The Result of Your Own Decision

Today's passage shows how God gives the disobedient King Ahab of Israel another chance. At first Ahab behaved servilely in the face of the provocations of Ben Hadad, king of Aram, but in the end he won a victory through God's work. Yet rather than giving glory to God through this victory, Ahab put political gain first and turned away from God's will.

Afterwards God pointed out Ahab's sin through a prophet and pronounced judgment. The prophet appeared before Ahab in disguise and described the situation of a man who had lost a prisoner, and Ahab judged that since the man had decided it himself, he must bear the responsibility. But this judgment carried within it the message of the judgment that would soon come back upon Ahab himself. Ahab showed the contradictory attitude of being numb to his own sin while reacting sharply to the sins of others.

Looking at Ahab, we may click our tongues and shake our heads. But we need to look back on whether we are still using God's grace as a tool for worldly gain. We need to ask ourselves whether, faced with the words of warning God has given, we merely feel troubled and frustrated without going on to true repentance and turning back.