1 Kings - Chapter 17

During the reign of Asa, the king of Judah, Israel had multiple kings, including Jeroboam and his son Nadab who did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Basha became the next king, followed by Elah who was killed by Zimri. Zimri's reign lasted only seven days before Omri became the king. Omri reigned for twelve years and built the city of Samaria. Ahab, Omri's son, succeeded him as king and was described as the most evil king yet. Elijah, a prophet, declared a drought upon Ahab's command, showing that the God of Israel is above the false gods worshipped by Ahab and Jezebel. Elijah then went into hiding and was provided food and water by ravens. When the brook dried up, the Lord sent him to a widow in Zarephath who provided for him. Later, the widow's son became ill and Elijah revived him. I am Dewey Callio, your host, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If by chance you want to contact me, you can do that at bab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today we are covering chapter 17 of 1 Kings. We are in the part of history where Asa is still king of Judah, the southern two tribes. His reign lasted 41 years, and during his reign, Israel, the northern kingdom, had seven kings on the throne, eight if you count Tibnaeus king. If you remember, when Jeroboam and the northern ten tribes broke away from Rehoboam as king over all Israel, Jeroboam did not want the people to go back to Jerusalem to worship the Lord three times a year as the Lord directed. So he made golden calves and placed one in the northern tip of Dan and one on the southern border of Israel at Bethel. He also made his own religious holidays for the people to celebrate, and he allowed anyone who wanted to be a priest that position. Since the northern tribes of Israel began with idolatry, it continued in that line. Jeroboam's son Nadab became king for two years, and chapter 15 verse 26 tells us, he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, walking in the ways of his father and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit. The next king was Basha, who reigned 24 years, and he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, walking in the ways of Jeroboam and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit. Chapter 15 verse 34, Basha's son Elah became the next king, and he reigned in Tirzah, the capital of Israel, for two years. It is interesting that there is no mention that he did evil like his father, maybe because he had such a short, unproductive reign, but we know that when he died, he was getting drunk in the home of Arzah, the man in charge of the palace at Tirzah. I have no idea why he wasn't in his own home, unless maybe Arzah was in on the plot with Zimri, chapter 16 verse 9. Zimri was one of the officials who commanded half of the king's chariots. He came and killed Elah and succeeded him as king. One thing to note, which M. Pierce McSinney Jr. said, quote, there is no longer any pretense of prophetic designation or kingship by covenant. In other words, with the kings of Israel, they did not follow the line of David, nor did they hear from the Lord to find a king. So basically, it was whoever was strongest became king. Well, Zimri's reign lasted a whole seven days. When the Israelites learned what Zimri had done, they proclaimed Omri, the commander of the army, to be king. So they went to Tirzah, where the palace was, laid siege to it, and when Zimri realized he could not escape, he set the palace on fire around him and died. Chapter 16 verse 19 explained, so he died because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord and walking in the ways of Jeroboam, and in the sin he had committed and had caused Israel to commit. Now, not everybody wanted Omri to be king. The other half of the people wanted Timni, son of Gennath, to be king. But Omri and his forces were stronger, so Timni died and Omri became king. Chapter 16 verse 22b. Now, Omri is king, and he reigned for twelve years, six in Tirzah, and then he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemur for two talents of silver and built a city on the hill, calling it Samaria after the name of the former owner of the hill. Chapter 16 verse 24. Another thing that Metheny said in his commentary, the strategic choice of his new capital at Samaria and his private ownership of the strongly fortified and centrally located hill has earned Omri the title, quote, David of the North. In the building of the fortifications and royal palace, he used Phoenician workmanship obtained by a commercial treaty with Tyre. That was how David built his palace. Chapter 16 verse 25 and 26 reads, But Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord and sinned more than all those before him. He walked in all the ways of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit, so that they provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their worthless idols. When Omri died, his son Ahab became king, and he reigned for 22 years. What is interesting is that instead of sharing at the end of his life if he was a good king or a bad king, it starts off with his description. In chapter 16 verses 30 to 33, Ahab, son of Omri, did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbel, king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. One thing I noticed is that up to Ahab's time, all the other kings were compared to Jeroboam and his sin which caused Israel to sin. But here Ahab's sin has succeeded Jeroboam's. Metheny also said, if Omri, Ahab's dad, may be referred to as the David of the North, then Ahab is the Solomon of the North. Especially significant to the historian is his provision for Jezebel of a sanctuary with altar, pillar, and Asherah to her God. End of quote. If you remember, Solomon did the same for his wives too. 1 Kings chapter 11 verses 7 and 8. This is where we are as we look at chapter 17. The story focuses on the northern kingdom of Israel where Ahab is king. Verse 1 says, Now Elijah the Tishbite from Tishbe in Gilead said to Ahab, As the Lord the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few words except at my word. This is the first time we have seen the prophet Elijah, which means Yahweh is my God. But it is not the last. Tishbe is in northern Israel on the east side of the Jordan River. We do not know how the Lord spoke to Elijah but he declares he serves the Lord and it seems clear that the Lord told him to go to King Ahab, otherwise what he said would not have come true. Now the point of there being no dew nor rain in the next few years except at the word of the Lord through Elijah has more meaning than just a drought is coming. Just like with Moses and the king of Egypt, all of the plagues showed that the God of Israel is over all the gods of Egypt. So with Elijah and his standoff with King Ahab. The God of Israel is over the false gods of Ahab and Jezebel. Baal was the God over rain and storms which is needed for fertility and during the dry season it was believed that Baal was gone or submitted to the death God Mot only to be revived when the rains came again. With Elijah's claim he was showing that it was the God of Israel that was over the rain and drought. Verses 2 and 3 tell us that the Lord then told Elijah to leave go east and hide in the Kareth ravine east of the Jordan River and from there the Lord would provide drink and food for the ravens would feed him. Just a note, sometimes it is okay to hide. Also like Moses the Lord provided food and water to the Israelites. Verses 5 and 6 tell us the ravens brought Elijah bread and meat both in the morning and in the evening and he could drink from the brook. This also shows that the Lord is over creatures like ravens who obeyed their creator. The drought became so severe that the brook dried up and the Lord told Elijah go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food. Now this is the land of Phoenicia which is the land of Jezebel. Here we see that the Lord was working in a woman's life from the same spiritual background as the wicked Jezebel. Now Jesus mentions this when he is talking to people in his hometown in Luke chapter 4 verses 24 through 26 and he says I tell you the truth no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. Jesus' point to the Jews in the synagogue is that the Lord desires for all to come to him even non-Jews, even women and his own people tried to throw Jesus off the cliff for saying such a thing but Jesus walked through and went on his way. Here we have two women from the same land one wicked and one who is commanded by the Lord. The reverse is also true. We have two men both from Israel one faithful to the Lord Elijah and one unfaithful Ahab. It has nothing to do with our background or our nationality but our faith in the Lord. Elijah came to Zarephath saw the woman gathering sticks at the town gate and he asked for a little water. Now remember we are in a drought. As the woman went to get him water without saying anything he asked for a piece of bread too. At this, at this the woman responded As surely as the Lord your God lives I don't have any bread. Only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son that we may eat it and die. Verse 12 How did she know about the Lord his God? From the scriptures we can deduce it is because the Lord had commanded her. He had already been working in her life ready for Elijah to come. Elijah said don't be afraid go home and do as you have said but first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me and then make something for yourself and your son for this is what the Lord the God of Israel says the jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land. She did just that and the Lord provided for her her son and Elijah. Later on the son of the woman who owned the house became ill and stopped breathing. She asked Elijah verse 18 What do you have against me man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son? Now ladies we don't know what sin she is talking about but we do see that she is convicted of her sin. Elijah asked for the son's body brought him upstairs where he was staying laid him on the bed and then Elijah cried out to the Lord Oh Lord my God have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with by causing her son to die? Elijah did not know what the Lord was doing with the death of the boy either. He laid on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord verse 21 Oh Lord my God let this boy's life return to him Oh Lord my God let this boy's life return to him Oh Lord my God let this boy's life return to him. The Lord heard his cry and brought life back to the boy. He brought the son back down to his mother and said look your son is alive. Verse 24 Then the woman said to Elijah Now I know Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is truth. This makes me think of Jesus and Lazarus. Jesus told his disciples in John chapter 11 verse 14 Lazarus is dead and for your sake I am glad I was not there so that you may believe but let us go to him. That was one thing I learned with our youngest son's childhood epilepsy. The Lord was doing so much more than just his sickness. He was working in people's lives through it. The widow in Zarephath now believed in the God of Israel even if the King of Israel did not. Ladies it does not matter your background or nationality. The Lord is Lord over the weather the leadership of the nations the animals, the rain, the food supply the water supply and especially over death. I don't know where you are with the Lord. Maybe you are like the widow and recognize your sin and if so that is a beautiful place to be because that is the first step of healing. First John 1.9 says if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Maybe you are not sure if you believe in the God of Israel or the God of Christians or the God of the Bible then pray and ask him to reveal himself to you. He would love that. John 3.16 and 17 says for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life for God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. Come to the Lord just as you are and he is more than able to do all the rest. He loves you. Maybe you are a believer in Jesus. What is he calling you to do? Or where is he calling you to go? Let's not live in unfaithfulness like King Ahab. Instead let's be like Elijah and obey. Until next time and thanks so much for listening.