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1 Kings 21 (Part 2) Bible Study (The Lord Condemns Ahab/Ahab's Repentance) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Turn with me to the Book of First Kings in chapter 21.
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  We are the near completion of this book.
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  We have one more chapter after this before we move forward into
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  Second Kings, which will be the natural sequence to this Bible
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  study. And as returning there, I want
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  you to hear what a well known preacher.
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  Said concerning sin, he wrote quite insightfully.
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  When sin is tempting us, it is loved, but when sin is done.
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  It is loathed. I'll say that one more time.
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  When sin is tempting us, it is loved.
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  But when sin is done, it is loathed.
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  How true that is, and that is one of the many lessons that you
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  and I are going to glean from in the rest of this chapter
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  together. And I want you to turn your
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  attention to verse 17 of First Kings 21.
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  Let us read a few verses before we do what we always do, and
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  that's take our time to comb through the Scriptures and to
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  pluck out these grains of gold for our hearts.
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  We read here. Then the word of the Lord came
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  to Elijah, the Tishbite saying, Arise.
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  Go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who is in Samaria.
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  Behold, he is in the vineyard of Nabeth, where he has gone to
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  take possession. And you shall say to him, Thus
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  says the Lord, Have you killed and also taken possession?
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  And you shall say to him, Thus says the Lord, In the place
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  where dogs licked up the blood of Nabeth, shall dogs.
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  Lick your own blood. Ahab said to Elijah, Have you
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  found me all my enemy? He answered.
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  I found you because you have sold yourself to do what is evil
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  in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring disaster
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  upon you, I will utterly burn you up, and we'll cut off from
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  Ahab every male bond or free in Israel.
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  And I will make your house like the House of Jeroboam the son of
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  the Bat, and like the House of Basha the son of Ahijah, for the
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  anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made
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  Israel to sin. And of Jezebel the Lord also
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  said, the dog shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel.
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  Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city, the dogs shall
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  eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country, the birds
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  of the heavens shall. Eat, pray with me.
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  Lord, we believe that this is Your word, and we ask that we
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  would be able to, by Your grace, bind it around our necks and tie
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  it around our hearts, that it would, in the days to come, talk
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  to us, guide us, warn us, comfort us, convict us.
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  So Lord, we open ourselves to you and we pray that you fill us
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  with your truth. In the precious name of the
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  living Word, Jesus Christ, we pray.
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  Amen. We haven't heard from Elijah in
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  quite a bit. The last time that you and I
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  have encountered Elijah in our study was back in First Kings
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  chapter 19, where Elijah was instructed to go find a man by
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  the name of. Elijah and to invite him to be
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  his apprentice. And there has been an
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  undisclosed amount of time that has passed before.
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  Now we see the word of the Lord coming to Elijah yet again and
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  commissioning him to go back to Ahab in Samaria.
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  Now why this command is so intriguing is because we
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  remember what happened to Elijah when he found himself in a
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  similar setting. We recall, do we not, when
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  Elijah was in close proximity to the king and the queen after the
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  triumph on Mount Carmel? And the same Elijah who was able
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  to see a nation come to their knees all of a sudden now flees
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  into the wilderness because of the threats of Jezebel?
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  I'm thinking to myself, if that's what happened to Elijah
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  the last time he came near the king and the queen, namely the
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  queen, why is the Lord sending him there again?
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  Why put him in that vulnerable position once more, especially
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  since you and I studied in the previous chapter that many other
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  prophets were sent to deal with Ahab.
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  You remember that? Those unnamed sons of the
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  prophets? Why doesn't the Lord just send
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  another one of those guys to Ahab?
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  Why Elijah? I think that one of the reasons
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  for this is so that you and I can see the fruit, the fullness
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  of God's restorative mercies, that He worked patiently in
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  Elijah when he was at his lowest point.
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  This cowering, scared, anxiety crippled man is now back to a
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  wholeness and a usefulness because of how the Lord
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  ministered to him. And as we absorb that truth, as
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  we see the outcome of what God can do to a broken soul, you and
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  I listen, are supposed to feel the expectation and believe with
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  all of our hearts that the same God is able to address our fears
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  and weaknesses and replace them with the necessary grace that
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  makes us effective and efficient and energized in the will of God
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  once more. So that's what we're seeing
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  here. You know, for Elijah to comply
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  to these commands faithfully demonstrates that there is a
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  power at work in him that is outside of him, that there's
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  this special touch that. Cannot be boasted about in his
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  own strength or wisdom or might, but is a power that other
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  prophets testified of and experienced, surely.
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  Let me give you another cross reference of another prophet who
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  declared the truth that I am giving to you.
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  It's in Micah and if you can't find it quickly, I'll read the
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  reference to you and you can look look it up for yourself at
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  another time. But it's in Micah chapter 3 in
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  verse 8. Listen to what another prophet,
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  another prophet who was faithful like Elijah was, and who
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  experienced the grace of God like Elijah did, and Micah 3/8
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  this man of God declares. But As for me, I am filled with
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  power. I am filled with power, with the
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  Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might.
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  And what does this power do to declare to Jacob his
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  transgression and to Israel his sin?
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  It takes power from the Holy Spirit to serve the Lord in any
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  capacity, especially if the ministry that you are you are in
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  confronts people with their sin, confronts people with the truth.
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  You can't just use brain power. You can't just use emotive
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  power. You can't just use intellectual
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  power. You need power from on high.
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  And so this is a man of God, Elijah, who is animated by the
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  same power, this power that the prophets tapped into that was
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  able to make them bold and faithful even when their message
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  was resisted with adversity. And what's so encouraging about
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  this power that we see manifested in Elijah's life?
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  The same power that Micah writes about is a power that is not
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  exclusive to ancient men of God. What did Paul tell Timothy in
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  Second Timothy 17? You know very well that God has
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  given us a spirit, not a fear, but of what?
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  But of power, love and what a sound mind or self-control.
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  So whenever my heart is being sabotaged by fear, I can know
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  one thing, that this is not from God.
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  It's not from God. There is a fear of God.
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  That's a whole different subject, but a fear that causes
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  to be hesitant to obey God or to overcome temptation or to be
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  courageous, that's not from God. So right there you can dismiss
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  whatever is overcoming you, but but it's more than that.
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  You have Paul telling Timothy, who is a pastor, who is a pastor
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  in the New Covenant, and he had these tendencies of being timid.
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  If you read the writings that Paul wrote to Timothy, you get
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  that impression. And Paul's not even telling just
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  Timothy that he has access to this grace, this power that's
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  able to help him serve the Lord and be faithful in character, he
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  says. But God has given to us, to us.
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  So this is not just limited to prophets in the Old Testament or
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  pastors in the New. But to us, to believers, this is
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  all of our inheritance. We all have access to this grace
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  that helps us be powerful, loving and self controlled.
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  Christ purchased that for us and you have to understand that
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  inheritance and walk in faith and constantly asking the Lord
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  to be operating under that kind of grace.
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  So we see here that the Lord is ready to supply vitality to
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  achieve those realities and it's no different for Elijah, right?
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  So come back to our main text we read here.
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  The word of the Lord came to Elijah, the Tishbite saying
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  arise, go down to me, Ahab, king of Israel, who is in Samaria.
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  Behold, he is in the vineyard of Nabeth, where he has gone to
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  take possession. And we read here what he's
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  supposed to do once he arrived there.
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  So he got the location of the king, but now he's given the
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  script, so to speak. And what is that script?
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  Verse 19 gives us an idea. And you shall say to him, Thus
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  says the Lord, have you killed and also taken possession?
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  And you shall say to him, Thus says the Lord, in the place
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  where dogs licked up the blood of Nabeth, shall dogs lick your
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  own blood? Here's the overarching lesson of
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  Elijah's message that whatever pleasures sinners in joy, it
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  will all one day be intercepted by the judgement of God.
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  So we have here this King Ahab who in our previous study.
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  Schemed with his wife and the elders of the city where Nabeth
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  resided and thought that they got away with murder.
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  And the last scene of our previous study was Ahab getting
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  out of his bed, you know, removing his sniffles and
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  nonchalantly hearing about Nabeth's death, waltzes into his
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  vineyard and seizes something and enjoys something that
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  doesn't belong to him. And perhaps what has disturbed
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  you in the 1st 16 verses of this chapter is that God, or the
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  mention of God is nowhere to be found in the whole ordeal.
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  I mean, you only had a small remnant in Israel who are
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  faithful to the true and living God.
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  And now one of them who stood up for the truth is taken out.
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  And you would think that the Lord at some point would have,
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  would have stood up and defended him.
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  But here's what you're supposed to get out of this part of the
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  chapter. That though God was silent with
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  all of that, doesn't mean he wasn't watching.
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  He was watching. In fact, when we read verse 19
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  again, we realize that he was taking note of everything Ahab
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  was doing. We learn here that he know who
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  he killed. We learn here what he took
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  possession. Of we know exactly God knew
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  exactly where this man would be found and you knew exactly how
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  long he would be there for Elijah to find him.
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  And so this is just yet another example of how the eye of the
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  Lord is upon each of. Us what you plan in secret.
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  What you do to or with others where your feet may travel,
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  never escapes the knowledge of God.
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  And that truth is comforting for the righteous, but it should
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  strike terror in the heart of the wicked.
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  Why? Why should it cause sinners to
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  tremble? Because this is a strong example
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  of a king and a queen who thought that they were above the
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  law, who thought that they can manipulate justice, who thought
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  that they could get away with their sin because they held the
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  highest position, humanly speaking.
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  And though they could have perverted the law of the land,
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  evidently they could not evade the justice of God.
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  So you, you and I here, I mean the, the corruption in modern
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  day politics is not even subtle anymore.
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  It's blatant. It's right in your face and
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  there's an outcry, right? Where's justice?
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  What do you do when the judges, What do you do in congressman?
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  What do you do in lawmakers, so to speak, are unrighteous?
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  Who's going to hold them accountable?
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  I'll tell you, God, God will hold them accountable.
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  So you just sit tight and wait. He has the ability to to strike
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  and to invade in their lives at this very moment.
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  But there is a day coming where it will come to these people
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  standing before their maker and giving an account.
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  For everything that they have done.
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  And I'd look at this man who does obey God, and I'm refreshed
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  because this is the Elijah that we're used to complying with the
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  marching orders of heaven without hesitation.
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  But before Elijah even says a word, when he gets to Nabit's
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  vineyard, we get the reaction of the king.
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  And what is his reaction? It's found here in verse 20.
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  Ahab said to Elijah. Have you found me O my enemy?
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  Why would you say that unless you're trying to hide something?
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  Have you found me? Oh my enemy?
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  Now this not only confirms what we knew already about how Ahab
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  felt about Elijah, it actually shows us how Ahab.
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  Grew in his hatred for Elijah. Do you remember the last time
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  there was an intermission between Ahab and Elijah meeting
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  and what Ahab said to Elijah before Mount Carmel?
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  What did, what did Ahab say to the prophet?
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  Let me remind you in chapter 18, verse 17, look at it with your
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  own eyes. When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said
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  to him, is it you, you troubler of Israel?
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  And now he says, have you found me?
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  Oh, my enemy. So Ahab's loathing grew from
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  Elijah being a public nuisance to a personal foe.
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  You're not just the trouble of Israel.
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  You're a problem to me. You're an issue for me.
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  You're a thorn to my side. And what makes this fascinating
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  is the events that transpired between these two statements,
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  between the Lord telling Elijah, or, excuse me, Ahab telling
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  Elijah you're a troubler of Israel, and him saying you're my
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  enemy. So much has happened, including
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  this very special incident that we studied in depth what
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  happened when Ahab was told to race back to Jezreel.
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  We're told there at the end of chapter 18 that that Elijah ran
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  before the chariot. Do you remember that?
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  Can anybody, in a very brief statement, summarize the
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  significance of Elijah running before the chariot of Ahab?
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  Exactly. Many have reduced that moment to
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  the miracle of the hand of the Lord being a pawn, Elijah, so
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  that he can outrun the chariot. But it's not.
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  That that's not the main point. Because in the scriptures we see
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  that when men or a man ran before someone's chariot, it was
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  a public symbol and display of loyalty and respect to that
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  king. And so for Elijah to make that
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  conscious decision and for the Lord to actually enable him to
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  do it would have made any onlooker understand that this
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  bold, confrontational prophet doesn't have a personal dislike
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  for Ahab, but that even in his strong stance against him, he's
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  doing it because he loves this man and he is seeking his
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  ultimate salvation. That's what that's what Elijah,
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  running before the chariot would have communicated to Ahab and to
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  others. So here's this man of God who
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  humbles himself to a position of servanthood in a way to showcase
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  publicly. I respect this man positionally
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  as a king. I'm not here to overthrow him or
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  dishonor him. I'm a prophet, my duties
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  ultimately to the Lord, but I am for this man.
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  I am not against this man. That's what that is all about.
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  And so the miracle of the hand of the Lord coming upon him is
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  less about him having the legs to run, and more about a heart
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  being humbled. Despite all of that humility,
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  Despite all of that submission. All the efforts to try to tell
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  Ahab that he is for him, Ahab chooses to view him as an enemy.
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  Here's where this hits home, and what we take from this applies
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  to real life. You know, sometimes in your
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  efforts to redirect or to reconcile with another you, you
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  might be ignored. Or worse, you might even be
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  despised. There's nothing blameworthy on
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  Elijah's side. There's nothing that he did
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  sinfully or ignorantly that would have caused Ahab to
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  dislike him. All Elijah has done was good to
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  Ahab, and yet Ahab chose to identify and label him as an
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  enemy that might happen to you. That's so important when you
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  serve the Lord in any capacity of ministry, especially as you
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  deal with people, all ministries dealing with people.
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  There, there, there are some precious Saints who are so
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  bothered because no matter what they do for one person, never
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  mind the different people who love you and cherish you and
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  appreciate you, but one person that they they can never see
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  come to terms with the truth or willing to come alongside them
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  or love them in return. It's going to happen.
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  Don't think that you're going to win absolutely everybody on a
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  personal level, even when you're trying to win them to the Lord.
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  But if you're going to be hated for anything, be hated for the
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  reason why Elijah was hated. Elijah was despised because he
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  served God. Elijah was seen as an enemy to
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  Ahab because Elijah was an ally to God.
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  So the real reason why Ahab saw Elijah as an enemy is because
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  Ahab ultimately saw God as his enemy.
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  And if you're a friend with God, if you're a servant of God.
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  You will be hated. Even by those that you've hoped
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  would love you in return, be prepared for that.
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  Be prepared for that. And in moments where you're
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  irked by that or disturbed by that or losing sleep over that,
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  remember that it's not about you as much as it is about the
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  doctrine that you adorn as much as it's about your light shining
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  on darkness. Even though you're not intending
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  for that light to shine because you walk with Him, that light is
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  there. Especially moments where you're
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  encouraged to compromise or you're standing out from the
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  sinners in your midst. People who love their sin don't
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  want light to shine upon it. And here you are shining light.
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  Here you are governed by the law of Christ when others are
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  governed by the law of the flesh.
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  And so for some you're going to be a fragrance from life unto
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  life. To others you're going to be a
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  fragrance from death to death. And that's just the package.
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  That's the package that you and I have as we follow the Lord.
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  But I can't help but also think how in Ahab's, the idea of
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  Elijah being an enemy is the fruit of how sin distorts
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  everything. Sin warps everything.
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  It warps your relationship with God.
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  It warps your relationship in every capacity.
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  It warps your view of money, sin, the world, everything.
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  Everything. When you're dominated by sin,
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  everything is altered, even the way you view people.
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  You know what you should think to yourself in this whole story
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  of Ahab, Jezebel and Elijah, who should have been Ahab's real
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  enemy? Unfortunately, his wife, who
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  should have married in the 1st place.
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  If there was anybody who was an enemy of Elijah, it was Jezebel.
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  Jezebel, in the same text we're going to read, incited Ahab to
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  sin. And if there is anybody who
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  should have been Ahab's best friend, it was the very man.
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  He said he's my enemy. His sin does that.
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  I've seen it. I've seen sin 'cause people to
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  push away the people they're supposed to draw in and cherish
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  and protect, and those same people bringing in the people
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  that they're supposed to shun. So sin messes everything up,
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  your perspective, your priorities, the people in your
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  life. And you can't help it, can you?
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  You can't help being drawn to the righteous.
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  Why? Because your heart is riddled
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  with the sins, the sins that you have tolerated and justified now
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  has created a filter for you to see the righteous as somebody
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  that you dislike and the ardent righteous as somebody that you
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  can find good company with. Sin distorts.
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  Sin will make things that are supposed to be your friend be
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  your enemy. There are people who look at the
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  Bible and say this is an evil book.
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  Why? Because their judgement is
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  impaired by sin. I've seen people in different
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  contexts when a true pastor walks in the room, they squirm.
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  Why? Because that pastor and their
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  view is an enemy and an enemy to their sin and their convictions
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  and their worldview. I've seen biblical churches not
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  growing, whereas the other church down the street that's
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  carnal and is waving rainbow flags or whatever the case may
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  be gaining. Why?
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  Because that church stands for the truth, and so they're an
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  enemy to the culture. So Ahab is an unfortunate
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  example of what sin can do to your perspectives and your
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  discernment and your standards. But here's why I love Elijah.
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  Elijah's here not to make friends.
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  Elijah's here to function as a prophet, his duties ultimately
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  to the friend of friends. And so he comes up to the man of
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  sin and he says, yeah, I have found you.
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  I like that answer. Have you found me?
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  He's like, yeah, actually, I did.
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  Why? Because your sin will find you
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  out. That's the lesson there.
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  Here you are, thrilled. An adrenaline rush because you
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  thought that you gained Nabis Vineyard without consequence.
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  And as one person put it, but Ahab gained Nabit's vineyard,
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  but he got Elijah with it. And so Ahab now is confronted by
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  the man of God and he says something quite interesting in
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  his statement. He says here I have found you
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  because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight
• 24:13
  of the Lord. You have sold yourself that.
• 24:16
  That's a very intentional way of conveying somebody who is bound
• 24:20
  by sin. You have sold yourself, and it's
• 24:23
  not foreign to the New Testament.
• 24:24
  I encourage you to go to the other side of your Bible in the
• 24:26
  book of Romans Chapter 7, and look at how Paul borrows this
• 24:31
  language but intentionally provides variation to it, and
• 24:34
  you're going to see why. Romans 7 verse 14
• 24:49
  For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh
• 24:55
  sold under sin. So Paul here is speaking
• 25:01
  personally, but it applies to the universal condition of man.
• 25:06
  He says here that in his flesh he is sold under sin, sold under
• 25:11
  sin. And what he's trying to
• 25:12
  communicate is that inherit in his nature, there is something
• 25:17
  that makes him subject to the influence of the mastery of sin,
• 25:22
  as though he was given up to this kind of ownership, which is
• 25:26
  perfectly explained by something that took place in Genesis, the
• 25:31
  fall. Because of the the sins of our
• 25:35
  first parents, humanity was given over to the bondage of
• 25:39
  sin. And that's a condition, that's a
• 25:40
  default that you and I are born into.
• 25:43
  And this is what Paul is trying to convey.
• 25:45
  In the flesh. We are sold, we are given over
• 25:49
  to, we are handed over to the flesh and dominance of iniquity.
• 25:57
  And although that is something that you and I inherit, that's
• 26:00
  something that is just a part of being human, we've also been
• 26:05
  given hope that you in that place can still make a decision
• 26:10
  to be liberated from such slavery.
• 26:14
  And that's what Paul says in Romans 6.
• 26:16
  That's what he conveys at the end of Romans 7.
• 26:18
  And that's the exclamation mark. And Romans 8, yes, he describes
• 26:22
  the hopeless conditions, so to speak, the helpless condition of
• 26:25
  being sold under sin. But then he tells us how we can
• 26:28
  escape it. And it's a choice on our part.
• 26:32
  But go back to First King 17 or 19.
• 26:36
  Wait 21 First Kings 21 and I want you to see how Elijah
• 26:44
  frames the idea of being sold under sin.
• 26:49
  He says I have found you in verse twenty of First Kings 21.
• 26:52
  I have found you because you have sold yourself to do what is
• 26:56
  evil in the side of the Lord. What's the difference between
• 26:57
  Paul's language and Elijah's sold yourself?
• 27:05
  So in Romans 7 he speaks about how in the flesh we are.
• 27:08
  Sold under sin as a result of what happened at the fall.
• 27:14
  But then Elijah now conveys you making a willful choice to being
• 27:18
  sold under sin. And what's the idea about that?
• 27:23
  The idea is like as I said earlier, we all have been given
• 27:26
  a choice, yes, all sold under sin, but also given the
• 27:33
  opportunity to be free through Christ.
• 27:37
  And yet there are others who make the decision to remain in
• 27:39
  their sin. And that is exactly the the
• 27:44
  crime of Ahab, that, yeah, in his nature, like all of us, sold
• 27:48
  under sin. But denying freedom in
• 27:52
  righteousness, in a sense he is selling himself into sin.
• 27:59
  You know, there's some people who come up with.
• 28:01
  Clever ideas of wiggling out of conviction.
• 28:04
  And I've heard this before. Well, if it's our sin nature to
• 28:08
  sin, then how can God hold us truly and justly accountable?
• 28:13
  And it's not about that. It's not about that as much as
• 28:16
  it is about this, that yes, though you have been given this
• 28:19
  default, you still have a decision to make, to be free in
• 28:23
  Christ or to, like Ahab, sell yourself further into sin.
• 28:27
  That's what you're going to be held accountable for.
• 28:29
  Ultimately. It's what you've done with the
• 28:32
  gospel, that's what you've done with God's provision, what
• 28:35
  you've got done with the golden key from Calvary that unlocks
• 28:38
  that cage and gives you liberty. So there is a sold under sin
• 28:46
  that's inherited, and there is a selling yourself to do what is
• 28:49
  evil that is willful and intentional.
• 28:53
  And that's Ahab's fault. And so now we get a description
• 28:58
  of the verdict, the verdict of Ahab's prolonged disobedience.
• 29:02
  Behold, I will bring disaster upon you in verse 21.
• 29:06
  I will utterly burn you up, and we'll cut off from every, from
• 29:11
  Ahab rather every male bond or free in Israel.
• 29:13
  And I will make your house like the House of Jeroboam the son of
• 29:16
  Nabat, and like the House of Asha the son of Ahijah.
• 29:20
  For the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you
• 29:22
  have made Israel to sin, what's the ultimate punishment that
• 29:27
  Ahab is going to face? Absolute.
• 29:30
  Annihilation of his dynasty. This is indicated by the
• 29:36
  comparative fate of two other kings, Jeroboam and Bahasha, who
• 29:42
  lost any chance of seeing their children succeed the throne.
• 29:46
  And now that's been granted to Ahab.
• 29:51
  And this would have been absolutely crushing for any king
• 29:55
  in their right mind, because any king in the right mind would
• 29:58
  have had the dream and the hope that their children would have a
• 30:03
  bright future in following them and occupying that dignified
• 30:08
  position because of this man's sin that was taken from him,
• 30:14
  such as the case of sin, it dashes it, destroys it.
• 30:20
  Takes from you. So Ahab wins a vineyard at the
• 30:24
  cost of what? The bright hope of his children?
• 30:27
  You think that's just unique to Ahab?
• 30:30
  You don't think that people's sins affect their children?
• 30:33
  They do. I don't believe in general
• 30:36
  generational curses. Neither should you.
• 30:38
  But there are generational consequences and patterns to
• 30:41
  sins, and this is what this man is unfortunately going to
• 30:47
  experience. And notice that the explanation
• 30:50
  of such devastation is provided in greater detail when he says,
• 30:53
  for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you
• 30:57
  have made Israel to sin. God, listen to this, please.
• 31:03
  God doesn't just take into account of our sin, but He also
• 31:08
  registers. When we encourage others to
• 31:11
  entertain and embrace sin. So that's further confirmed by
• 31:17
  what he says about Jezebel like this is about Ahab, but he
• 31:19
  doesn't forget about his wife. So in verse 23 we read and of
• 31:23
  Jezebel. The Lord's also said The dog
• 31:25
  shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel.
• 31:27
  That's that's just a horrific picture for the obvious reasons,
• 31:31
  but in this culture is even worse because Jezebel would not
• 31:34
  be given a honorable burial. Her limbs would be in the belly
• 31:41
  of wild dogs. Yeah, she would be judged for
• 31:49
  evil. But one of the greatest parts of
• 31:52
  her evil is what you read in verse 25.
• 31:54
  Just peek at it very quickly. There was none who sold himself
• 31:57
  to do what was evil on the side. Of the Lord, like Ahab, whom
• 32:00
  Jezebel, his wife, incited. So God highlights Ahab's sin as
• 32:09
  being the example and the model for Israel to sin.
• 32:15
  And now God holds Jezebel accountable, yes, for her own
• 32:18
  sin, but also for inciting her husband to sin.
• 32:22
  What a sobering alarm for making sure you marry the right person,
• 32:26
  right? Jezebel incited her husband to
• 32:31
  sin. But please, I don't want you to
• 32:34
  make this tragic mistake. Being influenced by somebody to
• 32:39
  sin does not, does not soften or justify our guilt in the matter.
• 32:47
  Some try to again. We're very clever and trying to
• 32:54
  escape God's holy standard. He seduced me, she pressured me.
• 33:06
  Well, yeah, I knew initially it was wrong, but what was I
• 33:10
  supposed to do? They were my leaders, and
• 33:11
  they're supposed to set the example.
• 33:13
  Now I'm supposed to give them my trust.
• 33:15
  So I went in the same way that they did.
• 33:20
  Do you remember what God pronounced against the very
• 33:25
  first sin of all of human history?
• 33:28
  He said many things, but I don't think people remember this one
• 33:32
  as much. What he told Adam in Genesis
• 33:35
  317, He said this and to Adam, he said because you have
• 33:40
  listened to the voice of your wife, he could have removed that
• 33:44
  completely. He could have just said, because
• 33:46
  you have eaten of the the fruit that I told you not to eat of.
• 33:49
  No, no, no, he included your. Your problem, Adam, is that you
• 33:53
  listened to the voice of your wife.
• 33:59
  And the principle is that the Lord doesn't just hold those
• 34:02
  accountable who influence others to sin.
• 34:06
  He will also consider those who allow themselves to be
• 34:08
  influenced. Remember that.
• 34:14
  So he's your best friend, Who cares?
• 34:17
  God's supposed to be your best friend.
• 34:20
  Well, she's my boss, who cares? God's your boss.
• 34:26
  Well, he's my husband. Yes, submit to your husband.
• 34:28
  But if your husband tells you to do something that God tells you
• 34:30
  not to, God's your bridegroom. So that level of loyalty and
• 34:36
  allegiance for some reason is weakening in our culture.
• 34:41
  Live before God, and if any voice speaks into your life that
• 34:45
  contradicts His voice, you have every divine authority and right
• 34:49
  to ignore it and to reject it and at times to even rebuke it.
• 34:54
  I listen to Him above everything, above all.
• 34:58
  And so Israel, listen to Ahab. Ahab, listen to Jezebel, and
• 35:05
  they would all be held accountable by a holy God.
• 35:09
  Now look at verse 25. This is remarkable.
• 35:16
  There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight
• 35:20
  of the Lord. Like Ahab, whom Jezebel, his
• 35:24
  wife incited, he acted very abominably and going after idols
• 35:31
  as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord.
• 35:33
  Cast out before the people of Israel pause.
• 35:37
  Why do you think this commentaries provide to this to
• 35:40
  us at this point of this text? Any idea?
• 35:43
  I'm actually asking. I'll give you a few more
• 35:48
  seconds, a few more. Well, let me ask this.
• 35:55
  Is it worth considering and meditating on Why this is
• 35:58
  mentioned to us? Like, we already know this, so
• 36:01
  why is this brought to our attention yet again?
• 36:04
  I think one reason is because we're forgetful.
• 36:09
  So one might say the reason why the Spirit of God includes this
• 36:13
  is so that we can be reminded that as severe as this judgement
• 36:17
  is, it's warranted. It's as though we're being told,
• 36:21
  hey, do you remember who Ahab is and what he's done?
• 36:24
  Do you remember the reputation he has?
• 36:26
  You remember all the evil that he has done.
• 36:28
  But I don't even believe that's the main reason.
• 36:29
  I don't believe it's to try to help us understand that what
• 36:32
  Elijah just proclaimed is justified.
• 36:36
  I believe it's mentioned to prepare us for the mercy he's
• 36:40
  about to experience, saying, how does that make sense?
• 36:45
  Because when you understand the depths of depravity in Ahab's
• 36:49
  case, it will declare the great depths of the mercy that God has
• 36:55
  for sinners. Because notice what's about to
• 36:59
  happen, verse 27. And when Ahab heard those words,
• 37:04
  he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and
• 37:09
  fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly, Wow, who
• 37:17
  is this man? After everything that this man
• 37:21
  saw, after all the chances, finally.
• 37:27
  A hint, just a small hint of humility and contrition and
• 37:35
  notice why he responded this way in verse 27 and eight when Ahab
• 37:39
  heard those words. What words Words like because
• 37:44
  you've sinned dogs are going to lick up your blood.
• 37:48
  Oh, and your wife dogs are actually going to eat her.
• 37:52
  Not something you hear on Sunday mornings.
• 37:53
  These. Days.
• 37:56
  And there are some who are advocates of trying to tell
• 38:03
  preachers not to preach heavy messages, who are very vocal,
• 38:09
  ensuring that nothing about God's wrath is mentioned,
• 38:12
  nothing about his justice, nothing about His Holiness,
• 38:14
  nothing about hell. And they think that they're
• 38:19
  doing, they're doing the right thing by by trying to persuade
• 38:22
  others that that's not how you're really going to get a
• 38:25
  hold of people. And yet I find a man whose heart
• 38:27
  was crystallized and it was cracked because of those words.
• 38:33
  So who's smarter? You are God.
• 38:35
  Who knows the human condition better.
• 38:37
  You are God who knows how to bring somebody out of their sin.
• 38:40
  You are God. Yes, I'm an advocate for telling
• 38:45
  people God is love, God is merciful, God is forgiving.
• 38:47
  If we don't have that message, we're not Christians.
• 38:50
  But what about the other side of the issue?
• 38:53
  I'm, I'm, I'm afraid these Christians, these churchgoers
• 38:56
  are going to be absolutely shocked when the Book of
• 38:59
  Revelation happens. Like where did this come from?
• 39:03
  The end of the book that you forgot to read?
• 39:08
  And so those words, it's a reminder that the profound
• 39:13
  potential of God's truth, especially the truths that are
• 39:16
  not easy to share or hear, have the capacity to awaken the
• 39:22
  stubborn and the rebellious. But we might, we might have to
• 39:30
  consider if Ahab's repentance is complete, because this looks
• 39:36
  hopeful, this looks encouraging. But this is not the end of the
• 39:40
  Book of First Kings. There's still another chapter.
• 39:44
  And what we're going to discover, perhaps to your
• 39:47
  disappointment, is that the same Ahab in the following text, he
• 39:52
  doesn't make any effort to confront his wife.
• 39:57
  He doesn't campaign for the cleansing of the Land of Israel
• 40:01
  from Baal worship. In fact, you're going to
• 40:05
  actually find him inquiring of the self-proclaimed prophets of
• 40:08
  Baal for guidance instead of the true prophets of God.
• 40:14
  So what you see here is, is real, is authentic, but it's
• 40:20
  momentary. And the reason why I can say
• 40:24
  that there's something here that is genuine is because God is
• 40:26
  going to commend it. But you also have to recognize
• 40:28
  that it's short lived. It's short lived and that's just
• 40:34
  the disappointing reality of the human condition.
• 40:39
  I want to say this, I wasn't planning to, but let's do it
• 40:42
  anyway. Just to give you another reason
• 40:46
  why you should read your Bible from cover to cover based on the
• 40:51
  scene that we have described and study up to this point.
• 40:54
  You have Nebith Vineyard and who are the characters involved?
• 41:00
  Please somebody answer. Who are the characters?
• 41:03
  Involved Ahab and Elijah Goodwin turn to 2nd Kings 9 please.
• 41:23
  This is a man by the name of Nehu.
• 41:25
  Nehu is going to be raised up by God to actually fulfill the
• 41:29
  prophecy of the House of Ahab being eradicated.
• 41:32
  But I want you to notice. What Jehu says in verse 25.
• 41:38
  Jehu said to bid Car his aid. Take him up and throw him on the
• 41:42
  plot of the ground belonging to Nabath the Jezreelite.
• 41:45
  For remember when you and I rode side by side behind Ahab his
• 41:50
  father, how the Lord made this pronouncement against him As
• 41:53
  surely as I saw yesterday. The blood of Nabeth and the
• 41:56
  blood of his sons, declares the Lord, I will repay you on this
• 41:59
  plot of ground. Now, therefore, take him up and
• 42:02
  throw him on the plot of ground in accordance with the word of
• 42:05
  the Lord. So it wasn't just Ahab and
• 42:09
  Elijah. Apparently we had Jehu and his
• 42:13
  aide Bit Car who were on the site and who were heard Elijah's
• 42:18
  prophetic pronouncement against Ahab and realizing this moment
• 42:22
  that this was a fulfillment of just that.
• 42:25
  So he heard these words for himself and you would hope that
• 42:29
  this would have sobered him up. Though he wasn't the direct
• 42:32
  object of that pronouncement, he would realize how holy God is.
• 42:36
  And how terrifying it is to fall into the hands of the living
• 42:39
  God. And Jehu faithfully observed
• 42:41
  what God tells him to do as a as a man who was called to cleanse
• 42:46
  the land from such filth. But you're going to realize this
• 42:50
  when we study second kings that Jehu, we're told of him that he
• 42:54
  did not carefully walk in the ways of the Lord.
• 43:00
  So God's Word has the capacity to to crush the confidence of
• 43:05
  the Sinner. But the sinner's heart can be so
• 43:08
  wicked and evil that even after being sobered for a moment, they
• 43:12
  can return to their vomit. That doesn't mean that we should
• 43:19
  stop preaching the truth, though.
• 43:22
  First King 17. Let's go back to chapter 21,
• 43:27
  verse 27. Ahab heard those words.
• 43:29
  He tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his flesh, and
• 43:31
  fasted and laying sackcloth and went about dejectedly.
• 43:35
  So now the same Lord who silently watched Ahab plot and
• 43:40
  approve the murder of an innocent man and would punish
• 43:44
  him for him, is the same Lord who watched the man breakdown
• 43:52
  mourn over his sin and would provide relief because of it.
• 43:59
  What does he do? Look at verse 28.
• 44:01
  And the word of the Lord came to Elijah, the Tishbite, saying,
• 44:04
  Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me?
• 44:08
  Because he has humbled himself before me?
• 44:10
  I will not bring the disaster in his days, but in his son's days
• 44:16
  I will bring the disaster upon his house.
• 44:21
  If that doesn't move you, I don't know what will.
• 44:27
  Here you have a man who has fresh blood on his hands.
• 44:31
  Here you have a man who is neglected and ignored and defied
• 44:34
  and blasphemed God over and over in ways that are just
• 44:36
  unfathomable. And the moment he shows even
• 44:40
  what you and I would deem, check this out, shallow repentance.
• 44:45
  It still moves God fleeting, sorrow and shame fleeting, and
• 44:55
  it still stirred God's heart. And some would be disturbed
• 45:01
  perhaps by this. It didn't cancel the verdict,
• 45:04
  but it did suspend it. God did suspend it and prolong
• 45:08
  it in a way He delayed it. But even in that some would say,
• 45:11
  look, how is this? How is this fair?
• 45:14
  Didn't God know that this man would only go back to his ways
• 45:19
  in in a brief moment? Yes he does.
• 45:23
  But instead of trying to decipher and settling to
• 45:27
  decipher Ahab's motives. Let this text convince you of
• 45:31
  the absolute incredible mercy of God, because again, if God is
• 45:37
  willing to be moved in this way for something like this, what do
• 45:42
  you think He's willing to do for the heart who is ready to
• 45:45
  totally surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ?
• 45:49
  Have you thought about that? If this man could do something
• 45:54
  external, yes, it's from the heart, but superficial.
• 46:00
  And he had God says, did you see how he humbled himself before
• 46:02
  me? I'm going to do something about
• 46:05
  that. What would God do for the one
• 46:06
  who says, Lord Jesus, I repent and I fully trust and you're
• 46:12
  saving work for my life, Be the Lord of my life.
• 46:16
  What would God do for a man or woman like that?
• 46:23
  You would think, OK, maybe that's for a, but definitely not
• 46:26
  for Jezebel. Well, Jezebel never repents,
• 46:29
  unfortunately, so we would never know.
• 46:32
  But can I remind you what the Lord was willing to do for
• 46:35
  another Jezebel? This is not the only time
• 46:38
  Jezebel's mentioned. She's mentioned as you know
• 46:40
  where. Tell me where.
• 46:41
  Revelation, good. Revelation 220.
• 46:45
  I want you to see these words again and perhaps what the Lord
• 46:50
  was willing to do for this Jezebel in a church He was
• 46:54
  willing to do for the original Jezebel in the Kingdom of
• 46:59
  Israel. So there is a woman in a church
• 47:02
  who was trying to take over that church with the same spirit of
• 47:06
  this woman that we've been studying the past few weeks.
• 47:08
  And the Lord says this. But I have this against you
• 47:10
  speaking to the church that you tolerate, that woman Jezebel,
• 47:13
  who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my
• 47:16
  servants to practice sexual morality and to eat food
• 47:19
  sacrificed to idols. And look at the next verse.
• 47:21
  I gave her time to repent. I gave her Jezebel.
• 47:28
  Can you imagine somebody operating in the same spirit as
• 47:30
  Jezebel in the Church of Jesus Christ?
• 47:35
  And yet Christ, the head of the church says I gave her time.
• 47:41
  I even give this woman who is influenced by that spirit, who's
• 47:47
  operating with that same frame of mind, time to change.
• 47:50
  But notice But she refuses to repent.
• 47:55
  Who's held accountable for not coming to Christ?
• 47:57
  The person who refuses to repent, but she refuses to
• 48:00
  repent of her sexual morality. Why don't we read the next verse
• 48:03
  anyway? So here it is.
• 48:04
  Instead of repentance being granted, instead of joy and life
• 48:07
  being experienced, Behold, I will throw her unto a sick bed,
• 48:11
  and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great
• 48:14
  tribulation. Unless.
• 48:15
  They repent of her works. So he's even still now through
• 48:20
  this final ammunition, this final appeal, giving time for
• 48:25
  her and her children, her spiritual children, to repent.
• 48:30
  It's very difficult to communicate just how merciful
• 48:32
  God is. It's very difficult.
• 48:37
  And I want you in the most perhaps helpful way to
• 48:44
  understand God's mercy, whether you're a Christian or not, in
• 48:49
  the words of Nehemiah. And this is my final verse for
• 48:51
  tonight. And it's so good that I would
• 48:54
  want you to turn there to see it for yourself.
• 48:56
  And if you're somebody who highlights in your Bible, to
• 48:58
  highlight it in your Bible, Nehemiah Chapter 9.
• 49:02
  And I want you to look at verse 17, please.
• 49:10
  Nehemiah 9/17. Consider these words that the
• 49:19
  Holy Spirit gives to us. They refused to obey, and we're
• 49:25
  not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but
• 49:29
  they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to
• 49:32
  their slavery in Egypt. Pause.
• 49:35
  You know what's so wonderful about that commentary that
• 49:37
  Nehemiah gives? It sheds new light on the Exodus
• 49:40
  journey. There came a point that the
• 49:43
  nation of Israel and more than one occasion they wanted to go
• 49:47
  back to Egypt. You remember that.
• 49:48
  And they complain against Moses leadership and Aaron's
• 49:51
  leadership. You remember that.
• 49:52
  But you know what? Nehemiah tells us that they went
• 49:54
  beyond what just we read in those stories.
• 49:57
  They went beyond just complaining and murmuring.
• 49:59
  They actually appointed a leader that's silent in the narratives
• 50:05
  of the exodus. But Nehemiah tells us they went.
• 50:07
  They went as far to say we found.
• 50:09
  Somebody, we chose him. This is the guy that's going to
• 50:11
  lead us now again, just to show you read the whole Bible.
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  You're going to get you're going to get gems in it if you do it.
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  They appointed a leader to return to the slave in Egypt.
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  But that's not the main point. But you are a God.
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  Can we read those 3 words together?
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  Ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and
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  abounding in steadfast love. And did not forsake him.
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  Ready to forgive, not just willing to forgive.
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  Ready to forgive. When somebody's ready to do
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  something, that means that that's their disposition.
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  That's their posture. That at the appropriate time,
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  they are prepared to do the thing, They're prepared to go
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  somewhere, they're prepared to perform a task.
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  You know what God's posture is. It has been and always be.
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  Ready to forgive. Ready to forgive the the moment
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  a Sinner knocks on the door, God will swing wide that door.
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  He will swing it wide open, and he will embrace that Sinner.
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  This is God's heart ready. In an Ezekiel, we're told that
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  he does not delight in the death of the wicked.
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  And later another prophet tells us that he delights in showing
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  steadfast love. And that's why we're told that
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  he's slow to anger. Why is he slow to anger?
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  Because he's ready to forgive. That's where he leans.
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  That's what he desires. That's what he longs and yearns
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  for more than anything else. So he is holy.
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  He's brilliant, He's pure, he's majestic.
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  But he is ready to forgive. Do you believe that, child of
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  God, when you have fallen short, when you've genuinely messed up,
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  my God is ready to forgive. Is that your confidence?
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  Yeah. You're bruised.
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  You're broken. Maybe you're even embarrassed.
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  But how do you come to him? Do you see?
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  Him like how Nehemiah describes him.
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  And I want to tell you, if you're a person visiting at this
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  Bible study tonight and you don't know God and you're in
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  sin, and maybe throughout this whole time you've been
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  considering me as your enemy, reconsider how you view not me.
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  What you think about me is irrelevant, but what I'm saying
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  and what I represent with this truth that I conclude on God,
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  the God that I serve, the God that this church serves, is
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  ready to forgive you. But will you, like Jezebel in
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  Revelation, refuse to repent? You can.
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  God is a God of love. True love demands a choice, a
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  willingness to love back. And so the Lord, he, he makes
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  himself ready. The question is, are you?
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  The thing is, I wouldn't wait to respond to that.
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  I would make a choice and not waste one more second of a life
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  apart from Him. You think you're autonomous.
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  I know. You think you're ruling your
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  life. I know.
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  But let me tell you what the Bible says.
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  The Bible says you're a slave of one or two things.
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  You're either a slave to sin or you're a slave to righteousness.
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  You have a master, and it's not you.
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  Your master is either your sin, your flesh that's already been
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  sold under sin, or that can change.
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  The ownership of your life can change if you acknowledge Jesus
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  Christ as Lord and as Savior. And the moment you make that
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  shift of allegiance, this master known as Jesus Christ, oh, he's
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  good. His burden is light.
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  His yoke is easy. He says, come to me, come to me,
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  we read in the opening of this Bible study, Psalm 81, where
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  where the Lord tells and reminds the people, I've lifted the
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  burden off your shoulder. And that's what Christ does.
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  The heaviness of sin, the heaviness of a life void of
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  purpose, the heaviness of your conscience that always rises up
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  against you, the heaviness of a heart that has been created with
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  eternity in it, not knowing the answers for or the absolute
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  assurance that you'll experience it.
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  All of that is dealt with the moment that you make Christ
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  Jesus your Lord. What's What do I have to do?
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  Acknowledge it. What's required of me?
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  Open your hands and receive the gift.
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  That's what's required of you. Humble yourself and realize that
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  you have been wrong, that you're not the master of your fate,
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  that you will stand before him one day, that this all came from
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  him, that one day he did enter into this world in the person of
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  Jesus Christ. And he didn't die a martyr's
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  death. Merely he wasn't a.
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  Victim, but he planned to pay for your sin, and he laid his
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  life down for you to have your life raised up with Him.
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  This is Christ and so we don't come to this Bible study to get
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  some morals to give us a better social life and financial life.
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  And now this this book all points to one person.
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  That's Jesus. And I point you to him tonight.
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  He is ready to forgive you, believer.
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  He's ready to forgive you Before we we go into singing.
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  I don't mean to put you on the spot, Brother Brian, but the
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  priest team can come up. But if you can play just softly
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  and I want to give us a chance to meditate on the things that
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  we heard tonight at Bible study, and then we'll sing and then
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  we'll close and then we'll go on our way.
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  But now with the with the the thought of his readiness to
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  pardon and restore us. Ask the Lord to make the
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  revelation of his goodness real to you.
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  Ask the Lord to do that. Don't don't disturb your
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  partner, your friend beside you, just just sit in His presence.
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  Let the truth of God continue to wash over you.
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  And then we'll we'll respond to him as a church with one voice,
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  but in your own voice. Sit here.
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  I wouldn't encourage you checking Instagram at this time.
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  It would be a wasted opportunity.
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  Just let your heart reflect in in his truth and speak to your
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  God. Let's do that.