Neighbors From Hell (Part B)

Life in this world is not fair. Since Eden, it's been messed up. Abel being killed by his own brother because Abel was more righteous than his brother. The innocence of Bethlehem, the little children. Actually, you know, when you add it all up, the little children of Bethlehem, it was, Lord, you did us a favor. You got us out of there and brought us up here. This is nice. Come here often. John the Baptist, righteous prophet.

I mean, just some. James the apostle, of course, our Lord. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the Book of First Kings.

Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now here's Pastor Rick as he continues his message called Neighbors from Hell in Romans Chapter 7. Romans Chapter 7. I would not have known sin except through the law, for I would not have known covetedness unless the law had said, you shall not covet. This is the first known sin in the Bible. Lucifer coveted the authority and the throne of God. I will be like the most high, I will exalt my stars, and on and on it went, and that turned that archangel into the devil himself. In verse 7, then Jezebel, his wife, said to him, you now exercise authority over Israel. Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite. You see, the thing about this is he offers no, well, how?

Or what are you going to do? He doesn't want to know. He just wants that land. And using her to do it is just right for the both of them. She enjoys killing the Jewish people, and he enjoys having what he wants no matter what. She understood the wicked possibilities of power. And without morals, it just goes to another level that Satan wants it to go to, and earth has never lacked these type of people in governments. There is an infestation of people who are drunk with power and wicked at the same time.

Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful. Without conscience, everything, everything against somebody else is fair if it's good for you. That's the way Jezebel fought. And her course of action seems automatic without hesitation. She doesn't have to think about this.

Why are you standing? What? You're kidding me.

Cheer up. I'll fix this. She doesn't miss a beat. I referenced Zephaniah earlier. Zephaniah was a prophet to Judah, and he writes, Yahweh is righteous in her midst. He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning he brings his justice to light. He never fails, but the unjust, or the wicked, knows no shame. They're just not embarrassed, doesn't faze them. You know, I don't know, in Judah's colony, there's no shame there. They might be otherwise relatively nice people, but there's a disconnect that God pronounces on these behaviors. And anyway, she doesn't ask, why won't he sell it to you?

Tell me that again. This is verse 8 now that we come to. And she wrote letters in Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. Well, she's permitted to forge it.

After all, he's going to get what he wants, and he's going to be so happy when he gets it. No shame, no guilt, no pity, no goodness, but there is a judgment. Where is the soul of Jezebel at this very moment?

Same place as Judas Iscariot. Proverbs 6 verse 18, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, and that's her. So she's used the king's authority, his seal, to bully the village people to do what she wants, and what she wants is Naboth's death. Eternal torment is not something anyone will recover from.

And, you know, a person can tell themselves whatever they want. There's a date with death, and there's a date with judgment, and it's too late for her. The name Jezebel has made its way into the dictionary.

Reading from the dictionary, one of them, the one I like, Jezebel, an evil, shameless woman, to call a woman a Jezebel is to put her on the lowest level of society. Well, of course, you've got Amnon. How come his name didn't make it?

Because he is just as foul. But, anyway, it's not a gender war. Satan would love it to be. There are evil people.

I mean, if you want equal time, then you'd have to make Satan a female just to make sure to make them happy. See the senselessness of that? It's like, we demand it. There was a movement years ago to change the names, when I lived in New York, of manhole covers, of the peoplehole covers. I mean, who does this stuff? Is there like a factory at the end of town where they just mass produce an assembly line of really stupid people?

Anyway, here we have her with the speaking of fabrication, a royal fabrication, a royal lie, on royal stationery no less, sealed with the royal seal, and of course it ends in royal judgment. These are Naboth's neighbors, and they literally are from hell. Satan is pulling the strings of these people, and they love to have it so.

Because Satan gives them whatever they want for a portion of a lifetime. But that's as far as he can go. First, because, you know, we have a proverb, no hitches on a hearse. You can take it with you, you just won't get to use it. And whether you won't take it, you have to even pay the funeral home extra.

Isn't it strange you don't drive right by a funeral home and see little wagons parked out there for people's stuff? Alright, let's go to verse 9, because I'm morbid. She wrote in letters saying, Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth with high honor among the people. Poor Naboth, you know, we're going to have a fast to call upon the Lord, there must be something that's not right here, and we need as a community to get together. That's the precedent that we find in the scripture over such a town meeting, such a fast, and he's going to be, you know, one of the tribal elders at the head, and he's thinking, man, this is great. But it's really his death, he is going to be killed, murdered. And this Jezebel and Ahab, they were the law, but they themselves were lawless. Boy, we've never seen anything like that, sarcasm.

The seat of Naboth with high honor among the people. This is giving the impression that he is a good guy, and if he messed up, it would really have to be big and genuine. That's the impression that this is setting up for the guest of honor to blaspheme?

No way, but he did, at least that's how the lie is told. Verse 10, and seat two of them, scoundrels, in other words, thugs, before him to bear witness against him, saying, you have blasphemed God and the king, then take him out and stone him that he may die. So it is just explicit, she's very rough in front, I want him dead, and this is how I want him dead. I don't want any, you know, I don't want the poll numbers to go down, my husband's poll, how am I doing everybody? We just want to act like it's all Naboth.

Again, we've never seen anything like this in our lifetime. Ahab and Jezebel are truly these wicked people. When we get to verse 25 in 1 Kings 21, we read the commentary of the Lord, but there was none, there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of Yahweh because Jezebel, his wife, stirred him up.

And we could add, and he loved to have it so. It would be very against the lessons from the Bible to suggest that women have an insignificant role in life. We see she has a very significant role.

What does she do with it? She does it for evil. Some of you may have heard about of Saul Alinsky in his book, Rules for Radicals. Of course, he writes in this book on how to agitate and upset government and overthrow righteous people, use their righteousness against them. You know, if they say, we answer every letter, then send them 30,000 letters and see if they can answer that and just sort of expose them for being liars that they are.

Well, they've created an impossible condition, and it's a one-sided thing. Everything in Ahab and Jezebel God hates. Some of you may not be familiar with Proverbs 6. I think a lot of Christians either don't know this section of scripture or conveniently sidestep it, but verses 16-19 are quite clear.

These six things Yahweh hates, yes, seven, are an abomination to him. A proud look. That's an arrogant look. That's not the pride of being delighted. Hey, I graduated.

I'm so happy with myself. That's okay. But when you say, I graduated and you didn't, chump, then you get an assignment and get a problem. Can you say chump from the pulpit? I meant chimp.

No, I'm kidding. Anyway, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows seed of discord among brethren. That one, I think some Christians misread it. I think they think that's one of the ten commandments to sow seeds of discord amongst brethren, because they do it in churches all over the world, unfortunately.

And God says, I hate that. Well, anyway, Saul Alinsky, this is someone who, like Jezebel, is using the law against the innocent. They're using the ten commandments against a righteous man. They're going to frame him for a crime, or to be framed, charged and convicted of a crime that he did not do, while they themselves have no standards that you can hold them accountable to. Isn't that the news media this way? Don't they hold everyone else to high standards? If you are a policeman and you get caught doing something wrong, well, you're all over the world. Don't be a pastor of a big church and get caught doing something that they don't think is right.

Oh, your name's all over the news. But what about them? Who follows them around and says, hey, I caught you drunk. I caught you, you know, you used a profane word. No, they insist on being unaccountable, claiming exemption, freedom of the press, after all. Freedom to press you into a nasty situation and get away with it. Anyway, to curse God was a capital crime, and to curse the king was forbidden also. So she wants these two charges against him.

One is theological, the other is political or civil. And she is Saul Alinsky of her day, or he is Jezebel of his day. And wicked Jezebel had enough knowledge of the Bible to use it against Bible believers. There are people like that today. They have enough information from the Bible to use it against Christians. I thought you Christians, I thought, and they don't know what they're talking about. Stand up to them. Don't take their mess. Tell them, you know what, I disagree with you.

And if I agree with you, then we'd both be wrong, and I don't want to be wrong with you. Anyway, Nero's mother was claimed a grappina. She was said to have done a very similar thing, had a lot of people killed.

And one person she is said to have commanded him to commit suicide so she could take his vegetable garden. Where is she right now at this very moment? Where is her soul? Because she is somewhere.

You don't die and evaporate. Verse 11, so the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them as it is written in the letters which she had sent them. Very likely she had some dirt on all of them, or she just had the army that could just go in and do whatever she wanted with Ahab's seal on it. This was a government execution, a murder. And their willingness and swiftness to comply shows the moral degradation that the northern kingdom had fallen to.

Jezebel felt entitled to everything she could touch. And there are people like this. We see them in history.

We see them now. I don't remember the name of the hotel. Anyway, she was finally charged with a crime, but she was so incredibly arrogant. I'm getting them confused. There's another one that owned like a million shoes.

I think she was the wife of the Filipino president. The arrogance of these people and how they felt they were entitled to everything and everyone else was entitled to serve them. The human heart, it is dark if the capacity for its darkness, as we learn from the Gospels, one human being can hold more demons than two thousand pigs. Verse 12, they proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. Verse 13, and two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him. And the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth in the presence of the people saying, Naboth has blasphemed God and the king. Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones so that he died.

Well, the details are admitted how Naboth was saying, I didn't say this. And leading him out the city, he was doomed. These two men were, these scoundrels, they were useful to the devil. They cared for Yahweh's honor the people when it served their purposes. You've blasphemed God. We're so offended by this. Otherwise, they couldn't be bothered with Yahweh.

Life in this world is not fair. Since Eden has been messed up, Abel being killed by his own brother because Abel was more righteous than his brother. The innocence of Bethlehem, the little children. Actually, you know, when you add it all up, the little children of Bethlehem, it was, Lord, you did us a favor. You got us out of there and brought us up here. This is nice.

Come here often. John the Baptist, righteous prophet. I mean, just some. James the Apostle, of course, our Lord. All of these that I, these names I just read, none of them were senior citizens. They were young. Of course, the innocents, they were below two, two years old, they're about that age. The others, they were still, you could say, in the prime of their life. And they were cut down.

Yeah, life's not fair. Naboth is one. Stephen will be another one. But God knows what he's doing, and we'll come back to that in the end. Verse 14, then they sent to Jezebel saying, Naboth has been stoned and is dead. So they know who penned the letter. They didn't send a reply back to Ahab, even though his seal was on it. They probably said, this is not his style.

He works a different way. Anyway, they reported to her, pointing to the power Satan had in the land at this time, we're told in 2 Kings that his sons were killed also. Well, we have to get rid of the heirs to the land or else they would just assume the land in dad's place. And so this was a very thorough and vicious attack on his entire family, removing anyone eligible to receive the inheritance by murdering them. The law was designed to put evil out of the land, and yet there's people manipulating the law. Verse 15, and it came to pass when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, arise, take the possession of the vineyard, of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give to you for money, for Naboth is not alive but dead.

Yeah. Verse 16, so it was when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead that Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. Well, again, it won't go well for this creepy guy. Where is his soul this evening? Because he does repent, but it doesn't stick. There's glee in her tone, is it not? He is dead, ding dong, he's dead, he's dead. And the satisfaction in her voice is repulsive.

Imagine living at this time. Evil needs no justification. Righteousness does. Righteousness says, I got to have a reason for this.

But evil just, well, it reaches a point, fine, I don't care, I'm doing it anyway. Again, Ahab doesn't say, well, how did you, how did I get the land? He doesn't care, he just wants the land.

He is an accessory after the fact and a willing beneficiary of the murder. Verse 17, then the word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite saying, verse 17 and 18, saying, arise, go down and meet Ahab king of Israel who lives in Samaria. There he is in the vineyard of Naboth where he has gone down to take possession of it.

Well, evil has its day, but it also has its judgment. And as with Stephen, we may ask, where is the Lord when the stoning of Naboth and the stoning of Stephen was taking place? He's unlocking the gate.

The gate to the kingdom. It's like, come on in, Stephen. Again, I believe that when the righteous are persecuted to death, God blesses them in a very extraordinary way. Why should we think otherwise? He says, listen, when they arrest you, don't have to think about what you're going to say to them.

I'm going to give it to you. So why wouldn't we also conclude when the righteous are being persecuted to death that God is not also there ministering to them as he did with Stephen. These things are written for our edification. So without hesitation, again, I read from Proverbs 6 18, I've read this already, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil. This is something God hates. Verse 19. You shall speak to him, saying, Thus says Yahweh, Have you murdered and also taken possession? And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus says Yahweh, In the place where the dogs lick the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours. Well, of course, Ahab is guilty regardless of the role he did or did not play.

He's right in there with her. God does not play the silly human games that we find in the courts, trying to wiggle away through and, you know, he abides from technicality. God is beyond all of that. He goes right to the heart. Romans 1, Paul writes, Who knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.

Well, Naboth approved of it because he benefited from it. But if the shoe was on the other foot, oh boy, he'd be squealing and crying. He and her, this is a his and hers violent death coming prophecy. That's what the prophecy is.

Eye for an eye penalty and more. Verse 20. So Ahab said to Elijah, Have you found me, O my enemy? He hadn't told him yet.

He just sort of abruptly appears before him. And he answered, verse 20. I have found you because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of Yahweh. How dare he recall Elijah, the troublemaker, when it is him again, right out of the playbook of the wicked. Accuse your enemy of the evil that you do and never admit to anything.

And this is what is going on here. This prophet, he just stands before the king and he's going to deal with him, Ahab being the troublemaker. This is again, from hell's standpoint, you and I, the believers of God, are the troublemakers. That is how hell views us.

We are an obstacle to Lucifer achieving his goals, as insane as they are. Some of you have had more experience with this brand of evil than others. Some of you may have been sheltered from having to deal with people that are walking devils. They never tell the truth and when they do tell the truth, it is so they can get their lie working. And they get away with it.

People follow them and listen to them and they swallow and it's more irritating. And yet we are still called to be righteous in the face of these things and not succumb to evil. Verse 21, Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free.

This is the judgment now. He's telling them what's going to happen to him. Verse 22, I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation which you have provoked me to anger and made Israel sin. You're going to pay is what the prophet is telling him. The king that morning got up and said, I can't wait to get to my new vineyard.

Start pruning and tasting and whatever else is going on. He did not expect that he would receive a death warrant from the prophet, Elijah. Now, the prophecies that Elijah, or the prophets, not just Elijah, are given, such as given to Jeroboam, similar, and Baasha, they were told also that the dogs would, their descendants would die and the dogs would eat them. And if the dogs didn't eat them, the scavengers would eat them.

Well, this is a little different. Verse 23, and concerning Jezebel, Yahweh also spoke saying, the dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Well, unlike the prophecies against the kings and their descendants, Elijah does not say that Jezebel will be dead when the dogs eat her. Now, it's a subtle little thing, and I don't want to push it too hard, but we pick up on these omissions. Also omitted is the part about her being thrown out the window and trampled by the war horses. God didn't want to spoil it, after all, to give you too much. The question is, because we're rooting for her to suffer, because she's caused so much misery. How much suffering has she caused that's not worked its way into the scriptures? Now, we know we can't, you know, get too into that.

You know, theology won't permit it. Thanks for joining us for today's teaching on Cross-Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.

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