Kings chapter 16. Verse 33. First Kings chapter 16 verse 33. And Ahab made a grove And Ahab did more to provoke
the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel
that were before him. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name. And Lord, how earnestly we desire
to be enabled to hear from you, to hear your gospel and the power
of your spirit, that true saving faith would be created by your
grace in each heart here, according to your will. Now, Lord, we ask
that you would bless us for Christ's sake. Speak to our hearts for
Christ's sake. Forgive us of our many sins for
Christ's sake. Lord, shut us up to him. Enable us to glorify him and
Lord be with all your people wherever they meet together.
Lord, we would remember Aaron that you'd enable him to preach
your gospel in Harrodsburg according to your will. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Now look in chapter 17, verse
1, and Elijah the Tishbite, who
was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, as the Lord God
of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew
nor rain these years according to my word. Now, here we read
of the coming in of Elijah. And most agree that he is probably
the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. He is mentioned 30
times in the New Testament, in six different books of the Bible. He had miracle working power.
He was enabled by God to raise the dead. He's the one who appeared
with the Lord Jesus. Excuse me. He is the one who appeared with
the Lord Jesus and Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration. He
is the one who was enabled to be the forerunner of John the
Baptist. Now what a special man this was.
And he came during the time of Ahab. Now I'm going to look at
what transpired before he came, so turn back to the first of
first kings. Now, during Asa's reign of 41
years over Judah, there were seven kings of Israel, all bad. Every one of them bad, and they
ended up with Ahab, who was the worst of all, and we're gonna
consider why. Thank you, Isaac. Let's pick up reading in verse
8 of 1 Kings chapter 16. In the 26th year of Asa, king
of Judah, began Elah, the son of Baasha, to reign over Israel
and Tisra two years. And his servant, Zimri, Captain
of half of his chariots conspired against him. Now what all did
he do that led to this conspiracy? He did something bad, and this
man wanted to kill him because of it. And he was in Tisra drinking
himself drunk in the house of Azra, steward of his house in
Tisra. And Zimra, his servant, went in and smote him and killed
him. In the 27th year of Asa, king
of Judah, and he reigned in his stead. And it came to pass when
he began to reign, as soon as he sat on the throne, that he
slew all the house of Beasha. He left not one that pisseth
against the wall, neither of his kin's folk nor of his friends."
He killed everybody. Thus did Zimri destroy all the
house of Beasha according to the word of the Lord, which he
spake against Beasha by Jehu the prophet. Now look at the
first of this chapter, verse one. Then the word of the Lord came
to Jehu, the son of Hananiah, against Baasha, saying, Forasmuch
as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over
my people Israel, and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam,
and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger
with their sins, behold, I'll take away the posterity of Baasha,
and the posterity of his house, and will make thy house like
the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. Him that dieth of Baasha
in the city shall the dogs eat. And him that dieth of this in
the field shall the fowls of the air eat. Now, I think it's
glorious the way the Lord said everything is going to happen
just as he said. Everybody there is going to be
killed. And we're going to find out that what Zimri did was wrong.
And the Lord judged him for doing it. But it's still true that
the Lord controls everything. He determined for this wiping
out of this house to take place. He said it would take place before
it would. And I want you to remember, and I want to remember, that
everything that happens is the Lord's will being done. You can
rest easy. You can know this is so. Everything
that takes place is the Lord's will being done. Him working
out his providence for his glory. Now, when this man murdered The
king, it was wrong, and he ends up losing his life out of it.
It was a wrong thing for him to do, and he's held responsible
for his actions. Now, remember this. Men are responsible
for their actions. You and I are responsible. We
do what we want to do. And when we see it, it's because
we wanted to do it. That's why, and men are held
responsible. But aren't you thankful that
God is completely sovereign over everything that all men do? And
he's working out his sovereign purpose. That's who God is. Now, back to 1 Kings, beginning
in verse 15. In the 27th year of Asa, king
of Judah, did Zimri reign seven days. This is the man who killed
his king. And he had the shortest reign
of all the kings. He reigned seven days in Terza.
And the people were encamped against Gibeah, which belonged
to the Philistines. And the people that were encamped
heard say, Zimri hath conspired. It was a conspiracy, and hath
also slain the king. Wherefore, all Israel made Omri
the captain of the host, king over Israel, that day in the
camp, because they knew it was wrong what Zimri had done. So
they made Omri king. And Omri went up from Gibethon
and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. And it
came to pass when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went
into the palace of the king's house and burnt the king's house
over him with fire, and he died." He committed suicide. Now, we
read of several suicides in the scripture, don't we? Judas. Samson, Ahithophel, and I've
heard people say, well, suicide is the unpardonable sin. Well, the Bible never says that. And I know that Samson committed
suicide, and he's in the Hall of Faith. He is in heaven right
now as we speak, worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ. So you can't
make a statement like that. And suicide is a very sad thing. Somebody's in such depression
and such despair that they take their own life. It happens. I hope it doesn't happen to any
of us, but it can happen. And we're thankful that the Lord
is in control of all of that. But this man, he was so distraught,
he went in and set the palace on fire and killed himself. Verse
19, he died for his sins which sinned in doing evil in the sight
of the Lord and walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in a sin
which he did to make Israel to sin. Now the rest of the acts
of Zimri and his treason that he wrought, are they not written
in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? Then were the people of Israel
divided into two parts. This is the northern kingdom,
not Judah. The northern kingdom now has a division. Half of the people
followed Tibeath of Gaineth to make him king and the other half
followed Omri. But the people that followed
Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibnai, the son
of Gaineth. So Tibnai died and Omri reigned.
I assume Omri killed him. I don't know, but the revolution
was over and they're back to one. And in the 31st year of
Asa, king of Judah, began Omri to reign over Israel. Twelve
years. Six years reigned he in Tisra,
and he bought the hill of Samaria of Shemar for two talents of
silver and built on the hill and called the name of the city
which he built after the name of Shemar, owner of the hill,
Samaria. Now, Samaria became the capital
Israel. And it was about 30 miles north
of Jerusalem, but it became the capital of Israel. That's where
the kings of Israel reigned from that point on. Verse 25, but
Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than
all that were before him. for he walked in all the way
of Jeroboam." See the way these kings keep getting worse and
worse until we get to Ahab. For he walked in all the ways
of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, in his sin wherewith he made
Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger with
their vanities. Now the rest of the acts of Omri,
which he did, And his mouth that he showed, are they not written
in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Omri
slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria. And Ahab his
son reigned in his stead." Now Omri was the worst man up to
this point, but now we're coming to Ahab. And this is when Elijah
appears during this reign of Ahab. Now let's read about this
man. And in the 38th year of Asa, king of Judah began Ahab.
This is the seventh king since Asa had reigned and each one
becoming progressively worse. Ahab, the son of Judah began,
the son of Omri began to reign over Israel. And Ahab, the son
of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria 20 and two years. And Ahab, the son of Omri did
evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.
And it came to pass as it had been a light thing for him to
walk in the sins of Jeroboam. No big deal. No big deal. He didn't see any problem with
this. It was a light thing with him. He felt no compunction of
guilt. He felt no need of any allegiance
to Jehovah. It was a light thing for him
to do this. He really didn't care. That he
took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbael, and went and served Baal and
worshipped him." Now here's what he did. He married a heathen
queen by the name of Jezebel. And Jezebel had such an effect
over him. As you go on reading in this
passage of scripture, she pretty much controlled him. She would
be his inspiration for many of the evil things that he did.
She was a very evil woman. And her name is synonymous with,
you know, when you use Judas's name, what do you think of? I
mean, everybody knows who Judas is, and everybody has certain
thoughts of him. If you call somebody a Judas, you know what
he is. Well, if you call someone a Jezebel, you know what that
refers to. She's a deceitful, manipulative,
wicked woman trying to get her way. And they'll say, well, that's
a Jezebel. He married Jezebel, and her name,
everybody knows that name, Judas and Jezebel. But he married this
woman, Jezebel, and worshiped and served Baal. I think it's
interesting, Baal's name first comes up in Judges chapter two.
And what I read said that it was the worshipers of Baal that
started the Tower of Babel. I don't know if that's so. It's
not said in scripture, but I've read that. But Baal worship was
never mentioned during David's reign. His name is never even
mentioned. Yet what a place he has throughout
the history of Judah and Israel. They were always going back to
Baal worship. Now, in Baal worship, sexual
immorality was a part of that worship. So it had a strong appeal
to the flesh. He's called the Lord of the flies.
He's called the sun god. And he originally was a Phoenician
god, the god of fertility. The appeal to the flesh was actually
in worship. In the worship of this God, there
would be sexual immorality going on. They had the sodomites, which
were the temple prostitutes, and they would be used in worship. So you can see what an appeal
to the flesh there was here. And Israel kept going back and
back and back to Baal worship, time after time after time, forsaking
the living God. And they did this with Ahab under
his leadership. They went way into Baal worship. Look what he did. Verse 32, he
reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built
in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove. And Ahab
did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all
the kings of Israel that were before him. And this was all
through the influence of Jezebel. That's why he went so wholeheartedly
after Baal, because of the influence of Jezebel. Look in chapter 18. This is when Elijah is confronting
the prophets of Baal. This is how far things had gone
down through Ahab. And Elijah came unto all the
people. Chapter 18, verse 21. Elijah came to all the people
and said, how long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him. If Baal be God, follow him. Now, this is what had happened
in Israel under Ahab's leadership. Now remember, these people were
brought up to fear Jehovah. That was the religion they were
brought up with. And so Ahab comes along and demands
this Baal worship, so it became politically correct to be a Baal
worshiper. It was the thing to do. It could
be advantageous to you. You could do better in society
if you were a Baal worshiper because Ahab had brought this
in so strongly. Jezebel had brought it in so
strongly. And Elijah says, you can't do
both. That's what had been going on.
People said, well, we'll worship Jehovah and Baal. We'll do both. They were afraid to just completely
forsake the worship of Jehovah. So they said, let's just integrate
the two in together and we'll do both. And Elijah says, you
can't do that. You can't do that, but this is
the state of Israel at this time. And he went into this wholeheartedly. Now, would you turn with me to
Revelation 2. Revelation 2. This is the Lord's message to
the church at Thyatira. Verse 18. And unto the angel
of the church in Thyatira write, write this down. These things
saith the Son of God, which hath his eyes like unto a flame of
fire, and his feet are like fine brass. I know thy works and charity
and service. and faith, and thy patience,
and thy works, and the last to be more than the first." Now,
he's commending this church in an unusual way, but look what
he says. Notwithstanding, I have a few
things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman, Jezebel. Now, was this woman's name really
Jezebel? I don't know, but that's what
the Lord called her. He calls her Jezebel and he's referring
to this Old Testament woman that was Ahab's wife. He calls this
woman Jezebel. That's what she is. She's a Jezebel.
Which calleth herself a prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants
to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent
of her fornication, and she repented not. Behold, I'll cast her into
a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation,
except they repent of their deeds, and I will kill her children
with death. her converts, her disciples, and all the churches
shall know that I am He which searcheth the reins and the hearts,
and I'll give to every one of you according to your works.
But unto you I say and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as
have not known this doctrine, which have not known the depths
of Satan as they speak, I will put upon you none other burden
but that which you have already Hold fast till I come, and he
that overcometh and keepeth my works, and to the end, to him
will I give power over the nations." Now here, we have a woman preacher.
That's what was going on in this church. We have a woman preacher. Now that is forbidden in the
New Testament. Let me show you that. Turn, first
of all, to 1 Corinthians 14. Somebody says, well, is this
against feminism? It doesn't have anything to do
with it. It doesn't have anything to do with it. People say, well,
Paul was against women. No, he wasn't. No, he wasn't.
As far as that goes, women in Christ, there's neither male
nor female. There's no superiority of men over women. That's not
so. As a matter of fact, I kind of like women better than men.
I'd say, you know, I mean, a lot of times it's just, but so this
is not talking about some kind of male dominance and superiority. But turn to 1 Corinthians 14. Verse 34, 1 Corinthians 14, verse
34. Let your women keep silence in
the churches. For it is not permitted unto
them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also
saith the law. And if they will learn anything,
let them ask their husbands at home, for it's a shame for a
woman to speak in the church. Look in 1 Timothy 2. 1 Timothy 2, verse 11. Let the woman learn in silence
with all subjection, but I suffered not a woman to teach, nor to
usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam
was first formed in Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the
woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding,
she should be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and
charity and holiness with sobriety." So here we see that a woman is
forbidden to teach and Jezebel was teaching. She was the preacher. And what the Lord confronts them
with is their tolerance of this. They might not have agreed with
it. They had the epistles of Paul. They knew it was wrong,
but they tolerated it. Now, why is it wrong for a woman
to preach? Because God says it. And that's
really enough of a reason. I don't need another reason.
And like I said, I don't believe this is talking about male superiority
in any way. A woman is just as spiritual
and loves Christ just as much as any man does. But God forbids
it. And if you look at any works
church, who's running the show? Women. Women. All the time. In a works church
where the Gospel's not preached, women are running the show. And,
you know, Sovereign Grace... How do I say this? Dad, he's
probably in hell. Nobody has a problem with dad.
Dad probably went to hell. Mom, no way she went to hell. She's
good. And that's the way people look
at women in the sense that, I don't even know where I'm going with
this, but bear with me, it's important. He confronts them
about Jezebel, the woman preaching. Now what was it she was preaching?
What was the content of her message? We'll look back in Revelation
chapter two. Verse 20, notwithstanding I have
a few things against thee, because thou sufferest, you allow, you
don't prevent that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess,
to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to
eat things sacrificed unto idols. Now here's the two things that
the Lord accuses her of. She was teaching my servants
to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols.
Now, I don't believe that that's talking about physical fornication.
Nobody's gonna be able to get by with that. I mean, that's
Baal worship. And I don't think that's talking about physical
fornication. Everybody knows that's wrong. And if somebody
came saying that, everybody'd know right off the bat, this
is evil, this is wrong. Everybody knows that's sin. But
what he's talking about, turn to 2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians 11. Verse 2, For I am jealous over
you with a godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one
husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, Lest by any means
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should
be corrupted from the simplicity that's in Christ. Now this is
what's being referred to. The simplicity, the onlyness,
the singleness of Christ. There is no salvation outside
of the covenant that's in Christ. and to look anywhere other than
Christ and His covenant, and His grace, and Him being everything
in my salvation, where I have nothing but Him. That's the simplicity
that's in Christ. He's all I have. I don't have
anything else to plead. He's all I have. Now, to be corrupted
from that is to commit spiritual fornication, and that's exactly
what she was doing. Well, what about this thing of
eating a thing sacrificed to idols? You know, it's interesting
that Paul said You're not better if you eat. You're not worse
off if you don't. All it is is an idol. It's non-existent. It's
not real. It can't hurt you to eat something
sacrificed to an idol. Let's say the meat was your favorite
kind of steak, you know, and they were selling it in the shambles.
It had been offered as a sacrifice to an idol. And some people said,
no, we can't eat that. We shouldn't. It was sacrificed
to an idol. Paul says, what difference does it make? You're not better
if you don't eat. You're not worse if you do eat.
It's a thing of indifference, this thing of eating meat sacrificed
to idols. So then why is the Lord making
this issue when the New Testament clearly says it's not sin to
do that? What this is a reference to is
she was seducing them to try to find spiritual nourishment
in that which is nothing more than idolatry. hearing a false
gospel and saying there's some kind of truth in that that you
can benefit from. There's some kind of something
in that that you can gain spiritual nourishment from. Now that's
what this woman was doing. She was teaching. She had no
business teaching because the Lord forbids that. A woman is
not to preach the gospel. And I once again, I so much want
to say because I was, I hate it when men use this kind of
as trying to put the woman in their place or something like
that. That's silly. That's silly. There's no truth to it. In Christ,
there's neither male nor female. This is what I'm trying to get
across. But a woman is not to preach. And when she does, this
is going to be her message. Because God never called her.
God never sent her. And she's going to try to get
people to commit spiritual fornication, to look somewhere other than
Christ, and to find nourishment in that which is nothing more
than idolatry. Now listen, if a gospel that
a man preaches is not this gospel, He's preaching idolatry. He's
preaching works. He's preaching that which is
contrary to grace. And that's what this woman Jezebel
was doing. And when we go on through the
history of Ahab, there's more time devoted to Ahab than any
other king. That's interesting, isn't it?
More time is devoted to this man. And you're going to see
how Jezebel influenced him in such a negative way. All right, we're going to pick
up with Elijah next week. No, we're not. We're going to
pick up. Look back at our text. I think this is interesting.
This happened under Ahab's reign. 1 Kings 16, the last verse. This is how far things had gone
downhill. Look in verse 34. I'm sorry,
yeah, verse 34. In his days, the days of Ahab,
did Hael the Bethlehite build Jericho. He laid the foundation
thereof in Abiram his firstborn. Now his firstborn was killed
and put into the foundation. And set up the gates thereof
in his youngest son, Segim, according to the word of the Lord, which
he spake by Joshua the son of Nun. Now hundreds of years before
this, Joshua said, cursed be anyone who tries to raise up
Jericho. Remember how the walls of Jericho
had fallen down when they marched around it and shouted? That's
what we're going to consider next week. And Joshua said, cursed
is anyone that tries to build this town again. And things had
become so low, and there was such a lack of the fear of God
at this time, that this man went ahead and did it. And he did
exactly what Joshua said would happen. You're going to build
the foundations in your firstborn. They're going to be killed. And
two of his sons were killed in the rearing up of this, just
like God said. And he did this in the days of
Ahab. This is how hard things had become
in the days of Ahab. So we'll consider that next week.