1 Kings 16:29-34: a reflection

29In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel. Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30Ahab the son of Omri did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight above all that were before him. 31As if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32He raised up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. 33Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did more yet to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. He laid its foundation with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the LORD’s word, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

Ahab is described as the most wicked of Israel's kings, and the account marks how his evil escalated: As if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, he took Jezebel as wife, served Baal, and did more to provoke God than all the kings before him. The sins of his predecessors, grave as they were, seemed a light thing to Ahab; he found them too small, and went further, adding worse to worse. His treating serious sin as a light thing led him deeper into evil.

Notice the progression: Ahab treated serious sin as a light thing, and so went further into it. The sins of Jeroboam were grave; but to Ahab they seemed a light thing, too small to satisfy, and so he added to them, taking up the worship of Baal and doing worse than all before him. Because he treated serious evil lightly, finding it too small a thing, he went deeper, from bad to worse. Sin unchecked, treated as a light thing, does not stay where it is; it escalates, as it did with Ahab, from the sins of his predecessors to worse than all of them.

That progression is worth taking to heart, for we too can treat serious sin as a light thing, and so be drawn deeper into it. When we begin to treat some sin as small, a light thing, not worth taking seriously, we open the way to going further, adding worse to worse, as Ahab found the old sins too small and took up worse. Do not treat serious sin as a light thing, too small to take seriously; such treating lightly of sin opens the way to going deeper, from bad to worse, as it did with Ahab. Take sin seriously rather than treating it as a light thing, lest, like Ahab, you find the sin you treated lightly leading you further into worse evil. Guard against the progression that begins with treating serious sin as small; take it seriously while it is still small, rather than letting it, treated lightly, draw you deeper, as Ahab, treating the sins of his predecessors as a light thing, went on to do more evil than all before him.

Lord, Ahab is described as the most wicked of Israel's kings, and the account marks how his evil escalated: as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, he took Jezebel as wife, served Baal, and did more to provoke you than all the kings before him. The sins of his predecessors, grave as they were, seemed a light thing to Ahab; he found them too small, and went further. His treating serious sin as a light thing led him deeper into evil. Show me the progression: Ahab treated serious sin as a light thing, and so went further into it. The sins of Jeroboam were grave; but to Ahab they seemed a light thing, and so he added to them, doing worse than all before him. Because he treated serious evil lightly, he went deeper, from bad to worse. Sin unchecked, treated as a light thing, does not stay where it is; it escalates. Take that progression to my heart, for I too can treat serious sin as a light thing, and so be drawn deeper into it. When I begin to treat some sin as small, not worth taking seriously, I open the way to going further, as Ahab found the old sins too small. Keep me from treating serious sin as a light thing, too small to take seriously; such treating lightly of sin opens the way to going deeper. Help me take sin seriously rather than treating it as a light thing, Lord, lest, like Ahab, I find the sin I treated lightly leading me further into worse evil.