When you consider the kings of Israel and the evil they did in the sight of the Lord, perhaps no one is more famous or infamous than King Ahab. Ahab was the son of Omri, and he reigned in Israel twenty-two years. What is said of him in 1 Kings 16 is that he did more evil in the sight of the Lord than any of the kings who preceded him. By the way, this was not an easy task because the kings before him were quite sinful in their own right. As wicked and wicked a king as he was, there are things we know about Ahab in the Bible that let us know that he was fully aware of the sinfulness of his ways.
1. Ahab had a very indifferent attitude towards his sin and the sins of others.
“Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the sight of the Lord than any who went before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel, daughter of Et-baal, king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. He put an altar to Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel before him.” – 1 Kings 16:30-33
The dominant sin in Ahab’s life was idolatry. He continued in this sin, which is one of the things that is meant when the Bible mentions Jeroboam’s sins. Not only did he continue in idolatry, but he also didn’t care if others did the same, which simply means that he encouraged it. What made this worse is that he knew better, but he decided to continue in this sin anyway. Ahab did this to a greater degree than any king before him and his obstinacy in committing idolatry is what angered God.
2. Ahab married a woman who was meaner than he was.
“There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, at the instigation of Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest way, going after idols, like the Amorites whom the Lord drove out from before Israel.” – 1 Kings 21:25-26
It is safe to say that the greatest evil influence in Ahab’s life was his wife Jezebel. One of the things we know about Ahab is that although he was an idolater, he did not appear to be ruthless. However, this was not true for his wife Jezebel. When Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and finally killed them all and proved that there was one true God, it was Jezebel who threatened Elijah and scared him. In another case, Ahab asked Naboth to give him his vineyard near the palace so that he could use it for his garden. Naboth refused and Ahab went home angry until Jezebel got involved. Long story short, he planned to kill Naboth just so Ahab could take the land from him. This was the kind of bad influence Ahab was married to, and she goaded him into doing more evil.
3. Ahab disagreed with Elijah the Prophet.
A good part of Ahab’s life is connected with Elijah. One of the first things we know about Ahab in the Bible regarding his introduction to Elijah is that he was not on good terms. In the first recorded conversation between Elijah and Ahab, Elijah was giving Ahab bad news.
“Then Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there shall be neither rain nor dew in the years to come but by my word.'” – 1 Kings 17:1
This conversation may seem blue until you recognize that as we mentioned earlier, he was an evil king. Ahab despised Elijah so much that after Elijah declared drought, Ahab scoured the surrounding nations looking for him. I think what Elijah represented in Ahab’s life was the reality that no matter what he did, God was watching, and Elijah reminded him.
4. Ahab was surrounded by divine influence, but chose not to listen to them.
Of the things to know about Ahab, this is perhaps the most surprising. Ahab had people around him who served God, but for some reason his influence in his life was not great enough to change his behavior. One of those men was Obadiah.
“…and Ahab had called Obadiah, the steward of his palace. Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord.” – 1 Kings 18:3
Clearly, Obadiah had an important role in Ahab’s administration, which means he had a chance to speak and was a voice in the king’s ears. However, there seems to be no evidence that Ahab was actually influenced by Obadiah’s devotion to the Lord.
5. Ahab experienced God’s mercy but chose to reject it.
There were two incidents in which Ahab experienced the power and mercy of God. On Mount Carmel when the confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal occurred, it was again shown to Ahab who the true God was. This was a time for Ahab to repent, which he did not. The other incident occurred after Naboth was killed. God pronounced judgment on Ahab because he had taken the life of an innocent man just to take his garden. The judgment that God pronounced was fierce.
“He says, ‘I am going to bring calamity on you. I will exterminate your offspring and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel, slave or free. I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked my wrath and have caused Israel to sin. And also about Jezebel the Lord says: ‘The dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’ ‘The dogs will eat those of Ahab who die in the city, and the birds will eat those who die in the field’”. – 1 Kings 21:21-24
When Ahab heard these words, so he responded.
“When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked meekly.” – 1 Kings 21:27
Judgment was coming to his house and in recognizing this, he humbled himself, for a moment. God even decided not to bring this judgment while Ahab was alive. This is further proof that Ahab knew what he should do, but he just decided not to. Ultimately, even the reality of the judgment did not change his heart and he never repented or fully turned to the Lord.
6. Ahab played the blame game.
“So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Are you the troublemaker of Israel?” – 1 Kings 18:16-17
Ahab did what so many people do. They blame their own misfortune on someone else. In Ahab’s eyes, he was not the problem, Elijah was. Ahab did not recognize that it was his own sin, his own choices and his own actions that created the problem in Israel. Perhaps that is why he never fully repented because to truly repent a person must come to the point of admitting that he is wrong. Clearly this was not part of Ahab’s agenda.
Summarizing the story of Ahab
When I look at the different things we know about Ahab, perhaps one of the best lessons is to be careful who you surround yourself with. This may be in leadership or especially in your home. We see that Ahab was greatly influenced by his wife Jezebel, which lets us know that who you marry and who you keep close to you is extremely important. It is true that Ahab’s heart was not after God, and it was his desire to do evil. However, he made it worse by surrounding himself with people who would encourage his evil behavior. He looked past people like Elijah and Obadiah because he preferred to continue in his wicked ways. This is the summary and tragedy of Ahab.