Today’s passage: 1 Kings 20:1-43

Helpful thoughts:

• Elijah was given instruction to anoint the new king over Israel in the last chapter.  Today, we start to see the initial occasion for Ahab’s decline.
• In verses 10 and 11, Ben-Hadad threatens to level Samaria and Ahab responds by reminding the Syrian king not to call himself the victor before he wins the war.
• The Syrians’ view of gods is evidenced in their desire to take the next battle to the plains.  They believed the gods of Israel would be less effective there.
  • Syria picked a fight not just with Israel but with God.  Israel needed to learn this just as much as the Syrians.
• These bazaars that Ben-Hadad promised to Ahab were marketplaces that would be placed in the capital of Syria which would be a financial benefit to Israel.

Questions to consider:

1. Why was God going to give this victory to Israel and King Ahab? (Verse 13)  What was the Syrians’ understanding of the worship practices of Israel if they were thinking of their gods? (Verse 23)  What was Israel’s testimony to the world around them concerning Yahweh?
2. How did Ahab’s rebuke, judgment and response compare and contrast with that of Saul and David? (1 Samuel 15, 2 Samuel 12, Psalm 51 – Look for the methods of rebuke, the results of the sin, the reactions of the men.)  How does godly sorrow differ from worldly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10-13)?
3. Is God only powerful in certain areas of the world or in our lives?  What areas of your life do you find it easiest to trust God?  What areas do you tend to try to handle on your own?  How could our busyness distract us from what God would have us to do, when what God wants is for us to acknowledge and serve Him in those tasks?  What does God want you to know about Himself and every area, concern, and joy in your life (Verse 13)?

Today’s passage: 1 Kings 19:1-21

Helpful thoughts:

• Elijah fled from Mt. Carmel to the extreme south of Judah and then beyond.
  • At the Lord’s leading, he made it all the way to Horeb, which is Mt. Sinai.  Elijah went a long way but to a familiar place in the history of the Jewish people.
• One would expect God to voice himself in grand ways like the earthquakes and violent winds.  God reoriented Elijah’s view of Him, though His sovereign control would have been even more firmly understood.
  • Elijah’s greatest need was not to see God seemingly flex His muscle through these events.  What Elijah needed to hear was the words of God.
• The feast Elisha gave to the people was also the end of his work in the field.  His yoke and farming implements were no longer useful, his animals slaughtered, he was ready to move forward with Elijah.

Questions to consider:

1. Why would it make sense for Elijah to fear the threat of Jezebel?  After slaughtering 450 men, how ready would you be for another fight?  On the other hand, what could the God who stops and sends rains and brings fire down from heaven for His name’s sake have done for his prophet?
2. When we are struggling, do we often clamor for the Word of God or big signs?  How can this passage encourage us to confidently go back to God’s Word for help and comfort?
3. God’s next commands for Elijah named kings inside and outside of Israel and verified the future of prophetic ministry in Israel!  How would these assignments have given encouragement to Elijah after he had despaired earlier?  Is God only sovereign over Israel?  Would Elijah be the final worshiper of Yahweh?  Was God counting on Elijah to win the battle or did Elijah need to count on God?

Today’s passage: 1 Kings 18:1-46

Helpful thoughts:

• To Ahab, a man who loved the Lord and desired the best for him and the nation was a “troubler.”
  • A “troubler” is someone who brings misfortune through foolishness.  This is how Ahab saw Elijah, which tells us how Ahab saw God.
• From man’s perspective, this may have looked like one man versus 450.  In truth, this “contest” was the one true God versus no god at all.
• The execution of the false prophets was according to the law in Deuteronomy 13:1-5.
  • It was customary for kings in that time to have runners go ahead of their chariots for security purposes.  God miraculously allowed Elijah to catch up and run ahead of this chariot and thereby again show His power and Elijah’s desire to be loyal to God’s people and their king.

Questions to consider:

1. Though this is certainly one of the more exciting accounts in the Old Testament, why is it also one of the saddest?  Who were these people who had been worshiping these false gods?  Who were these people who had been prophets of Baal and were now slain?
2. In truth, who was the troubler of Israel?  How might Ahab’s posture toward Elijah give us reason to pause if our brother or sister in Christ is bravely calling a problem to our attention?  Why is it hard sometimes to listen to loving constructive criticism?  When do we truly know we have a loyal friend?
3. What would the twelve stones have reminded Israel of?  Even though they had separated from Judah as an independent nation, who were they?  Whose were they?

Today’s passage: 1 Kings 17:8-24

Helpful thoughts:

• Zarephath is a city outside of Israel.  It was actually in the region of Phoenicia that was ruled by Ahab’s father-in-law (Jezebel’s father).  God’s abilities to provide did not fade outside of the borders of Israel.
• Baal worshipers believed Baal could bring the dead back to life, but this widow now saw that God alone had this power.
• The God of Israel was the one who provided for the needs of all people all over the earth.  He always has been, He always will be.

Questions to consider:

1. Why do you think God sent Elijah to a home and family outside of Israel during this time?  What was He doing?  What can we learn from this?
2. In order to truly learn and believe in the Lord, what would this woman have also needed to understand about Baal?  Can both Baal and Yahweh be sovereign?
3. Can other people in other parts of the world believe in Buddhism, or Islam, or Hinduism, or even Atheism and be right?  What must they hear and know? (Romans 10:14-17)  What part can we have in the world hearing the truth of the Gospel?

Today’s passage: 1 Kings 17:1-7

Helpful thoughts:

• Today, we get to meet the prophet Elijah.  His name means, “Yahweh is God.”
  • Baal was the god of storms, rains, and fertility.
  • It did not rain for 3 years and 6 months (James 5:17).
  • Elijah’s mission was to show who the real God of Israel is (Deuteronomy 11:16-17).
• God is alive, sovereign, and able to provide.  Baal is an invention of the hearts of men.

Questions to consider:

1. Why did God choose to prevent rain to come down on Israel?  How did this cut straight at the center of their worship of Baal?
2. With verse 7, what might we expect Elijah to begin to worry about?  What might we expect God, who can command birds to supply food to a single man by a small brook, to do?
3. Why did Elijah do what the first half of verse 5 says he did?  When we obey God, what must be true of our belief/motives?  When we ignore God and/or invent idols, what must be true of our belief/motives?

Today’s passage: 1 Kings 16:21-34

Helpful thoughts:

• The conflict between supporters of Omri and Tibni lasted about four years.
  • King after king, line after line, the same sins continue to abound in Israel.
• With Ahab’s reign, Israel went into the worship of Baal, with Jezebel as it’s worship leader.  Baal was a false god who had been worshipped in and around Canaan since before Israel arrived out of their bondage in Egypt.
• The rebuilding of Jericho fulfilled the curse of Joshua 6:26.  It also serves to illustrate Israel’s abandonment of God.
  • Builders of cities who worshiped these false gods would give their infants up as sacrifices to appease the gods to provide safety to their new cities.  These children who died were probably sacrificed and laid in the foundation of the city.

Questions to consider:

1. If kings are being killed and replaced, and if the people of the nation were desiring to follow God, what kind of king do you think would eventually prevail?  What are we learning about the nation of Israel as a whole within this continuing narrative?
2. The loss of Hiel’s sons was a curse from God.  If Hiel saw these deaths as sacrifices for the benefit of the city, would their deaths have been mourned or celebrated by the people?  What has to happen for a people to celebrate what God calls a curse (Romans 1:18-32)?
3. The reign of Ahab was a financially prosperous time in the kingdom of Israel.  How should this serve as a warning to us today?  Does financial prosperity always equal blessing from God?  How does Christ bring contentment regardless of our financial standing?

Today’s passage: 1 Kings 16:8-20

Helpful thoughts:

• Just as Baasha had done to the house of Jeroboam, Zimri does to the house of Baasha.
• Zimri reigns in Tirzah for a grand total of seven days.  The shortest reign in the history of Israel.
  • Sadly, he only needed seven days to get this reputation of being an evil king.
• Even though Zimri burned his own (Or, the king’s) house down upon himself, his act of suicide was also a pronouncement of judgment from the Lord.  Zimri’s death was the consequence of his own sin, both his sinful desires in reigning as a king and also his final act of defiance in suicide.

Questions to consider:

1. In what way does Elah’s demise compare to that of David’s sin?  Where was the army at the time of his death?  What was he busy doing while others were fighting for the nation?
2. How does a passage like this help us to think about the motive of suicide?  Is a person who commits suicide actually in control, or are they in bondage? (Romans 6:15-23)  How has God’s redemption freed us, and to whom has it given us now?
3. Why was Zimri a wicked king?  What kind of a man had he been already for him to have this reputation after just seven days on the throne?  If you want to be a godly person seven years from now, what would help you get there over the next seven years?

Today’s passage: 1 Kings 15:25-16:7

Helpful thoughts:

• Jeroboam’s line lasted just over two years after his death.  God’s promise to Jeroboam had been fulfilled.
• To give us a time reference, the twenty four years Baasha reigned over Israel were 909-886 B.C.
• Baasha was used by God to end the line of Jeroboam over Israel because of their sin, and then Baasha carried on in the same sin, and saw the same consequence.

Questions to consider:

1. Given the fact that Baasha reigned for twenty four years, he certainly would have felt that he’d been a superior king than Nadab (Or perhaps even better than Jereboam).  What aspects of his reign might he have been proud of that made him forget or ignore the most important thing?
2. What were these kings of Israel supposed to do for the well-being of their people?  What did their sinful leadership result in (Including for their own sons who would begin to reign in their place)?
3. While poor, sinful leadership will often result in an increase of sinfulness among the people, what does Jehu’s presence and usefulness to the Lord help us to remember?  What opportunities to follow the Lord might present themselves under different leadership?

Today’s passage: 1 Kings 15:1-24

Helpful thoughts:

• Here is a chart for a visual on the reigns of the kings.
• Some think that the name Abijam was a purposeful name change.
  • He is referred to as Abijah in 2 Chronicles 13.  Abijah means, “My Father is Yahweh.”
  • Abijam means, “Father of the sea.”
• Seeing Maacah the daughter of Abishalom mentioned twice in two generations seems strange until we realize a few things concerning her.
  • She had become a notable member of the royal family (Queen Mother) and was a major proponent of obscene idol worship.
  • Her father’s name, Abishalom, could also be spelled, “Absalom.” (2 Chronicles 11:20)  Abijah was Solomon’s and Absalom’s grandson.  Asa was their great-grandson.
• Asa didn’t need to rely on the king of Syria to help him.  God is all-powerful (2 Chronicles 16:7-10).

Questions to consider:

1. Why did the Lord allow evil men to rule in Jerusalem on David’s throne (Verse 4)?  Even though these men were changing from generation to generation (And sometimes from year to year), what is true of the Lord’s promises?
2. What was the one thing Asa didn’t do in regards to the worship of the people of Judah?  What would allowing the pagan high places remain in Judah provide for future generations, even future kings?
3. What might be the “high places” of our day and culture?  It’s easy to look back at Israel’s history and see the obvious error, but is there anything that we might struggle with today that Christians from other generations (even the early church) might see as obvious idolatry and worldliness?