Ahab King of Israel

2022-11-03

Ahab succeeded his father Omri as king over Israel. He was more wicked than his predecessors. “And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him” (1 Kings 16:31). He also “did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him” (1 Kings 16:33).

It was Elijah the prophet who told the king that it would not rain for years. After those years, Elijah went to the king, where Ahab called the prophet a troubler of Israel. He never understood it was his sin in worshipping Baals and forsaking God’s commands that caused his predicaments. After this was the showdown between the Lord and the false prophets of Baal.

Benhadad king of Syria sent messengers to Ahab, saying, “Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine” (1 Kings 20:3). He agrees to it! He would let his family be taken away, but when they insisted on going into each dwelling to take what they wanted, he would not consent. Perhaps he intended on hiding some of his family. Either way, if he were willing to give his family away, he was a wicked man. His defiance to the Syrian king should have been his first choice. Nonetheless, a prophet told Ahab that he would be victorious over Syria. The king of Israel defeated Syria... twice. God demonstrated that He is more than a tribal deity confined to certain geographies. Ahab released Benhadad to the displeasure of the Lord, and a prophet of the Lord told him that he would die in Benhadad’s place.

Ahab also slew Naboth for his vineyard at the advice of his wife. Ahab, because of his privilege, thought he could buy or trade for the vineyard. However, this was Naboth’s inheritance, so one can understand why he would not want to part with it. The concept of inheritance was important, being passed from father to son. Jezebel set up false witnesses that said Naboth blasphemed, so the vineyard owner died.

Elijah condemned Ahab and his house to a fate like Jeroboam and Baasha: all the men of his house would die and be eaten by beasts. We finally see repentance in Ahab, and because of this, God had mercy on him, sparing Ahab of this fate. His son would see it instead.

The last we see of Ahab is when he made a league with Jehoshaphat king of Judah to go to Ramothgilead and attack the Syrians. At the advice of Jehoshaphat, they seek a prophet from the Lord. After seeing they were all impostors, the king of Judah asked for a prophet of the LORD. Micaiah prophesied doom for Ahab, and the king’s response was this: “Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?” (1 Kings 22:18). You can see that Ahab sees prophets as genies and fortunetellers that are supposed to tell you what you want to hear! But that is not how the Lord works. Ahab died in battle.

Ahab’s approach to religion was to see what he could get out of it. This is the custom of most. True worship to the Lord involves conforming to His ways. He will not conform to our ways.

This is a part of the Kings of Israel series. To go back to the table of contents, proceed here.