We have another rerun in 1 Kings 22. Micaiah prophecies against Ahab and he is killed just as in 2 Chronicles 18. Ahaziah succeeds his father as King of Israel. Jehoshaphat dies as well.
Jehoshaphat from Judah and Ahab Israel form an alliance through marriage in 2 Chronicles 18. The prophet Micaiah is called for, even though Ahab said he never said anything good about him. They are planning an attack on Aram. Originally Micaiah told them to go.
His actual prophecy tells Ahab that he is being lied to by the other prophets. As was common, this prophet is imprisoned until they return from battle. Ahab goes into battle in disguise, but he is killed by an accidental shot.
Most of us have heard the story of Elijah at Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18. Ahab’s palace administrator, Obadiah, had saved a hundred prophets of Jehovah in two caves. Obadiah meets Elijah and tells him he will meet with King Ahab. It has been over three years into the drought. Obadiah hesitates, and the prophet assures him today is the day for the meeting.
The confrontation between Baal and Yahweh is ended the way the child of God would expect it to. God won. Not in a close race, the victory was a blow out. The prophets of the false god were destroyed. God brought the needed rain through Elijah as well. One more confrontation was needed.
Elijah watches a series of natural events that end in a still small voice according to the King James Version. Yahweh only occupies that voice. How often do we misjudge the presence of the Lord in our circumstances? We are told something by our parents or friends and believe they are speaking for God. Their advice is based on what they believe. Like the prophets of Israel, they do not speak for anyone else.
The instructions are to anoint two Kings and a prophet. Hazael as King of Aram, Jehu for Israel to replace Ahab and Elisha to replace him. He is also informed that there are seven thousand in Israel that have not worshipped the false gods.
Ben-Hadad, the King of Aram, prepares to attack Ahab and Samaria in 1 Kings 20. He sends emissaries to Ahab to present an alternative. All he must do is pay everything that is valuable. Gold, silver and the best of his wives and children are the commodity they trade in. After a while, another offer is made to Ahab. All the wealthy men of Samaria must make the sacrifice that the King did previously. They refuse.
As they await the attack, a prophet from Yahweh visits the King of Israel that this vast army will be defeated by his junior officers, if they start the battle. The Arameans are soundly defeated. The following spring, they return, and the prophet returns to announce that another victory will be had. However, a treaty is made between the nations and a prophet returns to Ahab.
He is disguised as a wounded soldier and tells the King a false story which he believes. When he pronounces a death sentence on the soldier, the disguise is removed, and a prophecy is pronounced against both Ahab and Israel because he made a treaty and did not allow Jehovah to once again give them the victory. He wants our obedience, not our own strategy.
A story given in 1 Kings 21 about a vineyard gives, even more, light upon the relationship and character of Ahab and his wife, Jezebel. By the way, notice that she is still in Samaria even though the King’s best wives were given to the Aramean King, Ben-Hadad.
Naboth had a vineyard close to the palace of Ahab which he wanted to use for a vegetable garden. The King made an offer and was turned down. He became sullen and returned home where his wife got the story from him quite easily. After denigrating him she conspired to have Naboth murdered. Another interesting idea is that Naboth is accused of cursing God and the King. Which god? If it is Jehovah, I don’t think the punishment would have been stoning.
Ahab did not hesitate to take possession of the vineyard. Elijah returns to the King and condemns him for the murder of an innocent man. His entire family will be wiped out. Once again Ahab acts like he is repentant, and Jehovah decides to delay the devastation until after the King’s death.
Baasha, King of Israel begins 1 Kings 16. Jehu, the prophet, brings the condemnation of the Lord on his entire house. This was the same as he had done to Jeroboam’s family. Remember how David refused to harm Saul and his family even after Saul’s death?
Elah takes over for his father. His rule ends in less than two years when Zimri, a chariot commander murders him while he is drunk. He does as Baasha did and murders all the males in his predecessor’s family. How do you suppose that will affect his lineage?
Asa is still King of Judah as Zimri begins his reign. This reign did not even last a year because the Israelite troops chose Omri king and crowned him the day they heard, they attacked the city where Zimri was and he hid and burned himself to death.
Omri has another opponent in Tibni. He was defeated and Omri later moved the Capital from Tirzah to Samaria that he built for that purpose. Remember the Samaritan’s that Jesus dealt with? Omri does not follow Jehovah any better than any other King of Israel.
Ahab, his son succeeds him. He and his Sidonian wife, Jezebel moved even farther away from Yahweh. A side note is the rebuilding of Jericho and the fulfillment of Joshua’s prophecy.
In 2 Chronicles 17 Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son becomes King of Judah. He continues to strengthen Judah. He follows Yahweh as David had. He stops the worship of the Baals and removes the altars and the Asherah poles. Prophets were sent throughout Judah to teach the Law and to demonstrate proper worship.
Do you want proof that Jehoshaphat was truly following Jehovah? The other nations around it, feared Judah enough that Philistine and Arab leaders sent gifts of tribute to the King. He used this wealth to improve the infrastructure.
Abijah’s story is told slightly different in 1 Kings 15. David’s faithfulness is given as the reason for Jehovah’s deliverance of Judah from Israel. The struggle between the two Kingdoms of Israel continues through the life of Abijah. When he dies, his son Asa takes the reigns.
We begin the cycle that will continue until Judah is taken into captivity in Babylon. Asa is described as doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. His grandmother is even removed as queen mother because of her idolatry. Another Israelite King, Baasha, is his enemy. Asa forms an alliance between Judah and Damascus to be able to stand against the Northern Kingdom.
Baasha became the Israelite King by killing Nadab who reigned only two years. As was prophesied, he executes all of Jeroboams descendants. He follows the other Israeli leaders in worshiping other gods and rebelling against Yahweh.
The stories of Abijah in Judah are given in 2 Chronicles chapter 13. He took over in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam in the north. In their first battle, Judah is outnumbered two to one. Because of the humility of David’s great grandson, they are victorious. The winner was Jehovah. He fought for His people as He had done for David.
Abijah is succeeded by his son Asa in 2 Chronicles fourteen. He follows his father and David as a worshiper of Yahweh. He had peace for ten years and was able to clean up the country. The land of Cush attacks them, but they are delivered by Jehovah. Plunder was theirs from their enemies.
Azariah is introduced in 2 Chronicles fifteen when he meets King Asa in Judah and prophesied that Jehovah would be with them if they followed His laws. This prophecy is the impetuous that causes his process of destroying idols and restricting the worship of other gods. A new covenant is entered by the entire country.
Baasha of Israel and Asa of Judah are again in 2 Chronicles 16. Baasha fortified Israel to prevent communication between the two Kingdoms. Due to this, Asa joined with Ben-Hadad of Aram to attack Israelite communities.
Hanani, the Seer, proclaims a curse on Asa and Judah. Battle will continue due to his disobedience. As many of us do, when his sin was pointed out, he rebelled even more and never returned to Jehovah. After forty-one years he died.
Jeroboam had been a thorn in the side of Solomon and returns in 1 Kings chapter twelve. Rehoboam goes to Shechem to become his father’s successor. Jeroboam returns from Egypt and is asked to join them at Shechem. Israel asks to have the tax and labor burden reduced. Remember the King’s comments in Ecclesiastes about everything he had built and accomplished. The people think they have completed these projects.
After three days, Rehoboam answers Jeroboam and his supporters. The younger advisers disagreed with Solomon’s men. The new King follows the youthful answer. Often older heads are more conservative. In this situation that could have prevented a split between Israel and Judah.
Shechem is the seat of Jeroboam’s new government. To prevent the people from returning to Jerusalem to worship Jehovah, he had two golden calves made and established worship of idols. Nothing he did was to worship the one true Creator God.
1 Kings 13 tells of Jeroboam and a man of God who came from Judah and announced Jehovah’s displeasure with the new altar that has been built to worship the golden calves. When the Israelite King tries to take him, the altar is split in two and the hand of Jeroboam shrivels. The King repents, and his hand is restored.
Yahweh has instructed His man not to accept anything from the Israelites and to return to Judah by a different route. An older prophet intercepts him and lies to him. We all need to listen to God and sometimes ignore others if they try to contradict what God has told us. This man of God’s disobedience is punished by death. The old prophet has no remorse but does bury him.
Jeroboam does not correct his mistake, and this is the reason his line is removed from the rule in Israel. His sin is followed by all the other Kings of the Northern Kingdom. It will ultimately result in the fall of the country.
Has God ever told you something that was going to happen? In 1 Kings 14 Jeroboam sends his wife to the prophet Abijah to ask for his son’s healing. The Prophet knows that she is coming because Jehovah told him. He also has a message for the King of Israel. He is the last of his line. Israel itself will fall because of the idolatry the Kings allow. Jeroboam is the first of many evil rulers. The next monarch is Nadab, the son of Jeroboam.
Rehoboam was not much better in Judah. Shishak, who was the Egyptian Pharaoh attacked them. He took the gold items from the Temple that Solomon had dedicated. Abijah took over for his father when Rehoboam died.
The restating of these activities to dedicate the Temple of Solomon continues in 1 Kings 9. The building of God’s house and the palace took twenty years. Forced labor by foreigners was used to create these structures. Gezer was rebuilt after Pharaoh burned it when he took the area and gave it to his daughter for a wedding gift.
The kings of Tyre and Israel continued their cooperation despite a minor disagreement about methods and quality of payment for services rendered. This included building a fleet of ships for trading.
The building of the cities, walls and gates is also covered in 2 Chronicles 8. This version tells that the Israelites were not made slaves by their King. This was reserved for the Canaanites that still resided in the land. In this account the ships were provided by Hiram.
We will now begin to look at two different versions of the construction of Solomon’s Temple in 1 Kings 6. Four hundred and eighty years after the Exodus the work begins. We are given a detailed description of this structure.
Once again, however, there is a message from Jehovah that contains an “If” clause. They must obey everything He has commanded if they wanted Him to continue to abide there. No matter how beautiful the building, for God to stay, we must follow his instructions for our lives. Even if we take seven years or more for the construction.
Fire comes down from Yahweh in 2 Chronicles 7. After the Lord consumes the first sacrifice that is offered, many others are presented. This was just the start of the two-week party.
Solomon hears from Jehovah a second time. The blessings and the curses that were given to Moses are given to the King. He is told to follow God’s laws and his throne will be established. It ended at his death. We will look at the transgressions that caused this later.
We thank Jehovah in Psalm 136 for His goodness, creation, mercy, and miracles. His power and glory are great. His love endues forever, and we should thank Him for that.
When King David tried to bring the Ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, he encountered problems. In 1 Kings 8 they move it and the tent of meeting to the Temple area. The excitement of the event brought so many animals for sacrifice that they could not be numbered. The cloud of the presence of Jehovah filled the new Temple and the priests had to leave.
Solomon’s speech and prayer emphasized his father’s role in the construction of the building. He also enumerated all the things for which it would be utilized. His charge to the people to follow Yahweh’s commands and decrees ended the prayer. The two-week celebration ended with feasting and sacrifice. Like many of our Christian churches, no celebration is complete without food.
Another version of the Ark being transferred to the new Temple of the Lord is in 2 Chronicles 5. It was placed in the Most Holy Place where it would remain until to destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. Do you remember the Psalms of Asaph? He was present at this event. He, Heman, and others provided the music. As before we are told the presence of The Lord in a cloud forced the priests out.
Seven years for Jehovah’s Temple and Thirteen for the King’s palace according to 1 Kings 7. Does this sound lopsided? Not when you look at the size of the structures. If you build a house, you need furniture.
Let’s look at what was made for the Temple of the Lord. The massive sea that was used for ceremonial cleansing. Ten wheeled stands, bronze basins, pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls were also created by Huram. Many other items are also listed. Tomorrow we look at 2 Chronicles.
Hiram who was the King of Tyre sends word to Solomon after he becomes king of Israel in David’s place. In 1 Kings 5 he is willing to provide all the cedar and other wood needed for the Temple when the new king of Israel asks him. The quantity needed is very large and the craftsmen of Israel work with his men to float the logs to Solomon and prepare them for the work. The cost of everything needed is covered by taxes from the Israelites just like in our time. The stones had to be cut and made ready to be put in place at the building site.
We will now begin to look at two different versions of the construction of Solomon’s Temple in 1 Kings 6. Four hundred and eighty years after the Exodus the work begins. We are given a detailed description of this structure.
Once again, however, there is a message from Jehovah that contains an “If” clause. They must obey everything He has commanded if they wanted Him to continue to abide there. No matter how beautiful the building, for God to stay, we must follow his instructions for our lives. Even if we take seven years or more for the construction.
Preparations for building the temple that was planned by David is given in 2 Chronicles chapter 2. Building materials included wood, stone, gold, and silver. The materials are not the only things needed to build such a magnificent structure.
Craftsmen were required. Carpenters, stone masons, gold and silver smiths are just the start. A trade is made. The work would need unskilled laborers. For this he chose those who were not Israelites but lived in the country. There were 153,600 foreigners who were drafted to cut stone and carry it to the site. This may have been a violation of the law to treat outsiders as the Jewish people themselves.
Our second account of the Temple being built is in the book of Second Chronicles in the third chapter. Here we are informed that the location Is on Mount Moriah at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. This is the location of the sacrifice that David made to stop the destruction of the people because he had violated God’s word and conducted a census.
The description of the structure is the same, but we are told the names of the pillars that were on the north and the south. Jakin means “He establishes” and Boaz is interpreted as “In Him is the strength.” Interesting names for posts, don’t you think?
Charles (Chuck) Kensinger 