Word of Encouragement (06/20/2024)
And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.” (1 kings 21:27-29)
Here is one of the most striking demonstrations of God’s mercy. Ahab coveted Naboth’s vineyard. When Naboth refused his offer to buy it from him, Ahab grew vexed and sullen. Asked why he was in such a foul mood by Jezebel, his wife, he told her the reason. Upon hearing it, Jezebel mocked him for being so passive and timid. Was he not king of Israel? Why does he need a mere subject’s permission to take whatever he wants from him? As a wicked Gentile woman, she had no regard for the lordship of God over Israel’s kings. She went ahead with an evil scheme to kill Naboth and, upon his death, Ahab acquired the vineyard.
When Ahab was at the vineyard to gleefully take it, God sent Elijah to pronounce His judgment on Ahab and his household to cut off every male from him for all the ways he sinned and made Israel sin. There is no reason to rejoice when we get our sinful way. When we foolish insist on our sinful desires, God gives us up to them so we can taste the bitter taste of sin. The pleasure we feel will be brief, but the miserable consequences that follow will be many and long.
Our passage begins with Ahab’s response to the announcement: “...when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly.” Instead of simply getting vexed and sullen as he usually did, he became genuinely sorrowful this time. This was certainly not a godly sorrow that leads to salvation (2 Cor. 7:10). He was not grieved by his sin but by the terror of God’s impeding judgment. Even so, it seems like Ahab was genuinely sorrowful at the moment to the point of tearing his (royal) garments, putting on sackcloth (as a sign of humility), fasting, and going about dejectedly.
Amazingly, as if He could not ignore Ahab in his dejected condition, God said to Elijah, “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me?” You can sense God’s genuine delight in seeing Ahab, this wicked king, humbling himself before Him. This was no surprise to Him, of course. This was exactly why He sent Elijah to him in the first place.
· He wanted to show him how terrible his sins were and how his sins were not hidden from Him.
· He also wanted to show him how gracious and merciful God was. Only if he would turn away from his sinful ways, God would be delighted to bless him. But Ahab could not take advantage of this opportunity. So deeply rooted in his soul was his wickedness.
· God also wanted to show you and me and all those who read about this incident to know how merciful and gracious He is. Ahab’s grief was not a godly grief. His sorrow was for the punishment, not for the sin. Even so, God took pity on him and delayed the punishment until the next generation, sparing him from it. (Of course, this was not unto eternal salvation; it was only a temporary relief from a temporal punishment.)
If that is the case, how ready and willing God must be to forgive us when we sincerely confess our sins with a godly sorrow! Of course, we cannot have a godly sorrow unless we are born of the Holy Spirit. And even a godly sorrow is not worthy in itself to merit God’s forgiveness unto eternal life. Even our godly sorrow cannot be sincere enough. It is only in the all-sufficient sacrifice and righteousness of Jesus Christ that we can receive forgiveness and eternal life. If our salvation comes through the costly sacrifice of Jesus Christ, can we be less sorrowful about our sins, which drove Him to the cross?