King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Friday, June 28, 2024
Chapters: I KINGS 20-21
Message: God’s Call To Repentance
Hello My Friend,
I read this quote from one of the old commentators, Matthew Henry, [If God do not rule us, our enemies shall: guilt dispirits men, and makes them cowards.] Boy, is that not the truth. Think about it, when we put our faith and trust in God and accept His Son as our Saviour we may face some persecution or affliction because we dwell among the wicked, but it is nothing compared to what the wicked actually face. The consequences from unrepentant sin affects everyone, saved or not, and the more sin becomes prominent in our nations the more cowardly our rulers get, [Jude 1:16-18 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage. 17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.]
At the root of all evil is Satan himself, he is a deceiver and coward and good at sending his demons to disrupt God’s saints. What he is best at is using those who have one iota of knowledge of God, but do not follow Him to deceive those who seek to know and follow Him. Do not let the wicked fool you, they know God is true, they know that He is the only living God, but they refuse to accept Him and yet He still gives all the opportunity to repent. Jesus, said this, [Luke 5:32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.]
King Ahab, was well aware that God is true, especially after he saw fire come down from heaven, but he refused to repent and because of that the rest of the nation suffered. As we continue in the reading of 1 Kings, we learn that Syria, comes up against Samaria, Benhdad, who is the king, manages to get thirty-two other kings to join him in an attack on Samaria. He sent messengers to Ahab and said that everything that he owns belongs to him now, including his wives and children. Ahab, being the coward that he is was willing to hand it all over to him.
[1 Kings 20:1-4,6 And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. 2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad, 3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. 4 And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have. 6 Yet I will send my servants unto thee to morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away.]
[whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes,] This is exactly how the wicked rulers are, they may have their wicked people who do their dirty work for them, but when their own lives are in danger they will cower. Do you see how nations are so quick to fall into the hands of our enemies? Do you also see how fast we lose our freedoms? God’s plan here was not to prove to Ahab who He is, but to prove to the other kings that He protects Israel and still protects them today and it was not about how righteous they are.
[Deuteronomy 9:4-5 Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee. 5 Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.]
Do you see how God keeps His covenants? It is not for the sake of our own righteousness, but solely upon His promise. Well, Ahab, was quick to hand everything over to Benhadad without even thinking about the consequences that would bring upon the nation. Thankfully, he went to the elders and they convinced him not to give into their demands. Then God sent a prophet to Ahab to tell him that He will help them.
[1 Kings 20:8,11,13-14 And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent. 11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off. 13 And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD. 14 And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, Thou.]
[Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself] In other words, do not boast of a victory before it is won. The wicked world is quick to celebrate prematurely whenever they feel as though they have defeated God’s people, but God will always get the victory. In fact, these foolish kings were so confident that they defeated Israel already that they started celebrating, they were drunk before they learned that Israel was coming right for them. When Benhadad heard that Israel was counterattacking he sent the drunken soldiers out and that led to their great slaughter.
[1 Kings 20:20-23 And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen. 21 And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter. 22 And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee. 23 And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.]
[Their gods are gods of the hills;] These foolish kings thought that Israel had different gods in different areas, just like they probably thought they had. The sad truth is that Israel thought that way too as they were following the “Baal” religion. Nevertheless, God, was going to prove to all of them that He is the one and only Almighty God, that He is everywhere, and just as powerful in the hills as He is in the valleys.
[1 Kings 20:28-30 And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 29 And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day. 30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.]
[Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills,] You see, God allows deliverance to the wicked in an attempt to prove who He is to the world, and get believers to repent too. Why? Because hell is not anywhere we want to be, [John 3:17-19 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.]
Jesus did not come to condemn the world, and yet the bulk of the world is condemned already because of their wicked ways and refusal to repent of them. Jesus, said it this way, [Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.] There will be among those “righteous” and “wicked” who will be rejected by Christ in the last days, many preachers, so-called soul winners, and men and women of faith, but only those whom have sincerely believed in and received Christ as their Saviour will escape hell. Well, in an attempt to spare his life, Benhadad humbled himself to Ahab and they made a covenant with each other.
[1 Kings 20:31,33-34 And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life. 33 Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother Benhadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. 34 And Benhadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.]
[put sackcloth on our loins…and go out to the king of Israel:] I believe that some of those kings men that escaped the counterattack actually did repent, but Ahab never heeded the call. In fact, Ahab, promises Benhadad that he should have his palace at Damascus, the metropolis of Syria, and exercise power there, but that covenant would prove fatal for Ahab. And God, sent a prophet to warn him of this.
[1 Kings 20:38-40,41-43 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face. 39 And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. 40 And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it. 42 And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people. 43 And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.]
[So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.] You know, God, really does not need to lift one finger to send judgment on the wicked as they do it all by themselves. While Ahab was no saint, and probably just as wicked as Benhadad, the Syrians brought themselves to their own graves and so did Ahab. However, God does not give up on anyone until they prove themselves to be reprobates, [Romans 1:28,30,32 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.]
[went to his house heavy and displeased,] God, had to prepare Ahab’s heart, if showing Him how powerful He is and that He protects them would not open it, then perhaps the thought of losing his life would. After all that happened you would think that He would have repented, but instead he decides that he wants to build a garden next to his house, the only problem, it was not his land.
[1 Kings 21:1-4 And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. 3 And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. 4 And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.]
[turned away his face, and would eat no bread.] Really! Because he could not get what he wanted he goes into his room and pouts! What kind of leader has a temper tantrum because a Godly man would not bow to him? Well, his wicked wife, Jezebel. She was all to willing to bring down one of God’s people after all, she was a true reprobate. She knew that she could not take the Naboth’s land from him, so, she came up with a plan to have him killed, using Ahab’s name to do it.
[1 Kings 21:7-10 And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. 8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. 9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: 10 And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.]
[Thou didst blaspheme God and the king.] Is that not like the wicked? They have no problem using God’s name for their wicked agenda. There is always someone just as wicked, and bold enough to kill the innocent and use God’s name only when it benefits them. Can you see now that it was Jezebel who really ran the kingdom? However, all that was about to change, when this time, Elijah shows up and tells Ahab that God was not pleased with what he had done.
[1 Kings 21:16-20 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. 17 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it. 19 And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. 20 And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.]
[because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.] Satan, may be the deceiver, but no one can blame him or God for selling their souls to Satan. You reap what you sew no matter what or who you allow to influence you. Now, God, is so merciful that anyone can go to Him at any time in sincere repentance and He will repent of the evil that He thought to do to them. In fact, Elijah, goes on to tell him what his punishment will be and his entire family.
[1 Kings 21:22-23,27-29 And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin. 23 And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. 27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. 28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.]
[because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days:] Honestly, God is more merciful to us than we deserve, and as wicked as the world is, He could wipe out the earth in the blink of an eye, but by His mercies He will not do that until the last soul to receive His Son is saved. In order for one to be saved they first need to acknowledge that they are a sinner and then accept that Jesus gave His life to save them. That is where many falter, they rather live in their sin than admit that the life they are living is wrong, [Hebrews 4:2-3 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [1 Kings 20:13 And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.]
Today’s Prayer: God, You know my heart, You know my faith, and You know my desire to love and honor You with all my heart, mind, and soul, but there is not a day that goes by where I am not being challenged. I know I am not perfect, and I mess up every day, but by Your mercies I am protected still. Lord, give me Your power, mercy, grace, and strength to get through each and every day standing strong, grounded in my faith and holding on to Your promises. Watch over and protect me as I am out in the world, showing kindness to all. Let me not lose sight of You in anything that I do, and always trust that You have a plan and a purpose, and will fulfill every promise that You made to me. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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