1 Kings 21:27–29

What does Ahab do? He humbles himself. He goes about afflicted, mourning, and fasting (vv. 27-29). He lies down in the sackcloth he has put on his flesh. He "went softly," as one does in a funeral home. Where is his pride and his merry heart, and even his sadness of the wrong kind and his bad temper? Nothing remains but endless mourning as he faces a fate he cannot escape.

God knows the end from the beginning. What is most striking in this story is that He was not indifferent to Ahab's humbling of himself. That humbling was only brief and shallow, but God, as far as is righteous, took account of it. Elijah was, perhaps, not inclined to think much of it... How much the grace of God surpasses our thoughts!

The king's heart bows before the word of the Lord, and God puts off the judgment until the days of his son. Here is new proof of His patience. He is always ready to accept and respond to any movement of man's heart towards Himself.

This had nothing to do with the saving of his soul. As far as this history tells us, he died in his sins. But God forgave him as to that particular judgment on the earth.

There may be a semblance of repentance which is not, after all, a real work of the Spirit of God. Fear of coming judgment often moves the natural man to dress himself in sackcloth and ashes for a season. But if the conscience is not reached, and if there is no repentance towards God, all such feelings soon pass away. They are like the morning dew when the sun rises. God is never deceived.

Nature can take warnings and steer its course to escape the worst of judgment, without being softened into true repentance at all... An Ahab might walk softly for many years and put off the evil day of reckoning about his murder of Naboth. But Ahab with all his soft walking was Ahab still, unrepentant and hardened. The very goodness of God in sparing him did not melt him to repentance. It only encouraged him to go on in his turning away from God.

This verse suggests that his whole course might have been different if his wife had been an Abigail instead of Jezebel... This was excellent, and the Lord so far relented towards him that He at least put the judgment off. No man's weakness of character excuses his wickedness. Still, God in His pity does take account of the influences that surround us all.

What does Ahab do? He humbles himself. He goes about afflicted, mourning, and fasting (vv. 27-29). He lies down in the sackcloth he has put on his body. He "went softly," as one does in a funeral home. Where is his pride and his merry heart, and even his sadness of the wrong kind and his frustration? Nothing remains but unbounded mourning in the face of his inevitable fate. Is this conversion? The next chapter will give us the answer, but in the meantime, what a merciful God is our God! If He uncovers the evil, He also notices the slightest return of a soul to what is good. He takes account of the least sign of repentance… Not one bit of His Word will fall to the ground. But the judgment will wait until the days of his heir.

Unexpectedly, this man bowed before the announcement of divine judgment… Would this good action be followed up? Would there be an attitude that showed repentance? Sadly, we have to note that there was not. In chapter 22 it was he again who hated and persecuted the prophet of Jehovah. God made him die by an arrow fired at random, which pierced him through a weak point in his armour. The fear of judgment seemed for a moment to have brought about the conversion of this man. But Satan managed to trap his prey and erase the effect of the Word of God. He died rejected by God.

God lets human wickedness run its full course before the judgment falls… If He sees even an Ahab putting on sackcloth and walking softly before Him, He holds back from judgment. With Ahab it was mere fear, of course — nothing that God could really accept. Yet it was enough to turn aside, for the moment, the wrath that was ready to fall.

How it ended proves that this was not genuine repentance towards God. Yet nothing could more strikingly reveal the tender grace of the heart of God than the notice He took of these signs of Ahab's sorrow. "Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before Me?" He said to Elijah. Then He revealed to the prophet that because Ahab had humbled himself, the sentence on his house would be postponed until after Ahab's death — until his son's days. That was not the sentence on Ahab or Jezebel, but the sentence on the king's house and descendants. What could prove more conclusively the longing of God's heart over the wickedest of men? or that He does not desire the death of a sinner?

When God had pronounced a terrible judgment on Ahab for his wickedness, Ahab humbled himself. God then said to Elijah, who had carried the message to him, "Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before Me?…" This had nothing to do with the saving of his soul. As far as this history tells us, he died in his sins. But God forgave him as far as that particular judgment on the earth was concerned.

Still, Ahab humbled himself. As a result the judgment waits. The word of the Lord meets his trembling heart as he humbled himself and walked softly. The blow was only to fall in the days of his sons. Ahab reigns; his next son reigns too. On Jehoram it falls. The word of the Lord never fails.