The End of Ahab

1-3 Naboth’s Vineyard

Although the capitol of Israel was Samaria, and this is where Ahab’s palace was, Ahab established what was essentially a summer home in Jezreel. The city overlooked the valley of Jezreel and was known for breathtaking views to the northeast, towards Syria. As Ahab looked to establish his connection with Ben Hadad, it made sense for him to develop an opulent estate in Jezreel. Ahab’s family became quite attached to this palace. It is here that Jezebel will be later thrown from the window (2 Kings 9:30-37). And it is here that Jehu will slaughter Ahab’s seventy sons (2 Kings 10:1-11).

Naboth had a vineyard here, just next door to Ahab’s palace. And Ahab began coveting the land for his own. Selling to Ahab was prohibited (Num. 36:7, Lev. 25:23), which is why Naboth refuses to sell.

4 Sullen and Displeased

The two words here describe both stubbornness and ill-temper. It takes two ingredients to create a good sulk. You have to be displeased with the situation and you have to refuse to get over it. A real estate deal gone bad is a great picture of what this looks like. We always see so much potential in the opportunities that are just out of our reach. And our inability to let go of these things can put us into a funk.

5-7 Enter Jezebel

Jezebel’s statement to Ahab is dripping with irony. Is it Ahab or is it Jezebel that exercises authority over all Israel? The relationship between Ahab and his wife is such a striking picture of a very particular and very common kind of manipulation that it is worth taking a moment to examine.

First, men frequently have very fragile egos. This can be good because it drives them to achievement. But it can be bad because it makes them so susceptible to manipulation. Nothing is easier to control than a man whose insecurities are obvious. Be careful, men, about what whispers you let yourself hear. In particular, the claim that your greatness is being neglected or insufficiently rewarded is poison to your soul.

Second, women who have found this button to push can get anything they want out of their husbands, but they make their marriages miserable. Wives, do you fuel contentment or discontent in your husband? How many women tell themselves that they are being Abigail when they are actually being Jezebel.

8-16 Proclaim the Fast

Jezebel orders two sons of Belial to accuse Naboth at a fast. A fast is a strategic moment for making an accusation against Naboth because suspicions would have been aroused. Two witnesses were required to make the charge (Deut 17:6. 19:15, and Num 35:30). The charge was cursing the King and God and the penalty was death (Ex. 22:28 (cf. Acts 23:5) and Lev. 24:16). With Naboth out of the way, Ahab was free to seize the vineyard.

17-26 The Curse

Elijah returns to give Ahab some bad news. As the worst Israelite king of all time (v. 25, cf. 2 Kings 21:3), Ahab gets a whopping curse levelled at him. Fist of all, note that even though we saw Jezebel’s hand behind all this, Ahab remains responsible. He cannot say, “the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” To be have been manipulated is not an excuse. It’s an extra sin. Ahab will be cut off. Just as he has done to Naboth, so will be done to him. Ahab is killed in battle and the dogs licked his blood from the chariot (1 Kings 22:38). Jezebel is thrown from the heights of Jezreel and the dogs ate her (2 Kings 9:30-37).

Joram, the son of Ahab, is killed by Jehu and his body is thrown onto the ground of Naboth’s vineyard (2 Kings 9:24-25). Ahaziah, who is the grandson of Ahab and the king of Judah, is killed by Jehu (2 Kings 9:27-29) and his forty-two brothers (2 Kings 10:12-14). Seventy sons of Ahab and then all the descendents of Ahab are all killed by Jehu (2 Kings 10).

In fact, even the genealogy of Jesus is expunged all the descendants of Ahab (Mat. 1:8, 2 Kings 8:16-18).

27-29 Repentance

At hearing this, Ahab is brought to repentance. There doesn’t seem to be any insincerity here. Just as he was in a funk at being refused Naboth’s vineyard (v. 4), now he mourns over the curse that is on him. And God acknowledges Ahab’s sorrow. It is only enough to postpone the curse, however, and does not delay it. Ahab has been capable of these kinds of turns on a dime throughout his life.

Ahab was willing to comply humbly with Ben Hadad’s initial demand (v. 4). But it would appear that Ben Hadad smelled weakness in Israel and decided to try for much more. Ben Hadad repeats his demand, but this time with the addition that his servants will be free to roam through Samaria taking whatever they want (v. 5-6). It is clear that Ahab sees this as a stiffer demand. Most likely, Ahab interpreted the first demand to be a requirement of tribute of some sort to Syria, which he was willing to give. But the second demand indicated that Ben Hadad was looking for complete and utter subservience. Ahab and the elders of Israel are not ready for this kind of submission to Syria and they send their defiance to Ben Hadad (v. 9). Ben Hadad responds with an oath, vowing Samaria’s complete and total annihilation (v. 10). And Ahab responds with one of the best trash-talking lines of all time (v. 11).

12-22 Know That I Am the Lord

The Syrians do not take the threat too seriously. They are busy getting drunk in their tents (v. 12 and v. 16). Meanwhile, God sends an unnamed prophet to Ahab to let him know that this victory will come from God, leaving Ahab without excuse before God. The army is to be lead by the “youths / servants of the leaders of the provinces.” The point is that God is not sending out the seasoned leaders, with the exception of Ahab. Just as in the last chapter God had Elijah appoint the next generation of leaders, here also God is sending a new crop of leaders out to see his hand deliver Israel in battle. What is weird is that the army that is sent out is 7,000. (cf. 19:18). These are the men that God had reserved for himself.

The Syrians are over confident. Their leaders are drunk back in their tents. And the men are sent out with orders to capture these men alive (v. 18). It’s important to note that the command to take them alive is not a mercy. The only reason to take them alive is so that they can be taken back to Syria and be made an example of. But God is with the Israelites and they slaughter the Syrians. Ben Hadad has to run.

23-34 Ben Hadad Tries Again

Ben Hadad tries to figure out what went wrong. And he decides that the God of the Israelites must be good at fighting in the mountains and not good at the plains. It is this boast that provokes God to once again deliver Israel mightily. Ahab disobediently spares Ben Hadad, who was a moment ago his Lord (v. 4) and is now his brother (v. 32).

35-43 Ahab Rebuked

The disobedient prophet who was devoured by the lion is a picture in miniature of Ahab’s disobedience. God used lions often at this time to judge men who failed to serve him (1 Kings 13:34, 2 Kings 17:25). In this instance, the prophet failed to strike the one that God sent him to strike. This is hard for us to stomach, because it seems severe to us.

We are all guilty of sin and under the penalty of death (Rom. 3:23 and 6:23). In the ultimate sense, there is no such thing as an innocent victim. The problem is not that we don’t deserve death. It’s that we aren’t just executioners. We don’t have the right to take one another’s lives, except where God has given it. This is the right there are a host of restrictions that God puts on him as well. But since we are all guilty, there is no ultimate injustice in our deaths. What can’t be explained by justice is our living.

When we talk about the problem of appearing before God, we are talking about this – the just sentence of death that hangs over us when we stood before a perfectly holy God. And this is why we are so grateful for Jesus. The grace of Jesus Christ is God’s sovereign interruption into justice, to save us. We are talking about the wonderful mercy of God that set aside his righteous anger against us by sending us a Savior.

Ahab is now judged by his own words. He knew what justice looked like when applied to others. Because of this a curse is pronounced on Ahab (v. 42), a curse that is fitted according to Ahab’s own judgment (Mat. 7:2).

Two Closing Thoughts

First, Ahab confused his own glory for God’s and misunderstood what the worship of God was about. The point of conquering Ben Hadad was to bring glory to God’s name. But Ahab quickly began to think that the point of conquering Ben Hadad was to bring wealth and glory to Ahab. When God answers our prayers, the point is to teach us to trust in him.

But what often happens is that we begin to put our trust in the relief that he has brought us. We trust in our financial security, the last clear results that the doctor gave us, the family and friends that surrounded us. But these are all the result of trusting in God. They are not things to be trusted in themselves. They say that there are no atheists in foxholes. But there are very few theists in palaces (Heb. 11:24-26 and Mat. 19:24).

Second, we need to be clear on grace. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve. Without understanding this, we don’t really get what Jesus did for us on the cross.

1-8 Back to the Desert

9-12 Elijah’s Discouragement and God’s Presence

Seeing God

18:1-2 Three and a Half Years

Elijah was introduced in the last chapter, receiving a word from the Lord telling him to run and hide. Now this chapter begins with a word from the Lord saying that rain is on the way and so Elijah should go and show himself to Ahab. The passage here says three years, but in the New Testament (Luke 4:25 and James 5:17), we are told more precisely that the drought would last exactly three and a half years. The time is significant because it is the customary length of time that God allows for Gentiles to trash his house before he drives them out (see – Daniel 7:25, 9:27, 12:7 and Revelation 11:2, 12:6, 12:14, and 13:5). 18:3-15

Obadiah and the Famines

There is no reason to not think that this is Obadiah the prophet, whose short book we also have, although the book of Obadiah is aimed at the nation of Edom. There were two famines in the land – a famine of God’s word (Amos 8:11) and a famine of food. Ahab, unconcerned that the prophets have been “cut off,” is scared that the livestock might be “cut off ” (18:5). This is the opposite of what Paul teaches in 1 Cor. 9:9 and 1 Tim. 5:18 (citing Deut 25:4).

18:16-19 The Troubler of Israel

So Elijah shows up before Ahab and Ahab calls him the “troubler of Israel.” Ahab is attempting to scapegoat Elijah, to make him the problem in Israel. Just as when he tried to kill Elijah at the beginning of the plague, he still credits it to the preacher instead of to God. Elijah corrects him. Ahab is the troubler of Israel. But the question of who is the troubler is, more fundamentally, a question of who is God.

18:20-40 Victory on Mt. Carmel

Mt. Carmel is a peak on the northern boarder of Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Because of its height it was a prominent place for pagan sacrifices. Egyptian Pharaohs from centuries before the time of Ahab listed it as favorite location for sacrifices. The Phoenicians had altars on it. And apparently, the Israelites had their own high place to Yahweh on it. Since it was on the border between Israel and Phoenicia and since it appears to have had a number of different worship services on it, it made a perfect place for a showdown between the one true God and Baal.

18:20-24 – The Israelites gather to watch and Elijah rebukes them for their hopping back and forth between two opinions. He challenges them to pick between Baal and Yahweh. But they remain silent (21). So he proposes the terms of the contest and now they are ready to say something (24).

18:25-29 – The priests of Baal offer their sacrifice and nothing happens. Elijah enjoys himself and taunts them. They begin cutting themselves. Self-mutilation was one of the ways that pagan mourners indicated their grief. This was also common in the worship of Baal. They then began prophesying around the altar and did so until evening. And it had no effect.

18:30-40 – Finally the people, having seen the failure of Baal to answer, respond to Elijah. He repairs an altar that had once been used to worship Yahweh. The people bring twelve stones, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. This was done in –

Ex. 24:4 At Mt. Sinai as Israel made a covenant with God

Josh. 4:1-9 – As Israel crosses Jordan into promised land, twelve stones were set up as a testimony to Israel.

The effect is to call attention to the fact that these tribes belong to God, they are in covenant with him. He re- enacts moments from Israel’s history when they were called out as a nation to serve him. Notice that he calls attention to Jacob having been renamed Israel (18:31). And this is emphasized again (18:36) with the formula “Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.” Jacob’s name was changed to Israel right after God tells Jacob to put aside all foreign gods (Gen. 35:2-4, 10). Israel, above all else, is the name of a nation that does not serve foreign gods. He is saying to them, “You are all Israel, my twelve tribes. You serve Yahweh and not these false gods.”

18:38 – And fire fell from heaven, confirming that Yahweh is God. Why would Elijah now sacrifice on a high place, in what seems like a violation of Deut 12? Some just say that this was an emergency exception. But consider this. The temple fire was lit by God (Lev. 9:24, 2 Chron. 7:1). The priests were required to keep this fire perpetually burning (Lev. 6:9, 12-13). Nadab and Abihu were judged because they brought in their own strange fire (Lev. 10:1-2). So a likely explanation would be that the problem with offering sacrifices on the high places was that it necessitated using strange fire. Elijah does not use strange fire here, but God lights the sacrifice just as he did in the inauguration of the tabernacle and temple sacrifices.

18:39-40 – When the people see the fire, they finally move. The prophets of Baal are seized and executed.

18:41-46 The Prayer of a Righteous Man

Covenant ceremonies usually conclude with a meal. That’s why we finish our worship service here with the Lord’s Supper. The same thing happens in this passage. Elijah sends Ahab up to the meal. Meanwhile, Elijah give himself to prayer. Now the strange thing is, James later saw this prayer as proof of the power of prayer (James 5:17).