1 Kings 19-20

1 Kings 19-20

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

Chapter 19: A Still Small Voice

                Ahab comes in and tells Jezebel all that Elijah had done; how he had executed the prophets. So Jezebel sends a messenger to Elijah telling him; that if he were to expose the lie of worshiping Baal and expose the glory of God that he would be killed.

                So, Elijah makes a run for it! Elijah heads off to Judah to get away and there is met by an angel of the Lord, who tells him to eat and drink for his strength... strength for a 40 day journey. The food and water here, basically appeared out of nowhere! Elijah eats and drinks and then travels for forty days and forty nights on that food, while he traveled to Mount Horeb (verse 8). Elijah gets to the mount and goes into lodge in a cave. There in the cave the Lord asks; "...what doest thou here, Elijah?" (1 Kings 19:9), and Elijah responds by saying "...I have been very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away" (1 Kings 19:10).

                So the Lord tells him to go stand upon the mount and stand before him (the Lord) and a great wind passed by him which did rent the mountains breaking the pieces of rock, followed by an earthquake and a fire... but we learn that the Lord was not in any of those... but after all the power... there was a "still small voice" that the Lord was in. (see verse 12). Here we learn that the Spirit of the Lord can be felt in a quiet, reverant manner. We don't need to scream to God... believe me, He can hear us! He also wont scream down at us... if we want to hear him... we must be careful to listen, patiently and humbly and we WILL hear HIM!

                The Lord then gives Elijah a mission, to anoint Hazael to be king over Syriaand Jehu to be anointed as king over Israel to replace the corrup Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Elisha is to be a friend and a succesor to Elijah.

Chapter 20: Ben-hadad Makes War with Israel

                Ben-hadad the King of Syria goes up tp war against Samaria. Ben-hadad also sends a message to Ahab in Israel that he will be coming to take everything he has. So Ahab gathered the elders of the land together and they all tell him to not listen or consent to the messages of Ben-hadad. But at the same time a prophet came to Israel and tells Ahab that he essentially can not win against Ben-hadad, but makes him a promise that he would be able to deliver Ben-hadad into his hands if Ahab followed the Lord and allowed the Lord to show his great power.

                So Ahab organizes his army and goes in on a suprise attack to Ben-hadad (who at the time was actually drunk), the Israelites pursue the Syrians until the king (Ben-hadad) has to escape with his leaders on horseback. The Israelites have a victory! But the King of Syria and his leaders are convinced that the God of the Israelites is the god of the hills, whereas their god is the god of the valley. They decide that they should have the battle again, and because it is in the valley they will win. They fight a second time and even though the Israelites were outnumbered... they still have a second victory against Syria! Ahab, probably out of fear of other threats around him makes a treaty with the now humble Ben-hadad and sends him on his way.