Remember that time when I referred to Ahab as one of the most unlikable people ever? I was actually doing a bit of foreshadowing, looking forward to this story.
Don't get me wrong, he's never been a peach, but at least in the past he was despicable for being out-and-out malevolent, and acting entirely outside of the established rules for a king of Israel. He was a villain all the way, but he at least had a sort of internal consistency. He was a little bit like a well-cast movie villain; you love to hate him, but that in itself is a sort of psychologically mitigating factor on your opinion of him.
Then we get to the final two chapters of 1 Kings, and all of that goes out the window, because Ahab becomes genuinely pathetic.
So he's got this neighbour, Naboth, who owns a vineyard - one that's been in his family for generations, presumably since the very first allocation of land was made when Israel was a people just finding a country. And it's nice.
Since Ahab is a jerk (with power - the worst kind) he decides that he wants Naboth's vineyard, so he moseys over there and tells Naboth that he's ready to offer another vineyard somewhere else for this one, or if that doesn't suit, he'll pay for the thing outright.
Naboth informs him that it's not for sale or trade at all, and the king leaves.
Now, if this had been an exchange between two normal people, that would have been the end of it. But, unfortunately, Naboth was the only normal person involved.
However, if this had been an exchange between Naboth and a run-of-the-mill evil doer, there still wouldn't have been the reaction that happened: Ahab immediately returns to his palace and throws himself onto his bed like a sullen and angst-ridden pre-teen girl whose mom told her she couldn't go to two school dances on the same night as she wasn't allowed to get a second iPhone.
He sits there, refusing food and drink, and generally oozes an air of pathetic snivelling until his wife Jezebel (who has ruined an otherwise lovely name for centuries of women the world over) actually says what everyone is thinking:
"You're the king of Israel? Man up!"
Now, that's pretty much where she stops making good, solid sense, because she reverts back to being a twisted and evil manipulator and conspirator, promptly devising and setting into action a plan to have Naboth killed and his land usurped.
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While it's not particularly tragic that Ahab was killed in battle at the end of the book, there is a fascinating little episode that is more or less just thrown in that is extremely curious and a little challenging.
A prophet by the name of Micaiah is summoned to give his thoughts on the upcoming battle, which every other consulted prophet has said would be successful. His first response agrees with them, and he says to go ahead because God will grant victory to Israel.
Something, though, seems to tip off Ahab to this, and he pressed Micaiah further, at which time the prophet does a complete 180 and tells of impending disaster should Israel go to battle. It's interesting enough that Ahab didn't take Micaiah's first version and run with it, even more interesting that Micaiah changes his story on the second telling, but what's most interesting of all is why Micaiah changed his mind:
19 Micaiah said, "Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. 20 "The LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead ?' And one said this while another said that. 21 "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.' 22 "The LORD said to him, 'How ?' And he said, 'I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Then He said, 'You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.' 23 "Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets ; and the LORD has proclaimed disaster against you."
We actually get to see a sort of heavenly staff meeting, with one of the angels volunteering for the task of executing God's plan, and even coming up with the plan's specifics...
I'm too tired right now to even think of the various implications of this type of thing, but it strikes me as a fundamentally nifty thing to have stumbled across. I shall proceed to ruminate.
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