King Ahab

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BACKGROUND

1 Kings 16-22 & 2 Chronicles 17-18

SUMMARY

1 Kings 16.30, ‘King Ahab did more things to disobey the Lord than any King before him.’

1 Kings 16.33, ‘Ahab did more to make the Lord angry than any King of Israel before him.’

2 Chronicles 17 and 18 – won’t put all of that here but have it ready in your Bible to use!

WHAT DID AHAB GET UP TO?

He worshipped Baal and built an altar/temple to Baal. Baal was an evil form of worship that even involved human sacrifice including children. Ahab also set up a sacred pole to worship the god Asherah. He was about when the prophet Elijah called down fire and then rain from God at Mount Carmel – humiliating the prophets of Baal and proving God is the one true God

Through Ahab’s life he (along with Jezebel) also attempted to kill Elijah (after the Mount Carmel incident). He then disobeyed God in a battle which caused him to lose the battle. He stole someone’s land which led God to send Elijah to him to prophesy that Ahab would die and have his blood licked up by dogs (1 Kings 21.19). Elijah also prophesied doom and death over Ahab’s family. This was the only brief time that Ahab was truly sorry before God. It didn’t last long. He then went into a battle he’d been warned not to go to and died. 1 Kings 22.38 tells us that ‘dogs licked Ahab’s blood off the ground, just as the Lord had warned.’

In 1 Kings 21.25 we read that, ‘No one was more determined than Ahab to disobey the Lord. And Jezebel encouraged him. Worst of all, he had worshipped idols..’

QUESTIONS

– What do you think of yourself?
– What do you think God thinks of you?
– Do you think you’ve ever made God angry?
– Have you ever wondered about God and you?
– Is God involved in your life?
– Would you make the mistakes King Ahab did?

BELIEVING IN GOD

A teacher once told me that he’d believe in God if he saw a miracle happen. He said he’d believe if he’d seen Jesus turn the water into wine. ‘I’d have been pretty impressed’ were his words.

If you don’t know Jesus and he did a miracle in front of you, how would you respond? King Ahab was told by God that he would win a battle against Syria (which he did) in 1 Kings 20. He had also witnessed God’s power through Elijah send down fire then rain and defeat the prophets of Baal. What did it take?! What about you?

What about the miracles that went on in Pensacola in 1995 – 1997? 1,800 people went to a Father’s Day meeting and 1000 got saved; a wind game through the church like in Acts 2; 2 deaf boys were healed and marriages were saved through it; there were 65,000 conversions in 14 months; a sheriff brought young offenders to church and not prison! What’s going on there? In my own church someone was completely healed of blindness and someone else had their feet completely healed after they’d been fused together. Other people in local churches have been healed of diseases. People prayed for on the streets have been healed of back pain, from shrapnel injuries (a soldier) and God has done many more amazing things.

See, do we believe God does miracles? Is our unbelief related to the fact that we don’t see more miracles? Do we limit God working by applying our theology and comfort zones to the working of God? I can say yes, I do, sorry Lord God. What about you?  God will never do anything that goes against the principles in the Bible but he will do things that go against our understanding of him because we are humans and he is God!

WE DON’T UNDERSTAND

Ahab was an evil King and yet God seemingly let him carry on and get away with things. God does the same today. We often don’t understand it. However, the Israelites wanted a King (like other countries near them). God warned them not to bother as he was their God but the people of Israel demanded it (1 Samuel 8) A lot of what happened, the people brought on themselves. Today it is the same. I feel that in the UK, people have chosen to deliberately reject God and now we are paying the price. The church is God’s voice, God’s action plan, we’re the foot soldiers. How are we going to respond?

OUR SIN

Like Ahab, we are all sinners (Romans 2.23). We all need God’s help and kindness even though we don’t deserve it. Ahab was sorry before the Lord once and God listened. Today make a decision to get right with God – that means being truly sorry and turning your back on sin. Maybe today is a day when you need to say sorry to God for the first time and get to know Jesus personally. God hates sin and cannot look at sin. That’s why he sent Jesus. On the Cross, Jesus ‘became sin’ and God had to turn his face away from Jesus.

The good news is that Jesus rose again, empowered his people with the Holy Spirit that causes people to glorify Jesus. Jesus also told us the Kingdom of heaven (in a small way) is ALREADY HERE through God’s people. Let’s get right with God, get out there and make a difference!

Ask God now if there’s anything that you need to deal with. That means anything that is against what God says. Are you doing things that aren’t right? If you are, you can say sorry to God, stop doing them and you’ll feel so much better!