The Outcome of One’s Own Choice

Ben-hadad gathers his army and lays siege to Samaria. At first Ahab is willing to give in to his demands, but they do not stop there; each one grows more unreasonable than the last. Twice God hands Israel’s paltry army a great victory, yet no sooner has the battle been won than Ahab makes peace with Ben-hadad, settling the matter as he himself sees fit.

The demands of the wicked never end with the first. Sin that slips in through the gap left by a small compromise grows until at last it takes hold of the very center of the heart. It was not Ahab’s obedience that saved Israel; God himself stood against pride and delivered his people. Yet even in the face of such grace, Ahab goes back to his palace troubled, with no repentance.

The prophet disguises himself and comes before the king, leading Ahab to declare with his own lips, “So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it,” and then pronounces judgment on him in those very words. Just as God chose us of his own accord when we had nothing that could qualify us for salvation, Ahab too was offered the chance to turn back, right to the end. As long as we live in the flesh, that same opportunity is held out to us again and again, and there we must not stop at grief but repent.