191 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and in detail how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2 And Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, So do the gods [to me], and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time! 3 And when he saw [that], he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 And he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a certain broom-bush, and requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough: now, Jehovah, take my life; for I am not better than my fathers. 5 And he lay down and slept under the broom-bush. And behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, Arise, eat! 6 And he looked, and behold, at his head was a cake, baked on hot stones, and a cruse of water. And he ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 And the angel of Jehovah came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise, eat; for the journey is too great for thee. 8 And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
9 And there he went into a cave, and lodged there. And behold, the word of Jehovah [came] to him, and he said to him, What doest thou here, Elijah? 10 And he said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I am left, I alone, and they seek my life, to take it away. 11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before Jehovah. And behold, Jehovah passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before Jehovah: Jehovah was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake: Jehovah was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake, a fire: Jehovah was not in the fire. And after the fire, a soft gentle voice. 13 And it came to pass, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice [came] to him and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? 14 And he said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I am left, I alone, and they seek my life, to take it away. 15 And Jehovah said to him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when thou comest, anoint Hazael king over Syria; 16 and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint prophet in thy stead. 17 And it shall come to pass, [that] him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him that escapeth the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. 18 Yet I have left [myself] seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth that hath not kissed him.
19 And he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was ploughing [with] twelve yokes before him, and he with the twelfth; and Elijah went over to him, and cast his mantle on him. 20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and I will follow thee. And he said to him, Go back again; for what have I done to thee? 21 And he returned back from him, and took the yoke of oxen, and killed them, and boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave to the people, and they ate. And he arose and went after Elijah, and ministered to him.
201 And Ben-Hadad king of Syria assembled all his host; and there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it. 2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said to him, Thus says Ben-Hadad: 3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, the goodliest, are mine. 4 And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have. 5 And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Ben-Hadad saying: I sent to thee indeed, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children; 6 but to-morrow about this time I will send my servants to thee, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thy sight, they shall put in their hand and take away. 7 And the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this [man] seeks mischief; for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not. 8 And all the elders and all the people said to him, Hearken not, nor consent. 9 And he said to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do; but this thing I cannot do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again. 10 And Ben-Hadad sent to him and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me! 11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell [him], Let not him that girdeth on boast himself as he that putteth off!
12 And it came to pass when he heard this word, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the tents, that he said to his servants, Set yourselves. And they set themselves against the city. 13 And behold, a prophet drew near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, Thus saith Jehovah: Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thy hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah. 14 And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith Jehovah: By the servants of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? And he said, Thou. 15 And he numbered the servants of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he numbered all the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand. 16 And they went out at noon; and Ben-Hadad drank himself drunk in the tents, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings that helped him. 17 And the servants of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-Hadad sent out, and they told him saying, There are men come out of Samaria. 18 And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive. 19 And these servants of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army that followed them. 20 And they slew every one his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them; and Ben-Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the horsemen. 21 And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
22 And the prophet drew near to the king of Israel, and said to him, Go, strengthen thyself, and understand, and see what thou shalt do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee. 23 And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their gods are gods of the mountains; therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them on the plateau, shall we not be stronger than they? 24 And do this: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put governors in their stead; 25 and number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot; and we will fight against them on the plateau: shall we not be stronger than they? And he hearkened to their voice, and did so. 26 And it came to pass, at the return of the year, that Ben-Hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. 27 And the children of Israel were numbered and victualled, and they went against them; and the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats; but the Syrians filled the land. 28 And the man of God drew near, and spoke to the king of Israel and said, Thus saith Jehovah: Because the Syrians have said, Jehovah is a god of the mountains, but he is not a god of the valleys, I will give all this great multitude into thy hand, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. 29 And they encamped one over against the other seven days; and it came to pass that on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel smote of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day. 30 And the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men of them that were left. And Ben-Hadad fled, and came into the city, [from] chamber to chamber.
31 And his servants said to him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will save thy life. 32 And they girded sackcloth on their loins, and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-Hadad says, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother. 33 And the men took it as a good omen, and hastened to catch what came from him, and they said, Thy brother Ben-Hadad. ... And he said, Go, bring him. And Ben-Hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. 34 And [Ben-Hadad] said to him, The cities that my father took from thy father I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thyself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. And I [said Ahab] will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away. 35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to another by the word of Jehovah, Smite me, I pray thee. But the man refused to smite him. 36 Then said he to him, Because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, behold, when thou departest from me, the lion will slay thee. And when he had departed from him, the lion found him and slew him. 37 Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him violently, and wounded [him]. 38 And the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with a sash over his eyes. 39 And as the king passed by, he cried to the king and said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man to me and said, Keep this man; if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or thou shalt pay a talent of silver. 40 And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said to him, So [is] thy judgment: thyself hast decided [it]. 41 Then he hastily took the sash away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him, that he was of the prophets. 42 And he said to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Because thou hast let go out of thy hand the man that I had devoted to destruction, thy life shall be for his life, and thy people for his people. 43 And the king of Israel went to his house sullen and vexed, and came to Samaria.
231 And the whole multitude of them, rising up, led him to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, We have found this [man] perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ, a king. 3 And Pilate demanded of him saying, Art thou the king of the Jews? And he answering him said, Thou sayest. 4 And Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, I find no guilt in this man. 5 But they insisted, saying, He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judaea, beginning from Galilee even on to here.
6 But Pilate, having heard Galilee [named], demanded if the man were a Galilaean; 7 and having learned that he was of Herod's jurisdiction, remitted him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem in those days. 8 And when Herod saw Jesus he greatly rejoiced, for he had been a long while desirous of seeing him, because of hearing many things concerning him, and he hoped to see some sign done by him; 9 and he questioned him in many words, but he answered him nothing. 10 And the chief priests and the scribes stood and accused him violently. 11 And Herod with his troops having set him at nought and mocked him, having put a splendid robe upon him, sent him back to Pilate. 12 And Pilate and Herod became friends with one another the same day, for they had been at enmity before between themselves.
13 And Pilate, having called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14 said to them, Ye have brought to me this man as turning away the people [to rebellion], and behold, I, having examined him before you, have found nothing criminal in this man as to the things of which ye accuse him; 15 nor Herod either, for I remitted you to him, and behold, nothing worthy of death is done by him. 16 Having chastised him therefore, I will release him. 17 ( Now he was obliged to release one for them at the feast.) 18 But they cried out in a mass saying, Away with this [man] and release Barabbas to us; 19 who was one who, for a certain tumult which had taken place in the city, and [for] murder, had been cast into prison. 20 Pilate therefore, desirous to release Jesus, again addressed [them]. 21 But they cried out in reply saying, Crucify, crucify him. 22 And he said the third time to them, What evil then has this [man] done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will chastise him therefore and release him. 23 But they were urgent with loud voices, begging that he might be crucified. And their voices [and those of the chief priests] prevailed. 24 And Pilate adjudged that what they begged should take place. 25 And he released him who, for tumult and murder, had been cast into prison, whom they begged for, and Jesus he delivered up to their will.
(Read Luke 23:1-5)
Pilate well understood the difference between armed forces and our Lord's followers. But instead of being softened by Pilate's declaration of his innocence, and considering whether they were not bringing the guilt of innocent blood upon themselves, the Jews were the more angry. The Lord brings his designs to a glorious end, even by means of those who follow the devices of their own hearts. Thus all parties joined, so as to prove the innocence of Jesus, who was the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
(Read Luke 23:6-12)
Herod had heard many things of Jesus in Galilee, and out of curiosity longed to see him. The poorest beggar that asked a miracle for the relief of his necessity, was never denied; but this proud prince, who asked for a miracle only to gratify his curiosity, is refused. He might have seen Christ and his wondrous works in Galilee, and would not, therefore it is justly said, Now he would see them, and shall not. Herod sent Christ again to Pilate: the friendships of wicked men are often formed by union in wickedness. They agree in little, except in enmity to God, and contempt of Christ.
(Read Luke 23:13-25)
The fear of man brings many into this snare, that they will do an unjust thing, against their consciences, rather than get into trouble. Pilate declares Jesus innocent, and has a mind to release him; yet, to please the people, he would punish him as an evil-doer. If no fault be found in him, why chastise him? Pilate yielded at length; he had not courage to go against so strong a stream. He delivered Jesus to their will, to be crucified.
