

21:16 When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard.

21:17 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite:

21:18 “Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it.

21:19 Say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?’ Then say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’ ”

21:20 Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have found me, my enemy!” “I have found you,” he answered, “because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD.

21:21 ‘I am going to bring disaster on you. I will consume your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free.

21:22 I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have caused Israel to sin.’

21:23 “And also concerning Jezebel the LORD says: ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’

21:24 “Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country.”

21:25 (There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife.

21:26 He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the LORD drove out before Israel.)

21:27 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly.

21:28 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite:

21:29 “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.”

Final Thoughts on Chapter 21:

A man named Naboth had a large vineyard near King Ahab’s palace, and Ahab wanted it bad. He made an offer to Naboth of a larger vineyard elsewhere or money for whatever it was worth, but Naboth refused stating that he could never give up his father’s inheritance. Crybaby Ahab went home, pouting in his bed, and refused to eat. His wife Jezebel refused to see him look so pathetic as the king of Israel so she elicited him to get up and to get something to eat, telling him that she would secure the vineyard for him.

Jezebel writes a letter to the town’s government, commanding them to frame Naboth for blasphemy against God and the king (which is ironic as who could be more blasphemous against God then idol worshipping Jezebel?). The elders of the town have two “scoundrels” frame Naboth, and he is consequently stoned to death. After which, Ahab immediately seizes control of his vineyard. Thankfully, God steps up to see that there is justice done here. He sends Elijah to tell the king, “In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’” 

Ahab then surprises by appearing to have truly humbled himself, repenting of his crime before God. We see this because God is moved with some compassion for him, as he prolongs the punishment until after Ahab has died, “in the days of his son.” The only real question is how could God cause “dogs” to “eat those belonging to Ahab” or to cause destruction to rain down on his son’s life when those people were not responsible for Ahab’s and his wife’s evil deeds? How can they be punished when Deuteronomy 24:16 says, “Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin”?

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1 Kings 20 (Ben-Hadad Attacks Samaria)

Summary: Ben-Hadad attacked Samaria. Israel defeated the Arameans twice. Ahab made a treaty with Ben-Hadad so a prophet spoke against him.

20:1 Now Ben-Hadad king of Aram mustered his entire army. Accompanied by thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots, he went up and besieged Samaria and attacked it.

20:2 He sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, saying, “This is what Ben-Hadad says:

20:3 ‘Your silver and gold are mine, and the best of your wives and children are mine.’ ”

20:4 The king of Israel answered, “Just as you say, my lord the king. I and all I have are yours.”

20:5 The messengers came again and said, “This is what Ben-Hadad says: ‘I sent to demand your silver and gold, your wives and your children.

20:6 But about this time tomorrow I am going to send my officials to search your palace and the houses of your officials. They will seize everything you value and carry it away.’ ”

20:7 The king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said to them, “See how this man is looking for trouble! When he sent for my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, I did not refuse him.”

20:8 The elders and the people all answered, “Don’t listen to him or agree to his demands.”

20:9 So he replied to Ben-Hadad’s messengers, “Tell my lord the king, ‘Your servant will do all you demanded the first time, but this demand I cannot meet.’ ” They left and took the answer back to Ben-Hadad.

20:10 Then Ben-Hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if enough dust remains in Samaria to give each of my men a handful.”

20:11 The king of Israel answered, “Tell him: ‘One who puts on his armor should not boast like one who takes it off.’ ”

20:12 Ben-Hadad heard this message while he and the kings were drinking in their tents, and he ordered his men: “Prepare to attack.” So they prepared to attack the city.

20:13 Meanwhile a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel and announced, “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.’ ”

20:14 “But who will do this?” asked Ahab. The prophet replied, “This is what the LORD says: ‘The young officers of the provincial commanders will do it.’ ” “And who will start the battle?” he asked. The prophet answered, “You will.”

20:15 So Ahab summoned the young officers of the provincial commanders, 232 men. Then he assembled the rest of the Israelites, 7,000 in all.

20:16 They set out at noon while Ben-Hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk.

20:17 The young officers of the provincial commanders went out first. Now Ben-Hadad had dispatched scouts, who reported, “Men are advancing from Samaria.”

20:18 He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; if they have come out for war, take them alive.”

20:19 The young officers of the provincial commanders marched out of the city with the army behind them

20:20 and each one struck down his opponent. At that, the Arameans fled, with the Israelites in pursuit. But Ben-Hadad king of Aram escaped on horseback with some of his horsemen.

20:21 The king of Israel advanced and overpowered the horses and chariots and inflicted heavy losses on the Arameans.

20:22 Afterward, the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, “Strengthen your position and see what must be done, because next spring the king of Aram will attack you again.”

20:23 Meanwhile, the officials of the king of Aram advised him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they.

20:24 Do this: Remove all the kings from their commands and replace them with other officers.

20:25 You must also raise an army like the one you lost—horse for horse and chariot for chariot—so we can fight Israel on the plains. Then surely we will be stronger than they.” He agreed with them and acted accordingly.

20:26 The next spring Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.

20:27 When the Israelites were also mustered and given provisions, they marched out to meet them. The Israelites camped opposite them like two small flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside.

20:28 The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the LORD.’ ”

20:29 For seven days they camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle was joined. The Israelites inflicted a hundred thousand casualties on the Aramean foot soldiers in one day.

20:30 The rest of them escaped to the city of Aphek, where the wall collapsed on twenty-seven thousand of them. And Ben-Hadad fled to the city and hid in an inner room.

20:31 His officials said to him, “Look, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful. Let us go to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.”

20:32 Wearing sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, they went to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says: ‘Please let me live.’ ” The king answered, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”

20:33 The men took this as a good sign and were quick to pick up his word. “Yes, your brother Ben-Hadad!” they said. “Go and get him,” the king said. When Ben-Hadad came out, Ahab had him come up into his chariot.

20:34 “I will return the cities my father took from your father,” Ben-Hadad offered. “You may set up your own market areas in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” [Ahab said,] “On the basis of a treaty I will set you free.” So he made a treaty with him, and let him go.

20:35 By the word of the LORD one of the sons of the prophets said to his companion, “Strike me with your weapon,” but the man refused.

20:36 So the prophet said, “Because you have not obeyed the LORD, as soon as you leave me a lion will kill you.” And after the man went away, a lion found him and killed him.

Quick note: in the previous couple of verses, a prophet of God asks a man to strike him with his weapon, but of course the man refuses as he has no reason to strike a prophet who has done nothing wrong to him. However, the prophet let’s the man know that because he didn’t obey God and strike him with his weapon that a lion was going to kill him. And sure enough, the man leaves and is mauled apart by a lion. Why would God do such a thing?

20:37 The prophet found another man and said, “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him and wounded him.

20:38 Then the prophet went and stood by the road waiting for the king. He disguised himself with his headband down over his eyes.

20:39 As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him, “Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and someone came to me with a captive and said, ‘Guard this man. If he is missing, it will be your life for his life, or you must pay a talent of silver.’

20:40 While your servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared.” “That is your sentence,” the king of Israel said. “You have pronounced it yourself.”

20:41 Then the prophet quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets.

20:42 He said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: ‘You have set free a man I had determined should die. Therefore it is your life for his life, your people for his people.’ ”

20:43 Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went to his palace in Samaria. 

Final Thoughts on Chapter 20:

I thought King Ahab was long gone, but I was wrong. He comes back in full force this chapter in defense against an attack from Ben-Hadad who is king of Aram. God gives victory to Ahab the first time the two go to battle in order to show Ahab that he “is the LORD.” Ben-Hadad and his officials try to figure out why they lost and decide that it’s because God “is a God of the hills” meaning that if they fought Israel in the lowland plans, they would be able to win. The Arameans assemble their army the following spring in the lowland plains and the Israelites go out to meet them in battle, and God assures them victory a second time.

This story helps to illustrate the point that the author of 1 Kings is trying to make: a few chapters ago when Elijah had the religious duel with the prophets of Baal, it was proven to them that God was the only true god because he sent fire from heaven to devour the bull that Elijah set up. Now, the Arameans think they can win in battle on the lowland plains because they believe that God is a god of the hills. But this victory shows that God is the god of everywhere.

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1 Kings 19 (Elijah Flees to Horeb)

Summary: Elijah fled from Jezebel. At Horeb there was a wind, an earthquake and a fire; then the LORD spoke.

19:1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.

19:2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”

19:3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there,

19:4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”

19:5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”

19:6 He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

19:7 The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”

19:8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

19:9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

19:10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

19:11 The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.

19:12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

19:13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

19:14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

19:15 The LORD said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram.

19:16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.

19:17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.

19:18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.”

19:19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.

19:20 Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother good-by,” he said, “and then I will come with you.” “Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”

19:21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.

Final Thoughts on Chapter 19:

Having executed all of the prophets of Baal in the last chapter, Elijah runs for his life from Jezebel who has vowed revenge for the deed. Elijah flees into the wilderness, and in a moment of weakness, begs God to end his life. God instead sends an angel to comfort him, and the angel gives Elijah cakes of bread and some water in order to nourish him. Elijah survives on just that angel bread for 40 days and 40 nights as he travels toward Mount Horeb where God has commanded him to go.

A fierce wind picks up, an earthquake occurs, and a fire rages on the mountain as God approaches it. Once everything dies down, God speaks to Elijah in a “gentle whisper.” God tells Elijah to anoint Hazael king over Aram, Jehu king over Israel, and Elisha to succeed him as prophet.

Elijah sets off immediately and finds Elisha first, who is busy plowing a field with a team of oxen. Elisha agrees to set off with Elijah, and he kills his team of oxen, celebrating with the meat from them with his town as a goodbye feast. Then Elisha and Elijah ride out into the sunset.

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Submission by Proofofexistence:

Concerning the image of God, I think it’s important to keep in mind…not so much what He is doing (as you are in the Old Testament) but when He does it… and what He doesn’t do. God is incredibly patient with the Jewish people in ALLLL their screw ups, He gives them incredible amounts of time to fix things, but they are stubborn. Consider the Exodus from Egypt. All those miracles and wonders and the first thing we see the Jewish people do is complain… “lets go back the Egypt.” Food from heave? “Where is the meat!?” The New Testament is more “grace-filled” but God doesn’t change at heart. The OT is about following the rules (a burden) as the NT says. Keep those things in mind ;) God bless your journey.

1 Kings 18 (Elijah and A Challenge to the Prophets of Baal)

Summary: Elijah went to Ahab and challenged the prophets of Baal. Baal gave no answer but the LORD answered Elijah with fire. Then rain fell.

18:1 After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.”

18:2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria,

18:3 and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of his palace. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the LORD.

18:4 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.)

18:5 Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.”

18:6 So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another.

18:7 As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?”

18:8 “Yes,” he replied. “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’ ”

18:9 “What have I done wrong,” asked Obadiah, “that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death?

18:10 As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you.

18:11 But now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’

18:12 I don’t know where the Spirit of the LORD may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the LORD since my youth.

18:13 Haven’t you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred of the LORD’s prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water.

18:14 And now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ He will kill me!”

18:15 Elijah said, “As the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today.”

18:16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

18:17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”

18:18 “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the LORD’s commands and have followed the Baals.

18:19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

18:20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.

18:21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing.

18:22 Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.

18:23 Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it.

18:24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”

18:25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.”

18:26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “O Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

18:27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”

18:28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.

18:29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

18:30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins.

18:31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.”

18:32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed.

18:33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”

18:34 “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time.

18:35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

18:36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.

18:37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

18:38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

18:39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!”

18:40 Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.

18:41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.”

18:42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.

18:43 “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”

18:44 The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’ ”

18:45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.

18:46 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.

Final Thoughts on Chapter 18:

After some deliberation between Elijah and a secret supporter of God named Obadiah, Elijah presents himself to wicked King Ahab. Elijah challenges Ahab to a religious duel between God and Ahab’s god Baal: to see who’s god can actually set a sacrificial bull on fire. Ahab accepts the challenge and all of his prophets meet Elijah on the mount for the challenge.

The prophets of Baal go first, screaming out all day for his help, even cutting themselves in their effort to get his help. But there is no response from Baal. Elijah even sarcastically mocks them: “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”(I probably shouldn’t have but I found that hilarious).

At the end of the day having watched Baal’s prophets attempt to get his help, Elijah sets up his alter and even pours water on it to make it harder for it to ignite. Elijah calls out to God for help, and fire promptly comes from heaven and consumes the bull and even the water around the altar. When he is obviously the victor, Elijah commands that the Baal prophets be slaughtered. Ouch! A cloud begins to form and rain is soon upon them. Elijah tells Ahab to return to his wife before the rain gets him, and Ahab rides back on his chariot, but Elijah is filled with God-given super speed and returns before Ahab’s chariot. 

My only question – why was God willing to put on displays like this to show he is the one true god back then, but is not willing nowadays especially as we now have cameras and equipment that would prove once and for all he exists? Wouldn’t he want to do that in order to save billions who would otherwise not believe from damnation?

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