Skip to main content

The Amazing Ahab

I must admit I'm somewhat fascinated by King Ahab of Old Testament Israel. Maybe it's similar to my fascination with the early auditions of American Idol. The worse they sound, the more I laugh. I think Ahab's reign over Israel was like one long, horrible Idol audition. If ever there had been a competition to find the next king of Israel, Ahab would probably fall somewhere between William Hung and that guy who sand 'Pants on the Ground'.

Is it just me, or is Ahab that guy at the party who's only there because he's hosting the party. Like the guy that never realized what he had or what part he should be playing. Lest we forget, this is the king who let his wife do all the hard work, though most of that work was sinful; 1 Kings 19:1-2, 1 Kings 21:8-14.

But maybe Ahab was more unlucky than evil. After all, he did know how to play people. When he & Jehoshaphat went into war together, Ahab convinced his good buddy Jehoshaphat (king of Judah) that he should wear his kingly robes while Ahab went incognito. Really? Why Jehoshaphat did not think for himself in this issue I'll never get, but that's what they did. Because no one ever aims for the leader of an army, right?

But through randomness (1 Kings 22:34-37) or by God fulfilling prophetic words, Ahab died. That's too bad. He brought such great times to Israel. Mind you, nobody recorded those good times, but I'm sure they were there. After all, Ahab was hosting the party.

What do you think? Who's your fave loser from the Bible?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Studies on the Go...Genesis

To be honest, I had not heard of Studies On The Go before being offered a review copy by my god friends at Youth Worker. But since I’m always looking out for study ideas, I said yes to this opportunity. Studies On The Go by Laurie Polich-Short has 30 studies. This particular edition is on the book of Genesis. Any book of the Bible can be daunting when you’re trying to interest and impact teenagers. But Genesis increases that difficulty due to the many questions that arise on the topic of creation. On top of that, you have the many stories of questionable characters that we often call heroes of the faith. Each study comes with great questions, not mindless Sunday School questions where every answer is Jesus. They also come with an optional activity to take the lesson a step further and create true impact. Add to that a weekly plan for students to go deeper and you have a winner of a study in one little book. If all the book studies are as well done as this one, I’d ...

What Are You Capable Of?

I fancy myself to be just like Batman...without the money, the cave, the vendetta, the car and the cool belt. Other than that, we're pretty much the same guy. Does it help my case that I have a boy wonder? It's my son, but I'd take him over a dude in green tights any day. I've also imagined myself to be similar to Superman...you know, but without the super strength, speed, or that thing he can do with his eyes. Oh, and I'm also not from another planet. But he was a reporter and I like to write, though that hasn't been proven much by my blog. At least, not compared to what I used to write. The first time I write this post, it sounded like an apology. But that's not really the message I want to convey. Yes, I wish I were posting more. I also wish I had super strength or a cool utility belt, but those things aren't happening right now either. Maybe some day . The truth is I have been keeping busy. I'm not sitting back, sipping lemonade. I've never c...

The Facebook Maybe

Granted, I'm a pastor. I have Type-A tendencies. Ok, my tendencies border on freakish OCD behavior patterns, but... Few things bother me more than the Facebook 'maybe'. I suppose I could go on and on about the grey areas of our society and the refusal of people to accept absolute standards. I could discuss the great need of people to accept that what is wrong for one person is likely wrong for everyone. I should certainly be concerned about mentioning that someone might have sin in their life. But I don't believe the Facebook 'maybe' is quite sin. Perhaps if I were coming up with new sins, I would add this to the list. But alas... Some might think the Facebook 'maybe' did not exist prior to the Internet, but they would be wrong. When I was in high school and asked a girl out on a date, I would normally be told that if they had no other plans, if nobody else called them, if there was nothing good on television and their hair did not need washing, then per...