King Ahab of Israel

“ He knew that if any perished it must be the shepherd (so Micaiah had foretold) ; and perhaps he had intimation of the charge the enemy had to fight chiefly against the king of Israel, and therefore basely intended to betray Jehoshaphat to the danger, that he might secure himself. Ahab was marked for ruin; one would not have been in his coat for a great sum; yet he will over-persuade this godly king to muster for him. See what those get that join in affinity with vicious men, whose consciences are debauched, and who are lost to every thing that is honourable. ”

“ Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the
people that he had with him, and persuaded him to go up with
him to Ramothgilead.
14:018:003 And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah,
Wilt thou go with me to Ramothgilead? And he answered him, I
am as thou art, and my people as thy people; and we will be
with thee in the war.
14:018:004 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day. ”

“ I have anointed you as king over the people of Yahweh, over Israel. 7 And you will strike the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of Yahweh, from the hand of Jezebel. 8 And all the house of Ahab will perish, and I will cut off from Ahab everyone who pisses against the wall, and him who is shut in and left in Israel. 9 And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah. 10 And dogs will eat Jezebel on Israel's land, and none will bury her. ”

“ He must be made to see how fruitless may be the efforts even of a king. And at last, when success does come, it must come not from his side at all.
We have said that Ahab was a speculative idolater rather than a cruel persecutor. Jezebel acted the part of cruelty; Ahab acted the part of unbeliever and spiritual rebel generally. A proof of the probable correctness of this view is found in the incident before us, for when Ahab met Elijah he did not show a spirit of cruelty. He said unto the prophet: “Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” He did not threaten Elijah with the sword ”

“ In this long drought in the land of Canaan, the cattle must have suffered greatly, and many of them probably perished. Indeed, we read that Ahab, the king of Israel, and Obadiah, the governor of his house, searched the land for the fountains and brooks, to find grass to save, the horses and mules alive, that they might not be all lost.
God is a Father, and, like a tender, loving father, he removes his chastisements so soon as they have produced the effect designed. He was "grieved for the misery of Israel." He told Elijah he would send rain. ”

“ In the Northern kingdom of Israel, a very wicked king named Ahab came to the throne. This very wicked king married a woman named Jezebel, who was even more wicked than himself, and they both did continually that which was evil in the sight of God. They worshiped idols, and they cruelly put to death those who worshiped God. ”

“ Many a bad man has been a stout man. He died in his bed, as did Jeroboam and Baasha themselves; but, like them, left it to his posterity to fill up the measure, and then pay off the scores, of his iniquity.
verses 29-34 Ahab's Reign. (b. c. 925.)
29 And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years. 30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. ”

“ So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.’ The tyrant’s guilty conscience makes a coward of him: and he quails before the wild man out of the mountains, who has not where to lay his head, who stands alone against all the people, though Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, and they eat at the queen’s table; and he only is left and they seek his life:—yet no man dare touch him, not even the king himself. ”

“ If this were Ramoth-gilead, then how much of Bible story clusters about the spot! It was a "city of refuge"; and over these hills or up and down this valley rushed the accidental man-slayer to seek refuge within its gates from the blood-thirsty pursuer. Here Ahab was slain (I. Kings 22:34-37) , here Ahaziah and Jehoram defeated Hazael (II. Kings 8:28, 29; 9:14) , and here Jehu was anointed king of Israel and rode forth in a chariot to execute his terrible commission concerning the house of Ahab (II. Kings 9:4-26) .
Gerasa! Beautiful, though in ruins. What glory must once have been thine! ”

“ And the King of Israel said, "There is yet one man." Had Jehoshaphat been secretly thinking of Elijah? Where was Elijah? He was living, certainly, for he survived even into the reign (apparently) of Jehoram. But where was Elijah? If Jehoshaphat had thought of him, Ahab at any rate did not care to mention him. Perhaps he was inaccessible, in some lonely unknown [Pg 490] retreat of Carmel or of Gilead. Since his fearful message to Ahab he had not been heard of; but why did he not appear at a national crisis so tremendous as this?
"There is yet one man," said Ahab. ”

“ When Jehoshaphat the king was come to Jerusalem, from the assistance he had afforded Ahab, the king of Israel, when he fought with Benhadad, king of Syria, the prophet Jehu met him, and accused him for assisting Ahab, a man both impious and wicked ”

“ Those that procure God's judgments do the mischief, not he that merely foretels them and gives warning of them, that the nation may repent and prevent them. I would have healed Israel, but they would not be healed. Ahab is the Achan, the troubler, who follows Baalim, those accursed things. Nothing creates more trouble to a land than the impiety and profaneness of princes and their families. 3. As one having authority immediately from the King of kings, he ordered a convention of the states to be forthwith summoned to meet at Mount Carmel, where there had been an altar built to God, v. ”

“ One Jew only, a dyer, lives here. To Sebaste, one day's journey. This is the ancient Shomron, where you may still trace the site of the palace of Ahab, king of Israel. It was formerly a very strong city, and is situated on a mount, in a fine country, richly watered, and surrounded with gardens, orchards, vineyards, and olive-groves. No Jews live here.
It is two parasangs further to Nablous, the ancient Sichem, on Mount Ephraim. This place contains no Jewish inhabitants, and is situated in the valley between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. ”

“ How unlike was this to that with which his servant Obadiah saluted him (v. 7) : Art thou that my lord Elijah? Obadiah feared God greatly; Ahab had sold himself to work wickedness; and both discovered their character by the manner of their address to the prophet. One may guess how people stand affected to God by observing how they stand affected to his people and ministers. Elijah now came to bring blessings to Israel, tidings of the return of the rain; yet he was thus affronted. Had it been true that he was the troubler of Israel, Ahab, as king, would have been bound to animadvert upon him. ”

“ These have no master; let them return every man to his house in peace.' 18And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: 'Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?' 19And he said: 'Therefore hear thou the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on his left. 20And the Lord said: Who shall entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead. ”

“ Omri built Samaria, and was succeeded 122by his son Ahab. Ahab was king of Israel, at the same time as Jehoshaphat was king of Judah. Though they were allied by the marriage of their children, they were directly opposite in their characters. Ahab, wicked and devoted to idolatry, added the worship of Baal to those which were already practised in Israel, and thus brought upon himself the most awful threatenings of Jehovah. Jehoshaphat, weak, but faithful to the law, sent Levites through the country to teach and judge, [45] and obtained the mercy of Jehovah. ”

“ He cried out, either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) , or to his enemies, to rectify their mistake, and let them know that he was not the king of Israel. Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry?) and he found it was not in vain: The Lord helped him out of his distress, by moving the captains to depart from him, v. 31. God has all men's hearts in his hand, and turns them as he pleases, contrary to their own first intentions, to serve his purposes. ”

“ Mesha says in substance that Omri conquered Medeba and occupied it during his reign, half the reign of his son, a period of forty years, but Chemosh restored it to Moab in his (Mesha’s) day. It is said in 2 Kings 3:5, on the other hand, that “when Ahab was dead, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.” According to 1 Kings 16:23-29, Omri reigned twelve years and Ahab twenty-two years. All the reign of Omri, and half of that of Ahab would, accordingly, be but twenty-three years. ”

“ But notwithstanding the precaution he had taken, Ahab did not escape the judgment of God. “A man drew his bow in his simplicity” (לתמּו as in 2Sa 15:11) , i.e., without trying to hit any particular man, “and shot the king of Israel between the skirts and the coat of mail.” ”

“ Peace, Joram: let him speak.
Micaiah.
Sir, I will speak.
In dreams, last night, in the dark night, ere cocks crowed,
I saw a downland empty to the sky.
Joram.
That is the way these fellows use to talk;
They’d talk another way, had I my will.
Micaiah.
And suddenly I saw all Israel
Scattered upon that downland frantically,
Like sheep without a shepherd. The Lord said:
“These have no master now; let them go home.”
Ahab.
And how do you interpret this your dream?
Micaiah.
That if you go this warfare, you, the master
Of Israel, will die.
Ahab.
How die?
Micaiah.86
I do not know. ”

“ It is of great advantage to young ministers to spend some time under the direction of those that are aged and experienced, whose years teach wisdom, and not to think much, if occasion be, to minister to them. Those that would be fit to teach must have time to learn; and those that hope hereafter to rise and rule must be willing at first to stoop and serve.
CHAP. 20.
This chapter is the history of a war between Ben-hadad king of Syria and Ahab king of Israel, in which Ahab was, once and again, victorious. We read nothing of Elijah or Elishain all this story ”

“ He leads an immense army to Aphek, to fight with Ahab, [475] , [476] . A man of God encourages Ahab, who attacks the Syrians, and kills one hundred thousand of them, [477] , [478] . They retreat to Aphek, where twenty-seven thousand of them are slain by a casualty, [479] . Ben-hadad and his courtiers, being closely besieged in Aphek, and unable to escape, surrender themselves with sackcloth on their loins, and halters on their heads; the king of Israel receives them in a friendly manner, and makes a covenant with Ben-hadad, [480] . ”

“ That which to us seems altogether casual is done by the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of God.
V. The army is dispersed by the enemy and sent home by the king. Either Jehoshaphat or Ahab ordered the retreat of the sheep, when the shepherd was smitten: Every man to his city, for it is to no purpose to attempt any thing more, v. 36. Ahab himself lived long enough to see that part of Micaiah's prophecy accomplished that all Israel should be scattered upon the mountains of Gilead (v. 17) , and perhaps with his dying lips did himself give orders for it ”

“ Ahab tells Jezebel what Elijah had done; she is enraged, and threatens to take away his life, [449] , [450] . He leaves Jezreel, and comes to Beer-sheba, and thence to the wilderness, where he is fed and encouraged by an angel, [451] . His complaint and the vision by which God instructs him, [452] . He is sent to Damascus, in order to anoint Hazael king over Syria, and Jehu king over Israel, [453] . He meets with Elisha, who becomes his servant, [454] . ”

“ The 480 years from the foundation of the temple of Jerusalem back to the date of the exodus (1 Kings vi. 1) corresponds to the period forward to the return from the exile (§ 20) . This falls into three equal divisions, of which the first ends with Jehoash’s temple-reforms and the second with Hezekiah’s death. The kingdom of Israel lasts exactly half the time. Of the 240 years from Jeroboam I., 80 elapse before the Syrian wars in Ahab’s reign, these cover another 80; the famous king Jeroboam II. reigns 40 years, and 40 years of decline bring the kingdom to an end. ”