In this episode of The Dwelling Place, we journey through 1 Kings 16–19 and 2 Chronicles 17, where some of the Bible's most dramatic and beloved stories unfold.

As Israel's kings grow increasingly wicked, God raises up the prophet Elijah to call His people back to Himself. We'll witness the rise of Ahab and Jezebel, the miraculous provision for a starving widow, the showdown on Mount Carmel, and Elijah's surprising encounter with God's still small voice.

Through these chapters, we discover a God who is powerful enough to send fire from heaven and tender enough to provide daily bread, water, and rest for weary servants. Whether you're facing discouragement, wondering if God sees your needs, or trying to stand faithfully in a culture moving away from His ways, this episode offers rich encouragement from Scripture.

In This Episode

• The rise of Ahab and Jezebel
• Why God sent a drought to Israel
• Elijah fed by ravens
• The miracle of the widow's flour and oil
• God raising the widow's son to life
• The dramatic showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal
• Fire falling from heaven on Mount Carmel
• Elijah's discouragement and exhaustion
• God speaking through a gentle whisper
• The calling of Elisha
• King Jehoshaphat's faithfulness in Judah

Key Scriptures

• 1 Kings 16–19
• 2 Chronicles 17
• 1 Kings 17:14 — The flour and oil will not run out.
• 1 Kings 18:21 — Choose whom you will follow.
• 1 Kings 18:36–39 — Fire from heaven.
• 1 Kings 19:11–12 — God's gentle whisper.
• 2 Chronicles 17:6 — Jehoshaphat's courageous heart.

A Truth to Remember

"The Lord, He is God." (1 Kings 18:39)

The same God who controlled the rain, fed Elijah through ravens, multiplied a widow's food, and answered with fire is still at work today. He is both mighty and near, caring for nations and caring for individual hearts.

Resources

Entrusted Ministries exists to encourage moms to know God through His Word and faithfully pass biblical truth to the next generation. Join us as we read through Scripture, pray together, and discover that God Himself is our dwelling place.

Resources Mentioned

• Entrusted With a Child's Heart
• The Again Podcast

Commentaries Most Referenced: Moody Commentary, MacArthur Commentary, Spurgeon's Treasury of David

This is The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox, and today

as we encounter 1 Kings 16

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through 19 and 2 Chronicles 17

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We'll meditate on the God powerful

enough to act in mighty ways

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But also Near enough to care for

the smallest of needs as well Today

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we'll cover some lesser-known rulers

and some very well-known stories

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from the prophet Elijah's life.

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As God's people were going more and more

wayward, and as kings were walking in

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increasing wickedness, God sent prophets

to call the kings to repentance, offer

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words of rebuke, and issue judgments.

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Let's start in 1 Kings 16,

where we're introduced to Jehu.

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He tells King Baasha of the northern

kingdom, " God exalted you, but you've

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walked in wickedness like Jeroboam, and

your consequence will be just as his was.

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Everyone in your family is going

to come to the same gruesome end

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that you brought to his house."

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After Baasha himself dies,

his son Elah takes over for a

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short time, about two years.

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But one of his military commanders,

Zimri, conspires against him, and when

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Elah is intoxicated celebrating with his

friends, Zimri comes in and kills him

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After Zimri takes the throne, he kills

all of Baasha's relatives and even

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the friends able to redeem his line.

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Once again, God has allowed a

sinful man to carry out judgment,

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ending a line of wickedness Just

as Baasha killed Jeroboam's line,

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now Zimri has ended Baasha's line.

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But guess what?

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Zimri's reign is going to be even

shorter, only seven days long.

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Because when the troops hear that

Zimri has killed their king, all of

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Israel decides to make Omri, their

military commander, the new king.

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Zimri sees the writing on the wall.

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He enters the king's

house and sets it on fire

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ending his life as well.

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This is the northern kingdom, so we

already know that Omri will do what

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was evil in the sight of the Lord.

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And unfortunately, he did more

evil than all who were before him

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After his 12-year reign, his

son Ahab rises to the throne,

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and he's increasingly evil

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Now doing more evil than all before him.

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You might recognize his name, but you most

certainly know his wife's name, Jezebel.

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And she's every bit as evil

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As you can imagine, not only is she

a pagan worshiper herself, she's the

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daughter of one of the priests of Baal.

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Ahab marries her, serves Baal himself,

and then erects an altar for Baal he

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also erects a monument for the pagan

Canaanite goddess Asherah to be worshiped

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And we have a little side note

that against Joshua's warning and

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curse, a man attempts to relay

the foundation of Jericho, and

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it costs him the life of his son.

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And next, we're introduced to Elijah.

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That's E-L-I-J-A-H.

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And his successor will

be Elisha, E-L-I-S-H-A.

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You can remember that their

names come in alphabetical order.

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God sends Elijah to tell wicked King

Ahab that he's going to send a drought.

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This is particularly crucial

because Baal was the storm god,

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thought to bring fertility and

blessing to the land through rain

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Just as God directly challenged the

false gods of Egypt, he's once again

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proving that the pagan gods are impotent.

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Yahweh is the only true God And he is a

God mighty and powerful enough to stop

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the rain for an entire nation, but he's

also the same God that tenderly and

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sovereignly cares for those he loves.

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And at this point, he sends Elisha to

live near a brook And God has the ravens

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bring him food and meat in the morning,

and bread and meat in the evening.

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And you know that scene in

Cinderella where the birds are

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helping her make her dress?

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Maybe that's not as far-fetched off as I

thought And I have to make a confession.

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Although I never thought I'd say

this, I am enjoying birdwatching.

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No, not actual birdwatching,

but birdwatching in scripture.

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I'm delighting in these encounters

with birds and how they speak of God's

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care and provision for His people

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whether it was the bird I love so

much from Psalm 84 or Jesus' reminder

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not to be anxious in Matthew 6

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Or the reminders like Psalm 91,

that God covers us in His wings

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and in His pinions

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but he also issued some judgment from

birds to Jeroboam and Baasha's line

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I just love that we serve a

God that's sovereign over all

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things, but deeply cares about

the small things that involve us.

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And that's the theme of this next story.

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You've probably heard the account of

the widow's oil that didn't dry up.

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God tells Elijah he'll send him to

a widow who's going to feed him.

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This is a drought, right?

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Not only is there a lack of water,

but the crops haven't been watered.

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So these people who were highly reliant

upon wheat to make bread and olives

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to make oil are finding themselves in

increasing need And God sends Elijah

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to a woman who has next to nothing.

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He asks her for drink and a bread,

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And she reminds me a little bit of Hagar

she says, "We're gonna have our last

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little meal, and then we're gonna die."

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Elisha tells her to not be

afraid, to make something for

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him, and then for her and her son.

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And he issues a promise from the

Lord, " The jar of flour will not

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be spent, and the jug of oil shall

not be empty until the day the

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Lord sends rain upon the earth."

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And it comes to pass.

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God blesses her, and she has more

than enough to feed herself and her

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son i'm struck by the fact that it

seems like God was asking to take from

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this woman, But through the process,

He instead completely blessed her.

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How many times in life do we

encounter trials, and through them,

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the Lord provides a testimony?

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We get a choice.

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We can see struggles as an opportunity for

God to show Himself faithful, or we can

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continually attempt to have comfortable

lives and be disappointed because that's

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never what He promised on this earth.

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And then again, what seems

like a cruel circumstance

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This widow experiences

the death of her son

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Elijah cries out in compassion

for this poor widow and says,

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" Lord, don't take this child."

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And as is consistent with all

of these stories about Elijah,

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God listens to his voice.

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Elijah battles in prayer and

physical intercession, and the life

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of the child came into, him again.

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He revived, Eliciting a confession

of faith from this sweet widow.

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In 1 Kings 17:24, " Now I know that

you are a man of God and that the word

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of the Lord in your mouth is true."

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Now it's about three years into the

drought, and God says, " go find Ahab.

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I'm going to make it rain."

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Elisha goes to look for him,

encountering a man named Obadiah.

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He's a servant in Ahab's house,

but he is a God-fearing man.

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In fact, while Ahab's wicked wife

Jezebel was hunting down all the

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prophets of the Lord, killing them,

Obadiah hid a hundred prophets of

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the Lord in caves and fed them.

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Historical tradition says that this

is the same Obadiah that wrote the

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book of the Bible under his name,

but there is debate about that, as

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there are many Obadiahs in scripture.

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Elijah says, Go tell Ahab I'm here."

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And I'm fascinated by his response.

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Obadiah says, "Are you

trying to make me die today?

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' Cause if I go tell him you're

here and then the Spirit of

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the Lord moves you I don't know

where, then Ahab's gonna kill me."

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It seems that Elijah was known

for just being carried away

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in the Spirit every which way.

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Did he have teletransportation

powers back then?

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Elijah reassures Obadiah that

he's not gonna disappear.

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And ironically, when Ahab

sees Elijah, he accuses him of

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being the troubler of Israel

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Elijah says, "I have not troubled

Israel, but you have, and your

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father's house, because you have

abandoned the commandments of

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the Lord and followed the Baals.

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Now therefore send and gather all

Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the

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four hundred and fifty prophets of

Baal, and the four hundred prophets of

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Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."

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They all come together and

Elijah challenges them, " You

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can't go back and forth.

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Pick who is your God and follow him."

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But the people don't answer a word

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And Elijah says, " It's

just me versus you 450.

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Let's each take a bull, prepare

it, and put it on our altars But

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neither of us is gonna start a fire.

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You call on your god, and I'll

call on the name of the Lord And

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whichever god provides fire, we'll

know that he is the real God.

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And the prophets of Baal call

upon him from morning till noon

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saying, " O Baal, answer us."

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But there was no voice,

and no one answered.

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And they limped around the

altar that they had made.

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And at noon Elijah mocked them,

saying, " Cry aloud, for he is a god.

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Either he is musing or he is relieving

himself, or he is on a journey, or

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perhaps he's asleep and must be awakened."

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And they cried aloud and cut themselves

after their custom with swords and lances

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until the blood gushed out upon them.

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And as midday passed, they raved

on until the time of the offering of

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the oblation, but there was no voice.

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No one answered.

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No one paid attention

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then Elijah said to all the

people, " Come near to me."

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And all the people came near to

him, and he repaired the altar of

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the Lord that had been thrown down.

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Elijah took 12 stones according

to the number of the tribes of the

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sons of Jacob, to whom the Lord came

saying, " Israel shall be your name."

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And with the stones, he built an

altar in the name of the Lord, and

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he made a trench about the altar.

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And next he does the unimaginable.

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three separate times, they

pour water about the altar.

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This is the opposite of what you do to

produce a fire, and also it's a drought

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But Elijah has faith

that rain is coming soon

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and then Elijah prays, " O Lord God of

Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be

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known this day that You are God in Israel,

and that I am Your servant, and that I

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have done all these things at Your word.

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Answer me, O Lord, that this people

may know that You, O Lord, are God, and

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that You have turned their hearts back."

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Then the fire of the Lord fell and

consumed the burnt offering and the wood

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and the stones and the dust and licked

up the water that was in the trench.

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And when all the people saw it,

they fell on their faces and

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said, " The Lord, He is God.

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The Lord, He is God."

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And Elijah said to them, " Seize

the prophets of Baal.

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Let none of them escape."

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And they seized them and Elijah

brought them down To the brook

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Kishon and slaughter them there

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Baal's prophets cried to him for hours,

Trying to make their blood fall to

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the earth moving their God to act.

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But the moment that Elijah prayed to

the Lord, He moved in power and might.

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And now all the people are watching

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As the Lord has proved Baal completely

powerless, now is the right

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time for him to end the drought.

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Elijah is faithful to the commands in

the Torah to take the lives of any false

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prophets that lead the nation astray.

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And it seems that the nation, for

the time, is ready to serve the Lord.

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But how about its rulers?

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In chapter nineteen, Ahab

tells Jezebel what occurred.

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We don't know why she didn't

attend the showdown herself.

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She's so angry at Elijah that she

promises to kill him that day.

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Even though Elijah has just seen

the mighty hand of God, he's afraid

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and runs for his life, telling

the Lord, "Go ahead, take me now."

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But God tenderly cares

for his physical needs.

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An angel touches him Tells him to eat,

providing a cake and a jar of water.

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After he lies down, the

angel comes a second time

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with more provision

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And God cares for his physical needs

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Before he addresses his spiritual

needs and his emotional discouragement.

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It's in the strength of this

food that Elijah went 40 days

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and 40 nights to Mount Horeb.

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Mount Horeb is another name for

Mount Sinai, which is also the

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mountain that Moses went without

food for 40 days and 40 nights

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and now Elijah's going to

have a very similar encounter

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God tells him to go stand on the mountain

and behold, the Lord passed by, and by a

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great and strong wind tore the mountains

and broke in pieces the rocks before the

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Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.

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And after the wind, an earthquake, but

the Lord was not in the earthquake.

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And after the earthquake, a fire,

but the Lord was not in the fire.

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And after the fire, the

sound of a low whisper.

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Often we are looking for God

to move in powerful ways But so

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often, He's doing small things we

can't see A voice comes to Elisha

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saying, " What are you doing here?"

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it's the same question God already

asked him, and Elisha gives the same

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response God calls him to anoint several

people, including his successor, Elisha.

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And God encourages him that there

are still 7,000 people in Israel who

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have never served Baal, even though

it seems like Elijah is the only one

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Elijah leaves and finds Elisha.

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He's plowing with 12 yoke of

oxen, which reveals that he's

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coming from a wealthier family.

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Elijah casts his cloak upon Elisha,

which is symbolic of a rabbi saying,

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"You're going to be my student now."

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He's giving him his mantle.

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Elisha sweetly says, "Let me

kiss my father and my mother,

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and then I'll follow you."

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He sacrifices the oxen, and they

all eat, and he follows Elijah

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In conclusion, let's briefly look at 2

Chronicles 17 with the southern kingdom

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of Judah, where we meet Jehoshaphat.

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After all the wickedness of the northern

kingdom today, we can be thankful

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that Asa's son, Jehoshaphat, did

seek the Lord and that his heart was

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courageous in the ways of the Lord.

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He takes the high places and

the Asherah out of Judah.

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God blesses him so much that

the surrounding nations are in

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dread of the Lord and of Judah.

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Even their arch enemies, the

Philistines, come bearing gifts.

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Jehoshaphat strengthens the nation

spiritually and militarily, and we'll

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keep reading about him In the next episode

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While the northern kingdom of Israel was

devoted to evil, there are still many

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faithful to him in the southern kingdom

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And Even though Elijah thought he was

alone in following the Lord, there were

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many privately hidden away And when you

and I think that we're alone in this

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war against culture, often There are

more hidden away that aren't ready to

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bow their knee to the idols around us.

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Heavenly Father, we thank you

that you are the one true God.

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You are faithful to Israel and

to the widow, and to Elijah, and

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you've been faithful to us.

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We see your blessing and

provision, and we're grateful.

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In the times where we have little,

give us the perspective that it's an

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opportunity for a testimony for you to

be glorified and to strengthen our faith.

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And when we feel we are alone in serving

you, give us courage and wisdom on how

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to lovingly relate to a culture that

does not know the goodness of your ways

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Guide us in how to train our kids to

winsomely and diplomatically stand for

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truth in love We pray you would make us

courageous when standing for you brings

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consequences because we know our eternity

is secure in you Thank you, Jesus,

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that you were bold but also meek Help

us to walk in a way that glorifies you.

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It's in your name we pray.

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Amen.