1 Kings 21-22

1 Kings 21-22

            As I’ve noted, Ahab wasn’t a pure idolater.  He was a syncretist, trying to hold together aspects of Israel’s faith with aspects of Canaanite religion.  So, we discover that his son is named Ahaziah.  (Though the Bible doesn’t point this out, Ahaziah means something along the lines of “Yahweh stands firm;” it’s a thoroughly Israelite name.)  And in the previous chapter, Ahab was in productive conversation with Yahweh’s prophets.  Further, we find Ahab humbling himself before the Lord (v. 20).  As a matter of fact, Ahab doesn’t like it, but he understands why Naboth won’t sell his vineyard.  Ahab has read Leviticus and Deuteronomy, or at least he remembers that “Israelites [are] God’s tenants in the land of Canaan [and] do not have the right to alienate the land through its permanent and irretrievable sale to a purchaser.”

            Jezebel is a pure idolater, and she has a fundamentally different idea about land.  Her idea is that if you have enough power and influence you can get anything you want—even if it means framing an innocent man and orchestrating his death.  Notice that Jezebel waters reality down and makes no reference to how she arranged Naboth’s death to her husband.  Notice, too, that Ahab doesn’t ask.  Sometimes it’s just safer not to know.

            Notice, too, the similarity with the story of David and Bathsheba: treacherously taking a poor man’s one beloved thing by orchestrating his death, a prophet’s confrontation, a kingdom in chaos, punishment falling on a son.  At his worst, Israel’s best king, David, was just as bad as her worst king, Ahab.  Let that be a reminder that sin lurks at the door of our heart to and that even the best of Christians can fall into the deepest sin.  Of course, David’s story is mitigated by the Lord’s promise that his throne will endure, a promise that Ahab does not have.  Let that be a reminder to cling to God’s promises of forgiveness and His faithfulness to them.