Who was King Ahab in the Bible?

from the old testament

• The account of King Ahab opens with the discouraging note: “Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel … And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him” (1 Kings 16:29–30). Many wicked kings ruled Israel, so being listed among the worst shows what kind of legacy he left.
• However, his evil stemmed partly from his weakness as a man and a leader. Because he was weak, his wife, Jezebel, gained significant control over the kingdom. As a Baal worshiper when he married her (1 Kings 16:31), she inflicted idolatry on Israel (1 Kings 16:31–33). She also killed as many of God’s prophets as she could capture (1 Kings 18:4) and put in their place nearly a thousand false priests of Baal and Asherah (1 Kings 18:19). She was also manipulative, orchestrating events in her husband’s favor, such as killing their neighbor through trickery so Ahab could get his land (1 Kings 21:1–16). Thus, the biblical account of King Ahab’s history is largely overshadowed by Jezebel, since she drove Ahab's leadership.
• Because of Israel’s idolatry, led by Ahab and Jezebel, God brought a drought to Israel (1 Kings 17:1–7), which lasted three years, and a severe famine (1 Kings 18:1–2).
• Near the end of the drought, Elijah returned to challenge Ahab’s idolatry by devising a challenge. Ahab was to send all his priests of Baal and Asherah, who were to collectively call for their gods to start a sacrifice on fire. They would compete against Elijah, who would ask the same of God (1 Kings 18:22–24). After the false priests failed (1 Kings 18:26–29), Elijah proved God to be the true God by first soaking the sacrifice and altar in water (1 Kings 18:33–35), then asked God to light it on fire, which He did (1 Kings 18:38). Having won, Elijah then ordered that all the false priests be rounded up and killed (1 Kings 18:40).
• Later in his life, when Elijah confronted Ahab for killing his neighbor for the land and promised that Ahab and his family would die in undignified ways (1 Kings 21:17–24), Ahab appeared repentant (1 Kings 21:20–24, 27). As a result, God promised that he wouldn’t see the disaster on his house (1 Kings 21:29).
• However, Ahab still behaved poorly and cowardly. In his final battle, he disguised himself so the enemy wouldn’t single him out for attack (1 Kings 22:30). That caused the enemy to attack Judah’s king, thinking it was Ahab (1 Kings 22:32). However, with a sense of irony, we read, “But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate” (1 Kings 22:34). Without even aiming at Ahab, a randomly shot arrow hit him, and in the one point of weakness in his armor, resulting in his death (1 Kings 22:34–37).
• As promised, Ahab died before seeing his house fall. The next to die was his wife, pushed from a tower by her servants and eaten by the dogs (2 Kings 9:32–35). That ignoble end marked the end of their evil reign.

from the new testament

• King Ahab is not mentioned in the New Testament.

implications for today

King Ahab’s life demonstrates the trajectory of leaders who are both sinful and weak. He permitted his wife Jezebel’s wickedness to flourish by allowing her to do whatever she wanted. However, while Jezebel committed most of the evil deeds during Ahab’s reign, the biblical authors placed the blame squarely on him as leader. That’s because both leaders and husbands are accountable for how they led those under their leadership.

We will likely never be in a position over a nation like Ahab or Jezebel, but we can apply the lessons from their personal lives to our own.

If you are a husband, God has placed you as the head of your family (Ephesians 5:23a). Your role is to protect your wife from sin by washing her with the word (Ephesians 5:25–27). You are to do this to exemplify Jesus as head of the church and how He loves her (Ephesians 5:23b, 25). As the husband, you will ultimately stand before God, judged for how you taught and led her.

If you are a wife, God has placed you as a helper to your husband (Genesis 2:18). You are to submit to your husband, not because he’s perfect, but to exemplify to the world how the church is to submit to Christ (Ephesians 5:24). Submission doesn’t mean obeying when he’s leading you into sin, but it does mean not making his life more difficult by being contentious (Proverbs 21:9) or by trying to manipulate circumstances through him.

What God commands for husbands and wives runs contrary to society. However, as Ahab and Jezebel demonstrated, an upside-down relationship dynamic that runs contrary to God’s design can have serious consequences for both the spouses and those around them.