Lesson 2: 1 Kings 16:29 – 22:53: Ahab and Elijah

Key Verse

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. —Romans 8:28

Key Verse Thought: Have you ever had something bad happen to you? According to this verse, if we are Christians (have Jesus in our heart), and are living according to God’s Word doing what God wants us to do with our lives, everything will work out for good — even if it seems like something bad at the time. In this lesson, we will see this lived out in Elijah’s life. Even when the king and queen wanted Elijah dead, God provided for him and took care of him.

Emphasis: If we will obey God, God will provide for us and take care of us — no matter what.     

Lesson Summary: Now that we have seen the nation of Israel divide into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, we will begin by studying the nation Israel. We will continue with Judah afterward. In our last lesson, we began by learning about the first three kings of Israel — Jeroboam, Nadab, and Baasha. Israel never had a good, or godly, king. In this lesson, we will continue with the next six kings — including one of the worst kings and his wicked queen.

After seeing four more wicked kings (Elah, Zimri, Tibni, and Omri), we come to the worst king yet — King Ahab. After he became king, God sent His prophet, Elijah, to speak to wicked King Ahab. Elijah told the king that there would be no rain in the land; and there was a drought for over three years. God provided for Elijah during the drought and sent him back to King Ahab after three years with a great challenge. Elijah had all of Israel to meet on top of Mount Carmel to call for a decision from the people. Choose who the true God is. After Elijah’s mighty victory, he ran for his life. We see God had not forgotten him, but He showed himself to Elijah in a still small voice. He then gave Elijah a helper, Elisha. We will learn more about him in our next lesson.

We will continue with King Ahab’s wicked reign as Benhadad, king of Syria, besieged Israel. God mightily delivered — twice. However, because King Ahab spared the enemy king’s life, God would require King Ahab’s life.

We see more of Queen Jezebel’s wickedness as she kills to acquire Naboth’s vineyard for her husband, King Ahab. When Elijah told King Ahab of God’s displeasure about this event, we will see the compassion God had upon King Ahab when he was sorry for sin. When King Ahab joined with the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, to enter into battle with Syria, a prophet of God told King Ahab that he would die in battle — and he did. King Ahab’s son, Ahaziah, became the next king of Israel. He, too, was a wicked king.

Year Two Quarter One Questions

Year Two Quarter One Student Worksheets

You could have your students make their own coloring book about Elijah.

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