If They Were Us

Introduction

I have been reading the Bible and LOLing a lot more than I should, I must admit. I am currently reading the book of Kings and man; y’all should see the kind of trifling that’s going on in there. (You’ll laugh too, I promise). There is a lot of serious stuff too, hence me bringing it up here.

God has been leading me into sharing a bit of how I understand the Bible and how I pick applicable life lessons from it-just to make it a bit more relatable for you.

A bit of a flash-back because I love the Coast!

The Bible was never meant to be that book that is too ‘old’ to read. It is too crucial to ignore, too powerful to miss out on. I would like to take a journey that I have no idea where it will lead, and I would love for you to be part of.

Habizo (King Ahab)

(Our first culprit has to be him. Anyway)

The kingdom of Israel is really plush right now. The lines are falling for them in pleasant places. There is peace in the land, there is plenty of food and there is enough wealth to go around.

Ahab is king during this time. Solomon had lain a great foundation and it is even written that Israel was so wealthy that even silver was made a common mineral (can you imagine) and gold was a common sight to see everywhere (Hm, consider us).

Ahab is the kind of man who loves the limelight. I imagine him as a rather short and plump character with a long black beard and a wealthy chunk of curly hair on his head that he conditions every two weeks with essential oils from Tyre and Sidon. He likes his mani-pedis bi-monthly as well.

“Bring me the best nail tech, nothing less!” He demands from his throne as innocent bystanders of his vanity scamper for safety-and a nail tech.

See, what God did not like

Now, Ahab does not like hard rules. His is the soft life. God is a hard rule by Himself so struggle and God =one side. Ahab does not struggle, not with his nails. He marries his sweetheart (and our headache for another day) Jezebel and he wants to show her that he is the manly man she thinks he is. So he builds her a plush temple for Baal and a pole for Asherah (Sidonian/Caananite gods), as a major flex. He even gets hundreds of men as prophets for these gods-flex flex.

“Aw, babe. Is all this for me?” Jezebel is choking with tears of joy.

“Without a sweat, my Cherie.” *insert wink.

All romance and no fear for God; shida tu. God gets upset. He is so upset that it is said that Ahab “did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.” (1 Kings 16:33)

So God decided to visit him faithfully by means of His prophets. Ahab did not like this o, so he made people like Elijah his enemies. He would greet Elijah like, “Oh, it is you, Israel’s enemy!” (😂😂)

Ho, God did not have it. He kept pestering him with failure and disgrace because Ahab did not have a heart for God and God does not like disobedience one bit. Also, quite frankly, He thought Asherah was detestable and Baal was abominable (but not the Molek kind of abominable. Molek was on the gold buzzer level.)

So here we have it. Ahab has beef with every one of God’s prophets and so he either locks them up or intimidates them off his turf. His wife is another one, jare. She killed every true prophet she could find because she thought they were haters and Jezebel did NOT like enemies of progress.

Fast-forward

Naboth sees this shamba (land) and he loves it. He sizes it up and sees investments for dayssss. So he calls its owner.

“Hey, er, Naboth, right?”

“Yes sir. I am he.”

“I love this shamba. Si you just sell it to me or I give you my land in exchange for it?”

“Uhm, great offer, sir, but I can’t. This land was given to me by my parents and it’s ancestral so I cannot sell it.”

“Come on. I am king of Israel. This land is essentially mine so I am doing you a favor by even asking!”

“I’m sorry sir, no.” Then he left.

Ahab turns into a red hot chili pepper and goes home to sulk. He does not even greet Jezebel with some sugar like he usually does. Jezebel smells something off.

“What’s up sugar plum? Why are you so mad?”

“Naboth did not sell to me his land and I thought I’d have it.” *insert masculine sobs.

Ah. Who is Jezebel to back down from battle?(Jezebel ni nani). She goes to hubby’s office and forges documents to implicate Naboth in a crime punishable by death, and she sends it via Express Chariots LTD.

That weekend, Naboth is roasted proper by that lie and he is stoned to death.

God is up in heaven watching all this with His palm to his face. He sends Ahab’s hater, Elijah, to tell him off.

“Ah. Gaidi! Hizi ni gani tena.” Translation: “Ah, ‘terrorist’ (slang to imply an ill-intentioned character) what are these things you have done?” Elijah bursts through the walls to Ahab.

Ahab already has a sneer. It is his top-rated hater, again.

“Na ujue God ameona hizi vitu umefanyia

Naboth na kamenuka sasa. Wewe na huyo bibi yako mnadedi kimadharau na mkishadedi mbwa watalamba damu yenyu. Alafu hii kingdom umejijengea haujaijenga vile Mungu ameitaka na hautaki kuskia tukikushow so,itadedi tu kama wewe. And that’s what God has said.” Loose translation of: “… Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?’ Then say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’ …. “because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. He says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you. I will wipe out your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free. I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have aroused my anger and have caused Israel to sin.’ ” (1 Kings 21:17-22)

Bottom Line

Ahab lost his dynasty and his generations’ prosperity because he could not take ‘no’ for an answer. Of course there were other reasons why he got this heavy punishment, but it really was this small last straw hat broke the camel’s back.

A little disobedience here, a little compromise there and you have a whole giant consequence that you cannot shake away.

Eventually Ahab repented and God had mercy on Him ‘cause that is who God is, but his descendants faced the wrath of God even though they had no idea what their father did.

It is not easy folks, but just listen to God. He knows better. He sees how big a consequence a small compromise from your end can produce.

Grand lesson: Don’t throw a tantrum and risk something bigger than yourself because of something you can wait patiently for in God’s time and will.

Let’s see who we need to shine some light on next, yes?

Hugs!