1 Kings 17 opens with Elijah’s sudden appearance, announcing to corrupt King Ahab there would be no rain until he said so.

And then this happened: Elijah the Tishbite, from among the settlers of Gilead, confronted Ahab: “As surely as GOD lives, the God of Israel before whom I stand in obedient service, the next years are going to see a total drought—not a drop of dew or rain unless I say otherwise.” (1 Kings 17.1, MSG)

It’s now three years later, and chapter 18 opens:

A long time passed. Then GOD’s word came to Elijah. The drought was now in its third year. The message: “Go and present yourself to Ahab; I’m about to make it rain on the country.”  (1 Kings 18.1, MSG)

Even in a corrupt regime like Ahab and Jezebel, God has his people:

Ahab called for Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. Obadiah feared GOD—he was very devout. Earlier, when Jezebel had tried to kill off all the prophets of GOD, Obadiah had hidden away a hundred of them in two caves, fifty in a cave, and then supplied them with food and water. (1 Kings 18.3, 4, MSG)

Elijah reveals himself to Obadiah who says three times “Ahab will kill me” if I report to him that Elijah is here, and you’re not. He has looked in all kingdoms! (See 1 Kings 18.7 – 14) But Elijah was living with a widow in no doubt humble circumstances in an out-of-the-way village. He was right there in Sidon – Jezebel’s home country!

Then Ahab accuses Elijah of being the trouble-maker:

The moment Ahab saw Elijah he said, “So it’s you, old troublemaker!” “It’s not I who has caused trouble in Israel,” said Elijah, “but you and your government—you’ve dumped GOD’s ways and commands and run off after the local gods, the Baals. (1 Kings 18.17 – 18, MSG)

Now, let’s have a meeting!

Here’s what I want you to do: Assemble everyone in Israel at Mount Carmel. And make sure that the special pets of Jezebel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of the local gods, the Baals, and the four hundred prophets of the whore goddess Asherah, are there.” (1 Kings 18.19, MSG)

Then the famous challenge:

Elijah challenged the people: “How long are you going to sit on the fence? If GOD is the real God, follow him; if it’s Baal, follow him. Make up your minds!” Nobody said a word; nobody made a move. (1 Kings 18.21, MSG)

It’s hard to remember, this is the kingdom of “Israel.” These are the people of God. They had not one good king in their whole existence from after Solomon until the Assyrian scattering. But they would have said, “God and…” Elijah challenges: “If the Lord be God, follow him!” What does that look like? Jesus said, “Love God; love your neighbor.”

• “Love your neighbor.” I have a neighbor whose yard is a perennial mess. Instead of complaining, can I be part of the solution?
• “Take care of the poor.” I give to my church and many Christian missionary efforts. I donate only $25/month to the Rescue Mission. Unlike my friend Heidi Gleghorn, I’m never in contact with the poor.
• Which of my neighbors need Jesus? How many have I told?
• “If the Lord be God, follow him!” It’s not enough not to be a bad guy. How can I be a good guy – a true Jesus follower?

Then the demonstration. (See 1 Kings 18.20 – 39.) It’s not the intensity of the prayers nor the number of people praying, it’s whom they are praying to! 450 enthusiastic prophets of Baal. One prophet of God, and here is his simple prayer:

When it was time for the sacrifice to be offered, Elijah the prophet came up and prayed, “O GOD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make it known right now that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I’m doing what I’m doing under your orders. Answer me, GOD; O answer me and reveal to this people that you are GOD, the true God, and that you are giving these people another chance at repentance.” (1 Kings 18.36, 37, MSG)

Simple prayer. In this case, an immediate result:

Immediately the fire of GOD fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench. (1 Kings 18.38, MSG)

Then they killed the 450 prophets of Baal, and Elijah prayed for rain.

Elijah said to Ahab, “Up on your feet! Eat and drink—celebrate! Rain is on the way; I hear it coming.” Ahab did it: got up and ate and drank. Meanwhile, Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bowed deeply in prayer, his face between his knees. Then he said to his young servant, “On your feet now! Look toward the sea.” He went, looked, and reported back, “I don’t see a thing.” “Keep looking,” said Elijah, “seven times if necessary.” And sure enough, the seventh time he said, “Oh yes, a cloud! But very small, no bigger than someone’s hand, rising out of the sea.” “Quickly then, on your way. Tell Ahab, ‘Saddle up and get down from the mountain before the rain stops you.’ ” Things happened fast. The sky grew black with wind-driven clouds, and then a huge cloudburst of rain, with Ahab hightailing it in his chariot for Jezreel. And GOD strengthened Elijah mightily. Pulling up his robe and tying it around his waist, Elijah ran in front of Ahab’s chariot until they reached Jezreel. (1 Kings 18.41 – 46, MSG)

Always a very exciting story. A huge success. I can hardly wait to see what Elijah does next! Stay tuned.

Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. (James 5.17 – 18, NIV)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1.22, NIV)

We celebrated Juneteenth this morning. This afternoon, a special edition of The Ewellogy. My baseball hero, Willie Mays, passed away yesterday at the age of 93.

If you walk into my downstairs office, you’ll see a framed baseball jersey signed by Willie Mays, and on the mantle next to it, a baseball signed by Willie Mays, both courtesy of my sons. Here he is making “The Catch” in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. I was only 7 years old at the time, and we didn’t have a television, so I didn’t see it live. Only hundreds of times after.

This ESPN article has a 6:30 video tribute, both the article and the video are worth the time. Here’s the Wall Street Journal tribute. I was a center fielder with pretty good range, but I was not a good hitter like Willie was. He was what they call a 5-tool player: hit for power, hit for average, run, throw, field, except he was at or near the top in all five categories.

Most of the kids I grew up with were Yankee fans and cheered for the great Mickey Mantle. But my dad had been a minor league pitcher in the Giants system so we were always National League fans and Giants fans, and, therefore, Willie Mays fans. I modeled my game after his, right down to the basket catch. In my grandmother’s small town in West Virginia, everyone called me Willie.

Here are some snippets from the Wall Street Journal tribute by Jared Diamond and Lindsey Adler:

Willie Mays, whose powerful bat and dazzling defense made him arguably the greatest all-around player in baseball history, has died at age 93…

Many believe his broad array of talents was unmatched.

Leo Durocher, Mays’s former manager and a fellow member of the Hall of Fame, wrote in his autobiography, “Nice Guys Finish Last,” that even “if somebody came up and hit .450, stole 100 bases and performed a miracle in the field every day I’d still look you right in the eye and tell you that Willie was better.”

…He played 21 of his 22 MLB seasons with the New York and San Francisco Giants. He finished his career with 660 home runs, the third-most ever at the time of his retirement in 1973 and a total surpassed by just two others since. He won 12 Gold Glove awards for fielding, tied for the most ever for an outfielder, even though the prize didn’t exist until six years after his debut. He shares a record by appearing in 24 All-Star Games, a feat that once prompted the Hall-of-Fame outfielder Ted Williams to say, “They invented the All-Star Game for Willie Mays.” Mays accomplished all of this despite missing most of 1952 and all of 1953 to serve in the U.S. Army during the Korean War...

In 1979, Mays was quoted by Newsweek summing up what so many who saw him play believed:

I think I was the best baseball player I ever saw.

My favorite sportswriter, Jason Gay, concludes his tribute with this vignette from his 2009 interview with Willie:

When I told Mays that many people thought of him as the greatest ever, he said: “You don’t see that on TV. You don’t hear somebody saying ‘He’s the best.’ You hear it every now and then. They’ll go to basketball and say Michael is the best in basketball. And they’ve got Ali in boxing. Tiger is the best in golf. But what happened to baseball? You understand what I’m saying?”

“If I’m the best, go and tell them,” Willie Mays said. 

Consider it done. – Jason Gay, Willie Mays Will Be Forever, Wall Street Journal, June 19, 2024

I applaud excellence wherever I see it, but this one is personal.

Finally…whatever is true, whatever is noble, …whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4.8, NIV)

It’s Juneteenth, and I don’t think I can do better than reprise what I wrote last year:

On June 19, 1865—nearly nine decades after our Nation’s founding, and more than 2 years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation—enslaved Americans in Galveston, Texas, finally received word that they were free from bondage. As those who were formerly enslaved were recognized for the first time as citizens, Black Americans came to commemorate Juneteenth with celebrations across the country, building new lives and a new tradition that we honor today. In its celebration of freedom, Juneteenth is a day that should be recognized by all Americans. And that is why I am proud to have consecrated Juneteenth as our newest national holiday. – The Official Proclamation

I confess: I almost forgot Juneteenth, and I completely forgot that June 19 is now a national holiday. As I wrote last year, some of us often forget that the God we claim to worship is on the side of the poor and oppressed. Look what Jesus said:

He came to Nazareth where he had been reared. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written, God’s Spirit is on me; he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free, to announce, “This is God’s year to act!” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, “You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.” Luke 4.16 – 21, MSG, emphasis mine)

John, meanwhile, had been locked up in prison. When he got wind of what Jesus was doing, he sent his own disciples to ask, “Are you the One we’ve been expecting, or are we still waiting?” Jesus told them, “Go back and tell John what’s going on: The blind see, The lame walk, Lepers are cleansed, The deaf hear, The dead are raised, The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.” (Matthew 11.2 – 5, MSG, emphasis mine)

P.S. If you care about race relations, you can make a difference. My long-time friend Clarence Shuler has written a book with his lifelong mentor Gary Chapman: Life-Changing Cross-Cultural Friendships: How You Can Help Heal Racial Divides, One Relationship at a Time. I’ve just started reading it, and it’s going to be good. You can read more about the book here. Here’s an early snippet, which might be setting the tone. Gary Chapman writes:

Sadly, such mistrust between Whites and Blacks still exists in many places, which unfortunately includes people of faith. It is only as we get to know each other that walls are torn down. We say we believe that all men are created equal, but until we get to know each other, we are not likely to treat each other as equals.

My friend, co-author Clarence Shuler

I wrote about Elijah and Ahab exactly three years ago, and when we came to 1 Kings 17, I emphasized “God Provides.” This time, let’s look at the guidance part. If Elijah doesn’t follow God’s weird instructions, there’d be no provision.

We left Elijah yesterday, delivering the announcement to King Ahab:

And then this happened: Elijah the Tishbite, from among the settlers of Gilead, confronted Ahab: “As surely as GOD lives, the God of Israel before whom I stand in obedient service, the next years are going to see a total drought—not a drop of dew or rain unless I say otherwise.” (1 Kings 17.1, MSG)

You’ve just delivered that kind of message to an evil king. What do you do next? RUN!

GOD then told Elijah, “Get out of here, and fast. Head east and hide out at the Kerith Ravine on the other side of the Jordan River. You can drink fresh water from the brook; I’ve ordered the ravens to feed you.” Elijah obeyed GOD’s orders. (1 Kings 17.2 – 5, MSG)

“The other side of the Jordan.” Out of Israel. Remember, they crossed the Jordan to enter into the Promised Land. It might have looked like this:

It would be an act of faith to go to a place like this and depend on…ravens? But it worked:

And sure enough, ravens brought him his meals, both breakfast and supper, and he drank from the brook. (1 Kings 17.6, MSG)

It worked until it didn’t:

Eventually the brook dried up because of the drought. Then GOD spoke to him: “Get up and go to Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I’ve instructed a woman who lives there, a widow, to feed you.” (1 Kings 17.7 – 9, MSG)

I’ve always just raced through this. “Zarephath in Sidon” – what’s significant about that? Again, it’s out of the country, into another country. Whose country? Let’s go back to the introduction to Ahab in chapter 16:

Ahab son of Omri did even more open evil before GOD than anyone yet—a new champion in evil! It wasn’t enough for him to copy the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat; no, he went all out, first by marrying Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and then by serving and worshiping the god Baal. (1 Kings 16.30 – 31, MSG, emphasis mine)

Jezebel’s country! We will learn in 1 Kings 18 that Ahab searches everywhere for Elijah. Ahab’s chief of staff Obadiah tells Elijah:

As surely as your GOD lives, there isn’t a country or kingdom where my master hasn’t sent out search parties looking for you. And if they said, “We can’t find him; we’ve looked high and low,” he would make that country or kingdom swear that you were not to be found. (1 Kings 18.10, MSG)

And where is Elijah hiding? With a widow in an out-of-the way village in Sidon. Go figure. You can read about the widow and how God miraculously provides for both her and Elijah in 1 Kings 17.8 – 16.

And while there, God chooses to reveal his power to this non-Israelite in another way:

Later on the woman’s son became sick. The sickness took a turn for the worse—and then he stopped breathing. The woman said to Elijah, “Why did you ever show up here in the first place—a holy man barging in, exposing my sins, and killing my son?” Elijah said, “Hand me your son.” He then took him from her bosom, carried him up to the loft where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he prayed, “O GOD, my God, why have you brought this terrible thing on this widow who has opened her home to me? Why have you killed her son?” Three times he stretched himself out full-length on the boy, praying with all his might, “GOD, my God, put breath back into this boy’s body!” GOD listened to Elijah’s prayer and put breath back into his body—he was alive! Elijah picked the boy up, carried him downstairs from the loft, and gave him to his mother. “Here’s your son,” said Elijah, “alive!” The woman said to Elijah, “I see it all now—you are a holy man. When you speak, GOD speaks—a true word!” (1 Kings 17 – 24, MSG)

Again, we see Elijah as a man of prayer, and God revealing himself beyond the borders of Israel. Jesus recalls the story in Nazareth:

He answered, “I suppose you’re going to quote the proverb, ‘Doctor, go heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we heard you did in Capernaum.’ Well, let me tell you something: No prophet is ever welcomed in his hometown. Isn’t it a fact that there were many widows in Israel at the time of Elijah during that three and a half years of drought when famine devastated the land, but the only widow to whom Elijah was sent was in Sarepta in Sidon?” (Luke 4.23 – 26, MSG)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3.5, 6, NKJV)

In 1 Kings chapters 15 and 16, we go through two kings of Judah, Nadab (bad) and Asa (good) and six kings of Israel in four different families, and we introduce the seventh, Ahab:

• Nadab of Israel, son of Jeroboam. The end of Jeroboam’s dynasty.
• Baasha of Israel, killed Nadab and everyone in Jeroboam’s family.
• Elah of Israel, son of Baasha. The end of Baasha’s dynasty.
• Zimri of Israel killed Elah and the rest of Baasha’s family, was king for seven days! The army appointed Omri king, and they attacked and killed Zimri. Does a guy have a “dynasty” if he reigns only seven days?
• Omri of Israel, establishes Samaria as the capital of Israel
• Ahab of Israel, son of Omri

Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah. Ahab son of Omri was king over Israel for twenty-two years. He ruled from Samaria. Ahab son of Omri did even more open evil before GOD than anyone yet—a new champion in evil! It wasn’t enough for him to copy the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat; no, he went all out, first by marrying Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and then by serving and worshiping the god Baal. He built a temple for Baal in Samaria, and then furnished it with an altar for Baal. Worse, he went on and built a shrine to the sacred whore Asherah. He made the GOD of Israel angrier than all the previous kings of Israel put together. (1 Kings 16.29 – 33, MSG)

But Ahab doesn’t get just a summary; he gets six chapters, killed in battle toward the end of 1 Kings, in chapter 22. Jezebel doesn’t meet her demise until 2 Kings 9.

Why all the press? Maybe because of his antagonist, Elijah, the prophet:

And then this happened: Elijah the Tishbite, from among the settlers of Gilead, confronted Ahab: “As surely as GOD lives, the God of Israel before whom I stand in obedient service, the next years are going to see a total drought—not a drop of dew or rain unless I say otherwise.” (1 Kings 17.1, MSG)

Elijah, a powerful guy, prototype for John the Baptist:

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1.13 – 17, ESV)

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. (James 5.17, ESV)

When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years. – Mark Twain

Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching…Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. … Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many. I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. (Proverbs 4.1 – 5, 10, 11, ESV)

My son Mark just put me on to part of a stirring speech by retired quarterback Tom Brady. The clip is less than two minutes and worth it:

Click the photo: “Everyone should play football…it’s hard.”

Here are some snippets:

I urge everyone to play football for the simple reason that it is hard. It’s hard when you’re young to wake up in the off season at 6am to go train and work out knowing that all your friends are sleeping in and eating pancakes…It’s hard to throw, catch, block and tackle and hit kids when they’re way bigger and way more developed than you. You go home that night bruised and battered and strained but knowing you have to show up again the next day for just the chance to try again. But understand this: life is hard. No matter who you are, there are bumps and hits and bruises along the way. And my advice is to prepare yourself because football’s lessons teach us that success and achievement come from overcoming adversity…To be successful at anything, the truth is you don’t have to be special. You just have to be what most people aren’t. Consistent, determined, and willing to work for it. No shortcuts. If you look at all my teammates here tonight, it would be impossible to find better examples of men who embody that work ethic, integrity, purpose, determination, and discipline that it takes to be a champion in life.

Good words, but I offer them with a perspective: the great basketball player Jerry West passed away this year at the age of 86. Jerry did everything that Tom Brady talked about: consistent, determined, willing to work for it, integrity, purpose, determination, discipline. However, Jerry West’s Lakers lost to Bill Russell’s Celtics six times in the NBA finals. Jerry was “champion” of the NBA only one time as a player.

Here are a few snippets from Jason Gay’s tribute in the Wall Street Journal.

He was basketball’s superstar survivor. Jerry West, who died Wednesday morning at age 86, is unquestionably one of the greatest NBA players ever, a 14-time All-Star in 14 seasons, an Olympic gold medal winner and champion, with performances that still strike awe today. (Averaging 40.6 points in the 1965 playoffs—how?) He excelled so much as an executive that the game is about to induct him again into the Hall of Fame, his third installation. (He was also elected as a player and an Olympian.) West’s drive is so indelible it is immortalized in the NBA logo—that’s a silhouette of the 6-foot-3 West blazing to the basket, a sinewy figure blasting between the blue and red. 

The NBA logo “is considered to be” a  silhouette of Jerry West (the NBA won’t confirm that officially)

[continuing Jason Gay’s snippets] He won often, but his losses were far more epic. West’s Lakers had the misfortune of sharing an era with Bill Russell and Red Auerbach; six times West and Los Angeles lost a title to the Green. West remains the only player to ever win a Finals MVP in a losing effort, doing so in 1969 against Boston. He endured brutal defeats and repeated injuries—a rough count of nine broken noses, his face taped like H.G. Wells’s Invisible Man. He played through the pain, because everyone did…

In 2011 West released a memoir entitled “West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life” in which he detailed a chronic depression, a harsh upbringing and a father so abusive that young Jerry slept with a shotgun under his bed. West had an older brother, David, killed in the Korean War, and his death also haunted Jerry as his basketball profile rose, from high school to a stirring career at his home state West Virginia, where he led the Mountaineers to the 1959 national title game—but fell by one point. The losses ate at him…. 

The article closes with this:

…West’s signature accomplishment may be his inner journey. He was a poor kid dealt a horrible hand, somehow blessed with outrageous talent and competitiveness to escape—and yet he was rarely fulfilled by the results. Riddled by torment, he kept searching for something to chase the sadness away, and it wasn’t until later in life he began to appreciate all he had. Entering his 70s, Jerry West described himself as “the luckiest person in the world.” His liberation offered hope to the struggling. 

That sort of honesty takes courage, and changes lives. His basketball contributions are stunning—but in the life of Jerry West, the survivor proved to be as important as the superstar. 

In short, Jerry West was a champion in life, just as Tom Brady’s discipline speech promises.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9.24 – 27, NIV)

…train yourself for godliness. (1 Timothy 4.7, ESV)

We’re beginning the back and forth narrative of the kings: “X was king in Judah, beginning his reign at age Y during the Zth year of the reign of W in Israel…” and so on. 1 Kings 14 records the death of Jeroboam’s son (an interesting story involving Jeroboam’s wife (see 1 Kings 14.1 – 20) and pronounced judgment on the house of Jeroboam because of his sin with the golden calves.

Chapter 15 starts the usual way:

In the eighteenth year of the rule of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah took over the throne of Judah. He ruled in Jerusalem three years. His mother was Maacah daughter of Absalom. He continued to sin just like his father before him. He was not truehearted to GOD as his great-grandfather David had been. But despite that, out of respect for David, his GOD graciously gave him a lamp, a son to follow him and keep Jerusalem secure. (1 Kings 15.1 – 4, MSG)

Remember, the Kingdom of Judah has only one dynasty: David. Dynasties in Israel change regularly as we’ll see shortly.

But here’s the kicker, the account of Abijah adds an intriguing sentence from whence the title of this blog: “One-mistake Air Force.” That’s a slogan we all coined after years of observation. One major mistake, and your career is over, at least your upward mobility is over. Is God’s Kingdom a one-mistake operation? You’d think so, given God’s holiness and justice.

But look at what the scripture says about David:

For David had lived an exemplary life before GOD all his days, not going off on his own in willful defiance of GOD’s clear directions (except for that time with Uriah the Hittite). (1 Kings 15.5, MSG)

“An exemplary life before God all his days, not going off on his own in willful defiance of God’s clear directions…” Except, of course, for that little matter involving Uriah…” – adultery and murder!

That says a lot about God’s forgiveness, doesn’t it? We would have put David under the jail! Apparently God is not like the “one-mistake Air Force.” I’ve seen senior commanders relieved of duty for indiscretions involving young female airmen.

Of course there were consequences, and David repented:

Then David confessed to Nathan, “I’ve sinned against GOD.” (2 Samuel 12.13, MSG)

Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight– That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. (Psalm 51.1 – 4, NKJV)

And God is a God of unimaginable grace:

For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You. (Psalm 86.5, NKJV)

The kingdom is divided, and we now follow separately the adventures of kings of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and the kings of Judah (the Southern Kingdom, David’s dynasty).

Jeroboam, first king of “Israel” starts off badly:

Jeroboam made a fort at Shechem in the hills of Ephraim, and made that his headquarters. He also built a fort at Penuel. But then Jeroboam thought, “It won’t be long before the kingdom is reunited under David. As soon as these people resume worship at The Temple of GOD in Jerusalem, they’ll start thinking of Rehoboam king of Judah as their ruler. They’ll then kill me and go back to King Rehoboam.” So the king came up with a plan: He made two golden calves. Then he announced, “It’s too much trouble for you to go to Jerusalem to worship. Look at these—the gods who brought you out of Egypt!” He put one calf in Bethel; the other he placed in Dan. This was blatant sin. Think of it—people traveling all the way to Dan to worship a calf! (1 Kings 12.25 – 30, MSG)

Keep this in mind. We’ll read again and again about the Northern kings, “He did not turn away from the sin of Jeroboam.” The golden calves stay in place until the end of the Northern Kingdom.

Chapter 13 is a strange one that I won’t begin to try to explain. It starts simply enough: God sends a “holy man from Judah” to warn Jeroboam:

And then this happened: Just as Jeroboam was at the Altar, about to make an offering, a holy man came from Judah by GOD’s command and preached (these were GOD’s orders) to the Altar: “Altar, Altar! GOD’s message! ‘A son will be born into David’s family named Josiah. The priests from the shrines who are making offerings on you, he will sacrifice—on you! Human bones burned on you!’ ” At the same time he announced a sign: “This is the proof GOD gives—the Altar will split into pieces and the holy offerings spill into the dirt.” When the king heard the message the holy man preached against the Altar at Bethel, he reached out to grab him, yelling, “Arrest him!” But his arm was paralyzed and hung useless. At the same time the Altar broke apart and the holy offerings all spilled into the dirt—the very sign the holy man had announced by GOD’s command. The king pleaded with the holy man, “Help me! Pray to your GOD for the healing of my arm.” The holy man prayed for him and the king’s arm was healed—as good as new! (1 Kings 13.1 – 6, MSG)

A warning which Jeroboam ignores. The rest of the chapter involves the holy man declaring he’s not supposed to eat or drink until he gets back home to Judah. An “old prophet” lies to him, telling him that God changed his mind. The holy man eats with the old prophet and is subsequently slain by a lion. After which the old prophet, remorseful(?), fetches the body of the holy man and buries him in his own family tomb. (You can read the whole story in 1 Kings 13.)

Weird. Part of the lesson may be related to Tuesday’s Ewellogy about God appearing to Solomon only “twice.” God had already appeared to the holy man. That should have been enough for him to refuse to listen to the old prophet.

At any rate, the holy man did his job, warning Jeroboam with the result that:

After this happened, Jeroboam kept right on doing evil, recruiting priests for the forbidden shrines indiscriminately—anyone who wanted to could be a priest at one of the local shrines. (1 Kings 13.33, MSG)

Sometimes we’re called to speak truth with no expectation of its “effectiveness.” I heard Billy Graham say on the radio something like, “I don’t pay any attention to statistics. I don’t know how many people actually came to Christ as a result of my preaching. I do know that no one in New York City or Los Angeles or London or any of the great cities where I preached will be able to stand before God and say, ‘I didn’t have a chance.’ They did have a chance. I told them!”

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.” (Isaiah 6.8 – 12, ESV)

We left Solomon with the “promise” of a divided kingdom beginning with his son:

GOD said to Solomon, “Since this is the way it is with you, that you have no intention of keeping faith with me and doing what I have commanded, I’m going to rip the kingdom from you and hand it over to someone else. But out of respect for your father David I won’t do it in your lifetime. It’s your son who will pay—I’ll rip it right out of his grasp. Even then I won’t take it all; I’ll leave him one tribe in honor of my servant David and out of respect for my chosen city Jerusalem.” (1 Kings 11.11 – 13, MSG)

And it happens in 1 Kings 12. Solomon dies at the end of chapter 11, and the whole nation comes to crown Rehoboam king at the beginning of chapter 12. The people asked that he be a little easier on them than Solomon was – all those building projects! Rehoboam rejects the counsel of the elders who encouraged him in servant leadership, listening instead to arrogant young men like himself:

King Rehoboam talked it over with the elders who had advised his father when he was alive: “What’s your counsel? How do you suggest that I answer the people?” They said, “If you will be a servant to this people, be considerate of their needs and respond with compassion, work things out with them, they’ll end up doing anything for you.” But he rejected the counsel of the elders and asked the young men he’d grown up with who were now currying his favor, “What do you think? What should I say to these people who are saying, ‘Give us a break from your father’s harsh ways—lighten up on us’?” The young turks he’d grown up with said, “These people who complain, ‘Your father was too hard on us; lighten up’—well, tell them this: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. If you think life under my father was hard, you haven’t seen the half of it. My father thrashed you with whips; I’ll beat you bloody with chains!’ ” (1 Kings 12.6 – 11, MSG)

And the kingdom is split:

Rehoboam turned a deaf ear to the people. GOD was behind all this, confirming the message that he had given to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah of Shiloh. [See 1 Kings 11.26 – 39] When all Israel realized that the king hadn’t listened to a word they’d said, they stood up to him and said, Get lost, David! We’ve had it with you, son of Jesse! Let’s get out of here, Israel, and fast! From now on, David, mind your own business. And with that, they left. But Rehoboam continued to rule those who lived in the towns of Judah. (1 Kings 12.15 – 17, MSG)

From now on, as we read the rest of 1 and 2 Kings as well as the parallel passages in 2 Chronicles, beginning with 2 Chronicles 10, we’re reading about two different kingdoms. Here is an important summary to keep in mind:

Northern Kingdom: “Israel”

• Capital city: Samaria (beginning in 1 Kings 16)
• Many dynasties
• No good kings
• Scattered by the Assyrians, as recorded in 2 Kings 17

Southern Kingdom: “Judah”

• Capital city: Jerusalem
• One dynasty: David (see 1 Kings 11.13, above)
• A few good kings
• Taken to Babylon in captivity, as recorded in 2 Kings 25 and 2 Chronicles 36)

Back to Rehoboam, it appears that his father, Solomon, hadn’t mentored him as David had Solomon OR he tried to mentor him without success (after all, Proverbs is filled with instructions to listen to your father). At any rate, Rehoboam had no fear of God, no humility. Back to instructions for kings which Solomon and then Rehoboam ignored:

This is what must be done: When he sits down on the throne of his kingdom, the first thing he must do is make himself a copy of this Revelation on a scroll, copied under the supervision of the Levitical priests. That scroll is to remain at his side at all times; he is to study it every day so that he may learn what it means to fear his GOD, living in reverent obedience before these rules and regulations by following them. He must not become proud and arrogant, changing the commands at whim to suit himself or making up his own versions. If he reads and learns, he will have a long reign as king in Israel, he and his sons. (Deuteronomy 17.18 – 20, MSG)

This is as good a paragraph as any on the importance to all of us of daily Bible reading so that we may:

• Learn to fear God
• Live in reverent obedience to the Word
• Not become proud and arrogant