1 Kings 16:34 ends the chapter, and, if we are not careful, we might judge it to bear no relation to what comes before it and what follows it. Such a view is a mistake. The verse before us exhibits the distance that Israel had declined from its first entrance into the land.
Two things are to be mentioned. First, the knowledge of the word of God had terribly diminished, for Hiel of Bethel appeared to know nothing of the curse. Second, the manner in which the curse was fulfilled was most probably by the offering of the child to Baal as part of the laying of the foundation. This would have meant that the action of this abominable sacrifice showed that Israel under Ahab had reached the level of sin that caused the pagan peoples of the promised land to be destroyed.
This verse reminds us of Joshua entering the Promised Land at the ancient city of Jericho about 500 years earlier. At that time the walls of this strong city collapsed when the people of Israel walked around it seven times (see Joshua 6:12–21). On that day Joshua had pronounced this curse: Cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho. 'At the cost of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest son shall he set up its gates'
(Joshua 6:26). As the first city attacked, Jericho represented the whole of the land of Canaan. It was to be wholly destroyed, and the curse was placed on it so that it might not be rebuilt, for its rebuilding would symbolize a return to the sins of the Amorites that God was using Israel as an instrument to punish. The walls of Jericho had not been rebuilt since, and perhaps the debris was still there. This sent out a message for everyone who entered the territory of Israel or Judah via this border-crossing: You are now entering the land that has the Lord as God. He is the protector there.
This land does not need a fortified border-city with walls and gates (see Psalm 48:1–14). Whoever rebuilt this accursed city would do so at the cost of his youngest son. This is exactly what happened.
The rebuilding of the walls and gates in the days of Ahab is significant. It is a clear act of contempt against the God of Israel: We do not trust that protection; we prefer to take care of our own safety.
At the same time, it also betrays fear: You never know, so let us build a wall anyway.
The master builder Hiel executed Ahab’s plan to rebuild Jericho, a city that was supposed to remain in ruins (Joshua 6:17). This action is part and parcel of Ahab’s misdeeds that greatly provoked the Lord to anger.
The building project from start to finish was marked by tragedy. But according to the Lord’s curse, disobedience to his revelation came at a cost; the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Hiel lost two sons with the construction, Abiram and Segub—as Joshua had foretold. In
(the Hebrew prefix “be”) his eldest son he laid the foundations, and in
his youngest son he fixed the gates. This formulation leaves open what exactly happened. Was it a deadly disease, an unexplained sudden death? Does in
mean with
(the blood of) his eldest and youngest? But it is also possible—or even probable—that the reference here is to two children sacrificed during the construction. Baal was a greedy god and demanded an excessive sacrifice for his favours and gifts.
Between the lines we see two types of religion illustrated here: the belief in the Lord, the God of Israel and Judah—a religion of faith, trust, love, and freedom; opposite the religion of Baal—a religion of strength, manhood, and fertility, but at the same time of fear, violence, cruelty, lust, and sensuality. This also leads to two kinds of societies: one is based on trust, charity, care for the weak, a good and generous God; the other is characterized by distrust, fear of a greedy demanding god, creating your own security, the right
of the strongest, the manliest.
34 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.