King Ahab's Fall by Luke Enno

January 29, 2016

King Ahab's Fall

Ahab was the king of Israel in a time where kings ruled Israel and Judah. Before kings ruled these two sister nations, judges had the supreme authority. Ahab made many costly mistakes over the course of his reign. I am convinced that his greatest error was to marry Jezebel (and everything that went along with being married to Jezebel).

When you marry the wrong person, you can set a chain of events in motion that have devastating consequences. Those consequences can and usual do spill over into the lives of other people - in particular people of whom you have control over - family, friends, acquaintances, subordinates, etc.

In 1 Kings 22, we witness the accounting of Ahab's fall in battle. While seated in his chariot, Ahab was struck by an arrow at random. His blood ran out onto the chariot floor. At a pool in Samaria where the harlots bathed, someone washed his chariot and the dogs licked up his blood. Although Ahab received a proper burial in Samaria, I believe the fact that his life blood was washed in the waters of the harlots and licked up by dogs represents his legacy.

Ahab knew and witnessed firsthand the power of God and the powerlessness of the god he commanded his people to serve, Baal. Yet when his wife Jezebel angrily refused to accept what Ahab had seen with his own eyes as the way to go, Ahab allowed what Jezebel wanted to rule the day. Jezebel was buried deep in her hatred for the one true God and ultimately Ahab allowed her hatred to be the controlling influence over his life and how he ruled.

Not one of Ahab's sons or anyone in his family or his friends, acquaintances or anyone else associated with Baal in the kingdom survived with nearly every one of these individuals dying a violent bloody and merciless death. Ahab's legacy speaks for itself in this respect.

Copyright 2016 - Luke Enno

Life of King Jehu by Luke Enno

January 28, 2016

Life of King Jehu

2 Kings describes the anointing and rise to power of Jehu who would become King of Israel following the slaying of King Ahab. King Jehu would be responsible for wiping out King Ahab's family and associates as well as bringing the worship of Baal to a conclusion. In that regard, he fulfilled exactly what he was asked to do. He was a commander of soldiers in Ahab's army and he would usurp the throne of Ahab. Jehu would reign for 28 years over Israel.

Most people, Christians included, perceive God as an eternal being who would never authorize death or command someone to take the life of another. Indeed, murder is a form of death which God does not and would not authorize. However, not all killing is murder even though murder is a form of killing. Jehu had a God-ordained task of killing anyone associated with Ahab. He did follow through on that responsibility and he and his descendants were rewarded for his faithfulness (even though he failed in numerous other areas as far as not coming into obedience to God).

Jehu first killed Ahab's wife, Jezebel. Her life was tossed upon the ground, trampled under and eaten by ravenous dogs. 2 Kings 9:30-37. He then quickly turns his attention to killing all 70 of Ahab's sons. 2 Kings 10:1-11. Those 70 sons were slaughtered and beheaded. There was no honor in their deaths. He also killed all who remained in Ahab's house in the City of Jezreel and all of Ahab's great men, close acquaintances and priests. If you were connected to Ahab, you fell to your death courtesy of Jehu.

Jehu did not stop there. He created a deception whereby anyone in the kingdom who worshiped Baal was gathered for a great sacrifice in honor of Baal. All the prophets, servants, priests and worshipers were to come and those who did not come to worship were to die. Those who did worship also were to die and if anyone did not die, to the extent Jehu's soldiers who allowed anyone to live would be forced to die in the "his life for the life of another" manner. 2 Kings 10. Ultimately, God was pleased with Jehu's complete destruction of thousands of lives. Baal had threatened to blow up God's vision and God's vision will bow to no man and no ideology. None.

Though Jehu was far from perfect in the sight of God, at least with how he handled the situations involving Ahab's family and the worshipers of Baal, Jehu managed to obtain favor from God. Jehu received 28 years of time to reign before he was provided with an honorable burial noting again of course that Jehu largely reigned by not taking heed to walk in the law of God with all his heart. Jehu gave God 'some' of his heart but certainly not what God wanted. He wants 100% of us.

Much can be derived from the life of Jehu. To me, two particular considerations stand out: (1) Jehu was called of God to do something that most people would consider 'immoral' or 'unconscionable'. He obeyed God regardless of perception. Jehu slaughtered unholy people needing to be destroyed and he did it with ruthless abandon. For his faithfulness, his descendants received blessings including the right to rule and reign over Israel for a number of generations. (2) Jehu did not destroy all of the idols in the kingdom; instead he selectively focused on wiping out Baal while at the same time leaving other golden idols remain. By not yielding fully to God, He did not honor God in a manner that was fully pleasing to God and Jehu short-circuited the full measure of the goodness that could have been in Israel during and following his reign. The Kingdom of Israel suffered financial losses to enemies as a result of Jehu's disobedience. Give God 100% of yourself all the time in everything that you think, say and do.

Copyright 2016 - Luke Enno

Jezebel by Luke Enno

January 27, 2016

Jezebel

Tonight, I intended on meditating upon 1 Kings 19:11-18 which addresses how God revealed Himself to Elijah in a moment where Elijah was suffering greatly - mental and spiritual anguish in particular. Rather than using a thundering bolt to get Elijah's attention, God spoke in a still small voice to His remaining prophet (the other prophets having been killed at the hands of Jezebel and Ahab).

Considering Elijah's situation as a result of King Ahab, initially, I went searching deeper into the reign of Ahab as King of Israel (22 years). One cannot understand Ahab without quickly drawing an eye on Jezebel. If anyone wore the pants in Ahab's family, it was Jezebel. In our society, the name "Jezebel" is and always has been associated with bad morals, harlotry and sexual immorality. No one in his/her right mind would name a child after Jezebel.

Reading about her life in both 1 Kings and 2 Kings (and by extension in 2 Chronicles via Ahab's life and death), it becomes quickly apparent that Jezebel is not noteworthy so much for being sexually immoral (although I am sure that this strain existed in some fashion). Instead, Jezebel is just plain evil as far as "it is her way or no way" and "no one will stand in her way, not even God Himself". Ahab's greatest mistake in his life may have been the simple fact that he chose to marry Jezebel.

Jezebel had come from royalty herself. But she was from a kingdom that followed false idols. Serving the one true God would not be an option with her as de facto queen of Israel even if that one true God revealed Himself in powerful and unmistakable ways which showed Baal for who Baal was, a made-up fictitious idol. You have to be some special kind of evil to destroy Godly prophets in spite of the goodness God brought to Israel and her people time and time again when drought or other adverse circumstances faced the kingdom.

The death of Jezebel revealed the contempt God Himself had for the way she had lived. Being thrown to the ground, trampled underfoot and torn to shreds and eaten by stray dogs without so much as a means for a proper burial reflected the most humiliating and degrading way to die. A death from which no honor could be salvaged. A life wasted.

There are countless lessons to be learned from the life and death of Jezebel and for that matter her husband Ahab. Ahab's life ended in an inglorious manner as well. His replacement as king, Jehu, an individual who took command in a way that some outsiders would interpret as via treason, further cemented the idea that among all the mistakes and wrongs that Ahab did over the course of his reign, he should have avoided marrying Jezebel. If you marry the wrong person, you could be setting yourself up for a path in life that takes you down dark alleys into the land of destruction. Ahab and his entire family suffered natural and eternal consequences for his association with Jezebel.

Copyright 2016 - Luke Enno