Bible In One Year Day 169 (1 Kings 22, 2 Chronicles 23, Song of SOlomon 8)

 You may subscribe yourself at the Ascension site here and receive notifications in your email, or just follow along on my blog.  Bible in One Year Readings Index 

Day 169: Joash is Crowned 

Agape Bible 
1 Kings 22 

Chapter 22: Another War with Aram

1 Kings 22:1-4 ~ The King of Judah visits King Ahab in Samaria

See 2 Chronicles 18:2-34 for the parallel passages to this chapter. Jehoshaphat of Judah was the son of King Asa and the great-great-great grandson of the David, king of the United Kingdom of Israel. He succeeded his father (good king Asa) as king of Judah in 870 BC; it was four years after Ahab became king of Israel. Ever since the division of the Kingdom of Israel in 930 BC, there had been intermittent fighting between the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. For the first time since the division of the kingdoms, there was peace between the two kingdoms and an alliance was made that was sealed by a royal marriage: Ahab and Jezebel's daughter, Athaliah, married Jehoshaphat's son, Jehoram. It was a marriage that was to have dire consequences for the Kingdom of Judah.

The peace that was established with the Aramaeans of Damascus, after the army of the Northern Kingdom beat the Aramaeans at Aphek (1 Kng 20:26-34) and after Ahab released Ben-Hadad II, lasted three years. In the third year, in c. 853 BC, Jehoshaphat of Judah paid a visit to King Ahab in Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom.

 Jehoshaphat "came down" to Ahab in verse 2 because he came from the elevation of Jerusalem (c. 2400 feet above sea level) and then traveled north to Samaria. During that visit, King Ahab suggested a military alliance to take back the lands confiscated by the Aramaeans on the east side of the Jordan River, principally Ramoth-Gilead in the Transjordan, and the king of Judah agreed. It is evidently an alliance that will serve both kingdoms by retrieving lost territory and in weakening a common enemy.

Triumph of Jehosaphat over Adad of Syria as illustrated by Jean Fouquet

1 Kings 22:5-12 ~ False prophets predict success

It was a common practice for kings to inquire of their prophets concerning the future, especially concerning military ventures (e.g., 2 Sam 2:1-2). Notice that the number of Ahab's court prophets is the same number as that given for the prophets of Baal that Elijah mentioned in 1 Kings 18:19. These court prophets are men who claim a prophetic gift in general (consulting many gods). It is unlikely that they were from among the 100 men of the brotherhood of prophets of Yahweh rescued by Obadiah (1 Kng 18:4, 13), but it is probably one of the prophets of the brotherhood, like the prophet in 20:35-43, will figure later in the story (1 Kng 22:8, 13-28).

After the court prophets gave their prediction of success, the king of Judah must have been uncomfortable as to whether they really spoke for Yahweh and requested another prophet (verse 7). Ahab then suggested Micaiah, who he admitted he "hates" because the prophet never has any good news for him, but he sent a messenger to bring the prophet.⁽³⁾

Question: What was the Law concerning the test for a true prophet of Yahweh? Dt 13:1-6; 18:20-22.
Answer: The only true prophet is one who speaks the words of Yahweh. He is always 100% accurate because God is all knowing. If he claims to speak for Yahweh and speaks falsely, the penalty was death.

1 Kings 22:13-17 ~ The message of the prophet Micaiah
At the same time the events are taking place at the threshing floor, Ahab's messenger has arrived at the house of Micaiah. The king's messenger may be giving the prophet advice in verse 13 or it may be a threat that he had better be in agreement with the court prophets. Micaiah's reply is that he can only say what Yahweh tells him "the mark of a true prophet.

Question: Who are the sheep and who is their shepherd? What does the prophecy mean?

Answer: In his prophecy, the "sheep" are the men of the army of Israel and the missing "shepherd" is Ahab. Yahweh's command that they return to their homes is because the battle is lost and Ahab is dead.

Question: Is this the first prophecy of Ahab's death? See 1 Kng 20:38-43; 21:19-20.
Answer: This is the third prophecy of his death. The first was made by one of the members of the brotherhood of prophets after Ahab released Ben-Hadad II from Yahweh's curse of destruction, and the second prophecy was delivered by Elijah after Naboth's murder.

1 Kings 22:18-23 ~ The second part of the prophecy

Ahab asked Jehoshaphat a rhetorical question to which he did not respond (verse 18), but his question shows that he has understood the prophecy as a prediction of the loss of the battle and a prophecy of his death.

In verses 19-22 the prophet describes his vision of the heavenly court. In the vision, God has made His judgment of Ahab known and asks for a volunteer to help to bring it about by encouraging Ahab to initiate the war with Aram. An unnamed "spirit" offers to encourage the prophets to give a false prophecy of victory. Notice the comparison of the two Israelite kings on their thrones in the company of their courtiers and God on His throne in the heavenly court surrounded by a host of angels.

There are divided opinions on Micaiah's vision in 1 Kings 22:19-23:

1. It is a true vision and this is the way God moves human events to bring about a desired result.
2. In order to protect himself from openly accusing the court prophets of lying, he has fabricated this story to excuse their false message. They are not responsible because it was a spirit who lied to them.
3. The spirit who volunteers to present the lie to the court prophets is Satan (the devil), the "father of lies" (Jn 8:44-45).

The scene is somewhat similar to the events that took place in the heavenly court in the Book of Job 1:6-12, although we do not know if the "spirit" is good or evil like the evil spirit of Satan in Job. In any event, the false prophets don't realize it, but they are also instruments of God who has already judged Ahab and decreed that he should die.

1 Kings 22:24-28 ~ The reaction of Micaiah's prophecy
The same prophet who made the iron horns (22:21) struck Micaiah and challenged the prophecy that is contrary to his own (probably just as Micaiah feared). King Ahab ordered for Micaiah to be imprisoned and fed a merger diet of bread and water. God's prophet, surrounded by four hundred false prophets, and the two kings and their courtiers, suffered both humiliation and physical abuse. It is the fate of all true prophets who are a Biblical "type" of Jesus Christ, God's supreme prophet, who will also suffer every kind of humiliation and abuse at His Passion.

Question: How does Micaiah defend his prophecy to Zedekiah?
Answer: The events themselves will prove or disprove the truthfulness of his prophecy and that he has spoken with the authority of God.

The Battle at Ramoth-Gilead

1 Kings 22:29-38 ~ Ahab's death at Ramoth-Gilead

Unfortunately the king of Judah was not impressed with Micaiah's prophecy of disaster and decided to go into battle against the Aramaeans with the king of Israel based on the prophecy for success by the four hundred court prophets.

Ahab was struck by the arrow in a small gap between the pieces of his scale armor. Realizing that he was wounded, Ahab commanded his chariot driver to retreat, but the battle was raging so fiercely that the driver couldn't turn the chariot around and withdraw. The driver or a third man in the chariot held Ahab up so the soldiers wouldn't realize he had been wounded and become discouraged (war chariots held two and three man teams). As the battle continued, Ahab bled to death.

When the blood was washed out of the floor of the chariot into the pool, the dogs licked up the blood in the water and the unclean cult prostitutes bathed in his blood. Dogs were unclean scavengers and the cult prostitutes were considered an abomination (Lev 18:22/19; Dt 23:18-19:17-18). These double indignities were God's judgment on Ahab in atonement for his sins. God forgave Ahab when he repented the murder of Naboth in 21:29, but forgiveness is one thing and atonement for those sins for which one has been forgiven is another matter altogether. God is merciful but He is also just (see 2 Sam 12:13-15).

1 Kings 22:39-40 ~ Summary statement of Ahab's reign

The year of Ahab's death is c. 853 BC. The story of Ahab ends with the same formula statement as the other kings of Israel in 1 Kings. The story of Ahab's son will continue in 2 Kings 8:25-29. Ahab's son Ahaziah was the son-in-law of King Jehoshaphat of Judah. The "ivory house" does not mean his palace was made of ivory but that it had costly ivory embellishments and furniture inlaid with ivory.

1 Kings 22:41-51 ~ The reign of Jehoshaphat in Judah (870-848)

The same formula summary of the reign of Jehoshaphat is given as for other Davidic kings except with the notice that, like his father Asa, he was a righteous king in God's eyes.
Question: What one failure is mentioned?
Answer: He did not abolish worship in the form of sacrifice and incense at the "high places."

This does not necessarily mean idol worship. Yahweh commanded that right worship could only be offered on His one, holy altar (Dt 12:1-14), and the people may have been erecting their own altars to Yahweh on hills and offering their own form of worship. It is another indication that right worship can only be offered at the Temple by Yahweh's ordained priesthood, and any other form of worship, even in the name of Yahweh, is illicit worship and forbidden.

1 Kings 22:52-54 ~ King Ahaziah of Israel (853-852)

Another formula summary is given for Ahaziah son of Ahab and Jezebel. He ruled for two years as the ancients counted with 853 counting as "year #1 and 852 as year #2. He is also compared to Jerobaom who first led Israel into the sin of idol worship. Ahaziah followed the sinful examples of his father and mother. His story will be continued in chapter 1 of 2 Kings in the third part of the Elijah cycle.

+++

A Daily Defense

DAY 169 Objections to the Contingency Argument

CHALLENGE: “The argument from contingency is flawed: (1) Everything could be fated, so nothing would be contingent; (2) we can explain how things are by their history, which could be infinite; (3) there could be multiple ultimate causes; (4) you could call the first, necessary cause something other than God; and (5) if everything needs a cause, then God also must have a cause.”

DEFENSE:

None of these objections overturn the contingency argument.

First, the argument from fate simply proposes a single, ultimate cause—fate itself—for contingent things. It doesn’t show they aren’t contingent. It is not necessary for a person to be standing the way it is necessary for a square to have four sides. People can stand or sit, but squares must have four sides. If a person is fated to stand, he could also be fated to sit, and his posture is contingent.

Second, history (and whether history might be infinite) is not part of this argument. We are asking why things are the way they are now, not what history preceded this.

Third, one could trace the chain of causes for each of the many contingent things up to higher causes, but these would not end in a multiplicity of ultimate explanations, for explanations converge as we go higher. An example is the four fundamental forces of physics (electromagnetism, the strong force, the weak force, and gravity), which explain the state of innumerable contingent physical things. An important goal of science is to find ways to unify these forces and any others that exist.

There cannot be a multiplicity of ultimate explanations. If one proposed a certain set of explanations as ultimate, then they would have to exist within some kind of framework that would allow them to relate to one another. Otherwise, they would not be able to interact to produce the contingent states of affairs we see. However, the framework would then be more fundamental than the proposed explanations, so they would not be ultimate.

Fourth, one can always reject the term “God,” but this argument shows that there is a First Cause that is a necessary Being. This does not prove the full Christian understanding of God, but it can be supplemented by other arguments.

Fifth, God would not need a cause because, per the argument, God is necessary rather than contingent.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist

Bible in One Year Day 166 (1Kings 17-18, 2Chronicles 18-19, Song of Solomon 5)

     You may subscribe yourself at the Ascension site here and receive notifications in your email, or just follow along on my blog.  Bible in One Year Readings Index 

Day 166:  Responding in Faith 

Agape Bible Study 
1 Kings 17 - 18 

Chapter 17: The Reign of Ahab of Israel and the Beginning of the Story of Elijah the Prophet

Elijah was Yahweh's zealous prophet during the reigns of Ahab and his son Ahaziah, during the first half of the ninth century BC, fighting against idolatry and injustice in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. His name in Hebrew means "Yahweh is [my] God" and can be regarded as the mission of his life. His prophetic objective was to awaken Israel to the conviction that there is no other god but Yahweh—Yahweh alone is God. His dress was distinctive; he dressed in hairy animal skins and wore a leather loincloth or belt (2 Kng 1:8). His manner of dress suggests that he belonged to a family of shepherds or herdsmen in the Transjordan.

Elijah is the protagonist in three stories which Bible scholars refer to as the Elijah cycle:

1. 1 Kings 17:1-19:21 ~ The first story begins with the drought called down upon the region by Elijah in God's divine name and escalates into a contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. The story ends with Elijah's encounter with Yahweh at Mt. Horeb/Sinai and the call of Elisha.
2. 1 Kings 21:1-29 ~ The second story concerns the murder of righteous Naboth in a conspiracy to claim his land, and Elijah's prophecy of doom for both King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.
3. 2 Kings 1:1-2:1-18 ~ The third story concerns the final confrontation between Ahab and Elijah, the ascension of Elijah into heaven, and the succession of Elijah by his servant Elisha.

Elijah in the Desert (Allston Washington)

1 Kings 17:1-6 ~ Elijah prophesies' a great drought

Chapter 17, in the first part of the Elijah cycle, is composed of three episodes concerning Elijah's activities during the three year drought and three miracles within that period:

1. Elijah seeking refuge in Wadi Cherith and the miracle of the ravens (17:1-7).
2. Elijah finding refuge with a Gentile widow in Sidonia and the miracle of unending supply of oil and meal (17:8-16).
3. The miracle of Elijah resurrecting a widow's son (17:17-24).

1 Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead
A number of prophets in Scripture are identified by their hometowns (e.g. Ahijah of Shiloh in 1 Kng 11:29).
Question: Where was Elijah's hometown? Consult a map and find the Gilead.
Answer: He was from Tishbe in the Transjordan region of Gilead (on the east side of the Jordan River in what is today modern Jordan).

The Gilead was a rugged region between the Arnon and Yarmuk Rivers. In antiquity this region was densely forested (see Jer 22:6), and it was a territory that was especially well-suited for herding (Num 32:2). The northern part of the Gilead was assigned to the tribe of Manasseh, but the region was lost to Israel after the Assyrian conquest in 721 BC. The town of Tishbe has never been discovered in the Gilead but Tobit 1:2 mentions a Tishbi in the Galilee. The LXX (Greek Septuagint) translation, however, reads Tishbon in Gilead. Early Christian tradition sanctified a site just north of the Jabbok River in the Transjordan and built a chapel for pilgrims.

1 Kings 17:7-16 ~ The widow at Zarephath and the miracle of the flour and the oil

The entire region of the Levant was devastated by the drought and resulting famine. God commands Elijah to leave the Transjordan region and journey to a Mediterranean coastal city in Phoenician territory to seek refuge with a widow.
Question: What is ironic concerning the new place of refuge?
Answer: Elijah's life is in danger from King Ahab who is promoting Baal worship, which Elijah has condemned through the drought judgment, yet God has sent him into the very heart of Baal worship to seek refuge.

Question: How does Elijah test the woman to see if she is the right widow? How many times does he "test" her?
Answer: First he asks her for water, and then knowing that she and her son are starving, he asks her to bake him a little cake of bread.

Question: Elijah, servant of Yahweh, testing of the widow to see if she is the one Yahweh had chosen by asking her to bring him water recalls the testing of what other woman by Abraham's servant in Genesis 24:10-20?
Answer: The incident recalls the actions of Abraham's servant who was sent to find a bride for Isaac in the Aramaean homeland of Abraham's extended family. He tested Rebekah by asking for water in Genesis 24:17 to see if she was the one Yahweh had chosen as a wife for Isaac.

In the story of Elijah and the widow and Abraham's servant and Rebekah, the sought after woman is discovered using the same tactic. Rebekah only underwent one test, but Elijah tests the widow a second time by requesting that she bake him a cake of bread. Both women were blessed by Yahweh for their generous response to a traveler's request.

1 Kings 17:17-24 ~ Elijah restores the widow of Zarephath's son to life

The woman accuses Elijah of uncovering her sins and of causing the death of her son as her judgment. The woman's understanding of suffering and hardship being a punishment for her personal sins was common for pagan peoples and for the covenant people. While it was true that sin often brings its own punishment, all suffering cannot be attributed only to sins of the afflicted person as Jesus corrected His disciples in John 9:1-3.

Chapter 18: Elijah's Victory over the Priests of Baal

1 Kings 18:1-15 ~ Elijah and Obadiah

It is now the third year of the drought and famine. God commands Elijah to present himself to King Ahab; it will be a meeting that God tells His prophet will result in God sending rain to end the drought. The conditions caused by the drought have severely reduced the fodder for the kings' horses. We know from secular sources that King Ahab maintained extensive cavalry and chariot units (from an Aramaean stele fragment). The king is so desperate that he is willing to lead a search party for fodder himself and sends his steward to lead another search party. Obadiah's name means "servant of Yahweh," and his name describes his true allegiance.

Question: How do Obadiah's actions demonstrate his allegiance to Yahweh?
Answer:

1. He did homage to Elijah and recognized him as Yahweh's true prophet.
2. At the risk of his own life, he has managed to hide and feed 100 prophets of Yahweh from Ahab, preserving their lives.

1 Kings 18:16-24 ~ Elijah confronts Ahab and proposes a contest at Mt. Carmel

Mt. Carmel is a chain of mountains that begin near the Mediterranean coast (modern Haifa, Israel) and runs about 18 miles to the south-east. At its highest point, Mt. Carmel is 1800 feet high. Imagine the scene: the ragged prophet dressed in animal skins confronting the king of Israel in his richly embroidered garments. The king verbally attacks Elijah, calling him "scourge of Israel" while the prophet, who is not intimidated by the king, answers back with equal force, saying: 18 "Not I," he replied, "I am not the scourge of Israel, you and your family are; because you have deserted Yahweh and followed Baal [Baalim = Baals]. Elijah probably uses the plural, Baals = Baalim, because the Israelites have not only offered worship to the different Canaanite manifestations of Baal but now also to the Phoenician Baal-Shamem, a storm/rain god revered under other names such as Baal-Hadad and Hadad-Rimmon in various Phoenician and Aramaean centers (for other uses of Baalim see footnote 2).

1 Kings 18:25-29 ~ The attempt of the priests of Baal

In the contest, the priests of Baal are commanded not to light the altar fire; their god must light it as a sign of his power. Elijah gave the priests of Baal, the majority party, the first opportunity to display the power of their god and patiently gave them every opportunity for success.
Question: What techniques do the priests of Baal use to attract their god's attentions?
Answer: The yell and dance around the altar they had made. As time passes their actions become more desperate and they offer ritual bloodletting.

1 Kings 18:30-40 ~ Elijah's victory over the priests of Baal

The contest took place on a slope of Mt. Carmel that had enough space to accommodate a large crowd. There had apparently been an altar to Yahweh on the site at one time that that had been destroyed but the stones remained. It may have been an altar that existed from the time of the Patriarchs when the father of every family served as a priest and built altars and offered sacrifices whenever and wherever he so desired, or it was an altar a desperate people, cut off from the Jerusalem Temple, had set up. This practice was now forbidden in the Sinai Covenant where only one altar of Yahweh was permitted and that altar was now in the Jerusalem Temple complex (Dt 12:11-14; 1 Kng 11:36 2 Chr 3:1-2). It was possible to erect a temporary altar for a special purpose, like the altar Joshua built of undressed stones for the covenant renewal ceremony after the beginning of the conquest of Canaan (Josh 8:30-31). Such altars, like the ones from the age of the Patriarchs, were not like the Bronze altar God commanded for His desert Sanctuary or the Jerusalem Temple (Ex 27:1-8; 38:1-7; 1 Kng 8:64). The other altars were built of undressed stones on four sides and filled with dirt that was packed down firmly. The wood for burning the sacrifice was placed on top of the dirt (see verse 38).

1 Kings 18:41-46 ~ The drought ends

Throughout the contest, King Ahab has remained silent. With the victory of Elijah over the prophets of Baal, there is nothing he can say, and he probably fears for his own life.
Question: Why does Elijah tell the king to leave the mountain side?
Answer: True to his word in 18:1, the drought is over and the rain will soon begin. In the torrents of rain that will fall, it will be dangerous for the horses and the king's chariot on the mountain side, and he tells the king to go home and resume his life in the knowledge that only Yahweh is God. Yahweh's mercy has been extended to the king.

For the first time we learn that Elijah has a servant. It is probably one of the prophets saved by Obadiah who has offered his services to the Elijah. While the king returns to his palace in the Jezreel Valley, Elijah climbs nearer to the top of the mountain and reverently bows down to Yahweh and makes his petition for rain to end the drought. He then sends his servant higher up the mountain and tells him to look west toward the sea. Baal, the false god of storms and rain, could not bring the rain, but Yahweh, the One True God, will bring rain and end the drought.
Question: How many times does Elijah send his servant up to the top of the mountain to look for signs of rain?
Answer: Seven times.

+++

A Daily Defense

DAY 166 God as an Exalted Man

CHALLENGE: “God is simply an exalted man. The Bible says we are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26–27), and it refers to the strong right arm of God (Deut. 4:34), his all-seeing eyes (Prov. 15:3), and so on.”

DEFENSE: Scripture is clear that God and man are fundamentally different.

Mormonism is known for teaching that God and man are the same species. Mormons frequently use the couplet, “As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.”

By contrast, Scripture states: “God is not a man” (Num. 23:19), “he is not a man” (1 Sam. 15:29). God has always been God; he was never a man: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting thou art God” (Ps. 90:2).

There are no other gods. In Isaiah, God declares: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god” (Isa. 44:6). He also states: “Is there a God besides me? . . . I know not any” (Isa. 44:8). 

Similarly, men do not become gods. In Isaiah, God states: “Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me” (Isa. 43:10).

The “image” of God that Genesis 1 says we bear is an aspect of our rational soul, which separates us from the animals, which God created in the same chapter. 

References to God’s strong arm, his eyes, and such, are metaphors referring to God’s power and knowledge. They are not to be taken literally any more than Scripture’s references to God having feathers and wings (“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge,” Ps. 91:4).

Other verses make the immaterial nature of God clear. In John 4:24 Jesus teaches, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Elsewhere he notes, “a spirit has not flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39).

There is a difference between being a spirit and having a spirit. Jesus indicates that the Father is a spirit, not that he merely has one. This means that the Father lacks a body and is entirely spiritual.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist