[202 words]
King Ahab called Elijah the prophet the “troubler of Israel” (1 Kings 18:17). Of course, the prophet wasted no time in pointing out that it was Ahab, not Elijah, who was the real trouble in Israel because he had abandoned the commandments of the LORD (1 Kings 18:18).
A few years later, Ahab’s daughter will do virtually the same thing. When the people were in the process of crowning Joash as the new king of Judah, Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out, “Treason! Treason!” (2 Chron. 23:13). The fact of the matter was that she was the one who had committed treason when she murdered her family members in order to secure the throne (2 Chron. 22:10).
There is an important lesson in these historical events for us.
You and I often do just exactly what we accuse others of doing! We point the finger at others and put the spotlight on them when we are the guilty ones. Let us be ever more concerned with our own sinfulness and standing before Almighty God!
“…first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matt. 7:5).
Bart Warren
S. Green St. church of Christ
Glasgow, KY