1 Kings 21: An Ivory Palace with Little Faith
Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite: 18 "Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now in Naboth's vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it. 19 Say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?' Then say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth's blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!' "
Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite: 18 "Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now in Naboth's vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it. 19 Say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?' Then say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth's blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!' "
Although Ahab inherited a bad situation: a divided kingdom in which religious faith was in free fall. Yet somehow he made it worse, doing “more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him” (16:30)
The Bible lays much of the blame for Ahab’s performance on a bad marriage. To forge a political alliance he married Jezebel, the daughter of a neighboring king. When she brought along her idols of Baal, Ahab joined in, building a temple to Baal right in his capital. Jezebel then tried to hunt down and destroy all remnants of true Israelite faith, replacing god’s prophets with her own imported substitutes.
While Ahab may seem like the passive partner in crime, he bore his share of responsibility as well. The prophet Elijah might have been his salvation; Ahab saw him instead as an enemy and a troublemaker (18:17; 21;20) Time after time Ahab rejected good and godly advice.
By secular standards of prosperity and military strength, Ahab achieved success. He built a fine palace inlaid with ivory. He drove back invaders from Syria. From the Bible’s point of view, however, these achievements meant nothing compared to his failures of faith and morality. As a traitor to God, Ahab was the worst king yet.
Life Question
In today’s world, how do political leaders affect a country’s overall moral and spiritual climate?
The Bible lays much of the blame for Ahab’s performance on a bad marriage. To forge a political alliance he married Jezebel, the daughter of a neighboring king. When she brought along her idols of Baal, Ahab joined in, building a temple to Baal right in his capital. Jezebel then tried to hunt down and destroy all remnants of true Israelite faith, replacing god’s prophets with her own imported substitutes.
While Ahab may seem like the passive partner in crime, he bore his share of responsibility as well. The prophet Elijah might have been his salvation; Ahab saw him instead as an enemy and a troublemaker (18:17; 21;20) Time after time Ahab rejected good and godly advice.
By secular standards of prosperity and military strength, Ahab achieved success. He built a fine palace inlaid with ivory. He drove back invaders from Syria. From the Bible’s point of view, however, these achievements meant nothing compared to his failures of faith and morality. As a traitor to God, Ahab was the worst king yet.
Life Question
In today’s world, how do political leaders affect a country’s overall moral and spiritual climate?
Sadly, the media tends to dictate a leader's image- both in a positive and negative light. I think the average person is quick to judge someone's character by what they watch on the 6:00 news. One has to wonder what kind of press coverage good ole' King Ahab would have received back in the day. My guess is that he may have been glorified by his lofty buidling projects and little attention would have been given for his spiritual plight...and because of this, the people would rally behind him. Some things never change in human history.
1 comment:
I think leaders set the tone for our country with their morals and spirit. In saying that I would also add that what is really going on behind the scenes is a mystery to the average citizen. I know the whole political machine is driven by greed and personal ambition and the almighty dollar takes the front seat to true spiritual morals. Jesus said it well when He said : "My kingdom is not of this world."
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