14 Days in the Company of Elijahનમૂનો

Day 11: Elijah and Ahab—Final Encounter (1 Kings 21:15–29; Jonah 4)

The word of the Lord through Elijah to King Ahab comes one last time. In verse 19, the Lord gives Elijah the king’s exact location (in Naboth’s vineyard) and the king’s condition (taking possession of something that was never meant to be his). Then he gives Elijah a message of confrontation and judgment for Ahab, expressed with double solemnity: “You shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord’” (two times in 1 Ki. 21:19, NRSV). The confrontation will bring Ahab face-to-face with Yahweh’s assessment of the king’s actions: “Wasn’t it enough that you killed Naboth? Must you rob him too?” (1 Ki. 21:19, NLT). No matter how Ahab and Jezebel have justified their actions to themselves and others, the Lord lays bare their true nature. The judgment is graphic and corresponds to Ahab’s sin: “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also lick up your blood” (1 Ki. 21:19, NRSV).

By this point, Elijah has cast off any fears of speaking truth to power, and he goes down to meet Ahab, who greets him as a personal enemy (1 Ki. 21:20). Elijah has been consistently faithful and obedient throughout this tension-fraught relationship, and he continues so to the end. Not only does Elijah deliver the word of personal judgment on Ahab (1 Ki. 21:19), he also boldly relays the Lord’s larger message of comprehensive disaster for the “house” (royal family) of Ahab (1 Ki. 21:20–22). The scope of the judgment is broad because Ahab’s sin has been broad, reaching far beyond his own personal choices. Twice, the Lord lays out the cause-and-effect nature of the punishment. “Because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, I will bring disaster on you” (1 Ki. 21:20, NRSV). And he promises to completely wipe out Ahab’s house, “because you have provoked me to anger and have caused Israel to sin” (1 Ki. 21:22, NRSV). This divine judgment is the last speech Elijah ever made to this king. The narrator seals the saga with this comprehensive review of Ahab’s story: “No one else so completely sold himself to what was evil in the Lord’s sight as Ahab did under the influence of his wife Jezebel. His worst outrage was worshiping idols” (1 Ki. 21:25–26, NLT).

Faithful Elijah, evil Ahab, holy God—these have been the consistent characters in the saga. But the little postlude in 1 Ki. 21:27–29 provides some nuance to what might otherwise seem like a black-and-white picture. Ahab (perhaps for the very first time!) responds to the prophetic word with something that looks like repentance (wearing sackcloth, fasting, mourning), and the Lord receives it as Ahab humbling himself before God. In response, the Lord postpones the punishment on Ahab’s house; it will still come, but Ahab won’t have to witness it during his lifetime. God asks Elijah to consider both Ahab’s humility and God’s own gracious response—and we’re moved to consider the similar scene from Jonah 4. Unlike in Jonah’s story, our prophet’s reaction is not given. Perhaps that is the Spirit-inspired storyteller’s strategy to force us to consider how we might respond when adversaries repent and receive God’s grace and mercy.