David and Absalom
Absalom is David’s third son, he was David’s favorite children. While he was in Jerusalem as a child he became everyone's favorite person, being a good person, beautiful, and wealthy. His
Half brother, Amnon, the oldest son of david, raped Absalom’s sister Tamar. And David decided not to punish Amnon. Two years later Absalom had a great feast. At this feast he invited all of
David’s sons, after doing this he poisoned Amnon in retribution for him raping his sister.
Absalom ran away to his mother’s father, maternal grandfather, for three years. After this time
David let him return to Jerusalem, and welcomed him back into the family. For four years
Absalom gained support by telling people, who were denied what they thought to be justice from
David, that he would be a judge and give them justice if they would come to him instead of
David. He would also deceive them by not taking gifts from them for his work. After building his supporters Absalom took over Davids Court. He became King. David had spies infiltrate
Absalom’s court asking him not attack David while he was weak. Later there was a great battle between David and Absalom’s armies, and Absalom’s army was totally devastated. Absalom was caught by an Oak tree and even though David told his followers not to kill his son, one of his followers did. David was distraught saying, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!”. This is told to us to show how betrayal will only lead to sorrow, especially when you betray your family. David and Absalom is a story about betrayal. David had multiple wives and many sons and daughters, the oldest son was Amnon, and his third son was Absalom. Absalom had a full sister Tetra, and she was raped by Amnon. When David did not punish Amnon, Absalom plotted for two years to kill Amnon for his betrayal. Then he fled for four years. When he returned he plotted to overthrow his father
David, and to make himself king. He succeeded, but was defeated in battle with his father. David still wished he had not died and told his followers not to kill Absalom, but they did any way. Elijah’s God Outdoes the False Prophets (Blazing Finish to a Long Day)
In the third year, God came to Elijah and told him that if he presented himself to Ahab, that he would send rain to his land, so Elijah obliged. The famine was severe in Samaria and Ahab summoned Obadiah. Ahab told Obadiah to go and find some food and water for their animals. So they went their separate ways. As Obadiah was walking along he ran into Elijah. Elijah began to tell him to go get his master and to tell his master that he was there. Obadiah then asked him why he’s sentencing him to death. Obadiah said if I go and get Ahab and then come back and
Ahab finds that you aren’t here, he will kill me. But he promised Obadiah that he would stay there and not leave. Obadiah then went to find Ahab and brought him back. Elijah asked Ahab to go gather all of the prophets of Baal, so Ahab did so. When all of the prophets appeared Elijah told them that they would each find a bull and cut it up into pieces, but not set it on fire. Elijah said the lord who responds by fire is our God. The Baals screamed out for their “lord” multiple times, but there was absolutely no response. Soon after, Elijah began calling out for his Lord and instantly a fire began to start. Baal’s prophets were in complete shock and in the end they

stopped worshipping Baal and began worshiping God their true savior. After this Elijah got what he was promised from God, rain for his land. This story is told so we will not doubt God’s love for us, and so we will not worship a fake and unworthy God.

The Queen of Sheba
The queen of Sheba was a ruler (960 B.C.) with fantastic power, riches, and natural beauty. The biblical story tells of her hearing of and confronting King Solomon of Jerusalem, a famous
Hebrew known