Jezebel's 400

Elijah had a showdown at Mt. Carmel. But not all those Ahab summoned came. The ones that didn't may have been part of Ahab's undoing the the upcoming years.

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Transcript

Title: Jezebel’s 400

Subtitle: Converse but Verify

#GospelAccordingToTheRock

Jezebel’s 400

by Eric Engelmann

All content © 2025 Static Force, LLC

BY WAY OF BACKGROUND

Moses commanded in Deuteronomy 16:21–22:

“Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the Lord your God, and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the Lord your God hates.”

This Scripture directly links Asherah worship with both wooden and *stone* cult objects — and condemns them.

I reference this because there were some 400 Asherah prophets that werel unaccounted for in Elijah’s showdown with Jezebel at Carmel.

📜 Timeline for “Jezebel’s 400”

🔹 874 BC – Jezebel Became Queen of Israel

• She brought Baal worship into Israel and aggressively persecuted prophets of the Lord.
   📖 1 Kings 16:31–33
  
  
  

🔹 About 8 years later… 866 BC 

Jezebel systematically killed prophets of Yahweh. Obadiah hid 100 prophets in caves to save them.
 📖 1 Kings 18:4, 13

🔹About 6 years later.  860 BC 

Prophets of Asherah Absent

• Elijah challenged Ahab and summoned all Israel to Mount Carmel, including 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah.
  
  
  
• Only the prophets of Baal appeared and were slaughtered after Yahweh answered Elijah’s prayer with fire.

1 Kings 18:40;

• The prophets of Asherah did not appear — possibly they remained under Jezebel’s protection or refused the summons. 
• Please note the number of surviving Asherah prophets was *400.*
  
  
  

🔹 About 3 years later… 857 BC – Jezebel Orchestrated Naboth’s Death

• 
  
• I want to mention the history of Ahab’s desire to control the land around him.
• Ahab desired Naboth’s vineyard. Jezebel arranged for false witnesses to accuse Naboth of blasphemy, resulting in his death by *stoning*.
   📖 1 Kings 21:1–16
• NOTE: Ahab delighted in someone else’s land, but wasn’t able to get enough. 

That’s enough background. Here’s the SCRIPTURE PASSAGE

🔹 About 4 years later … 853 BC 

1 Kings 22

Verse 2 Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went down to visit the king of Israel.

3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, but we hesitate to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?”

NOTE: It looks like Ahab’s desire for land is still at work.

 4 So he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight at Ramoth Gilead?”

NOTE: Jehoshaphat makes a commitment. Then he’ll ask for a word from the Lord. That seems backwards to me.

 Verse 5 Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire for the word of the Lord today.”

NOTE: There’s some tricky wording in the upcoming verse.

Verse 6 Then the king of Israel gathered the *prophets* together, about *four hundred men*, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain?”

NOTE: Here are about 400 men. The Scripture does not say these prophets are *prophets of the LORD*.

Continuing verse 6: ‘So they said, “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”’

Verse 7 And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet *of the Lord* here, that we may inquire of Him?”

That’s the end of the passage. Note that Jehoshaphat saw a difference between the 400 *prophets* and the one prophet of the *LORD* who would properly warn the kings not to go. Continuing with the timeline:

IN THE FUTURE

• Micaiah will come to the meeting and warn Ahab not to go to this battle. Ahab will die in battle at Ramoth-Gilead after ignoring Micaiah’s prophecy. His death will fulfill the judgment for Naboth’s murder.
   📖 1 Kings 22:29–40

Further In the Future, Elijah will ascend, frustrating any attempts at revenge for the prophets of Baal killed at Carmel.

Still Further in the Future, may we be careful what advice we take, and maybe inquire of the LORD early in our decisions.

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