The Blame Game

My readings for the last couple of days have been in the books of 1 & 2 Kings.

In 1 Kings we meet two characters whose stories intertwine for a long period of time - Ahab and Elijah.

Ahab was the king of Israel and, to put it nicely, he was not the most faithful of kings.  He violated the covenant the people had made with God by worshiping idols and marrying a woman named Jezebel - whose bad reputation and behavior have succeeded her to the point that her name itself serves as a derogatory label even today.

Elijah, on the other hand, was a prophet of God.  He assiduously followed God's will and spoke whatever God told him to speak.

The contrast between these two men could not be more clear.  And it was probably inevitable that, at some point, their paths would cross and they would be at odds.

The opening salvo occurs in 1 Kings 17 when God decides it is time to let Ahab know that his evil deeds had not gone unnoticed.  So God sends Elijah to Ahab with a message: "It's not going to rain for a long, long time."  Ahab, who is king, reacts defiantly to the message.  But of course, as we could guess, Elijah's word comes true.

A length of time passes and God sends Elijah back to Ahab who, incidentally, had been hunting Elijah in order to kill him.  As Elijah and Ahab finally come face to face, Ahab greets Elijah like this:


"Is that you, you troubler of Israel?" (1 Kings 18:17).

Every time I read that question, I grow increasingly fascinated by it.  I am convinced that, though I want to condemn Ahab, I have to admit that I am all too much like him.

Ahab doesn't want to take responsibility for his own actions and he certainly doesn't want to face up to the idea that the drought facing Israel was a result of God's attempt to call him, Ahab, back to the true covenant.  In Ahab's mind, all of his problems come down to Elijah.  If he can get rid of Elijah, everything will be good.

Talk about "kill the messenger."

Yet isn't that the same thing that I do?  That you do?  Rather than face up to the truth that many of our struggles are due to our own actions or due to God trying to get our attention, we are quick to place the blame on things outside of ourselves.

Our problems come down to the state of the economy or to "conservatives" or "liberals."  The problems are the fault of immigrants or gays or war or whatever.  On and on we go, proclaiming that our problems are simply not our fault.

"Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"

Denial doesn't change anything, though.  Ahab doesn't get it.  According to 1 Kings, Ahab never got it, never took responsibility, always blamed Elijah.

May we all learn from this and become people who first look within, seeking the sources of our struggles and problems within ourselves before assigning blame to others.

jB