Ahab and Jezebel

A Marriage Made in Hell!

This term we are following a theme of love and marriage for our weekend programs.

Tonight we are going to investigate the story of Ahab and Jezebel to see what we can learn from a bad marriage.

What warnings can we take to make sure our own marriages are made in heaven rather than hell?

But first let’s look at a couple of new words:

Scoundrels:

Noun: A dishonest or unscrupulous person; a rogue.

Fake:
Noun: A thing that is not genuine; a forgery or sham.
Adjective: Not genuine; counterfeit.
Verb: Forge or counterfeit (something).
Synonyms:
noun.  forgery - counterfeit - sham - fraud - imitation
adjective.  false - counterfeit - spurious - bogus - sham - dummy
verb.  counterfeit - forge - falsify - fabricate - simulate

Meet Ahab and Jezebel, Ahab was king of Israel for 22 years.

Jezebel was the Daughter of the King of the Sidonians, a pagan nation that lived near the Israelites. She was also the
High priestess of the Baal religions – People who worshiped Baal believed that he and Asherah – another goddess
made the rain fall and the plants grow.

Remember Israel was God’s nation, the people who were supposed to display Gods goodness and power to the
world.

God wanted to bless the Israelites so that other people could see that He was a good God.
But He had a problem. He could only bless the Israelites when they were obedient to him.

The Kings of Israel were supposed to lead and encourage the people in worshiping and obeying God.

But the Bible tells us that “Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him.” 1
Kings 16:30

According to the Bible Ahab was a very bad king!

What did Ahad do that was so wrong??

The Bible tells some of these things in 1 Kings 16:31-32

1. Ahab repeated the sins of the kings before him – and he thought that they were small trivial sins.
God does not think any sin is trivial – sin separates us from God and anything that separates us from Him
breaks His heart, because He loves us and wants to be with us.

2. Ahab married Jezebel, Jezebel was a bad influence on Ahab.

3. Ahab began to serve Baal and worship him. So instead of following and worshiping the real live God, Ahab
followed and worshiped a made up God who didn’t really exist – because the made up god let Ahab do
whatever he wanted instead of what was right.

4. And Ahab set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria and made an Asherah pole.
Asherah was another fake goddess who Jezebe worshiped. So Ahab lead the people of Israel to follow and
worship the made up gods Baal and Asherah.

We won’t look at all the events in Ahab and Jezebel’s lives just quickly summarise the main points and then focus on
one particular story.
First – Ahab becomes King
Second – Ahab marries Jezebel
Third – Ahab starts to worship Jezebels false gods and leads the people of Israel to worship those gods too by
building a temple for Baal and setting up an Asherah pole.
Fourth – God tries to call Ahab back to Him by sending prophets to Him. The prophets tell Ahad of the things God will
do for him if he returns and also warn him of the bad things that will happen if Ahab continues to worship fake gods.
Ahab ignores the warning and follows his wife instead.
Fifth – God sends a drought that lasts for 3½ years at the end of that time God proves to the people of Israel that He
is in charge of the weather and growing food, not Baal. The people of Israel come back to God and the kill the priests
of Baal and Asherah.
But, Ahab and Jezebel refused to come back to God they insisted on continuing to worship their fake gods.
Sixth – God sent many more warnings but each time the king and queen refused to listen.
Seventh – Finally both Ahab and Jezebel die in tragic circumstances.

Let’s look at one story in more detail to so that we can study the relationship between Ahab and Jezebel.

This is the story of Naboth’s vineyard, we will read it directly from the Bible.

Naboth’s Vineyard
21
 Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in
Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 

2 
Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In
exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.”

 The problem with this request is that it was against the law – the law said that you could not sell family land,
you could rent it to other people but it had to stay in your family as an inheritance for your children.

3 
But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”

4 
So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of
my fathers.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.

 What does Ahabs reaction tell you about his character?

5 
His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?”

6 
He answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you
another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’”

7 
Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of
Naboth the Jezreelite.”

8 
So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in
Naboth’s city with him. 
9 
In those letters she wrote:
“Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 

10 
But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them testify that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take
him out and stone him to death.”

 What does this tell you about Jezebel’s character?

11 
So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them.

12 
They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 

13 
Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying,
“Naboth has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. 

14 
Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”

15 
As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of
the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.” 

 Who was the boss in this relationship? Ahab or Jezebel? How do you know?

16 
When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard.

17 
Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: 

18 
“Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to
take possession of it. 

19 
Say to him, ‘This is what theLord says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?’ Then say to him,
‘This is what the Lord says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes,
yours!’”

23 
“And also concerning Jezebel the Lord says: ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’
…

25 
(There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife.

 What warnings can we take from this story?

For me the number one warning of this story is to make sure you marry someone who loves the real living God,
because the person who you marry will influence your own relationship with God. Because of your choice of
marriage partner you could end up in Heaven or Hell.

The prophecy made about Ahab and Jezebel’s death came true.

Ahab was killed in a battle, he was riding in his chariot and an arrow pierced his heart and he bleed to death all over
the chariot. After the battle soldiers took his chariot and washed it in the pool where the prostitutes washed, next to
the place where Naboth was murdered, and the dogs licked up the bloody water as it ran off the chariot.

After Ahabs death Jezebel was pushed out of a window by palace staff and dogs ate her body – all that was left was
her hands, feet and skull.

Ahab could have been a great king. But instead he was a failure. All because he married a woman who took him
away from following the real living God.
 Ahab and Jezebel
A Marriage Made In Hell

1. Retell the story of Naboth’s Vineyard in your own words.

2. Did Naboth do the right thing by refusing to sell the vineyard to Ahab?
3. If you were Naboth what would you have done?
4. If you were Ahab what would you have done?
5. If you were Jezebel what would you have done?
6. What does this story tell you about the kind of man Ahab was?
7. What does this story tell you about the kind of woman Jezebel was?
8. What was wrong in the relationship of Jezebel and Ahab?
9. From this story what kinds of things should you look for in a spouse?
10. What do you think is the most important thing a husband or wife needs to have?

1 Kings 21 (NIV1984)
 Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close
1

to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is
close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.”
3 
But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”
4 
So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.”
He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.
5 
His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?”
6 
He answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another
vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’”
7 
Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the
Jezreelite.”
8 
So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city
with him. 9 In those letters she wrote:
“Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 10 But seat two scoundrelsopposite him and
have them testify that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.”
11 
So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them. 12 They
proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 13 Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him
and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him
outside the city and stoned him to death. 14 Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”
15 
As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of
Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.” 16 When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he
got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard.
17 
Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: 18 “Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is
now in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it. 19 Say to him, ‘This is what theLord says: Have you not
murdered a man and seized his property?’ Then say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: In the place where dogs licked up
Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”
20 
Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have found me, my enemy!”
“I have found you,” he answered, “because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. 21 ‘I am going to bring
disaster on you. I will consume your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free.22 I will make your
house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have
caused Israel to sin.’
23 
“And also concerning Jezebel the Lord says: ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’
24 
“Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country.”
25 
(There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife.26 He
behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.)
 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly.
27 

Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: 29 “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me?
28 

Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.”