Bible Reading Plan

Day 168 - Read 1 Kings 19-20

Jezebel made a vow to kill Elijah. Elijah fled a day’s journey into the wilderness. An angel went to Elijah twice and told him to eat a cake and water. Elijah journeyed forty days and nights to Horeb. God spoke to Elijah and instructed him to return, anointing God’s chosen men as kings and as prophet. Elisha followed Elijah and assisted him. Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, provoked Ahab, the king of Israel. Israel defeated Ben-hadad. The Syrians, led by Ben-hadad, fought against Israel a second time. Israel defeated Ben-hadad a second time. Ben-hadad made an agreement with Ahab to live. A prophet used an illustration to confront Ahab’s sin against God of not killing Ben-hadad. Ahab’s life would be taken because of this sin.

Broadcast on:: 08 Oct 2024
Audio Format:: other

"Hello and welcome to our daily Bible reading. Today we are looking at 1 Kings, chapters 19 and 20. Jezebel made a vow to kill Elijah. Elijah fled a day's journey into the wilderness. An angel went to Elijah twice and told him to eat a cake and water for his energy and strength. Elijah journeyed 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb. God spoke to Elijah and instructed him to return anointing God's chosen men as kings and as a prophet. Elijah followed Elijah and assisted him. Ben-Hey-Dad, the king of Syria, provoked Ahab, the king of Israel. Israel defeated Ben-Hey-Dad. The Syrians, led by Ben-Hey-Dad, fought against Israel a second time and Israel defeated them again. Ben-Hey-Dad made an agreement with Ahab to live. A prophet used an illustration to confront Ahab's sin against God of not killing Ben-Hey-Dad. Ahab's life would be taken because of his sin. All along with me is a begin to read, again starting in 1 Kings, chapter 19, verse 1. Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with a sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, "So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them, by this time tomorrow." Then he was afraid and he arose and ran for his life and came to Bathsheba, which belongs to Judah and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die saying, "It is enough, now O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers." And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, "Arise and eat." And he looked and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water, and he ate and drank and laid down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you." And he arose and ate and drank and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to horrib the Mount of God. There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" And he said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars and killed your prophets with a sword, and I, even I only am left, and they seek my life to take it away." And he said, "Go out and stand on the Mount before the Lord, and behold the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broken pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars and killed your prophets with a sword, and I, even I only am left, and they seek my life to take it away." And the Lord said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazell to be king over Syria. Jehu, the son of Nimshah, you shall anoint to be king over Israel. And Elisha, the son of Shafat, of Abel Mahola, you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazell shall Jehu put to death. And the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him. So he departed from there and found Elisha, the son of Shafat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, "Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you." And he said to him, "Go back again, for what have I done to you?" And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and bolded their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him. Chapter 20 Ben-Hey-Dad, the king of Syria, gathered all his army together. Thirty-two kings were with him and horses and chariots. And he went up and closed in on Samaria and fought against it. Then he sent messengers into the city to Ahab, king of Israel, and said to him, "Thus says Ben-Hey-Dad, your silver and your gold are mine. Your best wives and children are also mine." And the king of Israel answered, "As you say, my Lord, O king, I am yours and all that I have." The messengers came again and said, "Thus says Ben-Hey-Dad, I sent to you, saying, deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children. Nevertheless I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house in the houses of your servants and lay hands on whatever pleases you and take it away." Then the king of Israel called out the elders of the land and said, "Mark, now, and see how this man is seeking trouble. For he sent to me, for my wives and my children, and for my silver and my gold, and I did not refuse him." And all the elders and all the people said to him, "Do not listen or consent." So he said to the messengers of Ben-Hey-Dad, "Tell my Lord the king, all that you first demanded of your servant I will do, but this thing I cannot do." And the messengers departed and brought him word again. Ben-Hey-Dad sent to him and said, "The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice, for handfuls of all the people who follow me." Then the king of Israel answered, "Tell him, let not him, who straps on his armor, boast himself as he who takes it off." When Ben-Hey-Dad heard this message as he was drinking with the kings and the booths, he said to his men, "Take your positions," and they took their positions against that city. And behold, a prophet came near to ahab king of Israel and said, "Thus says the Lord, "Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the Lord." And ahab said, "By whom?" He said, "Thus says the Lord, by the servants of the governors of the districts." Then he said, "Who shall begin the battle?" He answered, "You." Then he mustered the servants of the governors of the districts, and they were 232. And after them, he mustered all the people of Israel, 7,000, and they went out at noon while Ben-Hey-Dad was drinking himself drunk in the booths. He and the 32 kings who helped him. The servants of the governors of the districts went out first, and Ben-Hey-Dad sent out scouts, and they reported to him, "Men are coming out from Samaria." He said, "If they have come out for peace, take them alive, or if they have come out for war, take them alive." So these went out of the city, the servants of the governors of the districts, and the army that followed them, and each struck down his man. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them, but Ben-Hey-Dad, king of Syria, escaped on a horse with horsemen, and the king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots, and struck the Syrians with a great blow. Then the prophets came near to the king of Israel, and said to him, "Come, strengthen yourself, and consider well what you have to do. For in the spring the king of Syria will come up against you, and the servants of the king of Syria said to him, "Their gods are gods of the hills, and so they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they, and do this. Remove the kings, each from his post, and put commanders in their places, and muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he listened to their voice, and did so. In the spring, Ben-Hey-Dad mustered the Syrians, and went up to a fact to fight against Israel. And the people of Israel were mustered, and were provisioned, and went against them. The people of Israel incant before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country. The man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, "Thus says the Lord, because the Syrians have said, 'The Lord is a God of the hills, but he is not a God of the valleys. Therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.' And they incant opposite one another seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle was joined, and the people of Israel struck down the Syrians, 100,000 foot soldiers in one day, and the rest fled into the city of Aefak, and the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were left. Ben-Hey-Dad also fled and entered an inner chamber in the city, and his servant said to him, "Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Let us put sackcloth around our wastes, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. First he will spare your life. So they tied sackcloth around their wastes, and put ropes on their heads, and went to the king of Israel, and said, 'Your servant Ben-Hey-Dad says, 'Please, let me live.' And he said, 'Does he still live? He is my brother.' Now the men were watching for a sign, and they quickly took it up from him and said, 'Yes, your brother Ben-Hey-Dad.' Then he said, 'Go and bring him.' And Ben-Hey-Dad came out to him, and he caused him to come up into the chariot. And Ben-Hey-Dad said to him, 'The cities that my father took from your father I will restore, and you may establish bizars for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria. And Ahab said, 'I will let you go on these terms.' So he made a covenant with him and let him go. And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow, 'At the command of the Lord, strike me, please.' But the man refused to strike him. Then he said to him, 'Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you have gone from me, a lion shall strike you down.' And as soon as he had departed from him, a lion met him and struck him down. Then he found another man and said, 'Strike me, please.' And the man struck him, struck him and wounded him. So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, disguising himself with the bandage over his eyes. And as the king passed, he cried to the king and said, 'Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a soldier turned and brought a man to me and said, 'Guard this man. If by any means he is missing, your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.' And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. The king of Israel said to him, 'So shall your judgment be. You yourself have decided it.' Then he hurried to take the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. And he said to him, 'Thus says the Lord, because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I have devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.' The king of Israel went to his house vexed and solen and came to Samaria.