My Lovely Dwelling Place

Ahab Admonitions Part IV:  A Vineyard and A Legacy             I’ve been thinking about legacies lately.  It’s a term we hear when watching documentaries about our favorite heroes from history.  It’s also a term we hear during election years, especially in regards to the outgoing president.  The definition of legacy is basically an inheritance – something left to others, presumably of value.  Unfortunately, as in history and the presidency, what gets left behind might not be worth having.  In fact, it might be downright dangerous.              In the case of Ahab and Jezebel, their kids turned out just like them and embraced their parent’s legacy with their whole hearts.  One could only hope that those of us with something truly valuable to pass on would have recipients as zealous to receive it!  But alas, that is not alway...

Ahab Admonitions Part III:  Ahab and Jezebel, a Match Made in Hell Mawage, that bwessed awwangement, a dweam wifin a dweam*             Well, maybe not for everyone.  As stated in a previous blog, Ahab was the worst king Israel had – and that is saying something, since Israel never had a good king.  He gets this dubious designation with the help and encouragement of his darling bride.  There is truly someone for everyone. We meet this lovely pair in 1 Kings 16:31-33. It came about, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went to serve Baal and worshiped him. So he erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria.  Ahab also made the Asherah.  Thus Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who w...

Ahab Admonitions One of my favorite portions of the Bible is the section from 1 Samuel to 2 Kings.  The stories, history, and drama of the rise and fall of the nation of Israel are, for me, a fabulous read.  It’s not just entertainment either.  There’s quite a bit we can learn in those passages.  One of the things I love about the Word of God is that He presents people’s stories in a realistic way.  There’s no sugar-coating or avoiding of reality in the Lord’s narrative. The Lord doesn’t seem much interested in making people look good. The truth is far more useful to our journey and education.  As Paul informs us, For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through the perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope (Romans 15:4). Some of the most intriguing characters surround Ahab, a king of Israel. Now Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year o...