In today's section we read about:
Omri takes over the throne of Israel, succeeded by Ahab
Elijah prophecies a drought, flees and is fed by ravens and by a widow
Elijah confronts the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel
Elijah flees to Sinai where God speaks to him
Ahab fights Ben-Hadad
Jezebel kills Naboth to get his vineyard for Ahab
Jehoshaphat is king of Israel, allied with the northern kings
Death of Ahab
Elijah is taken into heaven, succeeded by Elisha
Some things that struck me today:
16:34 fulfils the words of Joshua (Josh 6:26). Is it any coincidence it happened during the reign of Ahab, who "did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him"?
Elijah suddenly appears in the narrative - why is it so sudden? How was he called?
18:28 - cf Lev 19:28
18:39 - In v24, it has been agreed that the god who answers by fire is the true God, and here everyone is in absolutely no doubt.
18:46 - the Lord gave special strength to Elijah so he could outrun the chariot, which presumably was not to confront Ahab, but to enable him to escape.
19:11-18 - I was struck by the phrase "God was not in the earthquake/wind/fire". We often look for amazing signs and miracles, yet these are merely to point to what God really wants, which is for us to listen out and hear his voice. In v14, Elijah is a bit like a sulky kid, but God is tender but firm - 'no, you're not the only one left, I have kept 7,000 others safe too'.
Mind you, if Elijah was sulky in 19:13, that is nothing compared to Ahab in 20:43 and 21:4.
21:28-29 was for me the most fascinating bit I read today. Here you have Ahab, the most evil of all the kings, and yet God here is almost bragging to Elijah that he has humbled himself. It is a real encouragement, that noone is intrinsically irredeemable, whether it is the robber on the cross, the town of Nineveh or even Ahab.
The NLT translation of 22:15 is fabulous - "Micaiah replied sarcastically", which really makes sense of the exchange between the kings and the prophets
22:37 - Just to hammer home the point of how bad Ahab was, the dogs come and lick his blood at the place where prostitutes bathed
In 2 Ki 1 and 2, there are some bits that make you stop and think - two companies of men killed by fire, 42 boys mauled by bears for calling Elisha "slaphead" (my translation, the NLT has 'baldy').
God takes Elijah up in a whirlwind; God wasn't in the wind in 1 Ki 19
The parting of the Jordan, putting salt into water to purify the springs - this must have been enough to freak everyone else out
2:9 - Elisha asks to inherit a double portion of Elijah's spirit. I read this to mean, not that he will be have twice as powerful as Elijah, but to mark out that he is in effect the firstborn son, ie the worthy successor. Deut 21:17 sets out the principle of the eldest son receiving a double share, although in Genesis there are two examples (Esau and Reuben) of the rights of the firstborn being taken/given away. Here the seal of the Spirit is the confirmation that Elisha is Elijah's successor.
Elisha is a pretty scary character - he calls out bears to maul the youths taking the mick out of him, and you can just feel the withering disdain and scorn in 3:14. And yet, you really get a palpable sense of his compassion in ch 4.
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