Bible Study Notes 7/22/2025​

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(Much gratitude is given to Dr. Carol Kaminski for her Old Testament Survey course at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and the study materials that accompany and inform this teaching.)

 

Where we left off:

During Jeroboam’s reign there is a war between his kingdom and the southern kingdom, which is ruled by king Abijah in Jerusalem.

• Jeroboam even takes his golden calves with him in battle. O gives Abijah victory over Jeroboam because the people in the south trust O.

• Thousands in the north suffer death with the military defeat.

• Jeroboam cannot recover after the battle and O finally strikes the king and he dies.

 

Nadab – Jeroboam’s son

Nadab takes the throne, does evil in O’s sight, and is killed by Baasha shortly after assuming the throne.

Baasha killed not only Nadab, but also all those in Jeroboam’s household so no one remains alive in that family.

• This fulfills O’s word spoken to Jeroboam through the prophet Ahijah.

• War broke out between Baasha and the southern king, Asa.

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An alliance is made between Asa and Ben-hadag, King of Syria (Aram), Baasha withdraws.

• Baasha did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made I to sin.

• O announces a word of judgment against him through the prophet, Jehu.

• Baasha dies but judgment against his household will be forthcoming, for he and his son have provoked O to anger through their idols.

Elah – Baasha’s son

Baasha dies and Elah takes the throne, but that quickly ends when Zimiri, a military leader, kills him.

After killing Elah, Zimiri sets himself up as a king and rules over Israel from Tizrah for 7 days.

• Zimiri murders Baasha’s entire household, not leaving a single member alive.

• This takes place in fulfillment of the word of the Lord through Jehu the prophet.

  • Thus, O executes judgment against Baasha and his son, Elah, for their idolatry.

• When the people hear that Zimiri has killed Elah, they declare Omri, commander of the army, as king over I.

• - Omri besieges Tizrah, but Zimiri withdraws to the king’s palace.

• The city has been taken, so Zimiri sets the palace on fire around him and dies, “because of his sins…evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of Jeroboam…”

O takes sin seriously and holds these kings accountable for leading Israel into sin.

Omri

The people appoint Omri as king, but there is division among them because some people want a man named Tibni to be king instead.

After a few years of struggle for control, Tibni dies and Omri becomes sole monarch over all of Israel.

When Omri becomes king, he buys property in the north from a man named Shemer.

• On this property, Omri builds a city on a hill and names it “Samaria”.

• Samaria’s inhabitants will one day be known as Samaritans.

Samaria becomes the capital of the northern kingdom until it is captured by the Assyrian king.

Omri does more evil in the sight of O than all who were before him and wilks in the way of Jeroboam, provoking the Lord with their idols.

• Omri dies and his son, Ahab, becomes king.

• The next three kings are all descendants of Omri, which makes this known as the Omri dynasty.

• This dynasty comes to an end when king Jehu kills Jehoram and sets himself up as king.

Ahab

Ahab becomes king less than 60 years from the division of the kingdom and is the worst of the northern kings.

Thus far, every king has followed the sins of Jeroboam and so the Lord continues to be provoked by I’s idols.

Ahab marries a foreign woman named Jezebel, who is the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians.

• Ahab introduces the Canaanite god named Baal into the life of Israel, including building an altar and temple for Baal in Samaria.

• He also makes Asherah poles for figurines to promote the worship of the goddess Asherah.

Ahab did provoke the Lord to anger more than all the kings of I who were before him.

Golden calves remain and Ahab adds Baal worship, which becomes widespread in I.

• Prophets of Baal number a staggering 450; prophets of Asherah numbering 400.

 

Elijah – the prophet

Elijah announces O’s judgment against Ahab and his sons and calls I back to the Lord, telling him what is about to take place in I: “As the lord the O of I lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word”.

• One of the curses of the Mosaic covenant for disobedience was that O would withhold rain — if, however, his people obeyed him, he would bless them by giving them rain in its season.

After Elijah’s pronouncement, O hides Elijah in the wilderness and supplies his needs in a remarkable way.

• He performs miraculous signs by multiplying widow’s bread and oil, and later by raising her son from the dead.

• This confirms for the woman that Elijah is a man of O and that the word of the Lord is in his mouth and is truth.

• 3 ½ years pass…O tells Elijah to go to Ahab, for he will send rain.

• - Elijah meets Ahab and tells him to gather all I to Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.

• Think about this: the king of Israel is feeding and sustaining nearly 1000 false prophets in his household.

• Elijah challenges the people: “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is O, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him.

  • Elijah calls I back to worship the one true O and he will do it through a test so that they will know that the Lord is O.

The test: the prophets of Baal are to cut up an ox, put it on the altar, and call upon Baal to consume the offering with fire.

• Baal is the O of the storm, and so sending down a flash of lightning would appear to play to his strengths.

Elijah is to do the same thing—although he saturates the altar with water, but no one is allowed to start the fire.

• Rather, each prophet is to call upon their God, and the God who answers by fire will be declared O.

• The prophets of Baal call out to their God all day, even leaping around their altar, but no voice from heaven is heard and no one answers.

Elijah mocks them, telling them to call out louder-for perhaps their God is occupied, or on a long journey or asleep.

• The prophets cry louder and even cut themselves so blood gushes out, hoping to elicit an answer from their god, but there was no voice, no answer, no attention given.

• Remember: Idols cannot see or speak; or respond at all.

• Considering this, why is Baal so widespread and important at this time?

  • Because humans like to worship a god that cannot speak, it allows them to tell the god what to do-so who is really God? The human or the god?

  • Also, a consideration behind idolatry is the suggestion that demons are being worshipped through the worship of idols.

    • This concept is mentioned only briefly in the Bible, but it reminds us that it was the serpent of old who sought to turn the hearts of humans away from worshipping the Lord God.

• There are hints in the Bible that Satan continues to be at work through the worship of idols, for idolatry means that people turn away from the living O and worship the created rather than the Creator.

In contrast to the prophets of Baal, Elijah worships the true and living O, the all-powerful Creator O, who speaks and whose word comes to pass.

• He is the living O who hears and answers prayer.

Elijah prepares an ox and puts it on the altar, then pours water around the altar to make the test even more impossible (humanly speaking).

• Elijah then prays to the Lord, the O of A, I, and Israel, asking him to reveal himself to the people, that they will know he is O and that he has turned their hearts back to him.

• At that moment, fire comes down from heaven and consumes the offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, also licking up the water that fills the trench.

• The people fall on their faces, proclaiming, “The Lord, he is O; the Lord, he is O”.

One day, many years later, O will call another prophet “like Elijah” one dressed in camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist.

• His coming will be announced before hand by an angel to priest named Zechariah.

• This prophet will come preaching in the wilderness and he is to turn the hearts of I’s back to their O.

• His name will be called John (known as John the Baptist) and he will prepare the way of the Lord.

But in the meantime…

O’s people acknowledge that the Lord is O through the ministry of Elijah.

The false prophets of Baal are killed and O brings rain upon I.

• When Ahab tells his wife, Jezebel, all that Elijah has done, she swears to kill the prophet within 24 hours.

• O protests Elijah’s life, however, he is a man zealous for O in his generation.

O passes by Elijah while he is tucked in a cave on the mountain, just as he did with Moses—Elijah now encounters O’s gracious presence.

• He hears O’s own voice, providing him assurance that there are others who have not bowed the knee to Baal.

• One of them, Elisha, the son of Shaphat, so Elijah places his mantle on him, for he will be his successor and thus the next prophet in I.

King Ahab later fights two battles against a boastful, drunken Ben-hadad, king of Aram.

Regardless of the size of the Aramean army, a prophet tells Ahab that O will give him victory and will know that the Lord is O.