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.

Judging

Judges and courtrooms are serious business, not to be taken lightly. When looking at the history of the use of the gavel by a judge, the beginnings are murky. It is suggested that the word "gavel" comes from the old English word, gafol, meaning the demand by the lord of the land for the rent due, or the tribute owed by the tenant for the use of his land. The law makes a demand, and the demand must be satisfied.
It used to be that if a debt was owed and not paid, the debtor would be placed in the debtor's prison until someone was willing to come forward to pay the debt for him, or until he or she earned enough while living in the prison to pay the debt themselves-an almost impossible task. Some debtors spent the rest of their lives in debtor's prison. Charles Dickens wrote a novel about such a situation called, "Little Dorrit". The story is about a little girl, born and raised in a debtor's prison, where her family had been sentenced. Charles Dickens' own father was sentenced to debtor's prison, and he wrote the story to bring attention to the injustice of the system.
Some who owed a debt became indentured servants to the one who held the debt. The one who held the debt could "sell" the debt of the indentured servant to a third party, and then the indentured servant would have to work for the new debt holder until the debt was paid. The system was called debt bondage. This debt bondage system was banned by the United Nations in 1948 in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but that declaration is not legally binding, of course. Some countries have included the principles of the Declaration in their treaties and trade agreements with other nations, but it is not compulsory.
Even though we have been trying for thousands of years, with input from the greatest legal minds past and present, our system of justice is still far from perfect today, perhaps because man is imperfect.
All of these facts are mentioned to illustrate the point that judgment, while meant to establish justice, is always joined to consequence or punishment. For every guilty verdict, the judge must also impose a sentence. Sometimes a judge has leeway in what kind of sentence is imposed, but he or she is bound by law to sentence the guilty according to the parameters dictated by the law.
When the judges are corrupt, so are their judgments, and then also the resulting punishments. For the judges must not forget that they are subject to the same law by which they judge others.
Scripture brings us deeper into the subject of judging and judgments. The godly king Jehoshaphat ("Jehovah has judged"), one of the most pious and prosperous kings of Judah, appointed judges to all the cities of Judah. When he appointed them, the king instructed them:
"Take heed to what you are doing, for you do not judge (shaphat-judge, govern, vindicate, punish, execute judgment, condemning and punishing, plead, defend, deliver) for man but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment. Now therefore, let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take care and do it, for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, no partiality, no taking of bribes."  2 Chron. 19:6-7
The responsibility of the judge is very great. As good king Jehoshaphat decreed, whatever judgment the one who judges makes, the LORD is in the judgment. How the matter is judged brings either execution of punishment, and/or achieves vindication, defense, and deliverance. Remember, a person judged guilty of the law, must suffer the penalty of the law, also, because the law is a covenant that has an "if/then" foundation. The judge, himself, must be without iniquity (injustice, unrighteousness, violent deeds of injustice, injustice of speech, deal unjustly), because iniquity will corrupt judgment. Those judging must treat self, friends, enemies, strangers, family members, rich, or poor the same under the law. Judges cannot be influenced by benevolent and advantageous acts towards himself by the one being judged.
Good king Jehoshaphat's father, Asa, was also a good king of Judah. Because the LORD had delivered him and his army from the hands of an overwhelming enemy (2 Chron. 14:8-13), he and his people entered into a covenant promise. They took an oath that they would seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul (2 Chron. 15:12). That sounds awesome! However, they also vowed that whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. Here is where King Asa goes wrong. His own mother, Maachah (oppression, emasculation, castration), the dowager queen, established a particularly obscene image (NKJV) of a blood-thirsty goddess (Asherah/grove). While the king destroyed the idol, he did not kill his mother in accordance with the oath sworn, but deposed her from her position (v. 16). He showed partiality. I'm sure he was partial because she was his mother, but also because she was royal, and that was hitting too close to home!
Asa did not hold himself to the oath either, relying on foreign alliances rather than the LORD, for his security. As a result of not seeking the LORD, his kingdom would suffer wars. Asa oppressed the prophet who brought him this sentence of the LORD, putting the prophet in prison. Out of this anger, Asa also began oppressing some of the people (2 Chron. 16:7-10). By this behavior, he was acting in the definition of iniquity. Asa also did not seek the LORD when he became dangerously ill, but relied upon men, instead. Therefore, this illness resulted in his death (v. 12-13). The judge is also subject to the law by which he judges others.
Asa's name means "healer, physician", but it can also mean "injurious, harming". How he established law, and carried out the consequences that were to follow the law, made all the difference as to whether he would be a healer, or harming. I can see why his son, Jehoshaphat, made it a point to establish righteous judges. Judging can be a v-e-r-y tricky business.
We can easily fall into the same trap. We can be very quick to judge others, but when doing so, we may just as easily fall into the mouth of judgment ourselves.
Jesus, as usual, had very deep wisdom and advice concerning judging. In light of some of the above information, that advice sounds even wiser than ever:
"Judge (to esteem, approve, prefer, deem, think, determine, resolve, decree, pronounce, opinion regarding right or wrong, pronounce judgment, to subject to censure, condemn, punish, avenge, conclude, damn, decree, ordain, sentence to) not that you be not judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you...Condemn (to give judgment against, to pronounce guilty, sentence of condemnation) not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you...A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye", when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? First, remove the plank from your own eye...For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit...A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good, and an evil man out of the treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."   Mt. 7:1-2, Lk. 6:37-45 (excerpt)
Do these words of Christ's mean that we are not to teach, or stand for righteousness? I don't think it means that. Jesus brought the truth about the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Mt. 6:33). Jesus corrected His own disciples when they were in error, so His statements were not about correcting error. Paul taught about the connection between the kingdom of God and righteousness (Rom. 14:17). The righteousness we stand for is the gift of righteousness to us through Christ, and not of our own making. Scripture says that if we will confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:9). As Jesus said, however, that conviction and confession of sin begins with ourselves. To do otherwise, I am thinking, causes us to be partial in judging like King Asa, and like him, doing harm instead of producing healing (2 Chron. 7:14). 

Our Father is a King Who is looking for just judges.
 

Panel entitled "The Just Judges", part of the group of panels called, "Adoration of the Mystical Lamb" by Jan van Eyck, painted 1430-32. "The Just Judges" panel was stolen in 1934, and has never been recovered, even though the thief was known. In 1945, a copy was commissioned to fill the empty space.