seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Kings 16:29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.
34 In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord spoken by Joshua son of Nun.
34 In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord spoken by Joshua son of Nun.
This is from enduringword.com.
In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah: Asa reigned for 41 years in total (1 Kings 15:10). During his 41 years, there were seven different kings of Israel.
This is from biblestudytools.com.
Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him--The worship of God by symbols had hitherto been the offensive form of apostasy in Israel, but now gross idolatry is openly patronized by the court. This was done through the influence of Jezebel, Ahab's queen. She was "the daughter of Eth-baal, king of the Zidonians." He was priest of Ashtaroth or Astarte, who, having murdered Philetes, king of Tyre, ascended the throne of that kingdom, being the eighth king since Hiram. Jezebel was the wicked daughter of this regicide and idol priest--and, on her marriage with Ahab, never rested till she had got all the forms of her native Tyrian worship introduced into her adopted country.
reared up an altar for Baal--that is, the sun, worshipped under various images. Ahab set up one ( 2 Kings 3:2 ), probably as the Tyrian Hercules, in the temple in Samaria. No human sacrifices were offered--the fire was kept constantly burning --the priests officiated barefoot. Dancing and kissing the image ( 1 Kings 19:18 ) were among the principal rites.
In his days did Hiel the Beth-elite build family of this reckless man but whether his oldest son died at the time of laying the foundation, and the youngest at the completion of the work, or whether he lost all his sons in rapid succession, till, at the end of the undertaking, he found himself childless, the poetical form of the ban does not enable us to determine. Some modern commentators think there is no reference either to the natural or violent deaths of Hiel's sons; but that he began in presence of his oldest son, but some unexpected difficulties, losses, or obstacles, delayed the completion till his old age, when the gates were set up in the presence of his youngest son. But the curse was fulfilled more than five hundred years after it was uttered; and from Jericho being inhabited after Joshua's time ( Judges 3:13 , 2 Samuel 10:5 ), it has been supposed that the act against which the curse was directed, was an attempt at the restoration of the walls--the very walls which had been miraculously cast down. It seems to have been within the territory of Israel; and the unresisted act of Hiel affords a painful evidence how far the people of Israel had lost all knowledge of, or respect for, the word of God.
reared up an altar for Baal--that is, the sun, worshipped under various images. Ahab set up one ( 2 Kings 3:2 ), probably as the Tyrian Hercules, in the temple in Samaria. No human sacrifices were offered--the fire was kept constantly burning --the priests officiated barefoot. Dancing and kissing the image ( 1 Kings 19:18 ) were among the principal rites.
In his days did Hiel the Beth-elite build family of this reckless man but whether his oldest son died at the time of laying the foundation, and the youngest at the completion of the work, or whether he lost all his sons in rapid succession, till, at the end of the undertaking, he found himself childless, the poetical form of the ban does not enable us to determine. Some modern commentators think there is no reference either to the natural or violent deaths of Hiel's sons; but that he began in presence of his oldest son, but some unexpected difficulties, losses, or obstacles, delayed the completion till his old age, when the gates were set up in the presence of his youngest son. But the curse was fulfilled more than five hundred years after it was uttered; and from Jericho being inhabited after Joshua's time ( Judges 3:13 , 2 Samuel 10:5 ), it has been supposed that the act against which the curse was directed, was an attempt at the restoration of the walls--the very walls which had been miraculously cast down. It seems to have been within the territory of Israel; and the unresisted act of Hiel affords a painful evidence how far the people of Israel had lost all knowledge of, or respect for, the word of God.
So three things are going on here.....
1. Judah seems to be happier than Israel now. There were 7 kings in Israel while Judah remained under one. Israel is now split. There's Israel in the north and Judah in the south.
2. Jezebel brought sex into the worship service. Apparently Ahab built an Ashtaroth pole and he erected an alter to Baal for her.
3. The prophecy about Jericho was fulfilled.
2. Jezebel brought sex into the worship service. Apparently Ahab built an Ashtaroth pole and he erected an alter to Baal for her.
3. The prophecy about Jericho was fulfilled.
Check this out....
"Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho; he shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born; and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it," Joshua 6:26.
This is from GodVine.
It is thought that when he laid the foundation of the city, his eldest son, the hope of his family, died by the hand and judgment of God, and that all his children died in succession; so that when the doors were ready to be hung, his youngest and last child died, and thus, instead of securing himself a name, his whole family became extinct.
And the walls came tumbling down.....
