4). The crown once gained, the reckless
player showed his gratitude to the fanatics, and sent the priests
and worshippers of Baal after the priests of Jehovah whom he had
slaughtered along with all belonging to the royal house (x. 11).
The manner in which he led them into the snare (x. 18 seq.) shows
that no one had thought before this of regarding him as the
champion of Jehovah; and even at this time his zeal was manifestly
only ostensible: he was not fighting for an idea (x. 15.
seq.). Thus we see that Baal did not bring about the fall of
the house of Ahab, but common treason; the zealots employed for
their purposes a most unholy instrument, which employed them in
turn as a holy instrument for its purposes; they did not
succeed in rousing the people to a storm against Baal, far from it.
The execution of Naboth seems to have excited greater indignation:
it was a crime against morals, not against religion. Even in the
history of Elijah the admission is made that this struggle
against Baal, in spite of his sacrificial victory on Carmel, was
in the end without result, and that only the judicial murder of
Naboth brought about a change in the popular sentiment.
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