Into the Desert

1. After the death of Solomon, the son of David, the nation of Israel was divided into two kingdoms. Only the southern tribe of Judah continued to follow the rightful king Rehoboam. The rest of Israel rebelled and began a new line of kings. But because the temple was in Jerusalem, which was in Judah, and the Jews were only supposed to sacrifice to God in the temple, the political divide between Judah and Israel separated Israel from the right worship of God. This led the Israelites to either continue worshiping and sacrificing to God, but on the high places and not at the temple in Jerusalem, or to outright worship of other gods. 1 Kings 12-16 describes the very swift decline of Israel, culminating in Omri and Ahab.

1 Kings 16:29-34 describes how Ahab led Israel to worship Baal, a storm god who brought rain and fertility. His wife Jezebel, a princess from Sidon and the great aunt of Dido, led him into this. If Jesus was the second Adam, then we might think of Ahab as Adam 1.5. Here is a king who has been given a land to guard and to tend. But he is led astray by his wife to forsake the one true God (1Kings 21:25). The culmination of this is at a tree (1 Kings 16:33). And this sin brings his land under a curse.

Then, to drive home how wicked the nation has become, the author points out what happened in Bethel (1 Kings 16:34). Hiel’s actions were a fulfilment of Joshua’s prophecy ( Josh. 6:26). The land has turned to worship Baal, the god of rain and fertility. And look at what happens – the rain stops and they start killing their own children. Into this scene, Elijah enters.

2-7. Immediately, Elijah must flee to the desert. Ahab falls into the ancient mistake of thinking that shooting the messenger will accomplish something. God likes to take his people into the desert, usually being chased by someone who wants to kill them. Moses fled to the desert as a young man after he had killed the Egyptian (Ex. 2:15). All of Israel fled to the desert with the Egyptian army chasing them.

In the book of Revelation, the church is described as a woman, being chased by the beast. And God takes
her to the desert to protect her (Rev. 12:14). And notice that at the beginning the curse on unfaithful Israel and the trial for faithful Elijah look very similar. Israel is being turned into a desert because of her sins. And Elijah is led into the desert. But there is a difference. When we are in the desert, God takes us through temptations, trials, and suffering. It is hard, but it is how God purifies us.

8-16. Elijah is received by the widow of Zarephath, a city in the region of Sidon. The irony is that this was where Jezebel was from and would have been a city given to the worship of Baal. But the widow has faith in God and gives her last morsel of bread to Elijah. Jesus later cites this story to illustrate how the hard- heartedness of Israel will mean the spreading of the Gospel to the Gentiles (Luke 4:25-26).

17-24. After Elijah’s arrival, the widow’s son dies and she blames his death on Elijah, who isn’t exactly a good luck charm. Elijah’s resurrection of the boy looks a lot like Jesus’ resurrection of the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11). In the end, what looks like things getting worse and worse for Elijah, is just God preparing and equipping his prophet for glory.