Ahab and Elijah

The Book of 1 Kings is 22 chapters long. Solomon, wisest and richest of Israel’s kings and builder of the one temple dedicated to Yahweh, dominates 11 of them. Ahab, king of Israel (918-897 BC), features in 7 of them. Why this attention to Ahab? An ironic reason: Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him (1 Kings 16:30). A more edifying reason: Yahweh’s creative response to Ahab’s multi-faceted evil through the prophet Elijah. 

Ahab sins: he perpetuates the sin of Jeroboam by subordinating the worship of Yahweh to that of Jupiter (called Baal), marries Jezebel of Sidon (a foreigner and enthusiastic Olympian), builds a temple in the capital city of Samaria and dedicates it to Jupiter, and sponsors the worship of Venus (vs. 31-33). These are just the highlights.

Jericho

In 1491 BC, on the night of the first Passover, Moses led the people of Israel out of the city of Ramses and slavery in Egypt. He led them into freedom for Yahweh in the wilderness and they camped, according to tradition, by the Red Sea. When Pharaoh’s army threatened them, Yahweh separated the waters of the Red Sea, led them through it on dry ground, and then collapsed the waters on the advancing Egyptian army (Exodus 12-14).