“Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son's days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”
Elijah had already brought Ahab God's sentence on him and on his family. Then the king tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. This verse is God's reply. It raises two questions. How real was Ahab's humbling? And what did God agree to hold back?
God's eye on the smallest turning
Look first at what Ahab did, and then at what God made of it.
H. L. RossierWhat 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.
Sorrow that fear produced
The chapter that follows settles the question Ahab's sackcloth raised. His sorrow lasted as long as the fright did.
Truth & TestimonyUnexpectedly, 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.
Enough to hold back the blow
Even so, God did not treat that shallow sorrow as nothing.
Numerical Bible NotesGod 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.
The reach of the reprieve
The concession is limited. It touches the family, not the man. It moves the timing, not the sentence.
The Christian's FriendHow 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?
Spared on earth, not saved
The delay says nothing about where Ahab stood before God for eternity.
J. N. DarbyWhen 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.
Delayed, never cancelled
A postponed sentence is still a sentence. The blow fell later, on the family named.
William KellyStill, 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.
Summary
- Sentence. God pronounced a terrible judgment on Ahab for his wickedness. Elijah carried the message to him.
- Sackcloth. Ahab tore his clothes, fasted and went softly. It was real distress, but fear produced it, not repentance. He later persecuted the same prophet and died in his sins.
- Seen. God pointed the change out to Elijah. He notices the slightest turn of a soul towards good, even when that turn is not real repentance.
- Stayed. God moved the disaster on Ahab's house and descendants past his own lifetime. The sentences on Ahab and Jezebel stood. His soul was not in view: this was forgiveness about a judgment on the earth.
- Settled. The delay was not a cancellation. The blow fell on his son, and the word of the Lord never fails.