He answered her, "Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, 'Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.' But he said, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'" – 1 Kings 21:6

Today's Scripture Reading (February 25, 2026): 1 Kings 21

Every time I read this story, I think to myself that King Ahab is really just a child who never grew up. King Ahab's response to the rejection he suffered over a vineyard is, "If I can't have it my way, I am going to take my toys and go home. I am not going to work through my disagreements. I want everything the way that I want it, or I am not going to play the game."

Here is the reality. Ahab's life is a mess. The story of Ahab is really the story of a King whose life is a mess and God's attempts to get his attention. At no point does God give up on Ahab, and I don't know why, because if I were God, I would have given up on him a long time ago.

Ahab's problem with God begins with his marriage. Have you ever heard the phrase "unequally yoked?" Biblically, it is actually a business term. The phrase means don't go into business with someone who isn't a believer, because their goals won't be your goals. But in my grandparents' or great-grandparents' generation, it began to be used to describe marriages in which only one partner believed in God. The central concept was don't marry, don't even date, someone who is not on the same spiritual path as you are, because while you might think that you can fix them, what is more likely is that they will drag you down spiritually to where they are. Here is the rule: you can fix a dog, but you can't fix your spouse. Okay, maybe that belongs in a different post.

Ahab was unequally yoked. He had married a woman named Jezebel, who was the daughter of the King of Sidon. And Jezebel brought all of her gods and her beliefs into the marriage. Ahab loved Jezebel and began to love and worship her gods.

So God started trying to get Ahab's attention. His first attempt was to send a prophet named Elijah into his life. Elijah literally leaps off the pages at us. His introduction to Ahab and to us is as he marches into Ahab's court and announces that there will be no rain until he (Elijah) says there will be. And then Elijah disappears. A drought grips the Middle East, and there is no rain. Ahab searches everywhere but cannot find Elijah.

Finally, three years and a little bit later, Elijah shows back up and challenges Ahab to a duel on Mount Carmel. The concept behind the approaching battle was that the prophets of Ba'al and Asherah would build an altar and ask their gods to come and consume the sacrifice. Of course, neither Ba'al nor Asherah responded to the challenge.

Then Elijah built his altar and placed his sacrifice on the altar, drowned the whole thing in water, and then prayed for God to consume the sacrifice. God did. Following this miracle, the false prophets of Ba'al and Asherah were killed atop the mountain, leaving only Ahab and Elijah. There, the two men waited until finally a small cloud, about the size of Elijah's fist, appeared on the horizon.

My grandfather used to sing a song, and at the end of one verse, he sang;

Oh Ahab, grab your parasol,

We're going to have a shower

My didn't it rain, My didn't it rain

The clouds grew dark

The storm it broke

Ol' Ahab found it was not a joke.

My didn't it rain, My didn't it rain

He brought no coat, so he got soaked.

My didn't it rain.

But Ahab still didn't get it. He went home, sulked, and told Jezebel what had happened. Jezebel put a price on Elijah's head, and Elijah got depressed and ran away. Not a great day for the prophet or the king.

Then there was the incident with Ben-Hadad, and now the incident with Naboth. And at each point, Ahab doesn't get his way, and he goes and sulks in the corner. Jezebel is left with the task of using her power to satisfy her husband's childish wants. Naboth's vineyard was just the latest proof that a child sat on the throne of Israel.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 22

He sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, saying, "This is what Ben-Hadad says: 'Your silver and gold are mine, and the best of your wives and children are mine.'" – 1 Kings 20:2-3

Today's Scripture Reading (February 24, 2026): 1 Kings 20

The United States' message to the world is clear. Stephen Miller has made the government's position very clear; The enlightenment of the nations is over. Whoever has strength has the right to take whatever they want. If Russia wants Ukraine, who are we to stand in their way? If China wants Taiwan, then there is no sensible argument that would deny China what it wants. If the United States wants the oil in Venezuela, who has the authority to stand up and tell them that they can't just take what they desire? Might makes right. In history, that has always been the way it has been. For a while, maybe this world became a bit confused. We started to believe that weak nations had a right to their dreams. But that time has ended. Now, the strong can once again take whatever it is that they want. So, Greenland will eventually be American territory, and so will Canada. The Canadian question might take a little longer and start with just a couple of provinces. Currently, it looks like Alberta might be the first to fall, followed possibly by Saskatchewan, along with all the oil and minerals those two provinces contain. After that, it is hard to predict what will happen to the rest of Canada.

Just to be clear, I live in Alberta, and I am not cheering these developments. I hope something disrupts Stephen Miller's dream. But it is clear that Miller and some of his compatriots believe this is how the world should work; that "the strong rule and the weak drool," or something along those lines. And by strength, the precise meaning is military might. What gets lost in the bargain are the other strengths that these "weaker" nations might possess.

This idea about the supremacy of strong nations was definitely Ben-Hadad's point of view. He possessed the military might, and therefore, he would take from Israel whatever it was that he wanted. Ben-Hadad demanded all of the gold and silver that Israel possessed, as well as the best of the King's wives and children. I admit, from my deeply biased point of view, giving Jezebel to Ben-Hadad might have been a good thing for Ahab, but I doubt the ancient King would have agreed with me.

Ben-Hadad had the power, and he believed that meant he could take what he wanted. We know from the end of the story that there were limits even to his power; Ben-Hadad only thought the world belonged to him.

Stephen Miller might believe that the world belongs to him, but I hope he is wrong and that God still lifts up underdogs like Ukraine, Taiwan, and even Venezuela, Greenland, and Canada. Because a world ruled by military power is one I would prefer we leave behind.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 21

He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” – 1 Kings 19:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 23, 2026): 1 Kings 19

We can’t work our way into the Kingdom of God. Yet, that seems to be our preferred way of chasing after God. We do stuff, or sometimes we say stuff. God, if this is going to happen, then I will have to work to get the job done.

It doesn’t work. In fact, often a belief that we can achieve the goals of God with hard work ends with depression because we can’t get the job done. Depression is part of life, but some things can aggravate it. In this passage, two things are abundantly clear: Elijah has worked hard, and he is depressed.

There is no doubt that Elijah has been busy. Listen to his complaint. “God, the people have rejected your covenant, but I haven’t; I am still working on your plans and goals for Israel. They have torn down your altars, but I haven’t. I have just built a new one dedicated to you on Mount Carmel. They have put your prophets to death with the sword, God, I haven’t. In fact, on Mount Carmel, the reverse happened; I put the prophets of Baal to death. God, I have been busy doing your will. But now they are trying to kill me too.”

God, why won’t you honor me after all that I have done for you? I think if we are honest, we have all been there. God, why do I have to go through all of this after all I have given to you? I tithe, I make my home open to you, all I have is yours. So why do I get to go through this situation?

We have been busy. But God isn’t impressed by what we have done. First and foremost, he wants us to desire to be with him. The tragedy is that we sometimes are a lot like Elijah; we mistake the action and the busyness of our lives for the presence of God. And the result is almost always depression.

God’s prescription for Elijah and us is the same. Stop and listen to me. Recognize that you can’t work your way into my presence. And regardless of what is happening around you, know that I love you and I still hold you in my hands. God is still on the throne, and he still has a plan, even if we can’t see it.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 20

"What have I done wrong," asked Obadiah, "that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death?" – 1 Kings 18:9

Today's Scripture Reading (February 22, 2026): 1 Kings 18

Robert Leroy Parker and Harry Alonzo Longabaugh were bank robbers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. You probably have heard of them, but by different names. They earned their fame under the names of Butch Cassidy (Parker) and the Sundance Kid (Longabaugh). I have seen the 1969 movie with Paul Newman as Butch Cassidy and Robert Redford as the Sundance Kid. Admittedly, it has been years since I watched the film, and I probably need to rewatch it, but the ending shows the two criminals taking cover inside a building. They are not aware that the local "Keystone Cops" have been reinforced by the Bolivian Army. The last scene shows Cassidy and Sundance running out of the building, ready to shoot their way out of their current situation. The last scene of the movie is a freeze-frame shot of Cassidy and Sundance running into the fray. Admittedly, I thought at the time I watched the movie that the death of Cassidy and Sundance was a foregone conclusion. The bandits died in this gunfight in Bolivia. That conclusion to the lives of Butch and Sundance is almost a forgone conclusion, but we have to deal with that word "almost."

More recently, I have thought about the ending of the 1969 film. You see Butch and Sundance running, not dead. Did they die in this gunfight in San Vicente Canton, Bolivia? Maybe the best answer we can give is probably. The best evidence that Butch and Sundance died in this gunfight is that we never heard from them ever again. However, we have never been able to prove that the men who died in Bolivia were Butch and Sundance. We have conducted DNA tests on the bodies and have not yet found a positive match. Maybe Butch and Sundance died on November 7, 1908. Or, maybe, Butch and Sundance disappeared on November 7, 1908, never to be seen again. It is a mystery that we may never solve to the satisfaction of everyone interested in the life and death of these famous outlaws.

Elijah had marched into the presence of King Ahab and declared that there would be a drought, then disappeared just as mysteriously. Ahab had searched for him, and no one had been able to find out where the prophet was hiding. Then Elijah appears to Obadiah and tells the King's servant to go to Ahab and say to him that Elijah has returned to speak with him. Obadiah looks at Elijah, who is essentially a fugitive on the run, and hesitates to deliver the message. After all, Elijah had already proven that he could disappear, and if he disappeared while Obadiah carried the message to Ahab, the King would take out his frustration on Obadiah.

That is a door that Obadiah would rather not open. Elijah could carry his own message. Obadiah is caught between a rock and a hard place. He supports Elijah, but would rather not be his messenger. Although, in the end, that is precisely what he will become.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 19

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. – 1 Kings 17:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 21, 2026): 1 Kings 17

For just over a decade, I lived in the desert. You are probably picturing sand dunes, but there were none. It was a desert, but one that humans had remade into a farming and ranching oasis. However, farmers had to spend money on expensive irrigation systems because the area was generally dry and constantly windy. It was hard to imagine a more inhospitable wilderness. There was a creek that meandered through the area, fed by water from the nearby mountains. But it was a desert just the same.

It was a desert, but that didn’t mean that there was no rain. I remember a time when the rain fell almost constantly for more than a month, and what I discovered was that because it was a desert, the land didn’t seem to know how to handle the increased water. Water seemed to just sit on top of the ground, flooding everywhere. Farmers and ranchers who had depended on irrigation systems to water their crops discovered that the only way to get around their farms and ranches was to have a canoe ready to make the trip. However, when the rain stopped, it was amazing how quickly the flooded ground returned to its desert-like state.

Elijah is told to go and stay by a brook. A raven would bring him bread and meat so that he could eat, and the brook would provide the prophet with the water he needed to drink. But it was a time of severe drought in Israel, and so, eventually, even the brook dried up. And God tells Elijah it is time to move on to the next stage. Elijah accepts the change with amazing grace. The truth is that Elijah never placed his trust in the brook for its water or in the birds that would bring him what he needed to eat. His trust was in God. God was trusted for the first stage, and he could be trusted for the next stage as well. I wonder if I would be as trusting, or if I would be tempted to complain that God had promised me the brook for water, and now even the brook was gone. Sometimes, maybe it takes more trust in God as you sit beside the drying brook than it does to stand and challenge the followers of Baal on the top of Mount Carmel.

Baptist pastor F. B. Meyer (1847-1929) comments on several types of drying brooks that we still sit beside today. There is a brook of decreasing popularity as we grow older and pass the torch to the next generation. There are also the drying brooks of declining health, of dwindling money, and of fewer friendships. We all suffer from these drying brooks, and each one demands that we acknowledge whether our trust is in the brook or in the God who gave us the brook in the first place.

Back in my personal desert, I remember a Sunday evening prayer service where the town came together to pray for rain. It was a gorgeous evening; the sun was shining, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. But one friend walked to the prayer service, swinging an umbrella. I smiled at her, and she asked me where mine was. After all, we were praying for rain from the author of the rain and the sun, and even the drying brook. And He was willing to bring the needed rain, as long as we continued to trust in him. 

 Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 18

Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king and strengthened himself against Israel. – 2 Chronicles 17:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 20, 2026): 2 Chronicles 17

Currently, forty nations are at war worldwide. That number does not include any countries other than Ukraine and Russia involved in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict and does not include the United States, which currently seems to be on the verge of a civil war. In the past 3,421 years, there have been only 268 years of global peace. That would mean there are about eight years of peace in every century. Maybe more importantly, since the end of World War II, there have been only twenty-six days of global peace. The most extended period of peace in the last 3500 years is 10 years, from 1816 to 1826, known as the Pax Britannica. But even during that time, there were conflicts in the world, including the First Seminole War, when the U.S. forces fought against the Seminole tribe of Florida between 1816 and 1818, and the Arikara War near the Missouri River between the Arikara and U.S. forces, which marked early plains Indian resistance in the United States. 

Jehoshaphat was the son of Asa, and he came to the throne of Judah after the death of his father, Asa, at the age of thirty-five. Asa was considered to be a peaceful King, but Jehoshaphat was a strong King. And the first thing he did was prepare Judah to defend itself from the threat from the northern Kingdom of Israel. Jehoshaphat was a good king, in part because he seemed to recognize that the threat from Israel was not just a military one, although that may have been the threat easiest to defend against. The danger was also political: the Judeans might have been tempted to emulate the Kings of Israel, whom the Bible declares were all bad kings. Israel and its false worship practices also remained a spiritual threat. In each of these areas, Jehoshaphat guarded his nation against decline, just as David had, especially in the beginning days of David’s reign.  

David Guzik makes this observation about the author of Chronicles.

In his presentation of the history of the kings of Judah, the Chronicler constantly brings the contrast and the challenge before the readers of his day and ours: “Your destiny, as an individual and as a nation, can either be like that of Judah or Israel. You should follow the example of those who walked…not according to the acts of Israel” (David Guzik, based on 1 Chronicles 17:1-4).

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 17

Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim and all the store cities of Naphtali. – 2 Chronicles 16:4

Today's Scripture Reading (February 19, 2026): 2 Chronicles 16

Although the first two World Wars were very different, Germany's plans at the outset of both wars were remarkably similar. The idea in both wars was to deal quickly with France and create a one-front war in the east. In World War I, they weren't able to achieve that goal, at least not fast enough. During World War II, they achieved their goal. Using minimal efforts, the Nazis were able to restrain the United Kingdom to existing miserably on their island, while the German war machine concentrated on Russia and the Eastern Front.

By the time of the Tehran Conference, November 28 – December 1, 1943, the United Kingdom was committed to securing a foothold on the continent and opening a Western Front in the war. The Tehran Conference was the first meeting of the Big Three allied nations: The United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union. It would also be the last time these three nations met until the Yalta Conference in February 1945. At the Tehran Conference, Joseph Stalin made it clear that the Soviet Union needed a second front. They needed some relief from the German onslaught they had been fighting against on the Eastern Front.

The primary outcome of the Tehran Conference was the Big Three's agreement to open a second front in the war by June 1, 1944. It was not going to be an easy task, but the Soviet Union needed relief and assistance from its Western partners. Part of the problem was the weather. Not only did they need a plan and human resources, but they needed a break from the winter storms that dominated the Atlantic Ocean. The hope was that by the end of May, everything would be ready for an attack on the Atlantic coast of France, and that the weather would allow them to gain a foothold and a landing place where the allies could bring both the men and materiel needed for the Western Front of the war.

If you remember your World War II history, you might know that the target date set by the Tehran Conference was not met. The Normandy invasion was five days late; the invasion of France began on June 6, 1944. But Normandy was a second front; it gave the Soviet Union the relief it needed, and was a critical factor in the Allied forces being able to defeat the Nazi's in World War II.

Ben-Hadad had a treaty with Asa in Judah. Not only was there a treaty, but Asa had paid well for Ben-Hadad's help. As a result of that treaty and payment, Ben-Hadad was willing to force Baasha of Israel to open up a second front in his conflict with Judah. It also forced Baasha to stop building his fortress city of Ramah, a key measure to prevent the faithful people of Israel from visiting Judah and Jerusalem and from worshipping at the Temple as God had commanded.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 17