Ahab is one of the few of the 39 kings given multiple chapters in the Bible. He is deemed the worst of all the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel. While the kings who followed him were not exactly impressive, they never went into as much idolatry or were as evil as Ahab. There is also no wicked ruler who received as much attention from God as Ahab did with Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon being the runner-up. None of the wicked kings were given the chances to repent and turn back to God like Ahab was. You can read a summary of his reign here from Katie Erickson.
Ahab’s story is introduced in 1 Kings 16 after a sequence of four kings from Elah to Omri (Ahab’s father) all in a span of 14 years. Ahab himself ruled 22 years, and his reign was covered through 1 Kings 22 where he was slain in battle. Ahab was already married when he became king, and this was a very critical marriage that was specifically marked out as a strike against him. He was married to Jezebel, often deemed the most wicked woman in all Scripture. The Bible directly calls out this marriage as playing a vital role in how Ahab’s reign turned out.
Ahab’s reign was marked for the following events: the 3 ½ year drought that ended with the grand showdown at Mt. Carmel; two major battles with Syria in which God proclaimed himself to be both God of the hills and the plains; the stealing of Naboth’s vineyard and murder of Naboth to claim it; and his final battle in which Micaiah saw the council of heaven plotting how to get Ahab to go to war so he would be slain. In all of these events except the last one, Jezebel was there in the midst of things. And so, to understand Ahab’s backstory, we need to understand Jezebel’s, too.
We don’t know when Ahab and Jezebel were married, but it was a political marriage. Jezebel was the daughter of the king of Sidon who was also the chief priest of Baal. Jezebel’s father had murdered the previous king and took the throne not long before these events. Jezebel would have been raised in all the ways of Baal worship, and she was the primary one to introduce Baal worship to Israel. During this time, the golden calves of Jeroboam remained upright, and the oldest men during Ahab’s reign would still remember when they were put up. Jeroboam reigned 22 years, Nadab 2 years, Baasha 24 years, Elah 2 years, and Omri 12 years. Add those up and that is only 62 years. Those in their 70s or 80s may still even remember Solomon as a youth. We don’t know when in Solomon’s reign that he turned to idolatry, but these elderly people when Ahab became king would have seen the transition from Solomon into Ahab. Some would have bowed the knee to Baal, but some would have been among the 7000 who did not. These 7000 also would not have bowed the knee before the golden calves either. But they would have witnessed the downward turn that was started by Omri and culminated with Ahab.
Jezebel was the true ruler of Israel during this time. Ahab was a weak man and easily manipulated. Jezebel controlled him like a puppet. You never see Ahab truly take control over any situation. He just sat there during the showdown at Mt Carmel. During the battles with Syria, he didn’t lead anything. He just went and the young leaders took charge. And little is seen with Ahab being impotent as clearly as during the encounter with Naboth. When Naboth refused to sell his vineyard, as it was his family’s inheritance and it was illegal to sell or buy such lands, Ahab went and threw a pout. Jezebel then set up for Naboth to be murdered so Ahab could go claim the vineyard. Ahab did nothing while Jezebel did all the dirty work. But Ahab was held responsible because he was the man, the husband, and actually held the authority.
I don’t know what led to Ahab’s great weakness other than simply submitting to Jezebel’s controlling spirit. But Scripture explicitly describes Ahab as being one whom Jezebel stirred. This has made me wonder, if Ahab had not married Jezebel, would he have repented with all the miracles God showed him? Think about it. The 3 ½ year drought that would only end on Elijah’s word. Fire from heaven. Elijah outrunning Ahab’s chariot. The two victories over Syria. Each time, Jezebel was there to prevent any work being done.
Now do not read what I am not saying. I am not saying Jezebel was more powerful than God. What I am saying is that Ahab preferred slavery to Jezebel over obedience to God. He liked Jezebel as his master. She did his dirty work for him and made decision-making easy for him. I have heard of pastors who have a spiritually strong wife essentially giving up praying and seeking the Lord themselves and using their wives to hear from God for them. It’s a deadly business. While a few of these wives are genuine believers, it still shows a weakness in the man and poor leadership in the home. How much more so the church? Ahab had a wicked master in Jezebel. He was bad enough as is, but then he chose Jezebel to rule over him on top of that. What did he get for it? The moniker of being the worst king of all the kings of the Bible. Not even the pagan kings were hit like Ahab was.
So, what can we learn? When one’s heart is set on evil, there is no limit to how dark he can go. And when leadership has no limit, the nation goes with them. Ahab was the bottom of the barrel, and Jezebel made sure he stayed there. We must be careful who we marry and who we align with. Jezebel can come in many forms: a wife, a boss, a gossiper, and even a preacher. And she will prey upon the weak men so she can control them and seduce them to becoming her puppets. Ahab would have two grown children, from among 70, rule after him. One barely made it more than a year and the other got to witness the ministry of Elisha before being slain by Jehu. We will look at Ahab’s primary contemporary, Jehoshaphat, next week before coming back to Ahab’s children.
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