Who Is King Ahab From The Bible?

Last updated on: September 2, 2015 at 5:40 pm by Jack Wellman

Who Is King Ahab From The Bible? 2015-09-02T17:40:14-05:00 Jack Wellman

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Who is King Ahab that is mentioned in the Bible? Why should we need to know about him?

God Anoints Kings

From the very beginning of the times of the kings in Israel, it was God Who appointed and anointed them as with David where it was written, “Now [David] was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he” (1st Sam 16:12) who is to be king and again it was said of David by God, “I anointed you king over Israel” (2nd Sam 12:7). It is God alone Who “changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding” (Dan 2:21) for it is “By me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just” (Prov 8:15) says God. Samuel the prophet was commanded by God to anoint Israel’s very first king, King Saul, (1st Sam 10:1) and that’s the way it has always been. God even directs the hearts of the pagan kings (Prov 21:1).

King Ahab

King Ahab of Israel had a father name King Omri and “Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who were before him” (1st King 16:25). Unfortunately, King Omri “walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols” (1st Kings 16:26) so King Omri’s son did not have a very good influence from his father. After the death of King Omri, “Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years [but] Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him” (1st Kings 16:29-30). King Ahab was one of the wickedest kings in Israel.

King Ahab’s Idolatry

King Ahab must have known better but he went from bad to worse as “he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him” (1st Kings 16:31b) and she was as wicked as any queen of Israel. Every time an Israelite king married outside of the nation of Israel, they fell into idolatry and Ahab was no exception as “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” (1st Kings 16:32-33) and that’s saying a lot because there were some very evil kings before him. God had seen enough. He instructed Elijah to tell King Ahab that “there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word” (1st Kings 17:1b). God told Elijah, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth” so Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria” (1st Kings 18:1b-2).

King Ahab’s End

King Ahab had been searching for Elijah so he could kill him and “When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals” (1st Kings 18:17-18) so King “Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel” (1st Kings 18:20) for a showdown between “the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table” (1st Kings 18:19) and Elijah. When “the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there” (1st Kings 18:38-40). Instead of repenting, which is what Ahab should have done, he grew more wicked as time went by until finally “Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord” (1st Kings 21:20) and told him “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” (1st Kings 21:21) but during a time of war with the Syrians “a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate” (1st Kings 22:34) but “the battle continued that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, until at evening he died. And the blood of the wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot” (1st Kings 22:35).

Conclusion

Every one of us falls far short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23) and we all have earned the penalty of eternal punishment (Rom 6:23a) but God gives us eternal life (Rom 6:23b) if we repent and trust in Him. To reject Him is to die with the wrath of God on you (John 3:36b) and be headed to the Great White Throne Judgment with no hope of repentance (Rev 20:12-15). I pray that is not you and your future.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.

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King Ahab

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