The Living Bible (114 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
A message of condemnation from the Lord was delivered to King Baasha at this time by the prophet Jehu:
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“I lifted you out of the dust,” the message said, “to make you king of my people Israel; but you have walked in the evil paths of Jeroboam. You have made my people sin, and I am angry!
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So now I will destroy you and your family, just as I did the descendants of Jeroboam.
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Those of your family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the fields will be eaten by the birds.”
The message was sent to Baasha and his family because he had angered the Lord by all his evil deeds. He was as evil as Jeroboam despite the fact that the Lord had destroyed all of Jeroboam’s descendants for their sins.
The rest of Baasha’s biography—his deeds and conquests—are written in
The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
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Elah, Baasha’s son, began reigning during the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, but he reigned only two years.
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Then General Zimri, who had charge of half the royal chariot troops, plotted against him. One day King Elah was half drunk at the home of Arza, the superintendent of the palace, in the capital city of Tirzah.
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Zimri simply walked in and struck him down and killed him. (This occurred during the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Asa of Judah.) Then Zimri declared himself to be the new king of Israel.
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He immediately killed the entire royal family—leaving not a single male child. He even destroyed distant relatives and friends.
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This destruction of the descendants of Baasha was in line with what the Lord had predicted through the prophet Jehu.
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The tragedy occurred because of the sins of Baasha and his son Elah; for they had led Israel into worshiping idols, and the Lord was very angry about it.
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The rest of the history of Elah’s reign is written in
The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
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But Zimri lasted only seven days; for when the army of Israel, which was then engaged in attacking the Philistine city of Gibbethon, heard that Zimri had assassinated the king, they decided on General Omri, commander-in-chief of the army, as their new ruler.
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So Omri led the army of Gibbethon to besiege Tirzah, Israel’s capital.
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When Zimri saw that the city had been taken, he went into the palace and burned it over him and died in the flames.
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For he, too, had sinned like Jeroboam; he had worshiped idols and had led the people of Israel to sin with him.
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The rest of the story of Zimri and his treason are written in
The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
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But now the kingdom of Israel was split in two; half the people were loyal to General Omri, and the other half followed Tibni, the son of Ginath.
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But General Omri won and Tibni was killed; so Omri reigned without opposition.
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King Asa of Judah had been on the throne thirty-one years when Omri began his reign over Israel, which lasted twelve years, six of them in Tirzah.
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Then Omri bought the hill now known as Samaria from its owner, Shemer, for $4,000 and built a city on it, calling it Samaria in honor of Shemer.
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But Omri was worse than any of the kings before him;
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he worshiped idols as Jeroboam had and led Israel into this same sin. So God was very angry.
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The rest of Omri’s history is recorded in
The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
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When Omri died he was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab became king in his place.
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King Asa of Judah had been on the throne thirty-eight years when Ahab became the king of Israel; and Ahab reigned for twenty-two years.
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But he was even more wicked than his father Omri; he was worse than any other king of Israel!
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And as though that were not enough, he married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and then began worshiping Baal.
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First he built a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria.
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Then he made other idols and did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than any of the other kings of Israel before him.
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(It was during his reign that Hiel, a man from Bethel, rebuilt Jericho. When he laid the foundations, his oldest son, Abiram, died; and when he finally completed it by setting up the gates, his youngest son, Segub, died. For this was the Lord’s curse upon Jericho
*
as declared by Joshua, the son of Nun.)
Then Elijah, the prophet
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from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the Lord God of Israel lives—the God whom I worship and serve—there won’t be any dew or rain for several years until I say the word!”
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Then the Lord said to Elijah,
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“Go to the east and hide by Cherith Brook at a place east of where it enters the Jordan River.
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Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to feed you.”
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So he did as the Lord had told him to and camped beside the brook.
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The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook.
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But after a while the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land.
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Then the Lord said to him, “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. There is a widow there who will feed you. I have given her my instructions.”
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So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the city he saw a widow gathering sticks; and he asked her for a cup of water.
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As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread too.”
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But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I haven’t a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jar. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I must die of starvation.”
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But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and cook that ‘last meal,’ but bake me a little loaf of bread first; and afterwards there will still be enough food for you and your son.
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For the Lord God of Israel says that there will always be plenty of flour and oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”
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So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her son continued to eat from her supply of flour and oil as long as it was needed.
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For no matter how much they used, there was always plenty left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah!
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But one day the woman’s son became sick and died.
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“O man of God,” she cried, “what have you done to me? Have you come here to punish my sins by killing my son?”
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“Give him to me,” Elijah replied. And he took the boy’s body from her and carried it upstairs to the guest room where he lived, and laid the body on his bed,
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and then cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, why have you killed the son of this widow with whom I am staying?”
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And he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, please let this child’s spirit return to him.”
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And the Lord heard Elijah’s prayer; and the spirit of the child returned, and he became alive again!
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Then Elijah took him downstairs and gave him to his mother.
“See! He’s alive!” he beamed.
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“Now I know for sure that you are a prophet,” she told him afterward,
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“and that whatever you say is from the Lord!”
It was three years later that the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and tell King Ahab that I will soon send rain again!”
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So Elijah went to tell him. Meanwhile the famine had become very severe in Samaria.
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The man in charge of Ahab’s household affairs was Obadiah, who was a devoted follower of the Lord. Once when Queen Jezebel had tried to kill all of the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had hidden one hundred of them in two caves—fifty in each—and had fed them with bread and water.
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That same day, while Elijah was on the way to see King Ahab,
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the king said to Obadiah, “We must check every stream and brook to see if we can find enough grass to save at least some of my horses and mules. You go one way and I’ll go the other, and we will search the entire land.”
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So they did, each going alone.
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Suddenly Obadiah saw Elijah coming toward him! Obadiah recognized him at once and fell to the ground before him.
“Is it really you, my lord Elijah?” he asked.
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“Yes, it is,” Elijah replied. “Now go and tell the king I am here.”
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“Oh, sir,” Obadiah protested, “what harm have I done to you that you are sending me to my death?
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For I swear by God that the king has searched every nation and kingdom on earth from end to end to find you. And each time when he was told ‘Elijah isn’t here,’ King Ahab forced the king of that nation to swear to the truth of his claim.
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And now you say, ‘Go and tell him Elijah is here’!
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But as soon as I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you away, who knows where, and when Ahab comes and can’t find you, he will kill me; yet I have been a true servant of the Lord all my life.
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Has no one told you about the time when Queen Jezebel was trying to kill the Lord’s prophets, and I hid a hundred of them in two caves and fed them with bread and water?
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And now you say, ‘Go tell the king that Elijah is here’! Sir, if I do that, I’m dead!”
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But Elijah said, “I swear by the Lord God of the armies of heaven, in whose presence I stand, that I will present myself to Ahab today.”
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So Obadiah went to tell Ahab that Elijah had come; and Ahab went out to meet him.
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“So it’s you, is it?—the man who brought this disaster upon Israel!” Ahab exclaimed when he saw him.
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“You’re talking about yourself,” Elijah answered. “For you and your family have refused to obey the Lord and have worshiped Baal instead.
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Now bring all the people of Israel to Mount Carmel, with all 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel.”
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So Ahab summoned all the people and the prophets to Mount Carmel.
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Then Elijah talked to them. “How long are you going to waver between two opinions?” he asked the people. “If the Lord is God,
follow
him! But if Baal is God, then follow
him!”
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Then Elijah spoke again. “I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left,” he told them, “but Baal has 450 prophets.
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Now bring two young bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose whichever one they wish and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood of their altar, but without putting any fire under the wood; and I will prepare the other young bull and lay it on the wood on the Lord’s altar, with no fire under it.
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Then pray to your god, and I will pray to the Lord; and the god who answers by sending fire to light the wood is the true God!” And all the people agreed to this test.
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Then Elijah turned to the prophets of Baal. “You first,” he said, “for there are many of you; choose one of the bulls and prepare it and call to your god; but don’t put any fire under the wood.”
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So they prepared one of the young bulls and placed it on the altar; and they called to Baal all morning, shouting, “O Baal, hear us!” But there was no reply of any kind. Then they began to dance around the altar.
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About noontime, Elijah began mocking them.
“You’ll have to shout louder than that,” he scoffed, “to catch the attention of your god! Perhaps he is talking to someone, or is out sitting on the toilet, or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!”
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So they shouted louder and, as was their custom, cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out.
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They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but there was no reply, no voice, no answer.
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Then Elijah called to the people, “Come over here.”
And they all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down.
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He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel,
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and used the stones to rebuild the Lord’s altar. Then he dug a trench about three feet wide
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around the altar.
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He piled wood upon the altar and cut the young bull into pieces and laid the pieces on the wood.
“Fill four barrels with water,” he said, “and pour the water over the carcass and the wood.”
After they had done this he said,
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“Do it again.” And they did.
“Now, do it once more!” And they did;
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and the water ran off the altar and filled the trench.
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At the customary time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, prove today that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant; prove that I have done all this at your command.
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O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”
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Then, suddenly, fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, the dust, and even evaporated all the water in the ditch!
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And when the people saw it, they fell to their faces upon the ground shouting, “Jehovah is God! Jehovah is God!”
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Then Elijah told them to grab the prophets of Baal. “Don’t let a single one escape,” he commanded.
So they seized them all, and Elijah took them to Kishon Brook and killed them there.
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Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go and enjoy a good meal! For I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!”
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So Ahab prepared a feast. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and got down on his knees, with his face between his knees,
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and said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea.”
He did, but returned to Elijah and told him, “I didn’t see anything.”
Then Elijah told him, “Go again, and again, and again, seven times!”
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Finally, the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”
Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him to get into his chariot and get down the mountain, or he’ll be stopped by the rain!”
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And sure enough, the sky was soon black with clouds, and a heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm. Ahab left hastily for Jezreel,
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and the Lord gave special strength to Elijah so that he was able to run ahead of Ahab’s chariot to the entrance of the city!