Ahabs

I believe that the Lord is about to deal with the Ahabs. Ahab was a very dangerous king. Israel had previously divided into the northern kingdom, called Israel, and the southern kingdom, Judah. Ahab was the king of the northern kingdom of Israel. Ahab had married a Ba'al worshipper named Jezebel (meaning "Ba'al exalts, Ba'al is husband, unchaste"). Ba'al was a Canaanite god who was worshipped with human blood, and the sacrifice of children thrown into fire: "Now Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethba'al, king of the Sidonians ("to hunt, to fish, chase, hunt eagerly, lie in wait for, lay snares, to take provision for oneself"), and he went and served Ba'al and worshipped him." 1 Kings 16:30-31 The LORD had compared Ahab to a previous king, Jeroboam, in the above verses. Jeroboam (meaning "the people will contend") had received a prophetic word that he would become king. He was warned in this same prophecy that he must follow the ways of the LORD. Acting on part of the prophetic word to him, Jeroboam began to create strife over the issue of burdensome taxes, and eventually convinced the ten northern tribes to break away from the House of David. The ten tribes then chose Jeroboam as their king. Once he became king, however, he ignored the prophet's warning, and built two temples with golden calves to dissuade the people from going to Jerusalam to worship. Jeroboam also created a priesthood from those who were not Levites and instituted a system of false worship (1 Kings 11:26-40, 1 Kings 12:25-33). So King Ahab, like the earlier King Jeroboam, instituted the false, even demonic worship of Ba'al, including false prophets, of his queen, Jezebel. Ahab clung to his queen because she was effective in attaining for Ahab those things that his covetous heart desired, such as vineyards that belonged to others (1 Kings 21:1-7). Under Ahab's and Jezebel's rule, true prophets of God were persecuted and killed. Ahab detested the true prophetic warnings brought to him, and instead embraced smooth, false prophecies that pleased and flattered him. The LORD determined to draw Ahab into destruction in order to end his reign. The LORD sent a lying spirit to speak out of the mouths of Ahab's prophets to lure him to his death: "And the LORD said, "Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth ("heights, place of illicit worship, seat of idolatry, to exalt or magnify oneself, presumptuous, to be rotten, to be wormy) Gilead (witness heap of stones used to ratify a covenant, hard stony region, to roll away, witness, recorder, testimony, prince, affirm solemnly, give warning, admonish, restore, turn back)?...Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, "I will persuade him." The LORD said to him, "In what way?" So he said, "I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets." And the LORD said, "You shall persuade him and also prevail; go out an do so." 2 Chron. 18:19-21 Not only had the LORD chosen the method of Ahab's fall, but also the specific place, Ramoth Gilead, which has a deep and appropriate meaning for this worshipper of idols. However, what the LORD does before His final destruction of Ahab is truly amazing. First, the LORD sends His prophet, Elijah, to bring a heavy word of judgment to Ahab at the very vineyard that Ahab stole from another with Jezebel's help (1 Kings 21:17-24). This prophetic warning of judgment about to fall is one of the most severe Ahab could have received. Ahab and Elijah have had a contentious relationship, but there is no doubt in Ahab's mind that Elijah is a true prophet of God. As a result of Elijah's terrible prophetic declaration, Ahab repents, and the LORD lifts His judgment from off of Ahab!(v. 27-29). This is not the end of the story, however. Another strange event happens, as the LORD deals with Ahab. The king of the southern kingdom of Judah, Jehoshaphat, came to visit Ahab, the king of the northern kingdom. Jehoshaphat was one of the most Godly kings in the history of both Judah and Israel. Why would such a man wish to visit a horror like Ahab? I couldn't understand this, but then I saw how the LORD worked through Jehoshaphat to expose the heart of Ahab, and enact the prophetic judgment that He had declared. Ahab coveted Ramoth Gilead, which was then in Syrian hands. Ahab wanted to take it back under the control of Israel. He asked Jehoshaphat, during that king's visit, to join him in this war. Jehoshaphat then said these event-turning words to the king of Israel, "Please inquire for the word of the LORD today." (1 Kings 22:5). So King Ahab gathers the prophets and asked them if he should go up against the Syrians to fight at Ramoth Gilead, or should he refrain. Now here comes that lying spirit that the LORD had sent forth previously, and that spirit puts a false prophetic word into the mouths of the King Ahab's prophets. That lying prophetic word tells the king to go up to battle against the Syrians, and he will be successful. However, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah is not convinced. His words offer Ahab another chance to escape the LORD's prophetic judgment, and live, by asking, "Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of Him?" Being a Godly king, Jehoshaphat has a love and respect for the prophets of God, while Ahab has hated and persecuted them. Ahab admits there is another prophet, but says, "I hate him because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." Jehoshaphat rebuked Ahab for his words, and the prophet of God, Micaiah ("Who is like God?"), the son of Imlah ("whom God will fill up, consecrate, be accomplished, complete, be satisfied, confirm, replenish"), was brought forth. Macaiah warned the kings that he saw all Israel scattered on those mountains, and they will no longer have a shepherd or master. Ahab immediately rejects this true prophetic word. Macaiah then revealed to Ahab that he saw the LORD send forth the lying spirit who was to speak in the mouths of the king's other prophets. The prophet revealed the whole truth to Ahab, in order to try to convince Ahab to listen to the true prophecy of the LORD. However, Ahab ordered the prophet taken to his governor, and also to his son, Joash, and placed in prison with starvation and affliction added. King Ahab has sealed his fate, ignoring all warnings and reprieves of the LORD. Now another strange thing happens. The Godly king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, agrees to go with Ahab into the battle! Why would he do that? Again, the LORD will use Jehoshaphat to prove a point. Ahab told Jehoshaphat that when they go into battle, he would disguise himself, but told Jehoshaphat that was to wear his royal robes. Perhaps Ahab thought this would fool the Syrians into killing Jehoshaphat, while Ahab would be undetected in his disguise. However, it is not possible to disguise oneself from the LORD. He knows exactly who we are, and where we are at all times. The enemy king of Syria gave the following unusual order to his captains, "Fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel." ((1 Kings 22:31). His captains went after Jehoshaphat in his royal robes, but when they realized at Jehoshaphat's cry that he was not the king of Israel, they stopped chasing him. An anonymous Syrian soldier, meanwhile, randomly grabbed a bow and shot an arrow. The arrow "happened" to strike the disguised King Ahab, who bled to death in the same public disgrace and shame as prophesied previously by the LORD (v. 32-38). The Ahabs that I believe the LORD is about to remove from their positions will have been warned prophetically and repeatedly. It may not necessarily be by death, but they will be removed. In the days of Ahab, the only way to remove a king was by death. Not so today. The Ahabs of today, as the Ahab of yesterday, will have had the opportunity to be counselled by Godly men placed around them, even men equal to their own stature. Though they might "repent" at a certain point, their idolatrous and covetous character will not, in the long run, heed the warnings repeatedly placed before them. When the LORD brings down these Ahabs, it will be very clear that He specifically targeted them. It will not be able to be interpreted as a coincidence, or freak accident, or occurring because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The challenge for Godly men and women will be to discern the false prophets from the genuine prophets of God, especially concerning the Ahabs. The people of God will have to have their ears tuned to His voice, and their eyes trained upon what God is doing in this hour. The Ahabs will have people of God placed around him by the LORD, but, like Jehoshaphat, those people will have to carefully follow the path that God has set. Our Father is dealing with the Ahabs.