Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / January 30 - 1 Kings 21

Transcript

January 30 - 1 Kings 21 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:11
  Hello, friends. It's Sean.
• 0:13
  Here it is. Thursday.
• 0:15
  It's the 30th of January, and here you are.
• 0:18
  Here I am. And you know what we're going to
• 0:20
  do, friends? Yes, we are going to continue
• 0:23
  powering on toward the end of this Book of First Kings.
• 0:27
  And it is such an interesting book because we see the
• 0:30
  different lenses through which people see the world in
• 0:33
  themselves and success. We see the kings who evaluate
• 0:37
  themselves based on victory over their opponents, based on the
• 0:41
  prosperity of their Kingdom. And then you have gods who speak
• 0:46
  through the prophets who base their success entirely on, are
• 0:50
  they faithful to the God who gave them their throne?
• 0:54
  And that is the one and only thing that God asks of them, to
• 0:57
  be faithful to him, their God. So we hear that playing out
• 1:01
  today, as indeed we have heard it play out before, as we see
• 1:05
  how earthly kings fail to live up to that one commitment that
• 1:10
  God needs them to make. And through the years, this can
• 1:14
  speak to us about all the things that would seem important, that
• 1:17
  our God asks us for one thing to be true to Him, and all else
• 1:21
  falls into place beyond that. So let us hear these sage words
• 1:25
  of advice speaking through the ages to us in our modern context
• 1:29
  as we read together First Kings chapter 21.
• 1:43
  Now there was a man named Naboth from Jezreel, who owned a
• 1:47
  vineyard in Jezreel beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria.
• 1:51
  One day, Ahab said to Naboth, Since your vineyard is so
• 1:56
  convenient to my palace, I would like to buy it to use as a
• 2:00
  vegetable garden. I will give you a better
• 2:03
  vineyard in exchange, or if you prefer, I will pay you for it.
• 2:08
  But Naboth replied, the Lord forbid that I should give you
• 2:11
  the inheritance that was passed down by my ancestors.
• 2:15
  So Ahab went home angry and sullen because of Naboth's
• 2:19
  answer. The king went to bed with his
• 2:22
  face to the wall and refused to eat.
• 2:24
  What's the matter? His wife Jezebel asked him.
• 2:28
  What's made you so upset that you're not eating?
• 2:32
  I asked Naboth to sell me his vineyard or trade it, but he
• 2:36
  refused. Ahab told her.
• 2:40
  Are you the king of Israel or not?
• 2:43
  Jezebel demanded. Get up and eat something and
• 2:47
  don't worry about it. I'll get you Naboth's vineyard.
• 2:51
  So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal,
• 2:55
  and sent them to the elders and other leaders of the town where
• 2:58
  Naboth lived. In her letters she commanded
• 3:02
  call the citizens together for a time of fasting and give Naboth
• 3:06
  the place of honour, and then see two scoundrels across from
• 3:10
  him who will accuse him of cursing God and the king.
• 3:14
  Then take him out and stone him to death.
• 3:18
  So the elders and other town leaders followed the
• 3:20
  instructions Jezebel had written in the letters.
• 3:23
  They called for a fast and put Naboth at the prominent place
• 3:26
  before the people. Then the two scoundrels came and
• 3:30
  sat down across from him. And they accused Naboth before
• 3:34
  all the people, saying he cursed God and the king.
• 3:38
  So he was dragged outside the town and stoned to death.
• 3:43
  The town leaders sent word to Jezebel.
• 3:45
  Naboth has been stoned to death. When Jezebel heard the news, she
• 3:51
  said to Ahab, you know the vineyard Naboth wouldn't sell
• 3:55
  you. Well, you can have it now.
• 3:58
  He's dead. So Ahab immediately went down to
• 4:02
  the vineyard of Naboth to claim it.
• 4:04
  But the Lord said to Elijah, go down and meet King Ahab of
• 4:09
  Israel, who rules in Samaria. He will be at Naboth's vineyard
• 4:13
  in Jezreel, claiming it for himself.
• 4:16
  Give him this message. This is what the Lord says.
• 4:21
  Wasn't it enough that you killed Naboth?
• 4:24
  Must you rob him too? Because you have done this?
• 4:27
  Dogs will lick your blood at the very place where they lick the
• 4:31
  blood of Naboth. So my enemy, you have found me.
• 4:37
  I have exclaimed to Elijah. Yes, Elijah answered.
• 4:42
  I have come because you have sold yourself to what is evil in
• 4:47
  the Lord's sight. So now the Lord says, I will
• 4:51
  bring disaster on you and consume you.
• 4:54
  I will destroy every one of your male descendants, slaves and
• 4:58
  free alike, anywhere in Israel. I am going to destroy your
• 5:03
  family as I did the family of Jeroboam son of Nabat, and the
• 5:08
  family of Basha son of Ahijah, for you have made me very angry
• 5:14
  and have led Israel to sin. And regarding Jezebel, the Lord
• 5:19
  says dogs will eat Jezebel's body at the plot of land in
• 5:24
  Jezreel. The members of Ahab's family who
• 5:29
  die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the
• 5:33
  field will be eaten by vultures. No one else so completely sold
• 5:39
  himself to what was evil in the Lord's sight as Ahab did under
• 5:43
  the influence of his wife Jezebel.
• 5:46
  The worst outrage was worshipping idols, just as the
• 5:49
  Amorites had done the people who the Lord had driven out from the
• 5:53
  land ahead of the Israelites. But when Ahab heard this
• 5:57
  message, he tore his clothing, dressed in burlap and fasted.
• 6:03
  He even slept in burlap and went about in deep mourning.
• 6:07
  Then another message from the Lord came to Elijah.
• 6:11
  Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before me?
• 6:15
  Because he has done this? I will not do what I promised
• 6:19
  during his lifetime. It will happen to his sons.
• 6:23
  I will destroy his dynasty. Our Lord, life can seem so
• 6:37
  complicated for us. All of these competing
• 6:40
  priorities can flare up and ah, that vineyard would make the
• 6:45
  best vegetable garden. And that becomes our focus.
• 6:48
  Or whatever it is that the world places at our feet and draws our
• 6:53
  eyes from You. Lord, we just pray that You
• 6:58
  continually draw our eyes back up to You up above the horizon
• 7:05
  to see you and Your glory and Your mercy and Your love for us.
• 7:12
  Our Lord Jesus, forgive us for the times that we do stray.
• 7:16
  Forgive us for the times that our hearts are confused and we
• 7:19
  find ourselves heading away from You rather than towards You.
• 7:22
  And renew us. Renew us from the inside out
• 7:26
  with a heart that yearns for Your ways.
• 7:31
  So we recommit ourselves to You afresh today that we would focus
• 7:35
  on You and our relationship with You and that everything else is
• 7:41
  secondary. Lord, you are wonderful.
• 7:45
  You are our God and we love you. And we pray all of these things
• 7:49
  in your name, Jesus, Amen.