Evil Ahab

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

King Ahab was king of Israel and he was a terrible king. He was insolent, arrogant, sullen, demanding, acted like a child at times and had a wife he catered to who worshiped foreign gods, not the God of Israel. While it amazes me that God allowed men like Ahab to become rulers over Israel, it shouldn’t, I suppose.

If you consider the history highlighted in 1 and 2 Kings, it quickly becomes clear that Israel had lost her way. One king after another was often worse than the king before. In fact, the northern kingdom of Israel had no good kings and the southern kingdom of Judah had only a few good kings; kings who made good decisions, honoring God.

This all began because of King David’s sin that began with his lusting after Bathsheba, which turned into adultery, and eventually into murdering her husband, Uriah (2 Samuel 11). Even though God forgave David, the consequences of his sinful actions would take its toll on his descendants and on Israel in general. This actually did not begin until after David’s son Solomon finished reigning. Immediately after Solomon, things went bad in a hurry. Eventually, Israel split into two factions, the north and the south. The northern kingdom called Samaria their capitol, while the southern kingdom of Judah retained Jerusalem as its capitol. By the time, Jesus came on the scene, the antagonism between Jews and Samaritans had come to a boiling point and it was all due to this split that had occurred hundreds of years before.

Solomon started off great. He asked for wisdom and God granted it. The first few chapters of 1 Kings tell the story of how Solomon created God’s House for worship. By the time we arrive to 1 Kings 11, we see Solomon starting to fall away. Here was possibly the wisest man who ever lived apart from Jesus, and yet his wisdom could not keep him from falling away from God. That should be an important lesson to us, that no one is beyond the ability to fall away in sin.

Solomon had many wives and many were due to entering into agreements with leaders of other nations. These women came to Jerusalem to live in Solomon’s palace and continued worshiping their pagan gods. Solomon wanted his wives to be happy so he built high places for them to help them worship. This was an affront to God, yet either Solomon’s wisdom couldn’t see it, or he simply ignored it.

Verse 9 of 1 Kings 11 tells us because of this, God became angry with Solomon and raised adversaries against him. God does the same thing with us if/when needed because He loves us and doesn’t want us to continue going down the wrong path.

I learned a remarkable lesson not long ago. I was installing a plug into the wall of a garage. To get the wire through to the electrical box, I had to drill a hole into the side of the box through the wooden beam. This would allow me to bring the wire into the electrical box, and connect it to a breaker. Unfortunately, though I knew how to do that, the most basic piece of wisdom slipped right by me. I failed to turn off the electricity. So, while I was drilling to the side, the drill’s proximity to the group of existing breakers causes a severe arc effect and a small explosion directly in front of me. I was concentrating so hard on the drilling, I could not see any danger at all, until the danger presented itself.

Now, I believe God protected me. I did not get hurt in the least bit. The average electrical box in a home has 200 amps, which can easily kill a person. I was shaken, but I had no physical injuries. I was wearing glasses and I noticed that the arcing had caused a few black/gray spots on my lenses. Had I not been wearing glasses, those would have affected my eyes directly. I cannot imagine being that stupid! Yet, I had been. Now of course, any time I install any sort of electrical breaker in the electrical box, the electricity is completely shut off for my safety. I still stand back in awe about how badly that could have gone and am thankful it did not go that way.

Solomon made a terrible decision that cost him a great deal, yet he didn’t really come back from it. In fact, Solomon died in 1 Kings 11 and we see kings who come after him. It’s really a mess, the for the most part, yet it is so because of sin that had occurred and God’s promise to David that the sword would not depart from his house.

People, we often get what we pay for and if we do not, it is solely due to God’s sovereignty and love for us. Certainly, we deserve worse than we often receive and we would do well to humble ourselves before God as quickly and as genuinely as possible so that He can recreate within us the nature of His Son.

Since the death of Solomon, the resultant split of Israel into a northern and southern kingdom and the many terrible and evil kings that resided over the two kingdoms, it is clear that David’s sin, followed by Solomon’s had a long-lasting impact. It’s as if God was punishing Israel for the sins of those who ruled over her and that is likely what God was doing. Though it may seem totally unfair to us, who are we that we should question God and the reasons He chooses to do something?

As we continue to move through 1 Kings, we see essentially one bad king after another rise and fall. It’s really not pretty or enlightening in a good way. Our frustration rises to the surface because it certainly seemed as though with each new king, they tried harder to be even more evil than the previous. Certainly not all, but most.

We are finally introduced to Ahab in 1 Kings 16:29ff. Ahab was the son of Omri and Ahab reigned for 22 years. That’s 22 years! Can you imagine having such an evil ruler for that length of time?!

As if Ahab wasn’t bad enough, his wife was worse. Jezebel worshiped foreign gods but it is clear that she was also familiar with the Mosaic Law when she needed to be and could use it against righteous Jewish people of Israel in favor of her husband, Ahab. Scripture tells us that “And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him” (1 Kings 16:30 ESV). That’s nice, isn’t it? Ahab literally outdid previous kings in the category of evil. Yet, God, in His wisdom chose to leave Ahab as ruler for twenty-two years.

We’ve had a few presidents who’ve done nothing for America except make things terribly worse. Fortunately, the most they could serve was 8 years and that seemed like an eternity. Imagine how much damage they could’ve done if they had had a lifetime appointment as president? I shudder to consider it.

We learn that Jezebel served Baal, so Ahab accommodated her by building an Asherah where she could worship freely. This was in Israel at the time! Jezebel brought prophets of Baal to the palace where they lived and ate with her and Ahab! Is it any wonder the Scriptures say, “And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him” (1 Kings 16:33 ESV). To be known for that is something else, isn’t it?

About this time, we are also introduced to the prophet Elijah who confronted Ahab at God’s command. Of course, Ahab was not happy about that and saw Elijah as his enemy. Why? Because Ahab was God’s enemy, therefore anyone who stood for God was also Ahab’s enemy. That’s the way Ahab saw it. It’s like today if you support President Trump, the Left hates you because they hate President Trump. Their loathing seems to know no bounds as they call for violence against Trump supporters, all the while accusing Trump supporters of inciting violence against the Left. Projection? Dangerous times.

Ahab experiences numerous issues with Elijah, with likely the biggest one being Mt. Carmel where Elijah took on the 850 prophets of Baal and where God was victorious. In their defeat, Elijah slaughtered all of the prophets right then and there. Jezebel hears of it and swears revenge on them by promising to kill Elijah, who runs in fear. Ultimately, Jezebel is eventually killed but not before she helps Ahab get what he wanted.

So Ahab continues to live as he wants, finally deciding he wanted a plot of land that was next to his palace. It was a vineyard owned by Naboth (1 Kings 21). Ahab goes to Naboth and demands that he sell Ahab the plot of land so that he (Ahab) could have a vegetable garden near his palace. The problem was that this land was part of Naboth’s ancestral land and he was not allowed to sell it permanently according to Mosaic Law.  Naboth said “no.”

Ahab pouted and literally acted like a child, going to his bed with his face to the wall, even refusing to eat. Jezebel finds him and asks him what’s wrong. He tells her and she decides she will get the plot of land for him and that he should not worry about it.

What does Jezebel do? She essentially uses the Mosaic Law and false testimony from two “worthless felllows” as a pretext to have Naboth and his sons stoned to death. The reason the sons were killed was so that no living relative would be able to claim that land. As soon as they were dead, Ahab went to the plot of land to take it. No time was wasted.

You know, I cannot imagine living in those days, where life was so cheap. We think we have it rough today and in some cases, we do, but overall, there is still some semblance of law and order in our land. We have the right to defend ourselves and our property. We don’t have to worry about some “king” (mayor, governor, etc.), coming to us and demanding that we sell them our land generally speaking and if we refuse, we would be concerned about losing our life.

Life in those days was extremely cheap. Think about the fact that two “worthless fellows” were willing to LIE about another person, who would be put to death without a trial all for selfish gain. This is unconscionable to me.

God sends Elijah to Ahab to point out his sin. Elijah explains to Ahab what was going to happen to him and Jezebel. Ahab hears and yet, in spite of how evil Ahab was, he actually repented of his sin.

(25 There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. 26 He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.) ESV

That’s saying a great deal about how evil Ahab was and yet, when confronted with the truth, Ahab actually repented! The repentance must have been legit because it caused God to roll back the harshness of his previously pronounced sentence on Ahab (v 29).

When I read through the Old Testament, I am appalled and amazed at just exactly how evil people can be and many of them were leaders of Israel (or Judah). The whole thing makes me pause to ask how can people live like that? How can they ignore God’s great mercy and thumb their nose at His justice?

Folks, it’s happening today within Christendom on an increasing scale. Heresy appears to be in full bloom. More and more professing Christians are chasing after things other than God because it pleases them to do so.

We must guard our hearts and minds. We must ensure that we do not fall from God. We must strive to daily put on the mind of Christ. Read His Word every day. Memorize His truth. Hide it in your heart. We must stop flirting with the world or we will apostatize.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective