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A War, a Witch, and a Weak King
One of the most undervalued aspects of biblical narrative is geography. Just like any story, biblical narratives involve an important geographical component that either overtly or subtly gives additional insight into what is happening. Whenever I’m in Israel, I am reminded that geography can often reveal aspects of a story in a way nothing else can. One of my favorite illustrations of this is the story of Saul’s last stand against the Philistines. This story is found in 1 Samuel 28, and through the careful narration and attention to geographical detail, we are given special insight into the character of Saul. The story starts by describing a time when the Philistines had gathered to fight against Israel. At the time, David was living with the Philistines, and originally was instructed to go to war against Israel (1 Sam 28:2). However, due to the providence of God, David was forbidden by…
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Punishing Jehu for the Blood of Jezreel?
The names of Hosea’s children surely raised quite a few eyebrows in Hebrew kindergarten. The name Jezreel means, “May God sow.” But more shockingly, the Jezreel valley was well known as the location of much fighting and bloodshed (1 Sam 29:1; 2 Sam 2:8; 1 Kgs 21:1; 2 Kgs 9:24ff). Lo-Ruhamah, Hosea’s second child, means “Not loved.” You can imagine roll call when that name comes up. The third child, Lo-Ammi, means “not my people.” Each of these names were given to Hosea from God to symbolize God’s relationship with the people Israel. Although it seems relatively clear why Hosea was told to declare Israel’s sin and their broken relationship with God, some of the details are less clear. In fact, Hosea 1:4, seems to be a bit puzzling. And the LORD said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will punish the house of…
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Where Did Ahab Die?
While in Israel, overlooking the Jezreel valley, our group talked about how Ahab stole Naboth’s vineyard in an act of horrendous treachery. After that despicable act, God promised Ahab: In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth the dogs will lick up your blood, even yours (1 Kings 21:19). In addition to the retribution promised to Ahab, God also promised that Jezebel would be eaten by dogs. After three years (1 Kgs 22:1), Ahab (from Israel) and Jehoshaphat (from Judah) went together for war against Aram. Although Micaiah, a prophet of the Lord, told them they would face defeat and that Ahab would not come back in peace (1 Kgs 22:28), they persisted in going out to battle. The armies of Israel and Judah did meet defeat, and 1 Kings 22:37-38 says, So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king…