1 Kings 21:27

THE REPENTANCE OF AHAB AND GOD'S RECOGNITION OF IT

"And it came to pass, when Ahab heard these words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. And the word of Jehovah 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 day will I bring the evil upon his house."

"And went softly" (1 Kings 21:27). "This may well be translated, `He went about depressed.'"[13] However, Josephus' stated that it means, "He went barefoot."[14]

The passage in Jeremiah 18:7-10 is pertinent to this change in the life of Ahab; and it explains some changes in the plans for the punishment of Ahab; but the punishment was not removed, it was merely delayed. In this connection Canon Cook pointed out that, "The repentance of the Ninevites put off the destruction of Nineveh for about a century."[15]

One might have expected that Ahab's repentance was permanent; but the following chapter records the death of this wicked king and also reveals that Ahab simply did not believe the word of Jehovah as conveyed to him by the mouth of the prophet Micaiah. Alas, that is the failure of whole generations of the children of Adam. Nothing, in all the Bible, is any more important than a little line in Our Saviour's great prayer.

"I pray ... for them ... that believe on me through their word." (John 17:20).

"Their word" here is a reference to the word of the apostles.

In the very nature of God's dealings with mankind, he does not speak to men directly and individually, but through the word of the holy prophets and apostles of the O.T. and the N.T. Just as some today will not believe God's words though the apostles, Ahab of old would not believe God's word through the prophet. The result of that unbelief will be dramatically unfolded in the next chapter.