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"Prelude
To A Prize Fight" • 3.19.17 • Calvary Christian
Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- We have been following the history of the the
divided Kingdom. King Asa reigned for four decades in the southern Kingdom. We
learned last week that his reign was predominantly good.
- When you weigh the benefits of a good
leadership upon a society, you can't help thinking of the stability that would
provide for a generation. The North will provide a stark contrast.
- King Asa will reign in the South and see 7
Kings wrestle for power in the North. Each successive King will extend the
spiral of wickedness that has been their foundation.
- Let's pick it up where we left off, verse 25.
Text
•
I Kings 15:25-32 : "Now Nadab the son of Jeroboam
became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned
over Israel two years. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his
father, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin. Then Baasha the son of Ahijah, of
the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Baasha killed him at
Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel laid
siege to Gibbethon. Baasha killed him in the
third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. And it was so, when he became king, that he
killed all the house of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone that
breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by
His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, because of
the sins of Jeroboam, which he had sinned and by which he had made Israel sin,
because of his provocation with which he had provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger.
Now the rest of the acts of
Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles
of the kings of Israel? And there was war
between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days." : According to I Kings
14:10 and 11, Jeroboam's
descendants were doomed because of their Father's idolatry. This is not guilt
by association. It is never so with God.
-
No man or woman will be punished for their Father's sins by simple relation.
Keep in mind that God had found something good in one of Jeroboam's sons,
Ahijah.
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The problem with Nadab and the rest of his sons is that they embraced their
Father's sins personally and wholeheartedly! Because of that adoption, Nadab's
doomsday clock was ticking!
-
Despite what God had prophecied over his life, he incredibly, still chose to
walk in idolatry!
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His eventual undoing would occur when he led the army to Gibbethon, a
Philistine controlled city in the territory of Dan. Israel was engaged in a
siege of that city for about a year.
-
While the city was closed up, Nadab's men had time to consider Nadab's
leadership. It wasn't long before the seeds of conspiracy were sown and Baasha
allowed them to flower!
-
Most scholars believe that Baasha was a captain of Nadab's army. Being from the
tribe of Isaachar, he would have risen from relative obscurity.
-
We aren't told of the details of Baasha's treachery, but his rise to power
could only have happened as a result of God's hand upon him.
-
After Baasha assassinated Nadab, he went onto remove all the other legitimate
rivals to the throne. He fulfilled God's Word to the tee, as you note the lack
of detail regarding Nadab's burial.
-
Nadab and his relatives were either consumed by dogs or birds! They were
utterly abandoned and cursed by God! God now deals with Baasha. Verse 33.
•
I Kings 15:33-I Kings 16:7 : "Then the
word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying: 'Inasmuch as I lifted you out of
the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, and you have walked in the
way of Jeroboam, and have made My people Israel sin, to provoke Me to anger
with their sins, surely I will take away the posterity of Baasha and the
posterity of his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam
the son of Nebat. The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Baasha and dies in the
city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the fields.' Now the rest of the acts of Baasha,
what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles
of the kings of Israel? So Baasha rested with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah. Then
Elah his son reigned in his place. And also the word of the Lord
came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house,
because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands, in
being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he killed them." : Baasha had been God's hammer in stamping out Jeroboam's
descendants, but instead of honoring the Lord or turning to Him in repentance,
he continued the downward spiral of the North.
-
You can see that he was particularly intent upon fighting against God's
righteousness, both as he fought with King Asa in the south and as he
propogated Jeroboam's religion in the north.
-
Baasha had a chance to acknowledge God's hand toward Him, but he slapped it away!
In response God sent a prophet, Jehu, the son of Hanani.
-
Unless Hanani was a common name, this was the same prophet that God sent to
speak to Judah's King Asa in II
Chronicles 16:7-10! This is quite extraordinary for a few reasons.
-
First, God is not sitting back and allowing the North to simply free fall into
apostasy. They do so against their own history as a people and against God's
continual warning through the prophets.
-
Second, the prophets were equal opportunity, willing to go either to the north
or to the south with the Lord's message depending on where God sent them.
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This has been a new thought to me in studying the Kings. God isn't simply
seeking to reform a religious people from the South. He is seeking to win the
apostates of the North!
-
God continues to strive with men today. If the book of Kings teaches us
anything, it is that!
-
And this is where we note something special about Jehu specifically. This man
has seen his Father imprisoned at the will of Asa, a good King from Judah, for
the sake of God's message.
-
What might a traitorous, idolatrous King of the North do to him when he came to
bring God's message to him? That fear that you and I feel for him didn't stop
him from going!
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Jehu knew that it would be far worse to ignore the Lord than to experience the
King's wrath! There is no place for the fear of man in the service of the Lord!
-
Proverbs 29:25 in the NLT says,
"Fearing people is a dangerous
trap, but trusting the Lord means safety!" Jehu teaches us that to
fear the Lord is to fear nothing else!
•
Luke 12:4,5 : "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid
of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear
Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you,
fear Him!" : May our hearts be inspired by
Jehu's example.
-
As for King Baasha, because he perpetuated the sins of Jeroboam, his dynasty
was doomed to crumble in the same manner as Jeroboam's!
-
He had abandoned the Lord and God promised to abandon his descendants,
beginning with Elah. Verse 8.
•
I Kings 16:8-14 : "In the twenty-sixth year of Asa
king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel, and reigned two
years in Tirzah. Now his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired
against him as he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza,
steward of his house in Tirzah. And Zimri went in and struck him and killed him in the
twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. Then it came to pass, when he began
to reign, as soon as he was seated on his throne, that he killed all the
household of Baasha; he did not leave him one male, neither of his relatives
nor of his friends. Thus Zimri destroyed all
the household of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke against
Baasha by Jehu the prophet, for all the sins
of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, by which they had sinned and by which
they had made Israel sin, in provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols. Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are
they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?" : If you are following the chronology, you'll note that Baasha
assassinated Nadab in Asa's third year. 23 years later, Elah begins his reign.
-
God allowed Baasha to reign for more than two decades. Despite being a
spiritual failure, Baasha was at least a competent civic leader. His son
however, was lacking in both categories!
-
After only 2 years, Elah's bondservant or slave, conspired against him, killing
him while he was drunk! This is the statement of his life according to the KJV:
He was drinking himself drunk!
-
It was in that deluded drunken state that he lost his life to his servant Zimri,
who seems to have been a trusted servant, given the access that he has to him
at his most vulnerable.
-
Just as Baasha did to Nadab, so also did Zimri do to Baasha, by killing all of
the males who could have risen to the throne, even eliminating friends who
might have been sympathetic!
-
Zimri acts were wicked, but they fulfilled God's purpose in judging Baasha and
his son Elah's rule. His campaign served God's purpose, even though he was
serving his own avarice. Verse 15.
•
I Kings 16:15-20 : "In the twenty-seventh year of Asa
king of Judah, Zimri had reigned in Tirzah seven days. And the people were
encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. Now the people who were encamped
heard it said, 'Zimri has conspired and also has killed the king.' So all
Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the
camp. Then Omri
and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon, and they besieged Tirzah. And it happened, when Zimri saw
that the city was taken, that he went into the citadel of the king’s house and
burned the king’s house down upon himself with fire, and died, because of the sins which he had
committed in doing evil in the sight of the Lord, in walking in the way of
Jeroboam, and in his sin which he had committed to make Israel sin. Now the rest of the acts of Zimri,
and the treason he committed, are they not written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Israel?" : Zimri's
reign lasted a mere 7 days! One week. His coup occurred while the army had gone
out against Gibbethon, a second siege in under 30 years.
-
News came to the army that Zimri, Elah's slave, had killed the King which
interrupted this second siege!
-
The army made the decision to appoint their commander Omri as the new King
right then and there. Zimri soon discovered that he had grossly overestimated
his position!
-
They left their siege of Gibbethon only to begin a new one at Tirzah where he
had stationed himself. Zimri committed suicide, burning as much as he could
along with him!
-
His undoing was also from the Lord. I had mentioned earlier that Zimri
fulfilled God's plan to eliminate Baasha. God used Zimri's greed for His own
purpose.
-
Here, we see that Zimri was still responsible for his evil. Later in Judah's
history, God will use Babylon as His instrument of deportation, when the nation
proves to be finally obstinate against God!
-
Despite that fact, God will judge them for "liking their job" and for
the cruelty that they treated the people, especially the elderly with! (Isaiah 47:6, Jeremiah 50:11)
-
Zimri had no desire to serve the Lord. His treason was directly related to
Jeroboam's religion and his own greed. He is judged because of it. Thus begins
Omri's reign. Verse 21.
•
I Kings 16:21-24 : "Then the people of Israel were
divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to
make him king, and half followed Omri. But the people who followed Omri
prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died
and Omri reigned. In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king
over Israel, and reigned twelve years. Six years he reigned in Tirzah. And he bought the hill of Samaria
from Shemer for two talents of silver; then he built on the hill, and called
the name of the city which he built, Samaria, after the name of Shemer, owner
of the hill. " : Omri returns to Tirzah to
assume leadership, but finds immediately that he has opposition in Tibni.
-
Omri's military strength eventually prevailed and he reigned as the sole
Monarch of the North. He initially reigned in Tirzah, which had been the
Northern capital for years but soon made a change.
-
Tirzah is located near the Jordan valley but was a bit remote from the trade
routes near Samaria. Moving the capital to Samaria gave the Northern Kingdom
control over those routes.
-
We are not given a complete history of Omri's leadership, but from a worldly
perspective, he was quite successful.
-
Historical sources tell us that Omri was a brilliant military strategist, holding
off invading armies from various sides of Israel while at the same time, able
to muster an army to conquer Moab.
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He was so successful that the Assyrians called Israel, "The Land of
Omri" long after his reign concluded. From a civic and worldly perspective,
Omri was a great success.
-
The world applauds, the North is stabilized and the people are benefitting to
some degree. If that is what mattered most, you'd go to your grave happy.
-
The issue is that God doesn't judge based on what civic or temporal good we
have performed. He holds a King in Israel responsible for the spiritual
condition he leaves the nation in.
-
God gives his assessment of Omri's reign in verse 25.
•
I Kings 16:25-28 : "Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all who were
before him. For
he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which
he had made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols. Now the rest of the acts of Omri
which he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the book of
the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So
Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. Then Ahab his son
reigned in his place." : Omri has the distinction of
outdoing every one of his predecessors in the department of wickedness!
-
Whatever it meant to follow Jeroboam's sin, whatever depravity could be engaged
in, Omri went after it with his whole heart.
-
His most evil accomplishment was to raise a son that was more wicked than
himself!
•
I Kings 16:29,30 : "In the thirty-eighth year of Asa
king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel; and Ahab the son
of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil
in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him." : King Asa is just a few years away from the end of his reign
when Ahab takes the throne in the North.
-
Ahab sought to set even lower standards and the Bible says that he did! He did
more evil in the sight of God than all the Kings before him combined! Verse 31 describes how.
•
I Kings 16:31-33 : "And it came to pass, as though it
had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of
Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians;
and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. Then he set up an altar for Baal in
the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a wooden image. Ahab
did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were
before him." : Ahab took after Jeroboam's ways,
but it wasn't enough for him. He apparently needed some help reaching
depravity's depth, so Ahab married a partner in wickedness.
-
According to historical sources, Ahab's Father Omri engineered a trade
agreement with the Sidonians, which was then sealed by Ahab's marriage to
Jezebel.
-
Jezebel's life revolved around the worship of Baal. Her Father's name,
"Ethbaal" signals more than a passing allegiance. His name literally
means "With Baal!"
-
The King was a committed Baal worshipper and his daughter followed earnestly in
his footsteps. Soon, Ahab followed right along, as he quickly found himself
serving and worshipping Baal.
-
Here is where his wickedness really comes into play. He walked in Jeroboam's
sin, which some might say, was a worship of the true God, carried out in a
false way.
-
Here, he thoroughly walks away from Yahweh worship altogether and builds an
altar and a temple for Baal in Israel's capital city of Samaria!
-
Baal, the god of rain, was now the centerpiece of the North's theology! When
the King built his own wooden image, he committed to a life that provoked the
Lord more than any before him!
-
Ahab believes that he can reform all of Israel's worship and completely disregard
the God whose land he governs in. With Jezebel's help, he will do his best, but
God will have the last word.
-
Let us see two quick examples of this. Verse 33.
• I Kings
16:33,34 : "In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its
foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up
its gates, according to the word of the Lord, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun." : The author seems to indicate that Ahab sought to rebuild
Jericho and hired Hiel to do it.
-
Jericho was the first city that fell before God when the people of Israel came
into the land. Ahab's attempt to rebuild that was a direct challenge to who
would have dominion in this land.
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Hiel either sacrificed his two children as he sought to set up the gates or
they died while he was doing this.
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The author's point is that while Ahab was perfectly paired with evil, he was
still subject to God's rule.
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What would Ahab think when it was discovered that it was the God of the Bible
who foretold this very event 500 years previous to his witnessing it?
-
God still oversees and supervises the events of mankind. Ahab and Jezebel are
the most wicked tandem in history, but they cannot fight what God has already
decreed!
-
Are you guilty of believing that there is a political group or President that
can?
-
God will not go away silently and He will cannot abdicate His throne! But he is
not done! Chapter 17:1.
•
I Kings 17:1 : "And Elijah the Tishbite, of the
inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, 'As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I
stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.'" : Ahab has proclaimed by his actions that Baal was his god and
indeed, must become the adopted national god of Israel.
-
Out of nowhere, here comes a man whose name means "Yahweh is my God!"
-
His lineage is not noteworthy. Has anyone heard of the Tishbites? He is also
from Gilead, which was a part of the land east of the Jordan.
-
When the three and a half tribes settled there, we noted that they had truly
settled for less than God's best.
-
They left themselves vulnerable to attack because they settled so far from the
rest of the nation and they would also be remote from the true center of
spiritual life when the Temple was built.
-
In that way, Elijah is a tremendous individual who bucked every expectation.
Here, he comes to confront Ahab, but the true confrontation is between Baal and
Yahweh!
-
Baal was the god of fertility, in charge, supposedly, of the weather,
especially the rain.
-
Elijah walks into the palace and proclaims that he will be in charge of the
weather for the time being! The stage is set! Ahab represented the worst of the
Kings of Israel, so God sent His best!
Conclusion
- Think about
the type that is presented to us here. The Bible tells us that at the right
time, when the world was at it's most hopeless, God acted to bring salvation to
the world.
- When God
moved to meet the world's need, He didn't just send one of His best, He came
personally in the person of Jesus Christ!
- Jesus Christ
came and didn't proclaim judgment upon Israel. He came to absorb the judgment
of His Father in His own person!
- As He stood
between heaven and earth, He stands forever as the picture of God's love for
His people, the redemption for all that would believe upon Him!
- He is the
greater Elijah who has fought to win our hearts!
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