30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight
of the Lord, more than all who
were before him. 31 And
as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son
of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the
Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of
Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33 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 16:30-33
The history of the Northern Israel’s
kingdom is full of rebellion against the Lord.
It all started with Jeroboam who was appointed as king of Israel. Jeroboam ascended to the throne during the
reign of Rehoboam, Solomon’s successor.
But instead of following the Lord, Jeroboam, out of fear, chose to lead
Israel away from the Lord by breaking the second commandment. Jeroboam erected two golden calf statues for
Israel to worship (1 Kings 12:28-30). Thus
Jeroboam carved a statue to represent Yahweh.
So all Israel fell into the sin of idol worship. Jeroboam also replaced the levitical system
of priesthood by his own system (1 Kings 12:31). Ever since Jeroboam, all kings after him
followed his path of rebellion. Ahab was
no different. Ahab was the seventh king
of the northern Israel. Ahab, the son of
Omri, followed the footsteps of his father.
Omri himself was said to be someone who “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who
were before him” (1 Kings 16:25). Ahab is even more evil than his father, for
he was said to be “did
evil in the sight of the Lord,
more than all who were before him” (v. 30).
The Bible gives the detail of Ahab’s
sin, which is not only breaking the second commandment – idol worship, but he
also worshiped different gods which is breaking the first commandment, Baal and
Asherah, the gods of the Sidonians. This
brings us to Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, the princess of Sidon. If we read through the story of Ahab and
Jezebel, we immediately know that Jezebel had a profound influence over
Ahab. The story of Ahab and Naboth’s
vineyard was a witness to Jezebel’s powerful influence over Ahab. Jezebel was the one who devised the plan to
get rid of Naboth so Ahab could take his vineyard. And Ahab, the king, did not do anything to
prevent Jezebel from doing evil. The story
of Jezebel’s enmity toward Elijah over the slaughter of the 400 prophets of
Baal on Mount Carmel was also a witness to Jezebel’s power over Ahab. Elijah had proven that only Yahweh was real
God. But Jezebel couldn’t take that
reality. She ordered to kill
Elijah. Ahab did nothing to stop his
wife.
And so, this is the summary of Ahab’s
state. Ahab disregarded the God of
Israel. He rebelled against God as he
followed the footsteps of Jeroboam by breaking the second commandment. He did more evil when he boldly broke the
first commandment by bowing down to Baal and Asherah, his wife’s gods. By doing this, Ahab was the first king in the
northern kingdom of Israel that introduced the worship of other gods to the people. Under his leadership, Israel started bowing
to Baal in a massive scale. He also
allowed his wife to commit murder by devising an evil plan and supplying false
witnesses in the case of Naboth. He even
allowed his wife to pursue Elijah, God’s faithful servant, in order to kill
him. Husband and wife join together in
mocking the God of Israel.
In the eyes of the world, this couple
might look like they are successful.
They were the king and queen of a fairly rich kingdom. They got what they wanted, power, money,
fame, you name it. Today if we look at
them with the perspective of the world, we would admire them as being smart,
powerful, glorious, glamorous, and all the attributed of success. A lot of rich and powerful families today
dominate the world and we secretly desire to become like them. But often we don’t care about how they got
where they are now. Many of them cheat
their way up. Many of them took down
their business rivals in a very cunning way.
And many of them won’t acknowledge God who holds them accountable for
whatever they do. But still they are
cheered and hailed as great. And many
people bow to them. However, God sees
into the hidden details of their lives.
Whereas their lives on earth might enjoy all the convenience and comfort
of life, God’s judgment in the end time will be just. The ultimate judgment will not be cancelled.
Now, Ahab was supposed to keep God’s
commandments. He was supposed to glorify
God in all he did. He chose not to. He continued to rebel against God, even
though God had sent his prophets to warn him.
God wanted him to repent. But he
refused. Elijah’s battle with 400
prophets of Baal was supposed to persuade Ahab to repent. But instead of repenting, his wife took over
and prevented him from repenting. Ahab
listened to Jezebel more than God. 1
Kings 21:25-26 testifies:
25There 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.
So
God condemned Ahab and Jezebel (1 Kings 21:17-24). They both would die. The dogs would lick Ahab’s blood in the place
where dogs licked Naboth’s blood (fulfilled in 1 Kings 22:38), and the dogs
would devour Jezebel’s body (fulfilled in 2 Kings 9:30-37). The disaster that God brought upon Ahab’s
family was massive. Listen to 1 Kings
21:20-22:
20 Ahab said
to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you,
because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. 21 Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will
utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in
Israel. 22 And I
will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the
house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me,
and because you have made Israel to sin.
This
prophecy was fulfilled in 2 Kings 9 when Jehu revolted and became king in
Samaria.
The story of Ahab and Jezebel is
written for all people to see. This
story of rebellion is written for all to learn not to do what they did. This story is an example of what might happen
to those who rebel against God. Ahab was
an Israelite. He was supposed to
safeguard the Law of God with all his heart.
Someone with the status as king in the house of God disobeyed God in the
most obvious way. Ahab allowed a
non-believer to lead him even further away from the Lord. Forever his name will be remembered as a bad
name.
We better watch how we live. We better be careful with how our family
live. Do we live honoring the Lord? Do we let worldly practice infiltrate our
life? Do we replace God with other
things, like mammon, power, comfort, and so on?
When God’s warning comes to us, how would we respond? Speaking about response, let me bring you to
a very small detail in this story.
When Elijah spoke the prophecy to
Ahab that God would bring disaster to his family, Ahab responded. Often we overlook this small detail. But today I want us to pay attention to
it. 1 Kings 21:27 records Ahab’s
response:
27 And when
Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and
fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly.
When
I read this I was surprised. I thought
Ahab would just mock Elijah’s message and continued in his rebellion against
God. But he did something so
different. He did something
extraordinary as a bad king. This time
he chose the way of David, who repented when Nathan rebuked him for what he did
to Bathsheba and Uriah. Ahab responded
in a godly way. He did not follow the
way of his wife, Jezebel, who mocked God’s servant. So God also did something extraordinary. Look at the next two verses (1 Kings
21:28-29):
28 And the
word of the Lord came to Elijah
the Tishbite, saying, 29 “Have
you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself
before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I
will bring the disaster upon his house.”
God
is a truly merciful God. Just one act of
repentance from Ahab, and God accepted his repentance. Ahab’s repentance was genuine. And God decided to delay the disaster He
spoke through Elijah. And yes, the
disaster God spoke was brought upon Ahab’s house after Ahab died.
Two important things we need to
learn from here. First, God would not
reject a genuine repentance. He always
accepts our genuine repentance. That’s a
relief. And that’s God’s grace. Repentance remains the proper response from
our sins. Remember this and practice it
genuinely. At one time or another, we
will sin. But when we do, do not harden
our hearts. The proper response is
simply to repent. David did. Ahab did.
David was known as a man after God’s heart. So we could say: “Yeah but that’s David. A very good man. For sure God will accept.” But don’t forget, Ahab was not. Who was Ahab?
A person known to be doing more evil than any kings before him. Yet God also accepted his repentance. That’s how high, wide, and deep God’s grace
and mercy is. Thus, no matter how
terrible you are as a person you might think, when you repent genuinely, God
will certainly accept. This is the first
important lesson we ought to learn from here.
Second important lesson is that we
ought not to think that when God accepts our repentance and thus forgives us
our sins, disaster will definitely be cancelled. No, not always. Sometimes He did cancel it. But often He did not cancel it. He cancelled the disaster He planned to the
Israelites in the wilderness over the golden calf incident. But He did not cancel the disaster He spoke
regarding Ahab’s house. God too did not
cancel the severe punishment He planned for David over his adultery and
murder. Disaster might still come. In the case of Moses, God cancelled the
disaster upon Israel. In the case of David,
God executed the punishment in his lifetime.
In the case of Ahab, God did not bring the disaster when Ahab was still
living. The most important thing here is
to humble oneself. True repentance is
when we genuinely repent and then accept God’s decision in humility. David accepted God’s punishment. He did not fight God. This is a very difficult lesson to
learn. Accepting God’s punishment is
extremely difficult. But never forget
that God is merciful. He is a
compassionate God. The disaster God devised
for Ahab was great. So when Ahab
repented, God let the disaster pass over him.
When the disaster was eventually executed, Ahab was not there to suffer
it.
Brothers and sisters, I do not know
what sins you have committed even as a family.
Ahab and Jezebel committed a great sin as a family. The first family of the North Israel was
supposed to represent God in all His goodness and holiness and justice and love
and grace and mercy. But Ahab and
Jezebel failed miserably. They not only
provoked God to anger by following the sins of Jeroboam. They even increased the level of the sin in
Israel by bowing down to Baal and Asherah and thus led all 10 tribes of the
northern kingdom astray. For sure we
should not follow their footsteps. Not
in our individual life, and definitely not in our family life.
But if we have committed sins, be it
individually, or as a family, God has also provided a way out. He is waiting for our repentance. Rest assured, God will accept your genuine
repentance. However, do not expect that
God then must cancel His punishment. If
He does, praise the Lord. If He doesn’t,
accept His decision. I know it is not easy
to live with. But that’s how it is. Even though His punishment might still be
executed, that doesn’t make Him a cruel God.
He is merciful, for He forgives.
Our souls won’t be destroyed in hell, for He has forgiven us through the
blood of Jesus. When we repent, our
attitude should be of a humble person.
Humility should dominate. Ahab
did not ask anything more. All he did
was repenting in humility. He let God be
God in deciding his fate.
May this lesson guide us in our
life, be it individually or as family, in following our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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