Back two episodes ago, we learned how the spirit that influenced Joseph to dispossess the Egyptians—the Canaanite war-goddess Anat—was trounced by Deborah and Barak. Together they opposed the Canaanite king Jabin and his general Sisera and, through a manoeuvre worthy of the Grand Old Duke of York who marched ten thousand men to the top of a hill, they drew out the enemy forces so that God could fight for them.

They were able to reclaim the territory they had been dispossessed of, through a great victory in the Jezreel Valley. Naturally, Anat was not going to take this defeat lying down. It was in the Jezreel Valley that she chose to take back what she’d lost and, just as she affected Joseph, now she influenced a ruler with a palace in that same locality.

His name was Ahab. His tribal origin is unclear, but there are several parallels in his life to that of Joseph.

• Joseph’s wife was named Asenath, sacred to Anat. Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, evidently worshipped Anat since their daughter was Athaliah, named in an unholy compromise for both Anat and Yahweh.
• Both Joseph and Ahab had fathers-in-law who were priests of a sun-god.
• Both had property in Samaria—Joseph was eventually buried, as he requested, at Shechem, the original capital of Samaria. Ahab’s palace was on the hill of Samaria.
• They both lived during a time of famine and drought—Joseph prepared for it while Ahab blamed Elijah for it.
• Both undertook great building projects—Joseph wisely constructed storehouses while Ahab unwisely constructed a palace of pearl.
• Ahab, through the connivance of Jezebel, stole the inheritance of Naboth and his sons for the benefit of himself and his family. Likewise Joseph disinherited the Egyptians, removed them from their ancestral plots, and gave Goshen, the finest pastureland in the Nile Delta, to his family.

In Ahab’s story, we see that Anat, the spirit of dispossession, is back—and back in a major way. Ahab’s exercise of Joseph’s mantle does not advance the legacy or forward the unfinished task still carried within the mantle. Instead Ahab’s choices cause it to revert to a defiled state—one where dispossession, disinheritance and dishonour are dominant.

It is even able to despoil Elijah’s mantle. Back in episode 98, we noted that Elijah was so unnerved when Jezebel called on the spirits, the young lions, who were the so-called family of Baal and Asherah, he panicked. It was Anat, Baal’s sister, who was the most fearsome of these. And given that Jezebel had, in part, named her daughter for Anat, this would have been the spirit she was principally invoking. Ultimately, since Elijah never completed the tasks God assigned him after the coming of the wind, earthquake, fire and still, small voice, it’s not unreasonable to think that Ahab’s implementation of Joseph’s mantle interfered with Elijah’s operation of his mantle. Yet, in fact, the opposite was what God had intended.

This is Grace Drops; and I’m Anne Hamilton. May Jesus of Nazareth protect your mantle from defilement.

Thank you to Lorna Skinner of www.riversofmusic.co.uk for the background music.

Elijah’s mantle is discussed in Dealing with Lilith: Spirit of Dispossession orThe Elijah Tapestry: John 1 and 21: Mystery, Majesty and Mathematics in John’s Gospel #1.

Joseph’s mantle is featured The Summoning of Time: John 2 and 20: Mystery, Majesty and Mathematics in John’s Gospel #2.

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