We will be looking at the reign of King AHAB for the next few weeks.
• After the split of the Kingdom, this is the longest record we have of a King – from chapters 16-22.
AHAB is the son of OMRI. Read 1 Kings 16:29-34.
16:25 “Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord and sinned MORE THAN all those before him.”
• This was the award he has – being “Most Evil King in Israel” but it was quickly handed over to his son.
• AHAB succeeded his father and 16:30 “Ahab son of Omri DID MORE EVIL in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him.”
• Ahab became the most wicked King Israel had experienced.
Ahab perpetuated the sins of Jeroboam, and even considered them trivial.
• Notice a deceased name was mentioned many times in this chapter – Jeroboam.
• He died 40 years ago but he was still remembered, for all the wrong reasons.
• All the kings from Nadab to Ahab (except Elah indirectly) were said to have followed the evil ways of Jeroboam.
The thing that Jeroboam did – some 60 years ago (at the start of his reign) when he set up the two golden calves and the high places of worship – left a lasting impact.
• Generations after him continued to do the things he did. The author made references to him, again and again, one dynasty after another.
• Jeroboam did not just died a sinner. He left a sinful legacy that perpetuated.
Watch your life because it has an impact beyond you.
• Paul (1 Tim 4:16): “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
Watch what we leave behind. Not the material things we leave behind but the influence that we leave behind when we pass on.
• What will we be known for after we passed on? What are some lasting values that we leave behind for the generations to come?
• We are not talking about houses, inheritance or money, but a particular kind of life.
• The godly life that will impact, not just your generation, but the next, and the next.
Sadly King Ahab did more to provoke God to anger.
• 16:31 says he not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam, but also married Jezebel from Sidon and brought in a new god.
• Ahab serves Baal, worship him, set up altar for him and built a temple for Baal in Samaria for Baal.
• He adds to all of these the Asherah pole - pagan goddess of the Canaanites.
• He did more to provoke God to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.
16:34 “In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.”
• This is not a trivia about a construction work. “In Ahab’s time” implied that Hiel had taken instruction from King Ahab to undertake this.
• They rebuilt Jericho, which was against God’s will. When the Israelites first entered Canaan, this was their first obstacle and God did a miracle to remove it.
After the conquest, Joshua pronounced God’s judgement.
• Josh 6:26 “At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: "Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: "At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates."
• The author tells us a matter-of-factly that when the foundation was laid, Hiel’s firstborn died, and when he set up the gates, his youngest son died.
• IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WORD OF THE LORD spoken by Joshua, some 400 years before.
The picture is clear. King Ahab has been doing everything against God’s will.
• It was not some occasional sin but a consistent, outright defiance of God’s Word.
• He considered it even trivial to sin like Jeroboam.
An OT professor in a seminary once led his OT class out to the parking lot, tossed his bible down on the pavement, put his car jack on top of the bible, and then jacked up his car on top of it!
It was a dramatic act to illustrate the point that the OT Kings treated the Word of God with contempt!
We expect God to judge him hard. It would be right to “call down fire from heaven and destroy him”, just like what James and John thought of doing in Luke 9, against the Samaritans for rejecting Jesus.
• So how did God respond to all of Ahab’s provoking? God sent a prophet, not to judge but to give a weather forecast!
• 1 Kings 17:1 “Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
Two things come as a surprise. One, the nature of his message, and two, the sudden appearance of a prophet in the midst of all these evil.
What kind of a message is this? Ahab was leading the nation into great sin and the message is, there will be a drought. It does not connect.
• At first glance, it sounded more like a wrong word given, until we understand what it means.
• We have to go back to the last time God mentioned about bringing on a drought in Israel’s history.
Back at the foot of Mount Sinai. This is the warning from Moses in Deut 11:10-18.
• 10The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. 11But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. 12 It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.
• 13 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today - to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul – 14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil. 15 I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.
• 16 Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. 17 Then the LORD's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the LORD is giving you. 18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds…
Baal was a fertility god which they believe enables the earth to produce crops.
• Elijah: “If Baal is your God and you serve him, then let him send rain. As to the God of Israel whom I serve, He is withholding rain for now.”
• It’s a challenge to Baal. Ahab and Israel will see which God is real.
Do we see the heart of God here? It is not to judge Ahab YET. It is not to inflict suffering upon the people. It is to awaken them from their idolatry.
• God values His covenantal relationship with His people. He is taking drastic measures to wake them up to the truth that He alone is God, there is no other.
• He wants to restore that relationship.
Near the end of the 3.5 years of drought, when Elijah confronted the 450 Baal prophets at the sacrifice, listen to his prayer.
• 1 Kings 18:36-37 “At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."
• Elijah knows God’s heart. The man of God knows the heart of God. God wants to turn the hearts of His people back.
Don’t trivialise our relationship with God. Come back to God today. Repent of our sin and be reconciled with God. Honour Him and love Him with all our heart.
The appearance of Elijah was sudden. He just appeared, in the midst of all the evil around.
• We had little information about him. We don’t even know where he met the King.
• The important thing is that God has a man who still serves Him and he came to speak God’s Word, to a generation that has lost its bearing.
Ronald Wallace, pastor and writer, commented very well (Elijah and Elisha):
“For to see him [Elijah] appear thus reminds us that we need not despair when we see great movements of evil achieving spectacular success on this earth, for we may be sure that God, in unexpected places, has already secretly prepared His counter-movement. God has always His ways of working underground to undermine the stability of evil. God can raise men for His service from nowhere…. Therefore the situation is never hopeless where God is concerned. Whenever evil flourishes, it is always a superficial flourish, for at the height of the triumph of evil God will be there, ready with His man and His movement and His plans to ensure that His own cause will never fail.” (p.3)
