In 1 Kings 18:1-15, as discussed in the previous article, God had sent word to Elijah the prophet, telling him to notify Ahab the king that the present drought would be over. Elijah first met one of the king’s staff, named Obadiah, and had Obadiah notify Ahab that he (Elijah) was back.
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”
“I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the LORD’s commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
1 Kings 18:16-19 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/1ki.18.16-19.NIV
So, what was Ahab’s greeting to Elijah? In modern terms, we might paraphrase it as, “This is all your fault!”
In Elijah’s reply, though, I think that we have confirmation that Ahab’s idolatry was a key reason why God had brought drought (and possibly other consequences) upon Israel in the first place. God had previously made it clear (see Deuteronomy 11:16-21) that withholding rain was going to be one of the consequences if Israel turned to other gods, so this shouldn’t have been news to Ahab. In fact, Ahab may have known that fact in his heart, but since he didn’t want to give up his idols, perhaps he was blaming the results of his own failure (i.e., a failure to lead Israel in focused worship of the true God) on someone else.
After pointing the blame (correctly) back at Ahab, Elijah tells the king to bring prophets of both Baal and Asherah. (Note that, while we often hear about the prophets of Baal mentioned in sermons or lessons about these events, they made up only about half of the false prophets who were summoned.)
Between a note here that false prophets ate “at Jezebel’s table”, and a comment from righteous Obadiah (see 1 Kings 18:13) that Jezebel killed prophets of God, we start to get a picture of Jezebel’s support for idolatry. We can reasonably infer that she had a negative influence on her husband, and contributed to his leading the nation of Israel into idolatry. However, Ahab was ultimately the king and it was his responsibility to follow only God, leading the people to do the same. After all, that was the first of the Ten Commandments, right (see Exodus 20:2)?
Sometimes, even in our own lives, blaming others for problems that we have caused is just an attempt to cover up something we’ve done that we’re not proud of. So, let’s understand our own responsibilities – to God, to ourselves, and to other people – and be up-front about where we’ve fallen short. A sincere admission of guilt and an apology from Ahab, followed by a positive change, might have gone a long way here towards restoration. Let’s not make the same mistake that he did. Instead, let’s own up to where we fall short, and ask for both, 1) forgiveness and, 2) help to make things better.
You’re welcome to read ahead in 1 Kings 18:20-46 to see what happened next, after Elijah made this challenge to Ahab. The next article should start to unpack some of that, too.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for May 11, 2025
References:
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – 1 & 2 Kings, by Jesse C. Long, Jr. © 2002 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 