1 Kings 21:20-21
“Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel.”
It had been years since Ahab had seen Elijah, but now the prophet appears again for the purpose of confronting the king. From the text it appears that Ahab knew that Elijah was looking for him. When he sees Elijah walk into the vineyard, Ahab says something to the effect of …
“Ah, Elijah, my old adversary! I hear you’ve been looking for me. Well, here I am. You’ve found me. What is it this time?”
After all the things that Ahab had seen Elijah do over the years, I suspect the king was more than a little afraid. Elijah wastes no time. There is no greeting, no preamble, no diplomatic niceties or small talk. Elijah responds with these chilling words: “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord.”
Elijah gives a clear and concise pronouncement that accurately describes Ahab’s spiritual condition. His wickedness was the result of selling himself to a false god and giving himself to the ways of evil. Ahab had transacted with the forces of darkness — he had sold himself — and now the day of reckoning was quickly approaching. His wicked rule was coming to an end.
This section closes with a clear statement of Ahab’s wickedness. “There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel” (1 Kings 21.25-26).
How horrible it would be to have this written about you in the word of God!!
Elijah proclaims judgment on Ahab and his household, and he prophecies a violent death for Jezebel. Dogs will lick up Ahab’s blood, and Jezebel will be devoured by dogs. Such would be the ignominious end of wicked king Ahab and his evil wife Jezebel.
But then something quite unexpected happens …
