Kings continues with a few chapters the various lines of succession in the two kingdoms (Israel and Judah), and descriptions of the various nefarious characters that take over the thrones.
Well... the nefarious characters that take over one of the thrones, anyway. A good general rule of thumb seems to be that Israel sucks, while Judah tends to be alright. Time and time again, the kings of Israel fall in with idols, false gods, bad business of all kinds, and generally prove to be quite an irritant for God. Down in Judah, however, things seem to trend towards God, rather than away from Him.
Pop quiz! Anyone remember which kingdom David's line continued in? Anyone? Anyone?
Two notable people make their first biblical appearances in these chapters: Ahab, the king of Israel (and one of the most singularly despicable characters ever) and Elijah the prophet.
We get a few exchanges between the two of them, and a couple of snippets of Elijah's miraculous episodes, including actually raising the dead, leading up to the big showdown on Mount Carmel where Elijah (and there are only so many words that can describe this) completely schooled the prophets of Baal in a "My God can beat up your god" contest.
The showdown is (or at least, used to be) fairly common Sunday school storybook stuff, and it remains one of Elijah's most well-publicized acts (insofar as it actually was an act of Elijah) but, perhaps not surprisingly, the story usually ends with God sending His awesome fire down to burn the sacrifice, and the altar, and the water in the moat, etc.
What doesn't often get added on is that Elijah then proceeded to slaughter 400 men single-handedly beside a nearby stream. You know, like you do...
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Another pretty famous (in Christianland, anyway) story is of Elijah up on Mount Horeb, meeting up with God. There's a tornado, an earthquake and an inferno, but God appears to Elijah in the form of a gentle (and probably quite refreshing) breeze.
Ninety per cent of the time that I've heard this story invoked it's to make some point about how gentle and peaceful God is. How quietly you have to look around for Him, and how it's important not to assume anything about anything.
These are all, in moderation and context, good points, but I can't help but feel that it misses something about the story. Moreover, I think it's limiting. God calls Elijah to a meeting, Elijah shows up, there are massive displays of power and awe-inspiring force, and the main idea is that God was in the breeze? I think rather that this is another example of how Lewis nailed it in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when the beavers scoff at Lucy's suggestion that Aslan is a safe lion.
God is power beyond all possible human comprehension. Not much about that is safe or comfortable, and I don't think it's meant to be.
Excellent points, Ryan. I like your insight into the breeze.
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