AHAB

I. Weakness: In the Sight of His Wife and God

A. INTRODUCTION:

1. The “Divided Kingdom”: Its origin and its consequences

a. The “United Kingdom” existed from King Saul to King Solomon.
1) After Solomon's death His son, Rehoboam, took over.
2) The people desired a diminution of the taxes they had under Solomon (building programs).
3) Rehoboam ignored the cries of the people and listened to the advice of his friends.
4) ( I Kgs. 12:14 ), “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”
5) This led to a “Divided Kingdom”; of Israel in the North, and Judah to the South.

b. The king in the North, Jeroboam, realized he couldn't hold power if the people went south to worship.
1) As he said, ( I Kgs. 12:27 ), “If this people go to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their Lord, even Rehoboam, king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”
2) So Jeroboam established a “worship of convenience” in Israel, ( I Kgs. 12:28-29 ), “So the king consulted and made two golden calves, and said to the people, ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.' And he set one in Bethel, and the other in Dan.”
3) Every king of Israel that followed Jeroboam continued in this practice of idolatry!

c. The “spiritually weak” are sinfully influenced by their culture; the strong seek to change their culture!

B. Ahab's Weakness in the Sight of God
1. While all of Israel's kings were bad; Ahab was the worst!
a. ( I Kgs. 16:29-30 ), “Now Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-
two years. Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him.”

b. One of his worst choices was who he chose to marry, ( I Kgs. 16:31 ), “And it came about, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians,” [The choice of who you marry is the second most important decision you can make].
1) A command God gave the Jews was not to marry outside of the Jewish faith.
a) ( Deut. 7:3-4 ), “Furthermore, you shall not intermarry [with the nations in the Promised Land] ; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me
to serve other gods;'”
b) They had an example of this, ( I Kgs. 11:4 ), “When Solomon was old his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.”
2) While God has no such command for believers today, He does warn us that the influence of others [e.g., wives, friends, others] may turn our hearts away from Him.
a) ( II Cor. 6:14 ), “Do not be unequally yoked with non-believers; for what partnership has righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?”
b) We must all use good judgment all the time; but especially in the choice of mates!

c. Yet Ahab not only followed Jeroboam's idolatry, he even established a few idols of his own…
1) ( I Kgs. 16:31b-33 ), “…, and went to worship Baal and serve him. So Ahab erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab also made the Asherah. Thus, Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.”
2) Our culture today provides us with many opportunities for idolatry, (define an “idol”).
3) External idols (wealth, possessions, etc.) and internal ones, (power, greed – Col. 3:5 ), “Consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.”

C. Ahab's Weakness in the Sight of His Wife (he follows her choices even when they are wrong!)

1. Jezebel chose to rebel against God in two ways …

a. First, she had the prophets of God destroyed, ( I Kgs. 18:4 ), “…it came about when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took 100 prophets and hid them by 50s in a
cave.”
1) In this country we can't kill God's proclaimers, but people still seek to silence God's word!
2) As God's men in our homes, are we sharing God's word with our wives and children?
3) Or, are we silent so that we don't upset either an unbelieving or spiritually weak spouse?!
4) As we saw last week, God has given man the responsibility to be the head of the home.
As such he must be the one who leads his family to Jesus, ( I Tim. 5:8 ), “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

b. Secondly, Jezebel promoted and fellowshipped with the teachers of error!
1) Elijah said, ( I Kgs. 18:19 ), “Now then send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with 450 prophets of Baal, and 400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table.”

2) Those who encourage false teaching(ers), are just as guilty as they are, ( II Jn. 10-11 ), “If anyone who comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting
participates in his evil deeds.”
3) The brother who, through weakness, fear, etc., allows his wife to continue to accept error, has fallen into the same pit as had Ahab!!!

2. Jezebel also rebelled against man…

a. Ahab had not been able to get what he wanted in a land deal. ( I Kgs. 21:1-4 ), “Now it came about after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel
beside the palace of King Ahab. And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, ‘Give me your vineyard that I may have it as a vegetable garden because it is close beside my house, and I will give
you a better vineyard than is in its place; if you like, I will give you the price of it in money.' But Naboth said to Ahab, ‘The Lord forbid me that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.' So Ahab came to his house sullen and vexed… and he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and ate no food.”
1) Then Jezebel castigated Ahab for his weakness, ( vs. 5-7 ), “Jezebel came to him and said, ‘How is it that your spirit is so sullen that you are not eating food?' [He repeats vs. 2-3]
And Jezebel says to him, ‘Do you now reign in Israel? Arise, eat bread, let your heart be joyful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.'”
2) Then she uses her husband's authority to destroy Naboth, ( vs. 8ff ).
3) Ahab accepts without question Naboth's vineyard, ( vs. 15-16 ), “When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that she said to Ahab, ‘Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.' …and Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth to take possession of it.”
4) God, however, holds Ahab responsible for what Jezebel did! ( v. 25 ), “Surely there is no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife incited him.”
5) As the spiritual leader of the family, God holds us men responsible for the spiritual and physical decisions we allow our wives to make!!!

CONCLUSIONS:

1. Our culture will try to mold us into its image. We need to allow God to mold us into His, ( Rom. 12:2 ), “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

2. It takes moral and spiritual fortitude to confront our culture, ( I Cor. 16:13 ), “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, ACT LIKE MEN, be strong!”

3. If you are not yet a Christian, one of the most important steps to leading your family, is to lead them to Jesus by becoming a disciple yourself, ( Mark 16:15-16 )! “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”