The Last Faithful Man Author:Joel Simon Time has a way of distorting personalities into one-dimensional caricatures that bear almost no resemblance to the original. The name Jezebel has come to mean a faithless, immoral woman. Elijah, on the other hand, is a synonym for virtuous zeal. Yet the people behind these names were much more complex. Jezebel was the daughter of a rich an... more »d ambitious king. She was clearly a zealous partisan, and though her methods may seem shocking to our 21st century sensibilities she remained true to her cause until her own violent death. Elijah, for all his legendary zeal, was given to fits of panic and temper. Though unlike Jezebel he espoused a code of ethics and morality, his methods were not always very different from Jezebels. The Last Faithful Man is the story of Jezebel and the prophets Elijah and Elisha, and of their murderous struggle for control of ancient Israel during the reigns of King Ahab and his sons. It is a complex story of wars great and small, reason and insanity, loyalty and deadly betrayal. The marriage of Ahab and Jezebel is a strange combination of tenderness and intrigue. The twisted relationship of Jezebel and her daughter Athaliah, the future queen of Judah, brings disaster to that beleaguered land. The alliance between volatile, impulsive Elijah and his methodical apprentice Elisha culminates at last in an ironic triumph of sorts. Benhadad, the king of Syria, sees his attempts to conquer Israel thwarted by Ahab time after time until at last Benhadad plots a revenge which not even that warrior king can withstand. Through it all Jehu, Ahabs once loyal lieutenant, grows in power and waits.« less