consequences

A destructive pattern

A common phrase found in the record of the kings of Israel is “he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin” (2 Kings 15:24, 28). Jeroboam the son of Nebat was a servant of Solomon who was “ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph” (1 Kings 11:28). During the reign of Solomon’s son Rehoboam, Jeroboam led the people of Israel in rebellion against the house of David (1 Kings 12:19). After establishing his kingdom, Jeroboam thought:

If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. (1 Kings 12:27-28)

A hundred years later, Jehu was commissioned by God to wipe out king Ahab’s entire household because of their wickedness. Jehu led a massacre of all the Baal worshippers, “But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin” (2 Kings 10:31). It says in 2 Kings 10:32, “In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short.” The exact meaning of the phrase “to cut short” is not clear, but it appears that God began to reduce the population in Israel until they reached a point where they could no longer adequately defend themselves against their enemies. In 722 B.C., they were conquered by the Assyrians and absorbed into that empire.

About 20-30 years prior to their exile, there was a destabilization in Israel’s leadership. A series of assassinations caused the throne to fall into the hands of Hoshea the son of Elah (2 Kings 15:30). “Hoshea probably represented the faction in the northern kingdom that favored cooperation with Assyria rather than resistance” (Note on 2 Kings 15:30). Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria had already taken possession of several territories in Israel when Hoshea took the throne (2 Kings 15:29). The initial phase of Israel’s captivity took place sometime around 738-732 B.C., within a decade of the death of Uzziah (a.k.a. Azariah) king of Judah.

Uzziah’s son Jotham probably began his reign amidst a great deal of turmoil and confusion in Israel. Jeroboam II’s military conquests (2 Kings 14:28) seemed to be turning the tide in Israel’s favor, but most likely the reduction in size of Israel’s population made it impossible for the expanded borders to be maintained. Even though Israel’s army consisted of seasoned warriors trained over decades due to continual warfare with Syria, the expanded borders may have spread them too thin and caused the people of Israel to become easy prey for the Assyrians.

Foolishness 2

The reign of Amaziah king of Judah started out on the right foot. Amaziah intended to do the LORD’s will when he attacked the devil worshippers identified as “the children of Seir” (2 Chronicles 25:11). Unfortunately, Amaziah was attracted to the goat demons. “Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them” (2 Chronicles 25:14).

It could be that Amaziah’s demon worship caused him to become mentally unstable. His declaration of war on Joash king of Israel was foolish to say the least. When Joash received Amaziah’s invitation to battle, he responded with this parable. “And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle” (2 Chronicles 25:18).

Joash’s comparison of Amaziah’s strength to his own as a thorn to that of a ceder tree illustrates the absurdity of Amaziah’s challenge. Joash’s army had defeated Syria three times (2 Kings 13:25) and his conquests included the restoration of Israel’s coastline, as well as, the northern territory of Damascus (2 Kings 14;25, 28). Amaziah’s only victory was killing 20,000 of the children of Seir (2 Chronicles 25:11-12).

In spite if Joash’s warning to mind his own business, Amaziah went up against Joash’s army. The explanation given for his decision is recorded in 2 Chronicles 25:20.
“But Amaziah would not hear for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.”

Judah’s army was defeated by Israel and hostages were taken back to Samaria, where it is likely they remained until Joash’s death. It states in 2 Chronicles 25::25 that Amaziah lived fifteen years after the death of Joash. Amaziah’s reign overlapped with his son Uzziah’s from 792-767 B.C., so it is possible that Uzziah reigned while his father was being held captive in Samaria. After Amaziah turned away from following the LORD, his authority was taken away and he may have lived as a fugitive the entire 25 years of his son’s coregency (2 Chronicles 25:27).”

 

Respect

The Israelites were promised blessings in exchange for their obedience to God’s commands. The first condition God stipulated was, “Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 26:1). King Ahab violated this condition when “he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria” (1 Kings 16:32).

After Jehu killed all the Baal worshippers, and destroyed Baal out of Israel (2 Kings 10:28), his son Jehoahaz returned to worshipping two golden calves made by king Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:28). Because of this, “the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael, all their days (2 Kings 13:3).

By the time Hazael was finished with them, the army of Isreal had been reduced to “fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen” (2 Kings 13:7). Near the end of the reign of Jehoash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign in Samaria. Jehu’s grandson continued the practice of worshipping the two golden calves, but when Elisha became sick and was at the point of death, Jehoash the king of Israel visited him and asked for Elisha’s help (2 Kings 13:14).

Elisha gave Jehoash an opportunity to exercise his faith. “And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice and stayed” (2 Kings 13:18). The smiting of the arrows on the ground symbolized Jehoash’s victory over Syria. In spite of the desolation Hazael had caused Israel, Jehoash was less than enthusiastic about overcoming his enemy. Elisha rebuked Jehoash, “and said, Thou should have smitten five or six times, then had thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice” (2 Kings 13:19).

Even though Jehoash’s faith was small, his willingness to ask for God’s help delayed the Israelites from going into captivity. “And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet” (2 Kings 13:23).

Judgment

God’s government system operates in such a way that once a verdict has been rendered it cannot be appealed or pardoned. The sentence must be carried out. There were two situations in king Ahab’s life where judgments were pronounced against him. The first was when he made a covenant with Ben-hadad, king of Syria (1 Kings 20:34) and the second was when he stole Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21:16).

The second message of judgment was delivered to Ahab by Elijah. “And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD, behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel…And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel” (1 Kings 21:20-21, 23).

After hearing God’s judgment against him, Ahab repented (1 Kings 21:27), so God delayed his punishment until after Ahab was dead (1 Kings 21:29). It wasn’t until 15 years later, during the reign of Joram the son of Ahab, that Jehu was anointed to be king of Israel and God’s judgment was carried out (2 Kings 9:8). As Jehu road in a chariot toward Joram’s castle, a watchman saw him and told Joram he was coming. “And Joram said, Take a horseman and send to meet him, and let him say, Is it peace?” (2 Kings 9:17).

Joram was unaware of the purpose of Jehu’s visit. As soon as Jehu was anointed to be king, he rode in a chariot 45 miles to Jezreel where Joram was (2 Kings 9:16) in order to surprise him. If Joram knew what Jehu intended to do, he could have protected himself and foiled Jehu’s plan. As it was, Joram ended up right where Jehu wanted him. “And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out each in his chariot, and they went against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite” (2 Kings 9:21).

With one shot, Jehu killed Joram and his body was thrown into the field that Ahab had stolen from Naboth. Then, Jehu went to the apartment where Jezebel was staying. “And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? And he lift  up his face to the window, and said, who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot” (2 Kings 9:33).

Divine Intervention

King Ahab’s son Ahaziah did not pretend to be a follower of God. In fact, he was blatant in his pagan worship. When he became seriously ill, he sent messengers to “inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron” (2 Kings 1:2). The word translated inquire, darash suggests that Ahaziah worshipped Baal-zebub (1875) and may have offered sacrifices to the god of the Ekronites.

Ahaziah’s role as king of Israel required him to submit to the LORD and to execute God’s will for his people. Ahaziah had usurped God’s authority and was guilty of violating God’s commandments. Whereas king Ahab’s heart was divided between God and Baal, Ahaziah had no allegiance to God whatsoever.

While Ahaziah’s messengers were traveling to Ekron, God sent Elijah to intercept them. As instructed, Elijah told them, “Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shall surely die” (2 Kings 1:4). When the messengers returned and gave Ahaziah the bad news, he sent 50 soldiers to capture Elijah and kill him (2 Kings 1:9).

King Ahaziah thought he could annul God’s word by killing his prophet. Ahaziah was so steeped in the ways of pagan worship, that he was oblivious to God’s control over his life. Not only did God have the power to remove Ahaziah from his office, but God had the right to punish Ahaziah for his idolatry. The problem with Ahaziah’s way of thinking was he placed himself above God. Ahaziah actually thought he could subject God to his will and could overcome his illness with the help of Baal-zebub.

After three attempts to capture and kill Elijah, king Ahaziah was confronted with the truth:

And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. (2 Kings 1:16)

“So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken” (2 Kings 1:17).

The coup

Athaliah’s six year reign over the kingdom of Judah symbolized the failure of achieving a united kingdom. Jehoshaphat and Ahab’s marriage alliance did more to ruin the kingdoms of Judah and Israel than it did to strengthen them. The primary problem with the alliance was that the secular kingdom of Israel had the dominant role. The fact that Jehoram’s wife Athaliah ended up ruling the kingdom of Judah shows that she was like her mother Jezebel, determined to turn the people away from God.

While Athaliah was reigning, the temple was shut down, indicating there was no formal worship of God. Jehoiada probably remained in his position of priest to ensure that Joash, the son of Ahaziah, was not discovered and killed by Athaliah. Joash was the only descendent of king David. His death would mean the messianic line was cut off and God’s Savior unable to come forth.

Joash was kept in hinding until he was seven years old, presumably because he wasn’t able to be king until he was old enough to understand his responsibility. At the age of seven, Joash couldn’t think logically or reason as an adult, so his capacity to rule over the people was limited. No doubt, Johoiada the priest played a prominent role in running the kingdom until Joash reached adulthood.

When it was time for Joash to become king, Johoiada brought in bodyguards to protect him and armed the priests to make sure no one got near him in the temple. “Then they brought out the king’s son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the Testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king” (2 Chronicles 23:11).

Athaliah’s reaction showed that she viewed herself as the legitimate ruler of the kingdom of Judah. “When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the LORD…Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason” (2 Chronicles 23:12-13).

Athaliah attained a position of power over the people of Judah, but she never gained their affection or loyalty. Her position as queen was obtained unlawfully and therefore, she had no authority to stop what was happening. “So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate by the king’s house, they slew her there” (2 Chronicles 23:15).

Marriage alliance

Jehoshaphat, the son of Asa the king of Judah, reigned during the last 12 – 13 years of Ahab’s life. Sometime during that period, probably around the time when Ahab repented of taking Naboth’s vineyard away from him, “Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel” (1 Kings 22:44). Jehoshaphat’s motive for making peace could have been Ahab’s defeat of Ben-hadad. Jehoshaphat may have interpreted the deliverance of the Syrian army as a sign that Ahab was in God’s favor.

The peace agreement between Jehoshaphat and Ahab was in the form of a marriage alliance between their two children. Ahab’s daughter Athaliah was given to Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram as a wife in order to unite the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Because of this agreement, when Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to go with him to battle against Syria (1 Kings 22:4), Jehoshaphat couldn’t say no without jeopardizing their relationship.

Jehoshaphat attempted to influence Ahab into walking with the LORD (1 Kings 22:7), but Ahab’s heart was bent toward doing evil. Even after the prophet Micaiah told Ahab he would be killed in battle (1 Kings 22:17), Ahab attacked the king of Syria anyway. Ahab thought he could outwit his enemy by disguising himself. It says in 1 Kings 22:30 that Ahab “said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes.” In other words, Ahab wanted Jehoshaphat to act as a decoy and risk his life to prevent Ahab from being killed.

It is likely Jehoshaphat agreed because he believed he would be killed anyway. Micaiah’s prophecy indicated Israel’s army would be left leaderless, “he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd” (1 Kings 22:17). When the captains of Ben-hadad army saw Jehoshaphat, they thought he was the king of Israel. “And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out. And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that is was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him” (1 Kings 22:32-33).

The word translated cried in 1 Kings 22:32, za‘aq is most frequently used for crying out for divine aid (2199). Jehoshaphat cried out to God for help and the captains of the chariots perceived that he was not the king of Israel, the man they were looking for, and left him alone. In the moment when Jehoshaphat cried out to the LORD, God could have ignored his plea for help. Jehoshaphat had no business going to battle with Syria after Micaiah prophesied they would be defeated, but God did help him, because Jehoshaphat was honoring his peace agreement with Ahab.

 

Found out

In spite of king Ahab’s bad influence on the people in his kingdom, there were 7,000 Israelites that remained faithful to God (1 Kings 19:18). One of those men, Naboth the Jezreelite, lived next door to Ahab’s secondary residence where his wife Jezebel lived. Naboth lived on a plot of land  that had been occupied by his family for hundreds of years, perhaps since the Israelites entered the Promised Land. As if it were a trivial matter, “Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money” (1 Kings 21:2).

Naboth refused to give the land to Ahab because it was his inheritance. In other words, Ahab had no legal claim to the land. Naboth was honoring God by refusing to give Ahab the hereditary property that was supposed to stay within his family. Ahab’s reaction shows that he was upset, but intended to abide by Naboth’s decision (1 Kings 21:4). Then Jezebel stepped in and took matters into her own hands, “So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in the city, dwelling with Naboth” (1 Kings 21:8).

Jezebel’s action to take control of the situation was probably typical behavior for her. She was able to get the elders and nobles to do what she wanted, which was break the law and lie about Naboth committing a sin so that he could be stoned to death. Jezebel manipulated the Israelite legal system in order to accomplish her own selfish purposes. Although Ahab was willing to accept Naboth’s refusal, Jezebel was not.

When Ahab went down to the vineyard of Naboth to take possession of it, Elijah was there waiting for him. “And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD” (1 Kings 21:20). Ahab’s question to Elijah might have been expressed, have you found out what I have done or are you here to accuse me of a crime? Ahab had been caught red handed stealing Naboth’s property. No matter what he did to try and talk his way out of it, king Ahab was found out. He was guilty of letting Jezebel rule God’s kingdom.

Surprisingly, Ahab didn’t argue with Elijah when confronted with his sin. Elijah’s reference to Ahab having sold himself to work evil in essence meant that Ahab was unable to say no to his wife Jezebel and therefore, was under the power of Satan. It says in 1 Kings 21:27, “when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.” Ahab repented of his sin and because he humbled himself before the LORD, God forgave him.

Extremes

Wisdom does not keep us from committing sin. Sometimes people say, if I knew then what I know now, I would have done things differently, implying that you will make better choices as you grow wiser. The truth of the matter is that we make bad choices because we have a sin nature or tendency to sin, not because we are stupid and don’t know any better.

Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, disobeyed God by marrying multiple foreign wives. It says in 1 Kings 11:3 that Solomon “had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.” Initially, Solomon was committed to the LORD God of Israel who appeared to him on two separate occasions (1 Kings 11:9), but when Solomon was recognized by the people for his gifts of leadership, wisdom and justice (2205), he began to care more about pleasing his wives that he did about pleasing God (1 Kings 11:4).

The interesting thing about Solomon’s situation was that Solomon’s disobedience wasn’t punished. When David committed adultery with Bath-Sheba, the child that was conceived died shortly after he was born. Solomon’s disobedience continued throughout his life, to the extreme that he accumulated 1000 wives and concubines, a direct violation of God’s command (Deuteronomy 17:17).

Deuteronomy 17:14-20 makes it clear that God knew in advance that Solomon would turn away from him and may even have set up or prearranged the situation by giving Solomon extreme wealth. In ancient times, the number of wives a man had was closely tied to his wealth. From a cultural perspective, it was appropriate for Solomon to have an outrageous number of wives because he was the wealthiest man on earth. The problem was that Solomon had foreign wives that wanted to keep worshipping their own gods and Solomon let them.

In says in 1 Kings 11:9 that “the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice.” The word translated turned, natah “connotes ‘extending something outward and toward’  something or someone…This is a figure of God’s active, sovereign, and mighty involvement in the affairs of men. So this phrase means ‘to stretch out’ something until is reaches a goal” (5186).

God had a purpose for allowing Solomon’s disobedience to continue unpunished. It may have been that God wanted Israel to see that they could be like everyone else, enjoy  peace and prosperity, but they would be miserable without him at the center of their lives (Ecclesiastes 12:8).

 

 

Divine intervention

“And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man: so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou, and all thy servants” (2 Samuel 19:14). David’s return to Jerusalem after the death of Absalom was the result of a sovereign act of God. The word translated bowed, nâtâh (naw – taw´) means to stretch or spread out (5186). It is a picture of God extending his hand in order to accomplish something.

God does not always intervene in the lives of men, but he does control the outcome of events over time. God’s involvement in the affairs of men is a sign of his power (5186). As the creator of the universe, he does not just watch or oversee what is going on, he engages in activity that keeps the process going until a particular goal is achieved.

David’s return to Jerusalem was a sign that all was well again. The conflict was over. The word translated return, shûwb (shoob) means to turn back. “The basic meaning of the verb is a movement back to the point of departure” (7725). Although it is clear that David was returning to the city he had left sometime earlier, the significance of his return was greater. I believe his return signaled a return or restoration of his life from the point in time when he sinned against Uriah (2 Samuel 11:15).

The death of Absalom marked the end of a chapter in David’s life that had caused conflict in his family and in his country. Even though things had not reach the point of chaos, there was a great disturbance when Absalom attempted to take the throne from his father. The people of Israel lost confidence in David and were unsure of God’s will for their nation (2 Samuel 19:9-10). God’s involvement was necessary to restore order.

It says in 2 Samuel 19:9 that, “all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel.” The word translated strife, dûwn (doon) means to rule (1777). This word is comparable to the words adon and adonay which mean sovereign, Lord, and master (113, 136). If you think of strife in terms of conflict or a fight amongst people, it marks the point when an umpire is needed to settle the dispute. In Israel’s case, it marked the point when God needed to step in and make it clear that David was still his chosen leader of their nation.

Unfortunately, only the tribe of Judah was given the opportunity to welcome David back into the country and the other tribes of Israel did not appreciate being left out. “And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king?” (2 Samuel 19:43). In spite of David’s return to the throne, there was not a complete restoration of peace to the nation of Israel. The damage that was done by Absalom’s revolt left a permanent mark on David’s reputation as king and a crack in the foundation of Israel as a nation. The peace the nation experienced when David was at the peak of his career (2 Samuel 10:19), seemed to be lost when Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel (2 Samuel 15:6).