1 Kings 19

• Jezebel (Ahab’s wife) swore to kill Elijah

• Elijah hid for his life
• The Lord appeared to Elijah and told him to anoint two kings and Elisha as prophet.
• Through these kings the Lord wiped out the rest of the Baal followers.

1 Kings 20

• Ahab, King of Israel in the north, went to battle but never completed God’s instructions so the prophets warned him of his future.

 
AHAB AND NABOTH’S VINEYARD
1 KINGS 21
1 Some time passed after these events. Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard; it was in Jezreel next to the palace of King Ahab of Samaria.

• Map
• Ahab’s winter palace.
• A vineyard, like an olive-orchard, is not just land that may have been in the family for a long time.
• It represents a high investment in many years of unfruitful care before it reaches maturity.

2 So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard so I can have it for a vegetable garden, since it is right next to my palace. I will give you a better vineyard in its place, or if you prefer, I will give you its value in silver.”

• Israel is sometimes portrayed in the OT as a vine under God's special care (e.g., Isa. 3:13-15; cf. Mark 12:1-12 and parallels; John 15:1-17).
• Ahab's desire to replace a vineyard with a vegetable garden is meant to be seen as symbolic of a deeper desire.
• This is a king who wants to make Israel like Egypt [see Deut. 11:10].

3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “As the Lord is my witness, I will never give my ancestors’ inheritance to you.”
4 So Ahab went to his palace resentful and angry because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had told him. He had said, “I will not give you my ancestors inheritance.” He lay down on his bed, turned his face away, and didn’t eat any food.

• His couch in front of the buffet table.

5 Then his wife Jezebel came to him and said to him, “Why are you so upset that you refuse to eat?”
6 “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite,” he replied. “I told him, ‘Give me your vineyard for silver, or if you wish, I will give you a vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I won’t give you my vineyard!’ ”
7 Then his wife Jezebel said to him, “Now, exercise your royal power over Israel. Get up, eat some food, and be happy. For I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

• Jezebel believed that Ahab was the supreme authority in Israel, an opinion that he shared (cf. 20:42).
• They failed to acknowledge Yahweh's sovereignty over Israel.

8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal. She sent the letters to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city. 9 In the letters, she wrote:
Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people. 10 Then seat two wicked men opposite him and have them testify against him, saying, “You have cursed God and the king!” Then take him out and stone him to death.

• Jezebel apparently knew something of the Mosaic Law.
• It required two witnesses in capital offense cases (Deut. 17:6-7).
• Cursing God was a capital offense (Lev. 24:16).
• Since the king was God's anointed authority, Jezebel in effect elevated cursing the king to a crime on the same level with cursing Yahweh.
• This was inappropriate but consistent with her concept of Israel's king.
• She formed her plot in conscious disobedience to God's revealed will.
• "Every legal system can become the tool of politicians, if the values of those responsible for it have been sufficiently corrupted."

11 The men of his city, the elders and nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them, just as it was written in the letters she had sent them. 12 They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the people. 13 The two wicked men came in and sat opposite him. Then the wicked men testified against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed God and the king!” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones. 14 Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.”

• Jezebel evidently executed Naboth's sons at the same time.
• 2 Kings 9:25-26 - Jehu said to Bidkar his aide, “Pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember when you and I were riding side by side behind his father Ahab, and the Lord uttered this pronouncement against him: 26 ‘As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘so will I repay you on this plot of land’—this is the Lord’s declaration.[1] .

15 When 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 who refused to give it to you for silver, since Naboth isn’t alive, but dead.” 16 When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to take possession of it.

• When Ahab heard what his wife had done, he did not reprove her but took advantage of her actions and in doing so approved them.
• The most heinous act of Ahab came in the matter of Naboth.
• A king's primary responsibility was to render justice in the land [cf. 3:9].
• Ahab shockingly violated this requirement by stealing from a man he had murdered (through Jezebel)."

 
THE LORD’S JUDGMENT ON AHAB
17 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: 18 “Get up and go to meet King Ahab of Israel, who is in Samaria. He’s in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it.

• Samaria was King Ahab’s capitol.
• Jezreel was his winter palace.

19 Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Have you murdered and also taken possession?’ Then tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: In the place where the dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, the dogs will also lick up your blood!’ ”

• Even though Jezebel was behind the murder of Naboth, God held her husband Ahab responsible for it, since he should have prevented it.
• Murdering someone and taking possession of his property was a capital offense under the Law of Moses (cf. 2 Sam. 11; 12:13).
• It would be a great shame for Ahab to have his blood flow in the streets of his winter capital: Jezreel.
• It would be an even greater disgrace to have it licked up by wild scavengers, as Naboth's blood had been.

20 Ahab said to Elijah, “So, my enemy, you’ve found me, have you?”
He replied, “I have found you because you devoted yourself to do what is evil in the Lord’s sight.

•  Elijah was Ahab's "enemy" because the prophet was God's representative whom the king had decided to oppose.
• Ahab had given himself over to do evil in that he had sacrificed his own life and future to obtain what he wanted.

21 This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on you and will eradicate your descendants:
I will wipe out all of Ahab’s males,
both slave and free, in Israel;
22 I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have angered me and caused Israel to sin. 23 The Lord also speaks of Jezebel: ‘The dogs will eat Jezebel in the plot of land at Jezreel:
24 Anyone who belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and anyone who dies in the field, the birds will eat.”

•  As for Jezebel, wild dogs, which normally lived off the garbage in cities, would eat her.
• Furthermore, all of Ahab's descendants would experience dishonorable deaths

25 Still, there was no one like Ahab, who devoted himself to do what was evil in the Lord’s sight, because his wife Jezebel incited him. 26 He committed the most detestable acts by following idols as the Amorites had, whom the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.

•  The writer's assessment of Ahab was that he was the worst ruler in Israel yet.
• He was as bad as the Amorites whom God drove out because of their wickedness (cf. Lev. 18:25-30).
• Nevertheless, Ahab was a king over God's chosen people, though not of the Davidic line.

27 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put sackcloth over his body, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around subdued. 28 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: 29 “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? I will not bring the disaster during his lifetime, because he has humbled himself before me. I will bring the disaster on his house during his son’s lifetime.”[2]

• Ahab's genuine repentance, when he heard of his fate—from Israel's true King—resulted in God's relenting and lightening His sentence.
• Not Ahab but his son Joram (i.e., Jehoram) would die on Naboth's land in Jezreel (v. 19; 2 Kings 9:25-26).
• There is no indication here or elsewhere that Jezebel ever repented.

 

• The story of Naboth warns against the use of piety and legality to cloak injustice.
• It teaches that those who support the plots of a Jezebel, whether by silent acquiescence or overt complicity, share her crime.
• It is a resounding affirmation that injustice touches God, that 'as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me' (Matt. 25:40, 45), that in the cosmic order of things there is a power at work that makes for justice.
• And the story attests that there is awesome power in the conscience and protest of the individual servant of God.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 2 Ki 9:25–26.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Ki 21:1–29.

Solomon built the temple…
1 Kings 11 – Solomon married many wives and began worshipping their gods.

• God raised up enemies against Solomon and he dies.
• Saul – Solomon – (1025 -925 BC)

1 Kings 12 – Divided Kingdom

• Judah (925 – 586 BC) – Southern Kingdom
• Israel (925 – 721 BC) – Northern Kingdom

 
Cause of the Division:

• King Solomon's son, Rehoboam, continued Solomon's policies of heavy taxation and forced labor, which led to discontent among the northern tribes.
• They refused to acknowledge Rehoboam's authority and formed their own kingdom under Jeroboam.

 
Northern Kingdom (Israel):

• This kingdom was made up of ten tribes and had its capital in Samaria.
• The Northern Kingdom was known for its idolatry and often clashed with the Southern Kingdom.

 
Southern Kingdom (Judah):

• This kingdom was composed of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, as well as the Levites who served in the Temple in Jerusalem. Judah remained loyal to the Davidic dynasty, with Jerusalem as its capital.

 
Consequences of the Division:

• The division led to decades of conflict between the two kingdoms.
• The Northern Kingdom eventually fell to the Assyrians in 722 BCE, while the Southern Kingdom lasted for another century before being conquered by the Babylonians in 587 BCE.

 
1 KINGS 17
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, in whose presence I stand, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!”
2 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 3 “Leave here, turn eastward, and hide at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. 4 You are to drink from the wadi. I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.”
5 So he proceeded to do what the Lord commanded. Elijah left and lived at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. 6 The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening, and he would drink from the wadi. 7 After a while, the wadi dried up because there had been no rain in the land. [1]

• Again, God raised up a prophet to announce what He would do.
• Evidently, Ahab's (King of Israel) apostasy had been going on for 14 years before God confronted the king with His prophetic challenge.
• Normally, God gives sinners an opportunity to judge themselves and repent before He sends judgment on them.

 
ELIJAH’S MESSAGE TO AHAB
1 KINGS 18:1-46
1 After a long time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year: “Go and present yourself to Ahab. I will send rain on the surface of the land.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
The famine was severe in Samaria. 3 Ahab called for Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. Obadiah was a man who greatly feared the Lord 4 and took a hundred prophets and hid them, fifty men to a cave, and provided them with food and water when Jezebel slaughtered the Lord’s prophets. 5 Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go throughout the land to every spring and to every wadi. Perhaps we’ll find grass so we can keep the horses and mules alive and not have to destroy any cattle.” 6 They divided the land between them in order to cover it. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went the other way by himself.
7 While Obadiah was walking along the road, Elijah suddenly met him. When Obadiah recognized him, he fell facedown and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?”
8 “It is I,” he replied. “Go tell your lord, ‘Elijah is here!’ ”
9 But Obadiah said, “What sin have I committed, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to put me to death? 10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent someone to search for you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made that kingdom or nation swear they had not found you.
11 “Now you say, ‘Go tell your lord, “Elijah is here!” ’ 12 But when I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord may carry you off to some place I don’t know. Then when I go report to Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have feared the Lord from my youth. 13 Wasn’t it reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the Lord’s prophets? I hid a hundred of the prophets of the Lord, fifty men to a cave, and I provided them with food and water. 14 Now you say, ‘Go tell your lord, “Elijah is here!” ’ He will kill me!”
15 Then Elijah said, “As the Lord of Armies lives, in whose presence I stand, today I will present myself to Ahab.”
16 Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him. Then Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, the one ruining Israel?”
18 He replied, “I have not ruined Israel, but you and your father’s family have, because you have abandoned the Lord’s commands and followed the Baals.

• Ahab had a problem finally believing that he was seeing Elijah similar to Obadiah's.
• He believed that Elijah was the cause of the famine.
• The real source of Israel's troubles was Ahab's disregard of the Mosaic Covenant and their preference for idolatry.

19 Now summon all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

• Obadiah was similar to many believers in Yahweh who were living in Israel at that time.
• They had divided allegiances, they had faith in Yahweh, they were fearful for their own safety, and they were slow to respond to God's word.
• Elijah saw beforehand, in Obadiah's response to him, how believers in Israel would respond to what he would soon do on Mount Carmel.
• Elijah would call on the people to do essentially what he had commanded Obadiah to do: obey the LORD's word through His prophet.

 
Prophet vs Non-Prophet

• As a non-prophet, I can’t help but experience life with me at the center of my universe.
• With my eyes I look out on the world.
• With my ears I hear what is going on.
• I can only feel, want, and experience what I am feeling, wanting, and experiencing.
• I naturally want the people around me to give up themselves and become what I want them to be.
• I prefer those close to me to think, feel, and act toward the world in the same way I do.
• I prefer the illusion of sameness when really we are very different from each other.
• I want other people’s worlds to be like mine.
• I even act the same way in my relationship with God, walking out my spirituality as if I am the center of the universe.
• For this reason, M. Scott Peck argues that we are all born narcissists and that learning to grow out of our narcissism is at the heart of the spiritual journey.[2]

 

• As for a prophet, their desire is God’s desire.
• This is what God has given them to share instead of their own feelings, wants, and experiences.
• It would be easy for pastors to place their own agendas in the middle of the message and express them as being Biblical or of God.

 
 
ELIJAH AT MOUNT CARMEL
20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. 21 Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions?, If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him.” But the people didn’t answer him a word.
22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. 23 Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The God who answers with fire, he is God.”
All the people answered, “That’s fine.”
25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god but don’t light the fire.”
26 So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced around the altar they had made.
27 At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!” 28 They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. 29 All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near me.” So all the people approached him. Then he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been torn down: 31 Elijah took twelve stones—according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel will be your name”--32 and he built an altar with the stones in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons., 33 Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, “Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.” 34 Then he said, “A second time!” and they did it a second time. And then he said, “A third time!” and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water.

• The 12 large jars of water that he had poured on the sacrifice may also have represented Israel.
• Elijah may have obtained the water from a spring or perhaps from the Great (Mediterranean) Sea that is not far from some parts of Mount Carmel.
• The traditional site of this confrontation, however, is at the east end of the Carmel range of mountains, far from the sea.

36 At the time for offering the evening sacrifice, the prophet Elijah approached the altar and said, “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that you are God in Israel and I am your servant, and that at your word I have done all these things. 37 Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back.”
38 Then the Lord’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell facedown and said, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!”
40 Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let even one of them escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and slaughtered them there. 41 Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a rainstorm.”
42 So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah went up to the summit of Carmel. He bent down on the ground and put his face between his knees. 43 Then he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the sea.”
So he went up, looked, and said, “There’s nothing.”
Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
44 On the seventh time, he reported, “There’s a cloud as small as a man’s hand coming up from the sea.”
Then Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Get your chariot ready and go down so the rain doesn’t stop you.’ ”
45 In a little while, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and there was a downpour. So Ahab got in his chariot and went to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord was on Elijah, and he tucked his mantle under his belt and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.[3]

• The story of Elijah places him as one of the main characters of the Old Covenant.
• To speak truth in a world of untruth is a hard life… unless you have God to back it up for you.

We have all sorts of miracles in this room… maybe not as big as ending a 3.5 year drought… but enough to prove that God is real, alive, and caring for us.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Ki 17:1–7.
[2] Peter Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: It’s Impossible to Be Spiritually Mature, While Remaining Emotionally Immature (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017), 171–172.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Ki 18:1–46.