Surprise!

    Many times I have asked my students the question, "If Hitler repented and turned to God at the end of his life would God have forgiven him and saved him?" This is an offensive question for many people, but it's a theological problem Christians should consider. Less about Hitler, this question really takes the most evil person our modern minds can think of and puts his many sins up against One who Christians would usually claim is a God who can, through Jesus's atonement, redeem anyone.

    Reading through 1 Kings again recently, I was reminded of an Israelite "Hitler." King Ahab reigned over the ten Northern tribes of Israel in the 700's B.C. He didn't carry quite as much of a murderer's rap as Hitler did - Ahab's sin was idolatry. He worshipped idols and led the people of Israel to do the same. Similar to the way Hitler's name carries a stigma of pure evil today, Ahab's name would have carried a stigma of evil in his day. In fact, the summary of his reign in 1 Kings 21:25-26 reads, "There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the people of Israel" (italics mine). 

    Chapters 16-22 of 1 Kings detail the unfortunate reign of Ahab over the people of Israel. In those chapters we see multiple times where God tried to get Ahab's attention through the prophet Elijah and others. Ahab, like the viral sensation "King Curtis" from the show Wife Swap, repeatedly told God, "I'm not listening to your rules!"

    One day, Ahab grew jealous of his neighbor Naboth's vineyard property. He asked Naboth to sell him the property for money, and when Naboth turned down the offer, Ahab indirectly had Naboth murdered. While Ahab was seizing the vineyard property he had spilled blood to acquire, God sent Elijah to catch him doubly red-handed. Elijah met him at the vineyard with a message from the Lord, "Have you killed and also taken possession?... In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood" (1 Kings 21:19). Elijah went on to guarantee the death of every male descended from Ahab; his kingly dynasty would be completely destroyed as a consequence for his great evil. 

    The story then takes an almost shocking change of direction. Surprise! Ahab repents. Ahab hears the solemn prophecy of Elijah and responds with traditional Jewish signs of mourning. Verse 27 says that he "tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly." Almost just as shocking is God's response to Ahab's repentance. In verse 29, God asks Elijah, "Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son's days I will bring the disaster upon his house."

    I can almost hear Elijah complaining like Jonah did concerning Nineveh, "No, God! Give Ahab what he deserves! Don't you remember all the evil Ahab has done? Surely he doesn't deserve your mercy!" 

    And the truth is that Ahab didn't deserve God's mercy. But isn't that what mercy is - something the one receiving it doesn't deserve? In God's understanding, "there is none who does good, not even one" (Psalm 14:3). We have all "sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). 

    The apostle Paul, as a former persecutor of Christians, also personally wrestled with thoughts of being too evil to save. His view on the matter is summed up in 1 Timothy 1:15-16, "'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners' - and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life" (NLT). 

    So, we can all ask the question, "Can God save the worst of the worst - people like Ahab, Hitler, Paul - or me - if they repent and trust Christ?" The answer according to Scripture is a resounding yes. 

    And it's okay if our jaws drop in response. That just helps us sing God's praise louder.