True & Beautiful Things About the Bible--Old Testamentනියැදිය

1 Kings: When a Nation Turned

Solomon had about the best life anyone could ask for. His father, King David, had left him the kingdom at its golden age. The tribes of Israel were united, their borders had expanded, everything political was stable, and people’s lives were peaceful and prosperous. Solomon’s temple sat in splendor on Mount Moriah. And personally, Solomon had wealth, power, and accomplishments beyond imagination. He also had the wisdom to know these blessings were from God, a bonus to his request for help in ruling His people well.

For a minute, Israel enjoyed the peace and blessing God had promised them. This was real kingdom living.

But Solomon’s heart for God wasn’t like his dad’s. He played multiple choice with God’s instructions, choosing which he would or wouldn’t obey. He married foreign wives to form national alliances. He acquired horses and military resources from Egypt that God said don’t do. He burdened his people with heavy taxes and labor. Later in life, his heart even drifted towards his wives’ pagan gods and worshipped at their altars. And then he wondered why life felt meaningless to him. (Read his journal, Ecclesiastes, about how his heart returned to God in the end.)

After his death, the kingdom divided between Solomon’s son, Rehoboam and his servant’s son, Jeroboam into its former alliances—10 tribes in the north against Judah and Benjamin’s tribes in the south. In the north, a madman and his wife, Ahab and Jezabel, were on the throne and the worship of God was replaced by Baal (Jezabel’s god-of-choice.)

Then, when things had spiraled long enough, the prophet Elijah stepped out of nowhere to challenge wicked King Ahab. Elijah could easily be called by his name, a challenge which meant, ‘Look, my God is the Lord.’ But King Ahab just called him trouble.

Ahab blamed Elijah for Israel’s three-year drought but Elijah put it back on Ahab. God has stopped the heavens because you refuse to give up your idols. And this began the showdown on Mt. Carmel, one of the most spectacular displays of God’s creative communication in Israel for generations. It was a fight to the finish that we’re still talking about today.

Elijah survived that day on Mt. Carmel to fight again for God. Miracles of life and death, defying nature, and amazing reversals became his trademark confirmation that God was with him. Then one day he passed his baton to another prophet, his protégé Elisha, and God swept up Elijah in a chariot of fire and carried him in a whirlwind to heaven. (Elijah must have loved the drama.)

Yes, it’s true these were dark days for Israel, but God gave Elijah a breath-taking, beautiful final escort.

Next: Great stories of prophets and kings.