From Failed Monarchies to Exile (1 Kings 11 - 2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 10-36)

Obadiah Saves a Hundred People by Working Within a Corrupt System (1 Kings 18)

At least two episodes during this period deserve our attention. The first, Obadiah’s saving of a hundred prophets, may be of help to those facing the decision whether to quit a job in an organization that has become unethical, a decision that many face in the world of work.

Obadiah is the chief of staff in King Ahab’s palace. (Ahab is infamous even today as the most wicked of Israel’s kings.) Ahab’s queen, Jezebel, orders the prophets of the Lord to be killed. As a high official in Ahab’s court, Obadiah has advance word of the operation, as well as the means to circumvent it. He hides a hundred prophets in two caves and provides them bread and water until the crises abates. They are saved only because someone “who revered the Lord greatly” (1 Kings 18:3) is in a position of authority to protect them. A similar situation occurs in the Book of Esther, told in much greater detail, see “Working Within a Fallen System (Esther)” at www.theologyofwork.org.

It is demoralizing to work in a corrupt or evil organization. How much easier it might be to quit and find someplace holier to work. Often quitting is the only way to avoid doing evil ourselves. But no workplace on earth is purely good, and we will face ethical dilemmas wherever we work. Moreover, the more corrupt the workplace, the more it needs godly people. If there is any way to remain in place without adding to the evil ourselves, it may be that God wants us to stay. During World War II a group of officers opposed to Hitler remained in the Abwher (military intelligence) because it gave them a platform for trying to remove Hitler. Their plans failed, and most were executed, including Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the theologian. When explaining why he remained in Hitler’s army, he said, “The ultimate question for a responsible man to ask is not how he is to extricate himself heroically from the affair, but how the coming generation is to live.”[1] Our responsibility to do what we can to help others seems to be more important to God than our desire to think of ourselves as morally pure.

Ahab and Jezebel Murder Naboth to Get His Property (1 Kings 21)

King Ahab abuses his power further when he begins to covet the vineyard of his neighbor, Naboth. Ahab offers a fair price for the vineyard, but Naboth regards the land as an ancestral inheritance and says he has no interest in selling at any price. Ahab dejectedly accepts this appropriate limitation of his power, but his wife Jezebel spurs him to tyranny. “Do you now govern Israel?” she taunts (1 Kings 21:7). If the king has no appetite for abuse of power, the queen does. She pays two scoundrels to bring a false charge of blasphemy and treason against Naboth, and he is quickly sentenced to death and stoned by the elders of the city. We are left to wonder why the elders acted so quickly, without even conducting a proper trial. Were they complicit with the king? Under his control, afraid of standing up to him? In any case, with Naboth out of the way, Ahab takes possession of the vineyard for himself.

Abuse of power, including land grabs as blatant as Ahab’s, continue today, as a glance at nearly any daily newspaper will confirm. And as in Ahab’s time, abuse of power requires the complicity of others who would rather tolerate injustice, even murder, than risk their own safety for the sake of their neighbors. Only Elijah, the man of God, dares to oppose Ahab (1 Kings 21:17-24). Although his protests can do nothing to help Naboth, Elijah’s opposition does curb Ahab’s abuse of power, and no further abuses are recorded in Kings prior to Ahab’s death. More often than we might expect, principled opposition by a small group or even a single individual can restrain the abuse of power. Otherwise, why would leaders go to so much trouble to hide their misdeeds? What do you estimate is the likelihood that you will become aware of at least one misuse of power in your working life? How are you preparing yourself to respond if you do?

The Prophet Elisha’s Attention to Ordinary Work (2 Kings 2-6)

As the northern kings slide deeper into apostasy and tyranny, God raises up prophets to oppose them more forcefully than ever. Prophets were figures of immense God-given power coming out of nowhere to speak God's truth in the halls of human power. Elijah and Elisha are by far the most prominent prophets in the books of Kings and Chronicles, and of the two, Elisha is especially notable for the attention he pays to the work of ordinary Israelites. Elisha is called to stand against Israel's rebellious kings throughout a long career (2 Kings 2:13 - 13:20). His actions show that he regards the people’s economic life to be as important as the kingdom’s dynastic struggles, and he tries to protect the people from the disasters brought on by the kings.

Elisha's Restoration of a City's Irrigation System (2 Kings 2:19-22)

Elisha’s first major act is to cleanse the polluted well of the city of Jericho. The chief concern in the passage is agricultural productivity. Without a wholesome well, “the land is unfruitful" (2 Kings 2:19). By restoring access to clean water, Elisha makes it possible for the people of the city to resume the God-given mission of humanity to be fruitful, multiply and produce food (Genesis 1:28-30).

Elisha’s Restoration of a Household’s Financial Solvency (2 Kings 4:1-7)

After one of the prophets in Elisha’s circle died, his family fell into debt. The fate of a destitute family in ancient Israel was typically to sell some or all of its members into slavery, where at least they would be fed (see “Slavery or Indentured Servitude (Exodus 21:1-11)” at www.theologyofwork.org). The widow is on the verge of selling her two children as slaves and begs Elisha for help (2 Kings 4:1). Elisha comes up with a plan for the family to become economically productive and support themselves. He asks the widow what she has to work with. “Nothing,” she says, “except a jar of oil” (2 Kings 4:2). Apparently this is enough capital for Elisha to begin with. He tells her to borrow empty jars from all her neighbors, and fill them with oil from her jar. She is able to fill every jar with oil before her own jar runs out, and the profit from selling the oil is enough to pay the family’s debts (2 Kings 4:9). In essence, Elisha creates an entrepreneurial community within which the woman is able to start a small business. This is exactly what some of the most effective poverty-fighting methods do today, whether via microfinance, credit societies, agricultural cooperatives, or small-businesses supplier programs on the part of large companies and governments.

Elisha’s actions on behalf of this family reflect God’s love and concern for those in need. How can our work increase the opportunity for people in poverty to work their way toward prosperity? In what ways do we individually and collectively undermine the productive capacity of poor people and economies, and what can we do, with God’s help, to reform?

Elisha’s Restoration of a Military Commander’s Health (2 Kings 5:1-14)

When Elisha cures the leprosy of Naaman, a commander in the army of Israel’s enemy, Syria, it has important effects in the sphere of work. “It is no little thing that a sick person is made well, especially a leper,” as Jacques Ellul notes in his insightful essay on this passage,[1] because the healing restores the ability to work. In this case the healing restores Naaman to his work of governance, advising his king on dealings with the king of Israel. Interestingly, this healing of a foreigner also leads to the restoration of ethical culture in Elisha’s own organization. Naaman offers to reward Elisha handsomely for the healing. But Elisha will accept nothing for what he regards as simply doing the Lord’s will. However, one of Elisha’s retinue, named Gehazi, sees an opportunity for a little extra remuneration. Gehazi chases after Naaman, and says that Elisha has changed his mind—he will accept a very significant payment after all. After receiving the payment, Gehazi hides his ill-gotten-gain, then lies to Elisha to cover it up. Elisha responds by announcing that Gehazi will be struck with the very leprosy that had left Naaman. Apparently, Elisha recognizes that tolerating corruption in his organization will rapidly undermine all the good that a lifetime of service to God has done.

Naaman’s own actions demonstrate another point in this story. Naaman has a problem—leprosy. He needs to be healed. But his pre-formed notion of what the solution should look like—some kind of dramatic encounter with a prophet, apparently—leads him to refuse the true solution of bathing in the Jordan River when it is offered to him. When he heard this simple remedy delivered by Elisha’s messenger—rather than Elisha himself—“Naaman went away angry.” Neither the solution nor the source seems grand enough for Naaman to pay attention to.

In today’s world, this twofold problem is often repeated. First, a senior leader misses the solution proposed by a lower level employee because they are unwilling to consider insight from someone they regard as unqualified. Jim Collins in his book Good to Great identifies the first sign of what he calls a “level five” leader as humility, a willingness to listen to many sources.[2] Second, the solution is not accepted because it does not match the leader’s imagined approach. Thank God that many leaders today, like Naaman, have subordinates willing to take the risk of talking sense to them. Not only are humble bosses needed in organizations, but courageous subordinates also. Intriguingly, the person who puts the whole episode into motion is the lowest-status person of all, a foreign girl Naaman had captured in a raid and given to his wife as a slave (2 Kings 5:13). This is a wonderful reminder of how arrogance and wrong expectations can block insight, but God’s wisdom keeps trying to break through anyway.

Elisha’s Restoration of a Lumberjack’s Axe (2 Kings 6:1-7)

Cutting wood along the bank of the Jordan River, one of Elisha’s fellow prophets loses an iron axe head into the river. He had borrowed the axe from a lumberjack. The price of such a substantial piece of iron in the bronze age would have meant financial ruin for the owner, and the prophet who borrowed it is distraught. Elisha takes the economic loss as a matter of immediate, personal concern and causes the iron to float on top of the water, where it can be retrieved and returned to its owner. Once again Elisha intervenes to enable someone to work for a living.

The gift of a prophet is to discern God’s aims in daily life and to work and act accordingly. God calls the prophets to restore God's good creation, in the midst of a fallen world, in ways that point to God’s power and glory. The theological aspect of a prophet’s work—calling people to worship the true God—is inevitably accompanied by a practical aspect, restoring the good workings of the created order. The New Testament tells us that some Christians are called to be prophets as well (1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11). Elisha is not only a historical figure who demonstrates God’s concern for his people’s work, but a model for Christians today.

The Southern Kingdom's March Toward Exile (1 Kings 11:41 - 2 Kings 25:26; 2 Chronicles 16 - 36)

Following in the footsteps of the northern kingdom, the southern kingdom’s rulers soon began to decline into idolatry and evil. Under Rehoboam’s rule the people "built for themselves high places, pillars, and sacred poles on every high hill and under every green tree; there were also male temple prostitutes in the land. They committed all the abominations of the nations" (1 Kings 14:23-24). Rehoboam’s successors oscillated between faithfulness and doing evil in God’s sight. For a while Judah had enough good kings to stave off disaster, but in the final years the kingdom fell to the same state that the northern kingdom had. The nation was conquered, and the kings and elites were captured and deported, by the Babylonians (2 Kings 24, 25). The faithlessness of the kings whom the people had demanded, against God's advice hundreds of years earlier, culminated in a financial meltdown, destruction of the labor force, famine, and the mass murder or deportation of much of the population. The predicted disaster lasts seventy years until King Cyrus of Persia authorizes the return of some of the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem's Temple and walls (2 Chronicles 36:22-23).

Financial Accountability in the Temple (2 Kings 12:1-12)

One example of the degeneration of the kingdom ironically serves to bring to light a model of good financial practice. Like virtually all of the kingdom’s leaders, the priests had become corrupt. Instead of using worshippers’ donations to maintain the Temple, they pilfered the money and divided it among themselves. Under the direction of Jehoash, one of the few kings “who did what was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 12:2), the priests devised an effective accounting system. A locked chest with a small hole in the top was installed in the Temple to receive the donations. When it got full, the high priest and the king’s secretary would open the chest together, count the money, and contract with carpenters, builders, masons, and stonecutters to make repairs. This ensured that the money was used for its proper purpose.

The same system is still in use today, for example when the cash deposited in automatic teller machines is counted. The principle that even trusted individuals must be subject to verification and accountability is the foundation of good management. Whenever a person in power—especially the power of handling finances—tries to avoid verification, the organization is in danger. Because Kings includes this episode, we know that God values the work of bank tellers, accountants, auditors, bank regulators, armored car drivers, computer security workers, and others who protect the integrity of finance. It also urges all kinds of leaders to take the lead in setting a personal example of public accountability by inviting others to verify their work.

Arrogance and the End of the Kingdoms (2 Chronicles 26)

How could king after king fall so easily into evil? The story of Uzziah may give us some insight. He ascends to the throne at age sixteen and at first “he did what was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 26:4). His young age proves to be an advantage, as he recognizes his need for God’s guidance. “He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper” (2 Chron. 26:5).

Interestingly, much of the success the Lord gives Uzziah is related to ordinary work. “He built towers in the wilderness and hewed out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil” (2 Chron. 26:10). “In Jerusalem he set up machines, invented by skilled workers” (2 Chron. 26:15a).

“He was marvelously helped,” the scripture tells us, “until he became strong” (2 Chron. 26:15b). Then his strength becomes his undoing because he began to serve himself instead of the Lord. "When he had become strong he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was false to the Lord his God” (2 Chron. 26:16). He attempts to usurp the religious authority of the priests, leading to a palace revolt that costs him the throne and leaves him an outcast the rest of his life.

Uzziah’s tale is sobering for people in leadership positions today. The character that leads to success—especially our reliance on God—is easily eroded by the powers and privileges that success brings. How many business, military, and political leaders have come to believe they are invincible and so lose the humility, discipline, and attitude of service needed to remain successful? How many of us at any level of success have paid more attention to ourselves and less to God as our power increases even modestly? Uzziah even had the benefit of subordinates who would oppose him when he did wrong, although he ignored them (2 Chron. 26:18). What, or who, do you have to keep you from drifting into pride and away from God should your success increase?

Hezekiah's Contempt for the Next Generation (2 Kings 20)

King Hezekiah of Judah presents another example of the arrogance of the kings. The passage begins with Hezekiah sick to the point of death. He begs God to recover, and God, by the word of the prophet Isaiah, grants him 15 more years of life. Meanwhile, the neighboring king of Babylon hears word of Hezekiah’s illness and sends envoys to spy out whether the situation makes Israel ripe for conquest. By the time they arrive Hezekiah is fully recovered. Perhaps the miraculous recovery made him feel invincible, because instead of proving his health and rapidly sending the spies on their way, he decides to show off the riches of his treasury to them. This makes Israel a more tempting target than ever.

God responds to this foolish action by sending Isaiah to prophesy further.

Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: Days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your ancestors have stored up until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord. Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” (2 Kings 20:16–18)

This passage can remind us about our own work. At times of great success, it is easy to become proud and reckless. This can lead to great destruction if we forget that we depend on God’s grace for our successes.

Hezekiah compounds his first mistake with a second. Isaiah has just prophesied that after Hezekiah is gone, his sons will be captured and mutilated and the kingdom destroyed. Instead of repenting and begging God again to save his people, he does nothing.

Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?” (2 Kings 20:19)

It seems he is thinking only of himself. Since this destruction is not going to come during his lifetime, Hezekiah cares nothing about it.

This episode challenges us to think about how our actions affect the next generation, rather than thinking only of our own lifetime. Marion Wade, the founder of ServiceMaster, focused on building a company that would endure, rather than on ensuring his own success. He said,

I was not asking for personal success as an individual or merely material success as a corporation. I do not equate this kind of success with Christianity. Whatever God wants is what I want. But I did try to build a business that would live longer than I would in the marketplace that would witness to Jesus Christ in the way the business was conducted.[1]

Lewis D. Solomon observed that Wade succeeded in establishing a culture of God-directed leadership that lasted long after his tenure. During this extended period, the company was highly successful. Eventually, however, control passed to a CEO who adopted a less overtly God-centered leadership approach, and the company’s performance diminished.

“ServiceMaster, a successful publicly held Fortune 500 corporation, grew from humble roots, led first by a preacher-steward-leader and then by a succession of CEOs, who combined preacher-steward-servant leadership styles. More recently, this transitional firm, now led by a non-evangelical CEO, follows an inclusive, non-sectarian approach. Coincidentally with this transition, the company’s legal difficulties mounted and its financial results stagnated.[2]

Self-Reliance in Place of God’s Guidance (2 Chronicles 16-20)

Even as the kingdom’s strength declines, the kings remain convinced they are in control of their situation. Confident in their own abilities and trusting human advisors, they often fail to ask God’s guidance, usually with disastrous results.

In one case, King Ahab of Israel is about to go into battle. King Jehoshaphat of Judah reminds him, “Inquire first for the word of the Lord” (2 Chron. 18:4). Ahab consults his court prophets, but Jehoshaphat asks whether there is a genuine prophet of God available. Ahab replies, “There is still one other by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies anything favorable about me, but only disaster” (2 Chron. 18:7). Ahab doesn’t want advice from the Lord because it doesn’t align with his intentions. Eventually he does consult Michaiah, who indeed foretells disaster in the battle, for which Ahab has him imprisoned and starved (2 Chron. 18:18-27). Ahab proceeds into battle and is killed (2 Chron. 19:33-34).

Similarly, King Asa decides to form an alliance with the king of Aram instead of relying on God’s protection. Afterwards, he is challenged by a seer who tells him, “Because you relied on the king of Aram, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped you” (2 Chron. 16:7). Likewise, when Asa is stricken with a deadly foot disease, he does not seek the help from the Lord, but only from physicians (2 Chron. 16:12), leading to his early death.

Afterward King Jehoshaphat remembers to depend on God’s guidance. He reminds his judges, “Consider what you are doing, for you judge not on behalf of human beings but on the LORD’s behalf; he is with you in giving judgment. Now, let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take care what you do, for there is no perversion of justice with the LORD our God, or partiality, or taking of bribes.” (2 Chron. 19:6-7). Even so, when Jehoshaphat himself is facing a vast enemy army in battle, the prophet Jahaziel has to remind him, “Do not fear or be dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but God’s.” (2 Chron. 20:15).

The kinds of work in these passages–military strategy, medicine, and the legal system—require human skill. Yet skill is not enough—insight from God is also required. Most kinds of modern work also require skill, and we may feel that our insight and training is greater than it was in ancient times. We may think we don’t think we need—or don’t want—God’s guidance, so we rely on our own strengths instead. God has gifted us with wisdom and insight, but God wants us to seek his face even we think we have all the abilities we need. In fact modern abilities and power make our need to rely on God greater, not less, because our ability to do harm in the absence of God’s guidance is greater now than ever. God gives us talents and abilities for a reason, and we need to use them in consultation with him.

Rehoboam’s Failure to Tell Good Advice From Bad (2 Chronicles 10:1-19)

An example of Israel’s failure of leadership occurs when King Rehoboam finds himself in need of advice on a difficult matter. Jeroboam and all of Israel ask him to lighten the burden of forced labor that his father, King Solomon, had laid on them (2 Chron. 8:8). In return they promise him, “We will serve you.” (2 Chron. 10:5). Rehoboam begins wisely by taking counsel from the elders of his kingdom, who advise him to reduce the burden as the people ask. “If you will be kind to this people and please them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever” (2 Chron. 10:7) Rehoboam, apparently, doesn’t like this answer. So he asks his younger friends’ opinion. They advise him to lord it over the people and boast, “My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. Now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions” (2 Chron. 10:10-11). Rehoboam decides to heed his younger friends’ advice, seemingly because it strokes his ego. He replies to Jeroboam and the people as his young friends suggest, then appoints a new taskmaster over forced labor (2 Chron. 10:18). The people respond by killing the new taskmaster and rebelling against Rehoboam, who never succeeds in quelling the rebellion (2 Chron. 10:19).

Difficult decisions are part of leadership today too, whether we are leading a whole kingdom or simply ourselves. Where do you go for advice, and how do you make good use of advice? Rehoboam began by asking advice from people he recognizes as spiritually mature. Age itself does not make you wise, nor are devout people necessarily wiser than non-believers. But the elders he consults had demonstrated spiritual maturity and wisdom over many years serving King Solomon. One sign of this is their responsiveness to new facts and situations. Although they had been appointed by Solomon, they listen to Jeroboam with an open mind, resulting in their advice to overturn Solomon’s policies. In contrast, Rehoboam’s younger friends seem to have only one claim on his attention—they’re his pals. It’s easy to ask for advice from the people who already think like you do. But do you have access to people who are spiritually mature, who can listen with an open mind, who are not afraid to tell you something you’d rather not hear?

When we are faced with a tough decision, seeking counsel as Rehoboam did is a great first step. The next step is discerning which advice applies the Bible to your situation properly, and which advice merely confirms your own biases. To find the difference requires you to carefully sort through advice, comparing it to God’s word and asking whether it would promote the greater good. In Rehoboam’s situation, the good advice would have required him to exercise patience, kindness, generosity, gentleness, and self-control. These are five of the nine “fruits of the Spirit” listed in Galatians 5:22. These are not merely virtues one may obtain by practice and hard work, but gifts of God’s spirit (Gal. 5:25). Had Rehoboam been willing to receive God’s spirit, this good advice would have led to peace for the whole nation (2 Chronicles 10:7). In contrast the bad advice tempted Rehoboam to give into his own envy, haughtiness, boastfulness and ruthlessness, and to gratify his own ego. These are four of the “things that should not be done” described in Romans 1:29-31. It’s no coincidence that good advice often requires you to grow spiritually, while bad advice tempts you give into temptation. The best counselor is often someone who can help you understand and apply God’s word and encourage you to come to your own decision grow in God’s spirit.