Evil Ahab
(1 Kings 16:29 - 22:40; 2 Chronicles 18)
1. Some people have no idea what they are saying.
I was admiring my aunt’s necklace when she surprised me by announcing, “I’m leaving it to you in my will. ”I was overjoyed, perhaps too much. “Oh!” I shouted. “I’m looking forward to that!” —Mona Randem [rd.com]. I bet the aunt gave her quite a look.
2. As my two sons were climbing into the back seat of our car, Eric, five, yelled ,“I call the left side!” That didn’t sit well with Ron, four. “No, I want the left side!” “I want the left side!” “No, I want the left side!” Intervening, I said, “Since Eric is older, he can have the left side.” “Thanks, Dad! ”said Eric. “Which side is left?” —Josh Weston [rd.com]
3. Today we are going to look at a king who was all about getting his way, not even realizing the consequences of his choices, King Ahab.
Unlike Judah where all kings were of one dynasty, that of David, Northern Israel was more like South America with conspiracies and takeovers. The Northern Kingdom saw 19 kings across 9 different dynasties over 208 years.
Ahab is famous for his evil ways. His father, Omri, seized the throne and started what would become a 4 king-dynasty, but the last two kings reigned only a total of 14 years. Ahab reigned 22 years over the northern kingdom of Israel (from about 875-853 B.C.).
In Moby Dick, Herman Melville uses two names from our text today, intentionally. Ahab and Elijah.
5. The real Ahab and the real Elijah were in an adversarial position. Sometimes Ahab repented partially of his evil, only to let evil take a different direction. During his time, Israel was frequently engaged in wars with Syria (Damascus), not to be confused with Assyria (Nineveh). He was killed in a battle with the Syrians.
Main Idea: Evil comes back to bite you.
I. Ahab Created A Perfect STORM for Evil (I Kings 16:29-17:1).
A. He continued to promote the IDOLATROUS religion of Jeroboam.
B. He married a Phoenician (Sidonian) princess who was a PAGAN priestess, Jezebel.
Part of a larger group of people called the “Sea Peoples” who lived in Tyre and Sidon.
C. He added the god BAAL and goddess Asherah to Israelite worship.
Religious rituals to worship these deities included prostitution, homosexual prostitution, and even sacrificing of human children.
Some people still worshipped the LORD, but he and especially his wife ordered all of God’s prophets and leaders to be exterminated; a small number, however, were hidden. We know from later events that at least 7,000 men had not deserted the Lord.
D. God sent ELIJAH to discipline Ahab and Israel for their evils by announcing a severe drought.
Drought always brought famine with it.
No rain for over 3 years.
II. Ahab and Jezebel Were HUMILIATED By What Happened At Mount Carmel (18:20-19:3)
A. God leads Elijah to CONFRONT he and the people about WHO God was.
B. This led to a CONTEST on Mount Carmel: Elijah against the prophets of Baal.
• 450 to 1. But the spectators were going to be influenced.
C. Baal could send no fire, but Yahweh DID.
D. The people rallied around Elijah and KILLED the prophets of Baal.
E. This humiliated the royal family and led Jezebel to issue a death THREAT.
F. Jezebel wanted to NURTURE worship of Baal and Asherah, but now some were turning to Yahweh.
G. The DROUGHT ended not long afterward.
H. Elijah, apparently disappointed, was filled with FEAR at Jezebel’s threat and fled.
III. Ahab Messed Up REPEATEDLY (I Kings 20:1- I Kings 21:29, 22:1-40).
A. INEPTITUDE: he had the king of Syria in his clutches and released him; this would lead to Ahab’s death three years later (I Kings 20:1-43).
Got sent a prophet to let him know of his foolishness and that he would die from his choice.
B. IMMATURITY: he coveted Naboth’s vineyard like a child covets a toy (21:1-29)The ultimate illustration of the difference between wanting and coveting
1. Near palace, he wants it badly.
2. Offers to buy it from Naboth, won’t sell any price.
3. He gets depressed, Jezebel notices and inquires.
4. She promised to fix the problem.
5. She hires some worthless men to lie about Naboth and make accusations, and he is stoned.
6. Ahab gets his vineyard.
7. But there is a problem: God knows. He sends Elijah and pronounce God’s curse (soon to die).
8. Read 21:27-29
9. Ahab fasts and repents; God holds off punishment for a while
C. He ALLIES himself with good king Jehoshaphat of Judah to fight Syria, and then dies for refusing to heed God’s prophet, Micaiah (22:1-40).
IV. What Obvious LESSONS Can We Learn from Ahab?
A. Our choices ORCHESTRATE much of the future.
People think they are making choices that don’t matter much, but they do.
Jesus urges us to count the cost.
B. Tearing down a godly HERITAGE is a lot easier than building one.
C. Stubbornly continuing in the WRONG way betrays ego problems.
1. Why do some people make the same bad choices over and over, and not learn?
2. Loss avoidance (wise people cut their losses and move on)
3. Inability to apologize and ask forgiveness
D. Solid evidence for the TRUTH of God and His Word are quickly discarded by antagonists.
E. Our bad decisions come back to HAUNT us.
1. Sometimes that involves self-sabotage, creating unnecessary pain and generating stress in our lives
2. Procrastination: we don’t pay our bills and have late charges; we start a project a few minutes before we have to leave for work and get in trouble for being late.
3. One of the reasons I have spent so much time preaching from Proverbs is because wisdom is the antidote to many of life’s problems. Wisdom, by definition, is the ability to make good decisions.
4. When we begin to realize our decisions have a moral element to them, we will learn to realize that even seemingly irrelevant decisions can be a spiritual matter. We look at long-term implications.
5. Ephesians 5:17, “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”
6. Wisdom is out of style, passe’, crimps our style. Wisdom is meant to crimp our style, if our style is foolish or wrong! Wisdom is restrictive because it things of the long term.
F. Covetousness, while not the worst of sins, can LEAD to the worst of sins.
