The Spiritual World of Jezebel and Elijah

by Brian Godawa

  Athaliah

  In the novel, Athaliah is depicted as a young sister of Ahab whom Jezebel takes under her wing to prepare her for marrying the prince of Judah for political diplomacy. In the Bible, she was in fact married this way for that very purpose. But some believe she was the daughter of Ahab because the Bible seems to indicate she was.

  Unfortunately, there are a couple problems with that theory. First, 2 Kings 8:18 describes Athaliah as the “daughter of Ahab.” But just a few lines down in verse 26 of that same chapter, Athaliah is called the “daughter of Omri.” I don’t believe this is a contradiction because phrases about offspring like “son of” are known to be very elastic in meaning. They can mean the immediate son of someone or the distant ancestor of that same person. This is most notable in the declaration of Jesus Christ to be the “Son of David.” He was in the lineage of David and as such is described as a son in a distant sense. In the same way, “daughter of” could be a reference to daughter, granddaughter, or a distant ancestral designation as in “the lineage of.”

  So if Athaliah was the immediate daughter of Ahab, she could be considered in the household lineage of (“daughter of”) Omri, her actual grandfather. Or if she was the immediate daughter of Omri, now dead, and she was taken in by her brother Ahab and his wife Jezebel, then she could be referred to as both a daughter of Omri and of Ahab. So is she the immediate daughter of Ahab or Omri?

  Scholar H.J. Katzenstein has provided a solution. In his aptly titled article “Who Were the Parents of Athaliah?”, he writes that by synchronizing with known dates of Assyrian kings and other scholarly references, we are able to establish the following chronology of events with reasonable accuracy:

  887 BC – Ethbaal (father of Jezebel) becomes king of Tyre ( age 16)

  880 BC – Omri (father of Ahab) becomes king of Israel

  880 BC – Athaliah is born

  874 BC – Ahab becomes king of Israel

  874/3 BC – Ahab marries Jezebel (age 16?)

  865 BC – Athaliah (age 15) marries Jehoram of Judah

  864 BC – Athaliah gives birth to Ahaziah[20]

  It is clear from these strongly attested dates that Athaliah couldn’t have been Jezebel’s child because she was born about six years before Jezebel married Ahab. Athaliah could technically have been a child of Ahab by another wife, but that becomes more problematic because no other wives of Ahab are mentioned with royal claims for their children.

  So Katzenstein concludes that Athaliah must have been the immediate daughter of Omri and therefore a very young sister of Ahab. When Omri died, she grew up as a young orphan in the court of Ahab (“daughter of Ahab”) in order to represent his house in marriage to Judah. “She was educated under the supervision of Queen Jezebel and so influenced by that Tyrian princess. This makes plausible the character of Athaliah and her leanings to the Tyrian worship, which she witnessed daily in Samaria and later tried to introduce in Jerusalem.”[21]

  The Rechabites

  One of the enigmatic groups of characters that arise in the story of Jezebel in 1 and 2 Kings is the Rechabites. There is very little about them in the Bible, but they end up playing a significant role in the end of the Omride rule over Israel and the establishment of Jehu’s kingdom. So they make an appearance in the novel Jezebel within the context of another important background concept in the Old Testament: the Remnant.

  We only read about the Rechabites at the end of 2 Kings 10 after Jehu has already killed Jezebel, Jehoram (Joram) of Israel, Ahaziah of Judah, and the seventy sons of Ahab. Then on the way to Samaria, Jehu runs into Jehonadab (or Jonadab) son of Rechab.

  2 Kings 10:15–17:

  15 And when [Jehu] departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. And he greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart true to my heart as mine is to yours?” And Jehonadab answered, “It is.” Jehu said, “If it is, give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand. And Jehu took him up with him into the chariot. 16 And he said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.” So he had him ride in his chariot. 17 And when he came to Samaria, he struck down all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had wiped them out, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke to Elijah.

  So Jehonadab has some apparent prior connection to Jehu because the new king speaks as if he already knew Jehonadab’s heart. The ancient Jewish historian Josephus explains that Jehonadab was a “good and righteous man” who “had been his [Jehu’s] friend of old.”[22]

  Jehonadab helped Jehu finish killing the surviving members of the house of Ahab. Later, Jehonadab went with Jehu to the temple of Baal to presumably take part in putting the priests of Baal to the sword (2 Kings 10:23-27). These two were warrior friends.

  While there is no specific mention of Rechabites in 2 Kings, Jehonadab is referenced both times as “son of Rechab.” The idea that Jehonadab had founded a community called the Rechabites actually comes from Jeremiah’s prophecy that describes this community years after Jehu’s story.

  The word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah, telling him to “go to the house of the Rechabites and speak with them” (Jeremiah 35:2). Jeremiah orders the Rechabites to drink some wine, but the Rechabites refuse.

  Jeremiah 35:6–8:

  6 But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, “You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. 7 You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.” 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us.

  Yahweh uses the Rechabites as an example of faithfulness to vows as a rebuke against Israel’s unfaithfulness. But notice that their vows were based on Jonadab (alternate spelling of Jehonadab), son of Rechab. That’s our man, the friend of Jehu.

  Their peculiar vows of not drinking wine, and not living in built homes, or engaging in agriculture have been compared with holy Nazirite vows. Scholars have brought some historical interpretation to light that I incorporated into the novel Jezebel.

  Herbert Huffman links the Rechabites to the tent-dwelling, metal-working Kenites descended from Tubal-Cain. He explains that their primitivist lifestyle was …

  … probably an attempt to reenact a notion of life patterned on the wilderness period, or a kind of counter-cultural reaction to the excesses of the prosperous, indulgent life in the Omride period in Israel…The wilderness period was a time without the comforts of established cities or fields and without sacrifices or oblations, and it was a time of special faithfulness… God will show Israel favor by letting them dwell in tents again as in the days of old… By renouncing a settled lifestyle, the Rechabites resemble the prophets, and they perhaps serve even as an intercessory group standing before God. [23]

  Another oft-quoted commentator, Frick, explains, “The Hebrew name [Rechab] also can be the basis for the word “chariot.” A guild of artisans would of necessity be somewhat nomadic in lifestyle, moving to ply their trade. The prohibition against wine becomes a possible caution against… the “loose lips sink ships” syndrome in this munitions craft, for chariots were certainly major elements in defense arsenals of the day.”[24]

  In his commentary on 2 Kings, T.R. Hobbs further adds, “that Jehonadab was associated with chariotry in some way, either as a rider or as a member of the chariot-making guild, is most attractive. It would explain Jehu’s interest in gaining the support of such a man, especially if he had access to vehicles of war. The question Jehu asks Jehonadab also echoes the establishment of military alliances.” [25]

  This became the foundation for my depiction of Jonadab and the Rechabites in Jezebel as the tent-dwelling chariot-makers as well as pure Yahwists in their religion who are protected by the archangels.

  Within the context of a corrupt Israel full of idolatry, the Rechabites would be considered part of what the Scriptures call “the r
emnant.” Remnant theology is rooted in the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 4:25-27; 28:15-68), where Yahweh promised to destroy Israel and scatter her to the ends of the earth if she didn’t obey Yahweh. And the only reason why Yahweh withheld his judgment for so long was for the sake of the remnant of true believers within the larger body of apostate Israel. God holds back punishment of the whole for the sake of the remnant of elect.

  Isaiah wrote about the coming destruction and exile of apostate Israel and yet how a remnant would return to the land (Isaiah 6:11-13; 10:20-22) and that a remnant would also return from the Babylonian exile of Judah (Isaiah 46:3-4). Ezekiel too speaks of a remnant of God’s spiritually chosen survivors (Ezekiel 6:7–9; 7:16; 14:22f.; 24:26). Isaiah predicts that another remnant would be saved when Messiah came (Isaiah 4:2-4; 11:11–16; 37:30–32). Micah echoes this return from exile (Micah 2:12; 4:6-8) at the incarnation of Jesus (Micah 5:2-5), as does Joel (Joel 2:32), Obadiah (Obadiah 17), and Zephaniah (Zephaniah 3:12). Jeremiah too writes of the remnant of a new heart and a new covenant (Jeremiah 23:3; 31:7-9, 31-34). And these are by no means an exhaustive list.

  But the notion of the Remnant actually begins with the story of Elijah. The Apostle Paul explains Remnant theology from our very story of Elijah and Baalism. As in the Old Covenant, so in the New Covenant. The Jewish believers in Messiah in the first century were the true remnant of “God’s people” in the midst of an apostate Israel that rejected Jesus and were ultimately judged.

  Romans 11:2–6:

  2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” 4 But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

  I carried this Remnant theology to its fruition in my novel series Chronicles of the Apocalypse (paid link), which takes place in the time just after Paul wrote those words to the Romans. Christians were spared the destruction of Israel, Jerusalem, and the temple in AD 70 when they fled to the mountains in response to Jesus’ warnings (Matthew 24:15-20). But it began with the story of Elijah and Yahweh’s faithful followers as the true seed of Eve.

  Chapter 2:

  The Spiritual World of Israel

  Monotheist or Polytheist?

  The story of the novel Jezebel: Harlot Queen of Israel takes place in the middle of the ninth century B.C., a key turning point in biblical history. Because of Solomon’s disobedience to Yahweh, the monarchy was split into two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south, which launches the narrative that is 1 and 2 Kings, a forensic argument that confirmed Samuel the prophet’s warning that Israel shouldn’t have sought to have a king like the other nations. It reads like a heavenly Most Wanted list of spiritual criminals against God.

  In my research for this novel, I was surprised at how inaccurate my view of ancient Israel had been in previous years.

  Like most Christians raised in Sunday School, I had known of the apostasy both Israel and Judah experienced in worshipping other gods. But I had always seen it as a kind of reflection of our modern day world of Christianity. When I read that the Jews worshipped Baal, Asherah, Molech, or Astarte, I thought of it as a Christian whose addiction or besetting sin haunted them like some alcoholic or porn addict who give in to their “inner demons” and fall off the wagon, only to confess and repent and get back up again. So the Jews were spiritual addicts who would fall off the monotheist wagon and worship other gods, only to confess and repent and get back up again.

  But this isn’t really how it was. The biblical text and archaeology confirms that the Jews were not monotheists with occasional polytheist episodes. They were more like polytheists with occasional monotheist episodes. For the most part, the king dictated the direction of the people’s religious observances. At the split of the monarchy, the king of the northern ten tribes, Jeroboam, made two golden calves just like the one in the wilderness, for which God destroyed thousands of Hebrews. He placed one of those idols in the city of Dan in the far north of his territory and the other in the city of Bethel in the far south. He also built pagan temples on high places and appointed priests from among the people who were not Levites as God had commanded (1 Kings 12:28-32). This action virtually established a blasphemous religion of idolatry to which the ten northern tribes of Israel ascribed. Those golden calves were not destroyed until the Assyrian exile in 722 B.C. (Dan) and Josiah’s reform in 621 B.C. (Bethel: 2 Kings 23:15–16). Those calves stood with their idolatrous cult in Israel for two hundred years.

  The calves most likely represented Yahweh, not Baal or some other deity, which is technically not polytheism. But the prophetic narrative of 1 and 2 Kings considers that idolatry to be so crucial to the judgment of the exile that “the sins of Jeroboam” and “way of Jeroboam” are phrases used repeatedly of subsequent kings who never destroyed those golden calves.[26] One after another with a few exceptions, they would walk “in the sins of Jeroboam” by continuing the high places and golden calf worship.

  Solomon promoted actual polytheism when he created sacred “high places,” altars and temples built on hills for Molech the underworld god of the Ammonites, Chemosh, chief god of the Moabites, and Astarte, the Queen of heaven and goddess of the Sidonians (1 Kings 11:5-8). The very son of David who built the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem also built high place temples for other deities. Let that sink in. It’s both astonishing and disturbing.

  And these gods, along with Baal and others, were worshipped by the Jews for hundreds of years until the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles. The prophets blamed the exile precisely on this fact (2 Kings 17:6–12). If one charts the forty kings of the divided monarchy as listed in 1 and 2 Kings, it becomes readily apparent that the one unifying factor between almost every one of them is some form of false worship of God or gods, described euphemistically as “doing evil in the sight of the Lord”[27] or “walking in the sins of his father.”[28]

  There were some righteous kings in those several hundred years who did remove some idols. But even those only removed them for a short time and never removed all of them—or the high places.[29] This means that for hundreds of years Israelites never failed to have some false gods they worshipped along with Yahweh. The good kings are sometimes described as mostly “doing right,” yet not taking down the high places or the asherim idols.[30] The hero of the Jezebel story, Jehu, who wiped out Baal worship in Israel, nevertheless didn’t take down the golden calves when he became king (2 Kings 10:28-29). Baal worship was brought to Judah by Jezebel’s step-daughter Athaliah, thriving for another two hundred years.

  The most well-known reformer was Josiah, who in 640 B.C. seemed to destroy every last vestige of idol worship in Judah like none before him. Unfortunately, even after him, new kings of Judah came in and restored those gods to the Jewish pantheon (2 Kings 23:31-24:19).

  The Priesthood

  The truth of the matter is that the ancient Jews of this time period were fundamentally polytheistic, not monotheistic. And it wasn’t just the monarchy that was so. It was also the priesthood of the temple in Jerusalem. One would think that the priests of the very temple of God would promote monotheism. But according to Scripture, even they engaged in polytheistic cult rituals for most of the time that the temple was erect in Jerusalem. You read that correctly. The “holy” temple of Solomon was from its origin a temple used for idolatrous polytheism.

  The author of 2 Kings tells us that the first great reformer, Hezekiah, removed the high places, broke the pillars, and cut down the asherah in the temple sometime around 716 B.C. But there was one other image in the temple that had been there from the beginning: the bronze serpent.

  2 Kings 18:4:

 
; And [Hezekiah] broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).

  The bronze serpent had been made in the wilderness wandering by Yahweh’s orders as a totem for healing. Israel had grumbled against God, so he sent fiery serpents among them as judgment. When they cried out in repentance, God had Moses cast the serpent as an image, and whoever looked upon it, would be healed (Numbers 21:4-9).[31]

  But 2 Kings informs us that the Israelites had turned a temporary talisman of deliverance into an image of worship. We can’t know for sure how long the Israelites made offerings to Nehushtan. Was it the two hundred-fifty years of the temple’s existence, or was it the entire seven hundred years since the original event? In either case, it was hundreds of years of priest-led idolatry.

  But the temple also had an idolatrous asherah pole in its walls for most of the three hundred and seventy years of its existence. Asherah poles, or asherim, will be explained later. But for now, they were carved wooden images that represented the goddess Asherah and bore her name. Scholar Raphael Patai explains this phenomenon:

  To sum up, we find that the worship of Asherah, which had been popular among the Hebrew tribes for three centuries, was introduced into the Jerusalem Temple by King Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, in or about 928 B.C.E. Her statue was worshiped in the Temple for 35 years, until King Asa removed it in 893 B.C.E. It was restored to the Temple by King Joash in 825 B.C.E. and remained there for a full century, until King Hezekiah removed it in 725 B.C.E. After an absence of 27 years, however, Asherah was back again in the Temple: This time it was King Manasseh who replaced her in 698 B.C.E. She remained in the Temple for 78 years, until the great reformer King Josiah removed her in 620 B.C.E. Upon Josiah’s death eleven years later (609 B.C.E.), she was again brought back into the Temple, where she remained until its destruction 23 years later, in 586 B.C.E. Thus it appears that, of the 370 years during which the Solomonic Temple stood in Jerusalem, for no less than 236 years (or almost two-thirds of the time) the statue of Asherah was present in the Temple, and her worship was a part of the legitimate religion approved and led by the king, the court, and the priesthood and opposed by only a few prophetic voices crying out against it at relatively long intervals.[32]