Kings_I_16

I Kings

Chapter 16:30 through Chapter 18:45

{Story of Elijah's deliverance of the Northern kingdom from National reversionism}
30~~And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.

31~~And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.

32~~And he built up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.

33~~And Ahab made a statue of a naked woman, and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

34~~In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho {it was prophesied many years that there would be a curse on the people if anyone rebuilt Jericho but Ahab let it happen} he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

Chapter 17
1~~And Elijah {Elijah means 'Jehovah is my God'} the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead {from the 'wrong side of the tracks' - tribe of Ruben}, kept on saying to Ahab {King of the Northern Kingdom}, "As the Lord God of Israel {Jesus Christ} keeps on living, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. {drought as a warning of 5th cycle of discipline for National reversionism - economic depression.}

2-3 ~~And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, "Get out of town, and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan."

4~~And it shall be, that thou shall drink of the brook. And I have commanded the buzzards to feed you there.

5~~So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord. For he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

6~~And the buzzards brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the brook.

7~~And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

8-9~~And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belonged to Zidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a forsaken woman there to sustain you."

10~~So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the forsaken woman was there gathering of sticks. And he called to her, and said, "Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink."

11~~And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, "Bring me, I pray thee, a loaf of bread".

12~~And she said, "As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a loaf of bread, but an handful of flour in a barrel, and a little oil in a jar. And, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and cook it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die." {drought caused depression and she and her son are preparing to die}

13-14~~And Elijah said unto her, "Stop being afraid, go and do as you said you would, but make me a little loaf of bread first, and bring it unto me, and after make for you and for your son. For the Lord God of Israel said, "The barrel of flour shall not be ended, neither shall the vessel of oil deminish, until the day that the Lord gives rain upon the land."

15~~And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah. And she and he, and her house, did eat days {many days, one day at a time}.

16~~And the barrel of flour did not deminish, neither did the vessel of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Elijah.

17~~And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick {she was doing well and forgot the source of the good times . . . and slipped into reversionism} And his sickness was so exceeding, that there was no breath of life left in him.

18~~And she said unto Elijah, "What do I have to do with you, O thou man of God {sarcasm- get lost!}? Did you come to me to cause me to remember my guilt, and to cause my son to die {its your fault!}?

19~~And he said unto her, "Give me your son." And he took him, from her arms, and carried him up into the upper chamber {best room where Elijah was staying} where he lived, and laid him upon his own bed.

20~~And he cried unto the Lord, and said, "O Lord my God, have you also brought evil upon the forsaken women with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?" {'reminded' the Lord of his promise}

21~~And he stretched himself upon the child {picture of Christ on the cross} three times {for Christ was 3 days in the ground}, and cried unto the Lord, and said, "O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul return to him."

22~~And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he lived again.

23~~And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him to his mother: and Elijah said, "See, your son has begun to live again."

24~~And the woman said to Elijah, "Now by this I know that you are a man of God {needed to see to really believe}. And that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is doctrine.

Chapter 18
1~~And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth."

2~~And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.

3-4 ~~And Ahab called Obadiah {NOT the Obadiah who wrote the book of the Bible}, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly: For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) {but now Obadiah is in reversionism and living off his past spiritual successes and is arrogant}.

5~~And Ahab said unto Obadiah, "Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and to all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts. {both are in reversionism and are only WORKING to save the horses as the people starve!}

6~~So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

7~~And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him. And he {Obadiah} knew him, and fell on his face, and said, "Aren't you my lord Elijah?"

8~~And he answered him, "I am. Go, tell your lord . . . Behold, Elijah {I am back}."

9-10 ~~And he said, "What have I sinned? that you would deliver your servant into the hand of Ahab to die? {in reversionism, Obadiah has his eyes on HIMSELF . . . that guy will kill me! We have been looking for Elijah for 3 years and will think I hid you!"} As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom, where my lord has not sent to seek you. And when they said, He is not there, he made them take an oath on that kingdom and nation, that they found you not."

11~~And now thou sayest, "Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah . . . is here."

12~~And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the spirit of the Lord shall carry you where I know not, and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he shall slay me. But I, thy servant, fear the Lord from my youth. {in reversionism fears the worst - I have been saved since my youth!}

13~~Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid an hundred men of the Lord's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? {thought Elijah should know HIM also - arrogance - what have I done that you want me killed?}

14~~And now you say, "Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah . . . here.
And he shall slay me."

15~~And Elijah said, "As the Lord of the Armies {another title of Jesus Christ} lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today." {I will NOT run and hide}

16~~So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah.

17~~And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, "Art thou he that troubles Israel?" {it is really Ahab in apostasy, worship of Baal, reversionism, that is troubling Israel}

18-19 ~~And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel. But you, and your father's house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and you have followed Baalim {plural of Baal}. Now, therefore, send and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table. {she is Ahab's queen, very beautiful, wicked, and smart! . . . and she supports them}

20~~So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.

21~~And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, "How long have you limped {picture of National reversionism} between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him. But if Baal, then follow him." And the people answered him not a word.

22-24~~Then said Elijah unto the people, "I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord {the only one standing up here today at the mount}. But Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them, therefore, give us two bullocks. And let them choose one bullock for themselves. And cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under it. And I will prepare the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under. And call you on the name of your gods {Baal, the fat man over the furnace where they sacrificed the children as burnt offerings to Baal. Baal is equivalent to Apollo, the sun God and the God of Fire was part of Baal worship}. And I will call on the name of the Lord. And the God that answers by fire, let him be God." And all the people answered and said, "It is well spoken."

25~~And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, "Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first. For you are many. And call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under."

26~~And they took the bullock which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon {3 to 4 hours}, saying, "O Baal, answer us." But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they limped around the altar which was made.

27~~And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah was caused to ridicule them, and said, "Shout with a VOICE OF GREATNESS {Cry LOUDER!} For he is a 'god' {sarcasm}; either he is complaining {about their lack of sacrifices}, or he is going into retirement to fornicate {pursuing a woman in -phallic cult lust}, or he is away on a journey {far away - call him back!}, or he is in a drunken sleep, and must be awakened."

28~~And they {took him seriously!} cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.

29~~And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied to themselves {babbling to themselves} until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. {by this time even the people of Israel lost interest in their antics}

30~~And Elijah said unto all the people, "Come near unto me." And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down.

31~~And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, "Israel shall be thy name."

32~~And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the altar, a deep trench, as would contain two measures of seed.

33~~And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, "Fill four barrels with water {remember the drought! this is their scarce drinking water!}, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood."

34~~And he said, "Do it the second time." And they did it the second time. And he said, "Do it the third time." And they did it the third time. {creating a problem only God can solve}

35~~And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.

36-37 ~~And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, "Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, May it become known this day that You are THE God in Israel, and that I am Your servant, and that I have prepared all these things at Your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You are The Lord God, and that You have turned their right lobes {heart} back again. {that the people will repent from their National reversionism and then will be saved from destruction -with repentance then the prayer for drought will be finished and rain begin again}

38~~Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

39~~And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, "The Lord, He is The God. The Lord, He is the God." {This shows now the repentance of the people!}

40~~And Elijah said unto them, "Seize {violently} the prophets of Baal! NONE are to be spared! {Let not one of them escape}." And they took them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and cut their throats there {killed them like an animal sacrifice}.

41~~And Elijah said unto Ahab, "Go up! {commanded the King up the hill} Eat and drink {specifically alcoholic beverage}. {Ahab was good for nothing in reversionism except for his fleshly pleasures so go have a ball and get out of my way!} for there is a sound of abundance of rain."

42~~So Ahab went up to eat and to drink {did what he was told}. But Elijah went up further to the top of Carmel. And he crouched down and put his head between his knees.

43~~And kept saying to his young man {probably the forsaken woman's son who after 3 years was like an adopted son to Elijah}, "Go up now, look toward the sea." And he went up, and looked, and said, "Nothing." And he {Elijah} said it seven times."

44~~And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he {the young man} said, "Behold, there ariseth a little black cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand." And he {Elijah} said, "Go up. Say unto Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop you not.'{ won't get stuck in the mud}"

45~~And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.