Day #180

Sermon - Audio
1 Kings 20-21 - Audio
1 Kings 20-21 - Reading

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1 Kings 20-21

1 Kings 20 is the story of King Ahab in trouble, Yahweh intervening with a victory and Ahab selling out that victory for business opportunity.

• 1 Kings 20.1-4: Ahab responds in a way that speaks of his loyalty to Ben-Hadad. To give your family and wealth is not a literal giving, but acknowledging that all these things are there for the superior king’s asking.
• 20.5-6: Ben-Hadad’s true intentions come out. He is not really about letting Ahab profess loyalty, he is looking for a reason to attack, if Ahab will not give him a reason, he will force the issue until Ahab has to say “no” to a demand. This “no” will be the pretense for war.
• 20.7: The writer of Kings puts a good face on Ahab. While Ben-Hadad puts stuff before people, Ahab puts his family before his stuff.
• 20.10: “May the gods…” Similar words were used by Jezebel in chapter 19.
• 20.11: Another way of saying Ahab’s words, “Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.
• 20.12: The writer of Kings has already shown us that Ben-Hadad treasures things over people, now he show us a king who is getting drunk rather than getting ready for battle.
• 20.13: Yahweh steps in to an impossible situation and promises victory. He brings this victory so that Ahab (the you in this verse is singular) will know that he is “the LORD” i.e. Yahweh. Notice the change from the Mt. Carmel encounter. There Yahweh is shown to be God, now Yahweh wants Ahab to know not that he is God, but that he is Yahweh i.e. that he is the covenant God who makes and keeps his promises. He is not merely God, but a God who can be relied on. This cuts two ways---for a faithful people it means the blessings God has promised, for an unfaithful people it means the curses that God has promised.
• 20.14: Ahab, surprisingly, takes God at his word and asks for battle instructions. This will truly be a victory of Yahweh.
• 20.15: Israel seems to have an army of only 7000 regular soldiers. What is striking here is this is the same number as the number of faithful people that God had reserved for himself in chapter 19.
• 20.16: Still drinking rather than getting ready for battle.
• 20.16: “set out at noon”—this is not wise militarily because all you do can be seen. The fact that Ahab does this shows that he is confident that Yahweh’s promise of victory will be kept.
• 20.18: A muddled sentence that shows Ben-hadad has had a few too many.
• 20.23: The idea is that not only armies fight each other, but the god’s of those armies fight on the side of their people. What you want to do is to get the other nation’s god into the place where he is weakest.
• 20.27: The way the Hebrew is constructed and the lack of the mention of Ahab in this verse indicates that it is Yahweh who has mustered this army and is supplying their needs. This too will be His victory.
• 20.30: The walls fall—think Jericho, God is at work. Ben-Hadad is again shown in a negative light. The picture is one of a king who is crawling deeper and deeper into a place for safety while leaving his troops to fend for themselves.
• 20.31-34: Ahab misses the fact that not only has Yahweh won the victory, but that all the spoils of the victory (according to covenant stipulations) are his. Ahab takes the spoils of victory for himself by making a business deal that will increase his wealth.
• 20.35-43: One of the purposes that God declares for bringing about victory is to show that he is Yahweh—the covenant God who keeps his promises. In these closing verses God shows this reality. He will bring punishment on Ahab for not following the ways of the covenant.
• 20.39: “Your life for his life” is not, “I will kill you” but rather, “you will become a slave in his place”.

1 Kings 21 tells of a monarchy that destroys the social and religious fabric of a nation in order to gain a small piece of land. As in Chapter 21 the goal is some financial gain rather than living by the ways of the covenant.

• 21.1-3: Naboth holds out that he can not give up his land because is an inheritance and trust given to him by God, it is tied up with being a faithful covenant follower of Yahweh. To give up the land is to break covenant.
• 21.4-6: Notice the narrator calls Naboth’s land “the inheritance of my fathers” while Ahab refers to the land as “my vineyard”. Ahab does not understand covenant obligations and trust as it relates to the land.
• 21.4: “Sullen and angry” just like he was at the end of chapter 20.
• 21.7: Jezebel in effect says, “Don’t worry, mommy will take care of it”. The Hebrew shows a kind of superiority over Ahab.
• 21.8-14: The people of Naboth’s town were supposed to live in covenant fidelity with him—which at the very least meant keeping him safe and treating him with justice. Instead, the leaders of the town break covenant with him to please (appease) Jezebel.
• 21.15-16: It is not clear why Ahab is now free to take the land. Is it the king’s right or is he still acting illegally but no one dares challenge him?
• 21.17-19: Elijah is called back into action. He goes to Ahab (apparently no longer in fear for his life) and delivers God’s message.
• 21.20: Apparently, after their encounter on Mt. Carmel, Ahab still sees Elijah as an enemy. Mt. Carmel has not impacted him deeply enough to see Elijah as a possible ally if only Ahab would follow God.
• 21.19,23: Both Ahab and Jezebel will experience a punishment that fits their crime.
• 21.27-29: The power of repentance is brought forth in these verses. Even with all of his sin, the repentance of Ahab impacts God and causes him to delay disaster.