Ahab Complex (1)

Christians get worked up about the Jezebel spirit, but before there can be a Jezebel there must be an Ahab.
Ahab brought Jezebel to Israel.
The church must understand this.

There were a set of behaviours that were repeated again and again in Israel.
These behaviours opened the way for the Spirit of Jezebel
They started with Jeroboam

House of Jeroboam

This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth (1 Kings 13:34)

Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam (1 Kings 14:10).

These curses reached a climax in Ahab (2 Chron 22:8; 2 Kings 10:30).

Genealogy

Jeroboam
↓
Nadab
→ Baasha
↓
Elah
→ Zimri
→ Omri
↓
Ahab

Not a Wimp
Ahab has been totally misunderstood by Christians. We think of him as a wimp, but this is wrong. His father Omri was the commander of the army, and you only got that job in those days, if you were physically tough and totally ruthless. Omri killed off all the opposition to become king. Ahab was Omri’s son, so he would have been brought up tough (1 Kings 16:16).

Kings did not last long in those times, so Ahab’s twenty-two year reign was a record (1Kings 16:22). He built palaces and a fortified city (1 Kings 22:39). He was a very successful warrior-king at time when war was fought hand-to-hand. Ahab was mean, tough and strong, and had killed his share of men. He was a bully, not a wimp.

Ahab married Jezebel for political convenience. He needed a peace treaty with her father and their marriage was part of the deal.

Ahab was a hard, tough, mean political and military operator, who expected to get his own way. When he asked for something, people would jump to get it. This is why was sulking over the Naboth incident.

The Jezebel spirit cannot get a hold in church, unless an Ahab spirit that already exists among the leadership opens the way.

The full set of notes on the Ahab Complex can be found here.