part0127

Key Verse : "He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria."

In II Corinthians 6:14, the Apostle Paul wrote, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" He said those things to the church at Corinth and asked those questions so that he could warn them about the dangers of having close, personal relationships with unsaved people. His remarks, however, can also be applied to marriage. When two people come together to be as one, they bring into the relationship their own presuppositions and ideas. If both members are pulling in opposite directions, then problems are almost certain to occur. Often, the more dominant partner will control, but many times, the less godly one will.

In I Kings 16:28-33, the account of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel was given, and their story was about two evil people that came together and became even more evil. Ahab’s father, Omni, had been the king before him, and he was the most wicked king of all the earlier Israeli kings. Then, his son became the king, and he was even worse than his father. Ahab’s decline, though, took a special twist when Jezebel was brought into the picture that was different than with the earlier kings. Many years before, in I Samuel 7:1-4, the children of Israel had put away the false gods of Baal and Ashtoreths, and they had served only the Lord. But when Ahab married Jezebel, who was a Canaanite, she brought the false Canaanite gods into their relationship, and then, he brought them back into Israel. I Kings 16:32-33 says, "He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him."

Because of his dad, Ahab was already destined for hard times, spiritually speaking. But Jezebel carried him and Israel to even greater low points.