1 Kings 21:17-29

7/8/2007

“Have You Seen?”

Before the reading of Scripture:

The Gospel means “good news”. This doesn’t mean that it is nothing but positive, uplifting news: it contains both bad news and good news. Yet the Gospel is good news--and we should never shy away from calling it so--because the good news is how the bad news is overcome in Jesus Christ. Although our text for today is from the Old Testament--and from a very dark portion of it at that--it is still there to point us to the good news of Jesus Christ. So I have some bad news and some good news. I will give you the bad news first and then give you the good news. So stay with me. And may your appreciation of the Gospel increase all the more as a result! For the Gospel is the only true and effective motivation for mortifying our sin.

After the reading of Scripture:

Osama Bin Laden, Idi Amin, Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, Mao Zedong, Stalin, etc. These names evoke emotions of horror and revulsion for obvious reasons. The name of Ahab also evoked a feeling of abhorrence to those who know something about the history of Israel. We see in our passage a brief biographical sketch of his life: “There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited.” (v. 25). This is not the only place where such a damning summary of his life is found:

“And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him” (16:30-33).

We are told that he did evil more than all who were before him. And there were many wicked kings before him. Whereas the kingship in the southern kingdom, Judah, remained in the family of David, it was a different story with the northern kingdom, Israel. Israel suffered many military coups as well as many assassinations of its kings. As a result, its throne was often occupied by assassins. Ahab did not murder a king to become Israel’s king: he was born a prince and he succeeded his father, Omri. Yet he managed to outdo all the evils of the previous kings. In fact, it was said of his father, Omri, that he “did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him” (1 Kings 16:25). But Ahab managed to do far worse than his infamous father.

What kind of evil did Ahab do? He walked in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat (16:31). Jeroboam was the first king of Israel and he made two golden calves and set them up in Bethel and Dan, respectively. Of these golden calves he said, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (1 Kings 12:28)! So then, Jeroboam encouraged the people of Israel to go to Bethel and Dan to worship the golden calves as their God. This was an egregious breach of the Second Commandment. As if that weren’t enough, Jeroboam also set up many other high places where people could offer their sacrifices. He also made priests from non-Levite tribes (12:31) and instituted other religious feasts for Israel (12:32). These were truly abominable sins in the sight of the Lord.

Ahab committed all these heinous sins of Jeroboam but did not stop there. Against the strict command of the Lord, he married a pagan wife, Jezebel, who refused to give up her pagan ways and worship. She was his major downfall: “There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited” (v. 25). This statement is more than a mere indictment against his lack of leadership at home. There is nothing wrong with the husband going along with the wife’s ideas if they are godly. If her suggestions are godlier and better than his own, the husband ought to adopt them. But both the husband and the wife must understand that by adopting his wife’s ideas, he is not relinquishing his leadership to her: he is making the decision as the leader of the home. Therefore, the husband must understand that he is responsible for the decision, not his wife. And the wife must also understand that the husband’s action in no way makes her the leader of the home.

Ahab’s sin, of course, was not about listening to his wife, per se. His sin was allowing Jezebel to coax him, seduce him, threaten him and manipulate him to do her evil bidding, to sell himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord. This reminds us of what happened in the Garden of Eden. God’s judgment on Adam was, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it…’” (Gen. 3:17). The tragic, archetypal fall of Adam and Eve was being repeated in this son of Adam and the daughter of Eve. Under her influence, he even “erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal,” which he built in Samaria. He also made Asherah, a consort of Baal. He sponsored 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah (1 Kings 18:19).

Notice how the short summary of his reign in four verses begins and ends: “And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him” (v. 30); “Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him” (vv. 33). Whatever is in between, which describes his reign and life, is surrounded by these remarks. This structure shows how his reign was evil from the beginning to the end: he began his reign with unprecedented evil and he ended his reign with unprecedented evil.

In fact, Ahab was no better or different from the pagans around him. We read in v. 26, “He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the people of Israel.” The very sins that the Amorites committed, on account of which they were cast out of Canaan, are the very sins that Ahab committed. This ominous summary foreshadows how the northern kingdom Israel, too, would be cast out of the promised land, just as the Amorites were driven out by Ahab’s forefathers many centuries ago.

This doesn’t mean that Ahab was a bad king politically and militarily. He had his share of military victories and political accomplishments. After all, he reigned for twenty-two years. In those years he had various victories over the nation of Aram (1 Kings 20). And we are told in 1 Kings 22:39, “Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did and the ivory house which he built and all the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?” He had enough resources to build a house made out of ivory and build many new cities during his reign. We don’t know how a secular historian may assess his political career. He may get some high marks.

Not so in the eyes of God. For our lives are not judged according to the standards of the world. It is not how much wealth we accumulate, how many degrees and accolades we receive, how we look, where we live and whom we know and hang out with, how much attention we get from the media and what the historians of the world say about us. These are nothing in the eyes of God, who sees in secret, who knows the deepest secrets of our hearts. All our worldly accomplishments and successes will be swallowed up and lost in the river of time. They will be burned in the fire of God’s judgment. For the true worth of a man or a woman is not dependent on these outward accomplishments. The only standard which can determine our true worth is the purpose and intent with which God created us. A train may run fast and far but what is all that running if it doesn’t take us to where we need to go? What good is a hired hand who works feverishly hard but not doing what he was hired to do? Animals were created according to their own kind. As such, they find their fulfillment in growing and dying, eating and being eaten. But God created us in His image. We were created for a very special relationship with God as His image bearers. The true meaning and fulfillment of our life comes from being in proper relationship with our Creator--that is, from glorifying God and enjoying Him forever. In fact, as John Piper pointed out, to glorify God is by enjoying Him as our greatest pleasure. If we fail in this, it doesn’t matter what we do. It doesn’t matter how many accolades and praises the world rains on us: we are but a train that is headed in wrong direction; a hired hand that does whatever he wants, not what he was called to do.

So in the kingdom of God, the least can be the greatest; the last, the first. In the kingdom of God, the servant of all can be the greatest of all. The foolish of the world can shame the wise; the weak in the eyes of the world can put the strongest to shame. To the eyes of God, the ugliest in the eyes of the world can be the most beautiful. A paralytic who can do nothing but pray and praise God is much greater in God’s estimation than the most influential activist who denies his Creator. Ahab’s accomplishments are recorded in the Bible. But they are recorded only to show how vain they were. For God’s final assessment was: “There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab” (v. 25).

God’s punishment must fit Ahab’s crime. Through Elijah God delivers His sentence:

“Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel… for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin…. The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel. Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat” (vv. 21-24)

To have the family line cut off and to be eaten by the dogs and birds--these were the punishments reserved for the worst of the Israelites, an expression of the iron-hot wrath of God.

At this sentencing, even the hard-hearted, wicked, evil Ahab trembled with fear. And we see a most amazing thing happen: “And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly” (v. 27)! He understood the meaning and horror of such punishments.

But something even more amazing happened right after that! God said to Elijah, “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son's days I will bring the disaster upon his house” (v. 29)! In this account, there is no gap between Ahab’s penitence and God’s gracious response: in v. 27 Ahab humbles himself; in v. 28 God’s word comes to Elijah; and in v. 29 we have the content of God’s message to Ahab. It is as if God could not last another minute without responding this way to Ahab’s penitence! Can you believe that? Think about how wicked Ahab had been, fully deserving of all his punishments and more! Think about how patient and longsuffering God had been--Ahab, despite all of his wickedness, had been reigning as king for at least twenty years (cf. 22:1)! Think about how often Ahab must have provoked God to His anger for all those years! And Ahab humbled himself before God this once after all those years of wickedness! And why did he humble himself before God? Was it because he finally saw the foolishness of his ways and the magnitude of his iniquity before God? Because he recognized the goodness of the Lord and felt sorrowful for his sins? No! He humbled himself before God because he was horrified by the terror of his impending punishment!

Even so, God does not overlook Ahab’s act of penitence: it is as if He could not overlook it, as if He could not let even one more minute pass by before He extended His mercy to Ahab! It is as if He is incapable of hardening His heart against a sinner’s penitence, the penitence of even a sinner like Ahab! What a powerful and touching glimpse into the heart of our God!

If God could not resist Ahab’s penitence, how about our penitence? But if God should have more regard for our penitence, why? Surely it is not because we are better than Ahab! What is the difference between Ahab and us in the pure light of God’s holiness, when all our actions are tainted with sin, when we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God?

And should God regard our penitence more because our penitence is more sincere and genuine than Ahab’s, because our tears of penitence are warmer and more profuse than Ahab’s? We have good reasons to question the sincerity of Ahab’s penitence. And let us assume that our sincerity is greater than Ahab’s. Can our penitence, then, erase the guilty of our sin? Can the tears of penitence bring the murder victims back to life? We note here that Ahab’s penitence did not spare him of his punishment: his punishment was delayed but not removed. What does that show? It shows how our penitence does not have any real merit to earn God’s forgiveness.

What is our assurance based on, then? Certainly, it isn’t anything from us or by us or of us! “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil” (Jer. 13:23)! No, if we have any hope that God would regard our penitence, that God would not just postpone our punishment but remove it completely from us, it is because of Jesus Christ our righteous King! For He never, ever provoked God to His anger as Ahab had done. At every point of His life and ministry God’s assessment of Him was always, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased!” Thus He glorified His Father through His perfect and willing obedience to the point of death, even death on a cross. And when He did, what did He receive from His Father? Praises and applause? Those were what He truly deserved, and more. Instead, Jesus received the Father’s abandonment, utter abandonment. Think about it! We are talking about a God, who was moved by the penitence of Ahab, the worst king of Israel. But when Jesus His beloved Son, the righteous King, cried out to Him with a most heart-wrenching cry, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” God refused to respond! Instead, He was provoked to anger by all of our sins that Jesus took upon Himself. He unleashed His wrath against His beloved Son. Why? Because that was the only way to save us from our sin! Oh, the wonder of all wonders!

So perfect was Jesus’ sacrifice, so perfect was His righteousness, that there is now and forever no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! Even when the clouds should be rolled back as a scroll; even when the final trumpet should resound and the Lord shall descend to judge the living and the dead, we would be able to sing, “It is well with my soul!” We can sing it because God has accepted us in Jesus Christ. “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him” (Ps. 103:11-13)!

Remember the Parable of the Prodigal Son? Remember how the Father welcomed back his son? Though his son wasted all his inheritance, though he was dirty beyond tolerance, though he smelled disgusting beyond nausea, the Father embraced him and kissed him! He was so happy that he called for a great celebration! But what did the prodigal son do to make him so happy? Nothing. All he did was to return home in a contrite and broken spirit! Do you realize how much God rejoices over your humble confession of sin, over your repentance? Isn’t it so true that it is God’s kindness that leads you to repentance? And can you imagine how happy God would be for every good work you do in the name of Jesus Christ, however feeble your attempt may be?

What will be the summary of your life if you keep going the way you do? What are you spending your God-given talents and treasures on? If you stand alone, your biographical sketch won’t be much different from Ahab’s. And it is a fearful thing to be guilty before God, to be under God’s fearful judgment. You may tear your clothes and put ashes over your head. You may repent and turn away from your sins. But all that can only postpone your inevitable punishment, at best, if you are outside of Christ. You need to be cleansed with Christ’s blood and His righteousness. But if you are in Christ, you know that your life’s story will be covered by the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, don’t you? His life has become your life, His story, your story. How are you living then? Don’t you know that His assessment of you is, “This is My beloved child, with whom I am well-pleased,” because you are in Jesus Christ? Don’t you know that God’s heart is so tender toward you that He rejoices over you even when you repent? Don’t you see that He is so eager to be pleased by you? If so, don’t you want to do everything possible with every opportunity you get to glorify such a father as your heavenly Father? May your life now be worthy of all the glory and honor that God will shower upon you when you enter into heaven in the name of Jesus Christ, His beloved Son!