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God's judgement on Ahab's family

God deals with wicked King Ahab and his family.
Contributed by Richard Gunther
Story also available on our translated websites: Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Hindi
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Be warned - there are many violent and gruesome scenes in this story. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel were both very wicked. They had murdered God’s prophets and encouraged people to worship false gods. When they murdered an innocent man called Naboth to steal his vineyard God sent the prophet Elijah to pronounce judgement on Ahab’s family. <br/>Ahab was told, ‘Dogs will lick your blood in the same place that Naboth died … dogs will eat Jezebel and your whole family are going to be wiped out.’ <br/>Three years later war broke out between Israel and Syria. – Slide 1
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Ahab was very devious. He thought that if he went into battle dressed as a king the Syrians might focus on attacking him. So he disguised himself as an ordinary soldier. – Slide 2
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When Ahab’s troops charged into battle, Ahab rode his chariot just like all the other soldiers in chariots. – Slide 3
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However, an enemy soldier flew an arrow up into the air and came down and hit the king in a gap in his amour. Ahab lost a lot of blood. – Slide 4
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Eventually Ahab died. His chariot was brought back to the city to be washed clean. Guess where it was washed? – Slide 5
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It was washed in the same place that Naboth was killed – and dogs licked Ahab’s blood – just as God had said. – Slide 6
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But what about Jezebel? Didn’t God say she would be punished too? Three years passed and she remained queen. Sometimes God waits many years before He fulfils His Word. – Slide 7
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God picked out a man called Jehu and sent the prophet Elisha to anoint him. Jehu’s task was to kill all of Ahab’s wicked family and become king. – Slide 8
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God told Elisha that dogs would eat the body of Jezebel as she and her family were so horribly bad. – Slide 9
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Jehu was keen to take Jezebel’s crown so he quickly gathered some fighting men and set off to rid the nation of the wicked family that had ruled over them and led them astray. – Slide 10
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The first member of Ahab’s family Jehu went after was Joram. Jehu rode his chariot to face Joram in battle. – Slide 11
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Joram was hoping for peace but Jehu told him: ‘There can be no peace as long as you keep behaving like your wicked mother!’ – Slide 12
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Joram knew he couldn’t beat Jehu so he took off in his chariot. Jehu drew back his arrow and took aim … – Slide 13
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Whizz! Smack! The arrow went through Joram’s heart! – Slide 14
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Jehu ordered that the body of Joram be dumped in the vineyard which used to belong to Naboth. – Slide 15
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The next wicked person on Jehu’s list was Ahaziah, king of Judah. He also fled from Jehu. – Slide 16
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Jehu sent his men after King Ahaziah. They caught up with him and wounded him. Ahaziah managed to escape to the nearby city of Megiddo. – Slide 17
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Soon after the king reached Megiddo, he died. – Slide 18
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Now Jehu turned his attention to Queen Jezebel. He rode off to the to find her. – Slide 19
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When Jezebel heard Jehu was coming, she put on make-up and tried to look as glamorous as possible. – Slide 20
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When Jehu arrived, Jezebel came over to the window and tried to win Jehu over with her good looks. – Slide 21
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But Jehu wasn’t interested. ‘Who is on my side?’ he shouted. Three men near the queen raised their hands. – Slide 22
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‘Throw her down!’ Jehu commanded. The wicked queen was hurled out of the window. She fell to the ground and died. – Slide 23
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Jehu had brought God’s judgement on the wicked things that Ahab’s family had done over many years. Jehu went inside to have a meal and a rest. – Slide 24
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After a while Jehu said: ‘Go and bury that cursed woman Jezebel, she is, after all, royalty.’ Jehu’s men went to find Jezebel’s body where it had fallen to the ground. – Slide 25
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But dogs had eaten the body. Only the skull and bits of her hands were left to bury. – Slide 26
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Jehu’s men came back to report what had happened. ‘Ah!’ said Jehu. ‘This is exactly what the prophet Elijah predicted many years ago.’ When God says something is going to happen – it always does. – Slide 27
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