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 This
is the story of Ahab who ruled as king of Israel for twenty-two years
about 900 years before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Details regarding Ahab's life are found in the Bible, beginning with
his first appearance which is found in 1 Kings 16:28, and ending with
his death in 1 Kings 22:40.
The events portraying the Lord's judgment upon the House of Ahab after
his death are recorded in 2 King's 9:1 through 11:15.
This is the story of Ahab who ruled as king of Israel for twenty-two
years about 900 years before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Details regarding Ahab's life are found in the Bible, beginning with
his first appearance which is found in 1 Kings 16:28, and ending with
his death in 1 Kings 22:40.
The events portraying the Lord's judgment upon the House of Ahab after
his death are recorded in 2 King's 9:1 through 11:15.
CHAPTER 1
ZING! "Oh! ... I've been hit!"
"What happened, your Majesty?"
"I've been struck by an arrow! Help me!"
"What can we do? The arrow is stuck fast between your Shoulder blades!
We don't dare remove it! Say! Some of you Men come here! Let's see if
we can help King Ahab!"
"Just prop me up in this chariot, and let me stay here Until dark. I
don't want the others to see that I have been Wounded! They will
surely flee from the enemy!"
"0 Lord, I know that I'm going to die, and now suddenly I can see my
entire life displayed in my memory. Did my evil Ways influence the
lives of others during my twenty-two years As Israel's king? Let me
reflect back at the things I did during Those years ... perhaps it
will keep my mind off the terrible Pain I'm now having to endure!"
"As the eighth king over the nation of Israel, I, Ahab, Exercised
great power and influence over the ten tribes of the Children of
Israel who occupy this land. I confess that I have Been more evil than
all of the kings who ruled before me. You Know. Lord, that I have
always been a very self-willed man... I'm sure that fact was obvious
when I took the beautiful, heathen Princes, Jezebel, to be my queen. I
should never have allowed Her to introduce idolatry to my people on
such a grand scale As she did! I know I could have prevented her from
bringing Those 450 prophets of Baal into Samaria as well as the other
400 false prophets who taught the people to worship the goddess
Astarte, but I was too weak! I should have tried to tell her About
you, the only true God!"
"Because of my taste for splendid architecture, I have Truly enjoyed
my beautiful palace in Samaria. During my years As king, I built a
house of ivory for my own enjoyment, and I constructed several
magnificent cities as well ... all of Them for my own pleasure."
"What is worst of all, I allowed Jezebel to have complete Control over
me, and I took great pleasure in pleasing her by Constructing temples
for her idols. It grieved me to see my People go into those temples
and bow down to Jezebel's heathen gods! In fact, idolatry and
corruption became so strong in our land that it seemed as though the
knowledge of you ... the True Lord God of Israel ... would be lost
forever! Nevertheless, In your matchless grace, you raised up the
prophet Elijah to speak to me and to all Israel."
CHAPTER 2
"Elijah came to me and said, 'King Ahab, the Lord will not sent dew
nor rain upon this land for three years!' As soon as he had spoken
those words, Elijah left Samaria, and I did not see him again until
the three years had expired."
"After Israel had no rain for three years, the land was suffering from
a terrible famine. I sent for my servant Obadiah and said to him, 'Go
and search throughout the land of Israel for the prophet Elijah! Tell
him that we will lose all of our horses and mules if we don't soon
find water and grass for them! "'
"Obadiah replied, 'You know that we have searched three years for
Elijah, your Majesty. If I should be able to find him and he
disappears again before I can take you to him, I will be signing my
own death warrant!"'
"I responded, 'Go immediately to look for him, Obadiah! I must speak
with him!"'
"Then I went to search in one direction alone, and Obadiah went
another way by himself."
"Several days later, Obadiah located Elijah. He returned to me and
reported that he had spoken to the prophet, and that Elijah wanted to
see me."
"I agreed to go, and when I saw Elijah face-to-face, I said to him,
'So you're the one who is causing all this trouble in Israel!"'
"Elijah answered me and said, 'I am not the one who is troubling
Israel, Ahab! It is you and your father's house who have been
troubling Israel, because you have forsaken the Word of God, and you
have been worshipping idols! Go now! Gather the people and bring them
to me at Mt. Carmel! Also, bring Jezebel's four hundred and fifty
prophets of Baal, and the other four hundred false prophets who eat at
her table! I have something important to say to all of you!"'
"I did as Elijah commanded, and we all went together to Mt. Carmel."
CHAPTER 3
"The prophet Elijah was standing alone at the altar of sacrifice when
we reached Mt. Carmel. He shouted to the crowd, 'How long will you
people hold two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal
is god, follow him"'.
"Not one person in the crowd dared to utter a single word! Then Elijah
continued, 'I am the only prophet who is serving the Lord, but Baal's
prophets number 450 men! Bring two bullocks to us for a sacrifice, and
let those prophets choose one for themselves and make it ready to
place on the altar! Let them arrange wood under their sacrifice, but
use no fire! I will do the same with my bullock."'
"When both sacrifices were made ready, Elijah said to the false
prophets, 'Call upon the name of your gods, and afterward, I will call
upon the name of the Lord! The one who answers by fire is truly God!"'
"With one accord, the people shouted, 'Let that be done!'"
"The false prophets called upon Baal from morning until noon, saying,
'0 Baal, hear us, and send fire to burn our sacrifice! ' "
"Then they leaped upon the altar and kept shouting, but no answer was
heard."
"Elijah then began to tease and to ridicule them. He said, 'Cry a
little louder! Maybe your god is asleep, or perhaps he is on a long
journey and can't hear your cries!'"
"The false prophets disregarded Elijah's words, and, until it was time
for the evening sacrifice, they shrieked and leaped upon the altar,
and cut themselves with knives until their blood gushed out upon
them!"
"Still no answer was heard, and by this time, no one in the crowd
really cared."
"Then Elijah stepped forward once more and said to the people, 'Come
closer and see what the Lord will do!"'
"He repaired the altar that the false prophets had broken down. Then
he placed 12 stones upon it ... one for each of the tribes of Israel
... and he lay the wood in order on the stones. Next, he placed the
sacrifice on the wood and turned again to the people, saying, 'Bring
four barrels of water, and pour it over the sacrifice and the wood!"'
"That was done three times, and the water ran down the altar, filling
the trench beneath it. Then Elijah approached the altar and prayed, '0
LORD GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND ISRAEL, let it be known today that You
are Israel's true God, and that I am Your servant who has done these
things in obedience to Your Word. Hear me, 0 Lord, so that these
people may know that You are the LORD GOD who is able to turn their
hearts back to YOU again.'"
"As soon as Elijah finished his prayer, the Lord sent fire down from
heaven to consume the burnt-sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones,
and the dust, and licked up all of the water that was in the trench!"
"Great fear fell upon the people when they witnessed the power of the
Lord, and they fell on their faces and cried out, 'The Lord is truly
God!'"
"Then Elijah commanded, 'Bring all of Baal's prophets to me! Do not
let one of them escape!"'
"The people obeyed, and at Elijah's order, they took the prophets of
Baal to the brook Kishon, and slew them there."
"Elijah turned to me and said, 'Eat and drink now, Ahab! After you
have eaten, return quickly to Samaria, for there will soon be an
abundance of rain I"'
"I obeyed, and scurried back to tell Jezebel all the things that had
happened."
"When Jezebel learned that her prophets had been killed, she wrote a
threatening note to Elijah and sent it by a swift messenger. The note
said, 'Elijah, tomorrow by this time, you will be a dead man, because
you destroyed my prophets!'"
"Elijah became so frightened by Jezebel's threat, that he ran and hid
in a cave. His failure to trust the Lord, resulted in his being
replaced by another prophet."
"My action of running to Jezebel certainly had a serious effect upon
the life of God's prophet Elijah!"
CHAPTER 4
"One of Israel's greatest enemies was Syria. Their king, Ben-Hadad
gathered an army, along with thirty-two kings and their armies, and
they prepared to take our capitol, Samaria. They sent word to me
demanding, 'Send your silver and gold, and the best of your wives and
children to me!'"
"I answered Ben-Hadad and said, 'I am your prisoner, and everything
you demand is yours!'"
"That was not good enough for Ben-Hadad, and he sent word again to me
saying, 'Tomorrow, I will send soldiers into your city to search all
of your houses, and they will take whatever is pleasing in their
sight!'"
"I consulted with all the elders in the land and said to them, 'Ben-Hadad
is bound to defeat us! I offered to give him our silver and gold, and
also the best of my wives and children, but he is still not satisfied
with those terms! What shall we do?'"
"They replied, 'Don't agree to his terms!'"
"I took their advice, and sent messengers to Ben-Hadad to tell him, 'I
will honor your first request, but I will not allow you to take what
you want out of our houses!"'
"When Ben-Hadad got that message, he and the other kings who were with
him were getting drunk, and they said to their soldiers, 'Prepare to
take Samaria!'"
"The Lord sent a prophet to me and said, 'YOU see this great multitude
preparing to fight against you? This very day, I, the Lord, will
deliver you from your enemies, AND YOU SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD!
' "
"I replied to the prophet, 'How will this take place, and who will
lead our people?"'
"The prophet answered me and said, 'The young princes of this province
will defeat the Syrians, and you, Ahab, will lead the battle!"'
"I did as the Lord directed, and we slaughtered the Syrians. Only Ben-Hadad
himself and a few of his men managed to escape."
"The Lord sent the prophet to me again with the words, 'Go and
strengthen your army, Ahab, because at the end of this year, the
Syrians will come again to threaten you."'
"Just as the Lord had said would happen, the Syrians threatened us at
the end of the year. The servants of Ben-Hadad had told him, 'The
Israelites' god is god of the hills; therefore, they were able to
defeat us. If we fight against them in the plain, we shall be able to
conquer them!'"
"Ben-Hadad took their advice, and he gathered a huge army with which
to challenge Israel in the plain outside of the city of Aphek."
"Once more, the Lord sent a prophet to me and said, 'The Syrians say
that I am God of the hills, but not God of the valleys; therefore, I
will deliver them into your hands, Ahab, and YOU SHALL KNOW THAT I AM
THE LORD! ' "
"Seven days later, we slew one hundred thousand Syrians in a single
day! The men in Ben-Hadad's army who managed to escape fled into the
city of Aphek, and a wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand more, and
they perished!"
"Again, Ben-Hadad escaped with a few of his men. They suggested to
him, 'Your majesty, we have heard that the kings of Israel are
merciful men. If you ask him, perhaps King Ahab will spare our
lives!'"
"Ben-Hadad sent a messenger to me, asking me to spare his life and the
lives of those who had escaped with him. When I received his message,
I said in amazement, 'Is Ben-Hadad still alive? He is my friend! Bring
him to me! He shall not die!"'
"When Ben-Hadad was brought to me, he said, 'Because you have
graciously spared my life, Ahab, I will restore all of the cities that
my father took from your father, and I will name streets in Damascus
after you!'"
"I was very pleased with Ben-Hadad's words! We signed a treaty, and he
returned to his own house in Damascus."
"Immediately, the Lord sent a prophet to me with the message, 'Because
you spared the life of a man whom the Lord designated for utter
destruction, Ahab, your life will be taken in exchange for his!"
"When I heard those word from the Lord, I went to my house in Samaria,
very downhearted and displeased!"
"Certainly, my foolish actions had a negative effect upon myself and
also upon Ben-Hadad and his people as well."
CHAPTER 5
"My neighbor,
Naboth, had a very beautiful and productive vineyard right next to my
property, and I wanted to purchase it from him. He refused to sell the
vineyard to me, because it was his inheritance from his father."
"His refusal to sell the vineyard was so upsetting to me that I
couldn't eat. I complained about it to Jezebel, and she said, 'Are you
the king over the nation Israel or not? Eat your dinner, and I will
get Naboth's vineyard for you!"'
"Jezebel wrote letters, signed my name and sealed them with the royal
seal. Then she sent those letters to the elders and nobles in the city
of Samaria. The letters said, 'Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth in a
high place among the people. Then call two men whom you will instruct
to give false testimony against Naboth and have them swear before all
the people who assemble that Naboth blasphemed against God and against
the king."'
"The instructions in Jezebel's letters were carried out exactly as she
stated, and when the false testimony was heard, Naboth was carried out
of the city and stoned to death."
"As soon as Jezebel knew that Naboth was dead, she came to me and
said, 'Stop sulking, Ahab! Naboth is dead, and the vineyard is yours!
' "
"I was elated, and I went to take possession of Naboth's property.
However, as soon as I walked into the vineyard, the prophet Elijah
came to me and said, 'Thus saith the Lord... you have committed
murder, Ahab, and now do you think you can come here to take
possession of Naboth's property? You may not! And, because you have
done this evil deed, your blood will be shed and licked up by dogs in
the very place where Naboth was murdered!'"
"I was very sad when I heard the prophet's words, and I fell on my
face to humble myself before the Lord, and I confessed my sin against
Naboth."
"The Lord said to Elijah, 'Because Ahab has humbled himself before me,
I will not bring evil against his house until after his death.'"
"My sin against Naboth was very displeasing to the Lord, and it had an
extremely bad effect against Naboth's family as well."
CHAPTER 6
"I took unfair advantage of one of the nicest men I ever knew
... King Jehoshaphat of Judah."
"Jehoshaphat graciously came to Samaria when I sent for him, and we
formed an alliance between our two nations to defend Israel against
the Syrians. With him came Jehoram, his eldest son who, would
eventually succeed him as king of the nation of Judah."
"After we signed the alliance, Jehoshaphat said to me, "Shouldn't we
ask council from the Lord before we go into battle against our common
enemy? "
"I agreed that we should. Jehoshaphat and I put on our royal apparel
and each sat on a throne in a large area just outside the gate of
Samaria, and waited for 400 of my prophets to assemble before us. I
spoke to them and said, 'Shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle or
not?"
"With one accord, they responded, 'Go! God will deliver your enemies
into your hands I"
"I turned to Jehoshaphat to see his reaction, and he said, "Is there
no prophet from the Lord here that we may question him?"
"I replied, 'Oh yes, there is one man, but I hate him! He never
prophesies anything that is favorable to mel"'
"Jehoshaphat answered, 'You should not speak of the Lord's prophet in
a disrespectful way, Ahab!'
"Then I sent for two messengers and said to them, 'Go quickly and
bring Micaiah to us from his prison cell!"'
"Micaiah was brought before us in chains. I questioned him saying, 'Micaiah,
should we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle or not?'
"Micaiah replied, 'Go, and your enemies will be delivered into your
hands! ' "
"I responded and said, 'Micaiah, how many times must I tell you not to
lie to me in the name of the Lord?"'
"Micaiah answered truthfully, 'Thus saith the Lord, I see Israel's
troops scattered upon the mountains like sheep that have no shepherd.
Let them return to their houses in peace! Who will volunteer to go
down to entice Ahab to fight and die on the battlefield at Ramoth-Gilead?'
An angel answered the Lord and said, 'I will go! The Lord asked him,
'How will you entice King Ahab?' The angel responded, 'I will put a
lying spirit in the mouths of all his false prophets. ' The Lord
replied, 'Go, and you shall succeed"'
"Then I turned to Jehoshaphat and in exasperation I said, "Didn't I
tell you this man would prophecy evil against me?"
"One of my false prophets smote Micaiah on the cheek and challenged
him saying, Which way did the Spirit of the Lord go from me to speak
to you?"
"Micaiah answered, 'You will surely know the answer to your question
when you go into your private room to hide!"'
"I called to my servants and said, 'Take Micaiah back to his prison
cell, and feed him with moldy bread and stale water until I return in
peace!'"
"As Micaiah was being led away, he turned back and said to me, 'If you
return at all. King Ahab, the Lord has not spoken through me!"
"After that session with the prophets, Jehoshaphat and I made
ourselves battle-ready, and we went up to Ramoth-Gilead together. I
thought to myself, 'I can very easily be recognized by the enemy in
these garments!' I approached Jehoshaphat with a plan and said to him,
'Jehoshaphat, why don't we disguise ourselves by exchanging clothing
so that the enemy won't know us?'
"Jehoshaphat agreed, and we went into the battle in which I received
this fatal wound a few hours ago."
"When you read my story, I will be dead, but others who followed me
would be adversely affected by the evil deeds that I performed during
my lifetime."
CHAPTER 7
After Ahab died, the Lord anointed a man by the name of Jehu to
be king over the northern kingdom. Jehu was designated to destroy the
whole house of Ahab, as predicted by the Lord in 1 Kings 21:21-26.
That destruction had been post phoned until the time of Jehu, because
Ahab humbled himself before the Lord. (see I Kings 21:27-29 for his
humility)
To carry out the Lord's punishment upon the House of Ahab, Jehu first
went to Jezreel to see Jezebel.
Jezebel's palace was in Jezreel, and when she heard that Jehu was in
the city, she put on her most beautiful dress, painted her face, and
stood in a window that overlooked the street below.
When she saw Jehu, Jezebel asked sweetly, "Have you come in peace,
Jehu?"
Jehu replied sternly, "What is peace? Is anyone up there with Jezebel
who is on my side?"
Three of Jezebel's servants appeared at the window and they responded,
"We are with you, Jehu!"
Then Jehu ordered, "Throw the woman down here to me!"
The servants obeyed, and they threw Jezebel out of the window. Some of
her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses below. Jehu
trampled her body, and then dismounted from his horse and went into
the palace to eat and to drink.
After he had eaten, he said to his men, "Go and get the body of
Jezebel and give it a decent burial. After all, she was the daughter
of a king, and she deserves to have a dignified burial."
When Jehu's men went back into the street to carry out his orders,
there was no body to bury! Instead, they found only what was left of
Jezebel ... her skull, her feet and the palms of her hands.
They hurried back into the palace to tell Jehu, and he said, "What you
have seen here today is the result of the words of the Lord which were
spoken to Ahab by the prophet Elijah
concerning His judgment upon the house of Ahab. Those words were:
"Thus saith the Lord, Dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel, and she
shall no longer be recognizable."
After Jehu destroyed wicked Jezebel, he went to Samaria and slew
seventy sons of Ahab who lived in that city.
Then Jehu went back to Jezreel where he found and destroyed the rest
of Ahab's relatives, and the priests who had served him, and all of
the people who worshipped Baal.
(2 Kings chapter 10)
A believer who spends his life out of
fellowship with the Lord certainly makes not only himself miserable,
but he also has a very negative effect upon all those who were
associated with him during his lifetime on earth.
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