Day 35: Ahab
1 Kings 16:29-34, 20:1-21:29
- Ahab, son of Omri, reigned as king over Israel for 22 years and did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than anyone before him. Not only did he consider the sins of Jeroboam trivial, but he married Jezebel of the Sidonians and worshiped Baal.
- some guy named Hiel rebuilt Jericho at the cost of his firstborn and youngest sons just as God has promised back with Joshua.
- so king Ben-Hadad, king of Aram rallies and army together and demands Israel to hand over all their silver, gold, women and children. In the end, Ahab refuses and ends up routing the enemy forces. However, the only reason Israel was not razed to the ground was because the Lord did not let it happen. He sent a prophet to Ahab to tell him that God would deliver him so that he would know that it was the Lord.
- the next spring, Ben-Hadad and the Arameans gathered to attack the Israelites in the valley since they assumed that God was only god of the hills. So God delivered them into Israel's hands and they killed over 100,000 footsoldiers in one day.
- but because Ahab had disobeyed the Lord and let Ben-Hadad live, he was condemned to suffering and his family would be destroyed along with his wife Jezebel.
It's interesting to see that despite Ahab's evil ways, God still gave him victory over the Arameans. I think God was hoping that by helping them, Ahab would realize how stupid he was and repent. But Ahab still didn't listen to God and brought about great trouble for himself and the rest of his family. Translated to today, I think this story shows how important it is for us to not be of the world but to be set apart from it for God. It says that Ahab considered the sins of Jeroboam trivial and did even worse things. After a while, we can be desensitized to sin and we don't even realize that what we are doing is wrong. This is a scary thought.
- Ahab, son of Omri, reigned as king over Israel for 22 years and did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than anyone before him. Not only did he consider the sins of Jeroboam trivial, but he married Jezebel of the Sidonians and worshiped Baal.
- some guy named Hiel rebuilt Jericho at the cost of his firstborn and youngest sons just as God has promised back with Joshua.
- so king Ben-Hadad, king of Aram rallies and army together and demands Israel to hand over all their silver, gold, women and children. In the end, Ahab refuses and ends up routing the enemy forces. However, the only reason Israel was not razed to the ground was because the Lord did not let it happen. He sent a prophet to Ahab to tell him that God would deliver him so that he would know that it was the Lord.
- the next spring, Ben-Hadad and the Arameans gathered to attack the Israelites in the valley since they assumed that God was only god of the hills. So God delivered them into Israel's hands and they killed over 100,000 footsoldiers in one day.
- but because Ahab had disobeyed the Lord and let Ben-Hadad live, he was condemned to suffering and his family would be destroyed along with his wife Jezebel.
It's interesting to see that despite Ahab's evil ways, God still gave him victory over the Arameans. I think God was hoping that by helping them, Ahab would realize how stupid he was and repent. But Ahab still didn't listen to God and brought about great trouble for himself and the rest of his family. Translated to today, I think this story shows how important it is for us to not be of the world but to be set apart from it for God. It says that Ahab considered the sins of Jeroboam trivial and did even worse things. After a while, we can be desensitized to sin and we don't even realize that what we are doing is wrong. This is a scary thought.
Labels: Bible Characters
posted by Matt at 12:17 PM
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