1 KINGS
Elijah and Ahab
1 Kings 20:1-22:53
INTRODUCTION
The northern nation of Israel has come to the critical moment in her history. Although we all believe that nobody is beyond the reach of God, the truth is that many times people reach a point of no return. It's not that they can't return; it's just that they don't. They have that window of opportunity in their lives when they could repent; however, once that window is closed, they normally don't repent. The same applies with nations. Once they've passed a certain point, they don't return. This nation in the 30's turned into a modified welfare state, and nothing is going to change that. We've tasted the government taking care of us. It's become a part of us for such a long time that we're not going to change now. Israel in the reign of Ahab is tasting the debased religion of Baal worship. If she doesn't change now, it will become ingrained in her. When that happens, it will be just a matter of time before God destroys her completely. In order to avert the catastrophe, God one final time reaches out to Ahab. He will go to battle on Ahab's behalf. Ahab's response? He will honor the people God has turned over to wrath and despise the people who honor God. When people call evil "good" and good "evil," they have passed the point of no return.
THE FIRST TWO BATTLES WITH SYRIA (20:1-43)
In order to demonstrate His love for Ahab and Israel, God allows Ben-Hadad the ruler of Syria to launch 2 campaigns against Ahab. In the first campaign Ben-Hadad with an army of 127k. advances upon the capital city of Israel named Samaria. He is assisted by the 32 kings who are his vassals. He sends envoys who demand that Ahab give Ben-Hadad the choicest of his wives and children in addition to his silver and gold. Ahab complies because he realizes he is outnumbered and cannot win this conflict. Apparently Ben-Hadad is emboldened by Ahab's response. No longer does he want Ahab to be just his vassal; he wants to subjugate Ahab completely. He sends the envoys a second time who demand that Ahab allow Ben-Hadad's men to march through the city of Samaria and take whatever they want. He is basically asking for the complete annihilation of Israel. Ahab understands the thrust of Ben-Hadad's second request and knows that if he grants it, it will mean the complete destruction of his kingdom. This he cannot agree to. He calls upon the leading men of his kingdom who agree with his assessment of the situation.
At this point Ahab receives a word from the Lord. An unnamed prophet informs Ahab that God is going to be with him and that he will win in this conflict with Ben-Hadad. God instructs him to send out the young men of the rulers of the provinces (local districts) along with the army he musters. These will engage Ben-Hadad with his tens of thousands in battle and be victorious.
The number of men Ahab musters is pitifully small in comparison with Ben-Hadad's 127k. He musters only 7000 men. Although the number is small, it is significant because of its symbolism. Earlier God had informed Elijah that he was not the only worshiper of God in Israel. In fact 7000 men had not bowed the knee to Baal. It is by no means a coincidence this is the number in Ahab's army. Although these are probably not the same 7000 men God spoke of, it is most likely because of these 7000 men that God is going to save Israel. The number then is God's way to show Ahab that he is saving Israel because of His faithful. (Look at how far down Israel has gone. Less than a 75 years earlier Jeroboam had been able to muster an army from Israel numbering 800k.; Ahab can muster only 7000 men.)
Following the counsel of the Lord, Ahab sends out the 232 young men of the leading men of the nation. Ben-Hadad who is drinking in order to muster up the courage for armed conflict is informed of their approach. He instructs his men to dispatch with the 232. Since such a small number was approaching, he may have thought that they had merely come to negotiate terms of surrender. Whatever he thought, the 232 fall upon Ben-Hadad's army with a vengeance. When the 7000 bring in support, Ben-Hadad's superior forces are completely routed, thereby giving Ahab a tremendous victory that day. Ben-Hadad is able to escape only by fleeing on horseback.
The prophet who had prophesied this favorable outcome instructs Ahab not to become giddy over this outcome. When the next time for war arrives (normally during fall after the harvest), Ben-Hadad will once more launch a campaign against Ahab. Ahab in the meantime is to ready himself for the war.
In accordance with this prophecy Ben-Hadad the following year launches another attack against Ahab. This time he approaches the war in a different manner. Some of his military advisers approach Ben-Hadad with 3 pieces of advice. First, he is to replace the 32 kings who assisted him in the first war with his trusted military leaders. In their opinion the 32 kings had not been as committed to this war as Ben-Hadad and his military had been. Second, he is to raise an army equal in size to the first army which had been routed. Third, and this was the most critical piece of advice, the Syrian forces needed to engage Israelite forces in the valley (near the city of Aphek) and not in the mountainous region around the city of Samaria. The reason is that Israel's God, Yahweh, is a mountainous God, while their gods are gods of the plains. Yahweh in their estimation will be powerless against their gods on the plains and in the valleys. Ben-Hadad yields to their advice.
Once more the unnamed prophet approaches Ahab and prophesies for Israel a favorable outcome to this campaign. God has been highly insulted by Ben-Hadad and his advisers. They had reduced Him to being nothing more than a mountainous God incapable of delivering His people in the valley. This next statement is critical in understanding what is going on here. This war was not between Ben-Hadad and Ahab but between Ben-Hadad with his gods and Yahweh. He, not Ahab, would achieve the victory. This was holy war, and as a result, Bne-Hadad and the Syrian forces were placed under the ban, that is, God had devoted them to complete and utter annihilation.
As the 2 forces are arrayed against each other, you can easily see that unless God gives the victory to Israel, she has absolutely no chance at all of winning it. Compared with the 100,000+ of Ben-Hadad's army, the Israelite army is like 2 little flocks of goats without any shepherd. They look pitiful. The outcome though is the same as the first one: the Israelites completely route the Syrians, killing 100k men in that one day alone. In addition to this 27,000 Syrians flee into the city of Aphek for refuge; however, just like what happened at Jericho, the wall of the city fell down upon the men, killing all 27,000.
Ben-Hadad likewise flees into Aphek for protection, scampering from house to house, room to room for safety. The advisers with him urge him to seek a peace treaty with Ahab. They believe that Ahab is a "merciful" man, probably in the sense that he was weak and easily manipulated. When Ben-Hadad accepts their offer to negotiate a treaty with Ahab, they approach Ahab wearing only sackcloth with a noose around their necks, the nooses signifying that they are willingly allowing Ahab to lead them with the ropes into captivity.
Ahab is impressed with this display of mock and deceitful humility. When he calls Ben-Hadad his brother, the advisers seize upon that word and declare Ben-Hadad to be exactly that, Ahab's brother. Ahab, being the silly person he is, feels puffed up over his great physical prowess--after all HE had defeated a much superior force. He agrees to a peace treaty with Ben-Hadad on the following terms: return of the cities his father Omri had lost to Syria during his reign and the right for his merchants to open up bazaars in Damascus, the capital of Syria. When Ben-Hadad agrees to the terms, Ahab sets him free.
Although the treaty seemed reasonable, the truth is that it was not Ahab's right to make this treaty. The war had not been between him and Ben-Hadad but between God and Ben-Hadad. God had used Ahab only as the "jailer" or "guard" for God's prisoner-of-war, Ben-Hadad. Another prophet approaches Ahab and instructs him that the same penalty which fell upon a guard who lost his prisoner would fall upon him, forfeit his life. (When you read the story, you will see that Ahab like David pronounced the verdict against himself.) Ahab would pay with his own life because he had freed a man God had delivered to destruction (the same fate befell Saul).
AHAB, NABOTH, AND ELIJAH (21:1-29)
In the meantime Ahab is surveying his palace and sees a plot next to his palace which would make a great place for a garden (most likely not a vegetable garden like some translations claim but a garden for flowers and trees). The plot of land belongs to a Naboth. Ahab proposes to Naboth that he will either buy his land from him or give him some favorable land elsewhere in exchange for this plot of land. Ahab is being generous.
Naboth though informs Ahab that by divine law he has no right to give up this plot of land. It was part of the inheritance God had allotted to his family. God had given this land to his family, and only God could authorize him to give it up. Since that had not happened, he could not give the land to the king. This was not the response Ahab had been wanting. As a result, he goes to his room, lies on the bed, faces the wall, and refuses to eat. Unless we had known better, we would have thought that this happened when Ahab was 2 years old.
In steps Jezebel. She had been raised in a despotic society and knew full well her powers as queen. With Ahab's approval (she uses his seal) she arranges for the execution of Naboth and his heirs. She sends a dispatch to the magistrates of Naboth's city and instructs them to try him on the charge of blasphemy against God and high treason against the king. She will provide the "witnesses." Fear of the queen compels the magistrates to follow her instructions. In accordance with her instructions they call for a day of fasting. Since national days of fasting were called in order to signal that the nation was in a religious or security emergency, the magistrates were claiming that something seriously bad had happened in Israel. At the trial Naboth (being completely unsuspecting of what is about to transpire) is accused of the 2 crimes. The false witnesses give their testimony; Naboth is condemned and summarily excuted by stoning along with his heirs, that is, his sons (2 Kings 9:26). Now that the owner is dead and the heirs are dead, who should the plot of land go to? To none other than the one Naboth had sinned against, the king.
Ahab now receives a visit from Elijah. When Elijah confronts Ahab with what he has done, Ahab attacks Elijah, calling him his "enemy." (Personal attacks are always convenient whenever you want to defend yourself against something you did wrong.) Elijah though does not flinch but instead pronounces the sentence of doom upon Ahab and his family. Not only will his house be destroyed, he will meet a death so violent that the dogs will lick up his blood on the ground. Jezebel, the main culprit, will even be eaten by the dogs so that she will not even receive a burial. Upon receiving this news Ahab for once repents. He repents to such a degree that God alters this sentence and informs Ahab that this will not happen during his lifetime.
The 2 stories of Ahab and Ben-Hadad and of Ahab and Naboth go hand in hand. In the case of Ben-Hadad Ahab had honored a man who despised God; in fact Ahab had called Ben-Hadad his brother. In the case of Naboth Ahab had killed a man who had honored God. His treatment of both Ben-Hadad and Naboth revealed Ahab's true opinion of God. His actions showed that he despised Yahweh.
THE DEATH OF AHAB (22:1-53)
One of the greatest and most popular sermons preached in the 20th century was Pay Day Someday by R. G. Lee. In that sermon R. G. Lee preached the principle that evil doers will inevitably face God for the crimes they had committed in life. That day has just arrived for Ahab.
Apparently Ben-Hadad has failed to live up to the treaty he had made with Ahab because Ahab wants to reclaim the city of Ramoth-Gilead which was on the eastern borders of his land. He appeals to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, to come aid him reclaim that city. (It is obvious that the 2 are so attached by the fact that Jehoshaphat has married Ahab's daughter, Athaliah.) Jehoshaphat agrees and marches to Israel to assist Ahab.
Before matching off to battle though, Ahab and Jehoshaphat consult with the prophets of the Lord. Although the text calls them the prophets of the Lord, they are most likely associated with temples and idols of the Lord Jeroboam had built earlier at Bethel and Dan. Four hundred of these prophets prophesy a successful conclusion to this campaign. Jehoshaphat (who is a true follower of the Lord) is dissatisfied with these 400 and insists on consulting a true prophet of the Lord not associated with the idolatrous priesthood of Jeroboam. Ahab informs him that one does exist, Micaiah, but that Micaiah is always doing something which irritates him--he prophesies evil against Ahab: "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me but evil" (22:8). Jehoshaphat though insists on hearing from Micaiah.
While the couriers are gone to fetch Micaiah (who most likely is being held in prison), Zedekiah and the other prophets continue to prophesy a good conclusion to the battle. They dramatize this by taking horns of iron and acting as if they are goring the enemy. As Micaiah is approaching, the courier strongly advises Micaiah to prophesy good regarding Ahab in accordance with the other prophets.
Upon arriving, Micaiah does as instructed and quotes almost verbatim what the prophets had said (with the slight addition of "and succeed"). Either by the way Micaiah said these words or by the fact that Ahab just simply knew better, he rebukes Micaiah and commands him to speak the truth. Micaiah responds that he has seen the sheep of Israel scattered about the mountains because they have no master, i.e., he is dead. Ahab, in a hilarious response, says to Jehoshaphat: "Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil?" He is like a petulant child.
Zedekiah is even angrier at Micaiah than Ahab is. He wants to know where Micaiah gets off thinking that the Spirit of the Lord has left him and spoken through Micaiah. He cannot believe the gall that Micaiah has just exhibited. Micaiah then explains to him that the Lord has sent a lying spirit to Zedekiah in order to deceive Ahab, so that he will enter the fray and be killed in battle. Zedekiah is beside himself, steps up, and slaps Micaiah. [Many OT scholars have been mortified by the idea that God would send forth a lying spirit. They claim that we have developed in our view of God since then. The only problem with that is that Paul himself claimed that because people reject the truth of Christ, God gives them the lie of the Antichrist (2 Thess. 2:11). When people reject God's truth, He gives them lies; that is their punishment.]
Ahab demands that Micaiah be kept in custody during the battle so that he can be held accountable if he is wrong. In order to take some precautionary steps against being killed though, Ahab coaxes Jehoshaphat into appearing to be Ahab during the battle, while he will disguise himself and pretend to be part of the cavalry, a charioteer. For some strange reason Jehoshaphat agrees.
Little did Jehoshaphat realize the battle plans that Ben-Hadad had conceived for this battle. Just like we struck at Command and Control during the Second Persian Gulf War, so Ben-Hadad commands his men to focus the attack on the king of Israel. With him dead the rest of the army will melt away. As the fight intensifies around him, Jehoshaphat realizes his danger and some way or other communicates that he is not the king of Israel. Upon realizing this, the Syrian forces withdraw and concentrate their efforts elsewhere.
Once again God's Word proves true. One of the Syrian archers shoots an arrow into the air without aiming for any particular target. It lands right between the place where Ahab's mail and breastplate merge. It finds an opening in this juncture and pierces Ahab's stomach, rendering a mortal wound. Ahab asks to be taken out of the battle and yet be propped up so that the forces will realize he is still alive. Later though he dies, sending his army into a tailspin so that they flee the site of the battle.
Propped up in his chariot, Ahab dies, his blood dropping onto the chariot. After removing him for burial, servants take the chariot and wash off the blood with water taken from a pool frequented by prostitutes who bathed there. The blood drops onto the ground; the dogs lap up the blood thereby fulfilling Elijah's prophecy. He could not have met a more ignominous end.
THE REST OF THE STORY
First Kings summarizes the story of Ahab describing him as the worst of the kings who ruled Israel, low praise indeed in light of the fact that Israel had so many wicked kings. As for Jezebel we discover that Jehu will arise to destroy completely the house of Ahab. The last he deals with is Jezebel who tries to avert judgment by dressing herself up to seduce Jehu. Jehu, being quite unimpressed, tosses her out of an upstairs window. When he goes down to see to her body, he discovers that the dogs have devoured her body, leaving only her hands and feet.