Reflexion, A Spiritual Community

 This first sentence of 2 Kings is an odd way to begin a new chapter. The transition from the previous book to this one could have been much smoother. For instance, the last lines of 1 Kings provide all the explanation we need for this new episode:
Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria . . . and he reigned for two years. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother . . . . He served Baal and worshiped him and provoked Yehovah, the God of Israel, to anger in every way that his father had done (1 Ki. 22:51-53)
Instead of this clear statement regarding the throne of Israel passing from the deceased father to the firstborn prince, we have an odd report of Moab’s rebellion. Why? 

 King Ahab left the battlefield, victorious over the Syrians, but he arrived home moody and sullen. In theory, there’s no reason for kings to be “moody and sullen.” If they are troubled, they have counselors. If they feel sad, they have jesters. If they need comfort, the priest is always on call. Having the luxuries afforded them by wealth and power, one imagines they could avoid ever being moody and sullen.
Ahab may have assumed he did a good thing, releasing the enemy king who had attacked Israel, and sending him back to Syria with a slap on the wrist. But as he was riding through his troops with them congratulating him, there was suddenly that miserable prophet standing in his way, telling him God did not want King Ben-hadad to go free, and Ahab would pay for that wrong he did in releasing him. That spoiled everything. 

 Today’s episode requires an explanation, because my plan was to skip this chapter. For the past seven weeks we’ve been immersed in the story of Elijah, but for some reason he does not appear here; not even his name is mentioned. But that is one of the curiosities in this episode that interests me. There are still gifted seers through whom God delivers messages to King Ahab, and these three fill the void that Elijah leaves. However, not even one of the three is named, but each one is identified by a title: the first is simply “a prophet,” the second is “a man of God,” and the third is “a certain man of the sons of the prophets,”
I have two reasons for including this chapter in the story of Elijah, even though we lose sight of him. First, there is a strong connection between the end of this episode and a moment in the next episode where an unusual phrase is repeated using the exact same words. The link is strong enough to suggest a theme that deserves attention.
The second reason I’m including this chapter is because I-love-this-story! The first time I discovered a truth revealed in this chapter, it was something I desperately needed to learn. So, here we go. 

 The Elijah with whom we spent time in the previous chapter is hardly recognizable in this episode. He is no longer the prophet who lost heart and had been wallowing in defeat, sulking in a cave. He was transformed. Once again he is on the move, and you would have had to jog to keep pace with his long, rapid strides. Every time his foot hit the ground, it raised a small, meaningful dust cloud. He was on assignment for Yehovah–nothing could stand in his way. The wild and fearless prophet was back.
God had given him three tasks to perform involving three men: Hazael, who would become king of Syria; Jehu, would become king of Israel; and Elisha, who would become his replacement. Elijah began with the third task; and as the Lord would have it, Elisha, his protégé would complete the other two assignments after he was gone. So at least he could cross the Elisha task off his “to do” list. 

 Elijah was excited–an energetic excited–an excited he had not allowed himself to indulge until now. The tide was turning. The entire crowd witnessed God’s answer from heaven. They had been won over. They had chanted, “Yehovah, he is God! Yehovah, he is God!” The king was there too. He saw it for himself. Now he also knew who was the real God.
Running off to Jezreel was a bold move for Elijah. King Ahab had a palace there, and the royal family used it to retreat from the demanding affairs of state in the capital city. But the contest had been huge, the miracle breathtaking, and the response of the crowd overwhelming. This was the beginning. God was brining Israel out of their idolatry and back to himself. Elijah was confident of it–maybe overconfident. He may have missed one detail.
What happened on Mount Carmel was a substantial breakthrough, and one could imagine that a spiritual revival was underway. However, Elijah may have overlooked one potential fly in the ointment: Queen Jezebel. 

 Elijah found King Ahab sitting off by himself still as a statue, staring into nothing, and his face coated in confusion. Ahab wondered, “What just happened? How could it have happened?” His feud with Elijah had ended suddenly in a phenomenon of fire and blood. His army of prophets failed to rouse their Bah-al god, while from the sky Yehovah answered Elijah with a spectacle never before seen. The king was defeated, but it was a strange loss that left him groping for his next move. Elijah had proved himself to be the real deal, and Yehovah proved himself to be the true God. Would Ahab now have to switch gods? Reform his rule over Israel? Defy his wife Jezebel?
Elijah’s voice broke his trance. “Ahab,” he called to him, “Go up higher, get something to eat and drink. There’s a sound of thundershowers coming our way.” 

 There must have been court officials who wished they could restrain King Ahab’s poor decisions and thoughtless actions. But those with enough skill in diplomacy to hold a position in the royal court also had enough sense to value their lives. Ahab was too full of himself to take advise from anyone else, let alone, take orders.
However, there was that one exception.
From the time Elijah first set foot in Israel, the king willingly listened to him and did as he was told. Perhaps Ahab believed there was more that a slight possibility Elijah’s words came straight from the God of Israel. Perhaps he respected Elijah for this reason. Or, maybe Ahab was afraid of Elijah. Anyway, when the prophet told him to assemble all the people of Israel, and summon the 450 prophets of Baal, the king obeyed him. 

 The village where Elijah had been living was on the Mediterranean coast, so I find it easy to imagine him walking the shoreline, allowing the onshore breeze to be refreshed. He listens to the rhythm of the waves and the squawking seagulls, and opens his heart to receive the moment. Then, hearing something else, he pauses, and shading his eyes from the glare of the sun’s bright reflection glancing off the ripples that stretch to the distant horizon, he looks and he listens. And now, after many days, the word of Yehovah comes to him–again.
Before we have finished reading the story of Elijah, we will have learned more about the mysterious Word of Yehovah, how it came to Israel’s prophets, how it empowered them to obey it, and then how we can condition ourselves to become sensitive enough to the voice of God when he speaks his word to us. 

 Picking up from last week, directed by the word of Yehovah, Elijah came to the home of a widow in Sidon, north of Israel’s border. She had helped Elijah when he was hungry and homeless. She let him stay in her home, in the small room upstairs. She hid him from King Ahab’s spies. And, now, this! Her son was struck down with an illness. Was this the reward for her hospitality and kindness.
Who is she? What is her name? We were never told, and now it’s buried in a history archeology cannot retrieve. Her son is nameless too. Nameless, and yet we know them. We know about widows, we know the sons of single moms. There were a mass of them in biblical times and hundreds of thousands more today. We may not know the specifics of their personal identities, but we know enough to draw us into their dramas. 

A crooked king, a wicked queen, and a foreign god. You know this is going to be a great story. That’s because in literature (and storytelling), evil is more entertaining than good. We can predict a good person’s actions–they will be honest, kind, generous, and always choose what is right. The villains, however, are full of surprises. And they typically create the conflict that the heroes must overcome and resolve.

There are times when the scoundrels are at their worst, the champions must be all the more outstanding. This is exactly what we find at the beginning of our story. If Ahab was the most wicked king in Israel’s history, Elijah will prove to be Israel’s most illustrious prophet.