1 Kings 15:25 -16:7

[0:00] 1 Kings chapter 15, starting in verse 26. We're going to spill over into the 16th chapter and get to verse 7. So 1 Kings chapter 15, I'm going to start in verse 25, and then we'll spill over into the 16th chapter and get down to verse 7.

[0:18] Let's open up with a word of prayer. Lord, I do thank you so much for the opportunity you've given us. I thank you, God, that we have this chance to gather together tonight, Lord, and we do trust you. And we lean upon your wisdom and your guidance and your understanding.

[0:33] And, Lord, we just pray that you be with those who are affected by the weather. We know that it can be very traumatic, and the reality is there. So, Lord, we just pray, God, that you be with those who are going to be affected by it.

[0:45] As the storms move through, we pray your hand of safety would rest upon individuals and even congregants as they meet together in various places this evening. We pray that you be with us tonight as we open up the word of God, that it would speak truth into our hearts and minds, and that we would come to a greater understanding of who you are, a greater understanding of how we should live our lives according to who you are.

[1:07] We pray for our children and our youth throughout the building. We pray, God, that Christ be magnified and the gospel be glorified to each and every one of them. And, Lord, we just ask that you work in a mighty, mighty way, and we ask it all in Jesus' name.

[1:20] Amen. All right, where we're at in the word of God, we're fixing to shift. We've been looking at the southern kingdom of Judah. The nation of Israel is divided.

[1:32] You have the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. We've spent some time looking at the southern kingdom. We are leaving the southern kingdom behind for now what will be pretty much the rest of the book of 1 Kings.

[1:46] Save a few verses near the end of 1 Kings, the author now, whoever it is that is compiling this history of God's people, many people believe it's Jeremiah, some think it may be someone else, spends the bulk of his time here focusing on the northern kingdom.

[2:08] This is where we're going to get into that. This man reigned and he did what was wicked in the sight of the Lord. This man reigned and he did what was wicked in the sight of the Lord. This man reigned and we kind of get lost in all the names. I mean, a lot of overlap and there are a lot of things that are going on.

[2:20] And we understand we're reading 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles. We do have a lot of overlap because most times you're kind of bouncing back and forth between the northern and southern kingdom. And so in that you see overlap.

[2:32] So we will actually step back a little bit in time. We make our transition in verse 25 of the 15th chapter. But I want you to see, even before we get into really what is the majority of what's going to take up the rest of the book, I'll go ahead and give you the title.

[2:49] I want you to see a consistency through the rise and fall of many. Because this is something I want you to hold on to as we look at the kings that reign and what goes on. It's just a consistency through the rise and fall of many.

[3:02] Now, starting in verse 25. 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.

[3:13] You remember Jeroboam. Jeroboam was the guy that was the first king in the northern kingdom of Israel. He did what was wicked inside of the Lord. You remember that. It's been some time since we've been there. He rose up to two gold calves. He led the nation into idolatrous worship.

[3:25] God sent a prophet to him and he ignored the word. So that's important. Hold on in context, right? He ignored the word, the warning of God. He just forsook the Lord, his God, and began to worship however he wanted to.

[3:38] So his son becomes king in the second year of Asa, king of Judah. And he reigned over Israel two years. He did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father and in his sin, which he made Israel sin.

[3:49] Then Basha, the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Basha struck him down at Givethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Givethon.

[4:01] So Basha killed him in the third year of Asa, king of Judah, and reigned in his place. It came about as soon as he was king, he struck down all the household of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam any persons alive until he had destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite.

[4:21] And because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he 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?

[4:36] There was war between Asa and Basha, king of Israel, all their days. In the third year of Asa, king of Judah, Basha, the son of Ahijah, became king over Israel in Tirzah.

[4:47] And he reigned 24 years. He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin, which he made Israel sin. Now the word of the Lord came to Jehu, the son of Hananiah, against Basha, saying, And as much as I exalted you from the dust, and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made my people Israel sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, behold, I will consume Basha and his house.

[5:14] I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Naboth. Anyone of Basha who dies in the city of the dogs will eat. Anyone of his who dies in the field, the birds of the heavens will eat.

[5:26] Now the rest of the acts of Basha, what he did in his might, are they not written in the books of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Basha slept with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah.

[5:37] And Elah, his son, became king in his place. Moreover, the word of the Lord through the prophet Jehu, the son of Hananiah, also came against Basha and his household, both because of all the evil which he did in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, and being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he struck it.

[5:58] Okay, I want you to see a consistency through the rise and fall of many. This isn't just going to be a consistency that we see here. This will be a consistent pattern which we see something we can behold, and something really that we need to cast our anchor in and hold on to.

[6:13] Because we're entering into a portion of scripture that if we're not careful, we will get discouraged. And we will get discouraged because it will seem as if God is not in control of what is happening.

[6:25] But we will meet king after king after king who does what is wicked, and who does what is evil on the side of the Lord. We will meet individual after individual after individual. So Jeroboam was wicked. Basha is even more wicked than Jeroboam.

[6:38] And if we're not careful, it will look like evil reigns, and righteousness is cast to the wayside, and God is out of control. But what I want you to see is the consistency here, so that we don't despair and we don't lose hope.

[6:52] Because there's something that runs true through each one of this possession of kings, or progression of kings. And something that is true, not only through this period and the period of the kings, but also throughout history.

[7:06] And so the first thing I want you to notice is the activity of God. It is the activity of God. We read, One thing that I want you to notice is that each time these kings do evil or do wicked, it is defined in this manner.

[7:31] He did what was wicked in the sight of the Lord. This wickedness, this unrighteousness, is always done in the sight of the Lord.

[7:44] Which assures us that he does see, he does take notice, and he is an active participant in the affairs of mankind. Now, some would love to say that there is a God, a great mighty being, who spins things in motion, kind of like the great clockmaker analogy, that he puts everything in place, he has all the mechanisms there, and then he winds it up and he lets it go and he moves away from it.

[8:12] And how things play out and how things work out is really completely upon how he wired into it. But one thing that we see in Scripture, one thing that we notice consistency, is that these things are done in the sight of the Lord.

[8:25] That he notices them. He takes notice of it. He responds to it. We'll get to that in just a moment. But that God is active in the history of mankind. It may seem like he's not.

[8:36] When the wickedness seems to reign, we'll get to much more wicked kings later on in the northern kingdom. We'll meet the things that are really just done with the greatest of despair. It may seem like man is getting away from it.

[8:48] People say, well, Basha did what is wicked, but he reigned 24 years. I mean, was God's hand so short that he could not deliver? Was God so absent that he could not do something about it? But we are reminded over and over and over again that the wicked that is being done is always done in the sight of the Lord.

[9:08] Now that should be comforting to us because God is a righteous God. And God is righteous in his justice and in his judgment. And he does judge the wicked.

[9:18] Maybe not according to our timetable, but he does judge the wicked. We're also reminded, not only is the wicked done that way, we are also reminded that God orchestrates these events.

[9:30] It says that when Basha becomes king, now the way he became king, he conspired against Nadab. When Nadab was besieged in the city of the Philistines, Basha took his opportune time and assassinated him, okay?

[9:42] Let's call it what it is. He assassinated the king and said, oh, by the way, I'm king. But notice where he's from because it's astounding. He is from the tribe of Issachar. No one from that little tribe, that little well-known tribe, ever sits upon a throne.

[9:54] It is just really an unknown place. But yet we are told that the Lord God declares in the 16th chapter that he was the one who raised Basha up.

[10:05] It was he, he said, I called you up out of the dust. I made you king. Truly, we are reminded over and over again that God holds the hearts of the kings in the palm of his hands and he turns them like channels of water wherever he desires.

[10:21] God is a God who is in control. We need to notice this because we over and over again find the activity of God. Even the sins, now you're going to stay with me on this one, even the sins that Basha commits are part of the sovereignly declared judgments of God.

[10:41] When he killed Nadab, the first act of office was to destroy every offspring of Jeroboam. This fulfilled the word of God.

[10:52] God had declared that coming judgment to Jeroboam through the prophet. The prophet that Jeroboam ignored is the one that God had said, this is what's going to happen.

[11:04] There's going to come a king after you and that king after you will destroy every offspring from your family. This is fulfilled in Basha's activity. Over and over again, we notice the activity of God.

[11:20] God is very active. As a matter of fact, we even see the activity of God in the fact that he always has someone present. We're going to get ahead of ourselves if we spend time there, but God often intervenes.

[11:34] We say this because one of the temptations is when things go bad, is for us to ask the question, where was God in all of that?

[11:47] And could not God have stopped it? It's one of the great theological questions of all ages, right? Do we really believe in the sovereignty of God?

[11:59] And if you really believe in the sovereignty of God and you take it to its logical conclusion, that is, you take it to its uttermost end, which is, in my thinking, I have to take things to their end.

[12:11] I can't just leave it where it is and say, oh, I believe in the sovereignty of God. I mean, if I believe in the sovereignty of God and I have to take it all the way to its end, and that is, everything that happens rests under the hand of his sovereignty, which means he has the ability to stop it, but he does not.

[12:29] And then all of a sudden we get to this place where we're like, oh, wait a minute. Does that make God unfair or unjust? We'll answer that in just a moment, okay? But we want to notice, when we see all these kings coming through, that God is very active.

[12:47] Because if we don't, we'll think the only active one here is the enemy of our souls. It is the ones doing wicked. And that's absolutely not the case.

[12:59] We see the activity of God. Number two, we see the announcement of judgment. This is a consistency that we find through the rise and fall of many.

[13:11] God is so actively involved that he always has his person. He always has his prophet to declare his word. He always has his one who speaks his truth.

[13:23] When Jeroboam sins, he sins Ahijah the Shilonite. Ahijah comes. He comes up to Jeroboam. He's beside the altar. He makes it declare right about the altar cracking open, the ashes falling out. We've already read that.

[13:34] God had a man to send there. We progress a little bit further in history, and all of a sudden here's Basha. It tells us in the 16th chapter, Now the word of the Lord came to Jehu, the son of Hananiah, against Basha.

[13:46] Here we find that God also has a man to speak into Basha's circumstances, right? And this is natural. Nadab doesn't need to have that responsibility. He's only reigns two years.

[13:57] But the word of judgment has already been announced to the household of Jeroboam through Hananiah. The household of Jeroboam has already heard the word of God. And now we have a new dynasty, if you will.

[14:10] Basha comes up, a whole different family line. He is there, and now the word of the Lord comes to him through this next prophet. What's astounding here is that God always has his man, but God always sends his man to them.

[14:22] As a matter of fact, Jehu, the son of Hananiah. Hananiah is a prophet to the southern kings in Judah, okay? Hananiah prophesies to Asa, who is reigning down in Judah at this time.

[14:37] If you remember, it was Asa who consulted with the foreign powers because Basha besieged one of his cities. We just read that earlier in the chapter. So Hananiah is the one who prophesies there. As a matter of fact, Jehu, if we go and open up the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles, we find he lives in Jerusalem.

[14:54] So he's not a northern kingdom prophet, but yet he is one who is commissioned by God to go speak to this individual. He is a declarer of the truth. Now I want you to stay the course with me here because when he goes, he declares the word of God to Basha.

[15:11] What you're doing is wicked and you're walking in the ways of Jeroboam. And since you're walking in the ways of Jeroboam, the outcome of Jeroboam is going to be the outcome of Basha.

[15:23] Just as all of Jeroboam's offsprings were cut off, so will all the offsprings of Basha be cut off. And he gives the whole prophecy about the dogs and the birds and all the people dying and all this other stuff.

[15:33] Now, we have to understand this. This is where we get to the grace and mercy of God. God is God and he does not have to declare his judgments to people. He doesn't have to answer to us.

[15:47] But God is such a God that he does not cause people to walk around aimlessly hoping that they please him. One of the most gracious things that we have about God is this thing called revelation.

[15:57] God reveals himself to his people and therefore holds his people accountable for the revelation they have. We do not have to ask ourselves, is God pleased with us?

[16:08] We ask ourselves, what does God call us to do in order to walk pleasing in his sight? Many religions walk hoping that they please their God, never living with a certainty, never living with an assurance that God has accepted them, forgiven them, and restored them.

[16:24] It's not so with Christianity. God has been so clear. God has been so gracious and so merciful to us that he has given us the holy standard. We call that the Ten Commandments or the Decalogue. In the Ten Commandments, it says you have to do this, this, this, this, and this.

[16:38] We read the Ten Commandments and as someone once said, when we are slain by the commandments and we realize that we can't do it, then God reveals that there is one who can and that one is Jesus Christ. And that Jesus Christ has died upon the cross of Calvary for our sins.

[16:51] See, God is so gracious. God pronounces the judgment for the wages of sin is what? Death. He says, if we sin, we die. That's the judgment, right? But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

[17:03] So God is so gracious because he announces the judgment. God doesn't have to tell us what happens in the end, but in his grace and in his mercy, he reveals it to us through the word of God.

[17:14] And in his grace and his mercy, he goes to these kings and he tells them, repent of your wicked ways or this is coming. Therefore, God is to be praised for his judgment, and man is without excuse when he rejects that judgment.

[17:27] See, man is accountable because God has bestowed upon him the truth. And just like Basha is accountable because he knew what was coming if he did not repent, my friend, we are accountable as well because God has clearly spoken to us from Genesis to Revelations what it looks like to live pleasing in his sight.

[17:48] God announces the judgment, but he also announces the forgiveness and the pardon and the restoration and all those things. What a gracious, kind God we have.

[17:59] And with each king, you think we're going to get to the wicked king, the wicked of all wickets, Ahab. You have Elijah, the showdown in Mount Carmel, right? God is so gracious because he declares, if you don't repent, this is what happens.

[18:17] You know why I love the Old Testament? Because when I open up the Old Testament, and I know the storms are building out here, and I'm trying my best to make it quick. When I open up the Old Testament, it tells me what happens if I don't change.

[18:31] And then when I open up the New Testament, it tells me, since I know I can't change, I have found one who can change me. God is gracious because he announces it to us. The greatest thing we can ever do is be told the truth.

[18:44] God always has an individual to tell us the truth. And he declares the word of God to us. So here we see the activity of God, the announcement of judgment number three, the accountability of man.

[18:56] One thing you notice is the accountability of man, and this is the other side of the coin. God announces this judgment. He tells Basha that he will die and all of his household will die. You say, why is he going to die?

[19:08] When we notice this reality, he says in verse 7 that he would die because he had all the evil which he did in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the works of his hands. Again, God is provoked to anger, so we see he's actively involved.

[19:21] Provoking him to anger with the works of his hands and being like the house of Jeroboam. He did not forsake the worship of the golden calves. He did not forsake the worship of idolatry. He did not forsake all the cult prostitutes and those things.

[19:32] And look at this last, don't let this last phrase miss you because this is where we have to hold it out. And because he struck him. That is, God is judging Basha because he killed the members of the household of Jeroboam.

[19:51] Now this should cause you to scratch your head just a little bit. Because God had foretold that someone would kill the household of Jeroboam. And Basha is the instrument of God's judgment for the declared punishment for his rebellion.

[20:10] That is, the sovereignty of God uses the sinfulness of Basha to fulfill his purposes. And then, God judges Basha for his sin.

[20:25] Now some right there would throw a flag and say that's unfair. Because this is what God said he was going to do. Therefore, Basha is fulfilling the word of God. And he is. He is bringing about the promise of God.

[20:37] Therefore, Basha is excused for what he did. And no, he's not. We open up the book of Habakkuk. We find in the book of Habakkuk, God having an interaction.

[20:52] It's also found in the book of... I might slip in somewhere else. I have to go there somewhere. Maybe Micah. Where God's having an interaction. And he says, I'm going to judge my people.

[21:02] And the prophet says, well, how are you going to judge your people? And he says, well, I'm going to bring the Assyrians. And they're going to judge my people. And the prophet gets angry. The prophet gets upset and says, oh, God. The Assyrians are worse than us. The Assyrians are worse than your people.

[21:14] We're doing wickedness and unrighteousness. But they're desperately wicked. They're desperately unrighteous. Will you use the most wicked to judge us? Will a just God do that? And God says, I'm going to use them.

[21:24] And they're going to be my tool of judgment. And then I'm going to judge them. For their sins. Why? Because God in his sovereignty... God is not the author of sin.

[21:35] But God can use the sinfulness of man to fulfill his purposes. That's where we give him sovereign power. But that does not excuse man for his sinful actions.

[21:49] Because every man dies for his own sin. Though many of these sins, Nadab walked in the sins of his father. He acted just like Jeroboam. Basha walked in the sins of Jeroboam.

[22:00] He acted just like Jeroboam. But Nadab did not die because of Jeroboam's sin. Nadab died because of his sin. Basha does not die because of Jeroboam or Nadab's sin. He dies because of his sin. See, God is just.

[22:13] The reason he can declare what's going to happen is because he sees it before it happens. He's outside of time. And I know this makes our minds smoke a little bit. And it's okay to let them smoke just a little bit. And it's okay to sit there and go, well, I can't wrap my mind around it.

[22:27] And God says, no, you can't. Because I'm higher than you. And I'm greater than you. And I'm above you as the heavens are above the earth. Right? So we'll never figure it out. But what you need to know is that God in his sovereign power is able to use the sinfulness of man to bring about his purposes.

[22:46] But that does not mean that God is the author of that sin. Basha still chose to kill those individuals. That's where we get the free will.

[22:57] And because of that choice to sin, God holds him accountable. Just because good comes out of our bad does not excuse our bad.

[23:10] You say, well, look what God did with that. Right. But look at the sin he committed in doing it. And we have to just reside. That's who God is.

[23:21] He is greater than our sin and that he uses it to fulfill his purposes. Because even in our sin, we cannot change or stop the purposes of God.

[23:34] But that does not excuse our sin. There's still an accountability for each individual. We see the accountability of man for his actions. Each and every one of them.

[23:47] We have to have an account for the choices we made. We'll see this consistency through the rise and fall of many. God's active.

[23:57] He's actively involved. Even though at times it would look like he's not. God will announce the judgment. And then he will bring that judgment quite often through the sinful actions of other individuals. But that does not excuse their actions.

[24:08] Because those individuals are accountable for their sins. Man is accountable. Because man has to give an account for that. You say, well, what if Basha had repented and turned to the Lord and not done those things?

[24:25] Well, God would have known that before it happened. He knew that what was in the heart of Basha was being used of God. Even the wickedness that was in his heart.

[24:35] God used it for his purposes. But that does not allow Basha to go unjust for his sins.

[24:46] We'll see that over and over again as we see this progression of Kings. All right, brothers. Thank you. That's 1 Kings 15, 25 through 16, 7. And we make our way through there just as quickly.

[25:05] Thank you.

[25:35] Thank you. Thank you.

[26:35] Thank you.