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2 Kings 9 (Part 2) Bible Study (Jehu kills Joram, Ahaziah & Jezebel) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  I'm aware that our time together on Friday nights is a Bible
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  study format, and it's probably not the typical Bible study
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  format because we have quite a bit of people here and usually
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  Bible studies a little bit more interactive, but it seems to be
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  working for us. So we're continuing in this
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  format. But if this was a sermon that I
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  was preaching, if this was the text that I would preach for a
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  sermon, I would likely title it the following.
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  Is it peace? Is it peace?
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  And the reason for that is because that is the recurring
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  question that appears in the section of Second Kings Chapter
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  9. Is it peace?
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  I want you to. See it with me Second Kings
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  Chapter 917, the second part. And Drem said, take a horseman
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  and send to meet them, and let him say, is it peace?
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  Look at the next verse. So a man on horseback went to
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  meet him and said, Thus says the king, is it peace?
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  Look at Chapter 9 verse 19, the very next verse.
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  Then he sent out a second horseman, who came to them, and
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  said, Thus the king has said, Is it peace?
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  Look at verse 22 and when dreams saw Jehu, he said is it peace
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  Jehu? Second Kings 931 And as Ju
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  entered the gate, she said that being Jezebel, is it peace,
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  usimery, murder of your master? Although this repeated question
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  is tied to a very specific situation, I am convinced that
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  there is a deeper, more universal truth attached to it.
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  Because you see, Joram, who is the son of Ahab, is obviously
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  hoping that he is able to maintain and achieve this level
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  of peace for his household and his Kingdom in a time of great
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  uncertainty. But what Joram failed to
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  understand is what Isaiah declares in Isaiah 4822.
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  You don't have to turn there. You know it very well.
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  There is no peace, declares the Lord.
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  For who? For the wicked, there is no
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  peace, declares the Lord. For the wicked, as it says, it's
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  more than once in his writings. And it essentially means that
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  the godless are denied elevated, lasting heavenly peace, because
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  that kind of peace is solely reserved for the righteous.
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  And Jerem was not righteous, but he thought that he had the right
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  to expect this kind of peace while living in defiance of the
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  word of the Lord. And he's about to discover that
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  this illusion was nothing short of deception.
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  Living in sin forfeits heavenly peace.
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  It does always. And we can almost sense that
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  Jerem is trying to manage this insecurity and the suspicion
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  that's so suffocating. And whatever fears that he had,
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  at least at this point of his reign, are going to be realized
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  because there is another individual in this story named
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  Jehu. Is one of his top commanders who
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  is not going to waste any time of fulfilling what he was
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  anointed to do, and that was to bring complete destruction to
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  the House of Ahab. And so that's what we're going
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  to see today, the beginning of a campaign that has been foretold.
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  Judgement has arrived to the House of Ahab, and I want us to
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  consider it in greater detail as we read now from verse 14.
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  We concluded in verse 13 last week, so let's begin in verse 14
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  together. Thus Jehu the son of
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  Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram.
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  Now Jaram, with all Israel, had been on guard at Ramoth Gilead
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  against Hazael, King of Syria. But King Jaram had returned to
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  be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians had
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  given him when he fought with Hazael, King of Syria.
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  So Jehu said, if this is your decision, then let no one slip
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  out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel.
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  This section begins by reminding us that Jaram.
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  Who is formerly and commonly known as Jeho Ram, Same
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  individual. The king of Israel was at war
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  with Syria and during one of the the scrimmages, he was injured.
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  And so he retreats to an area called Jezreel.
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  And while he's there in Jezreel, we learned that Jehu was
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  anointed to be the next king in Israel.
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  And when he is anointed, he tells those who accept his
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  anointing. Let this news go nowhere.
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  We don't want it to reach Jezreel because we want to catch
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  this man by surprise. And so this is the goal.
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  And here's the thing. You have this man Jehu, who's
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  ready to come. He.
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  Keeps it a secret and Joran doesn't see it coming.
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  Unsuspecting, completely unsuspecting.
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  And he would say, yes, it's because it was concealed.
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  Sure, it's concealed, but he's so preoccupied with this enemy
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  called Syria that he forgets that there's another danger just
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  around the corner. And though we may forgive him
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  for that, I believe Joram could have been better prepared.
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  How? How could the king of Israel be
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  better prepared for this potential threat?
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  Because God already foretold through the mouth of one of his
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  prophets that destruction was coming to the House of Ahab.
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  Let me show you that again in first Kings 21 when Elijah
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  prophesied to Ahab and look at verse 21 and 1st Kings 21,
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  Elijah tells Ahab, behold, I will bring disaster upon you.
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  I will utterly burn you up and we'll.
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  Cut off from Ahab every male bond or free in Israel, and I
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  will make your house like the House of Jeroboam, the son of
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  Nabat, and like the House of Asha, the son of Ahijah.
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  For the anger to which you have provoked me, because you have
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  made Israel to sin. No, the judgment wasn't just for
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  Ahab. It was to his household.
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  For every male. They were to expect this kind of
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  discipline. And this is a public prophecy.
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  This is not something that was privately proclaimed.
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  We're going to learn that even Jehu himself was in the presence
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  of Elijah when he said this to Ahab.
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  We're going to see that later on in Second Kings 9.
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  So this was made known. So it's highly probable that
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  Ahab's descendants, at least his close descendants, were aware of
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  this declaration against their dynasty.
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  So there's a great chance that even Joram knew of what was.
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  Going to take place, at least what was predicted to take
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  place. And if that is true, then what
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  do we make of Durham that he completely ignored this warning.
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  He did not take heed. He did not take it seriously.
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  And it's so obvious here that he resembles the millions even
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  today who will be caught by surprise when God's promise of
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  judgment will come to pass. Sinners will not be caught by
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  surprise because they are merely unaware.
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  Like Elijah's prophecy, God's Word has been given to us
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  beforehand. Even the end of all things has
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  been told in great detail. It's because people chose to
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  ignore what God's Word had to say, and they chose not to apply
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  it. They chose not to take it
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  seriously. They chose, like Johan, to get
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  more caught up with what's in front of them, failing to
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  realize what's. Looming over them.
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  This man, yes, he was caught up in a real battle here with
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  Syria, but there was something that was foretold that he had to
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  be prepared for. And the best way to be prepared
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  for was not to fight against Jehu, but to repent and get
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  right with. God, but he doesn't do that,
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  does He? Well, let's read on in verse 16
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  of Second Kings 9. Then Jehu mounted his chariot
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  and went to Jezreel, for Jaram lay there, and Isaiah, king of
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  Judah, had come down to visit Joram.
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  How tempting is it to read past this verse and just continue
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  with this story? What questions should you have
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  in reading verse 16 alone? Here's my question.
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  What is the king of Judah doing visiting the king of Israel?
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  That's a legitimate inquiry. What is a Haziah doing making a
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  friendly visitation to this rebellious king Joram?
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  You don't have to guess, but you do have to turn somewhere else.
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  It's in Second Kings chapter 8. Just one chapter before this we
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  learn of the relations between Haziah and Joram.
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  Second Kings, 8/26. Isaiah was 22 years old when he
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  began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem.
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  His mother's name was Athalia. She was a granddaughter of Omri,
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  king of Israel. He also walked in the way of the
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  House of Ahab, and did what was evil in the side of the Lord, as
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  the House of Ahab had done, for he was the son-in-law to the
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  House of Ahab. There it is.
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  He's related by marriage, and so there is.
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  Friendly relations here and ASI is making his way to make a
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  friendly visit to this king. He's injured, he's sick, he's
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  not doing well, and Asiah's destiny here is going to take a
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  different route because of his association.
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  The tragedy of this is not just that he was married into this
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  family is that he imitated this family.
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  Did you catch how long he reigned in Judah for?
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  How long was it? One year.
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  Is that a long time? Not at all.
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  Do you know why he's only going to reign for one year?
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  Because he's going to be killed alongside Duran.
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  And there's a very important lesson here concerning the
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  caution of who we yoke ourselves to.
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  Pay very close attention to this.
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  The associations you form with people can determine the destiny
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  that you have and really shape the future that you will not
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  foresee. As as premature death is not
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  because he was at the wrong place in the wrong time, it was
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  the consequence of a personal choice that he made to entertain
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  a relationship that he should not have entertained.
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  That's what's going to happen here.
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  It's the outcome of a former decision.
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  And if we are not careful, you and I also can sabotage areas of
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  our lives, even our life altogether due to being
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  unequally yoked. And when you hear unequally
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  yoked, we tend to limit that. To what?
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  Marriage. That's not even the context of
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  which Paul gave that instruction.
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  It was towards all believers, ungodly.
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  Business relationships includes that.
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  Partnerships in terms of just friendships, colleagues and of
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  course wrong romantic ties. It includes all of that.
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  And from the very beginning of this.
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  Book. You'll see over and over God
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  providing warning and instruction of this truth in our
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  lives, even in the most subtle, obscure ways.
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  In fact, I'm going to ask you to turn to a passage that is
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  frequently quoted by skeptics to try to pin you as a Christian in
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  a corner for being inconsistent in your walk with God.
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  Right? So if you're a Christian here
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  who doesn't believe that a man should be in a relationship with
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  a man in terms of romance or marriage or sexual relations,
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  what tends to be the comeback? Back from those who know very
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  little, the Bible. So do you wear different
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  material clothings? Do you eat shellfish?
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  Have you heard those? OK, let's turn to that passage
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  and see what God really meant for them.
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  For that, look at Deuteronomy 22, verse 9.
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  Here are a few instructions for the people of Israel.
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  And these are daily practices served as object lessons with
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  spiritual significance for this nation.
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  Look at Deuteronomy 22, verse 9. You shall not sow your vineyard
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  with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited.
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  The crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard.
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  You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.
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  You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together.
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  So these are daily things that the Israelites would engage in.
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  Everything from putting clothes on your back, to working out in
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  the field, to putting together your instruments to accomplish
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  certain tasks. And over and over we see this
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  repeated theme in different spheres of life.
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  What God is trying to teach His people through these objects
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  lessons is a necessity of His people being separate, being
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  consecrated, not mingling with that which is unholy.
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  Now that's the moral lesson of these verses, but there are also
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  practical lessons in them. So you see here the instructions
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  for not sowing your vineyard with two kinds of seed.
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  And that might. Seem helpful, that might seem
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  beneficial, effective, but there can be problems when you have
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  different kinds of plantation now that grow at different
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  speeds that demand different nutrients that might even rob
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  one another of those nutrients. You get a hint of that in one of
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  Jesus parables, right, where you have the wheat and the tares
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  growing together and how that made far farming much more
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  difficult. So the the practical instruction
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  here in many cases is that if you don't do this right, you can
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  actually be inefficient. And this can be even more
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  frustrating for you than it needs to be.
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  Farming itself is difficult. Don't make it more challenging.
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  That practical wisdom continues with the next command.
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  Don't put an ox with a donkey under one yoke.
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  Why? Those are two different beasts
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  that that function differently, right?
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  Different strengths, different capacities, different abilities.
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  You put them together, they're going to get frustrated and
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  that's going to make your work inefficient and more
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  frustrating. OK, what about the last one?
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  Don't mix wool with linen. Again, We got to think deeply
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  about this year, or else we're just going to feel intimidated
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  when people bring this up to us and say, I don't know what it
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  means for me as a Christian. No, no, no, you have to look
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  deeper into this. Would you wear wool when it's
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  harder? When it's cold?
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  Usually when it's cold, you're wool.
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  Wool, right? What do you usually wear when
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  it's hot outside? Would it be linen or wool?
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  OK, so to mix wool and linen would do what?
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  You would cause these materials to essentially work against each
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  other. Wool is meant for one thing,
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  linen is meant for another. That to put.
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  These things together would work against the purposes that they
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  were designed for. So you have these bullet point
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  form kind of illustrations, real instructions, but deeper truths
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  behind them and telling us don't make life more frustrating for
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  yourself as a Christian. Don't don't do anything.
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  Don't mingle with individuals that make you fruitless, less
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  effective, stronger. You want to be able to give all
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  that you can, and that includes being very wise in who you yoke
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  yourself to, who you mingle your life with.
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  And so you have Joram here who has no problem yoking himself to
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  his eye, but is eye from the line of David should have been
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  much more cautious. Maybe it wasn't his choice to be
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  mingled with his family, but he did have a choice of setting up
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  the boundaries and not making his part work against him by
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  participating actively with this dynasty.
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  And So what you're going to discover here is that this man
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  is going to get. Himself in trouble.
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  He's going to lose out so much. He only reigned one year.
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  But here's the positive thing. In choosing to trust God's
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  wisdom, the opposite will be true, that you can position
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  yourself for a more prosperous and protective flourishing of an
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  abundant life. And that's actually what you see
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  in a subtle way in the next few verses of this story.
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  So you have Ahaziah who chooses to link himself with Joram.
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  But notice what happens here in verse 17 in Second Kings 9.
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  Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw
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  the company of Jehu as he came and said, I see a company, and
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  Joram said take a horseman and send to meet.
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  Them and let him say, Is it peace?
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  So a man on horseback went to meet him and said, Thus says the
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  king, is it peace? And Jehu said, What do you have
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  to do with peace? Turn around and ride behind me.
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  And the watchman reported saying the messenger reached them but
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  he's not coming back. Then he sent out a second
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  horseman who came to them and said thus says or thus the king
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  has said is it peace? And Jay who answered What do you
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  have to do with peace? Turn around and ride behind me.
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  So 2 horsemen are sent from Joran to inquire of the
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  suspicious arrival. You have Jay who coming with a
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  band of soldiers. Joe, I'm a little nervous, maybe
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  confused. Remember, this is one of his
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  commanders. Is he here to bring good news
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  about the war with Syria? But he is more suspicious than
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  that. He wants to know, hey, are you
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  coming with peaceful intent? And both times, Jehu answers the
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  same way. He asked the rhetorical
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  question, what do you have to do with peace?
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  Now, this can be understood in two ways.
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  The first way is that he is simply confirming that he is not
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  coming with peace. He's not coming for peace, he's
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  coming with justified violent uprising.
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  But the second meaning here I believe it's that is that it's a
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  personal question to challenge these individual horsemen.
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  In other words, you can almost translate it in the following
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  way. Why do you want to be a part of
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  this Kingdom that is superficial and sinful?
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  Why do you want to be at peace with this kind of a system?
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  If that's hard for you to understand that this is a
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  personal challenge, notice that he follows it with an invitation
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  to do what right behind me. Join this side.
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  What do you have to do with this?
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  And these horsemen, they chose wisely.
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  So again you see this contrast. You have this king in Judah who
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  chooses unwisely, and you have these subordinate men who choose
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  wisely and they choose to side on God's anointed one.
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  But what's interesting here is when we consider it more for our
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  own lives and in the context of the church, Jehu's question is a
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  valid one for every Sinner to ask themselves.
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  Every person who knows, they might know about the Lord, they
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  know they might know about Christ, but they themselves know
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  I am not aligned with this King, with his Kingdom.
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  I'm a part of the worldly system, a way of life and
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  unbelief. Ask yourself this, if that's
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  you, that's you listening, why? Why?
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  Are you there? Why do you choose to be a part
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  of that? Why not come to the side of
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  truth? Why not give your life to
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  Christ? Sincerely ask yourself that
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  question. Why?
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  Why are you at peace with that which is against God, in enmity
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  with God, in defiance of God? Why?
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  Now this is not just a question that we should ask sinners.
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  This is a question that from time to time believers should
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  ask themselves, especially when they find themselves tempted
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  with sin. I want to show you one of my
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  favorite verses to wield in times of temptation.
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  It's another question in the New Testament that Paul asked
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  believers. So Jehu asked these horsemen
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  questions. Paul asked the Corinthian church
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  another question that if you answer honestly.
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  Will. Give you the strength to know
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  great strides in your sanctification, especially when
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  you're facing any kind of seduction.
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  The book of Romans, chapter 6, verse 21.
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  Oh, memorize this one. What does Paul ask the believers
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  then and now? But what fruit were you getting
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  at the time from the things of which you are now ashamed?
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  For the end of those things is death.
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  Do you understand the question? He's speaking about how
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  believers go from death to life and how they should die to sin.
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  But I think it's totally appropriate to take this verse
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  and make it a perpetual question for your own life.
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  Whenever you are being seduced by sin.
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  Ask yourself this. Because, listen, one of the
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  reasons many fall into temptation is that they only
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  think of the moment. Is that not true?
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  You're only thinking about now what this going to offer you in
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  the short term. How often do people in the midst
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  of temptation ask what what is the end of this thing?
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  Because that's what Paul says for the end of those things is
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  death. Death.
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  Think beyond the moment. Think beyond a month from now.
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  Think beyond a year from now. Think long term.
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  What is this leading to? Where is this taking me?
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  And if you can answer that with sincerity, you will be a lot
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  more sober and how you are engaging with temptation.
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  There are clues throughout the Bible that indicate.
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  This There's so many clues to tell us.
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  One of the most famous ones is Hebrews 11, where we're told
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  that sin is pleasurable. If it wasn't pleasurable, you
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  wouldn't be tempted, right? Let's be honest, sin does have a
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  level of pleasure attached to it.
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  But what does he say in Hebrews but a season it's but for a
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  season and that's that's an obvious first.
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  But here all these. Different ideas connected to it.
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  One of the greatest things about the book of Proverbs is how
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  practical it is, but I think sometimes people miss great
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  themes in it. One of the greatest themes in
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  the book of Proverbs connected to Wisdom is adultery.
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  And he says something quite interesting in Proverbs Chapter
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  7, verse 17, where he quotes in great detail the seduction of
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  the adulterous woman. And one part you read something
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  that is insightful not just about adultery, but about sin at
• 23:27
  large. Listen to these words from
• 23:29
  Proverbs 717. The woman says to the naive man,
• 23:33
  I've perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
• 23:38
  Come, let us take our fill of love till morning.
• 23:41
  Let us delight ourselves with love.
• 23:44
  For my husband is not at home. He is gone on a long journey.
• 23:48
  She continues, and there's more even before that.
• 23:51
  So she is seducing this young man, right?
• 23:53
  And she does so successfully. But in it you see that she
• 23:58
  exposes the nature of this lust. In what way?
• 24:04
  Look at verse 18 again. Come.
• 24:07
  Let us take our fill of love until when it only lasts till
• 24:11
  the morning. It's not true love.
• 24:16
  It doesn't really satisfy, It's not constant, it's not God's
• 24:21
  will. It doesn't offer the pleasure
• 24:22
  you think it offers. So even in this where she seems
• 24:26
  to be painting this wonderful picture that we're going to have
• 24:29
  this intense moment of ecstasy all night long, what she's
• 24:32
  really saying is it has an expiration date and it's it's a
• 24:35
  lot sooner than you imagine. Doesn't go beyond the morning
• 24:41
  sin is short lived with its satisfaction.
• 24:44
  And see, you have to see this in the Bible and you have to from
• 24:47
  time to time, if not every day, ask yourself not what does it
• 24:51
  give me now? What does it give me for these
• 24:53
  next few hours or until the next day?
• 24:55
  What's the end of it? What will it produce?
• 24:59
  What will it unleash? And here's what you'll discover
• 25:02
  that the consequences of sin always outlive the pleasure it
• 25:05
  offers always. No matter what the sin is,
• 25:08
  whether it's cheating on your finances, whether it's being a
• 25:11
  vile person, whether it's being a bully in the workplace, no
• 25:14
  matter what it is, it will always the consequences outlive
• 25:18
  the pleasure or the prosperity may promise always.
• 25:23
  And the Holy Spirit helps us overcome sin by encouraging us
• 25:25
  to reflect what this is actually produce.
• 25:29
  What's the ultimate outcome? And it didn't take very long for
• 25:32
  these two horsemen to get it. We're on the losing side, so
• 25:36
  let's switch over here to Jehu, who is the Lord's anointed.
• 25:40
  And they do that. So let's come back now to Second
• 25:42
  Kings 9 and discover what happens next.
• 25:47
  Verse 20 of Second Kings 9. Again, the watchman reported he
• 25:52
  reached them, but he is not coming back.
• 25:55
  And the driving is like the driving of Jehu, the son of
• 25:57
  Nimshi, for he drives furiously. Wow, this guy had a reputation
• 26:02
  the way he's driving that speed that looks like it's Jehu's car.
• 26:09
  Good Watchmen verse 21 Jerem said make ready and they made
• 26:16
  ready his chariot. Then Jerem king of Israel and as
• 26:19
  I king of Judah set out each and his chariot and went to meet
• 26:23
  Jehu and met him at the property of Nabeth the Jezreelite.
• 26:27
  Wow, poetic justice, providential justice, the very
• 26:36
  area, the very plot of land where Elijah prophesied.
• 26:39
  The downfall of this house is where 1 of Ahab's descendants is
• 26:44
  going to lose his life and it's going to trigger the downfall of
• 26:47
  this household all together. Verse 22 And when Jeram saw
• 26:50
  Jehu, he said is it peace Jehu? He answered, what peace can
• 26:55
  there be, so long as the whorings and the sources of your
• 26:58
  mother Jezebel are so many? Notice that he doesn't
• 27:02
  necessarily accuse Ahab, at least upfront.
• 27:06
  Primarily, this was Jezebel's doing.
• 27:11
  Then Jerem reigned about and fled, saying to Eziah.
• 27:14
  Treachery. Oh, Eziah and Jay, who drew his
• 27:19
  bow with his full strength and shot Jerem between the
• 27:22
  shoulders. So the arrow pierced his heart,
• 27:26
  and he sank in his chariot. Jay, who said to bid car his
• 27:30
  aid, Take him up and throw him on the plot of the ground
• 27:33
  belonging to Nabeth the Jezreelite.
• 27:36
  For remember when you and I rode side by side behind Ahab his
• 27:39
  father, how the Lord made this pronouncement against him?
• 27:43
  As surely as I saw yesterday, the blood of Nabeth and the
• 27:45
  blood of his sons declares the Lord, I will repay you on this
• 27:49
  plot of ground. Now therefore, take him up and
• 27:53
  throw him on the plot of ground in accordance with the word of
• 27:56
  the Lord. So based on this text, what we
• 27:58
  learned is that in First Kings 21, when Elijah confronted Ahab,
• 28:03
  Jehu and his assistant bid car were there.
• 28:06
  They heard it with their own ears.
• 28:08
  And as they are fulfilling what God had told Jehu to do,
• 28:12
  they're, they're making the connection of how God is
• 28:14
  fulfilling his word every, every detail of it.
• 28:17
  And he's going to continue to discover that in the rest of
• 28:20
  this chapter. But what I want you to see is
• 28:23
  the last part. Now, therefore take him up and
• 28:25
  throw him on the plot of ground in accordance with the word of
• 28:29
  the Lord. JU had an intense zeal to
• 28:32
  fulfill the word of the Lord. He heard it, but he's like, I
• 28:35
  want to do it. I want, I want to fulfill every
• 28:37
  part of it. And this zeal is admirable.
• 28:41
  It's it's wonderful to see, but I want to give you a heads up
• 28:46
  because Jehu's story is going to continue in the next chapter.
• 28:49
  And what you're going to discover in Second Kings 10 is
• 28:52
  that this man's zeal waned over time.
• 28:56
  As incredible as his obedience is, I mean, this is a gruesome
• 28:59
  thing to accomplish, to slaughter an entire family as an
• 29:04
  act of justice. That's not easy.
• 29:08
  He does it, but then you get this strange commentary when you
• 29:12
  read the review of this man's life, and it's just in the next
• 29:15
  chapter. I want you to see it just to be
• 29:17
  prepared, and it teaches a wonderful thing about finishing
• 29:20
  well. Look at Second Kings 10 briefly
• 29:23
  at verse 31, and consider this commentary about this king,
• 29:30
  Second Kings 1031. But Jehu was not careful to walk
• 29:35
  in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart.
• 29:40
  That's the key. He did not turn from the sins of
• 29:43
  Jeroboam, which he made Israel, to sin.
• 29:47
  It's almost unthinkable. He was raised up by God to
• 29:51
  destroy the House of Ahab for it to become like the House of
• 29:56
  Jeroboam and the House of Basha that promoted idolatry in the
• 30:01
  land. And yet we're told about this
• 30:02
  very one that He did not separate himself from those very
• 30:06
  sins. The Bible is very honest, very
• 30:11
  honest, and this is meant to sober us.
• 30:14
  He started with incredible, precise passion, but He didn't
• 30:19
  finish strong, finish well, finish for His glory.
• 30:26
  Ask Him day by day to supply the grace to end with a greater zeal
• 30:30
  that you had before. He's faithful to provide that.
• 30:35
  Verse 27 and 2nd Kings 9. When as I, the king of Judah,
• 30:39
  saw this, he fled in the direction of Beth Hagen.
• 30:44
  And Jehu pursued him, and said, Shoot him also.
• 30:48
  And they shot him in the chariot at the ascent of Gur, which is
• 30:51
  by Iblyam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died
• 30:55
  there. His servants carried him in a
• 30:58
  chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his tomb with his
• 31:00
  father's in the city of David. In the 11th year of Joram, the
• 31:04
  son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah.
• 31:08
  So Ahaziah dies and you read these details associated with
• 31:15
  him and you might be wondering why are why are we told about
• 31:19
  his lineage? It's not accidental.
• 31:21
  It's not just practice for historians.
• 31:25
  I believe it's also to remind us something about Ahaziah's
• 31:28
  heritage and how that did not shield him from God's wrath.
• 31:33
  Does that make sense? He had a rich spiritual lineage,
• 31:39
  but that did not protect him from God's discipline.
• 31:42
  Why? Because God will evaluate your
• 31:46
  life on a personal level, on an individual basis.
• 31:51
  So you and I cannot claim the faith of our parents.
• 31:56
  We cannot claim the faith of our spouses.
• 31:59
  We cannot claim the faith of our siblings who are spiritual and
• 32:03
  mighty examples. You, you cannot hide behind the
• 32:07
  recommendation of your pastor or any other spiritual leader.
• 32:11
  The Lord will look at your life and mine and evaluate our
• 32:15
  decisions with whatever knowledge we had concerning His
• 32:18
  will. It's as simple as that.
• 32:21
  So he was a descendant of David, but he only reigned one year.
• 32:24
  Was that God's will for him? It wasn't God's will for him.
• 32:29
  In fact, when you read the parallel account, we don't have
• 32:31
  to turn there in Second Chronicles.
• 32:32
  What you'll learn is that for those who might think, and there
• 32:35
  are those who might think, I think Jehu went a little too far
• 32:38
  because he was instructed to kill the household of Ahab.
• 32:42
  So why is he, why is he assassinating Ahaziah, who's the
• 32:45
  king of Judah? And that debate is settled when
• 32:49
  you go to Second Chronicles and realize that the Holy Spirit
• 32:53
  says this was approved by God. In other words, God ordained for
• 33:00
  a his eye to die in this way. But we're going to spend most of
• 33:06
  our time the last portions of Second Kings 9.
• 33:08
  That's why I'm reading through these verses.
• 33:11
  Verse 30, When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it.
• 33:17
  Pause. So we have Joram, who's been put
• 33:21
  to death. You have Isaiah, who's been
• 33:23
  killed. But we realize that Jezreel is
• 33:26
  not emptied yet. Jezebel is in town.
• 33:32
  She didn't go away completely, did she?
• 33:34
  No, no, no, she's here. And that's no surprise to us.
• 33:37
  Why? Because Jezreel was where the
• 33:39
  palace of the royal family was. So Jezebel is here, the main
• 33:45
  troublemaker. And what do we learn about
• 33:48
  Jezebel? How she responds to the news of
• 33:51
  Jehu coming into town as God's judgement.
• 33:56
  She painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the
• 33:59
  window. She put on makeup.
• 34:06
  I'm not against makeup. I just don't think this is the
• 34:08
  most appropriate time to put on eyeliner and concealer and
• 34:13
  whatever other things people put on their faces.
• 34:17
  She's putting on makeup. For what?
• 34:20
  I'll tell you for what. This is a symbolic gesture of
• 34:24
  her defiance of God's word. For her to do this, for her to
• 34:29
  adorn herself and to put on all of this is meant to communicate
• 34:33
  that she is upholding her perceived dignity.
• 34:37
  And that even though she heard that Jehu is coming, even though
• 34:40
  she likely heard that Jaram was put to death and Isaiah was
• 34:44
  killed, she wants to show that she is somehow still in control.
• 34:49
  You can even say she's trying to seduce him, but I don't think
• 34:51
  that's the case because of what she says.
• 34:54
  But more than anything else, this is her making a statement.
• 34:59
  I'm still the queen here, and it doesn't matter what God wants.
• 35:03
  I'm going to just treat this like any other day.
• 35:05
  So let me put on my makeup, let me put on my crown, and let me
• 35:11
  look out the window as I would any other day.
• 35:13
  And what happens? She's going to have a
• 35:17
  confrontation with Jehu. But we're meant to see something
• 35:20
  about this woman's heart that the extent of her calloused
• 35:23
  heart, because this is not the only time where she received a
• 35:27
  visitation in Jezreel. So Mount Carmel, where there's
• 35:31
  that awesome showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal.
• 35:35
  God unmistakably shows up with superior power.
• 35:40
  Baal ISM is destroyed, at least to an extent, and the people bow
• 35:45
  their knee and they. Say the Lord, he is God, and now
• 35:49
  Elijah is going to make his way to Jezreel.
• 35:53
  And to announce this to Jezebel himself, or at least.
• 35:57
  To go to Jezreel to anticipate repentance.
• 36:01
  So go to 1st Kings 19 and just in case you need to see it, look
• 36:09
  at the last verse of First Kings 18 right before First Kings 19.
• 36:12
  First Kings 1846 And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he
• 36:16
  gathered up his garment, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of
• 36:19
  Jezreel. So Elijah made his way to
• 36:22
  Jezreel and what happens in verse one of the next chapter,
• 36:26
  Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had
• 36:29
  killed all the prophets with the sword.
• 36:31
  Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, So may the gods
• 36:35
  do to me, and more also if I do not make your life as the life
• 36:39
  of one of them by this time tomorrow.
• 36:44
  So from the days of Elijah when he came to Jezreel, to her last
• 36:48
  day on earth, this woman is determined to die before she
• 36:51
  submits to the truth. She didn't submit to it when
• 36:55
  Elijah came with grace, was it not?
• 36:58
  Grace for God to come in the way that He came, without destroying
• 37:02
  her and her husband. Yes, it was grace.
• 37:06
  It was a mighty move of God. It did bring about some
• 37:09
  judgement on the prophets of Baal, but not on the instigator.
• 37:13
  And so she had a chance to see this display of majesty and for
• 37:16
  it to melt her heart and say, yes, the Lord, he is a true God.
• 37:20
  What did she do? She says you're a dead man and
• 37:25
  I'm quick and I'm ready to die before I give in to you and your
• 37:29
  cause. And then when God sends another
• 37:32
  man to Jezreel Jehu, not with grace but with what judgement,
• 37:36
  it doesn't move her either. So no matter what you gave this
• 37:39
  woman, she would not budget. And there are people like that.
• 37:42
  There are people like that. Doesn't matter what kind of
• 37:45
  miracle of mercy, it doesn't matter what kind of thunderous
• 37:47
  warning, they will not give themselves over to the gospel.
• 37:53
  And that's just a tragic reality, a tragic truth that the
• 37:55
  Bible tells us of. So the Lord spares this woman
• 37:59
  before she doesn't give in. And time goes on, She doesn't
• 38:03
  repent. And now even on her final day,
• 38:05
  instead of preparing her heart, you know what she does?
• 38:06
  She prepares her face. To look at this man and to say,
• 38:12
  what do you got for me now Interestingly, she doesn't just
• 38:18
  do something with her eyes. If you're not convinced that
• 38:21
  this woman is diamond hard against the truth, look at her
• 38:26
  words in verse 31. And as Jehu entered the gate,
• 38:29
  she said, is it peace you Zimri, murder of your master?
• 38:37
  You can't. You feel the vitriol in that one
• 38:41
  sentence. It just feels mean and ugly and
• 38:47
  vicious because she is vicious. But I was curious when I read
• 38:52
  this, it sounds mean, but I don't want to just go with how
• 38:54
  it sounds. I want to know what it means.
• 38:57
  Out of all the things that she could have called Jehu, she
• 38:59
  calls him a Zimri. Any idea what a Zimri is?
• 39:04
  Well, it's not a thing. He's a person.
• 39:07
  Have we ever read about Zimri before?
• 39:10
  If you've been with us in Kings, yes, you'll remember.
• 39:13
  If you don't remember, go back to the account of Zimri and
• 39:16
  we'll make sense of why she calls him this.
• 39:18
  So in First Kings 16, look at verse 8.
• 39:23
  This is a chapter where you see the sequence of Kings,
• 39:27
  predecessors and those who succeed the former.
• 39:33
  And we learned of this man Zimri, how he came to the throne
• 39:35
  in Israel. Look at First Kings 16/8.
• 39:38
  It says here in the 26th year of ASA, king of Judah, Ilah the son
• 39:42
  of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirza and he reigned 2
• 39:46
  years. But his servant Zimri, commander
• 39:50
  of half his Chariots, conspired against him.
• 39:54
  Then he was at Tirza drinking himself drunk in the House of
• 39:57
  Arza who was over the household in Tirza.
• 40:00
  Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him in the 27th
• 40:05
  year of ASA, king of Judah, and reigned in his place.
• 40:08
  So you can actually answer this, What commonalities do you see
• 40:11
  between Zimri and Jehu? He killed the predecessor,
• 40:18
  right? He killed the king that was
• 40:21
  occupying the throne. Yes, true.
• 40:23
  What else? What was Jehu's occupation?
• 40:33
  He was one of the commanders of the army.
• 40:35
  And what was Zimri's occupation also?
• 40:38
  He was also a commander of half his Chariots.
• 40:42
  So both were commanders. Both murdered their way or
• 40:46
  killed their way to the throne. So it makes some sense at least
• 40:52
  to why she's calling out of all the things she could have called
• 40:54
  Jehu Zimri, you are a Zimri. But it's deeper than that
• 40:59
  because we learn more about Zimri in verse 15.
• 41:02
  Look at First King 1615 and the 27th year of ASA, king of Judah.
• 41:08
  Zimri reigned 7 days in Tirza. Now the troops were in camp
• 41:13
  against Gibbethon which belonged to the Philistines and the
• 41:16
  troops were encamped. Heard it said Zimri has
• 41:18
  conspired and he has killed the king.
• 41:21
  Therefore, all Israel made Omri. The commander of the army king
• 41:25
  over Israel that day in the camp.
• 41:27
  So Omri went up to Gibbeth on, and all Israel with him, and
• 41:31
  they besieged Tirza. And when Zimri saw that the city
• 41:34
  was taken, he went into the citadel of the King's house and
• 41:37
  burned the King's house over him.
• 41:38
  With fire and died. He commits suicide.
• 41:43
  So Zimri was a self appointed king.
• 41:45
  The people learned that he conspired and they're like, we
• 41:47
  don't want Zimri, we want Omri. So they make Omri the king.
• 41:51
  Omri is ready now to remove Zimri from the throne.
• 41:54
  And as he makes his way to Zimri, Zimri learns of this.
• 41:56
  He goes, this is a lost cause, there's no way I have a chance.
• 41:59
  The nation's behind Omri. So he burns the house over him.
• 42:03
  And he dies. Who's Omri?
• 42:10
  Who's he related to? Ahab is his son.
• 42:17
  Omri's the father of Ahab. So now there's a deeper sting to
• 42:24
  Jezebel's words. When she calls Jehu Zimri, she's
• 42:28
  not just saying you're doing what Zimri did, she's also
• 42:32
  saying your fate is going to be like Zimri's fate.
• 42:36
  Why? How long did Zimri last for on
• 42:38
  the throne? Not a year, a week.
• 42:43
  So essentially, I believe what Jezebel saying is, yeah, yeah,
• 42:45
  yeah. OK.
• 42:46
  I see you're conspiring, but you're not going to last very
• 42:48
  long. And the House of Ahab is going
• 42:50
  to make a comeback. A very vicious woman.
• 42:55
  Clever, but vicious. You're a Zimmery.
• 43:01
  And this woman was not just angry, not just offensive.
• 43:07
  By saying that, she's also defying God's word concerning
• 43:09
  the fate of the House of Ahab. God said it's going to be
• 43:13
  destroyed and she thinks it's not going to last very long.
• 43:17
  And this reveals just how vile and rebellious she was.
• 43:21
  And there's so much application that we can draw from this, but
• 43:23
  I want to look at it from Jehu's perspective.
• 43:25
  Why? Because Jehu is doing what God
• 43:27
  told him to do. He's not on a personal vendetta
• 43:30
  here. He's he's not doing things on
• 43:31
  his own. God told him to do what he's
• 43:33
  doing here. And as he seeks to obey the
• 43:35
  Lord, and as he's making ground and as he's advancing, he is
• 43:40
  confronted with the threats of a woman who wants to make him
• 43:45
  fearful, one to doubt God's word for himself by calling him as
• 43:49
  Zimmer was saying it, she's saying, is your fate is going to
• 43:52
  be like that man. There's going to be no success
• 43:54
  to your campaign, at least long term.
• 43:57
  And so Jehu is hearing this, and I think Satan's strategy is no
• 44:03
  different. Does you and I seek to obey the
• 44:06
  Lord with that zeal that we see in this man?
• 44:09
  You should expect also the amplifying lies of Satan to
• 44:13
  cause you to fear for yourself and to doubt God's word.
• 44:18
  Is that not a satanic strategy that we see here?
• 44:22
  Many people are fearful in their obedience.
• 44:25
  And many people, even as they obey, especially when they're
• 44:28
  the threshold of obeying, they might be visited by doubts.
• 44:31
  Is this really what the Lord wants me to do?
• 44:32
  Is this really the best option? Is this really, really what God
• 44:35
  asks of me? Even though it's clear?
• 44:38
  So Jezebel here is imitating the evil 1 where she has no issue,
• 44:43
  just like Satan, right? When you're about to do
• 44:47
  something for the Lord to whisper in your ear and to
• 44:50
  convince you otherwise. And where you're supposed to
• 44:52
  find inspiration is in this man. Yes, even though we learn in the
• 44:56
  next chapter that he he's not the greatest inspiration, we see
• 44:59
  at this point that he hears us and what, he's completely
• 45:02
  unfazed. How do we know that?
• 45:04
  Look at verse 32. And he lifted up his face to the
• 45:07
  window and said, who is on my side?
• 45:08
  Who? Two or three eunuchs looked out
• 45:11
  at him. He doesn't even pay attention to
• 45:13
  her, doesn't pay attention to her face, doesn't pay attention
• 45:16
  to her words. He is completely consumed with
• 45:22
  his mission, unmoved, and this is something that you and I
• 45:27
  should strive for. That we should be rock solid in
• 45:31
  our confidence as we obey the Lord.
• 45:33
  Nothing should make you afraid, nothing should make you doubt.
• 45:38
  And so he just continues on. I wonder what she did pulling
• 45:42
  her hair because it didn't do anything to the man.
• 45:45
  Says who's on my side? Up there, two or three eunuchs
• 45:47
  pop up their heads, you know, obviously unsatisfied with her
• 45:50
  reign, and they're ready to betray her.
• 45:53
  So notice what he says in verse 33.
• 45:55
  He said, throw her down. So they threw her down, and some
• 45:59
  of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they
• 46:02
  trampled on her. Now pause here for a moment.
• 46:05
  I'm about to read the next few verses, the concluding verses of
• 46:08
  this chapter. Very graphic, very graphic.
• 46:12
  But the purpose of the nature of this is to show us the extent of
• 46:18
  God's displeasure with this woman, with the House of Ahab,
• 46:21
  and just how severe His judgement is on those who not
• 46:25
  just have sinned against God without repentance, but have
• 46:27
  refused to repent, though God has revealed Himself in so many
• 46:30
  gracious ways. So let me read this and then
• 46:32
  expound on it. Verse 34.
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  Then he went in and ate and drank, and he said, see now to
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  this cursed woman, and bury her, for she is a King's daughter.
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  But when they went to bury her, they found no more of her than
• 46:46
  the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands.
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  And when they came back and told him, he said, This is the word
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  of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite
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  in the territory of Jezreel. The dog shall eat the flesh of
• 47:00
  Jezebel, and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as dung on the
• 47:04
  face of the field in the torture territory of Jezreel, so that no
• 47:08
  one can say this is Jezebel. So a lot of success.
• 47:16
  In one day for Jehu in fulfilling his mission.
• 47:20
  He asked the eunuchs to push the woman off.
• 47:23
  She's thrown out of the window. She falls and her blood
• 47:27
  splatters everywhere. And to ensure that she's dead,
• 47:31
  JU has the horses trample on her body.
• 47:35
  He takes a time to refresh himself and to symbolize his
• 47:39
  achievement, he goes into the palace that was once occupied by
• 47:42
  these evil people and he has a meal and while he's.
• 47:47
  Eating inside the palace. The dogs are eating Jezebel
• 47:49
  outside the palace. And it dawns on him, you know,
• 47:54
  she's technically still royalty. And so by way of tradition, our
• 48:00
  culture would ask of this, let's bury her.
• 48:02
  Let's give her some kind of a proper burial.
• 48:05
  Send servants out. They go out, and they recognize
• 48:07
  that she's virtually gone. Why?
• 48:10
  The dogs ate her flesh. And the only thing that's left
• 48:12
  is her cranium, her feet, and the palms of her hands.
• 48:18
  Why? I wouldn't allegorize it, but I
• 48:22
  think the best explanation is that God, in allowing this to
• 48:25
  happen, wanted to show that even these dangerous ravenous dogs
• 48:31
  that would eat anything to survive survive found Jezebel
• 48:35
  displeasurable. Even these beasts of the streets
• 48:41
  could not stomach her. And so he learns this, and it
• 48:50
  dawns on me again. This is what the Lord said in
• 48:54
  the territory of Jezreel, the dog shall eat the flesh of
• 48:56
  Jezebel until she's not recognized.
• 48:58
  She would not have an honorable end.
• 49:01
  And so he realizes that God keeps His word.
• 49:04
  And there's much to say about this, but here's how I want to
• 49:06
  end when we realize that Jezebel is no more.
• 49:09
  Is this the last that we read of Jezebel?
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  And you know the answer very well.
• 49:13
  No, it's not. We don't find her again in the
• 49:16
  Old Testament that we find her in the very last book of the New
• 49:18
  Testament library where she by name is brought up by the Lord
• 49:23
  and one of the churches for being a false prophetess and
• 49:27
  seducing the people of God to sexual immorality and idolatry.
• 49:32
  And it's not that Jezebel was there in the Church of Thyatira.
• 49:34
  It's not like she reincarnated, but there was something so
• 49:37
  similar about this particular woman in that church that she
• 49:42
  was crowned with this name, and it wasn't an honorable crowning.
• 49:47
  She imitated this woman. She had the same spirit of this
• 49:50
  woman, and she was producing the same vile outcomes as Jezebel
• 49:54
  did when ruling in the Kingdom of Israel.
• 49:56
  Here's what this tells me in our study of Second Kings.
• 49:58
  Jezebel was not just a threat to the Kingdom of Israel.
• 50:01
  She's still a threat to the church.
• 50:04
  She is still a threat to the Church of Jesus Christ.
• 50:08
  See, what are you talking about? I'm talking about what the Book
• 50:10
  of Revelation tells us. You can conclude in Revelation
• 50:16
  chapter 2 that she remains an ever present danger to
• 50:21
  believers. And you might be wondering how
• 50:23
  that's possible. I'm here to explain it.
• 50:26
  Let's turn there as we close this Bible study together in
• 50:28
  Revelation chapter 2. And look there in verse 20.
• 50:43
  But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman
• 50:46
  Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and
• 50:49
  seducing my servants to practice sexual morality and to eat.
• 50:53
  Food sacrificed idols. I gave her time to repent.
• 50:58
  God even gives false prophetesses time to repent, but
• 51:03
  she refuses to repent of her sexual morality.
• 51:06
  Behold, I will throw her onto a sick bed.
• 51:08
  And those who commit adultery with her, I don't think this is
• 51:10
  necessarily speaking about physical adultery, but spiritual
• 51:12
  adultery. And those who commit adultery
• 51:15
  with her I will throw into great tribulation unless they repent
• 51:17
  of her works. And I will strike her children
• 51:19
  dead. So here's the danger.
• 51:24
  There are individuals, particularly woman, who will
• 51:29
  rise to positions of leadership in local churches, and because
• 51:33
  of their authority, they will seek to seduce God's servant
• 51:36
  through distorted teachings, leading them to violate God's
• 51:40
  Word as a result. Don't think that Jezebel is just
• 51:46
  in the Church of Thyatira. The fact that she's mentioned in
• 51:49
  one of the churches after the resurrection, essentially of
• 51:52
  Jesus, means that you can expect her to pop up in different
• 51:55
  churches even in 2025. And there are some people who
• 52:00
  are tolerating Jezebel's. They're not honoring God's
• 52:04
  structure of leadership in the church, and they're willing to
• 52:08
  receive words from someone who is charismatic enough, spiritual
• 52:13
  supposedly enough, where they are submitting to something that
• 52:16
  is ultimately satanic. And So what we learned of Second
• 52:20
  Kings is that this is not just a study of ancient times.
• 52:25
  This is also a study of what you and I should be mindful of even
• 52:29
  today, that there are people like Jezebel, not just men.
• 52:34
  There are women who are rebellious and hateful and long
• 52:40
  for authority where God told them that they don't have
• 52:42
  authority so that they can implement things that God told
• 52:46
  them not to implement. And we should be aware of that.
• 52:49
  So let's end it this way. If God is so willing to be
• 52:53
  patient with such a woman as this, how much more is He
• 52:57
  willing to be patient towards us?
• 52:59
  He is so kind and He is so loving, and He is so patient and
• 53:03
  He calls us. So.
• 53:04
  If you're here today, even at this Bible study, and you do not
• 53:07
  know the Lord Jesus Christ, can I ask you something?
• 53:09
  Why? Why?
• 53:13
  Why are you at peace with that which is at war with God?
• 53:16
  Why do you stand on your feet? Before the cross and not bow
• 53:21
  your knee before the cross. Why have you not received
• 53:24
  forgiveness for your sins? Why have you not allowed the
• 53:26
  free gift of God in Christ Jesus to wash over you?
• 53:29
  Why do you still hold on to that which will condemn you?
• 53:32
  Why? Ask yourself and think beyond
• 53:35
  the moment, Think for eternity, Think about why you were
• 53:42
  created. Think about God's purpose for
• 53:45
  your life and think is it worth forfeiting it for me being God
• 53:49
  of my life? And me giving in to the things
• 53:53
  that have never truly satisfied me, this will ultimately condemn
• 53:57
  me. Think, think and ask yourself
• 53:59
  why You will never know true peace until you submit to the
• 54:04
  Prince of Peace. And he's waiting for you to do
• 54:06
  that. Let's seek him together.
• 54:09
  Lord, we thank you. We thank you for this Bible
• 54:12
  study. We thank you that even in a
• 54:17
  historical account, you speak to us presently.
• 54:21
  We ask you from the bottom of our hearts that our zeal for
• 54:27
  your command would live with us and in US.
• 54:34
  It would not dissipate. It would not weaken.
• 54:37
  Lord, help us to do everything that's in accordance with Your
• 54:40
  word. Lord, we love you, we honor you.
• 54:42
  We want to just throw our hearts afresh before you say have every
• 54:46
  part of it, our will, our minds, our thoughts.
• 54:49
  We give it all to you. We say please Lord, have it all.
• 54:51
  Take it all. Lord, we thank you again for you
• 54:54
  have spoken to our hearts. In Jesus name we pray, Amen and
• 54:58
  Amen. Let's stand and worship the
• 54:59
  Lord. So in 2011, 2011, I remember,
• 55:38
  you know, sometimes people when they share their testimony,
• 55:40
  there's like one major turning point and that's completely
• 55:44
  valid. And I think most of us can
• 55:49
  identify that. Some can't.
• 55:50
  Some are like, I don't know if I have a testimony.
• 55:51
  I was born in the Christian faith almost, but I remember
• 55:56
  that in my story there were many turning points.
• 55:58
  One of them was when the guilt of sin began to mount in my own
• 56:05
  conscience and was piling up in my heart.
• 56:09
  I try to manage it. I try to medicate it in so many
• 56:12
  different ways. And there's one particular time
• 56:14
  where it was so overwhelming. It was my conscience was so loud
• 56:19
  that I was almost talking to myself.
• 56:22
  It was that intense. And one particular moment I
• 56:25
  remember I was somewhere I shouldn't have been with people
• 56:28
  I shouldn't have been with. And in the middle of the night,
• 56:34
  I go into the bathroom and I close the door and I look in the
• 56:38
  mirror. I'm like, what are you doing?
• 56:42
  What are you doing? And I remember that question.
• 56:47
  That honest question was one of the major turning points for me.
• 56:51
  They didn't get me saved in that moment.
• 56:54
  I wish I could say that on that bathroom floor, I gave my life
• 56:58
  to Christ. I didn't.
• 56:58
  It just started with an honest question.
• 57:00
  What are you doing man? You know, you know the truth,
• 57:04
  you know it. Why are you fighting against it?
• 57:06
  Why are you living like this? Why are you indulging in this?
• 57:09
  I just stared at myself for a while.
• 57:11
  My heart was racing. I just knew it.
• 57:14
  I was, I was drowning in sin. Sometimes, often times a good
• 57:20
  honest look at yourself and asking why am I here?
• 57:27
  What am I? Why am I doing this?
• 57:30
  How much longer can do some good?
• 57:34
  I can do some good. You know there's talk about this
• 57:38
  ban for TikTok, right? I've met enough people to know
• 57:42
  that God can even use TikTok to bring them to Christ.
• 57:46
  So as much as I have my issues with TikTok, God can redeem
• 57:50
  anything. But if they do ban it, I I won't
• 57:53
  be too upset about it. I'll tell you why.
• 57:58
  Because I think Satan has done a wonderful job.
• 58:01
  Of distracting a generation so much that they don't even ask
• 58:06
  these questions anymore. They're just numbing their minds
• 58:09
  with entertainment. You know, like it's becoming
• 58:12
  more of a rarity for a message to be 40 minutes, 45 minutes.
• 58:18
  And these gurus and evangelicalism will say you
• 58:20
  can't teach 45 minutes, people won't listen to you.
• 58:23
  Got to bite. Size it, man. 20 minutes. 25
• 58:26
  minutes tops. Now, if gods get to you to
• 58:28
  preach 25 minutes, that's great. I just can't do it.
• 58:31
  I can't. I'm sorry, I can't.
• 58:33
  So I fail in that area. But don't get so distracted to
• 58:41
  the point where you don't ask the questions that matter most.
• 58:45
  And that's true for you if you're in here and you don't
• 58:47
  know Christ Jesus as your Lord. And that's true for us as
• 58:49
  believers, where we should continually ask questions, talk
• 58:56
  to the Lord, examine our hearts, not in a way that kills you with
• 58:59
  introspection, but in a way that positions you to be where God
• 59:03
  wants you to be. Well, we thank you for this
• 59:07
  time, Lord, I thank you for this church.
• 59:12
  I thank you for my brothers and sisters in this place.
• 59:16
  I thank you that Lord, even through difficult passages, we
• 59:18
  can rejoice together because it's your truth, it's your will,
• 59:22
  it's your mind, it's, it's your word.
• 59:24
  Lord, we pray that you protect the the purity of this Bible
• 59:28
  study, Lord, the intimacy of it, the the hunger that we have,
• 59:33
  Lord, made only intensify. Lord, help us, help us ask the
• 59:38
  right questions at the right time, using your word as the
• 59:41
  litmus test at all points. Lord, if there's even one person
• 59:46
  here who doesn't know you, may tonight be the night.
• 59:48
  And for us who know you, but we're not supposed to be where
• 59:51
  we are. Show us the answers, oh God, to
• 59:55
  bring us to the fullness of your purpose.
• 59:57
  We love you, we honor you. Thank you for who you are.
• 1:00:03
  In Jesus name we pray. Amen and Amen.
• 1:00:07
  Amen.