In just a few lines of text we get introduced to two of the most reprehensible men found in the Bible. Ahab ascended to the throne of Israel. He committed all the sins of his fathers, married the conniving Jezebel, and led his people into the embrace of demonic gods. Ahab did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.

In those same days a man rebuilt the city of Jericho. Destroyed when the children of Israel entered the promised land, the city lay under a curse. Joshua swore: Cursed in the presence of the Lord is the man who restores and rebuilds this city of Jericho! He will lay its foundation at the cost of his firstborn, and at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.

Hiel, a man of staggering ambition, didn’t believe in curses. Or, he felt the loss of two sons was a small price for making a name for himself. Regardless, he moved forward: Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord spoken by Joshua son of Nun.

That these two loathsome men appear on the same page of our Bible speaks to the callous nature of the era. Life was cheap. Leaders moved away from the Lord and toward the veneration of power and wealth. Society devolved, beginning a long slide towards God’s judgement.

Who’s to say we’re not in the midst of such decline today? Let us pray for our country and our world, and ask the Lord to check those who use others for personal gain. Because regardless of the despicable characters around us, God still controls this world and all who move upon it.

1 Kings 16 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Don Kaveen