Elijah has been carried away in a chariot of fire in a whirlwind (II Kings 2); but Jezebel still reigns as queen of Israel and her son Joram is king. Why do the evil rich and powerful live long? Well, not too long. Actually, the end is nearer than Jezebel imagines.  Elisha, Elijah’s successor, has sent a young member of the company of the prophets to anoint Jehu to remove and replace Ahab as king of Israel. Here is what Elisha told that young prophet to say. “ Thus says the L

We left the party last week in the middle of a performance by the prophet Jeremiah. To remind us; Jeremiah warns the people about being overly-impressed by the idols of the Babylonians who have defeated them. The temptation is to think that the idols are real and powerful. The results of warfare in those days was thought to be a statement about whose god was stronger. So the temptation would be for the Israelites to think that they need a new god.  In fact, Judah’s defeat was

After the confrontation with Jezebel’s prophets of Ba’al and Asherah, Elijah fled the country. Jezebel put out an all-counts bulletin for her lackeys to find Elijah so she could kill him. Ahab continued in his wayward ways.   One day Ahab was gazing out his palace window (too much time on his hands) when he saw a nice plot of land not far away. He discovered that the vineyard, for it was a productive farm, was in the possession of a man named Naboth. So, Ahab made an offer to

10: 1-2.    Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.               Thus says the LORD: Do not learn the way of the nations    or be dismayed at the signs of the heavens,    for the nations are dismayed at them.  Here is a thought that needs some careful discernment as, in fact, they all do. If we let the phrase, “ Do not learn the way of the nations,” stand as a general command, then we undermine other thoughts in the Bible. The miracle of tongues at