Blogging Through the Bible with my Christian sisters, has been a tremendous system of accountability and encouragement for each participant! We invite you to join us in reading the Bible cover to cover. Share in our discussions as we take turns publishing about our reads.
Recently, Stacey addressed chapter 17 and 18 of 1 Kings @ Scribbles and Sustenance, and Angela presented on chapter 19 and 20 of 1 Kings @ No Longer Lukewarm. Now I share thoughts on the next chapters, and so it goes each week!
1 Kings 21 and 22
I see several themes recurring in these chapters, and noteworthy here is that these chapters are documentation of the history of the times for these people, along with the "book of annals of the kings," which is mentioned repeatedly in the Holy Bible.
Recurring themes would be the number three, the number seven, and reference to someone who has displeased God, as having their blood or their flesh consumed by dogs or scavenger birds. Hmm. All of those topics would make an interesting side study in the future. I mean, not that I personally wish to know more about scavenger birds in particular, or the history of dogs in ancient civilization, because I do not, but I am interested in the numbers theme and significance of blood because obviously those themes carry over significantly into New Testament.
Uniquely to these chapters, we meet Naboth, and King Ahab's wife Jezebel. The scenario that played out between those three is not a lot unlike scenarios that could play out anywhere any contemporary year in many parts of the world today. King Ahab lusts after some property (Naboth's vineyard) and sulks big time when Naboth has the audacity to refuse his reasonable offers. It is a matter of sentimentality or respect for ancestral heritage that seems to keep Naboth from accepting the KING's offer.
When Jezebel sees her husband's consequential disappointment and sulking behavior, she chides him, and then takes matters into her own hands. She devises this devious plan to get Naboth killed !!
To carry out her evil plan, she pre-meditated, impersonated (sending out letters of instructions in Ahab's name), and schemed, as well as apparently paid off some scoundrels. Verse 8-14 of chapter 1 Kings 21, you have to read it!!
When Naboth is stoned to death, innocent party, as a result of Jezebel's scheme, this royal husband and wife are simply selfishly delighted. King Ahab goes to the vineyard to take possession of it, and to his surprise he meets the true prophet of the time, Elijah. Whew!!
This is where Elijah informs King Ahab of his dismal doom... disaster on him and his descendants, and dogs and birds to consume human blood and flesh. Verse 19-26 of 1 Kings 21, spells out the consequences coming and makes it clear that it is a result as to displeasing God, dishonoring God, "doing evil," and behaving in "vilest manner."
Interestingly, verse 27-29, King Ahab takes Elijah's prophecy of doom seriously, and grieves and seems to repent somewhat. God lessens the sentence slightly.
Seriously, we encourage you to read these chapters along with us, and join the discussion. Each participant of Blogging Through the Bible has their own style that may even vary from post to post. In this project we have the freedom to blog as we wish, accountable to God. We LOVE the accountability and count ourselves as blessed to have the opportunity to share discussion of God's word, which we hope is an encouragement to others for kingdom purposes.
In the beginning of chapter 22, some political tension is brewing, and King of Judah, named Jehoshaphat tries to solicit an ally in the King of Israel. Jehoshaphat urges the king of Israel to, "First seek the counsel of the Lord," so king of Israel brought together about 400 prophets.
450 prophets of Baal is mentioned in 1 Kings 18 !! Not all prophets represent the one true, and Holy God!! Uh-oh. Now honestly v.6-28 gets quite confusing to me, but by v.19-37, I understand that a war has been played out and despite another scheme (king at war in common clothes and someone else in royal robes), King of Israel, who summoned the false prophets for counsel (right?) is killed. In the whole battle scene (v. 29-37 of 1 Kings 22), Ahab's name is not mentioned, but before and after those verses, Ahab is mentioned as the King of Israel, the same one that delighted in Naboth's tragic slaying by set-up stoning, so presumably this is Ahab's END on earth.
V. 43 1 Kings 22 says that Jehoshaphat "...did what was right in the eyes of the Lord," and so it is not surprising, (v.44) "Jehoshaphat was also at peace with he king of Israel."
More details are given, and "book of annals of the kings," is mentioned as secondary source. Whew! Am I an authority? Absolutely NOT. I am a novice. I am a Bible lover. I am a blogger. I would delight for a kind authority, to join our discussions here. In the meantime, us blogging sisters continue our travels through the Bible. Thanks for joining us. We hope we are an encouragement to you, to get in God's word.
*What themes to you see repeated, as per God's anger?
*What evidence from these chapters do you see as to the mercy of God?
*So this culture produced both good, and bad kings. Kings that sought to please the one true God, and those that did not. *Why do you think? *What contributes to formation of a peoples' values or life choices?
*What can we do to HELP our society be shaped for GOOD?
Dear Father in Heaven, I thank you for your Word preserved, that I can read and learn. I pray that by the Holy Spirit in my life, I will learn what you would have me to learn, and do what you would have me to do. I am not a king or a queen in government, but I want to be an influencer for your kingdom purposes. I want to live rightly. All of my hope is in You. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen
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