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[0:00] All right, good evening, guys. It's good to see you this evening. Thankful to have the opportunity to be gathered together with you. Take your Bibles, go with me to the book of 2 Kings, 2 Kings chapter 9, 2 Kings chapter 9.

[0:14] I'm going to go ahead and let you know, we'll be reading a lot of verses this evening, and we will do it because, well, really, to get to fullness in the context of Scripture, we need to see them.

[0:27] So we'll finish the 9th chapter, and then we'll read the entirety of the 10th chapter. I traditionally don't like reading that many verses. At times, I will say, you know, here's some verses out of this portion, and we'll cover a large section of Scripture like that.

[0:41] But when we get into historical writings in particular, there are times where to really get it in its full context, we need to see it as a whole. Other than that, we are trying to exegete or pull the truth out of a text where 70 sons of an individual were killed.

[1:00] And if you try to keep that in one little portion of Scripture by themselves, you're going, well, why is that even there? And to see why it's there, you need to see the fullness of the story. So out of respect for you guys quite often, I don't read them in length, but tonight we are going to do that because I think it is very becoming of us to kind of see the whole thing.

[1:20] So 2 Kings chapter 9, we'll pick up in verse 14. We'll pick it up in verse 14, and then we're going to read, like I say, all the way to the end of the 10th chapter. I know it will be hard to follow, but I want you to see it.

[1:32] Now let's set the text. Let's pray, and then we'll just get right into it. We'll kind of set the scene. We'll understand what's going on, so let's pray together. Lord, I'm so thankful for this evening. I'm thankful that we have an opportunity to gather together, Lord, and I just praise you for it.

[1:46] I praise you for your people. I praise you for this church, and I praise you, Lord, for the work you're doing among us. Lord, right now when we come, we take time just to be still and to read the Word of God.

[1:57] Lord, understanding even as we read the historical writings and we read the Old Testament, that we're seeing not only the character of God, but we're also seeing the character and the fault of man. So, Lord, I pray that you give us clarity.

[2:08] You give us understanding. You help us to see it with eyes that point towards you. Lord, help us not to focus on the deeds of man. Lord, help us to see the greatness and the sovereignty of the Lord God.

[2:20] I pray for those working with our children and our youth in the back. I pray that in those classes and in those settings that Christ be glorified and that the gospel be clearly portrayed and told. And we just ask that in all ways and all manners that you be glorified in all that takes place throughout this place this evening.

[2:36] And we ask it on Christ's name. Amen. Okay, the first half of 1 Kings chapter 9. Elisha sends one of the sons of the prophets on a very special task.

[2:48] He is to go and anoint Jehu as the next king of Israel. Now, at this time, the son of Ahab is reigning in the nation of Israel.

[3:02] That would be the northern kingdom. And Jehu is anointed king over Israel. And the young man tells him that he will bring about the prophetic word of the Lord God.

[3:16] That he will be the one that is used of the Lord to bring this matter of judgment upon the house of Ahab to completion. What we read, starting in verse 14 of the 9th chapter, is the outflow of that judgment.

[3:31] So, I'll go ahead and give you the title. And then we're going to read the verses. I want you to see an instrument of judgment here from 2 Kings chapter 9 verse 14.

[3:41] And reading all the way through the 10th chapter so that we can try to gather a fullness of the account. It says, So Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram.

[3:53] Now, Joram, with all Israel, was defending Ramath-Galit against Hazil, king of Aram. Stop right here because you want to understand this. I'm not going to do this all the time. I promise. When the prophetic word is given to Elijah, I know it was Elisha who sent the son.

[4:09] But when Elijah was on Mount Horeb, God told him he had a plan and purpose for him. One of those purposes was to cast his mantle upon Elisha. The other was to anoint Hazil, king of Damascus.

[4:23] And he was going to Damascus and anoint Hazil, king. And the other was to anoint Jehu, king of Israel. And then God makes this declaration. The judgment is coming upon the house of Ahab.

[4:35] And that the one that would flee from the sword of Hazil would fall by the sword of Jehu. So pay attention to that. Okay? These matters are literally coming to be right before our eyes.

[4:49] So here we see. That now Joram with all Israel was defending Ramath-Galit against Hazil, king of Aram. But king Joram had returned to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought with Hazil, king of Aram.

[5:05] So Jehu said, If this is your mind, then let no one escape or leave the city to go tell it in Jezreel. That would go back where they declared that he was king. Then Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram was lying there.

[5:20] Ahaziah, king of Judah, had come down to see Joram. Now the watchman was standing on the tower of Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu as he came. And he said, I see a company.

[5:31] And Joram said, Take a horseman and send him to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace? So a horseman went to meet him and said, Thus says the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What have you to do with peace?

[5:42] Turn behind me. And the watchman reported, The messenger came to them, but he did not return. Then he sent out a second horseman who came to them and said, Thus says the king, Is it peace?

[5:53] And Jehu answered, What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me. The watchman reported, He came even to them, and he did not return. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu, the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.

[6:06] Then Joram said, Get ready. And they made his chariot ready. Joram king of Israel, And Ahaziah king of Judah went out, Each in his chariot, And they went out to meet Jehu, And found him in the property of Naboth the Jezreelite.

[6:21] When Joram saw Jehu, He said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace? So long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are so many.

[6:31] So Joram reigned about and fled and said to Ahaziah, There is Chetri, O Ahaziah. And Jehu drew his bow with full strength and shot Joram between his arms, And the arrow went through his heart, and he sank in his chariot.

[6:45] Then Jehu said to Bidkar, his officer, Take him up and cast him into the property of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. For I remember when you and I were riding together after Ahab his father, That the Lord laid this oracle against him.

[7:01] Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons, Says the Lord. And I will repay you in this property, says the Lord. Now then take and cast him into the property according to the word of the Lord.

[7:14] When Ahaziah, king of Judah, saw this, he fled by way of the garden house. And Jehu pursued him and said, Shoot him too in the chariot. So they shot him at the ascent of Ger, which is at Iblan.

[7:26] But he fled to Megiddo and died there. Then his servants carried him in the chariot to Jerusalem And buried him in his grave with his fathers in the city of David. Now in the eleventh year of Joram, the son of Ahab, Ahaziah became king over Judah.

[7:42] When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out the window. As Jehu entered the gate, she said, Is it well, Zimri, your master's murderer?

[7:55] Then he lifted up his face to the window and said, Who is on my side? Who? And two or three officials looked down at him. He said, Throw her down.

[8:06] So they threw her down, and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses, and he trampled her underfoot. When he came in, he ate and drank, and he said, See now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king's daughter.

[8:18] They went to bury her, but they found nothing more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. Therefore they returned and told him, And he said, This is the word of the Lord, which he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the property of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel, and the corpse of Jezebel will be as dung on the face of the field and the property of Jezreel, so they cannot say, This is Jezebel.

[8:44] Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria, and Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the rulers of Jezreel, the elders, and to the guardians of the children of Ahab, saying, Now when this letter comes to you, since your master's sons are with you, as well as the chariots and horses and a fortified city and the weapons, select the best and fittest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.

[9:08] But they feared greatly and said, Behold, the two kings did not stand before him. How then can we stand? And the one who was over the household and he who was over the city, the elders and the guardians of the children, sent word to Jehu, saying, We are your servants.

[9:24] All that you say to us we will do. We will not make any man king. Do what is good in your sight. Then he wrote a letter to them a second time, saying, If you are on my side and you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men, your master's sons, and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow about this time.

[9:42] Now the king's sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city who were rearing them. When the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.

[9:56] When the messenger came and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons, he said, Put them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning. Now in the morning he went out and stood and said to all the people, You are innocent.

[10:08] Behold, I conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these? Know then that there shall fall there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the Lord which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab.

[10:19] For the Lord has done what he spoke through his servant Elijah. So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel and all his great men and his acquaintances and his priests until he left him without a survivor.

[10:32] Then he arose and departed and went to Samaria. On the way, while he was at Beth-Echid of the shepherds, Jehu met the relatives of Ahaziah, king of Judah, and said, Who are you? And they answered, We are the relatives of Ahaziah, and we have come down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.

[10:49] He said, Take them alive. So they took them alive and killed them at the pit of Beth-Echid, 42 men, and he left none of them. Now when he had departed from there, he met Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, coming to meet him.

[11:03] And he greeted him and said to him, Is your heart right as my heart is with your heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. Jehu said, If it is, give me your hand. And he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot.

[11:16] He said, Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. So he made him ride in his chariot. And when he came to Samaria, he killed all who remained to Ahab and Samaria until he had destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to Elijah.

[11:30] Then Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little. Jehu will serve him much. Now summon all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests. Let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal.

[11:43] Whoever is missing shall not live. But Jehu did it in cunning, so that he might destroy the worshipers of Baal. And Jehu said, Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.

[11:55] And they proclaimed it. Then Jehu sent throughout Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they went into the house of Baal. The house of Baal was filled from one end to the other.

[12:07] And he said to the one who was in charge of the wardrobe, Bring out garments for all the worshipers of Baal. So he brought out garments for them. Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab, the son of Rechab.

[12:19] And he said to the worshipers of Baal, Search and see that there is here with you none of the servants of the Lord, but only the worshipers of Baal. That they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.

[12:31] Now Jehu had stationed for himself 80 men outside. And he had said, The one who permits any of the men whom I bring into your hands to escape shall give up his life in exchange. Then it came about as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the royal officers, Go in, kill them, let none come out.

[12:51] And they killed them with the edge of the sword, and the guard and the royal officers threw them out and went into the inner room of the house of Baal. They brought out the sacred pillars of the house of Baal and burned them. They also broke down the sacred pillar of Baal and broke down the house of Baal and made it a latrine to this day.

[13:07] Thus Jehu eradicated Baal out of Israel. However, as for the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Naboth, which he made Israel sin, from these Jehu did not depart, even the golden calves that were at Bethel and that were at Dan.

[13:22] The Lord said to Jehu, Because you have done well in executing what is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab, according to all that was in my heart, your sons to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.

[13:35] But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel sin. And in those days the Lord began to cut off portions from Israel, and Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel, from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites and the Reubenites and the Manassites, from Aror, which is in the valley of Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.

[13:58] Now the rest of the acts of Jehu and all that he did and all his might are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria, and Jehoahaz, his son, became king in his place.

[14:12] Now the time which Jehu reigned over Israel and Samaria was 28 years. It's a long portion of the passage. Thank you for listening to it. Jehu is the longest reigning dynasty in the northern kingdom of Israel.

[14:27] His sons to the fourth generation reign. He outreigns by at least one generation the dynasty of Ahab. But that does not mean that he is righteous.

[14:41] I just want you to see, and we have to read it in bulk like this because admittedly there are some very difficult portions of that scripture. And there comes times in scripture where we need to read it in its entirety and we need to look and see what is God telling us or what are we seeing from this portion of scripture as a whole.

[14:58] There are some portions of scripture in which we can take one verse and glean out of that one verse. While we will not glean all that can be gleaned out of this portion of scripture, hopefully we will see how the Lord uses an instrument of judgment.

[15:12] The first thing that we must acknowledge is the freedom of God's choice. That is, because of his sovereignty, God is free to use any vessel that he desires to use as an instrument of judgment.

[15:30] God is not confined to use the righteous. He is not confined to do things in a particular matter. God bears the freedom to use any means or any circumstances as an avenue of judgment for the sin of mankind.

[15:49] This is something that we have to acknowledge in scripture. We have to acknowledge that God is free to utilize and even use circumstances and people, sometimes the most unlikely of people, for his purposes.

[16:04] One declaration that we have made over and over again is just because we are being used of the Lord, it does not give us a reason to boast in light of the reality that scripture tells us God uses any number of mundane and sometimes even wicked means to fulfill his purposes.

[16:22] Now we must surrender ourselves to God's usefulness, but the work being accomplished does not give glory to man, but gives all glory to the Lord God Almighty.

[16:34] We say it kind of jokingly, but we don't mean it jokingly. He can speak through a burning bush, he can talk through a mute donkey, or he can use a rooster to break your conscience. And if he can use these humble means, then who are we to exalt ourselves to say that we are anything just because he uses us?

[16:52] Throughout the history of scripture, we find that God's judgments come in a variety of ways. We see that the great flood in the days of Noah was a sign of God's judgment, of his displeasure for the sin and intent of every man's heart, save Noah and that preacher of righteousness for 120 years.

[17:14] Later on, we find that one of the signs of God's judgment would be the exact opposite of the flood. It will be drought, that God would cause the rain to stop so that there would be judgment. We see that God uses the most unlikely of empires.

[17:27] He uses the Assyrians as an instrument of judgment on the northern kingdom. He will use the Babylonians as an instrument of judgment upon the southern kingdom. God uses nations which are not his.

[17:38] It is this very purpose that we find in the minor prophets in which they ask the question, how are these people coming? Why can it happen? And they're posing the question to God. And God says, I'm free to use them.

[17:49] As a matter of fact, the prophets tell us that God uses the Babylonians as an instrument of judgment. And then he turns around and judges the Babylonians for the very things they do. And it causes us to admit to the reality.

[18:03] We'll get to it in just a minute. That while man is accountable for his actions, God bears the freedom to overrule the intentions of man to use it for his purposes.

[18:15] God is that sovereign. He absolutely does and is absolutely free to use any means that we can think of as an instrument of judgment that is rightly falling on those who have sinned.

[18:37] We see that because we understand what's going on here and all of the atrocities that have happened, all the things that break our heart and we're looking at it from the human side of which naturally is ours.

[18:50] It's the only perspective in which we have. A number of people are dying. A number of people are happening. And this one individual who was anointed by one of the sons of the prophet at the commission of Elisha, really flowing from the commission given to Elisha by the Lord God himself who called out Jehu.

[19:07] And then later on, God says that you have done all according to my purposes. But we understand the reality. Usefulness does not imply righteousness.

[19:22] We need to know that. God spoke through the false prophet Balaam to declare one of the greatest prophetic words that we have that I believe the wise men from the east were using in their study of the Old Testament scriptures in Numbers 24, 17.

[19:43] I see him now but not yet a star shall arise out of Judah and a scepter shall never depart from his hand. The wise men who saw his star arise in the east and they're on their way they say how did they know to go there?

[19:55] It's because Daniel would have been the chief of the Magi when he was in Babylon. That's the title he was given if you read the book of Daniel and it's being chief of the Magi one of the things that he would have had the opportunity to do would be to deposit the books that he saw worthy of study into their library.

[20:10] The books that accordingly Daniel would have deemed worthy to study would be what we refer to as the Pentateuch the first five books of the Bible which were already written and therefore he would have put them on the shelf of the library. Some years later these wise men are reading these books that are on the library they read this one that their chief at one time had put in the library and there's this really weird word that says that a star shall come out of nowhere and it will announce the coming of a king.

[20:33] Now that prophecy was given by a false prophet who would later die because of his sins but God used that prophecy so that the nations would come and worship the Savior at his birth. It's an amazing thing when we begin to look at scripture because too often we limit what God can do on how we would do it but we must acknowledge and we have to acknowledge if not just for a lack of a better way of saying it we will go crazy studying our scripture if we do not acknowledge the reality that God is free to use any instrument and means of judgment.

[21:09] He is not confined nor is he confounded. So we acknowledge the freedom of God's choice and we also have to say with that freedom that what God does is good.

[21:27] It is righteous. God is not the author of evil so we understand that. Secondly with the freedom of God's choice when we look at this passage we see the function of the instrument that is whatever instrument God is using be it flood, famine, fire or here an individual named Jehu it has a particular function.

[21:50] God had already declared this function. He had said in advance not only did he say on Mount Horeb when Elijah was there that Jehu would be the instrument along with Haziel also in connection with Elisha that it was during that time that judgment will fall upon the house of Ahab the very last prophetic word that Elijah gives is recorded for us in the book of 1 Kings and when we go to 1 Kings and we turn there and we go back and we see this record it is that one that is given to Ahab standing in the field of Naboth's vineyard and it is there it is actually the prophetic word that breaks Ahab's heart and it leads to the extension of Ahab's life and the mercy of God being put on display but the prophetic word that Elijah gives is that God would bring judgment upon the household of Ahab and all of these matters which we see being played out are clearly foretold in advance of this is the judgment now when we turn the page and we see the instrument now that God is free to use we see the function is that is he is doing everything God had declared he would do that is the word is coming about now that bears acceptance by us because we have the fullness of the word of God recorded from

[23:13] Genesis to Revelation and we ought to pay attention to what God says about his judgment not that we ever want to scare anybody into heaven or scare them out of hell but the reality of what God has declared as being true and coming and what would happen is a reality that we must acknowledge because the judgmental tools of God have a particular function that is they are going to do exactly what God says they would do we open up the book of Revelation it's the same thing when the pit is opened up and Satan is allowed to roam on the face of the earth it is now a judgment for the rebellion and a cleansing I would think that this tribulation period has a very particular purpose in God's hand that he is doing something amazing there and he's not just trying to kill individuals if you read the book of Revelations you will see that during those times people would cry out wanting death to come but they would not be allowed to die they would cry out that the mountains would fall upon them but God would not allow it to happen they will beg to be released from this earth but God won't let it be why because he's cleansing and purifying the nation of Israel through that time of discipline judgment see these instruments are confined to do only that which God ordained we would say

[24:33] Jehu stretched the bounds just a little bit because he went beyond the household of Ahab and he went into the friends and counselors and the priests and all these others but let's not be too easy even on those who die in their sin because we see the freedom of God's choice the function of the instrument number three what this passage really tells us and it's something that we don't acknowledge very often it is the fullness of sin's weight why so much death because the wages of sin is death nothing else when we open up the Old Testament we see the reality of what sin does no one did more wickedly than Ahab as they reigned over Israel we read that over and over again and before we cast Ahab's sons as innocent bystanders who die one of his sons was currently on the throne another one of his sons had reigned prior to that and both of them had denied the Lord

[25:44] God even though clear evidence had been given God had declared to Ahab that he would eradicate every male from the household lineage of Ahab so that the dynasty of Ahab would come to an end that it would be just like the reign of Jeroboam that family there that it would come to an abrupt end one of the trademarks of the nation of Israel the northern kingdom is that there are a multitude of dynasties that reign one family after another family after another family after another family and none of them do what is right no not one but yet down in the southern kingdom when the lineage of David though they longer than the northern kingdom there is but one dynasty that reigns throughout the entire period of the separation even into the Babylonian captivity and that one dynasty that one family continues to reign through the Babylonian captivity until we come out the other side and we know that because we open up the book of Matthew and we see the genealogies right they're there those names are recorded for a purpose and a reason and we see the continuation of that dynasty because that's the promise of God

[26:50] God made this covenant called the Davidic covenant to David that he would not fail to have a descendant set up on the throne and that his seed singular would reign forever and we see God being faithful to that and it doesn't matter how strong the family is or how weak the family is we see that happening in the northern kingdom what matters is the covenantal promises of God and what maintains that but what we see when we get to the northern kingdom is man doing it his way right not trusting in the promises of God not trusting in the covenants of God not leaning upon the worship of the Lord God and we see man in his best we see him waging war we see him fighting battles we see him winning battles we see him rising to power but what we see over and over and over again in the northern kingdom is death it's death and it happens all the time because this is the fullness of sins weight in case we ever wanted to take sin lightly look at the household of Ahab every one of them died why because of the over ruling effects of sin the sin of Ahab and the sin of Jezebel it permeated the family it offended the Lord

[28:09] God Almighty God is free from condemnation here because each man dies in his own sin we have this tendency even to look and say well what about Ahaziah Ahaziah is of the southern kingdom right of Judah is Ahaziah dying simply because he has befriended Joram is he just because he's there is he an innocent bystander no Ahaziah is Joram's nephew because his mom is Ahab's daughter there had been intermarrying now his dad is of Davidic lineage but his mother so therefore Ahaziah was also a male descendant of Ahab God knows what he's doing he knows what he's doing to the point where did they meet him at they met Jehu in the field of Naboth the Jezreelite which is the very place that God told Ahab his son's blood would be shed look at the fullness of the weight of sin sin cost more than we ever think it would it always does just because now we think we can sin and get away with it so too did Ahab and Jezebel but in the end the weight of sin falls and it falls hard finally we notice in this not only the freedom of

[29:44] God's choice the function of the instrument he uses the fullness of sin's weight in all of this we notice the fallibility of man Jehu is a divinely appointed instrument of the Lord God we acknowledge that but that does not mean he's righteous and it does not mean he's blameless the fallibility of man this man is used of the Lord God God himself declares that he his descendants will reign until the fourth generation why because you have done all that is well he says you have done well in executing what is right in my eyes everything that he did he said right now you have done everything that I said you would do you have done well what is right my eyes the Lord God says that but then we read but Jehu was not careful Jehu was not careful what does it say to walk in the law of the

[30:49] Lord the God of Israel with all his heart now I find it astounding in particular when the Lord God is referred to in the context of the northern kingdom which we call Israel because he's always referred to as the Lord God of Israel because though he rightfully is the Lord God of Israel those who rule over Israel do not see him as such or allow him to be as such and what we're told over and over in scriptures no matter who's in charge no matter who has ascended to the throne of power there is still one who is over Israel and that's the Lord God no matter who may be sitting upon the temporal throne there is still one who's ultimately in control and when we see Jehu he did everything that God wanted to do but he was not careful and he was not careful to walk in the ways of the Lord God of Israel that is he still worshiped the golden calves he didn't take them all the way back to true worship he took them back to Jeroboam when the nation was first divided in the golden calves which would be a reminder of God's faithfulness to them but yet they served as an idol in place of the

[32:01] Lord God he eradicated Bell worship that sounds great right that's a good thing but he did not remove idolatrous worship he just changed the idol they were worshipping right they're not worshipping bell anymore that's a latrine now that's in some translations literally it's an outhouse they made it an outhouse where they used to worship bell but they still had the golden calves and they're still there and they're still worshipping and he was not careful usefulness does not imply righteousness and we need to keep that in mind because though God may use someone for a season or even for his glory it does not mean that that particular individual is righteous why because God is free to display his work through any means or any person whatsoever we have really a scary tendency to say just because the Lord God uses someone that must mean they are right in all they do be careful there

[33:02] I have within the library shelves of my office back there no books which I would call blasphemous books whatsoever any books that I deem unfit I throw them away I've told you that before I told you Sunday morning I'll throw them away I have books back there that I think really speak great truth and there are some great expositors and teachers of the word on particular passages and I hold on to them but these same very men and women I would not adhere to everything they did in their life because there are some areas in which I felt like they were very very weak but God used them for this and therefore I want to glean from that information or glean from this information now I have taken commentaries whole commentary sets and threw them out over what I would call big rock issues there is one I am not going to tell you who it is it is very well retested even well respected even in the Southern Baptist and the Baptist life in general and most people agree with him it is not a modern one so I do not think I am speaking of anything modern but his commentaries are pretty strong but then I got to one and he cast doubt upon the virgin birth of Christ that is a big rock issue so the moment he cast doubt on that

[34:06] I could not accept any other interpretation he had of Christ throughout the New Testament so through the whole commentary he said away I was kind of upset because some parts he was really good on he was really good on the Pauline epistles he was really good on other letters but if you can't get the birth of Christ right then you get nothing else right right so you have to have spiritual discernment you have to have spiritual wisdom here right you need to know these matters just because God uses someone does not mean they're righteous because this man was not careful it's not what we do it's who we are that matters he did all the right things but notice what it says he was not careful to follow the Lord God of Israel with all his heart see it's not the actions that matters the heart the scripture commands us over and over again the Lord love the Lord our God with all our heart with all our soul with all our mind with all our strength right to guard the heart first so there's a lot of people doing great things but if the heart is not right then the individual is not right and all of a sudden the judgments of God begin again look at how it happens so God began to diminish or to take away some of the regions of Israel why because this man though he had been used was fallible we understand the fallibility of man this is why we need someone else we don't need an instrument of God we don't need someone that God can use we need

[35:34]  God in the flesh to dwell among us and to take our sins we need an infallible perfect man who would die in our place and that man is Jesus Christ we need that with all of our being because Jehu was used but he was not careful and therefore God began to cut off portions of the land of Israel that's the judgment they're losing land the blessings of God said you would expand the judgments of God said you would be constricted right now all of a sudden they're losing portions they're losing by the way notice the portion of the land they lose first should not surprise you when you pay attention to the inhabitants of the promised land it should not surprise you they lose that which is east of the Jordan River if you're looking at your Bible maps on that side all that stuff over there right you know the people that had a divisive line to sell this land it was good for the lifestyle and say oh we want to stay here but they didn't have access to worship and all of a sudden they're cut off from their people and they're also the first to fall away why because if you live on the fringes of God's people I promise you it won't take very long before you're cut off if you live on the fringes it won't take longer it won't go very far before you're cut off we'll notice that throughout scripture but here is an instrument of judgment recorded for us in 2nd Kings 9 14 through 10 36