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Chapter 11: 1 Kings
1Kgs:2:1: Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,
1Kgs:2:5: Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.
1Kgs:2:6: Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace.
On his deathbed, I would have expected David to have regrets about the many people he had killed throughout his life. Instead, David issued orders for more killing.
Abner had killed Joab's brother Asahel (2 Sam. 2:22-23). So Joab avenged his brother's death by killing Abner. It's odd that David felt Joab should be killed for this, because when David's son Absalom took vengeance on his half-brother Amnon for raping his sister Tamar, David forgave him (2 Sam. 13 & 14). It appears David employed a double standard in this instance.
Amasa was the captain of the rebel army that Absalom later raised to overthrow David's kingdom (2 Sam. 17:25). David had instructed Joab to pursue him (2 Sam 20:4-6). It is unclear why, on his deathbed, David held Amasa's death against Joab.
1Kgs:2:8: And, behold, thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.
1Kgs:2:9: Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him; but his hoar head bring thou down to the grave with blood.
This was a case of David going back on his word. Shimei had repented for his cursing of David, and David had sworn to him that he would not put him to death:
2Sam:19:18: And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan;
2Sam:19:19: And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.
2Sam:19:20: For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.
2Sam:19:21: But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD's anointed?
2Sam:19:22: And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?
2Sam:19:23: Therefore the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king sware unto him.
Yet, David's dying act was to order his son Solomon to murder Shimei. Since the Bible later tells us that David walked perfectly after God (1 Kings 3:14; 11:4), we now know that the Bible holds that it is morally okay to go back on your word, and to murder anyone who curses you. Of course, Jesus later spoke against such actions, so it depends on which parts of the Bible you choose to believe.
1Kgs:2:20: Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; I pray thee, say me not nay. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother: for I will not say thee nay.
So Solomon's mother asked, and despite his promise, Solomon proceeded to say nay:
1Kgs:2:21: And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife.
1Kgs:2:22: And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.
1Kgs:2:23: Then king Solomon sware by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life.
1Kgs:2:24: Now therefore, as the LORD liveth, which hath established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me an house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day.
1Kgs:2:25: And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.
Solomon had earlier promised not to harm Adonijah as long as he didn't prove to be wicked:
1Kgs:1:51: And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he will not slay his servant with the sword.
1Kgs:1:52: And Solomon said, If he will shew himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die.
1Kgs:1:53: So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house.
All Adonijah had done was ask for the hand of David's former nurse. Solomon could've acted civilized and simply said no, but instead he went back on his word and had him murdered. So the first official acts of king Solomon were the breaking of his word and the commission of fratricide.
1Kgs:2:29: And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD; and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.
1Kgs:2:30: And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the LORD, and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.
1Kgs:2:31: And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father.
So Solomon had no qualms about murdering a man right on God's altar! Solomon's reign certainly got off to a bloody start.
1Kgs:2:36: And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Build thee an house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence any whither.
1Kgs:2:37: For it shall be, that on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head.
So Solomon put Shimei under house arrest. But one day Shimei ventured out to fetch his escaped slaves, and when he came back Solomon summoned him:
1Kgs::44: The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father: therefore the LORD shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head;
1Kgs:2:45: And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD for ever.
1Kgs:2:46: So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; which went out, and fell upon him, that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
Although David had sworn to Shimei that he would not be put do death for having cursed him, David told Solomon to put Shimei to death, and he did. What moral lesson do we learn from these "great" men of the Bible about keeping one's word, and about blessing those that curse you?
1Kgs:3:12: Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
Like a Genie from The Tales of the Arabian Nights, God granted a wish to Solomon. Solomon wished for wisdom, and God granted the wish by making Solomon the wisest person who ever lived or would ever live. So now we have another exemplary role model; whatever the Bible records Solomon doing from this point on we know was the wisest possible thing to do.
1Kgs:4:29: And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.
1Kgs:4:30: And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.
1Kgs:4:31: For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.
1Kgs:4:32: And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.
1Kgs:4:33: And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
1Kgs:4:34: And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.
Given Solomon's worldwide fame, isn't it odd that outside of the Bible there is no mention of him made in any of the many extant records of the time?
1Kgs:8:63: And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.
22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep were slaughtered as part of the "grand opening" celebration of God's "holy" temple! What an incredibly callous waste of life! Why would a "God of love" allow such heartless slaughter to happen in his name?
1Kgs:11:1: But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
1Kgs:11:2: Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
1Kgs:11:3: And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
1Kgs:11:4: For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
1Kgs:11:5: For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
1Kgs:11:6: And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.
1Kgs:11:7: Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
1Kgs:11:8: And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
1Kgs:11:9: And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
1Kgs:11:10: And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded.
1Kgs:11:11: Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.
How wise was it of Solomon to do this? God had appeared to him, granted his wish, given him prosperity, and promised dire punishments for worshipping other gods. The other gods did nothing. So what would be the wise thing to do? I would think the wise thing would be to stay away from worshipping other gods. But then, according to the Bible, I'm not as wise as Solomon; no one is. So worshipping other gods must've been the wisest thing to do, and I'm just too stupid to understand why.
I can understand about the women. Solomon must've had a hormonal problem. His lust exceeded his wisdom to the tune of 1,000 women! But there are no hormones that I know of which cause one to lust after idols. Nor can we accept the statement that his wives turned him to worshipping idols. Remember: the Bible tells us that we can't blame others for tempting us to sin (James 1:13-15). As king, Solomon would've had these women at his beck and call. They were in no position to withhold sexual favors in return for Solomon's worshipping their idols. Nor is it clear what they would stand to gain from such a transaction.
All of this leads me to believe that Jehovah was just one of many gods that Solomon regularly worshipped: none of which ever did a thing for him. But later, when someone sat down to write this storybook about the kings of Israel, they had to somehow account for Solomon's idolatry in light of all the wonders they attributed to Jehovah, and as usual the women got the blame.
1Kgs:13:1: And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
1Kgs:13:2: And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.
1Kgs:13:3: And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
1Kgs:13:11: Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.
1Kgs:13:12: And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.
1Kgs:13:13: And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,
1Kgs:13:14: And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.
1Kgs:13:15: Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
1Kgs:13:16: And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:
1Kgs:13:17: For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
1Kgs:13:18: He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.
1Kgs:13:19: So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
1Kgs:13:20: And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:
1Kgs:13:21: And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,
1Kgs:13:22: But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
1Kgs:13:23: And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
1Kgs:13:24: And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.
1Kgs:13:25: And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
1Kgs:13:26: And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him.
The prophet from Judah expected people to take him at his word that his prophecy was the truth from God. The survival of his profession depended upon people believing this. So, when the prophet from Bethel told him that an angel had instructed him to bring him back to Bethel and eat and drink in his house, the prophet from Judah assumed that the prophet from Bethel was telling the truth. To have doubted the pronouncement would have been to call into question the whole idea of prophets.
Instead of punishing the Bethelite for lying, God chose him as his instrument to deliver a new prophecy: God would punish the prophet from Judah for having believed the prophet of Bethel's lie! This pronouncement didn't seem to phase the Judean: he calmly finished eating and drinking, and went on his way. Why should he have believed the Bethelite's second pronouncement when it gave the lie to his first pronouncement? One of his statements had to be false, and there was at least a fifty-percent chance that it was his second statement. The Judean prophet probably reasoned that God wouldn't be so unjust as to punish him for having believed a prophet.
He was dead wrong.
The Judean prophet suffered the same fate as that other infamous prophet Balaam: he had done exactly what God's messengers had told him to do, and God had him killed for it.
1Kgs:14:7: Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,
1Kgs:14:8: And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes;
Had David really kept God's commandments and done only that which was right in God's eyes, as God here stated? The Bible records several instances in which David clearly broke God's laws. David ate the sacred showbread which Jesus declared was unlawful for anyone but a priest to eat (Mt. 12:3-4). He also broke the law on executing murderers when he forgave his son Absalom for fratricide (2 Sam. 14; Num. 35:18). David also broke the commandment "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife" in the case of Uriah's wife Bath-sheba (2 Sam. 11). In addition, David broke the commandment "thou shalt not kill" many times over (though only his murder of Uriah was frowned upon by God). The fact that God punished David for that last offense proves beyond doubt that David did not do only what was right in God's eyes.
1Kgs:14:10: Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.
1Kgs:14:11: Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it.
1Kgs:14:12: Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.
Once again, the God of justice revealed his divine plan: to murder the innocent children of a sinner. Once again contradicting what he supposedly said elsewhere in the same Bible:
Ezek:18:20: The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
If "the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father," then why did God kill Jeroboam's sons for Jeroboam's sin?
1Kgs:14:22: And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.
1Kgs:14:23: For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
1Kgs:14:24: And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
We just finished reading about how bad Israel was: openly worshipping other gods. Now we are told that Judah was just as bad. If they "did according to all of the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel," then why had God killed the Canaanites and given their homeland to the Israelites? If one was just as bad as the other, then why bother with all of the bloodshed and misery? Sure, the Israelites suffered as slaves in Egypt. But their suffering pales in comparison to the suffering of the Egyptians and the Canaanites at the hands of the Israelites and their God. A loving God with perfect foreknowledge, seeking the greatest good for the greatest number would've left the Israelites in Egypt.
1Kgs:14:30: And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.
Earlier we were told that they had concluded peace after Rehoboam -- all prepared for battle -- was told by God not to fight:
1Kgs:12:21: And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
1Kgs:12:22: But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
1Kgs:12:23: Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,
1Kgs:12:24: Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.
1Kgs:14:31: And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.
1Kgs:15:1: Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah.
1Kgs:15:6: And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
How could there be war between Jeroboam and Rehoboam all the days of Abijam's life, when Rehoboam died before Abijam began his reign? How could Jeroboam continue to make war with Rehoboam after Rehoboam was dead? Did he throw stones at his grave?
1Kgs:16:23: In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah.
1Kgs:16:28: So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria: and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.
1Kgs:16:29: And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years.
A math problem here: Omri began his reign in the 31st year of Asa's reign, and he reigned 12 years before he died and his son Ahab took over. How can it be, then, that Ahab began to reign in the 38th year of Asa's reign? That's only 7 years after his father began his reign. If Omri reigned 12 years, Ahab's reign would've begun in the 43rd year of Asa's reign: however, Asa only reigned 41 years (1 Kings 15:9-10), so an accurate statement would have been: "in the second year of Jehosaphat, the son of Asa, began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel." The Bible contradicts this, however, by starting Jehoshaphat's reign four years after the start of Asa's reign:
1Kgs:22:41: And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.
If this and 16:23 were both true, it would force Asa's reign to have lasted 47 years, yet 1 Kings 15:9-10 tells us that his reign only lasted 41 years.
If every verse of the Bible is true, then some very strange things happened during this time period, as shown by the italics in the chart below.
Dating from the start of Asa' reign:
| 31 | Omri begins reign of 12 years (16:23) |
| 32 | |
| 33 | |
| 34 | |
| 35 | |
| 36 | |
| 37 | |
| 38 | Omri dies, his son Ahab begins reign of 22 years.(16:28-29) |
| 39 | |
| 40 | |
| 41 | Asa dies, his son Jehoshaphat begins to reign "in 4th year of Ahab's reign" (15:9-10; 22:41) |
| 42 | |
| 43 | Omri's reign (of "12 years") ends (again! 5 years after his death!). Ahab's begins (again!) (16:23; 16:28-29) |
| 44 | |
| 45 | |
| 46 | |
| 47 | Jehoshaphat begins his reign (again!) in 4th year of Ahab's reign (15:9-10; 22:41) |
Please see the appendix for more imposibilities in the dating of the reigns of the kings.
1Kgs:17:17: And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
1Kgs:17:18: And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
1Kgs:17:19: And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
1Kgs:17:20: And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
1Kgs:17:21: And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.
1Kgs:17:22: And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
Elijah accused God of bringing evil upon the widow by slaying her son. He then prayed that God would let the child's soul come into him again. Instead of chastising Elijah for accusing God of evil, God complied with Elijah's wish and resurrected the boy. This implies that God agreed with Elijah's assessment of the situation: God had done evil by slaying the boy, and only made things right by heeding Elijah's request (and silently swallowing the accusation) and undoing what he had done. The problem with this, of course, is that an all-good God could never do evil, nor could a mere mortal teach God ethical conduct. We could argue that God had planned the death of the boy just to demonstrate that Elijah was a "true man of God" when he performed the resurrection. But if that were the case, why didn't God do some "attitude adjusting" on the part of Elijah? Why didn't he explain why killing a child was not evil? And why did he only have one old widow and her son as the sole witnesses to the miracle? These people had already seen Elijah perform a miracle by feeding them every day from a barrel of meat which never ran empty (1 Kings 17:14-15). If that hadn't impressed them, why would another miracle? And of what use was it to impress these two particular people?
1Kgs:20:35: And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.
1Kgs:20:36: Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.
According to this, if someone asks you to commit a violent act, you'd better not refuse; they might be a prophet, and you could be killed for refusing! Ahab, the king of Israel, agreed to a peace pact with the king of Syria (after having killed 100,000 Syrians 1 Kgs. 20:29). But this displeased Jehovah, the God of war:
1Kgs:20:42: And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.
Jezebel ordered the murder of Naboth in order to present Ahab with Naboth's vineyard. For this, God decided to punish Ahab, though there is no indication that Ahab knew how his gift was obtained. But Ahab "humbled himself", and God changed his mind:
1Kgs:21:29: Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.
So the God of justice decided to punish Ahab's son in place of Ahab! Once again contradicting the Bible's words in Ezekiel:
Ezek:18:20: The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
1Kgs:22:15: So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king. 1Kgs:22:19: And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.
1Kgs:22:20: And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
1Kgs:22:21: And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
1Kgs:22:22: And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
1Kgs:22:23: Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.
Micaiah, who was privy to this sight, nonetheless knowingly conveyed the lie to Ahab. So now we know that God's prophets lie, and God himself ordered a spirit to lie to the prophets. Since the "prophets" constitute a large portion of the writings of the Bible, how much trust would it be wise for us to place in the truthfulness of the Bible?
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