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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
1 Kings 21:17–29, “And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD. Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat. But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.”
As soon as Ahab went to take possession of Naboth’s land, he accepted full responsibility for his wife actions. Although he was legally responsible for her actions when he let her use his seal, he was morally responsible when he took the fruit of her perversion of the legal system. Ahab could never claim, before God, that he was innocent of this crime. Elijah came to confront Ahab because of this sin. Ahab called Elijah his enemy but Elijah was actually his best friend because Elijah gave Ahab an opportunity to take advantage of the Lord’s grace. Elijah gave Ahab an eternal opportunity while Jezebel gave Ahab a temporary opportunity. Elijah told Ahab in graphic terms that he would suffer the Lord’s extreme punishment for his sin. In those days there were dogs that roamed in packs around the city at night and they would eat any bodies that were left. On the other hand, the scavenger birds would come to a battlefield after the battle. Elijah’s prophecy meant that all of Ahab’s sons would die in an untimely and unplanned way and they would not be given a decent burial. Naboth’s body was thrown out of the city and the wild dogs ate it. Jezebel would also experience an untimely and unmourned death because she instigated the unlawful procedures against Naboth. When Ahab heard this he repented of his sin and the Lord told him that the would take place in his son’s time.
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