The Gospel Offered to Ahab

In this message I want to show you how the gospel was offered to Ahab at this critical time in his life. There is no doubt in my mind that Ahab was under the wrath of God. But here we find a prophet speaking many encouraging words to Ahab, words which proclaim to him that mercy, truth, and hope are all found when we look to God in faith. At this particular time in Israel's history, God would strive with king Ahab through this prophet, strive with him to see whether he would believe in Him or not, and strive with him so that he would think about repenting of all of his sins. When Ahab saw the Lord's goodness and mercy to him in this great deliverance that God would bring about, he still would not change. But still, God would have his prophet speak to him and declare to him God's promises of help and deliverance to him.
This has implications for us today in our preaching and sharing of the gospel and the word of God to people around us. 1st of all – I want you to see that it was the right thing to do, for this prophet to declare the mercy of the Lord. (verses 1-21) And 2nd – God's offer of bringing real hope to Ahab was sincere, but he rejected it. (verses 22-30) May our study help us to understand better how we might help sinful men and women around us to see the truth.