Our
intimate encounter with God will spot-light any disobedience and the
sin of disobedience will bring God’s judgment. You can follow this
principle in 1 Kings as we read about the wicked leadership of
Israel. On each occasion, God spoke through His prophet warning of
the inevitable result of their disobedience. In order to fully
understand the gravity of the egregious behavior and wicked deeds of
this period, one must be familiar with the chapters preceding chapter
17. Through them, we have a better grasp of the setting in which
Elijah lived and preached.
1
Kings 16:30, “And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight
of the LORD above all that were before him. 31And
it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in
the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel
the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served
Baal, and worshipped him.”
This
is the beginning of the reign of Ahab over the nation of Israel. Ahab
was one of the worst kings to ever rule in Israel. But probably the
worst mistake that Ahab made while he was king was to take as his
wife a Zidonian by the name of Jezebel. She was a very evil woman who
worshiped the god of her ancestry, Baal. She asserted her influence
as queen to force all of Israel to worship Baal. 1 Kings 16:33,
“...and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to
anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.” However,
God sent Elijah to warn them of the coming judgment of God.
(continued) The Message, p.23-24, available at Amazon.com.
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