What is an Ahab spirit?

Very different is the Ahab spirit. In Ahab we see one who, provided he could attain the gratification of his carnal and worldly desires, cared but little about religion. He troubled himself but little to decide between the claims of Jehovah and those of Baal. To him they were all alike. Now it was such an one that Jezebel could wield according to her mind. She took care to have his desires gratified while she actively and sagaciously used his power in opposition to the truth of God. The Ahabs are always found to be fit instruments for the Jezebels; hence, in the Apocalypse, where all those principles which have been, are now, or are yet to be, at work, are seen in their full maturity, we find the woman riding the beast: that is, corrupt religion wielding the secular power, or the full-grown Jezebel-spirit making use of the full-grown Ahab-spirit.

A weak, self-centred, self-indulgent man, controlled by a strong-minded idolatrous woman, he has become the leader in apostasy, and the avowed enemy of the man of God. And now, unmoved by the terrible visitation of the drought and the famine, the universal misery finds him still pursuing his selfish and frivolous life, alike indifferent to the sufferings of his people, and to the claims of God. Such is the picture of human depravity presented by the king.

Elijah had witnessed the good confession before the wicked king, the false prophets and the idolatrous nation; now he is called to face the opposition of a very different character, that of the wicked Jezebel. The king was selfish and indolent, seeking only the gratification of his lusts and pleasures and quite indifferent to religion. Jezebel, on the contrary, was a woman of intense energy, a religious fanatic, pursuing idolatry with untiring zeal, protecting the priests of Baal, and persecuting the servants of the Lord. In order to attain her religious ends she sought to wield the secular and regal power of her weak husband.

Now there is not so much as a word about God in Ahab's directions to his servants — not a syllable about the sin that had called down the heavy displeasure and judgement of God upon the land. No; the word is, "Go to all fountains and brooks." Such was Ahab's thought, his poor grovelling thought; his heart turned not, in true humility, to Jehovah; he cried not to Him in the hour of his need; hence his word is, "peradventure we may find grass." God is shut out, and self is the all-engrossing object. Provided he could find grass, he cared not about finding God

He could have enjoyed himself in the midst of Jezebel's idolatrous prophets, had not the horrors of famine driven him forth: and then, instead of searching out the cause of the famine, in true self-judgement and humility, and seeking for pardon and restoration at the hand of God, he goes forth, in impenitent selfishness, to look for grass. Alas! he had sold himself to work wickedness; he had become the slave of Jezebel; his palace had become a cage of every unclean bird; Baal's prophets, like so many vultures, hovered around his throne, and from thence spread the leaven of idolatry over the whole land.

Oh, it is a truly awful thing to allow the heart to depart from the Lord. One cannot tell where it may end. Ahab was an Israelite, but he had allowed himself to be ensnared by a false religious system, at the head of which was Jezebel his wife; he had made shipwreck of faith and a good conscience, and was driven headlong into the most abandoned wickedness. There is no one so bad as the man who turns aside from the ways of God. Such an one is sure to plunge into more profound depths of wickedness than even the ordinary victims of sin and Satan. The devil seems to take special delight in making such an one an instrument in carrying out his malignant designs against the truth of God.

To understand the spiritual significance of the "woman Jezebel," we must recall the history of Israel in the days of the actual Jezebel. Ahab was then king, who "did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him." His great sin was that he took to wife the daughter of Ethbaal, King of the Zidonians. Having entered into, this worldly alliance he lost his place and authority as king, and permitted this wicked woman to rule, even to writing letters in his name, and subscribing them with his seal. Under her rule the whole country was led into idolatry; false prophets of Baal were protected, and the prophets of the Lord were persecuted.

The Word also says that Ahab was "vexed." The king's grief was not the kind that leads to repentance, but to vexation. Against whom? Against God. Would the king then meet with God on his pathway all the time? "Come," says the world, "tell us of the love of God when He takes away our health, our loved ones, or our wealth!" Really! Wouldn't it be better to do evil like everyone else instead of trying to behave ourselves well, since God treats us so unjustly?" This is one of the thousand varieties of this vexation that fills men's hearts against God. But when there is a certain knowledge of the Word, as in Ahab's case, one can no longer be diverted by doing evil. This had been easy in times past before the sudden appearance of Elijah who came to "trouble Israel." Now the Word is there; one cannot shake it off; it gnaws at the heart, allowing one no rest. This word of the prophet has unveiled the future. Nothing, perhaps, will come of it … but who can know? One thing is certain in the life of this monarch: this Word is constantly being fulfilled, and so often in undeserved blessings to which he has not paid attention. Will the threats be fulfilled too? The prophet had said, "Thy life shall be for his life." He did not say when. What if it were today? Or tomorrow? Couldn't he just leave me alone? There is well reason for being "sullen and vexed." The gnawing worm is there; it has begun its work, that worm that never, never dies.

Fresh circumstances show us the king's moral condition. Covetousness overruns his heart, eager greed for something God had not given him. Now this is idolatry just as well as is the worship of Baal (Col. 3:5). Ahab, dominated by the enemy, has simply passed from one form of idolatry to another.

Ahab's proposal to Naboth is much greater in import than would appear at first glance. It would result in permanently giving away the inheritance of this godly Israelite. To make an exchange or even to give the value of the land in money would mean that Ahab would take full and final possession of his neighbor's vineyard. Now an Israelite who feared God could not accept such conditions. When he would sell his land, he would only sell its harvests, and, as his possession would be restored to him in the year of jubilee, its price would be set according to the number of years the buyer would harvest its produce (Lev. 25:15). The seller even had the right to redeem his land at any time by refunding the buyer the amount over the value of the crops for the years that had passed since the time of the sale. The Israelite who feared God would keep the inheritance of his fathers because they had received it from the Lord; but there was a reason even more peremptory than that. In reality the land, the ground itself, did not belong to the people, but to the Lord: "The land shall not be sold for ever; for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me. And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land" (Lev. 25:23-24).

Who stirs up the evil spirits that feed these lusts? It is Jezebel, a true type of the satanic spirit (vv. 5-14). Jezebel does evil, knowingly and willingly. She rouses all the evil instincts of her husband's heart. She appeals to his pride: "Dost thou now exercise sovereignty over Israel?" (v. 7). She adds, "I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jizreelite." When a man has sold his soul to Satan, as Ahab had, Satan does not fail to make him all sorts of promises. He is the tempter. What God does not want to give you, I'll give you. Leave it to me; I shall give you the vineyard. Ahab leaves it to her, because he sees that thus his eager desire will be realized. And now, Ahab, "arise, eat bread, and let thy heart be glad." That indeed is the constant goal of the flesh: health, a gay time, doing what one pleases, and getting what one wants. But how to attain this goal? Naboth had said, "I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers." Jezebel comes and says, "I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth." She takes Ahab by the hand and leads him down her own path, a path of lying and murder, under the guise of being his benefactress. She "will give him," but meanwhile she possesses herself of his authority, of his royal prerogative: "She wrote a letter in Ahab's name, and sealed it with his seal" (v. 8). Ahab has turned into her slave. She does not shrink back from either perjury or from the murder of a righteous man in order to bring gain to her protege. This worshipper of Baal has the false witnesses say: "Naboth blasphemed God and the king" (vv. 10, 13). She uses God's name, acknowledged by the people but not by herself, to destroy a servant of the true God. Has not Jezebel always acted thus? We see her appearing again in Revelation 2, no longer in Judaism but in the Church, taking on the character of a prophetess and accusing God's true witnesses of "knowing the depths of Satan," while she herself is teaching her children to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols.

Ahab was a weak character; Jezebel was strong and energetic. A most unfortunate combination! 1 Kings 21:27 suggests that his whole course might have been different had his wife been an Abigail instead of Jezebel. When Elijah pronounced the divine sentence upon him after the murder of Naboth, we read that "he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. "This was excellent; and Jehovah so far relented towards him that the judgement was at least deferred. No man's weakness of character excuses his wickedness; still, God in His pitifulness, does take account of the influences which surround us all. "There was none like to Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of Jehovah, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up" (1 Kings 21:25). But he should never have married the woman!

Far from acting positively for the interests of the people and turning to the God of their fathers, Ahab only thought of feeding his animals. He commanded Obadiah to look for green pastures and water for the horses and mules so that he would not have to destroy some of his beasts. He did not care about the people, any more than he cared about the prophets. This selfish man was characterised by weakness in the face of the influence of his wicked wife and it resulted in enmity towards God.

Far from acting positively for the interests of the people and turning to the God of their fathers, Ahab only thought of feeding his animals. He commanded Obadiah to look for green pastures and water for the horses and mules so that he would not have to destroy some of his beasts. He did not care about the people, any more than he cared about the prophets. This selfish man was characterised by weakness in the face of the influence of his wicked wife and it resulted in enmity towards God.