Neighbors From Hell (Part C)

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.

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. Here's Pastor Rick with the conclusion of his study called Neighbors from Hell in 1 Kings 21. 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, I'm just some. James the Apostle, of course, our Lord. All of these names that I just read, none of them were senior citizens. They were young. Of course, the innocents, they were below two, two years old, 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, no, 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. 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, we have bought some 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 of 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 get too into that. Theology won't permit it. But at the same time, we want evil to be dealt with. And God says, I'm going to deal with it, all of it, just not right away.

And that is when we then have to then say, okay then, what is my role until you do deal with it? And we have that, of course, in Christ. So, my thinking is, she was still alive even after she was thrown out the window and trampled by the horses a little bit, and maybe when they started gnawing on her. And you say, well, that's gross. Well, yeah, but you'll never forget it. I mean, a human being so wicked that there's zero sympathy for her in heaven or earth. Nobody's like, man, it would be almost an insult to side with anything that this person did, untold damage to souls. Verse 24, the dog shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field. And so now you see the little distinction, those who die, then they get eaten.

I know, it's ghoulish, but this is it. Verse 25, and 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 that also includes that he was guilty for not correcting her, for letting her do the evil.

And there's no excuse. There's no excuse he could have said, well, I couldn't or... Yeah, he's just guilty through and through. Verse 26, and he behaved very abominably in following idols according to all that the Amorites had done whom Yahweh had cast out before the children of Israel. Well, of course, in the law, Moses gets into detail about this, that I'm casting these people out because of these things that they're doing, and he itemizes them and says, and if you start doing them, I'm going to cast you out too. Well, many of the Jews got into the Promised Land, and they got familiar with these things and said, oh, this is a nice little piece, be nice little centerpiece on the coffee table of this little fake god, and the next thing you know, they're tolerating it and embracing it and celebrating it, and turning on the righteous for not agreeing with them.

Yeah, he was guilty for joining his wife and advocating it, and that advocacy included silence, just not saying anything. Jesus said, you're either with me or you're against me, but you can't be neutral, and the Jews were not allowed to be neutral, and if the world says, you know, we're watching the world spin things around, if you say, I disagree with that, I think that's wrong. Well, now, you're a hater, you know.

No, I'm not a hater. See, spinning it around is still the same old stuff from Satan. It deserves a yawn and a sigh.

So it was. I don't know what I would do in the workplace nowadays. I think I'd be fired a long time ago.

I'd probably open up a tire, sell tires, because I certainly would be going around flattening them to get even. No, you can't do that. It's a caricature. When I do these things, they're caricatures to show you how wrong it would be if Christianity took to the methods of Islam and started killing people for not agreeing with us.

We do not do that. We love the Lord our God because He is so many other things, including He is right. He is everything He says is right, whether we see it or not, because we know enough of Him to sign off on that. If He can love me, then I'm impressed. A lot of people want you to be impressed by a lot of things, and they get very frustrated when you're not, right? Yeah, that was boring. Anyway.

Verse 27, so it was. You know, I would be a hermit if I didn't think it would drive me crazy. Because I strongly believe that when you withdraw from your society, you go out of your mind, because God has ordained it that way. We need each other, like each other or not. I mean, I like you, and I know you like me. How could you not? One of the goals I want in life is for people to say, He's just a cuddly teddy bear, which is never going to happen. There's some men that are like that. He's just a big teddy bear.

Even if I got fatter, I still would not be a teddy bear. It's not in me. I don't know who to blame for this. My parents were loving. They didn't drop me on my head. I blamed the Marine Corps. That's them. I was angry when I got there. They just took it to another level.

And were unashamed over the whole thing. Anyway, I can still hear the drill instructors saying, Think about nothing but kill, kill, kill. I can still hear them. I can't get out of my head. Be gone. For a young 17-year-old impressionable like that, man, I could set the wrong course.

So you got to, as a Christian, you have to settle these things and choose your side. Anyhow, thanks for going with me down memory lane. He's such a cute teddy bear. I mean, I grew the beard.

I think it would help. No, just like, he's a cactus with a beard. Verse 27, So it was when Ahab heard those words that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body and fastened and laid sackcloth, and fasted and laid sackcloth, lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning. Just the other day, I went to the barber, which is me, and I had to run downstairs for something before I took the hair off and I put a shirt on, and that hair was just sticking me. I said, ah, sackcloth, sackcloth, be gone. But man, this is kind of the self-inflicted penance that they were into.

It didn't change anything. He still ended up a creep. But who saw this coming? Who saw that after the prophet confronted him about his sin that he would actually read it, verse 27 again, So it was when Ahab heard those words that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about mourning. So he was devastated by this. This news, incidentally, they must have had cheap clothes because try tearing one of your garments. It ain't happening.

Maybe, you know, so don't pick out something like a scarf. So anyway, coming back to this, is after he mentions what's going to happen to Jezebel, that seems to be the thing that really got to him. So that leads me to think that, well, these two loved each other.

So did one of the Herod's. You know, he loved his wife that he stole from his brother. They actually loved each other. But they were wicked people. And they killed a lot of people or had people killed or other problems they brought into their lives. And so just because they were lovebirds doesn't justify who they were.

And making a love story out of that is diabolical. So coming back to this, this is heartfelt for sure. God will even say it. He meant it.

But it's short-lived. Verse 28, And the word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, See how Ahab has humbled himself, verse 29, before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the calamity in his days.

In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house. And so God walks back some of the judgment attached to Ahab. And you say, Why? Why walk it back?

You had him. These are foreboding words from God that he initially gave. And God sees the man is moved. And again, you say, Why? Because God never smites while there is a chance.

While there is still a chance. God is saying, You see how wicked this guy is? And he makes a movement in my direction. And I'm there to receive him. I'm not saying to him, No, you're too dirty. Have you heard people say, I'm too much of a sinner to come to God?

You're just, you're lying. We know you're a sinner. But don't be acting like God has got a problem. And he can't overcome this. And the message of the cross is that as long as there is life, there is hope. And there are two kings that are more pronounced than the others, Ahab and Manasseh, when it comes to this very thing. Ahab got away with nothing except a second chance from God.

And he blew it. God saw a genuine self-abasement in this man. Listen to this, Isaiah says, and Jesus repeats this. It was said of Jesus, A bruised reed he will not break, A smoking flax he will not quench, He will bring forth justice for truth.

And here is a smoking flax. There's still something going on there. And God does not say, Nope, and put it out, snuff it out. He gives him a chance.

God sees both. He knows where this is going to go. And he also knows that other people will come along and hear this story. And sadly, he never entered into true repentance. It would have been better had he died after making this confession. It would have been better for him.

But he lived long enough to trample it. Psalm 37, 23, the steps of a good man are ordered by Yahweh, and he delights in his way, taking the whole Bible, what it preaches on this subject, 2 Peter 3, verse 7. But the heavens and the earth, which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. So the bark of God is not as severe as the bite.

The bite is worse. And God seeks to help anyone who will come and abide in him. Ahab came, but he did not abide. John's gospel tells us about God's seeking. John, chapter 4, verse 23, true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship him. John 4, 23, again.

And so, a chance to return. Again, John's gospel, chapter 15, verse 6, if anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch is, withered, and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. And so that abiding, that remaining with the Lord is not enough to say, okay, I'm wrong, I really hate that I goofed this up.

More is required. And I want to take two verses, or three, and then we'll close up. This one is from Timothy, 1 Timothy, chapter 2, in verse 4. We're getting the mind of God, who desires all men.

Well, let's take verse 3, too. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. Oh, wait a minute, I thought Jesus was the Savior. He is. But then why is God our Savior? Because Jesus is God.

He is God the Son. And so there you could, you know, the Jehovah Witnesses sent me something in the mail. Just, I just see this thing in the mail. I get a letter, like, you know, hi Rick. And it's from local, and it's, who's writing me a letter? Nobody writes me a letter.

I'm not a teddy bear. And I open it up, and it's all this Jehovah Witness stuff comes flying out like Pandora's Box. It's like, it's like, you know, what is that one Indiana Jones scene when all the spirits come flying out? I happened to be burning Monday. And so I threw it in the fire pile.

And it let off a foul stench. Anyhow, coming back, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. This is what God wants. 2 Timothy now, chapter 2, verse 26. That they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil having been taken captive by him to do his will. Well, that's what God wants. He wants to save people. And long as there is life, there is often hope. However, Jezebel does not seem to have gotten an invitation.

Too far gone, big question mark there. Closing with this verse, John 6, verse 37. And all that the Father gives me will come to me. And the one who comes to me, I will by no means cast out. God did not cast out Ahab.

Ahab jumped out on his own. Let's pray. Now Father, again, lesson on top of lesson. Given to us not only to entertain us, but to better serve you. To make us better at being witnesses and servants.

Not only in the assembly, but in the world. That so desperately needs those who are passionate for the truth and passionate for you. In Jesus' name, Amen. 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.

We trust that what you've heard today in the book of 1 Kings has had a lasting imprint on your life. If you'd like to listen to more teachings from this series or share it with someone you know, please visit CrossReferenceRadio.com. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast, too, so you'll never miss another edition. Just visit CrossReferenceRadio.com and follow the links under radio. Again, that's CrossReferenceRadio.com. Our time with you today is about up, but we hope you'll tune in next time to continue studying the Word of God. Join us again as Pastor Rick covers more in the book of 1 Kings on Cross Reference Radio.