1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21
The Book of Kings is part of the “Deuteronomic History” that includes the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. These books emphasize that God controls history, and when the people (and their kings) worship Yahweh properly, good things happen to them. When they worship false gods, however, bad events overtake them. Today’s reading follows the story in which Elijah invoked Yahweh to overcome the priests of Baal to bring rain and to burn an offering. Jezebel, the Baal-worshiping wife of Ahab (873-852 BCE), vowed revenge, and Elijah escaped to the south and hid in a cave where he heard the voice of Yahweh in the stillness. In today’s reading, Yahweh told Elijah to anoint a new king of Aram (Syria), and (in an act of treason) to anoint a new king over Israel, even though Ahab was still king. Elijah was also directed to select Elisha as his successor. In hyperbole that often used in the Hebrew Bible to emphasize a point, Elisha destroyed his means of sustenance and slaughtered 12 yoke of oxen (24 oxen), which would have had an enormous value.

Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Galatia was a large Roman province in what is now western Turkey. This letter was written in the late 40’s or early 50’s (CE), and deals in part with controversies between Jewish Jesus Followers and Gentile Jesus Followers regarding the continuing importance of Torah (Law). Today’s reading emphasizes that Christ gives us freedom to love one another through the Spirit, and Paul contrasts this with being compelled to follow rules under the law. It is also noteworthy that when Paul enumerates the “works of the flesh,” he includes many sins of the mind – idolatry, jealousy, anger, and envy to name just a few. For Paul, “the flesh” was that part of our humanity that opposes the Spirit within us.