DAILY DEVOTIONS
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"Honoring God in the Morning"
What will the people who serve after you write as your legacy? (100-4)
From time to time we see leaders gain recognition and acclaim but public recognition of a leader’s exploits may not equal the legacy history records. Read 1 Kings 16-22 focusing on 16:29-34 and 21:17-22.
The northern kingdom, Israel, endured an unbroken succession of wicked kings. Their idolatry became increasingly degraded, and they refused to learn from their predecessors’ mistakes. Ahab, son of Omri, was one of those kings.
Ahab was a capable and powerful ruler of the northern kingdom of Israel. Like his father Omri, Ahab demonstrated impressive military skills. He fortified a number of Israelite cities – in particular, Samaria, his capital. Ahab sustained a strong and stable government in spite of repeated conflicts with the powerful Aramean kingdom of Damascus. Historically, Ahab was a political success story.
But the Bible paints a different picture, one that focuses more on his poor personal choices. Isn’t it amazing how we seem to be remembered more for our character than our accomplishments! Ahab formed a notorious political alliance by marrying Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Tyre.
This was the beginning of a downward spiral in which Ahab led Israel deeper and deeper into sin until God, through the prophet Elijah, pronounced judgment on the nation. Ahab’s judgment lapsed entirely when he allowed his wife to build a temple dedicated to Baal, a god his wife worshiped.
When Jezebel imported a large group of false prophets, her evil influence spread throughout the kingdom. Soon Ahab himself became a Baal worshiper and set up images of Baal’s consort, Asherah.
These chapters outline in striking detail what happens when a great leader aligns with a person of evil influence culminating in a hard statement about Ahab found in 1 Kings 21:25-26, “There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.”
Ahab allowed himself to be influenced, then overtaken by his partner, who was soon carrying out in his name activities that would make any godly leader’s stomach churn (see 21:1-10). For all his political and military success, Ahab’s legacy of personal and national evil still stands today as a symbol of great leadership gone awry.
What will the people who serve after you write as your legacy? Effective leaders consider more than momentary success as they lead.
These chapters outline in striking detail what happens when a great leader aligns with a person of evil influence culminating in a hard statement about Ahab found in 1 Kings 21:25-26, “There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.”
Ahab allowed himself to be influenced, then overtaken by his partner, who was soon carrying out in his name activities that would make any godly leader’s stomach churn (see 21:1-10). For all his political and military success, Ahab’s legacy of personal and national evil still stands today as a symbol of great leadership gone awry.
What will the people who serve after you write as your legacy? Effective leaders consider more than momentary success as they lead.
