Question: What does the figure of Ahab (800s B.C.) have to do with narcissistic leaders and the destruction they can wreak upon the undiscerning? A great deal.

The older I get, the more I love studying history. Perhaps it’s because I learn and relearn that the patterns repeat. There are countless cliches about how we so seldom learn anything from history. At root, it’s that we don’t learn much from history. Nevertheless, here’s yet another effort to learn from history.

Historical context: Ahab was one of the most wicked kings and leaders Israel ever had. And there’s a passage in 2 Chronicles 18 that reveals part of Ahab’s wickedness.

He surrounded himself with those who flattered him and told him what he wanted to hear. When someone told him the truth, he suppressed it and labeled the truth-teller his enemy.

Here’s the Scripture:

¹² And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” ¹³ But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, what my God says, that I will speak.” ¹⁴ And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?” And he answered, “Go up and triumph; they will be given into your hand.” ¹⁵ But the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” ¹⁶ And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’” ¹⁷ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” ¹⁸ And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. ¹⁹ And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. ²⁰ Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ ²¹ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ ²² Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets. The Lord has declared disaster concerning you.” (2 Chronicles 18:12-22, ESV)

Ahab doesn’t desire truth; he desires toadies. He demands sycophants and flattery. Why? Because his god is himself and his own power. Rather than loving the Lord, he loves himself and what he thinks is his ascending star.

But God knows his heart.

Ahab thinks he’ll evade disclosure and evade judgment by disguising himself in battle. But the irony is that the truth-teller’s prophecy is shown to be accurate, and Ahab dies in battle, from an arrow from the opposing army:

But a certain man drew his bow at random^[a] and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” ³⁴ And the battle continued that day, and the king of Israel was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening. Then at sunset he died. (2 Chronicles 18:33-34, ESV)

Encouragement and takeaway: One key indicator of a godly leader is that he tells you the truth. He does not pimp hearers via flattery and duplicity or soft speech. He does not surround himself only with toadies. He does not attempt to silence the truth-tellers/prophetic voices. Because the truth will emerge. It will be revealed. That’s the beauty of God and his gospel. Just when the forces of hell thought they crucified truth and buried it, and even surrounded the presumed corpus of truth with Roman guards at the mouth of Jesus’ tomb, truth arose three days later–just as the prophets had said.