Three of the most fascinating characters in Israel’s history are contemporaries and opponents. There is Elijah, the fiery prophet of God; Ahab, the weak and unfaithful king, and Jezebel, the beautiful pagan queen who leads the northern kingdom of Israel into deeper apostasy and paganism.
Dancing with Jezebel is told through Obadiah, a righteous and God-fearing man in the court of Ahab. The Bible gives us little information about this man who both serves the king and befriends the prophet, but he is perfectly situated to tell what it would have been like to witness the manipulation of the king by the beautiful queen from Sidon. In this book, Obadiah is the grandson of Dan, one of the counsellors sent to Rehoboam, the foolish son of Solomon whose arrogance led to the rupture of Israel and the formation of the Northern Kingdom that became Samaria. Obadiah’s wife, Naomi, is from Judah, the cousin of King Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. Obadiah gives a brief account of the kings of the Northern Kingdom, the origin of Samaria, and the conflicts with Judah and the revival of faith in the southern neighbour. This historical fiction is faithful to scripture concerning a forgotten era from Israel’s history that speaks to issues of our day: the loss of historical faith, the rise of false religions, and the consequences of apostasy. There are fictional characters and narratives, but the actual history of Judah and Israel are faithfully recounted. It is a history we need to remember.