Day 123: OT Third Kings C21-22 (END); God’s Word Reigns Eternally; to All Generations!

The message of this part of the Bible is that no king, or in today’s world, a president or dictator of a country, is above God and the wrath of God through prophets or other people.

Eminent domain of the Old Testament was such that if the king wanted your vineyard next door and you were not willing to sell it, then his wife would devise a plan resulting in you being stoned and left to die.

Naboth… had at that time a vineyard near the palace of Achab king of Samaria…

Achab to Naboth: Give me thy vineyard, that I may make me a garden of herbs, because it is nigh (near in space, time, or relation), and adjoining to my house, and I will give thee for it a better vineyard: or if thou think it more convenient for thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

Naboth to Achab: The Lord be merciful to me, and not let me give thee the inheritance of my fathers.

Achab came to his house angry and fretting… And casting himself upon his bed, he turned away his face to the wall, and would eat no bread.

And Jezabel his wife… Thou art of great authority indeed, and governest well the kingdom of Israel. Arise, and eat bread, and be of good cheer, I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth…

So she wrote letters in Achab’s name and sealed them with his ring: and sent them to the ancients, and the chief men that were in his city, and that dwelt with Naboth. And this was the tenor of the letters: Proclaim a fast, and make Naboth sit among the chief of the people, and suborn (to bribe or induce (someone) unlawfully or secretly to perform some misdeed or to commit a crime) two men, sons of Belial against him, and let them bear false witness that he hath blasphemed God and the king: and let them carry him out, and stone him, and so let him die.

And bringing two men, sons of the devil, they made them sit against him: and they, like men of the devil, bore witness against him before the people… Naboth is stoned, and is dead.

But God was watching and worked through Elias to make His judgment. Athough Achab was remorseful and humbled himself there was a penalty to be paid and unfortunately this penalty fell upon his son and future generation.

The sins of our fathers…

And the word of the Lord came to Elias, the Thesbite, saying: Arise and go down to meet Achab king of Israel, who is in Samaria… saying: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast slain, moreover also thou hast taken possession… In this place, wherein the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they shall lick thy blood also…

Achab to Elias: Hast thou found me thy enemy?

Elias to Achab: I have found thee, because thou are sold, to do evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold I will bring evil upon thee, and I will cut down thy posterity (all descendants of one person; succeeding or future generations collectively)… for what thou hast done, to provoke me to anger, and for making Israel to sin.

And of Jezabel also the Lord spoke, saying: The dogs shall eat Jezabel in the field of Jezabel. If Achab die in the city, the dogs shall eat him: but if he die in the field, the birds of the air shall eat him. 

Interesting that is Jezabel and Achab were to die in the field, the dogs would eat Jezabel but the birds would eat Achab, but if Achab died in the city the dogs would eat him.

Now there was not such another as Achab, who was sold to do evil in the sight of the Lord: for his wife Jezabel set him on, and he became abominable, insomuch that he followed the idols which the Amorrhites had made, whom the Lord destroyed before the face of the children of Israel. And when Achab had heard these words, he rent his garments, and put haircloth upon his flesh, and fasted and slept in sackcloth, and walked with his head cast down. And the word of the word of the Lord came to Elias the Thesbite, saying: Hast thou seen Achab humbled before me? Therefore, because he hath humbled himself for my sake, I will not bring the evil in his days, but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.

And the Third Book of Kings ends with a chapter about how Achab and Joaphat king of Juda listened to false prophets and invaded Ramoth Galaad. They were defeated and Achab was killed in battle.

This is a testimony to how God can utilize deceiving spirits and lying spirts to present false guidance to powerful people that results in their own demise:

And there passed three years without war between Syria and Israel.

Achab: Know ye not that Ramoth Galaad (a Levitical city and city of refuge east of the Jordan River) is ours, and we neglect to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria.

Josaphat king of Juda said to Achab king of Israel: As I am, so art thou: my people and thy people are one: and my horseman, thy horseman… Inquire, I beseech thee, this day, the word of the Lord.

 

There is only one man left, by whom we may inquire of the Lord: Micheas… but I hate him, for he doth not prophesy good to me, but evil.

Then the king of Israel, and Josaphat king of Juda, sat each on his throne clothed with royal robes, in a court by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them… And all the prophets prophesized in like manner, saying: Go up to Ramoth Galaad, and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hands.

Micheas the only prophet? Who were all these other prophets? False prophets.

Micheas: As the Lord liveth, whatsoever the Lord shall say to me, that will I speak.

Micheas: I saw Israel scattered upon the hills, like sheep that have no shepherd: and the Lord said: These have no master: let every man of them return to his house in peace.

Micheas: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne… And the Lord said: who shall deceive Achab… that he may go up, and fall at Ramoth Galaad? And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said: I will deceive him… I will go forth, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.

Achab: Put this man (Miicheas) in prison, and fee him with bread of affliction, and water of distress, till I return in peace.

Micheas to Achab: If thou return in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me… Hear, all ye people.

The battle at Ramoth Galaad:

And a certain man bent his bow, shooting at a venture, and chanced to strike the king of Israel between the lungs and the stomach..

Achab: for I am grievously wounded…

And the king of Israel stood in his chariot against the Syrians, and he died in the evening: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot… according to the word of the Lord which he (Micheas) had spoken.

How do we find our true prophets like Micheas in our own lives?

…are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

So Achab slept with his fathers, and Ochozias his son reigned in his steed.

Josaphat… began to reign over Juda in the fourth year of Achab king of Israel… and he reigned five and twenty years in Jerusalem… And he walked in all the way of Asa his father, and he declined not from it: and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.

…are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

And Josaphat slept with his fathers… and Joram his son reigned in his steed.

Ochozias… reigned over Israel two years, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord… made Israel to sin, he served also Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked the Lord the God of Israel, according to all that his father (Achab) had done.

What will be written in the book of words of the days of our lives?

In the end of The Third Book of Kings the word of the Lord reigned as Ochozias paid the debt of his father Achab as the word of the Lord always reigns…

The Word of the Lord Reigns Eternally; to Our Generation and Future Generations!

Day 123: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; The Word of the Lord Reigns Eternally; to Our Generation and Future Generations!

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Third Book of Kings Chapters 21-22

Bible Notes:

This Book opens with the death of King David. Solomon, his son, succeeded him. King Solomon ruled wisely, beautified Jerusalem, and built the Temple. But later he encouraged idolatry. After his death his kingdom split into two hostile sections, Israel in the North and Juda in the South.

3 Kings Chapter 21: Naboth refuses to sell his vineyard; Jezabel’s plot against Naboth; Naboth is treacherously slain; Achab acquires Naboth’s vineyard; God’s judgment on Achab and Jezabel; Achab humbles himself before God.

Naboth… had at that time a vineyard near the palace of Achab king of Samaria…

Achab to Naboth: Give me thy vineyard, that I may make me a garden of herbs, because it is nigh (near in space, time, or relation), and adjoining to my house, and I will give thee for it a better vineyard: or if thou think it more convenient for thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

Naboth to Achab: The Lord be merciful to me, and not let me give thee the inheritance of my fathers.

Achab came to his house angry and fretting… And casting himself upon his bed, he turned away his face to the wall, and would eat no bread.

And Jezabel his wife… Thou art of great authority indeed, and governest well the kingdom of Israel. Arise, and eat bread, and be of good cheer, I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth…

So she wrote letters in Achab’s name and sealed them with his ring: and sent them to the ancients, and the chief men that were in his city, and that dwelt with Naboth. And this was the tenor of the letters: Proclaim a fast, and make Naboth sit among the chief of the people, and suborn (to bribe or induce (someone) unlawfully or secretly to perform some misdeed or to commit a crime) two men, sons of Belial against him, and let them bear false witness that he hath blasphemed God and the king: and let them carry him out, and stone him, and so let him die.

And bringing two men, sons of the devil, they made them sit against him: and they, like men of the devil, bore witness against him before the people… Naboth is stoned, and is dead.

Interesting that Jezabel and Achab was not part of the fast or the ceremony?

Jezabel to Achab: Arise and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth… for Naboth is not alive, but dead…

And the word of the Lord came to Elias, the Thesbite, saying: Arise and go down to meet Achab king of Israel, who is in Samaria… saying: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast slain, moreover also thou hast taken possession… In this place, wherein the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they shall lick thy blood also…

Achab to Elias: Hast thou found me thy enemy?

Elias to Achab: I have found thee, because thou are sold, to do evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold I will bring evil upon thee, and I will cut down thy posterity (all descendants of one person; succeeding or future generations collectively)… for what thou hast done, to provoke me to anger, and for making Israel to sin.

And of Jezabel also the Lord spoke, saying: The dogs shall eat Jezabel in the field of Jezabel. If Achab die in the city, the dogs shall eat him: but if he die in the field, the birds of the air shall eat him. 

Interesting that is Jezabel and Achab were to die in the field, the dogs would eat Jezabel but the birds would eat Achab, but if Achab died in the city the dogs would eat him.

Now there was not such another as Achab, who was sold to do evil in the sight of the Lord: for his wife Jezabel set him on, and he became abominable, insomuch that he followed the idols which the Amorrhites had made, whom the Lord destroyed before the face of the children of Israel. And when Achab had heard these words, he rent his garments, and put haircloth upon his flesh, and fasted and slept in sackcloth, and walked with his head cast down. And the word of the word of the Lord came to Elias the Thesbite, saying: Hast thou seen Achab humbled before me? Therefor, because he hath humbled himself for my sake, I will not bring the evil in his days, but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.

3 Kings Chapter 22: Alliance of Achab and Jesaphat; Achab and Jesaphat hear false prophets; Achab throws Micheas in prison; Achab is killed in battle; Ochozias succeeds Achab; Josaphat’s good reign over Juda; Joram succeeds Josphat; Ochozias’ wicked reign over Israel.

And there passed three years without war between Syria and Israel.

Achab: Know ye not that Ramoth Galaad (a Levitical city and city of refuge east of the Jordan River) is ours, and we neglect to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria.

Josaphat king of Juda said to Achab king of Israel: As I am, so art thou: my people and thy people are one: and my horseman, thy horseman… Inquire, I beseech thee, this day, the word of the Lord.

There is only one man left, by whom we may inquire of the Lord: Micheas… but I hate him, for he doth not prophesy good to me, but evil.

Then the king of Israel, and Josaphat king of Juda, sat each on his throne clothed with royal robes, in a court by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them… And all the prophets prophesized in like manner, saying: Go up to Ramoth Galaad, and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hands.

Micheas the only prophet? Who were all these other prophets? False prophets.

Micheas: As the Lord liveth, whatsoever the Lord shall say to me, that will I speak.

Micheas: I saw Israel scattered upon the hills, like sheep that have no shepherd: and the Lord said: These have no master: let every man of them return to his house in peace.

Micheas: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne… And the Lord said: who shall deceive Achab… that he may go up, and fall at Ramoth Galaad? And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said: I will deceive him… I will go forth, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.

Achab: Put this man (Miicheas) in prison, and fee him with bread of affliction, and water of distress, till I return in peace.

Micheas to Achab: If thou return in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me… Hear, all ye people.

The battle at Ramoth Galaad:

And a certain man bent his bow, shooting at a venture, and chanced to strike the king of Israel between the lungs and the stomach..

Achab: for I am grievously wounded…

And the king of Israel stood in his chariot against the Syrians, and he died in the evening: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot… according to the word of the Lord which he (Micheas) had spoken.

…are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

So Achab slept with his fathers, and Ochozias his son reigned in his steed.

Josaphat… began to reign over Juda in the fourth year of Achab king of Israel… and he reigned five and twenty years in Jerusalem… And he walked in all the way of Asa his father, and he declined not from it: and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.

…are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

And Josaphat slept with his fathers… and Joram his son reigned in his steed.

Ochozias… reigned over Israel two years, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord… made Israel to sin, he served also Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked the Lord the God of Israel, according to all that his father (Achab) had done.

END of The Third Book of Kings