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1 Kings 16:30-34— The Pinnacle of Lowness: Ahab
Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.
Luke 11:24-26— More Evil Than Before
Jesus said, “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
Cogitations—
With the beginnings of the northern and southern kingdoms, Israel and Judah have been inaugurated as a hopelessly stray people and a hopeful, uncertain lot, respectively. Jeroboam, with his twin golden calves tethered to his reimagined liturgical calendar and replacement priests, gets off to the start that you would imagine proper for a wayward kingdom.
On the other hand, the scents of Judah to the south are a pleasing aroma tinged with the stench of rotten-ness. At the outset of 1 Kings 15, the first two successors to Rehoboam, Abijah and Asa, are illustrative of this mixed bag. Abijah turns out bad, not having “heart of David, his father.” (David will be the standard of the southern line as Jeroboam will be in the north.) “Nevertheless,” the ray of light in this unfortunate reign, is that (15:4) “for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem.” And sure enough, King Asa provides the godly respite from the downward spiral of God’s People— a forty-one year reign in Jerusalem.
By contrast, the remainder of chapters 15 and 16, focus on the broken line of Israel in the north. Jeroboam’s son Nadab lasts two years on the throne before being assassinated, and a new “dynasty” takes over. But the reign of Baasha and his son Elah is short lived, cut short by military intrigue. General Zimri “reigns,” if you may call it that, for seven days, managing in that short span to do the sins of Jeroboam before he must hastily take his own life by burning down the palace over his own head. The fourth northern royal line comes in the person of Omri and his soon to be infamous son, Ahab.
Of Omri, 16:25 says, he “did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him.” But of his son, Ahab, it says (16:30-31), he “did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him... as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam.” In other words, the sins of Jeroboam were mere child’s play for the son of Omri— King Ahab would break new ground in the nurturing of evil. And, that he did!
King Jeroboam could at least be said to have worshiped the Lord God in an inappropriate way (violating the Second Commandment); but Ahab, in marrying the Sidonian princess Jezebel, imported a new religion into Israel— Baal worship. (We will have much more to say about Baal worship in chapter 17.)
Symbolically speaking, Ahab is the seventh king in the north. “7” being the number of completeness. In this case, a completeness of wickedness. With Ahab’s reign, we are coming to the middle of the Story in the books of Kings, and the apex of evil has crested (16:31-33): This king “went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him[!]”
In Ahab, the Land has reverted to its pagan origins. The Exodus has been undone. The Promised Land, with the entry and saturation of Baalism, has been re-Canaanized!
This brings to mind the parable the Lord Jesus tells in Luke 11:24-26 about the human soul being “cleaned,” but then relapsing: The demons say, 'I will return to my house (human soul) from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.” The Promised Land with Baalism, is in a worse state than it was when Joshua came into the Land of “the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.” (and mosquito-bites)
All of this to say, NOW, this is where things get interesting— in the very last verse, 16:34. That verse reads like a literary hangnail, provoking the thought, “What’s this got to do with the price of tea in China?”
Here it is in full: “In his [King Ahab’s] days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.
This “oath” (curse) is recorded in Joshua 6:26. It came after the improbable victory at Jericho on the first stop on the conquest of the Promised Land. The oath seems to be a collective call to remember: Look at these ruins and commemorate God’s gift of this Land. You are to be a Kingdom of Priests. This Land will be your Holy Sanctuary— the Garden of Eden re-opened to you. When you see these stones in the dust of Jericho— Remember. Remember who you are, and what God has done for you. This Hiel of Bethel, obviously with the blessing of King Ahab, at the cost of his firstborn and his youngest son, disregarded the call and rebuilt the ancient fortress of Jericho over rubble that was to remain perpetually destroyed as a memorial.
We’re not sure if the sons were accidentally killed in the construction, or whether they were sacrificed as an offering, but that doesn’t appear to be germane to what is being communicated here. The point is that Israel, under the leadership of King Ahab, has covered over what was to be a lasting reminder of God’s call to faithfulness and fruitfulness in the Land. The Land has relapsed. This is the sum of King Ahab. The seventh northern king.
And… This is where Elijah and Elisha must enter The Story. Desperate measures call for extraordinary prophets. The Land and the People must be “re-conquered” for God. That mission begins next week with the advent of Elijah (1 Kings 17).
Art: “The Fall of Jericho” by Melani Pyke
