Day 168: Wicked Kings (2024)

This episode delves into the narratives of corrupt and tyrannical rulers in the biblical texts, focusing on the deeds and consequences in their reigns as portrayed in the books of Kings and Chronicles.

1. The extent of Ahab and Jezebel's wickedness, highlighting the moral decay within the highest ranks of Israel's leadership.
2. The role of divine justice as Elijah confronts Ahab with the consequences of his and Jezebel’s actions.
3. The cyclical nature of sin and its repercussions, demonstrated through the successive reigns of Jehoram and Ahaziah.
4. The impact of parental influence on rulers, as seen with Ahab's lineage, where each generation perpetuates the sins of the previous.
5. The eventual divine intervention that aims to correct the wayward paths of the kings and restore moral order.

1: Introduction and Context

Father Mike sets the scene for the episode’s focus on biblical kings and their deeds. He explains the significance of the biblical accounts in understanding the moral teachings relevant to today’s life. Father Mike Schmitz: "Today we are reading from Kings and Chronicles, revealing how deep the roots of corruption can go."

2: Naboth's Vineyard and Divine Judgment

This chapter details the infamous incident of Naboth's vineyard and the false charges leading to Naboth's execution, illustrating the ruthlessness of Jezebel and the weakness of Ahab. Father Mike Schmitz: "Naboth's refusal and subsequent murder reveal the profound moral failures of Ahab and Jezebel."

3: The Reigns of Jehoram and Ahaziah

Exploring the reigns of Jehoram and Ahaziah, this chapter shows the continuation of Ahab's legacy through his descendants and the further moral decline of the monarchy. Father Mike Schmitz: "Jehoram and Ahaziah's reigns exemplify the destructive impact of familial influence and ungodly counsel."

1. Reflect on the influence of your actions on others, considering how they can propagate through generations.
2. Seek accountability in leadership, recognizing the importance of moral integrity for those in authority.
3. Foster an environment where truth and justice prevail over deceit and wrongdoing.
4. Embrace humility and repentance to mitigate the consequences of past wrongs.
5. Hold onto hope that redemption and change are always possible through sincere efforts and divine grace.

Fr. Mike highlights the wickedness and unfaithfulness of king Ahab, king Jehoram and king Azaiah. We learn that their selfish and disobedient actions have severe consequences. Today's readings are 1 Kings 21, 2 Chronicles 21-22, and Song of Solomon 7.

People

Elijah, Ahab, Jezebel, Jehoram, Ahaziah

Content Warnings:

None

Father Mike Schmitz
Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in ear podcast where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a year podcast is brought to you by ascension using the great adventure Bible timeline. We'll read all the way from Genesis to revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story. Today it is day 168. We are reading from one kings, chapter 21, two chronicles, chapters 21 and 22, and the song of Solomon, chapter seven.

As always, the Bible translation that I'm reading from is the revised standard Version, second catholic edition, and I'm using the great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year rating plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com bibleina year. And if you would like to subscribe, you can subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe. That would be phenomenal. As I said, today is day 168.

We're reading First Kings 20 1, Second Chronicles 21 and 22, and song of Solomon, chapter seven, the first book of kings, chapter 21, Naboth's vineyard now, Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel beside the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria. And after this, Ahab said to Naboth, give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it, or if it seems good to you, I will give you its value and money. But Naboth said to Ahab, the lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers. And Ahab went into his house, vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers. And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food.

But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food? And he said to her, because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, give me your vineyard for money, or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it. And he answered, I will not give you my vineyard. And Jezebel his wife said to him, do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread, and let your heart be cheerful.

I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal. And she sent the letters to the elders and nobles who dwelt with Naboth in his city. And she wrote in the letters, proclaim a fast and set Naboth on high among the people and set two base fellows opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, you have cursed God and the king, then take him out and stone him to death. And the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who dwelt in his city did as Jezebel had sent word to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them.

They proclaimed a fast and set Naboth on high among the people. And the two base fellows came in and sat opposite him. And the base fellows brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth cursed God and the king. So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth has been stoned, he is dead.

As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money. For Naboth is not alive but dead. And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to take possession of it. Elijah pronounces God's sentence. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the tishbite, saying, arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria.

Behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. And you shall say to him, thus says the Lord, have you killed, and also take possession. And you shall also say to him, thus says the in the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick your own blood? Ahab said to Elijah, have you found me, o my enemy? He answered, I have found you because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord.

Behold, I will bring evil upon you. I will utterly sweep you away. I will cut off from Ahab every male bond or free in Israel, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. For the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin and of Jezebel. The lord also said, the dogs shall eat Jezebel within the bounds of Jezreel.

Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city, the dogs shall eat, and any one of his who dies in the open country, the birds of the air shall eat. There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited, he did very abominably in going after idols as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the sons of Israel. And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth upon his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the tishbite, saying, have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me?

Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but in his son's days I will bring the evil upon his house.

The second book of Chronicles, chapter 21 Jehoram's reign over Judah Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram, his son reigned in his stead. He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold and valuable possessions together with the fortified cities in Judah.

But he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn. When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he slew all his brothers with the sword and also some of the princes of Israel. Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done. For the daughter of Ahab was his wife, and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

Yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of the covenant which he had made with David. And since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever. The revolt of Edom. In his days, Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders in all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders.

So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. At that time, Libnah also revolted from his rule because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers, Elijahs letter of warning. Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into unfaithfulness and made Judah go astray. And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father, because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat, your father, or in the ways of Asa, king of Judah, but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, you have led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into unfaithfulness, as the house of Ahab led Israel into unfaithfulness. And also you have killed your brothers and of your father's house who were better than yourself.

Behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives and all your possessions. And you yourself will have a severe sickness with the disease of your bowels until your bowels come out because of the disease day by day. And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger of the Philistines and of the Arabs who are near the Ethiopians. And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king's house and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest son. Disease and death of Jehoram and after all this, the lord struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease.

In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers. He was 32 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem, and he departed with no ones regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings. Chapter 22 Ahaziah's reign over Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his stead, for the band of men that came with the Arabs to the camp had slain all the older sons.

So Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, reigned. Ahaziah was 42 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor. In doing wickedly, he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord as the house of Ahab had done?

For after the death of his father they were his counselors to his undoing. He even followed their counsel and went with Jehoram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel, to make war against Hazael, the king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram and he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which he had received at Ramah when he fought against Hazael, king of Syria. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Joram, the son of Ahab in Jezreel because he was sick. The downfall of Ahaziah but it was ordained by God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram.

For when he came there he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu, the son of Nimshi, whom the lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. And when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziahs, brothers who attended Ahaziah and he killed them. He searched for Ahaziah and he was captured while hiding in Samaria. And he was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said he is the grandson of Jehoshaphat who sought the lord with all his heart.

And the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom. Athaliah seizes the throne now when Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. But Jehoshabiath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be slain. And she put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. Thus Jehoshabiath, the daughter of king Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest became, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah so that she did not slay him, and he remained with them six years hid in the house of God while Athaliah reigned over the land.

The song of Solomon chapter seven colloquy of the bride and groom how graceful are your feet in sandals, o queenly maiden. Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of a master hand. Your navel is a rounded bowl that never lacks mixed wine. Your belly is a heap of wheat encircled with lilies. Your two breasts are like two fauns, twins of a gazelle.

Your neck is like an ivory tower, your eyes are pools in heshbon by the gate of bath rabim. Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon overlooking Damascus. Your head crowns you like carmel, and your flowing locks are like purple. A king is held captive in the tresses. How fair and pleasant you are, o loved one, delectable maiden.

You are stately as a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters. I say, I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its branches. O may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples, and your kisses like the best wine that goes down smoothly, gliding over lips and teeth. I am my beloveds, and his desire is for me. Come, my beloved, let us go into the fields and lodge in the villages.

Let us go out early in the vineyards and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened and the pomegranates are in bloom there I will give you my love. The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and over our doors are all choice fruits, new as well as old, which I have laid up for you. O my beloved Father in heaven, we are the object of your love and you are eternal and mysterious, omniscient and omnipresent, and all good. And yet you love us, you pursue us, you desire us even in our brokenness, even in our weakness. Lord, you still choose us.

And so we ask you, as we always do, we ask you to help us give you permission to be chosen by you and help us to choose you back. Help us to receive your love and help us to love you in return. In Jesus name we pray, amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Okay, here we are.

Gosh, this is so good because our stories, of course, are, they're connected, right? First kings and second chronicles in this section are very, very connected. This is the time of Elijah. Elijah is a prophet not only in one kings. We heard him talking the last couple days with Ahab and Jezebel and on the run.

But we also have Elijah playing a role in two chronicles with Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat. So we're going to get back to that in just 1 second. Back at one kings, we have this really curious story of that reveals the heart of Ahab and reveals the heart of Jezebel as well. If there's any villain in out of all the kings here, they're all pretty bad, especially the kings of the north, the kings in Israel, the northern ten tribes, they're all bad. I don't know if there's one good one.

And Ahab is kind of the, the archetype for how bad they get. And Jezebel is kind of the jaw. As you probably know, Jezebel's name is now associated with evil, essentially. And so Ahab's heart is on display. He wants Naboth's vineyard.

Naboth says, I'm not going to give you my vineyard. Why? Because in the Old Testament, remember, you couldn't dispossess yourself. You couldn't actually sell your land because it didn't belong to you. You were merely the tenant of the land.

It belonged to your family. And this is really, really important. You know, here in our country, or at least here in the 21st century, you can buy and sell land and it's, it's important, but it's, it's just your land or it's just the land you sold. But for the ancient people here, especially in Israel, remember the big promise of God to Abraham was a kingdom, right world by blessing and land. And then remember, remember back when we were reading about how that land was divided up among tribes and then subdivided among families?

And so here is Naboth the Jezreelite. He has land that belongs not just to Naboth the Jezreelite. It belongs to his family. And so he can't, he can't. Even if Ahab gives him a great deal, even if he trades your vineyard for another vineyard or gives him money, he can't do it.

So Naboth is being faithful and Ahab is being petulant. He comes home and won't even eat anything, won't even drink anything. He's pouting like a child and he shows his heart there. And then Jezebel shows her heart in writing letters in Ahab's name and basically making people or inciting them to accuse Naboth the Jezreelite of doing something wrong. Now we can look at Ahab and say, horrible.

Yep, true. Look at Jezebel and say, horrible. Yep, true. But also think about this. She wrote letters in Ahab's name, sealed with his seal, sent the letters to elders and nobles who dwelt in Naboth with Naboth in his city.

And in it she wrote to those elders and to those nobles and to those select two base fellows who will accuse him. And they all went along with it, which is remarkable. And this is one of those things that just makes us stop and scratch our heads and say, okay, yep, Jezebel, Ahab, their names go down in infamy. But what about the names of those elders and those nobles that we don't even know their names but they at least cooperated and they didn't do anything to stop the wrongful murder of this man Naboth who was stoned to death. You know, it's often said for evil to triumph, all it takes is good men who do nothing.

And that is the exact thing that happens here in Naboth's city of Jezreel. These elders and nobles were told to go along with this corruption, go along with this deception and they simply did. And because of that, Elijah pronounces God's sentence and says basically, you know, Jezebel, you're gonna die and Ahab, you're gonna die. Ahab does repent a little bit here. So he extends his life for a bit but we're gonna spoil our alert.

He dies next chapter. So before the end of one kings, Ahab is going to be dead at the same time. So that's Elijah writing to the king of the north, Ahab with his wife Jezebel. But also we have Elijah participating also in the south because we have Jehoshaphat. Right?

Good king did a lot of good things. Wasn't perfect but wasn't awful. He's one of the kings that we'd say, hey, nice job, Jehoshaphat. Good job. And he has this son Jehoram who gets to be king because he was the firstborn.

And one of the first things he does is he kills every one of his brothers, all of his brothers that his dad had separated like giving them gifts and given them like this is enough for you to be content. Let Johoram be the king. Jehoram turns around and he kills his own brothers. Not only that but Jehoram follows the influence of his wife and his wife is the daughter of Ahab. And basically it's so interesting that in two chronicles it keeps pointing out that he was influenced by Ahab.

He did like Ahab did. He was a, he followed the example of Ahab. And remember, Ahab is this archetype for being a bad king and Johoram was a bad king and he was unfaithful not only in killing his brothers that's pretty unfaithful, but he also is unfaithful in worship. Remember this, as Johoram sets up high altars to other things, he's leading the people away he's leading the people away from faithfulness, he's leading people away from God. And in doing so, you know, it's so interesting because it's not only that unfaithfulness that they're just offering to the Lord their unfaithfulness but they're also placing he, Jehoram is placing the people of Israel in a position of vulnerability because who has been protecting Israel?

Why are the chosen people of God protected? Because they're walking in faithfulness because God is on their side. God fights for them. We just read so many stories, right, of just wait, I will eat Jehoshaphat. There was the army assembled against him of those three other kingdoms and no God's saying I'm going to fight for you, don't worry.

And so Johoram not only places himself, he's spiritually in danger and places his people spiritually in danger but he also places the people in physical danger as well by not attending to the Lord and being unfaithful. Then after Johoram dies with his bowels and all that that's happening, Ahaziah is the next king and Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, he reigns and he also did wickedly because he follows the example of his mom, the daughter of Ahab. So where Jehoram followed the example of his wife, the daughter of Ahab, it is Ahaziah's mom, the daughter of Ahab that leads him also into wickedness and so he also becomes dead. Everyone ends up dying. And after this, after Ahaziah dies, his mother Attaliah, the wife of Jehoram and Ahaziah's mom, she seizes the throne and what does she do?

She arises. Remember she's the daughter of Ahab. So gosh, you guys, Apple does not fall far from the tree here Athaliah rises up and she destroys the entire royal family of the house of Judah. So basically remember the promise. The promise is that God will bless the world through the line of Abraham, through David that David will sit on the throne of Judah forever.

And now here is Attaliah, the daughter of Ahab, king of the north in Israel thinking that she's going to kill every single member of the royal family of the house of Judah. And what does that leave her with? Leaves her with like complete claim on the throne. And yet this young woman, the daughter of the king Jehoram, right? Her name is Jehoshaphaeth.

She takes Joash, son of Ahaziah and hides him away for six years. And what we're gonna find out next is what happens when this young boy Joash is then revealed and what happens with Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab, the wife of Johoram and the mother of Ahaziah and the grandmother of Joash what happens to her when Joash comes back on the scene? It's all stay tuned we're hearing about it tomorrow but today is 168 and I'm praying for you please pray for me gosh, we got through. We did it you guys we made it we made it today 168 and we can only do this with each other's prayers so please pray for each other I'm praying for you please pray for me my name is father Mike I can't wait to see you tomorrow God bless.