All posts by Mary Walker

Gomer, Hosea’s Wife

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord.” So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. (Hosea 1:2,3).

We don’t know any more details about Gomer except that she was a prostitute, the daughter of Diblaim. The Bible is silent about how willingly she went along with Hosea. We know that she stayed with Hosea and had some children. Then she took off again into her old lifestyle. She seems just the opposite of Rahab, another famous prostitute.

Rahab remains one of the most famous women in the Bible. But Rahab’s story is quite different from Gomer’s. Matthew tells us in his Gospel that Rahab is an ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5). Rahab is also honored as a woman of great faith by the writer of Hebrews, “By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace” (Hebrews 11:31). James the Lord’s brother tells us, “And in the same way was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works, when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?” (James 2:25) Rahab saved the spies that Joshua sent into Jericho. This led to Israel’s victory. Because of Rahab’s faith and obedience to God, her family members were saved when the Israelites conquered Jericho. She is remembered for her faith and courageous actions.

Gomer is not remembered this way. Her only service was to marry Hosea and have children. Her part in God’s plan was to be a symbol. Hosea was to go through this strange marriage in order to give Israel a picture of its own idolatry. God’s purpose was to make the children of Israel see that they were unfaithful to Him and that punishment was on the way.

The works of the Israelites produced wicked fruit. God intended them to see this in the naming of Hosea and Gomer’s children. Gomer’s children would also be symbols.

And the Lord said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. (Hosea 1:4)

Recall that Jezreel was the place where Jehu had slaughtered all seventy of the wicked Ahab’s sons. It was the place where wicked Jezebel had died. (See post 8/5/10) God destroyed one kings’ reign after another in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. There was never one single good king in the Northern Kingdom. The king reigning in Hosea’s time was Jeroboam. His royal household would be punished too. (See post 3/7/15)

Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them.” …. When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your God.” (Hosea 1:6, 8,9)

Gomer’s second child was a girl. Her name, Lo-ruhamah, means “not loved”. Gomer’s third child, another boy, was named Lo-ammi. Lo-ammi means “not my people”.

What a sad picture for the Israelites! If I were a true believer in God at that time, Hosea’s words and actions would be devastating. To hear God’s judgment against their nation in those terms should have caused the Israelites to repent and seek God’s forgiveness. Instead they continued in the most disgusting kind of idolatry possible.

Through Hosea, God expressed His wrath:

Say to your brothers, “Ammi,” and to your sisters, “Ruhamah.” Contend with your mother, contend, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; and let her put away her harlotry form her face and her adultery from between her breasts, or I will strip her naked and expose her as on the day when she was born. I will also make her like a wilderness, make her like desert land, and slay her with thirst. Also I will have no compassion on her children, because they are children of harlotry.” (Hosea 2:1-4)

We can relate to this as we are intended to relate to it. God is separating from his unfaithful wife. We know from history that the Northern Kingdom was indeed punished when the Assyrians completely overran them and caused complete devastation.

Yet God would remember His covenant. He would not completely forsake the Israelites who would repent and seek Him. In the next part of our story we see another picture of this.

Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.” So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley. Then I said to her, “You shall stay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man; so I will also be toward you.” (Hosea 3:1-3)

Gomer had run away and was continuing in her harlotry. We do not know how long she was gone. God instructed Hosea to go and buy her back from the man she was living with. Apparently Gomer cannot go home with Hosea unless some remuneration is paid to the man. Hosea brought her home and renewed his marriage vows with her. This time, Hosea says, you will stay with me and stop being a prostitute. Hosea promised to love Gomer and be faithful to her. We are not told how Gomer responded.

Hosea continued to prophesy to the Israelites. He warned them of their punishment if they did not repent and return to God. On the other hand, just as Hosea was willing to take back his unfaithful wife, God would take back His people if they sought Him again.

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,
For you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
Take words with you and return to the LORD.
Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity,
And receive us graciously,
That we may present the fruit of our lips.”….

For in Thee the orphan finds mercy.
I will heal their apostasy,
I will love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from them.
I will be like the dew to Israel;
He will blossom like the lily,…

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
Whoever is discerning, let him know them,
For the ways of the LORD are right,
And the righteous will walk in them,
But transgressors will stumble in them. (Hosea 14:1-9)

What a beautiful picture of forgiveness and restoration. Some scholars think that Gomer was only a metaphor and not a real woman. I disagree. God often used detailed physical pictures to teach Israel. What about Gomer? Did she listen to her husband’s prophecy and learn from it? Did she repent and become faithful to him?

We do not know what happened to Gomer after she returned home with Hosea. Perhaps living with Hosea and seeing his faithful love to her she repented. It would be nice to think that she became a believer and finished her life as a good wife and mother.

Certainly, God gives us a picture in Gomer’s story of His faithfulness and love towards us. No matter how bad our sins are, if we truly repent God forgives us and then does even more – He heals our sins and loves us freely. He will continue to answer us and look after us. “Whoever is wise, let him (her) understand these things.”

Esther – Star of her People

God is not named even once in the book of Esther. And yet this story is really all about God and His sovereignty. This story relates how God took care of His people even in captivity. The Israelites were in captivity in Babylon because of their sin and rebellion in worshipping other gods while in the Promised Land. God punished them by allowing the Babylonians to carry them off out of the Promised Land and into captivity. But God did not forget them any more than He forgot His people when they were in captivity in Egypt 700 years before this.

God used Moses to lead His people out of the Egyptian captivity and into the Promised Land. He warned them that if they continued to sin against Him by worshipping other gods, they would be punished. He punished them by sending enemies to defeat them and carry them off into captivity.

God still loved His people and would preserve them in the land of Babylon. He would save them through the faithfulness of a woman this time – Esther. Later God would lead a remnant of the people back to the Promised Land during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.

“Then let the young lady who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti.” And the matter pleased the king, and he did accordingly. … A Jew named Mordecai… was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young lady was beautiful of form and face, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. (Esther 2:4-7)

So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal palace in the tenth month which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. (Esther 2:16,17)

In last week’s story, King Ahasuerus had deposed his beautiful and virtuous queen Vashti. Eventually his anger over being rebuffed by this gracious woman subsided and he sought to get himself another wife. His advisors came up with a great idea, one sure to please this selfish, lecherous king. Let the king choose from among all of the beautiful virgins in the land by selecting the one that pleased him the most in the royal bed. King or not, this sin is horrible in the extreme. We must not underestimate the wickedness of the king’s actions.

And so, King Ahasuerus chose Esther to be his queen. He apparently loved her very much. Perhaps Esther’s inner qualities of beauty stood out from among the rest of the women. She was certainly an obedient child in Mordecai’s care. Esther followed Mordecai’s command to keep her kindred a secret. If the king had known she was a Jew, he would not have been pleased.

Esther proved not only her faithfulness, but also her courage while she was queen. Soon after Esther became queen, Mordecai uncovered a plot to assassinate the king. He told Esther about it and she in turn told King Ahasuerus about the conspiracy. The incident was recorded in the king’s chronicles. At this time nothing was done to reward Mordecai.

During this time, the king’s highest official in the land was a wicked man named Haman. He hated the Jews and especially Mordecai. Mordecai refused to bow down when Haman passed by and this infuriated Haman.

To get revenge, Haman came up with a plan to exterminate all of the Jews throughout every place in the Babylonian kingdom. King Ahasuerus went along with Haman’s plot and the two of them set a specific date for the genocide.

Letters were sent throughout all of the land so the people would be ready to kill all of the Jews on the specified date. Mordecai learned about the plans and went to Esther immediately.

Esther was alarmed but she was not sure what she could do to help. If she tried to talk to King Ahasuerus without his permission, she could be killed.

Mordecai challenged her with these words –

Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this? (Esther 4:13,14)

Esther told Mordecai to have the Israelites fast and pray for three days and she and her maids would do the same. She dared not approach the all-powerful king without the Lord’s protection. Here we see the hand of God in the background even though He is not mentioned by name. Esther and Mordecai had the faith to believe that God would preserve His people.

Taking her life into her hands, Esther approached the king. She had come up with a carefully devised plan that would save the king’s face while undoing the wicked Haman’s plot. She had several banquets designed to please the king. Haman was the only one invited. Haman was feeling mighty important and he even had a gallows constructed on which to hang his enemy Mordecai.

In the meantime, God intervened. One night the king couldn’t sleep and had his chronicles read to him. He found out about the plot to assassinate him and that somebody named Mordecai had saved his life. He asked his officials, “What had been done for Mordecai?”
“Nothing has been done for him,” they replied.

The king decided to honor Mordecai and asked Haman, “What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?” Naturally Haman thought the king meant him and so he advised the king to honor the man who saved the king greatly. How mortified Haman was when it was Mordecai who was honored!

At the second banquet the king asked Esther what he could do for her. She admitted that her people were the Jews and that there was a plot to have them annihilated. The king (who apparently did not remember that he was involved with Haman) was outraged and asked Esther what should be done. She asked that the tables be turned on the perpetrators. She denounced Haman as the enemy. Haman was hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai and all of Haman’s possessions and titles were given to Mordecai.

The king decreed that the Jews were allowed to defend themselves. They would be allowed to destroy any army that tried to fight them and the Jews would be allowed to take the plunder for themselves.

The Jews rid themselves of all of their enemies and rejoiced in their deliverance. They instituted the festival of Purim. It is still celebrated to this day.

God had made Esther queen in order to meet the challenge that Haman constructed. Esther showed wisdom, patience, and much courage to do her part. She relied on God for His help. When we find ourselves in strenuous circumstances we should remember that God might have reasons for the difficulties we face. We can follow Esther’s example of seeking God’s face with fasting and praying and then totally trusting Him to lead us to do His will.

Queen Vashti of Persia

Now it took place in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to
Ethiopa over 127 provinces, in those days as King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne which was at the citadel in Susa, in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his princes and attendants, the army officers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the princes of his provinces being in his presence… And he displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor of his great majesty for many days, 180 days. When these days were completed, the king gave a banquet lasting seven days for all the people who were present at the citadel in Susa, from the greatest to the least, in the court of the garden of the kings’ palace. …

Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus. On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown in order to display her beauty to the people and the princes, for she was beautiful. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. Then the king became very angry and his wrath burned within him. (Esther 1:1-12)

Originally I was going to put Queen Vashti’s story with the stories of two other “evil” queens in the Old Testament. Vashti has generally been portrayed in a negative fashion and so my thought was to include her along with the other two “bad” queens, Jezebel (See post August, 2010) and Athalia (See post March, 2015).

Queen Vashti has been the poster woman for bad wives for many years. According to most sermons one hears, what happened to Vashti is a warning to all disobedient wives. After all, men have the right to expect their wives to obey no matter what.

So I was taught that Vashti was an arrogant, disobedient, ungrateful queen, but now I have studied the facts and I have a different opinion.

The bible says that King Ahasuerus wanted Queen Vashti to come into the court and display her beauty. At first, this doesn’t sound too bad.

However, historians tell us what went on at these Eastern banquets. The drunken friends of Ahasuerus were probably indulging in the pleasures of naked women for many days. The wine sodden Ahasuerus was insulting Queen Vashti by demanding that she appear, some say, wearing nothing but her crown.

Even if Vashti was not to appear naked in front of the king’s drunken friends there were other reasons for her to refuse.

Queens usually appeared with the kings at festivals and sat beside them. However, if there was to be rioting and drinking, the queen was usually sent away and the king’s concubines participated instead. Perhaps Vashti refused to go to the king when his servants came to get her because the servants should have known that the queen was to be in seclusion while the orgy was going on. The queen did not have to lower herself to the position of the concubines or harlots at the banquet.
Only the king had the right to gaze at his wife’s beauty. Vashti refused to debase herself by appearing in front of all the other drunken men. Though she knew she would anger the king, his command to her to appear offended her sense of propriety too much. Not only did the king’s demand lower her dignity as a queen, it was insulting to her as a modest woman.

Yes, wives are to obey their husbands generally. But wives do not need to obey if the husband is commanding sinful activity that goes against God’s laws. Ahasuerus was demanding his virtuous queen to be sinful. Vashti was very courageous to refuse her drunken husband’s command. In this case her disobedience is to be praised!

Vashti’s disobedience made the king very angry. His advisors came up with a plan that basically gave the king revenge on her. One of the king’s clever “yes-men” said to the king:

Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but also all the princes and all the people who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women causing them to look with contempt on their husbands by saying, “King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in to this presence, but she did not come.” This day the ladies of Persian and Media who have heard of the queen’s conduct will speak in the same way to all the king’s princes and there will be plenty of contempt and anger. (Esther 1:16-18)

This advice pleased the king of course. He acted immediately to protect husbands everywhere from disobedient wives. He sent letters throughout all of his provinces demanding that all women give honor to their husbands, great and small. This command is very humorous in light of the fact that Persian law already proclaimed that the husband was the master in his household. Husbandly rule in the household was already a well-established custom throughout the Eastern world.

Another aspect of this action that does not “ring true” is that immediately upon deposing Vashti, Ahahuerus was able to pick out another queen. The selection process for this queen would basically be a beauty contest. King Ahasuerus would test each and every virgin out in the royal bed. What a delightful solution for his dilemma.

That new queen of course would be Esther. I do not mean to take anything away from Esther’s obedience to her uncle and to God. She was faithful and God used her in His sovereign plan to rescue the Jews. Queen Vashti’s refusal to obey Ahasuerus was a part of God’s plan also. God used this situation to preserve His people while they were in exile for their own disobedience.

What can we learn from Queen Vashti? Should she be the poster child for disobedient wives? I don’t think so. Queen Vashti chose to risk the king’s anger rather than exhibit herself in a demeaning fashion and lose her modest dignity. Her own conscience was higher than the debauched demand of her husband. Along with her regal charm and beauty, her husband should have noticed that this woman was a woman of character. Ahasuerus sinned against Vashti. Queen Vashti had the courage of her convictions in the face of losing her position. She is to be admired for honoring the dignity of women’s modesty and for maintaining her self-respect.

Christian women today can follow Vashti’s example to honor the life that God has given them. Christian women can be careful about modesty and refuse to wear clothes that are immodest just because they are fashionable. Though women with high ideals may be ridiculed for their “old fashioned” values, women of courage who are after God’s heart will stand up to the ridicule and preserve God’s laws and their dignity.

We do not know if Vashti ever became a God-fearer, but her high idealism is an example for us even in this day of irresponsible moral values.

Athaliah – Faithless Queen of Judah

Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. (2 Kings 8:26)

Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. She was born a princess in Israel (the Northern Kingdom). Her parents arranged a marriage for her with Jehoram, king of Judah (the Southern Kingdom). Jehoram was the son of the godly king Jehoshaphat who was the king of Judah at that time.

In those days countries often sealed alliances by arranging marriages between their royal children. But we have to wonder why Jehoshaphat made this arranged marriage between his son and the daughter of the evil Ahab and Jezebel. Didn’t he realize that the daughter of the wicked Jezebel might not be a good influence on his son?

And indeed, Jehoram did not honor God but followed the ways of the evil kings of Israel because “the daughter of Ahab (Athaliah) became his wife” (2Kings 8:18). Though this marriage between Jehoram and Athaliah was evil, God would still sovereignly protect David’s line in Judah as He promised. Though Jehoram only did evil in the sight of the Lord, God did not completely destroy him as he often did the kings and queens in the Northern Kingdom. This was because of God’s covenant with David.

Jehoram reigned eight years and then died. His son Ahaziah became king. But Ahaziah was assassinated after only reigning one year.

During these nine years that her husband Jehoram and son Ahaziah were reigning, Queen Athaliah’s mother Jezebel was still doing as much evil as she could up in the Northern Kingdom.

Recall that while Ahab was alive, he and Queen Jezebel tried to make Baal the god in Israel. They murdered many of God’s prophets and set up their own. Jezebel fought against Elijah because with the true God’s help, Elijah had made a mockery of the prophets of Baal. (See I Kings 18.) Eventually Ahab died. Elijah prophesied that Jezebel would die a horrible death, cursed of God. Elijah said, “The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.” (I Kings. 21:23) This would come to pass later.

There were several men who became king in the Northern Kingdom after Ahab’s death. One king was Jehu. Jehu fought and killed Ahaziah, who was after all Jezebel’s grandson through her daughter Athaliah. After defeating Ahaziah, Jehu went to Jezreel. Jezebel heard that he was coming and “painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out the window. As Jehu entered he gate, she said, ‘Is it well, Zimri (a traitor who became king by killing the previous king. See below.), your master’s murderer?’”

Now was the time that Elijah’s prophecy would be fulfilled. Jehu asked two or three officials to throw Jezebel off of a high wall. “So they threw her down, and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses, and he trampled her under foot.” Jehu realized that Jezebel was after all a king’s daughter and should have a proper burial. He sent men to get her to bury her, “but they found nothing more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands.” (2 Kings 9:33-35) The dogs had eaten Jezebel’s corpse.

Surely, Athaliah must have known how her mother died. Why wasn’t this a warning to her not to defy God? She must have been a truly evil woman. In her case, you could say that the apple did not fall far from the tree.

When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose and destroyed all the royal offspring. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Ahtaliah, and he was not put to death. So he was hidden with her in the house of the Lord six years, while Ahtaliah was reigning over the land. (2 Kings 11:1-3)

Why did Athaliah have all of the family of the king put to death? Why didn’t she just reign as a queen mother? It was common then as now for a regent to be appointed to advise a youthful monarch until he reached a certain age and could be crowned king. Athaliah had only to rule on behalf of her son until he was old enough to assume the throne. But this wicked woman chose to murder all of the royal heirs and assume absolute power for herself.

We should not be surprised that this woman who worshipped a god who demanded brutality and bloodshed in worship, would think nothing of committing murder herself. And, after all, how many kings in her home country of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) came to the throne by bloodshed? Baasha became king after he killed Nadab. Zimri became king when he killed Elah. Then Zimri killed all of Baasha’s male heirs. There is a pattern here.

Athaliah sought to make a kingdom for herself but she was not reckoning with Jehovah. God was still in control and would foil her plans as part of His great plan of redemption. That involved keeping His promise to David that one in his line would always sit on the throne. Unknown to Athaliah, one baby son, Joash was rescued by his aunt and hidden in safety.

In the seventh year of Athaliah’s reign, the priest Jehoiada decided it was time to bring Joash out of hiding and proclaim him king. Jehoiada gathered hundreds of guards and made them take an oath to protect Joash. Athaliah was very powerful, but if Joash could be crowned king and recognized by the people, her reign of terror would be over.

The priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of the Lord. The guards stood each with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, by the altar and by the house, around the king. Then he brought the king’s son out and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony; and they made him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, “Long live the king!” (2 Kings 11:10-12)

Athaliah saw what was going on and ran to the house of the Lord. She noticed that Joash was standing there in the royal robes. People were blowing trumpets and shouting their acceptance of Joash as their king.

It didn’t take this shrewd woman long to see that another was put in her place. She tore her clothes and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”

Jehoiada commanded the guards to take her outside because he didn’t want her put to death in God’s house. The armed guards seized her and took her to the horse’s entrance of the king’s house. They put her to death there.

Athaliah’s wicked reign was over. The people rejoiced and showed God their thanks by going around the land and pulling down all of the altars to Baal that Athaliah had erected. They killed Mattan, Baal’s high priest.

Now, seven-year-old Joash was brought to the throne in the king’s house. He would honor God and reign for forty years doing “right in the sight of the Lord all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.” (2 Kings 12:2)

Though Athaliah had sought to destroy the descendants of Jehoram (and David) God had intervened and protected one small heir. This story is about a wicked woman, but much more it is a story of God’s sovereignty and His faithfulness to His covenant.

Three Faithful Queens in Israel

Ahinoam: Saul’s Wife and First Queen of Israel

The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. (I Samuel 14:50)

Ahinoam, the first queen in Israel was married to a less than faithful king – King Saul. (There was a second woman also named Ahinoam. She was one of the wives of King David. See below.)

As far as we know Ahinoam was Saul’s only wife. Saul was faithful to his wife if you don’t count concubines. (Recall that Rizpah was Saul’s concubine. See post on December 15, 2014).

Ahinoam bore Saul’s five sons and daughters including the noble Jonathan, David’s friend. There were two other sons, Ishui and Melchishua. Her daughters were Merab, who was promised to David as a reward for killing Goliath, and Michal.

Saul originally promised Merab to David but went back on his promise (I Samuel 17:25) and gave Merab to be the wife of someone else. He would later give Michal to David instead.

The story could have been really romantic, for Michal loved David. David tried to please Saul by accomplishing a hard task in order to win Michal’s hand, because she was after all a princess and he was only a shepherd.

Saul really hoped that the Philistines would kill David when he set out to get a dowry for his daughter. Saul asked for one hundred foreskins of the Philistines. David was happy to go and accomplish this task, and he outdid the bidding by bringing back two hundred foreskins. Now he felt like he was good enough to marry the king’s daughter.

David married Michal and became Ahinoam’s son-in-law.

As time went on Saul became jealous of David and tried to kill David and Michal. Saul eventually took Michal away from David and gave her to another man. (You can read more about Michal in the post on 9/12/2012.)

What were Ahinoam’s feelings while all of these things were happening? How sad for her to see her daughter leaving just because of her husband’s sins. Why did she just stand by as her husband treated women like bargaining chips to be used for his own political ends? Perhaps like so many women she did not defy her husband but helplessly watched from the sidelines.

She must have been a quiet woman going about her tasks humbly and faithfully. In those days queens and other noble women worked hard to take care of the poor in their neighborhoods. Ahinoam also had to see to the needs of the royal household. Truly she must have been a kind and gracious queen.

Unfortunately, like Jeroboam who came later in history, Saul also turned from God. God would cut off Saul’s house. Jonathan would die and eventually all of Saul’s offspring. How much sorrow came to this godly wife, mother, and queen as her menfolk perished?

Ahinoam is an example to us as a faithful wife and mother.

Ahinoam #2 – David’s Wife

David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives. (I Samuel 25:43)

As mentioned above, Saul tried to kill David when he realized that God was going to take the kingdom away from him and give it to David. While David was on the run from Saul he rescued two women from a wicked man named Nabal. God had killed Nabal and left his virtuous wife Abigail as a widow. (For more on Abigail see post 9/9/2010.) Abigail had been kind to David and so he rescued her and a woman named Ahinoam.

This Ahinoam is mentioned six times in the Old Testament as one of David’s wives. She and Abigail traveled with David the whole time he was on the run from Saul. When David eventually became king he would have eight wives altogether. Ahinoam would be the mother of David’s son Amnon. Later in life Amnon sinned grievously against his stepsister Tamar (See post 9/15/2014). Tamar’s brother Absalom had Amnon killed.

The wife of Jeroboam: First Queen of the Northern Kingdom

Jeroboam was hoping that a prophet of God would assure him that his son would recover from a serious illness. He was too cowardly, or perhaps had an extremely guilty conscience, to go see the prophet himself, so he sent his wife. Jeroboam had set up new places for the people to worship false gods. God had already sent a “man of God” earlier to warn Jeroboam, but Jeroboam continued in his evil ways. Jeroboam made priests to worship the idols and “this event became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to blot it out and destroy it from off the face of the earth.” (I Kings 13:34) Jeroboam’s wife did all that her husband asked of her. She disguised herself and went to see Ahijah. The prophet Ahijah gave her a message to take back to Jeroboam. It was not good news. All males in Jeroboam’s house, including her son, would die.

Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed and came to Tirzah. As she was entering the threshold of the house, the child died. All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.” (I Kings 14:17,18)

This was sad news for the wife of Jeroboam, yet I believe that God blessed this faithful wife and mother by letting her child die a natural death and receive a proper burial. The prophet Ahijah said “All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam’s family will come to the grave, because in him something good was found toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.” (I Kings 14:13) The other males in Jeroboam’s house would die violent deaths and they would not be buried. “Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs will eat. And he who dies in the field the birds of he heavens will eat; for the Lord has spoken it.” (I Kings 14:11)

It was considered a curse in Israel to remain unburied. We will see this kind of curse again on an Israelite who was guilty of killing God’s prophets and doing as much evil as she could – Jezebel. Jezebel’s name became a byword for evil in Israel (Rev. 2:20). Jezebel was thrown off of a high wall. The king wanted to bury her, but when his men went to get her body all they found was her skull, hands, and feet. The dogs had eaten her up! This kind of death was a curse that God sent on evil people.

This horrible death was spared to Jeroboam and his wife’s son. It is very likely that the mother of Abijah had the comfort that her son was saved and would go to be with the Lord since God granted him a peaceful, honorable death. She herself would see her son in Heaven. She could do nothing with her wicked husband; it was too late. God would bless her for her own faithfulness.

And so all of these queens were faithful, obedient women. They all had tragedy in their lives. All would see their sons die. Queen Ahinoam, Saul’s wife, lost her son Jonathan. Queen Ahinoam, David’s wife, lost her son Amnon. Jeroboam’s queen lost her son Abijah. They remained faithful to the Lord in spite of so much sorrow and sacrifice.

The Wife of Jeroboam

At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise now, and disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh; behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who spoke concerning me that I would be king over this people. Take ten loaves with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy. Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. Now the Lord had said, to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. You shall say thus and thus to her, for it will be when she arrives that she will pretend to be another woman.” (I Kings 14:1-5)

The Bible doesn’t give us this brave woman’s name, but we know who she is. We know that she was a queen, the wife of King Jeroboam. She was courageous, submissive to her husband, and a loving mother.

There are many things that we learn about this courageous woman by her actions. It seems that her faith in the only true God was stronger than her husband’s. First, here’s a little background to the story. It is necessary to see how the wife of Jeroboam ended up in her predicament.

In his old age King Solomon did some foolish things. He took many wives. He allowed his wives to practice their false religions. Solomon was actually led by his pagan wives to worship Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the “detestable idol of the Ammonites”. God was angry with Solomon and declared, “Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statures, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.” (I Kings 11 5-13)

After Solomon’s death, his son Rehoboam became king. Rehoboam angered the people with harsh rules. As prophesied, Jeroboam, one of Solomon’s servants, led a revolt. Ten tribes followed Jeroboam. Rehoboam assembled some soldiers to try and win back the ten tribes, but the Lord intervened. God said that the split of the nation of Israel into two kingdoms was part of His plan. Rehoboam went home, king of Judah and later included Benjamin. Jeroboam went to Shechem as king of ten tribes..

Jeroboam in the meantime was afraid that the Israelites from the northern tribes would want to go to Jerusalem to worship God in the temple. He feared that that would lead to their return to Rehoboam and the Southern Kingdom. So Jeroboam set up new places of worship in Bethel and Dan. He made golden calves for the people to worship. The foolish people did as they were led. Of course, this also made God angry.

God sent a “man of God” to warn Jeroboam, but Jeroboam continued in his evil ways. Jeroboam made priests to worship the idols and “this event became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to blot it out and destroy it from off the face of the earth.” (I Kings 13:34) Unlike in the Southern Kingdom, where God promised a descendant on the throne of David perpetually whether the kings were good or bad, in the Northern Kingdom, God brought an end to the would-be dynasties of the evil kings. In fact, in the Northern Kingdom there would never be a king that would wholly follow Yahweh.

The very first king of the Northern Tribes, Jeroboam would also be the first to experience the end of his dynasty. It started when his son Abijah became sick. Jeroboam knew that the prophet of God had foretold ruin for him because of the his own egregious evil, idolatrous deeds. Jeroboam didn’t have the courage to face the prophet himself to ask for his son’s life to be spared, so he sent his wife.

Jeroboam’s wife was to disguise herself and take along a present. She immediately obeyed. We can only guess at her feelings. What was she expecting the prophet to tell her? How could she trust his words if he didn’t know who she was? Did she really believe that he was a man of God or not?

We don’t know what her thoughts were – they are not recorded for us. We only know that she obeyed her husband and then also obeyed the prophet. She sat through the message of the prophet who foretold the eventual ruin of the whole of the Northern Kingdom. While this prophet told her that God would make a “clean sweep” of the house of Jeroboam, and all males would die, she sat submissively not uttering a word that we know of. The prophet painted a terrible picture of destruction of Jeroboam’s house to her. God said, “Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs will eat. And he who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat; for the Lord has spoken it.” (I Kings 14:11) In other words, they will not receive proper burials.

What a horrible picture. This woman must go back and tell her husband that not only would their child die but that all males of his house would die in horrible ways. Why didn’t she just take off and go back home to her family and leave Jeroboam to his just deserts?

Only the love of her son could compel her to go home and be with her child. And the prophet did give her one glimmer of hope – her son would die a natural death and receive a proper burial. Abijah would be spared the cruel death that the other males in Jeroboam’s house would suffer. He would receive an honorable burial and the people would mourn for their prince. This was because “in him (Abijah) something good was found toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.” (I Kings 14:13) Abijah was the only one of the Israelites in the Northern Kingdom whom God could say had any good in him. How tragic.

Though she knew her son would die even as she arrived home, the faithful wife and mother obediently returned. Things did turn out as the prophet said.

The wife of Jeroboam is important in biblical history because of the prophecy that she received and then passed on to her husband and the people. God would uproot Jeroboam’s house and eventually the whole Northern Kingdom as He foretold. This judgment was against Jeroboam who had “done more evil than all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back.” (I Kings 14:9) Jeroboam’s son would have to die, but God gave Abijah a dignified death.

God rewarded this faithful mother and her son. Though the news was bad for Jeroboam and all of his descendants, God showed special care for Abijah. I believe that this was His way of blessing the wife of Jeroboam. The judgment was against her evil husband not her.

What can we learn from the wife of Jeroboam? Perhaps it is important to remember that even if we are married to a “less than stellar” man, we need to be faithful to God. Even if tragedy comes, as it did to her husband, God will comfort us with the knowledge that He is in control. There are worse things than persecution or death. The worst thing is to deny God as Jeroboam did.

The Shunammite Woman – Part 2

Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go with your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn; for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will even come on the land for seven years.” So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God, and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went out to appeal to the king for her house and for her field. (II Kings 8:1-3)

The woman from Shunem is one of the most courageous and faithful of the saints whose stories we read of in the Old Testament. The Shunammite woman was displaying kindness and hospitality to God’s prophet at the time – Elisha. Elisha sought to do something for this woman to thank her. When he found out that the woman was childless Elisha promised her that God would bless her with a son. (II Kings 4:16)

What a miracle! How the woman must have rejoiced. She thought that Elisha’s promise was too good to be true. It is easy to compare the woman’s response to Abraham’s wife Sarah’s response when she was told that she would have a child. Sarah wanted to believe but had weak faith. Remember Sarah laughed when she was promised a son. She was very old and past the age of childbearing. God blessed her anyway and she had Isaac at around age 90. (See Genesis, chapters 18-21.) The Shunammite woman was blessed with a son though her husband was very old. Both women knew without a doubt that the praise and glory went to God for their sons.

The Shunammite woman was overjoyed with this blessing from God, but when the boy was older he died, probably of sunstroke. (II Kings 4:18) The Shunammite ran as fast as she could to Elisha and convinced him to come back to her house with her. She had the faith to believe that God would return her child to her. Had the Shunammite woman heard about the son of the widow of Zarephath? Recall that Elisha’s mentor Elijah also raised a boy from the dead. (I Kings 17:17) The miracle of the raising of the widow of Zarephath’s son would have occurred only a few years before this. Would news of that have spread throughout the land of Israel? We do not know, but the Shunammite woman certainly believed that God’s prophet Elisha could raise her son to life. And Elisha did raise the boy from the dead.

Things went along well for the happy family in Shunem. But one day God determined to send a seven-year famine on the land of Israel. Elisha was probably still benefitting from the Shunammite woman’s hospitality and repaid her by warning her of the famine. He told her to take her household and go live somewhere else. Two things are evident from the text – her husband had died and the famine was only in Israel. Notice that the prophet told her to take her household and go somewhere else to live for a while. The Shunammite woman was now head of her household. We learned in the earlier story that her husband was very old. (II Kings 4:14) He must have died by this time.

The Shunammite woman went to live in the land of the Philistines. That was not very far away. God was punishing the Israelites for their unfaithfulness again. The famine lasted for the seven years that were predicted.

Then the Shunammite woman returned home. While she was away her home and land had been confiscated. But this plucky woman immediately went to the king to appeal for the return of her property. It was not only for her and her household but was also the inheritance for her son.

God in His gracious providence continued to take care of this woman. Another miracle happened for her. On the very day that she was to go before the king, guess who should have been there before her? It was none other than Gehazi, Elisha’s servant. In God’s providence Gehazi was telling the king the wonderful stories about Elisha.

Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please relate to me all the great things that Elisha has done.” As he was relating to the king how he had restored to life the one who was dead, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.” When the king asked the woman, she related it to him. So the king appointed for her a certain officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers and all the produce of the field from the day that she left the land even until now.” (II Kings 8:4-6)

The king not only returned her home and lands, but also gave her all of the income from the land from the last seven years! Now she could provide for everyone as well as preserve her son’s birthrite.

The story of the Shunammite woman is amazing from beginning to end. Her life is an example of faithful living. Whether she experienced blessings or trials she exhibited unshakeable trust in God. She also persevered and pressed her claims when she needed to. This woman did not just sit around and whine or complain. While trusting in God she confronted situations head on with courage and forthrightness. She held her own in front of God’s prophet and a king.

The Shunammite woman did not let tragedies keep her from seeking God’s help with true belief in God’s goodness. When her son died, she was able to tell her husband in no uncertain terms, “It is well.” What could she possibly have meant by that other than that she knew God was going to restore her son’s life? She did not back down in front of God’s prophet Elisha. She boldly confronted the king when it came to appealing for her son’s rights. She just did what she had to trusting God for the results.

The Shunammite woman teaches us to have the right balance in life. We must trust God but we must persevere for what is right at the same time.

We can also imitate the Shunammite woman by showing hospitality. Hospitality is a spiritual gift. Those who have this gift bless others and are blessed by it. The woman from Shunem practiced this gift her whole life. The Shunammite woman is an example to us of courage, faith and hospitality.

A Widow and the Shunammite Woman

There are two stories this week – One short account of a poor widow woman and the other longer story about the Shunammite woman. These women lived in Israel during the reign of Jehoram son of the wicked king Ahab.

The Widow – Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” (II Kings 4:1,2)

The Shunammite Woman – Now there came a day when Elisha passed over to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman, and she persuaded him to eat food. And so it was, as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat food. (II Kings 4:8,9)

At this time Elisha was the prophet in Israel. Recall that Elijah the great prophet had gone to heaven in a great whirlwind of fire leaving Elisha his mantle and a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. (II Kings 2:9-14) So we would expect Elisha to do many similar miracles to Elijah’s. The two stories this week remind us of the widow of Zarephath (see last week’s post).

The first story in II Kings 4 is similar but different to the story of the widow of
Zarephath. During this time there was a widow, who knew Elisha since she was the wife of one of the sons of the prophets. She was so poor that creditors were about to take her two sons to be held in slavery in payment of her debts. Like the poor widow of Zarephath she had only a little oil. Elisha told her to borrow as many jars as she could from all of her neighbors and pour out her oil into all of them. Her sons helped her to pour oil into the many borrowed jars until all of the vessels were full. Elisha then said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.” (II Kings 4:7)

Both stories involve a miraculous continuation of oil – a precious commodity. Both have a couple of differences due to their circumstances. The widow of Zarephath’s oil never stopped according to Elijah’s promise. This was so that she could continue to feed herself, her son, and Elijah. She spent much of the next few years relying on God daily for her provision. The widow that Elisha helped had a huge flowing of oil until she had enough to sell to redeem her sons and provide a livelihood for her family. The Lord had provided what she needed. Both stories show us God’s amazing love and care for poor widows.

The widow’s story transitions us to another story that is similar to the widow of Zarephath. Elisha went to Shunem and was urged by a prominent woman to eat at her home whenever he came to their city. This similarity to the hospitable widow of Zarephath is obvious. Both women housed and fed the prophets. We will see that both stories involve the death and resuscitation of a precious son. But there are differences in the stories – the Shunammite woman was wealthy and had plenty of food, unlike the widow of Zarephath who was so poor and hungry that she and her son were starving to death when they met Elijah. The Shunammite woman was an Israelite; the widow at Zarephath was a Gentile.

The Shunammite woman asked her husband if they could build a room for Elisha and his servant Gehazi so that the men would have a place to stay whenever they were passing by Shunem. The room was an upper chamber. It was large enough for both men and very comfortable. It also had privacy since it was reached by a stairway on the outside of the house.

Elisha wanted to repay the woman for her hospitality. Gehazi noticed that the woman had no child. Since her husband was very old, it was not likely she would ever have a child. Gehazi gave the information as an idea to Elisha. Elisha liked the idea and said, “Call her. When he had called her, she stood in the doorway. Then he said, ‘At this season next year you will embrace a son.’ And she said, ‘No, my lord, O man of God, do not lie to your maidservant.’ The woman conceived and bore a son at that season the next year, as Elisha had said to her.” (II Kings 8:15-17)

What a miracle! How the woman must have rejoiced. The Shunammite woman was blessed with a son though her husband was very old. She knew without a doubt that the praise and glory went to God for her son.

When the boy was grown he went out to the fields one day with his father. “He said to his father, ‘My head, my head.’ And he said to his servant, ‘Carry him to his mother.’ When he had taken him an brought him to his mother, he sat on her lap until noon, and then died.” (II Kings 8:18-20)

The Shunammite woman showed what courage and faith she had by what she did next. She took her dead son up to Elisha’s room and laid him on Elisha’s bed. She asked her husband for a servant and a donkey to drive her to see Elisha. Her emotions were strong and mixed, yet she had control of them. She ran to the man of God as fast as she could. Elisha was at Mount Carmel and saw her at a distance. Elisha sent Gehazi to meet her and ask her if everything was well.

The Shunammite woman’s response seems puzzling to us today. She told Gehazi that everything was well. Why did she not tell him that her son was dead?

Some have thought that since she was a wealthy, prominent woman she might have had servants of her own. Maybe she did not want to speak to someone else’s servant. I don’t see that as part of her personality. Maybe she just wanted to get to Elisha as fast as she could and speak to him directly and didn’t want to waste time having to explain everything twice. Maybe. But I really believe that her faith was so strong that even as she assured her husband “it will be well”, she was also informing Gehazi that it would be well if only she could get to Elisha.

When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to push her away; but the man of God said, “Let her alone, for her soul is troubled within her; and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.” Then she said, ”Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me’?” (II Kings 4:27,28)

Here again we see a similarity to the widow of Zarephath. Both women wanted to know why they were blessed with sons only to have them taken away. Both would faithfully appeal to the men of God for help.

Elisha sent Gehazi immediately to the woman’s house with his staff. Gehazi laid the staff on the son’s face. But this persistent woman of faith wants Elisha himself. She trusted God’s prophet. She said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” Elisha then arose and followed her.

We do not know why Elisha just did not go himself in the first place. Of course the staff in Gehazi’s hands was not effective. As soon as he got to the house Elisha went to the room and stretched out over the boy and prayed to God. The child became warm. Elisha got up and walked around a bit and then stretched himself out again on the child. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. Elisha asked Gehazi to call the Shunammite woman. She went in and fell at Elisha’s feet and gave him honor. Then she took up her son and went out.

What an incredibly brave woman. Though she honestly questioned why her son died, she wasted no time to seek help. Her faith was strong enough to tell her husband immediately, even before she ran off to get Elisha, “It will be well.”

“It will be well.” The Shunammite woman shows us how a woman of faith and courage acts. Trust in God’s promises is the proof of faith. The Shunammite woman was hospitable, faithful, and persistent because she trusted God.

But this is not the end of the story. Next week we will see more of this brave woman’s actions.

The Widow of Zarephath

Then the Word of the Lord came to him (Elijah) saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow here to provide for you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink.” As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.” Then Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth.’”

So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah. (I Kings 17:8-16)

Our story takes place during the reign of the wicked Ahab and Jezebel in Israel. It contains an
interesting contrast between the widow of Zarephath and Jezebel. Jezebel was a Jew and a wealthy queen in Jerusalem. Jezebel was a member of the chosen people. The unnamed widow was a foreigner, a Gentile living up near Tyre, and very poor. (Zarephath is the second city down on the right at the top of the map.) Notice how far away Zarephath was from Jerusalem – the center of life for the Israelites. The temple was there and most of the prophets were there. The widow lived far away in the land of Gentiles. Before Elijah turned up in the widow’s life she had probably never even heard of the one true God – Yahweh.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t make mistakes in His Bible. There is a good reason that this story is placed inside of the larger story of Ahab and Jezebel. The contrast between the unfaithful Jews and the grateful Gentiles is intended. All through the Old Testament God showed the Israelites that He intended to rescue people from among all nations. This was confirmed when Jesus came.

At the beginning of His ministry Jesus went into a synagogue in Nazareth and began to speak. At first the Jews were listening politely. But Jesus knew that in their hearts they were rejecting Him. “And He said, ‘Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.’ … And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things” (Luke 4:24-28).

It is well known that the Jews felt that they were God’s specially chosen people and that Gentiles were lesser beings, some Jews even referring to them as “dogs”. It was hard for the Jews to understand what we now take for granted – Jesus died on the cross for all peoples.

The story in I Kings confirms for us what Jesus said and did and shows us that God can work with whomever He chooses. Jesus was not doing something new and the Israelites should not have been so surprised. The Jews did not know their Scriptures!

Consider the difference between Jezebel and the widow. (For more on Jezebel, see my post on August 5, 2010.) Jezebel was a grasping, conniving, evil woman who felt that her position gave her privileges. The widow graciously gave up the last bit of food that she had to a stranger. She was probably not even a believer when Elijah came to her town. But God chose to bless this woman and the Holy Spirit had her story recorded in the Bible for us to show us part of God’s larger plan of salvation for the whole world.

We are not sure how the widow was led by God to provide for Elijah. The Bible says that God told Elijah that He commanded this widow to provide for him. What form did God’s command take? Was it an audible voice? We don’t know, but it does not seem at the beginning of the story that the widow had full trust in Elijah’s God.

So, Elijah came and asked her to make a sacrifice for him. She was graciously willing to give up her last morsel of food, even taking it out of the mouth of her own child for Elijah. She knew that her food was at an end and believed that she and her son were about to die from starvation.

Elijah said, “Do not fear.” He then gave her hope when he said that her supply of oil and flour would not run out. The widow trusted Elijah and made him a meal. Her trust was rewarded and her supply of oil and flour was providentially renewed daily. Things went along well for many days. Then one day the widow was tested.

Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. So she said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!” He said to her, “Give me your son.” (I Kings 17:17-19)

The woman seems unclear about what causes trouble in life. It seems that she did not yet trust God or His prophet fully. But she had some idea that trouble came when people sinned. What sin could this kind, generous woman have been referring to? Maybe the goodness of God in giving her sustenance during the famine caused her to think about the difference between a holy God and a sinful person. In any event, her son was taken mortally ill and whatever faith she may have had was not strong enough to stand up to this test. Did God provide for them only to take her son away?

Elijah had faith to believe that God could work a miracle here – even the most spectacular kind of miracle. This boy was the first person recorded in the Old Testament to have been raised to life after dying.

The widow decided to trust Elijah. Elijah stretched himself across the child’s body and prayed three times. He begged God to restore life to the child and God heard “the voice of Elijah and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. … Elijah said, “See, your son is alive. Then the woman 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” (I Kings 17:22-24).

At this point we see real confirmation that the woman had become a believer.

It is amazing that this humble, poor, Gentile woman who had been willing to listen to Elijah was blessed and rewarded for her faith. The proud queen Jezebel refused to listen to the prophet of God. The merciless Jezebel would eventually go to her death fighting God. In contrast, the widow of Zarephath would be restored to health from starvation and see the restoration of life to her son thanks to the goodness of God.

The story emphasizes how good God is. He is the defender of the fatherless and the widow (even if they are Gentiles). He blessed this woman and helped her to conquer her fears and grow in faith. The Zarephath widow could then walk confidently in faith trusting God. She could not know that the Savior of the world, preaching many centuries later, would refer to her as an example of faith. We can be thankful that her story is recorded for our encouragement.

The Queen of Sheba

Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with difficult questions. So she came to Jerusalem with a very large retinue, with camels carrying spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from the king which he did not explain to her. When the queen of Sheba perceived all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. Then she said to the king, “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. Nevertheless I did not believe the reports, until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard. How blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel; because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king to do justice and righteousness.” She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a very great amount of spices and precious stones. Never again did such abundance of spices come in as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon…. King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she requested, besides what he gave her according to his royal bounty. Then she turned and went to her own land together with her servants.” (I Kings 10:1-13)

When a powerful king arose in a country, other kings would give him gifts to form alliances and make trade agreements with each other. David and Solomon, Israel’s most powerful kings, formed many alliances with the nations around them. Our story this week is about the reigning queen of Sheba and how she came face to face with a new and powerful ruler. Sheba was in the Arabian Peninsula, where Yemen is today. In ancient times it was known as a nation possessing fabulous wealth. Frankincense and myrrh were two of the many precious spices that were exported.

When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relation to the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. What had she heard about Jehovah? Was this woman seeking to know more about God? It seems that she mostly came to make the trade agreements. In that she was successful.

Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan — with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones — she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind… She gave the king 120 talents of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. (1 Kings 10:1-2, 10)

Spices don’t seem so special to us, but in the ancient world, some were outrageously expensive because of their rarity and use as perfumes, incense and medicine. Some were grown only in certain countries and they had to be brought great distances. Only a king could afford to purchase them. The queen of Sheba needed to bring something really impressive for the great king and her gift surpassed any gift ever seen before.

The conversation between Solomon and the queen stayed mostly on Solomon’s wisdom, his wealth, and the wealth of the land. But then the queen said something interesting.

“How blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel; because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.” These words are strangely prophetic. We do not know if the queen of Sheba came to believe in Jehovah as the only true God. Again, it is more likely that she just added Him to the list of gods that she worshipped. She certainly was impressed with the blessings in Israel and seems to have acknowledged them as coming from Jehovah. But we won’t know until we get to Heaven if the queen truly relinquished her other gods for the one true God. Since she did not make a gift to the temple, it is more probable that she went home happy with the trade agreements that she came to make. That was what she really came for.

It should not surprise us that queen of Sheba spoke prophetic-sounding words. Other unbelievers in the Bible spoke truth even though they didn’t know it. One familiar story comes from the Gospel of John where the rulers of Israel are conspiring to capture Jesus and put Him to death. “But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.’ Now this he did not say on his own initiative; but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.” (John 11:51,52) God can move anyone, even unbelievers, to speak as He wishes.

The queen of Sheba spoke truth when she blessed God, Solomon, and the Israelites. She could not help herself. But I am not sure that this means that she was converted.

Solomon then gave the queen many things. This was common for trade agreements. It is interesting to see that Solomon then turned much of the gold and metals he received from the queen of Sheba and other Arabian traders into weapons of war. How sad.

While Solomon made trade agreements with all of the surrounding nations (I Kings 10:15) only this special story about one of the foreign rulers is recorded for us. It is interesting that it is a woman. It is interesting that later we find out that Solomon takes seven hundred wives. It is assumed that these were alliances for treaty purposes.

But the queen of Sheba was not one of Solomon’s wives. She was the reigning monarch of her own country. She secured an alliance with Solomon strictly on trade. Jewish scholars have many legends about her including one where she and Solomon had an affair and a child was born from their union. They are only speculating.

I don’t believe those stories. The story in the Bible about a strong woman who came and secured peace for her country is exciting enough without all the fables.

Author: Mary Walker