1 Kings 20:13, “Then a certain prophet came to see King Ahab of Israel and told him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do you see all these enemy forces? Today I will hand them all over to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'”
1 Kings 20:28-29, “Then the man of God went to the king of Israel and said, ‘This is what the Lord says: The Arameans have said, “The Lord is a god of the hills and not of the plains.” So I will defeat this vast army for you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” The two armies camped opposite each other for seven days, and on the seventh day the battle began. The Israelites killed 100,000 Aramean foot soldiers in one day.”
King Ahab was the husband of Jezebel, the stereotype of a wicked woman. And she was no stereotype, she was evil. This is how the Bible described Ahab in 1 Kings 16:30, “But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the Lord ’s sight, even more than any of the kings before him.” “…even more than any kings before him…” was really not a compliment.
King Ahab was the ruler during the time of the prophet Elijah who confronted the prophets of Baal, a false god, and made known the power and glory of the LORD by asking for fire from heaven and receiving it. These prophets were slaughtered later by the Israelites.
This king’s life and reign are featured lengthily in the book of 1 Kings. This portion of scripture I am highlighted today shows how God makes Himself known even to evil people. Why did God have to? For one thing, Ahab was Israel’s king. He was in charge of the people whom God chose to be His people.
God needed to have Ahab acknowledge and recognize Him as the only God who can rescue him because His people Israel are subject to him. Did Ahab acknowledge God? In a way he did. He even obeyed the instructions of God on how to defeat his enemies but he did not obey completely. It was not enough for Ahab to turn from his evil ways.
Everyone needs to know that the LORD, He is God. God gives even evil people the opportunity to know Him and repent of their sins. This is how good our God is. Everyone has the right to be given the chance to enter eternity. Sadly, not too many do.
