A God Like That
Elijah & Elisha • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsAhab & Jezebel have demonstrated the reality of evil through idolatry, oppression, murder, etc. In this passage, God's character is revealed as He demands justice and extends mercy. He is indeed the God we yearn for and need.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Now it came about after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden because it is close beside my house, and I will give you a better vineyard than it in its place; if you like, I will give you the price of it in money.”
But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid me that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”
So Ahab came into his house sullen and vexed because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and ate no food.
But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “How is it that your spirit is so sullen that you are not eating food?”
So he said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you a vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”
Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now reign over Israel? Arise, eat bread, and let your heart be joyful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and sent letters to the elders and to the nobles who were living with Naboth in his city.
Now she wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people;
and seat two worthless men before him, and let them testify against him, saying, ‘You cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”
So the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them, just as it was written in the letters which she had sent them.
They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the people.
Then the two worthless men came in and sat before him; and the worthless men testified against him, even against Naboth, before the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones.
Then they sent word to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”
When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.”
When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
“Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth where he has gone down to take possession of it.
“You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Have you murdered and also taken possession?” ’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth the dogs will lick up your blood, even yours.” ’ ”
Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” And he answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord.
“Behold, I will bring evil upon you, and will utterly sweep you away, and will cut off from Ahab every male, both bond and free in Israel;
and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and because you have made Israel sin.
“Of Jezebel also has the Lord spoken, saying, ‘The dogs will eat Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.’
“The one belonging to Ahab, who dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and the one who dies in the field the birds of heaven will eat.”
Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife incited him.
He acted very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the sons of Israel.
It came about when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about despondently.
Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
“Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house in his son’s days.”
INTRO: How many of you knew who Naboth was before today?
Naboth was the victim of a sinister plot that merely quenched the lusts of King Ahab. Like a toddler in the candy aisle, he wanted that land and Jezebel made sure he got it. I read this and am reminded that this is yet another story of how the wealthy and elite in society often seem to do as they please and rarely suffer consequences. It just doesn’t seem right. Thankfully, there’s more to the story than that.
In 1992, Chris Wright (Gospel Coalition) wrote about a young man from India who read the Bible for the first time. You know what the very first passage he read was? Yep- the passage of Naboth’s Vineyard. Listen to Wright’s words on how this young man was drawn to God in this story.
He grew up in one of the many backward and oppressed groups in India, part of a community that is systematically exploited and treated with contempt, injustice and sometimes violence. The effect on his youth was to fill him with a burning desire to rise above that station in order to be able to turn the tables on those who oppressed him and his community. He threw himself into his education, and went to college committed to revolutionary ideals and Marxism. His goal was to achieve the qualifications needed to gain some kind of power and thus the means to do something in the name of justice and revenge. He was contacted in his early days at college by some Christian students and given a Bible, which he decided to read out of casual interest, though he had no respect at first for Christians at all.
It happened that the first thing he read in the Bible was the story of Naboth, Ahab and Jezebel in 1 Kings 21. He was astonished to find that it was all about greed for land, abuse of power, corruption of the courts, and violence against the poor—things that he himself was all too familiar with. But even more amazing was the fact that God took Naboth’s side and not only accused Ahab and Jezebel of their wrongdoing but also took vengeance upon them. Here was a God of real justice. A God who identified the real villains and who took real action against them. ‘I never knew such a God existed!’ he exclaimed. He read on through the rest of OT history and found his first impression confirmed. This God constantly took the side of the oppressed and took direct action against their enemies. Here was a God he could respect, a God he felt attracted to, even though he didn’t know him yet, because such a God would understand his own thirst for justice.
He then went on, he told me, to read the books of the law, and his amazement grew. ‘God!’ he cried out, even though he didn’t know who he was talking to, ‘You’re so perfect! You think of everything!’ He was impressed with the tremendous attention to detail of OT law. It was all so practical, covering every aspect of everyday life in the kind of society which was not unlike the patterns of village and small town India still. Here was a God who understood and cared about the lives, relationships and working conditions of ordinary people, made laws about their safety, protected the poor and vulnerable, restricted the power of slave-owners and creditors and demanded courts [be] free of bribery and corruption. A relevant God indeed! And then there was his holiness. This was a serious God who meant what he said and expected people to act accordingly. He was not capricious or arbitrary like the gods of mythology, but a God of absolute purity, a God to be careful with. All this discovery was staggering to him as he read on and on. He found himself praising this God he didn’t know. ‘God, you’re so just, you’re so perfect, you’re so holy!’ he would exclaim, believing this was the kind of God that answered the need of his own angry struggle.
Then he came upon Isaiah 43:1, and came to an abrupt halt. ‘But now, says the Lord.…’ It’s a beautiful word in Telugu, apparently. It means, ‘yet, in spite of all that’. The end of Isaiah 42 describes Israel’s sin and God’s just punishment. But suddenly, unexpectedly, God is talking about forgiveness and pardon and love. ‘I couldn’t take that,’ he said. ‘I was attracted to the God of justice and holiness. I ran away from a God of love.’ But he couldn’t. For as he read on he found such a God more and more—still in the OT! It was about then that the Christian friends came and explained more about the fulness of God’s justice and love on the cross, and he came at last to understand and surrender to the God he had found in the OT and his life was transformed through faith in Christ.
I love that revelation… “I never knew such a God existed…” So many have a perverse view of God. This morning, I hope to lead us through a rediscovery of the God of the Bible. We’ll do so by looking at Naboth’s story and God’s response. (Don’t worry- Elijah is in here! It’s part of his story too!)
If you picked up a bulletin, let’s learn together. The sermon is titled “A God like that!”
The first thing I want to show you is how Naboth’s story highlights the reality of
The Problem of Evil (1-16)
The Problem of Evil (1-16)
Evil exists. It’s easy to see here. And when we see it play out in a scenario such as Naboth’s, we are forced to ask why. Why does evil exist?
Evil is the result of rebellion against God. For Ahab, he had rejected Yahweh. We noted several weeks ago that Ahab and his wife Jezebel had taken to idol-worship. Of course, this was the normal practice of Jezebel’s native land. Ahab evidently was willing to give up all of Israel’s historical worship of Yahweh for a god that couldn’t even light a match on Mt. Carmel.
At any rate, the scenario recorded in the first 16 verses of chapter 21 is one of greed, covetousness, deceit, and murder. Let me summarize: Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard so he could have a vegetable garden close by the palace. He made a fair offer, but Naboth refused. He had some good reasons, but regardless, the king went home sad. As he pouted in the palace (4), Jezebel rebukes him. (READ v. 7)
“Stop crying. You are the king- If you want it, we’ll simply take it.” IOW- there was no moral reason in her mind why he couldn’t just take whatever he wanted.
Truly, what ended up happening is that Jezebel took matters into her own hands and carried out a most nefarious plot. She set Naboth up, got a couple of people to accuse him of speaking against the king and God, which basically incited a mob. This mob did the dirty work of killing Naboth.
Naboth did no wrong, yet was killed in a gory mob. (Let’s pause and acknowledge a difficult reality: Righteous people don’t always win on this side of eternity.. in this world, you will face tribulation)
This record is the epitome of injustice.
Yet that is what we can expect in a world where people reject God’s authority. Ahab’s sin of idolatry gave way to the sins of coveting, lying, stealing, and murder.
The Law, or the 10 commandments, can be divided into two parts- commandments that deal with our relationship with God (vertical) and commandments that deal with our relationship to others (horizontal). Or, as Jesus said,
And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
“This is the great and foremost commandment.
“The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
When we reject the love and authority of God, we have no basis upon which to love anyone. Sin begets sin.
There is no doubt that in this fallen world, we encounter the problem of evil. And we, who have God’s law written on our hearts, long for justice. We long for someone to right these wrongs. Thankfully, God responds to sin.
In His response, we see that
God is Just (17-26)
God is Just (17-26)
In verse 17-19, God calls Elijah to once again confront Ahab in his sin. (READ 17-19)
Now, look - Elijah didn’t find out about Ahab’s sin through the local news, Twitter Files, or even through the rumor mill. No, it’s likely that nobody was even talking about it. That’s what people do. Even when we see a blatant act of abuse, many folks often turn a blind eye- they don’t want to deal with it. It’s too risky.
Regardless, God took an interest in this nobody named Naboth. God took the side of the weak.
Look at v. 20 - Ahab calls Elijah ‘enemy’, and indeed he is for Ahab has made himself an enemy of the Most High.
In sending Elijah out, God was pronouncing judgment upon the wicked king. But this judgment was different that the earlier 3 year drought. This was a personal, piercing judgment.
Look here what God promised:
Death to both Ahab and Jezebel.
And not just death- Jezebel will be eaten by dogs, Ahab’s blood licked by dogs. This points to gory and indignant deaths that would be rightful punishment for their crimes.
A removal of Ahab’s family from royal heritage.
Just as the wicked king Jereboam’s family suffered, so would Ahab’s. His dynasty would end.
The explainer to this is in v.25-26 (READ)
Ahab had sold himself to do evil at such an extent that he was compared not to rebellious Israelite kings beforehand, but to the idolaters that were removed from the land before Israel inhabited it.
God is just. This means that evil will be dealt with. This is as true today as it was then.
This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.
For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.
So, the problem of evil, even when man’s systems of justice fail, will indeed be reckoned with by a Holy, Just God. It may not be on this side of glory, but ultimately we know that at the end of this age, every person will stand before God. God is just.
Finally though, we mustn’t ignore the apparent curveball that is v. 27-29. Here we see another aspect of God’s response. This show us that
God is Merciful (27-29)
God is Merciful (27-29)
Let me read v. 27-29 (READ)
Ahab, surprisingly, reacts in what seems to be genuine repentance. (Everybody look stunned!)
And because of his actions, God delays the judgment. Talk about Amazing Grace!
There are a several questions we can ask here.
Was Ahab honestly repenting?
God sees our hearts… and He was convinced so… yes.
Did Ahab follow Yahweh?
Looking at the next chapter, it’s doubtful. Ahab ignores another prophet and ends up getting killed by a “random” arrow in battle. (Dogs licked up his blood just as Elijah prophesied)
What about Ahab’s dynasty?
2 Kings 10:1-17 shows us that Elijah’s prophecy was realized.
What about Jezebel?
She has a tragic end as well… and yes, eaten by dogs. (Read for yourself in 2 Kings 9:33-37)
What does this tell us about God?
A good bit. God is all-knowing, so Ahab didn’t fool Him. But God is merciful. Ahab’s repentance was likely very genuine in the moment. God’s delayed judgment was likely an opportunity for Ahab to live out what was apparent in the moment.
You might think of times where you’ve told God how sorry you were, but as soon as the threat of a consequence went away, you went back to your sinful ways. This is what seems to have happened with Ahab.
Nevertheless, God is patient towards us. If He is willing to hear the repentant prayers of Ahab, the most wicked king of Israel’s history, He will hear yours as well.
How would justice be served if Ahab had turned from his sinful ways and followed Yahweh?
Well, that is the blessed hope of the Gospel. That in faith, the saints of the OT looked forward, trusting that God would provide the necessary atonement - the perfect Lamb
Jesus, God in flesh, came for that very purpose. To ensure that justice could be served and grace could be extended. Jesus took upon Himself the pronounced judgment of sin for everyone who would trust in Him.
As one pastor noted,
The blood of Jesus speaks a better word that the blood of Naboth; Naboth’s blood cried out for vengeance, Jesus’ blood cried out for forgiveness.
Do you know a God like that?
This morning, whether you relate to Naboth the oppressed or Ahab the oppressor, there is both justice and mercy in the name of Jesus. I want to invite you to respond to Him.
[PRAY]
Discuss: How does the problem of evil present itself in your life?
Discuss: What does God’s justice - repaying evil through gory judgments, etc., tell us about God’s holiness?
Discuss: Have you taken God’s mercy for granted?