The evil influence that Jezebel had exercised from the
first over Ahab continued during the later years of his
life and bore fruit in deeds of shame and violence such as
have seldom been equaled in sacred history. "There was
none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work
wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife
stirred up."
Naturally of a covetous disposition, Ahab, strengthened
and sustained in wrongdoing by Jezebel, had followed the
dictates of his evil heart until he was fully controlled by the
spirit of selfishness. He could brook no refusal of his wishes;
the things he desired he felt should by right be his.
This dominant trait in Ahab, which influenced so disastrously
the fortunes of the kingdom under his successors, is
revealed in an incident which took place while Elijah was
still a prophet in Israel. Hard by the palace of the king was
a vineyard belonging to Naboth, a Jezreelite. Ahab set his
heart on possessing this vineyard, and he proposed to buy it
or else to give in exchange for it another piece of land.
"Give me thy vineyard," he said to Naboth, "that I may
have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house:
and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it
seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money."
Naboth valued his vineyard highly because it had belonged
to his fathers, and he refused to part with it. "The Lord
forbid it me," he said to Ahab, "that I should give the inheritance
of my fathers unto thee." According to the Levitical
code no land could be transferred permanently by sale or
exchange; every one of the children of Israel must "keep
himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers." Numbers
36:7.
Naboth's refusal made the selfish monarch ill. "Ahab
came into his house heavy and displeased because of the
word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him. . . .
And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his
face, and would eat no bread."
Jezebel soon learned the particulars, and, indignant that
anyone should refuse the request of the king, she assured
Ahab that he need no longer be sad. "Dost thou now govern
the kingdom of Israel?" she said. "Arise, and eat bread,
and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard
of Naboth the Jezreelite."
Ahab cared not by what means his wife might accomplish
the desired object, and Jezebel immediately proceeded
to carry out her wicked purpose. She wrote letters in the
name of the king, sealed them with his signet, and sent
them to the elders and nobles of the city where Naboth
dwelt, saying: "Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high
among the people: and set two men, sons of Belial, before
him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme
God and the king. And then carry him out, and
stone him, that he may die."
The command was obeyed. "The men of his city, even
the elders and the nobles, . . . did as Jezebel had . . .
written in the letters which she had sent unto them." Then
Jezebel went to the king and bade him arise and take the
vineyard. And Ahab, heedless of the consequences, blindly
followed her counsel and went down to take possession of
the coveted property.
The king was not allowed to enjoy unrebuked that
which he had gained by fraud and bloodshed. "The word
of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go
down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria:
behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone
down to possess it. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying,
Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken
possession?" And the Lord further instructed Elijah to pronounce
upon Ahab a terrible judgment.
The prophet hastened to carry out the divine command.
The guilty ruler, meeting the stern messenger of Jehovah
face to face in the vineyard, gave voice to his startled fear
in the words, "Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?"
Without hesitation the messenger of the Lord replied, "I
have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil
in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring evil upon
thee, and will take away thy posterity." No mercy was to
be shown. The house of Ahab was to be utterly destroyed,
"like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the
house of Baasha the son of Ahijah," the Lord declared
through His servant, "for the provocation wherewith thou
hast provoked Me to anger, and made Israel to sin."
And of Jezebel the Lord declared, "The dogs shall eat
Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Him that dieth of Ahab
in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field
shall the fowls of the air eat."
When the king heard this fearful message, "he rent his
clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and
lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
"And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite,
saying, Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before Me?
because he humbleth himself before Me, I will not bring
the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the
evil upon his house."
It was less than three years later that King Ahab met
his death at the hands of the Syrians. Ahaziah, his successor,
"did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in
the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and
in the way of Jeroboam." "He served Baal, and worshiped
him, and provoked to anger the Lord God of Israel," as his
father Ahab had done. 1 Kings 22:52, 53. But judgments followed
close upon the sins of the rebellious king. A disastrous
war with Moab, and then an accident by which his own life
was threatened, attested to God's wrath against him.
Having fallen "through a lattice in his upper chamber,"
Ahaziah, seriously injured, and fearful of the possible outcome,
sent some of his servants to make inquiry of Baalzebub,
the god of Ekron, whether he should recover or not.
The god of Ekron was supposed to give information, through
the medium of its priests, concerning future events. Large
numbers of people went to inquire of it; but the predictions
there uttered, and the information given, proceeded from
the prince of darkness.
Ahaziah's servants were met by a man of God, who
directed them to return to the king with the message: "Is
it because there is no God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of
Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus saith
Jehovah, Thou shalt not come down from the bed whither
thou art gone up, but shalt surely die." Having delivered
his message, the prophet departed.
The astonished servants hastened back to the king, and
repeated to him the words of the man of God. The king
inquired, "What manner of man was he?" They answered,
"He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather
about his loins." "It is Elijah the Tishbite," Ahaziah
exclaimed. He knew that if the stranger whom his messengers
had met was indeed Elijah, the words of doom pronounced
would surely come to pass. Anxious to avert, if
possible, the threatened judgment, he determined to send
for the prophet.
Twice Ahaziah sent a company of soldiers to intimidate
the prophet, and twice the wrath of God fell upon them in
judgment. The third company of soldiers humbled themselves
before God; and their captain, as he approached the
Lord's messenger, "fell on his knees before Elijah, and
besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray
thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be
precious in thy sight."
"The angel of Jehovah said unto Elijah, Go down with
him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down
with him unto the king. And he said unto him, Thus saith
Jehovah, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire
of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no
God in Israel to inquire of His word? therefore thou shalt
not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but
shalt surely die."
During the father's reign, Ahaziah had witnessed the
wondrous works of the Most High. He had seen the
terrible evidences that God had given apostate Israel of the way
in which He regards those who set aside the binding claims
of His law. Ahaziah had acted as if these awful realities
were but idle tales. Instead of humbling his heart before
the Lord, he had followed after Baal, and at last he had
ventured upon this, his most daring act of impiety. Rebellious,
and unwilling to repent, Ahaziah died, "according
to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken."
The history of King Ahaziah's sin and its punishment
has in it a warning which none can disregard with impunity.
Men today may not pay homage to heathen gods, yet thousands
are worshiping at Satan's shrine as verily as did the
king of Israel. The spirit of idolatry is rife in the world
today, although, under the influence of science and education,
it has assumed forms more refined and attractive than
in the days when Ahaziah sought to the god of Ekron.
Every day adds its sorrowful evidence that faith in the sure
word of prophecy is decreasing, and that in its stead
superstition and satanic witchery are captivating the minds of
many.
Today the mysteries of heathen worship are replaced by
the secret association and seances, the obscurities and
wonders, of spiritistic mediums. The disclosures of these
mediums are eagerly received by thousands who refuse to accept
light from God's word or through His Spirit. Believers in
spiritism may speak with scorn of the magicians of old, but
the great deceiver laughs in triumph as they yield to his arts
under a different form.
There are many who shrink with horror from the
thought of consulting spirit mediums, but who are attracted
by more pleasing forms of spiritism. Others are led astray
by the teachings of Christian Science, and by the mysticism
of Theosophy and other Oriental religions.
The apostles of nearly all forms of spiritism claim to have
power to heal. They attribute this power to electricity,
magnetism, the so-called "sympathetic remedies," or to latent
forces within the mind of man. And there are not a few,
even in this Christian age, who go to these healers, instead
of trusting in the power of the living God and the skill of
well-qualified physicians. The mother, watching by the
sickbed of her child, exclaims, "I can do no more. Is there
no physician who has power to restore my child?" She is
told of the wonderful cures performed by some clairvoyant
or magnetic healer, and she trusts her dear one to his charge,
placing it as verily in the hand of Satan as if he were standing
by her side. In many instances the future life of the child
is controlled by a satanic power which it seems impossible
to break.
God had cause for displeasure at Ahaziah's impiety. What
had He not done to win the hearts of the people of Israel
and to inspire them with confidence in Himself? For ages
He had been giving His people manifestations of unexampled
kindness and love. From the beginning He had shown
that His "delights were with the sons of men." Proverbs 8:31.
He had been a very present help to all who sought Him
in sincerity. Yet now the king of Israel, turning from God
to ask help of the worst enemy of his people, proclaimed to
the heathen that he had more confidence in their idols than
in the God of heaven. In the same manner do men and
women dishonor Him when they turn from the Source
of strength and wisdom to ask help or counsel from the
powers of darkness. If God's wrath was kindled by Ahaziah's
act, how does He regard those who, having still greater
light, choose to follow a similar course?
Those who give themselves up to the sorcery of Satan,
may boast of great benefit received; but does this prove their
course to be wise or safe? What if life should be prolonged?
What if temporal gain should be secured? Will it pay in
the end to have disregarded the will of God? All such
apparent gain will prove at last an irrecoverable loss. We
cannot with impunity break down a single barrier which
God has erected to guard His people from Satan's power.
As Ahaziah had no son, he was succeeded by Jehoram,
his brother, who reigned over the ten tribes for twelve
years. Throughout these years his mother, Jezebel, was
still living, and she continued to exercise her evil influence
over the affairs of the nation. Idolatrous customs were still
practiced by many of the people. Jehoram himself "wrought
evil in the sight of the Lord; but not like his father, and
like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that
his father had made. Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins
of Jereboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin;
he departed not therefrom." 2 Kings 3:2, 3.
It was during Jehoram's reign over Israel that Jehoshaphat
died, and Jehoshaphat's son, also named Jehoram,
ascended the throne of the kingdom of Judah. By his marriage
with the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, Jehoram of
Judah was closely connected with the king of Israel; and
in his reign he followed after Baal, "like as did the house
of Ahab." "Moreover he made high places in the
mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to
commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto." 2 Chronicles
21:6, 11.
The king of Judah was not permitted to continue his
terrible apostasy unreproved. The prophet Elijah had not
yet been translated, and he could not remain silent while
the kingdom of Judah was pursuing the same course that had
brought the northern kingdom to the verge of ruin. The
prophet sent to Jehoram of Judah a written communication,
in which the wicked king read the awful words:
"Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, Because
thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father,
nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, but hast walked in
the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms
of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren
of thy father's house, which were better than thyself:
behold, with a great plague will the Lord smite thy people,
and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods: and
thou shalt have great sickness."
In fulfillment of this prophecy "the Lord stirred up
against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the
Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians: and they came up
into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the
substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also,
and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save
Jehoahaz [Ahaziah, Azariah], the youngest of his sons.
"And after all this the Lord smote him in his bowels
with an incurable disease. And it came to pass, that in process
of time, after the end of two years, . . . he died of sore
diseases." "And Ahaziah [Jehoahaz] his son reigned in his
stead." Verses 12:19; 2 Kings 8:24.
Jehoram the son of Ahab was still reigning in the kingdom
of Israel when his nephew, Ahaziah, came to the
throne of Judah. Ahaziah ruled only one year, and during
this time, influenced by his mother, Athaliah, "his counselor
to do wickedly," "he walked in the way of the house of
Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the Lord." 2 Chronicles
22:3, 4; 2 Kings 8:27. Jezebel, his grandmother, was still
living, and he allied himself boldly with Jehoram of Israel,
his uncle.
Ahaziah of Judah soon met a tragic end. The surviving
members of the house of Ahab were indeed "his counselors
after the death of his father to his destruction." 2 Chronicles
22:3, 4. While Ahaziah was visiting his uncle at Jezreel,
the prophet Elisha was divinely directed to send one of the
sons of the prophets to Ramothgilead to anoint Jehu king
of Israel. The combined forces of Judah and Israel were
at that time engaged in a military campaign against the
Syrians of Ramothgilead. Jehoram had been wounded in
battle, and had returned to Jezreel, leaving Jehu in charge
of the royal armies.
In anointing Jehu, the messenger of Elisha declared, "I
have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even
over Israel." And then he solemnly charged Jehu with a
special commission from heaven. "Thou shalt smite the
house of Ahab thy master," the Lord declared through His
messenger, "that I may avenge the blood of My servants the
prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the
hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish."
2 Kings 9:6-8.
After he had been proclaimed king by the army, Jehu
hastened to Jezreel, where he began his work of execution
on those who had deliberately chosen to continue in sin and
to lead others into sin. Jehoram of Israel, Ahaziah of Judah,
and Jezebel the queen mother, with "all that remained of
the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his
kinsfolks, and his priests," were slain. "All the prophets
of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests" dwelling at the
center of Baal worship near Samaria, were put to the sword.
The idolatrous images were broken down and burned, and
the temple of Baal was laid in ruins. "Thus Jehu destroyed
Baal out of Israel." 2 Kings 10:11, 19,28.
Tidings of this general execution reached Athaliah,
Jezebel's daughter, who still occupied a commanding position
in the kingdom of Judah. When she saw that her son, the
king of Judah, was dead, "she arose and destroyed all the
seed royal of the house of Judah." In this massacre all the
descendants of David who were eligible to the throne were
destroyed, save one, a babe named Joash, whom the wife
of Jehoiada the high priest hid within the precincts of the
temple. For six years the child remained hidden, while
"Athaliah reigned over the land." 2 Chronicles 22:10, 12.
At the end of this time, "the Levites and all Judah" (2
Chronicles 23:8) united with Jehoiada the high priest in
crowning and anointing the child Joash and acclaiming
him their king. "And they clapped their hands, and said,
God save the king." 2 Kings 11:12.
"Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people
running and praising the king, she came to the people into the
house of the Lord." 2 Chronicles 23:12. "And when she
looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as the manner was,
and the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the
people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets."
"Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason, Treason."
2 Kings 11:14. But Jehoiada commanded the officers to lay
hold of Athaliah and all her followers and lead them out of
the temple to a place of execution, where they were to be
slain.
Thus perished the last member of the house of Ahab. The
terrible evil that had been wrought through his alliance
with Jezebel, continued till the last of his descendants was
destroyed. Even in the land of Judah, where the worship
of the true God had never been formally set aside, Athaliah
had succeeded in seducing many. Immediately after the
execution of the impenitent queen "all the people of the
land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his
altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and
slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars." Verse 18.
A reformation followed. Those who took part in acclaiming
Joash king, had solemnly covenanted "that they should
be the Lord's people." And now that the evil influence of
the daughter of Jezebel had been removed from the kingdom
of Judah, and the priests of Baal had been slain and their
temple destroyed, "all the people of the land rejoiced: and
the city was quiet." 2 Chronicles 23:16, 21.