The Greek word (katagonizomai) refers to spiritual submission
rather than a physical subjugation (Gr. strateuomai or polemo) - Hebrews 11:33
Israel's king Ahab "did evil in the sight of the
Lord above all that were before him" (I Kings 16:30) and "did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than
all the kings of Israel that were before him" (I Kings 16:33)
Ahab married Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Baal
worshippers, and established idolatry as the state religion in Israel (Revelation 2:20)
He considered it a "light thing to walk in the
sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat" (I Kings 16:31)
During his reign, was the curse fulfilled concerning
the rebuilding of the city of Jericho, "according to the Word of the Lord, which He spake by Joshua the son
of Nun" (I Kings 16:34 cf. Joshua 6:26)
God's prophet, Elijah, pronounces the curse of famine
upon Ahab's kingdom of Israel, "there shall not be dew nor rain" (I Kings 17:1)
God sustains His prophet through a Gentile woman's
provisions during the three and a half years of famine in Israel (Luke 4:25-26 cf. I Kings 17:7-16)
God sends His prophet to the king announcing the end
of the "sore famine" (I Kings 18:1-2) and reminds Ahab that it is he who "troubleth Israel" for
having "forsaken the commandments of the Lord" (I Kings 18:17-18)