The Conversion of a Modern Ahab
By David Paulson
SEVERAL years ago the country was startled by the news that Governor Steunenberg, of Idaho, had been blown to pieces by a bomb so placed that it would explode as he passed through his gate. Soon afterward Harry Orchard was arrested on suspicion, and later he not only confessed himself to be the author of this crime, but of more than half a dozen others which, for cold-bloodedness, have hardly been equaled in this generation. After one of the most sensational trials ever held, he was finally given a life sentence in a state prison. God’s dealing with this man reminds one of his dealing with Ahab, who not only drifted into sin, but actually sold himself to work wickedness. 2 Kings 21:25. Yet when, under the influence of God’s Spirit, he heard the words of God, rent his clothes, put on sackcloth, fasted, and went softly, God in his unlimited mercy said, “Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his day.” Verse 29. It seems as if Mr. Orchard’s conversion is a demonstration of the fact that even in our day God can save the Ahabs. The change that came over this hardened criminal was such that the most skeptical were forced to admit that something had happened to him. In reading the account of his remarkable experience, that which impressed me most was the fact that his downward career started with smothering the voice of conscience in reference to what, viewed from a human standpoint, was only an ordinary sin. Such a life and such a career emphasize in a startling manner the danger of taking the first step on Satan’s ground, or smothering in the least the warning voice of conscience and the pleadings of the Spirit of God. It shows, also, the greatness of God’s mercy in pardoning the repentant sinner.