God Forgives Ahab. Really?

"behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD" (1 Kings 20:13)

So I'm reading 1 Kings 20-21, and I'm just saying, the Lord has more mercy for King Ahab than I could muster. The guy is worshipping idols, his wife Jezebel is leading an active campaign against the Lord, killing his prophets, as well as providing false witnesses to kill Naboth so that Ahab can have his vineyard, because apparently the king needs more land. And, with all that, the Lord has not completely given up on Ahab and Israel. The above verse is where the Syrian army comes against Ahab, and a prophet comes to tell him that the Lord is going to deliver the enemy wholly into his hand, as a sign that God is God. Ahab wins the battle and the enemy retreats. Then again, another prophet comes and says:

"Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD" (1 Kings 20:28)

The Syrians didn't get it. And they had no special reason to understand, their understanding of gods was like the Greek pantheon, powerful but limited in geography and omniscience. The Lord was teaching Ahab who He is, the God of the whole earth, everything, the hills and valleys. This is God telling Ahab, 'I haven't completely left Israel, I'm keeping my end of the covenant, and this is who I AM. Know me.' But in the end, Ahab commits a King Saul sin, in not obeying the Lord exactly, to kill the king of Israel's enemies, when the Lord has commanded it.

Now, I know. Killing someone is awful. How could the Lord not only command this, but get disappointed when the king fails to kill the other king? Remember, this is an invading army into the land that God covenanted to Abraham's seed. God also said that He would be their protection, but He cannot protect them if they keep letting go those who will invade them again, killing even more. God is not saying that the Syrian king is sinful or evil, just that he is trying to kill Israelites and take their land, something that God covenanted would not happen if Israel was faithful. And, the Lord could have let the enemy army come in and kill Ahab and take the kingdom, which I wouldn't be surprised at, seeing how antagonistic Ahab is against the Lord, and his own people. Eventually, this Syrian king will be the death of Ahab. But the Lord is patient.

Surprisingly, it is only after the false witnesses and stoning of the innocent Naboth for his land, that Elijah is finally commanded to go to Ahab and tell his that for this sin of murder (breaking the commandments of murder, false witness, and covetness) the Lord says the kingdom will be taken from him and his posterity. The Lord described Ahab's sins this way: "because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD" (1 Kings 21:20,25). In the end, the only thing we really own is our souls, our intelligence, our ability to choose right and wrong. Ahab sold his soul for Naboth's land, for victory and wealth. Sin puts Ahab, and us, out of the protection of justice, and the covering of the atonement. He has sold himself in the sense that now Ahab is under the power of death and sin, he is not free, but is bound, damned, cannot progress, but is subject to the devil and his angels. (See Jacob 3:11) Ahab has sold himself into slavery to buy a few material things. But, there is a way out.

Believe it or not, Ahab repents. Christ has bought us all, but we cannot claim His power and mercy unless we repent. And, Ahab repents in sackcloth and ashes: "Seet how Ahab humbelth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house" (1 Kings 21:29, and fyi his son will deserve it). Honestly, I'm shocked at how quickly the Lord forgave Ahab. And, I have to trust the Lord's word that there was some true repentance, otherwise I would call it a sham. How quickly though!

If the Lord forgives Ahab this quickly, then how quickly will He forgive me? I'm not being prideful or anything, but I'm pretty certain I don't have the same mass of sins that Ahab had. How quick! God must have just been waiting to forgive this whole time. How quick the Lord was to turn away His declaration of punishment for Ahab. Now, as we will see, Ahab still has a few more things he's going to do, but wow, really, the mercy of our God! I'm just blown away that the God of the OT was so quick to forgive, and how quickly I still cannot forgive Ahab. Maybe, at the end of this all, what I've learned is not to judge others. I'm more harsh than the God of Israel. I need to work on that.