CHAPTER XVI

THE DIVIDED KINGDOM THE WORK OF ELIJAH

THE death of Solomon brought a crisis in the kingdom. Rehoboam, his son, went to Shechem, not Jerusalem, where Israel had gone to make him king. The fact is significant; it implies that the posi­tion was already precarious; Israel were prepared to accept Rehoboam as king, but only on conditions. They required a relaxation of the burdens that had been placed upon them by Solomon. He took three days to consider, their request, which he placed before the men who had been associated with his father, and before the younger men who had been brought up with him. The former counselled con­cessions; the latter advised the rejection of the appeal. On the appointed day the people came again, led by Jeroboam. With haughty indifference to the sufferings of the people Rehoboam replied, “My father did lade you with a heavy yoke; I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” It was a foolish saying, but it was overruled of God. The division of the kingdom had been foretold by the prophet, and it had to take place.

Ten tribes threw off allegiance to the house of David, and established a separate kingdom under Jeroboam. Rehoboam refused to recognise the division, and sent his officers to collect the usual tribute, but their leader was stoned and Rehoboam hurried off to Jerusalem to gather the men of Judah to fight against the other tribes. A prophet commanded him to refrain as the thing was from the Lord.

Political ambition

In the North Jeroboam did what he could to strengthen himself. He established his court at Shechem, a place hallowed by its association with Abraham, Jacob and Joshua. He saw that his greatest danger was a religious one. Israel had learned to look upon Jerusalem as the place which God had chosen to be the religious centre of the nation. If his subjects went there every year, the sight of the old familiar things might cause them to accept the rule of Rehoboam. To prevent such a thing happen­ing, he set up two calves, one in Dan and the other in Bethel, and issued a proclamation saying that Jerusalem was too far away and adding “Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” A new priesthood was installed, and new feasts instituted; the cleavage between the North and South was complete.

It is not to be supposed that Jeroboam intended to repudiate the worship of Yahweh; his object was political, not religious, he desired to prevent his people coming into contact with those of the south. There were protests against the king’s policy. In the presence of Jeroboam a prophet from Judah predicted that the altar he had set up would be delied by a member of the house of David whose name should be Josiah. He announced that the altar should be rent and its ashes scattered, and this actually happened. Jeroboam stretched out his hand to seize the bold prophet, but his hand dried up so that he could not take it back again. At the inter­cession of the prophet it was healed.

The miracle so impressed Jeroboam that he invited the prophet to stay, but he replied that he had been commanded to eat no bread and drink no water in Bethel. As he went on his way he was overtaken by an old prophet who invited him home to partake of food, saying that an angel had told him to invite the man of Judah to his house. It was a lie, but the prophet was persuaded to go with him. Suddenly in the midst of the meal the old prophet exclaimed, “Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast been disobedient unto the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, thy carcase shall not come into the sepulchre of thy fathers.” It must have been a dramatic moment. The man of Judah had listened to the voice of a false prophet and had to pay the penalty. On his way home a lion met him and slew him. It is a strange story but it has its moral-a command from God must be obeyed.

Jeroboam continued his evil course, but when his son fell sick he told his wife to go to Shiloh, where lived the prophet who had foretold that he should be king. She went disguised, but on the threshold of the prophet’s house she was greeted by the words, “Come in thou wife of Jeroboam, why feignest thyself to be another?” It was foolish to think she could deceive a prophet. If he could foretell the future he could certainly be assured of the facts of the present. He gave her a heavy message. “Get thee to thine own house, and when thy feet enter into the city the child shall die.”

Trouble in the south

Rehoboam took steps to strengthen himself by building fortified cities on his northern border. All through his reign there was a desultory war between him and Israel, in which the advantage generally remained with Judah, though neither side gained any real success. The religious life of Judah was not much better than that of Israel though many of the Levites who had lived in the North sought a home in the south. The principal trouble of the reign was an invasion of Palestine by Shishak, king of Egypt. It affected both Judah and Israel, though Judah bore the brunt of it, for Shishak’s chief spoil was taken from the temple in Jerusalem.

Rehoboam was succeeded by his son Abijam who only reigned three years. During his reign the war­fare against Jeroboam continued. Before one of the battles Abijah of Judah addressed the army of Israel; “Now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David.” He recognised that Judah was still the Kingdom of God.

Abijam was succeeded by his son Asa, who inaugurated a period of reformation and success. The religious evils that had crept in were ended; he removed his own mother from her position in the court because she had set up an abominable image. He added to the treasures that were dedicated to the Lord, and increased the number of fortified cities in the kingdom.

In the north Jeroboam was succeeded by his son Nadab who, after a reign of two years was murdered by Baasha one of his captains, who killed the whole family of Jeroboam in fulfilment of a prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite. Baasha established himself in Tirzah instead of Shechem. He continued the warfare with Asa of Judah, who relied on alliances, and used the treasures of the temple to purchase the assistance of Benhadad, the king of Syria. This king had been in alliance with Baasha, but in response to Asa’s application he broke the league and invaded Israel. Asa took advantage of the respite, and, conscripting the whole man power of Judah, destroyed the city of Ramah, which Baasha was converting into a fortified city, and used the materials to strengthen two of the cities of Judah. During the reign of Asa Judah was invaded by an immense army of Egyptians led by Zerah, an Ethiopian. Asa gained a notable victory over the invaders, a victory which deeply impressed the surrounding peoples with the power of Judah. The latter part of his reign was spoilt by his neglect of God and his reliance on others, yet his reign was one of marked progress which must be attributed to the principle expressed in the words of the record, “Asa did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, as did David his father.” After a reign of forty-one years he died, greatly lamented by his subjects.

Baasha’s reign of twenty-four years drew to a close, and the end of his house was announced by a prophet, a member of a class of men who were beginning to occupy an ever greater position in the land. Baasha was succeeded by his son Elah, but after two years his servant Zimri murdered him as he was “drinking himself drunk” in the house of his steward. Zimri destroyed the whole of the house of Baasha, but he had only reigned a week when a part of the army besieged him in Tirzah. The city fell, Zimri shut himself in the royal palace, set it on fire, and perished. Another aspirant for power rose up in the person of Omri, but the people were divided, some following Omri and others following Tibni. The party of Omri prevailed, and in the words of the Story, “Tibni died and Omri reigned.”

The Bible has little to say about Omri who was, however, a strong and capable king. The great feature of his reign was his decision to found a new capital. Shechem and Tirzah were not suitable sites for the capital of a country having numerous enemies. Omri chose the hill of Samaria. Lying at the head of two valleys, it was a strong site, easily defended, and near enough to the main roads of the country to make it a suitable centre for trade. The later history of Samaria furnished a full justification for Omri’s choice.

Omri was succeeded by Ahab, the greatest of all the kings of the ten tribes. His religious life was unsatisfactory, but his political outlook was that of a far seeing statesman. He married Jezebel, the daughter of Eth-baal, king of the Zidonians and high priest of Baal. Ahab’s principal idea seems to have been to reconcile the worship of Yahweh with that of Baal. Such an attempt was bound to fail, and the resulting condition of the country brought forth the man of the time.

Elijah the prophet

With dramatic suddenness the interest of the Bible Story centres in one man, Elijah the Tishbite, whose personality dominates the whole of the reign of Ahab. Of his past nothing is known, his whole being is merged in his career as a prophet of Yahweh. As a retribution for the religious evils of the reign of Ahab a famine came upon Israel through the failure of the rains. The brooks dried up, the grass withered, and the harvests were scanty. Through the first part of the famine Elijah was sustained by ravens until the brook Cherith dried up. Then he was told to go to Zarephath, in Sidon, lodge there with a widow and her son. There also the famine was severe, and when he arrived the widow was gathering a few sticks to bake a small cake for herself and her child, with the last of her meal and her oil. It was a severe test for the woman, but when the prophet said to her, “Fear not, go and do as thou hast said; but make me thereof a little cake first. . . . For thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth”, she did as Elijah had said, and the meal and the oil lasted until rain once more fell on the parched land.

While Elijah was lodging with the woman her child fell sick and died. In her grief she went to Elijah, crying, “What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? thou art come unto me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son!” Elijah took the child to his own room, and prayed; then stretch­ing himself on the body of the child, said, “O Lord, my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.” His prayer was heard, and Elijah gave the child back to his mother, saying, “See, thy son liveth.”

God or Baal?

Over three years had passed since the famine began when Elijah was told to show himself to Ahab, for rain was coming. He showed himself to Obadiah, the governor of the house of Ahab, and told him to go and tell his master that he was there. When Ahab reached Elijah he asked, “Is it thou, the troubler of Israel?” Elijah answered, “I have not troubled Israel; but thou and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baalim.” Then he issued a challenge. Let Ahab bring the prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel for the purpose of an ordeal by fire. Ahab accepted the challenge and a great assembly of priests and people gathered together. Elijah addressed the people, “How long halt ye between two opinions?” or rather “How long hop ye from one idea to another?” It was a telling description of the con­dition of Israel at the time. All Ahab’s children whose names we know had names which incorporated that of Yahweh; yet Baal worship was rampant in the land. The king and the people were trying to carry on two worships and loyalties. Elijah’s object was to stop the “hopping,” “If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.”

In the presence of the multitudes the prophets of Baal prepared their altar, and in accordance with the terms of the challenge put no fire under the sacrifice. Then they called on the name of their god from morning to noon, but there was no response. “O Baal hear us,” they cried. Elijah mocked them. “Cry aloud,” he said, “either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or peradventure he sleepeth.” Still they cried and cut themselves with lancets till the blood pushed forth. It was no use, Baal did not respond.

At last Elijah took his turn. It was the time of the evening sacrifice. He repaired the altar and placed on it a bullock with the necessary wood. He commanded the attendant to fill four buckets from a perennial spring near by, and to pour the water over the sacrifice. This was done three times, until both the altar and the sacrifice were drenched, and the water ran round the trench. Then, the voice of Elijah was heard. “O Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant. . . . Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that the people may know that Thou Lord, art God.” Suddenly the fire descended; it consumed the stones of the altar as well as the sacrifice, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. The effect was instantaneous. “Yahweh is the God,” shouted the people, and, at the command of Elijah they proceeded to slay the prophets of Baal.

Elijah encouraged

Ahab had looked on, now Elijah turned to him and said, “Get thee up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” The long drought was to end, and its end coincided with Israel’s recognition of Yahweh as their God. Elijah sent a lad to look over the sea. Six times he returned with the report that there was nothing to be seen. On the seventh occasion there was a little cloud about “as small as a man’s hand.” Then Elijah sent his servant to Ahab urging his instant departure, “Get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.” As the thick clouds blotted out the sky, and the howling winds told of the rain that was about to fall, Ahab drove to Jezreel and Elijah girded up his loins, and ran before his chariot to that place.

When Jezebel heard of the fate of the prophets of Baal she threatened to kill Elijah, who fled to Beersheba, some eighty miles to the south, into the wilderness, where he requested that he might die. As he lay asleep an angel touched him and said, “Arise and eat.” Again he slept and was awakened with the same words, to which the angel added “the journey is great.” In the strength of the food which had been provided he went for forty days to Mount Horeb, where he took refuge in a cave. There God spoke to him. “What doest thou here, Elijah?” He asked. Yes, what? The desert was no place for a prophet of the Lord. Such a man must speak for God, and there was no one to speak to in the desert. Elijah answered that he was the only one left of the prophets of the Lord, and that his life was threatened. He was told to go to the Mount. As he stood there a tremendous wind blew, dislodging rocks and breaking them in pieces. Then an earthquake shook the mountain and after that a fire broke out. In these phenomena Elijah saw no indication of the presence of God, but when he heard “a sound of gentle stillness,” he recognised the evidence of the presence of God. The gentle stillness spoke of Him rather than the wind, the earthquake, and the fire. Again the question was put. “What doest thou here Elijah?” and the same answer was given. Then he was told to anoint Hazael to be king of Syria, Jehu to be king of Israel, and Elisha as a prophet to succeed himself. He was also assured that there were seven thousand in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal. Thus encouraged Elijah returned, and anointed Elisha to be a prophet of the Lord. Elijah never anointed Jehu, that was done by his successor. There is no record of the anointing of Hazael.

The story now returns to Ahab. Ben-hadad, king of Syria, gathered an army together to besiege Samaria. He sent insulting messages to Ahab, who called his counsellors together and told them what had happened. They urged him to resist, and a prophet encouraged him with the assurance that the Syrians should be defeated. Ahab returned a reply to Ben-hadad, “Let not him that girdeth on his armour boast as he that putteth it off.” It seemed a hopeless conflict. The armies of Syria were large and that of Samaria very small. Ben-hadad was confident of victory, and he and the subject kings who were with him were drinking themselves drunk in the pavilions. When he was told that a number of men had come out from Samaria, he gave instructions that they were to be taken alive. He had badly blundered, for the result was an overwhelming victory for Ahab.

Next year Ben-hadad tried again. He thought the gods of the Israelites must be gods of the hills, and determined to fight on the plains. But the result was exactly as before, and the Syrians fled. Ben-hadad was forced to submit, and sent messengers to Ahab to make peace. Ahab received them graci­ously and granted easy terms. In so doing he was acting as a statesman. Assyria was rising and Ahab foresaw that a united Syria was the only possible way by which an Assyrian advance could be stopped. The prophets looked at matters differently, and one of them, in an acted parable, rebuked the king for saving alive a man whom God had appointed for death. Ahab could not bear rebuke; he returned to Samaria heavy and sore displeased.

Naboth’s vineyard

Ahab had some estates in Jezreel. Adjoining them was a vineyard belonging to a man named Naboth. Ahab thought the acquisition of the vineyard would round off his estates, and offered to buy it. but Naboth declined to sell the inheritance of his fathers. Disappointed and sulky, Ahab went to his house, and refused to eat. When Jezebel heard the reason she said, “Dost thou govern Israel? Arise and eat, I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth.” She wrote letters in the king’s name and commanded the elders of the city to proclaim a fast, set up Naboth, and charge him with blaspheming God and the king, then stone him and transfer his estates to the king. The programme was carried through and Ahab went down to Jezreel to take possession of the vineyard.

There Elijah met him. The king sensed that the meeting boded no good to him, and asked, “Hast thou found me, O my enemy?” “I have found thee,” replied Elijah, and pronounced the king’s doom. His house should perish like those of Jeroboam and Baasha, and Jezebel should be eaten by dogs by the wall of Jezreel. Ahab was not utterly bad;
he rent his clothes, put on sackcloth, and “went softly.” So the evil was postponed until the days of his son.

Ben-hadad did not carry out the terms he had made with Ahab; he did not hand over the city of Ramoth-gilead, so Ahab took steps to secure the fulfilment of the treaty. He asked Jehoshaphat, who was then king of Judah, to accompany him. Before setting out he consulted his prophets, all of whom foretold success. Jehoshaphat was not satisfied. “Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, besides?” he enquired. Ahab replied that there was one Micaiah, but said he hated him for he never prophesied good but only evil. However he sent for him, and Micaiah also foretold victory. There was something in his voice or manner that aroused Ahab’s suspicions. “How many times,” he asked, “shall I adjure thee that thou speak unto me nothing but the truth in the name of Yahweh?” Micaiah replied, “I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills as sheep that have no shepherd.” Then Micaiah told how he had seen a vision in which the Lord had asked how Ahab might be enticed so that he might fall at Ramoth-gilead, and a spirit had volunteered to do this by being a lying spirit in the mouth of his prophets.

Ahab’s death

Ahab refused to be warned, but he disguised himself, while Jehoshaphat wore his royal robes. The Syrians attacked Jehoshaphat thinking him to be the king of Israel, but he escaped. Yet the decrees of God could not be evaded. A man drew a bow at a venture, and the arrow, speeding on its way, struck Ahab between the joints of his armour, and he fell fatally wounded. He was carried to Jezreel, where he died. The defeat became a rout, and victory was with the Syrians.

Ahab had been a great king. He built much in Samaria, including an ivory palace (probably a house decorated with ivories), and his military achievements were considerable. His fatal mistake was his marriage to the idolatrous Jezebel, to which all the evils of his reign may be traced. Unequal yoking was his ruin, a fact of much importance even to-day, for Paul has said, “Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers, for ... what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever?”

In the south Asa had been succeeded by Jehosha­phat, of whom something has been told already. He was a good man and a good king, and organised a religious reformation. He placed a deputy on the throne of Edom, and received homage from the Philistines and the Arabians. He tried to imitate the trading activities of Solomon, but his ships were broken in the home port, and the idea came to nothing.

Ahab was succeeded by Ahaziah who only reigned two years, during which time Moab cast off their allegiance to Israel and refused to pay their annual tribute of lambs, rams, and wool, but his short reign gave no opportunity for him to deal with the rebellion. The king fell through a lattice and was severely injured. He sent messengers to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to enquire what were the chances of recovery. His messengers were met by Elijah who told them to tell their master that he should die. Ahaziah recognised from the description they gave that it was Elijah who had met them, and sent a captain with fifty men to arrest him. Fire from heaven fell on them and they were consumed. A similar fate overtook a second captain and his fifty. A third was sent, and he begged Elijah to spare his life and the lives of his men. Elijah then went with them to the king, giving him the same message he had given the messengers. As Elijah had foretold the king died and was succeeded by his brother Jehoram.