The Prophet Elijah

The period of the kings, due to the national division of Israel, was a time of great chaos, moral decay, corruption, and darkness. Consequently, it was also a time when many prophets emerged to instruct the people. However, among all the prophets, the name most frequently mentioned in the New Testament is Elijah. Elijah (Hebrew: […]

Jezebel

Jezebel (Hebrew: אִיזֶבֶל / אִיזָבֶל) is a figure recorded in the Old Testament books of 1 and 2 Kings. She was the wife of King Ahab of the kingdom of Israel. Jezebel was the daughter of “Ethbaal king of the Sidonians.” Her name comes from a chant used in Canaanite Baal worship, meaning “Where is […]

King Ahab, The Unwise Ruler

After Omri died, his son Ahab succeeded him as king of Israel. Reigning approximately from 871 to 850 BC, Ahab was one of the most wicked and influential kings of the northern kingdom of Israel mentioned in the Old Testament. He married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. Under her strong influence, […]

King Omri of Israel

Omri was a king of Israel who first appears in the Bible as the commander of King Elah’s army. In 885 BC, Elah sent Omri to besiege the Philistine stronghold of Gibbethon. While the siege was underway, another military leader, Zimri, staged a coup, killing Elah and immediately eliminating all of Elah’s male relatives. Upon […]

Samaria Part Two

When the northern kingdom of Israel first began, Jeroboam established Shechem as his capital, later moving it to Tirzah. King Omri of Israel reigned in Tirzah for six years before moving the capital to Samaria. 1 Kings 16:24 states, “He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built a […]

Jeroboam

Jeroboam, also known as “Jeroboam I,” was the first king of the Kingdom of Israel after the division of the united monarchy. He was the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was Zeruah (1 Kings 11:26). Jeroboam was originally a servant of King Solomon. Solomon, seeing that he was not only […]

Vanity of Vanities

1 Kings 10:23, 26-28: “King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth… Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. The king made silver as common in Jerusalem […]

Solomon’s Grand Ambitions

1 Kings 9:15, 17-19: “Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord’s Temple, his own palace, the Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, as well as Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. King Solomon rebuilt Gezer, Lower Beth Horon, Baalath and Tadmor in the desert, within his land, as well […]

Solomon’s Concubines and Wives

1 Kings 11:1, 3: “King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites… He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.” Solomon clearly knew that the Lord had instructed the Israelites: “You must not intermarry with them, for surely […]

Solomon and King Hiram of Tyre

1 Kings 9:10-14: “At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings—the Lord’s temple and the royal palace—King Hiram of Tyre had supplied Solomon with all the cedar and juniper and gold he wanted. So King Solomon gave Hiram twenty towns in Galilee. But when Hiram went from Tyre to inspect […]