In this enlightening episode, we delve into 1 Kings chapters 16 and 17, discovering the reign of various kings over Israel and the introduction of the prophet Elijah. We learn about the downfall of Baasha due to his sins and unrighteous actions, followed by the brief takeover by Zimri, and the subsequent rise of Omri and Ahab. This backdrop sets the stage for the emergence of Elijah, a prophet who fervently follows God’s command and embarks on a remarkable journey marked by divine provision and dramatic miracles. Elijah’s story unfolds with compelling narratives, emphasizing the profound power of faith
00:00:07 Introduction to Add Bible and Episode Overview
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Israel Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
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Today we are in 1 Kings chapters 16 and 17. Chapter 16 will be a list of other evil kings in Israel, but chapter 17 introduces Elijah. So let’s listen in to Faith Comes By Hearing’s reading of chapter 16. and then our guest reader, Senator Kevin Grantham, as he reads Chapter 17 of 1 Kings. 1 Kings 16
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And the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat.
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Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried at Tirzah, and Elah his son reigned in his place. Moreover, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasha and his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands in being like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he destroyed it. In the twenty-sixth year of Asa, king of Judah, Elah, the son of Baasha, began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arzah, who was over the household in Tirzah, Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa, king of Judah, and reigned in his place. When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he struck down all the house of Baasha. He did not leave him a single male of his relatives or his friends. Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.” Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbathon, which belonged to the Philistines.
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And the troops who were encamped heard it said, Zimri has conspired, and he has killed the king.
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Therefore all Israel made Amri the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. So Amri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. And when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over him with fire and died, because of his sins that he committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and for his sin which he committed, making Israel to sin. Now the rest of the acts of Zimri and the conspiracy that he made, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibnai, the son of Gainath, to make him king, and half followed Amri. But the people who followed Amri overcame the people who followed Tibnai, the son of Gainath. So Tibnai died and Amri became king. In the thirty-first year of Asa, king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for twelve years. Six years he reigned in Tirzah. He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talons of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill. Amri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who were before him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord the God of Israel to anger by their idols. Now the rest of the acts of Amri that he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Amri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his place. In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Amri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Amri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. And Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshipped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. In his days, Hyle of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram, his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son, Segab, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Joshua, the son of Nun.
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1 Kings 17 Now Elijah the Tishbite of Tishba in Gilead said to Ahab, As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years except by my word. And the word of the Lord came to him, Depart from here, and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there. So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith, that is east of the Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him, Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Zidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, Bring me a little water in a vessel that I may drink. And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand. And she said, As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die. And Elijah said to her, Do not fear. Go and do as you have said, but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me. And afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth. And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and her household ate for many days The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord, that he spoke by Elijah. After this, the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill, and his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elijah, What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son. And he said to her, Give me your son. And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged and laid him on his own bed. And he cried to the Lord, O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn by killing her son? Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again. And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, See, your son lives. And the woman said to Elijah, Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.
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In 1989, I read 1 Kings chapters 15 through 22. I’ll save that entry for another day. In 1997, I read 1 Kings chapters 14 through 17 on one day, and I wrote, Israel divided, fighting with each other. Kings rise and fall, doing evil in the sight of the Lord. The remnant of people not wiped out at the initial conquest of promised land has led Israel to idol worship and sin. Yet God honors his promises through generations. I hope my walk with the Lord can affect generations of hoots. And in 2011, I read 1 Kings 16-18 on the same day. And concerning chapters 16 and 17, I wrote, God had kings and he had prophets or religious leaders. We have politicians and we need religious leadership in our nation. Elijah stands in the gap. God provides for him with ravens and a poor widow. He raises a child from death. 1 Kings chapter 16 is a laundry list of kings of Israel, all who did evil in the sight of the Lord. All this was going on while Esau was still king of Judah, and he was still doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. The prophet Elijah comes on the scene in chapter 17. The king of Israel at the time is Ahab. In chapter 16, verse 33, it describes Ahab. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. These kings of Israel seem to be getting progressively worse. So God uses Elijah to get Ahab’s attention. Verse 1, Now Elijah the Tishbite of Tishbe in Gilead said to Ahab, As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years except by my word. And then the Lord tells Elijah to flee, to go hide himself. And then let’s take a look at verse 4 of chapter 17. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there. Verse 6, And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning. And bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. Do you wonder if God can provide for you? Look at how he’s providing for his prophet Elijah. As the brook dries up, the Lord appears to Elijah again. Verse 8. Then the word of the Lord came to him, Arise, go to Zarephath. which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you. So Elijah is on the move again, trusting the Lord for his provision. He gets to the widow, and he asks for something to drink and eat. And she says, I’m a poor old lady. I don’t have enough to feed me and my son. I’m going to make one last meal and then we’re going to die. And look at the boldness of Elijah. He says, well, before you do that, make me something to eat. Then he shares with her. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, the jar of flour shall not be spent and the jug of oil shall not be empty until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth. And she went and did as Elijah said. and she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah. I don’t know about you, but I can’t read these verses without being absolutely amazed at God. But then the son dies. The woman is shaken and distraught. She turns to the man of God. Elijah cries out to God in verse 20. O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourned by killing her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again. And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. Reading a chapter like 1 Kings chapter 16 maybe makes you depressed. But how excited do you get when you read a chapter like chapter 17? Does it help you have faith in God? Does it help you trust God more? Does it help you believe that he is Jehovah Jireh, your provider? Does it help you believe he hears our prayers? Father, thank you for the lessons learned in 1 Kings. Thank you for reminding us that you are our provider. As you provided for Elijah, you can provide for us if we obey your voice. We are also reminded in this chapter that you are the resurrection and the life. O death, where is your sting? O death, where is your victory? You are in the business of raising people from the dead. Hallelujah. Amen. I know you’re going to enjoy it. And want to share it with others.
