1 Kings 15-17

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

15:2 - Abijam's mother was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.
15:10 - Asa's mother was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.
15:13 - Asa removed his mother Maacah from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burned it at the Wadi Kidron.

16:31 - "And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, [Ahab] took as his wife Jezebel daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and wept and served Baal, and worshiped him."

17:8-24 - God commands Elijah to go to Zarepath and live there for God has commanded a widow there to feed him. So Elijah went to Zarepath and met the widow, who was gathering sticks, at the gates of the town. Elijah called to her and asked if she could bring him some water. As she was leaving to get him water Elijah also asked her to bring him some bread. The widow explained to him that she had no bread baked, she only had a handful of meal and a jar of oil which was all her son and she had to eat. Elijah told her to not be afraid and do as she was going to, but to first bring him a small cake and then afterward make something for her and her son, for if she does this the Lord will not let her jar of meal or jar of oil become empty until the next rain. The widow did as Elijah said and neither the meal nor the oil emptied, according to the words of God spoken by Elijah.

After this the widow's son became ill, so severe that there was no breath left in him. The widow cried to Elijah, asking what he had against her to come here and bring her sin to remembrance and let her son die. Elijah asked for her son, and cried out to God, asking if God had brought calamity upon the widow whom he had been staying with by killing her son. The lord listened to Elijah and brought life back into the boy. Elijah brought him up to the widow and said, "See, your son is alive." And the widow said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth."

My Comments

I wonder if the Jezebel mentioned in 1 Kings 16 is the Jezebel that is frequently referred to in pop culture. An example in one of my favorite songs. I always figured she'd have a bigger part, since only the bigger characters tend to become popular memes. So I'm not sure, maybe another Jezebel shows up later. I will have to keep my eye out for it.

I don't think I will ever like how the Bible will have an entire section dedicated to a woman's story and yet will not give the woman a name. So we have "the widow." I also don't think I will ever like how the Bible can have a whole section dedicated to a woman's story and yet still manage to not have the woman actually do anything. The widow wasn't very active in her story at all. She had faith, I guess, if that can be considered as being active. But she basically just did as she was told. She gave up food that she didn't really have to spare for her and her dying son to give to a man that could very well have been lying to her. At least she wasn't chastised for her anger at her son's death. I guess it helped that Elijah seemed to be angry about it as well.

Mostly it's just terrible to have a good section with a woman in it and yet still have nothing to really say about it because she doesn't really do anything. I would hope for more interesting passages about women but every time I hope for that it seems I get sections that make me really angry. Not sure if it's better to be super angry and have a lot to say or mostly bored and have nothing to say...

Friday: 1 Kings 18-20