[40. The Kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam]
Jeroboam thought thus: If the people go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord, their hearts will again turn to the house of David. He therefore set up two golden calves, and the people went and sacrificed to them. The Lord warned him, saying: Thou hast made thyself strange gods, therefore I will cut off thy house. His son became king, but was killed, and the whole family destroyed. There came kings of other families; but all were wicked and worshiped strange gods. (1 Kings 12:25-15:30.)
[41. Ahab and Elijah]
The worst of all kings in Israel was Ahab. He married the wicked Jezebel, daughter of the king of Sidon, and built a temple for the idol Baal. The prophet Elijah foretold as a punishment a drought which lasted for three years, and the land thirsted for rain. Meanwhile Elijah dwelt with a poor widow in the city of Zarephath, and the meal in her jar was not consumed, and the cruse of oil failed not, and when her son died, Elijah prayed to the Lord, and the soul of the child came into him again.
When the three years were ended, Elijah went at the Lord’s command unto Ahab and bade him call the priests of Baal together on Mount Carmel. Then said Elijah unto the people: I, even I only, am left a prophet of Jehovah; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under; and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under. And call ye on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Jehovah; and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said: It is well spoken. The priests of Baal sacrificed an ox and called upon their god the whole day; but he answered not. Elijah said: Cry a little louder! Your god may be musing, or perhaps he sleeps! At evening Elijah sacrificed an ox and prayed: O Lord, let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant! Then there came fire from heaven and consumed his sacrifice. The people took the priests of Baal and slew them, and the heavens grew black, and there was a great rain. Jezebel sought the life of Elijah, but he fled to the wilderness and wished that he might die, because Israel had broken their covenant with the Lord. But the Lord said: Return, there are yet left 7000 who have not bowed the knee unto Baal.
Naboth had a vineyard that Ahab wished to buy, because it lay close up to his palace. When Naboth would not sell his inheritance, because that was against the law of Moses, Ahab was sad, went to bed and would not eat. Jezebel said: Arise, eat and be merry! I will give thee the vineyard. She bade the judges procure witnesses to testify that Naboth had blasphemed God and the king. Naboth was stoned, and Ahab went to take possession of the vineyard. The Lord sent Elijah to him in the vineyard to say: Where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall they also lick thy blood, and dogs shall eat Jezebel. Ahab fell in battle, and his blood flowed into the war-chariot, and when it was washed in Samaria, dogs came and licked the blood. Jezebel was thrown out from a window, and her body was eaten by dogs. (1 Kings 16-22; 2 Kings 9:30-37.)
Elijah was taken up alive into heaven in a whirlwind, in a chariot of fire with horses of fire, and Elisha, who became prophet after him, stood and saw it. (2 Kings 2.)
[42. The Kingdom of Israel Overthrown]
(722 years before Christ.)
The kings and the people of Israel continued to worship strange gods, and would not listen to the prophets of the Lord. So the punishment must come. The king of Assyria, the powerful Shalmaneser, put Hoshea, the last king, in chains, and his successor took Samaria and carried the people to Assyria. One of the later kings sent heathens from his countries to dwell in the land. These were called Samaritans, and learned more and more to know Jehovah; but the inhabitants of Judah and Benjamin would not acknowledge them as right brethren, and there was bitter enmity between the Samaritans and the Jews. (2 Kings 17.)