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its aspect of power - as displayed by an Elijah and an Elisha, so far from seeming
strange or unaccountable, appears eminently called for.
Politically speaking also, this was a period of great change. For, whereas hitherto the
two kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been in a state of constant warfare, an alliance
between them was now formed. At first, indeed, it seemed otherwise. As Ahab
ascended the throne of Israel during the lifetime of Asa, the relations between the two
kingdoms continued as before. And when, in the fourth year of King Ahab's reign,
Jehoshaphat succeeded his father Asa (1 Kings 22:41), it appeared as if the prospect of
an alliance between the sister-countries were more remote than ever. Jehoshaphat
began his reign by strengthening the defenses of his country against Israel (2
Chronicles 17:1, 2). His religious measures were in the opposite direction from those
of Ahab. Himself earnestly and decidedly pious, it is expressly stated that he walked
"not after the doings of Israel." On the other hand, Ahab entered, probably at the
beginning of his reign, into an alliance with the most wicked dynasty then in power, by
marrying Jezebel,^277 the daughter of Ethbaal (or Ithobalus, "Baal is with him").
Josephus has preserved to us the history of this royal family (Against Ap. 1. 18). It
appears that Ethbaal was originally the High-priest of the great temple of Astarte in
Tyre; that he murdered his king, and usurped the throne, which he occupied for thirty-
two years; and that his dynasty continued for at least sixty-two years after his death.
These notices will sufficiently explain the upbringing of Jezebel. A clever, strong,
bold, and unscrupulous woman, she was by conviction a devotee to the most base and
revolting idolatry which the world has ever known, combining with this the reckless
contempt of the rights and consciences of others, and the utter indifference as to the
means employed, which characterize the worst aspect of Eastern despotism. That she
would hate the religion of Jehovah, and seek utterly to destroy - and, indeed, whatever
would not bend to her imperious will; that she would prove the implacable foe of all
that was pious or even free in Israel; and that she would not shrink from the wholesale
murder of those who resisted or opposed her, follows almost as a matter of course. Yet,
strange as it may sound, there is something grand about this strong, determined, bold
woman, which appears all the more strikingly from its contrast with her husband.
Jezebel was every inch a Queen - though of the type of the Phoenician Priest-King who
had usurped the throne by murder.
The immediate consequence of this ill-fated union was, that the religion of Jezebel
became the worship of the land of Israel. Ahab built in Samaria a temple to "the Baal"
(^278) - the Sun-god (the producing principle in Nature) in which he erected not only an
altar, but, as we gather from 2 Kings 3:2; 10:27, also one of those pillars which were
distinctive of its vile services. As usual, where these rites were fully carried out, he also
"made the Asherah"^279 - Astarte, the Moon-goddess (the receptive principle in Nature)
so that the Phoenician worship was now established in its entirety.
(^)