KING AHAB, JEZABEL AND ELIJAH

Ahab was a politically strong and very powerful king, but very weak in personal morality. He made alliances with Phoenicia, Judah, and Syria and strengthened Israel as a nation. Through international trade, he accumulated wealth and many other political achievements. His name is not only found in the Bible; as an example, his name is mentioned in the Stele of Mesha, which reports the Moabite revolt against Israel.

Mesha Stele

Also, in the inscription found in the Kurk Monolith, which describes the Battle of Carkar in Syria (853 B.C.), Ahab appears as one of the allied kings.

Curque Monolith

Ahab was the eighth king of Israel (the northern kingdom), being a powerful and prosperous king, who carried out several large construction projects. However, he did what God disapproved of and promoted idolatry in Israel. Influenced by his wife, Ahab began to worship the god Baal. The Bible says he was worse than all the kings of Israel who came before him! (I Kings 16:32-33). The kings of Israel and Judah, both good and bad, have always had prophets sent by the Lord to advise, confront and help them. King David had a faithful friend, Nathan, a man of God; Ahab could have had an advisor in Elijah. But while the first listened to Nathan and was willing to repent of his sins, the second saw Elijah as his enemy. Why? Because the Tishbite brought him “bad news,” he refused to acknowledge his own constant disobedience to God and persistent worship of idols.

Ahab blamed Elijah for bringing prophecies of judgment instead of accepting his advice and changing his evil ways. He was trapped by his own choices and was not willing to take the right action. He was married to an ungodly woman who drove him to worship idols. Furthermore, he was a childish man who brooded for days if his will wasn't done. He accepted his bad wife's advice, listened only to the "prophets" who gave him "good news" and surrounded himself with people who encouraged him to do whatever he wanted. But, the value of advice cannot be judged by the number of people for or against it. Ahab constantly chose to follow the opinion of the majority of those around him, and this led to his death.

Ahab's death

After three years of peace, Ahab decided to join the king of Judah in attacking Syria. Before going into battle, the two kings consulted the prophets, who assured them that they would win. But the king of Judah wanted another opinion. Ahab then sent for a prophet named Micaiah, although he did not like him because he never prophesied anything good about Ahab (I Kings 22:8).

At first, Micaiah said that they would be victorious, but the king insisted that he not lie. Then Micaiah revealed that the Lord put a lying spirit in the mouths of the prophets, because God wanted Ahab to die. Angry, Ahab had Micaiah imprisoned until he returned from battle (I Kings 22:26-27). Ahab went into battle in disguise, but an arrow shot by chance hit him and he died from the wound. The dogs licked up his blood at the place where Naboth had died, just as Elijah had prophesied (1 Kings 22:37-38). Later, his entire family was exterminated because of his sins.

JEZABEL

Jezebel occupies the place of the most wicked wife in the Bible. The Word of God even uses her name as an example of people who completely reject the Lord (Revelation 2: 20,21). Many pagan women married in Israel without recognizing the God their husbands worshiped. These brought with them their religions. But none were as determined as Jezebel to make all of Israel worship their gods. To the prophet Elijah, she seemed to have succeeded. He felt that he was the only one still faithful to God, until the Lord told him that there were still seven thousand who had not abandoned their faith. One notable feat of Jezebel was contributing to the cause of Israel's ultimate downfall - idolatry. God punished the ten northern tribes for their idolatry and had them taken into exile.

Jezebel held great power. Not only did she control her husband, Ahab, but she also had 850 (eight hundred and fifty) pagan priests under her control. She was committed to her gods and getting what she wanted. She believed that the king had the right to possess anything he wanted. When Naboth refused to sell his vineyard to Ahab, Jezebel cruelly had him killed and took possession of the land. Her plan to eliminate the worship of God in Israel led to painful consequences. Before she died, she suffered the loss of her husband in combat and her son at the hands of Jehu, who took the throne by force. She passed away in the same hostile and dismissive manner as when she lived.

ELIJAH

Elijah was born in the city of Thisbe. He was taken by God as a prophet to confront the idolatry in which the people of Israel lived in the ninth century before Christ, during the reigns of Ahab and Ahaziah, in the northern kingdom. In his time, the people of Israel had been divided into two kingdoms. Judah was the southern kingdom, with its capital in Jerusalem, and Israel was the northern kingdom, with its capital in Samaria. The Bible reveals nothing about the personal and family life of the prophet Elijah. We only know that he was a Tishbite who lived in the land of Gilead, east of the Jordan River. The name Elijah means “Jehovah is God”.

HeHe was a prophet known for having performed great deeds in the name of the Lord. Through his prophecies, fire came down from heaven, it rained, and a widow's son was resurrected. Elijah was caught up in a chariot of fire and even appeared with Moses during the transfiguration of Jesus. His story is told in the Bible, in the first book of Kings. He remained faithful to God, being a reference against the idolatry of the god Baal, in defense of the worship of the God of Israel.

Also, he was sent to confront, not comfort, and he delivered the Lord's message to a king who often rejected his message just because he brought it. Elijah performed his ministry only for God and paid for this decision by experiencing isolation like others who were also faithful to the Lord.

After God performed an extraordinary miracle by defeating the prophets of Baal, Queen Jezebel retaliated by threatening the prophet's life. Elijah then fled. He felt scared, depressed and abandoned. Even though God provided him with food and shelter in the desert, he wanted to die. Then the Lord presented him with an "audiovisual display" and a message that he needed to hear. Elijah witnessed a windstorm, an earthquake, and a fire. But God was not in any of these mighty things. Before, the Lord showed his presence with a small voice.

Elijah, like us, struggled with his feelings, even after this comforting message from God. Then the Lord confronted the prophet's emotions and commanded him to act. God instructed Elijah about what he should do next and informed him that part of his loneliness was based on ignorance: another seven thousand in Israel still remained faithful to the Lord