Pastor Jonah Sage preached from 1 Kings 16:29-34 in our “Fall of the House of David” series. He said the wicked lead us to destruction; the righteous lead us to life. Lector: Lisa Tant
Pastor Jonah Sage preached from 1 Kings 16:29-34 in our “Fall of the House of David” series. He said the wicked lead us to destruction; the righteous lead us to life.
Lector: Lisa Tant
See if you can finish the phrase: monkey see, monkey...do
Incredible. We all know that...because we all know that.
Ever go to a friend's house, kid breaks something and starts cussing?
Mom is busted, right? I learned it from watching you.
Have you ever met a grown man who is emotionally unavailable? Except anger.
Have you met him? The man who can't express or connect unless he's angry?
Where did he learn that? Look to his dad. You'll find it.
We are a monkey see, monkey do people.
This is because we are hard-wired for worship, which we talked about last week.
Designed for it, made for it, can't live without it.
Think of worship as whatever you look to for your safety and hope.
The thing you prioritize, sacrifice for, rejoice in.
Safety and hope, that's worship.
Little ones are meant to find their safety and hope in Mom and Dad as a way of learning how to do the same with the Lord as they age.
We become who we are due to the people we look to for safety and hope.
This holds true of children and parents, and it holds true of citizens and nations.
We become like our authorities, like our leaders, which is why God gave such significant instructions on who a leader should be in Deut. 17.
The story of kings explains this and shows it over and over again.
God shows us this over and over again: YOU BECOME WHAT YOU WORSHIP
You become what you follow. You become what you rejoice in...so many ways to say it
Simply put, the story of kings, really the whole Bible, shows us that
The wicked lead us to destruction; the righteous lead us to life.
Chapter 16 covers a lot of history. Let me give you a quick example that explicitly states what we're looking at this morning:
I lifted you out of the dust to make you ruler of my people Israel, but you have followed the evil example of Jeroboam. You have provoked my anger causing my people Israel to sin. So now I will destroy you and YOUR family...
1 Kings 16:2
God is speaking through a prophet to Israel's king, Baasha.
Remember, we have TWO KINGDOMS now.
Israel to the north, and the capital city, Tirzah.
Judah to the South, the capital city Jerusalem.
Now, according to verse 2 here, who sinned? Israel...but WHY?
Is God looking at Israel for their sin?NO! HE IS LOOKING AT THE KING.
Do you see that? You have followed Jereboam; you have provoked my anger...
And THAT CAUSED Israel to sin
The king's behavior resulted in the sins of the people.
God holds THE KING responsible for the people.
The king was wicked, and that brought destruction to the whole nation.
The wicked lead us to destruction; the righteous lead us to life.
Baasha sinned, but the people pay the tax on it.
And it will be his family, his descendants.
It just keeps getting worse from there.
Baasha's son, Elah, takes over in the North, and Asa rules in the South.
Here's how it went for Elah:
One day in Tirzah, Elah was getting drunk at the home of Arza, the supervisor of the palace. Zimri walked in and struck him down and killed him...then Zimri became the next king.
-1 Kings 16:8-10
The king and the chief of staff are getting wasted in the middle of the day...
Zimri, who was in charge of chariots, just walks in, kills him, and becomes king.
Omri, who is Zimri's boss, knows about it, so he takes the army to occupy the capital.
When Zimri saw that the city had been taken, he went into the citadel of the palace and burned it down over himself and died in the flames. For he, too, had done what was evil in teh Lord's sight. He followed the example of Jeroboam in all the sins he had committed and led Israel to commit.
-1 Kings 16:18-19
You see it again: The King led the people to sin, and the King was held accountable.
After this, there's a civil war in Israel
It settles down, and Omri buys this hill known as Samaria...
And we read that
Omri did what was evil in the Lord's sight, even more than any of the kings before him.
1 Kings 16:25
Does that phrase sound familiar yet? Sin, disobeying, and evil are all sins in the sight of the Lord.
We know this includes child sacrifice; this includes murder and treason, this includes idol worship, and these behaviors of the king warped and deformed the people.
This is what makes it so evil in the Lord's sight...it brings destruction to people around him.
If you go to Deut. 17, only 1 of a king's qualifications has to do with competence, and that one isn't really about competence.
The one activity the king is commanded to do is read his Bible every day.
Everything else is about character, the way he relates to God, himself, and his fellow people.
This is because HUMANS ARE RELATIONAL BEINGS.
We are shaped in relationships for the sake of relationships.
We are MONKEY SEE MONKEY DO people.
So play with me here: who is willing to admit they have struggled with being angry?
C'mon fellas. Snapping at your wife or kids, fuming, etc...anyone?
STOP IT.
There you go, problem solved.
Is anyone willing to admit they struggle with greed or jealousy?
STOP IT.
Problem solved...
Why doesn't that work? Why don't answers change us?
Because answers didn't shape us.
The problem is more profound than the answers.
Jeroboam was told directly by God what to do but did what was evil in the Lord's sight.
Nadab, son of Jeroboam, did like his daddy did. Look!
He did what was evil in the Lord's sight and FOLLOWED THE EXAMPLE OF HIS FATHER, continuing the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.
-1 Kings 15:25 (emphasis added)
Baasha killed Nadab and took over, killing all of Jeroboam's descendants.
Elah takes over...and we've already covered him.
Everyone after Jeroboam acts like Jeroboam. Monkey see, monkey do.
Even when they had the answers.
The wicked lead us to destruction, not because they're dumb or incompetent or have policies, but because they are wicked!
And finally, we get to today's text (that's all intro!).
We've descended through civil war, rebellion, treason, assassination, child sacrifice, idol worship, pagan temples, and priests...and here we find ourselves in the reign of King Ahab of Israel:
Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the Lord's sight, even more than any of the kings before him. And as though it were not enough to follow the sinful example of jeroboam, he married Jezebel, the Ahab son of daughter of Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and he began to bow down in worship of Baal...He did more to provoke the anger of the Lord,the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him.
-1 Kings 16:30-33
Ahah was the worst yet...and this is expressed through his marriage to Jezebel.
What makes this so atrocious is that not only does she worship a pagan god, but she worships Baal.
This is because she's Canaanite. She is a dangerous person from a dangerous people who worship a dangerous god.
In the next two weeks, we'll see what this means...
But you gotta know this would be like the President of the U.S. marrying a Russian and hanging the sickle and hammer above the White House.
King after king does what is evil in the sight of the Lord...because their hearts were far from God.
Notice that it never says they had bad policies or were unintelligent.
Their hearts were pointed elsewhere; they were men of wicked CHARACTER, so the people were led astray.
Over and over, the Bible is pleading with us to see that THE WICKED LEAD US TO DESTRUCTION; THE RIGHTEOUS LEAD US TO LIFE.
You become like the object of your worship.
You become like the thing you put your trust in, your hope in.
You become like the thing you look to for security and reassurance.
And the point of kings is to plead with you not to worship an earthly king.
Do you remember the day you realized your dad was just a man?
Your mom, just a woman?
Ever heard the phrase "don't meet your heroes"...why?
Because you'll learn they're not what you thought they were…
These lesser gods cannot hold our worship...so turn from this.
It's what the Bible calls REPENT.
Your kids cannot give you security, safety, or stable joy.
Your spouse cannot; your parents cannot; your friends cannot.
Your candidate cannot; your country cannot.
And if you don't believe me, go read 1 Kings again. And again. And again. Until you see the same story play out over and over again.
I am pleading with you for the sake of your own life, family, community, country...PUT YOUR HOPE IN THE LORD. Put your trust in the Lord.
And if you realize, maybe even now, that you've put your hope in a bank account, a politician, a policy, or a platform, repent and turn your heart to the Lord.
The prophets repeatedly tell the people this is not the one you're looking for.
He's not the one. Keep looking and keep hoping.
And let me remind you what the ONE who eventually came did for you and me:
God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.
He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone.
One came and suffered for you. He never sinned, can you imagine?!
He never. Deceived. Anyone.
Don't you long to know someone this reliable, this consistent, and trustworthy?
He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He did not say "when I get in power I'll do this to you worse than you did to me!"
He did not defend himself or respond to violence with violence.
He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and life for what is right.
I'm so tired of people saying it's everyone else's fault...
But this man, this JESUS we strive to worship, said, "it's not my fault, but I will take your sins upon me."
The wicked lead us to destruction, BUT THE RIGHTEOUS LEAD US TO LIFE:
By his wounds you are healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered away,but now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.
1 Peter 2:22-25
Not by your competence, but by his wounds, you are healed.
Not by your righteousness, but by his.
Turn your heart to Jesus, the only object worthy of your worship.
The only one capable of holding your worship.
The only one who can heal and restore you.
The wicked lead us to destruction, so turn from them and come to Jesus because the righteous lead us to life.
Let's pray.