Pagans and Prophets

I Kings 13-22

     In the previous blog we covered the events of the splitting of the Kingdom of Israel into the North and South as seen through the lens of the Book. Keeping in mind that these events were written by scribes that lived long after the events took place, writing down people and events from their historical sources as well recording the stories of their history from the perspective of the books of Moses, significantly the book of Deuteronomy. Kings and Chronicles clearly state that the kingdom of Israel to the north is a country that begins the worship of pagan idols pretty much at its inception. While the kingdom of Judah still seats an heir of Yahweh’s chosen bloodline, David, even though his descendants never live up to his standard. This perspective gives us a clear black and white view of history and the people and events therein. However, before we get to the major players and events of these histories I want to go over the kings of the early division, but from the perspective that archaeology gives.
      There is a good amount of information that we can gather about these kingdoms and it comes from the people that they fought with in the region, such as the Assyrians and Moabits. Many proclamations inscribed in stone and other such remnants confirm a lot of details within the Book, but also offer different perspectives on certain rulers and their legacies.
     For example, in I Kings chapter 16 we meet King Omri, 880 B.C.E., who is a military leader that kills the usurper Zimri and takes the throne. He establishes his capital in Samaria* and according to the book ‘does evil in the sight of the Lord’ by worshiping worthless idols. Yet, archaeological evidence paints a slightly different picture. We see a leader that almost rivals Solomon in his dynamism and expansive mentality. According to ancient records he challenged some enemies like the Moabites and made peace with others such as the Phoenicians, who were excellent builders and tradesmen and only enriched and beautified his kingdom more. He made alliances with his enemies through the marriage of his son to the princess Jezebel and made an altar to her god, Baal, in Samaria. He later made peace with Judah when he had his daughter marry Jehoram.
    There is evidence for the tolerance of other gods shown in Israel. In those days rulers honored one another by not only paying tribute to the person, but also to their god(s). However, in the south Judah struggled with this problem of existing in a hostile region while still staying true to their God. For much of their early years Judah fought with their neighbors; Israel, Moab, Philistines, etc. Because of their lack of diplomacy Judah was ransacked from all directions. Finally they recognized the need for allies and king Jehoram married the daughter of Israel’s king Ahab, which in turn brought the pagan ways of Jezebel into the country of Judah.
    While Jezebel seems to have a verifiable place in history the same can not be said for the prophet Elijah. There is no archaeological evidence for the events between Elijah and Jezebel. However, at this time in history there were those that still honored the god of king David in the lands of Israel and these ‘prophets’, as they were known, were a constant thorn in the side of the kings who sought advice from the priests and prophets of other lands and gods. These prophets were entrenched in the political workings of the time and were not hermits that secluded themselves from civilization. While the events of this prophet can not be confirmed or denied there were definitely people similar to him and his friend Elisha. People who challenged the establishment’s embrace of idolatry and paganism and warned against the consequences of their actions.
      When the books of Kings were compiled, probably in 560 B.C.E., Elijah could have been a folk hero whose story had passed through the generations. By this time the kingdom of Israel would have fallen to the Assyrians and so the warnings of Elijah to Israel in the books of Kings could have been a warning to the people of Judah that their same mistakes led to the Babylonian exile in the mid 500s B.C.E.





*The countryside of Samaria becomes a reviled land by the time Jesus takes the scene 800 years later.