1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:03,560 Second Kings chapter 8 and we are completing this chapter this 2 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:12,160 evening as we begin in verse 7. And I know that we just prayed, 3 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:13,920 but I would love for us to pray again. 4 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:21,200 Will you join me in that? Bow your hearts with me, please. 5 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:27,160 Lord, we look to you tonight again, thankful that you have 6 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:30,760 brought us into this new year. Thank you for being merciful, 7 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:35,240 Merciful to this nation, merciful to us as individuals, 8 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:38,960 merciful to this church and every church represented here. 9 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,760 Lord, we know that this study can easily become a stale 10 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,600 service. But Lord, we think of the power 11 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:52,080 of the Holy Spirit even now, what's available to us, how you 12 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:56,680 can make this moment alive and powerful. 13 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:01,320 We think of what you said of the Messiah in Isaiah 50, where 14 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:03,920 we're told there that He received the tongue of those who 15 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:07,480 are taught that He may sustain with a word Him who is weary. 16 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:11,040 We ask, Lord, that this Bible study would do just that. 17 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,760 It would sustain us. It would infuse a grace in our 18 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:20,200 hearts so that we could with great strength run this race 19 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:23,680 into 2025. So we pray for a special 20 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:28,160 blessing upon this time and that you would receive maximum glory 21 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:31,160 and praise. Oh Lord, we want to fall deeper 22 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:34,800 in love with Jesus. We want to be more godly, more 23 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:38,000 in tune with your Holy Spirit. We want to be more aware of this 24 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,520 grace and the knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ. 25 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,640 We ask these things and commit them into your hands, believing 26 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,120 that you'll answer speedily. In Jesus name we pray. 27 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:50,120 Amen. Amen. 28 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:54,440 Well, I can tell you ahead of even reading this passage why 29 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:57,920 this will be a unique Bible study as we've been looking 30 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:00,080 closely at the life in the ministry of this man of God 31 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,320 named Elijah. Because as we've been exploring 32 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,200 every episode that's been preserved for us in this book, 33 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:09,440 they all took place within the boundaries of the nation of 34 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:11,480 Israel. But what you and I are going to 35 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:16,320 learn right away is that what this episode is about is, yes, 36 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:18,960 another miracle. You can categorize it as a 37 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:23,360 supernatural thing, but it's going to happen in an unlikely 38 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:27,440 place. Not Samaria, not any other city 39 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,720 or town within the Kingdom of Israel, but in Damascus. 40 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:39,520 We are going to find Elisha within enemy territory, and 41 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:43,680 there's a reason for that. So let's read this section. 42 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:45,240 We're going to complete the chapter, but let's read the 43 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,040 section that deals with that particular scene, and then we 44 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:50,960 will dissect it as we always do. So let's begin in Second. 45 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:57,280 Kings 87 Now Elisha came to Damascus, Ben Haddad the king of 46 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,720 Syria was sick. And when it was told him, The 47 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:04,480 man of God has come here, the king said to Hazael, Take a 48 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:08,600 present with you, and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of 49 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,640 the Lord through him, saying, Shall I recover from this 50 00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:16,120 sickness? So Hazael went to meet him and 51 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,120 took a present with him. All kinds of goods of Damascus, 52 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,360 40 camels, loads. When he came and stood before 53 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,000 me, he said, Your son bin Haddad, king of Syria, has sent 54 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,360 me to you, saying, shall I recover from the sickness? 55 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,120 And Elijah said to him, Go say to him, you shall certainly 56 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:34,440 recover. But the Lord has shown me that 57 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:39,040 he shall certainly die. And he fixed his gaze and stared 58 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:43,960 at him until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. 59 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:48,080 Let's stop here. I was planning to read on, but I 60 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:52,120 think this suffices. Before we continue, here's my 61 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:54,800 first question for us, and I'm actually inviting you to answer 62 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:56,920 it as long as your answer is not too lengthy. 63 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:03,800 Why is Elijah in Damascus? Is there any idea? 64 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,200 And let me help with the potential answers here. 65 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:11,600 We can rule out the option that Elijah is here to see Benedad, 66 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:13,720 the king of Syria. Why? 67 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:17,519 Because based on what we read, it looks like Benedad learned of 68 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,320 Elijah's arrival and sought him out, right? 69 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,480 So this is not a planned meeting between the prophet, the man of 70 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:29,000 God, and the king of Syria. So with that now being 71 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:34,040 dismissed, what other clues might we have for why Elijah is 72 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:34,960 here? Who is he here for? 73 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:37,160 What is he here to do? Any ideas? 74 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:40,920 And while you guys are thinking about that, Oh, please, guys, if 75 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:42,760 you can help me with that buzzing, I know all it takes is 76 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:47,040 a little button and it's there. No, not yet there. 77 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:49,000 OK, there it is. Any idea? 78 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:54,960 It's OK. You can guess if you're not 79 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:59,480 certain. Any idea why Elijah is a 80 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:06,210 Damascus? No idea. 81 00:05:07,690 --> 00:05:09,450 OK. He's there to do something. 82 00:05:10,010 --> 00:05:11,450 Yes. A miracle. 83 00:05:12,210 --> 00:05:14,090 You can. You can say it's a miracle. 84 00:05:14,170 --> 00:05:16,930 A miracle is going to happen. Any idea? 85 00:05:16,930 --> 00:05:23,520 That's a good guess. Well, we don't have to guess 86 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:25,920 because the Bible provides us a clear answer. 87 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:30,760 However, it's going to require us to go back to another book to 88 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:32,880 see the answer. And the book is the neighboring 89 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:35,400 book. First Kings chapter 19. 90 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:40,520 This is when Elijah was refreshed and recommissioned by 91 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:44,680 the Lord after he was rescued from this episode of spiritual 92 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:46,160 depression. We remember we studied that in 93 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:51,440 depth, right? So the Lord speaks to Elijah and 94 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:53,960 he gives him a threefold command. 95 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:58,440 Following this recovery, look at First Kings 19 beginning in 96 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:02,680 verse 15. And the Lord said to him, Go, 97 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:06,560 return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when 98 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:11,200 you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, 99 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,840 and Jehu the son of Nimshi, you shall anoint to be king over 100 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:17,640 Israel. And Elijah the son of Shafat of 101 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:22,760 Abel Meola, you shall anoint to be the prophet in your place. 102 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:25,320 So we see the threefold command, right? 103 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:29,840 He's supposed to anoint 3 separate individuals, a new king 104 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:35,080 in Syria, a new king in Israel, and his successor Elijah. 105 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:36,920 Now here's what's so interesting. 106 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:42,400 We are told why Elijah was to set these appointments up and 107 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,040 these nominations. The very next verse look at 108 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:48,200 first Kings 1917. And the one who escapes from the 109 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:52,280 sword of Hazael shall J who put to death, And the one who 110 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:55,520 escapes from the sword of J, who shall Elijah put to death. 111 00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:59,720 So what's the reason for these men being appointed into these 112 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:01,320 offices? Judgement. 113 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:05,000 Judgement. God is raising up these two 114 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:09,160 kings and this prophet to take Elijah's place to punish 115 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,120 Israel's present and future idolatry. 116 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:15,680 Now here's what's amazing. Out of these three anointings, 117 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:17,200 which one have we seen come to pass? 118 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,480 Elijah. There is no record of Elijah 119 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:27,120 anointing the king of Syria or anointing Jeyu to be the king of 120 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:29,920 Israel, correct? Now, this has troubled some 121 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:34,080 Bible students. You can imagine why, because 122 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:38,520 you're left to believe that Elijah didn't obey the Lord 123 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:44,040 fully, or that he delayed it long enough for Elijah now, who 124 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:46,960 took his place to complete what was not fulfilled. 125 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:54,000 But we can say that Elijah did obey, though it's not recorded 126 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:58,480 that he did in secret without the historian putting it in the 127 00:07:58,480 --> 00:07:59,760 Bible. That the Holy Spirit inspiring 128 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:02,560 the historian to put in the Bible that he did honor what God 129 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:07,320 asked him to do, which might cause you to ask them, why is 130 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:08,880 Elijah? Because what we're going to see 131 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:10,960 this week and next week is that Elijah is going to anoint the 132 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:12,760 king of Syria and the king of Israel. 133 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,360 So if Elijah did it, why does Elijah anoint them? 134 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,040 Have we ever seen kings being anointed more than once? 135 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:24,760 Yes, we've seen David be anointed more than once. 136 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:26,960 We've seen Solomon anointed more than once. 137 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:30,480 So that's a great possibility. But I think there's even a 138 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:34,760 better answer. Let's suppose that Elijah 139 00:08:35,159 --> 00:08:39,880 delayed anointing these two kings and prioritize anointing 140 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:43,159 Elijah to train him to be his successor. 141 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:48,920 Something happened a couple of chapters after First Kings 19 142 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:52,120 that indicates that the responsibility to anoint the 143 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:55,720 king of Syria and the king of Israel was transferred over to 144 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:00,120 Elijah. First Kings 21. 145 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,440 This is when Elijah was called by the Lord to confront Ahab 146 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:08,680 after having Nabeth killed for his land. 147 00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:13,040 Do you remember that episode? And Ahab responds in a certain 148 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:15,880 way and I want you to see it again and notice how the Lord 149 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:17,520 says something quite spectacular. 150 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:21,440 First Kings 2128. And the word of the Lord came to 151 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:25,240 Elijah, the Tishbite, saying, have you seen how Ahab has 152 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:29,360 humbled himself before me? Because he had humbled himself 153 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:33,520 before me? I will not bring the disaster in 154 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:40,040 his days, but in his son's days, I will bring the disaster upon 155 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:46,040 his house. Does it make sense now because 156 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:51,040 of Ahab's repentance, God said, I'm going to suspend this 157 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,560 judgement in your days. I'm going to delay it, but I'm 158 00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:56,480 going to bring it about in your son's days. 159 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:01,680 Now, who is the king of Israel during Elijah's ministry at that 160 00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:06,720 point, or at this point rather, do we remember Jeho Ram? 161 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:10,160 Who is the son of who? He's the son of Ahab. 162 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:12,920 So here's how we make sense of this. 163 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:17,200 Because of Ahab's repentance, God again postponed the 164 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:19,000 judgement he had planned to carry out. 165 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:24,760 However, after Ahab dies and his son takes his place, Elisha now 166 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:29,160 is commissioned because the judgment is reinstated and he is 167 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:33,360 going to anoint the king of Syria and the king of Israel so 168 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:38,160 that he can take place. So in other words, Elisha is in 169 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:44,880 Damascus to anoint Hazel to be the king in order to prepare 170 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:47,320 judgment against the people of Israel. 171 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:51,240 That's why he's in Damascus. And I think there are a couple 172 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:52,920 of lessons that we can learn from this. 173 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:59,040 The first one is this, God delights in averting judgement. 174 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:04,720 God takes deep delight in averting judgement. 175 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:07,600 And we heard in the opening passage through Pasadena, Benna 176 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:11,560 when he quoted Micah, he delights to forgive. 177 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:14,960 I think of Ezekiel where it says that he takes no pleasure in the 178 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:17,760 death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn from his 179 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:21,360 evil and live. So this is God's heart. 180 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:25,280 Whenever there is a hint of repentance, He is willing to 181 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:28,600 change the judgment that has been designed for that 182 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:30,720 particular sin that's repented of. 183 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:33,440 But here's what's so beautiful about God. 184 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:37,960 Not only is he willing to delay judgment like he does in this 185 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:41,000 case, he's willing to cancel it altogether. 186 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:44,120 He's willing to delete it altogether. 187 00:11:44,680 --> 00:11:48,920 But the condition for that to take place is faith in the Lord 188 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:53,520 Jesus Christ. Only embracing the Son of God is 189 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:58,560 able to remove every ounce of judgment that has been ascribed 190 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:01,840 to each of us. Only in Christ, hiding in Him, 191 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:05,280 being clothed in His righteousness, do we evade 192 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:09,440 wrath. He's willing. 193 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:13,720 It's just we have to be willing to repent and to confess and to 194 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:16,880 turn to Him. The second truth that we get 195 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:19,760 from this is also very important. 196 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:24,320 He does delight in averting judgement, but that when he does 197 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:31,040 judge, God often will raise up cruel leaders to punish the sins 198 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:34,880 of a people. And this is what we see doing in 199 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:37,320 here. He appoints these men 200 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:39,800 particularly to chastise his own. 201 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:44,560 And as we're going to see in the coming weeks, the the rising of 202 00:12:44,560 --> 00:12:48,520 these two kings is going to unleash waves of devastation 203 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:51,680 against the people of Israel. It's going to be horrific. 204 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:56,560 And to think that this is a unique way that God judges 205 00:12:56,560 --> 00:13:02,400 people is to admit ignorance of the Bible because it's not 206 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:06,240 unique to this episode. God often throughout history has 207 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:09,880 proven that when he wants to bring about judgment to a 208 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:13,640 people, to a nation, he will do so through the hands of a 209 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:18,480 vicious leader or government. I'm reminded of a verse in Hosea 210 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:22,320 1311 where Hosea is rehearsing the history of the people of 211 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:26,520 Israel and God speaks to the prophet and says this, I gave 212 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:31,920 you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my wrath. 213 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:35,480 Who's he referring to is referring to King Saul. 214 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:40,800 And he tells the people, I did give you Saul, but I did so in 215 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:45,000 my anger because in your request for a king, you denied me as 216 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,880 your king. And I would say that there's a 217 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:50,400 broader application to that truth, that God, when he is 218 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:55,640 angry, rightly angry, he will give people a cruel leader, a 219 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,760 cruel president, Prime Minister, dictator, whatever the case may 220 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:02,120 be. And it will ultimately culminate 221 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:06,840 in his final act of judgement. In this world, we believe in 222 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:09,160 something, someone known as the Antichrist. 223 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:13,880 And when the Antichrist does come, leading up to the final 224 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:17,960 events of human history, he will be a government leader that will 225 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:22,360 take over the globe. And his arrival on the scene, 226 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,480 according to Second Thessalonians chapter 2, is 227 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:28,800 defined for us. We know why this lawless one 228 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:31,280 will come up, why he will be worshipped while he will 229 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:33,240 dominate everything. And let me read it to you from 230 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:36,080 Second Thessalonians 29 and 10. You don't have to go there, but 231 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:38,800 let me read it to you. The coming of the lawless 1 is 232 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:42,520 by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and 233 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,960 wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are 234 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:51,000 perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. 235 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:56,200 So, I mean, there's so many things you can say about that 236 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:58,720 passage, but I remember preaching this at Maranatha a 237 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:01,360 few years ago. And we use this text to know how 238 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:06,920 we can all be deception proof. If you want to assure yourself 239 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:10,480 that you will never be deceived, love the truth. 240 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:14,480 Love the truth, not just know the truth. 241 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:17,400 Love the truth. Because there are many people 242 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,600 who know the truth, but will, with the right pressure, the 243 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:23,360 right prize, compromise the truth. 244 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:25,320 It's not enough to know the truth. 245 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:28,800 Many people who are compromising the truth know what the Bible 246 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:31,400 has to say. But it's only when you love the 247 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,120 truth where you are spared from deception. 248 00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:37,640 But those who refuse to love the truth, they will eat up 249 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:40,920 everything that the Antichrist has to offer, especially because 250 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:42,800 he'll back it up with false signs and wonders. 251 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:45,400 That's not my main point. The main point is this is that 252 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,400 God, often again from the beginning of time to the end of 253 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:52,240 time, will raise up certain leaders as a way of giving 254 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:56,760 people over to what they want. You want a God besides me? 255 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:00,640 Then here's somebody who will rule over you, and He will treat 256 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:04,520 you accordingly. And so these kings are an act of 257 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:09,440 judgement, and it reminds of how God judges in this world. 258 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:12,800 Let's continue to read on. He goes to Damascus. 259 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:20,440 Benedict learns that he is in the area, but he's not aware of 260 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:21,960 this anointing that's going to take place. 261 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:24,320 Instead, he's preoccupied by his own personal need. 262 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:28,160 It's an urgent need. And he summons Elijah. 263 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:30,080 Now, this should be shocking. Why? 264 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:32,760 Because we've studied Benedad, the king of Syria, more than 265 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:35,640 once in previous studies. And every single time we find 266 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:37,760 this king hostile towards the prophet. 267 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:41,360 But his tone is different here in Second Kings 8, at least the 268 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:44,720 second part of it. Notice how he refers to the 269 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:46,000 prophet. What does he call him? 270 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:49,160 Yeah, he says you're the man of God, right? 271 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:51,840 And then look, peek at the end of verse 9 for a second. 272 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:57,400 When Hazael comes to Elijah, he says, your son Ben Haddad, king 273 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:00,880 of Syria, send me to you. So not only is Elijah all of a 274 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:06,000 sudden now the man of God, he's also a spiritual father to 275 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:10,560 Benedad. And moreover, what do we have? 276 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:16,520 We have a Pagan king inquiring of the true God through his main 277 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:20,440 prophet, because he asked, has I ought to go right? 278 00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:24,359 He says, ask and inquire the Lord through him if this 279 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:27,240 sickness is going to kill me. And so here's what he's 280 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:30,320 confessing by that that this God, the God of Israel is far 281 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:33,520 superior to all the other gods of Syria, all the other idols 282 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:35,640 that we acknowledge this God is a true God. 283 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:39,280 It makes you wonder if the healing of Naman made an 284 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:43,120 impression on him. But here was my question when I 285 00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:46,360 was studying this. Why the change of attitude all 286 00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:50,120 of a sudden? Remember, Naman was healed. 287 00:17:50,120 --> 00:17:53,160 That didn't affect him. His army was spared from 288 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:55,000 complete annihilation more than once. 289 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:58,000 That didn't affect him. What changed all of a sudden? 290 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:02,000 One word, sickness. Sickness. 291 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:08,320 When the goodness of God touched things and people around him, it 292 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:11,840 didn't move him. But the moment his body was 293 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:18,200 afflicted, his tone changed. You know who has insight about 294 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:21,440 what sickness can do to a man? Satan. 295 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:28,600 Do you remember when he wanted to test Job and he called God to 296 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:32,160 put him through the test and the first round was what? 297 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:36,080 That is his children, his property, anything and 298 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:41,360 everything besides Job directly was impacted and he didn't curse 299 00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:43,440 God. So he makes a reappearance 300 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:47,760 before the throne of God. God praises Job, and what does 301 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:49,120 Satan do? What does he respond with? 302 00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:52,240 Skin for skin. And then he goes on. 303 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:55,120 I've stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, 304 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:56,880 and he will curse you to your face. 305 00:18:56,880 --> 00:18:59,880 You know what he's saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah. 306 00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:03,960 It's a whole different game when you touch a person's body, when 307 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,840 you afflict them personally. So let's see if this man is 308 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:11,080 really faithful, as you say is. But it goes both ways. 309 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,640 Sickness can either provoke hatred towards God or it can 310 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:18,280 drive one to seek favor from him, right? 311 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:23,720 And in Benedad's case, this ailment, whatever it is, healed 312 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:28,120 him of his antagonism towards the Lord and his prophet, at 313 00:19:28,120 --> 00:19:32,840 least at this time. And so now he's attracted to the 314 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:35,080 man of God, and he's attracted to the God that he represents. 315 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:39,240 And so he he asked for him. But we're left to wonder if 316 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:43,840 Benedad is sincere here, if what he is doing here is about true 317 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:46,880 healing or just physical relief. Because you don't get a hint of 318 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:50,960 repentance here, do you? There is no evidence here that 319 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,200 he is wanting to be reconciled to this God. 320 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:56,720 It just seems like he wants to know through prophetic insight 321 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:01,280 if he will continue to live on. And that is not uncommon. 322 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:05,120 You know, if you don't have people who outright opposed to 323 00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:08,040 the faith, you know what? You'll find some who are still 324 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:11,320 drawn to the Lord Jesus. For what he offers in the 325 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:17,480 temporal, I have seen time and time again in the ministry 326 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:22,520 unbelievers or even nominal Christians who will make a 327 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:27,000 desperate plea for Christ intervention for some earthly 328 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:30,640 issue only when every other option has failed them. 329 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:33,360 And you're saying, well, isn't that good? 330 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:40,240 Well, depends, because they might be just looking for a way 331 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:44,400 out of something that has nothing to do with their souls. 332 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:45,680 Which brings me to this next point. 333 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:48,200 Have you ever noticed something about human nature? 334 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:53,080 And I have to be careful here because I'm not saying that God 335 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:54,840 is not concerned about these needs. 336 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:58,560 But I have noticed and maybe you share in this observation that 337 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:03,880 people are much more passionate and urgent when it comes to 338 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:07,560 something that's temporal rather than something that is more 339 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:11,880 permanent in their lives. You have you have much more 340 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:16,120 people willing and asking for healing than for their sins to 341 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:18,160 be eradicated. That's what I'm trying to say. 342 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:23,520 It's it's very rare where you see somebody making a desperate 343 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:31,200 plea for Christ to deliver them from iniquity and bondage and a 344 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:34,480 pattern of breaking God's law. What you will find more than 345 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:37,440 that is people saying can he provide for me? 346 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:40,760 Can he deliver me from this problem? 347 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,240 Can he solve these relational tensions? 348 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:48,960 OK, God can do all of that, but I'm afraid Ben had dad is 349 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:52,880 reflecting what we see in most people looking for a cop out and 350 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:57,320 for some kind of divine help, only for something that deals 351 00:21:57,320 --> 00:21:58,920 with this life and this life alone. 352 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,200 They had that tendency to be delivered from the consequences 353 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:10,240 of sin and not sin itself. Only the Lord knows Benedette's 354 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:12,360 heart. But what we're about to discover 355 00:22:12,360 --> 00:22:15,360 as we read that is that God knows every person's heart, 356 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:19,800 including the one that was dispatched to Elijah, this man, 357 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:23,640 this deputy. Let's look at verse 10 again. 358 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:29,640 Hazael comes to him, meets him, ask him if Ben Haddad, king of 359 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:32,080 Syria, will be recovered from the sickness. 360 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:33,880 And look how Elisha answers in verse 10. 361 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:36,960 And Elisha said to him, go say to him, you shall certainly 362 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:38,600 recover. But the Lord has shown me that 363 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:42,760 he shall certainly die. That sounds like a contradiction 364 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:45,960 to me. That sounds quite paradoxical. 365 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:49,840 Yeah, he's going to. He's going to recover, but he's 366 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:54,120 actually going to die. But it's not as problematic as 367 00:22:54,120 --> 00:22:55,880 one might think. If you read it carefully, then 368 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:57,720 you understand what Elijah is trying to convey. 369 00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:02,240 What he is saying is sure Benedad will recover from the 370 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:05,600 sickness, but he is going to die by another means. 371 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:11,120 And Elijah knows exactly how Benedad is going to die. 372 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:13,600 Do you know how he's going to be assassinated? 373 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:16,840 Who's the perpetrator? The guy that's standing in front 374 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:20,080 of him, we didn't read that part yet. 375 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:22,240 That's why I chose to stop it there. 376 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:27,040 So Elisha is receiving this prophetic download, if you will. 377 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:32,360 And Hazael here is standing before him saying, what news do 378 00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:34,440 I bring back? He's going to recover, but he's 379 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:36,640 going to die. But notice Elisha doesn't tell 380 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,480 him that. Elisha doesn't say exactly how 381 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:40,720 he's going to die. He just says he's going to die 382 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:44,640 by another way. And look at verse 11. 383 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:49,880 Elisha, learning about the future and learning about what 384 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:54,000 this man is capable of, fixes his gaze and stares at him until 385 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,200 he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. 386 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:03,200 So he just stares at him, right? And you can just imagine those 387 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:08,240 piercing prophetic eyes, how they burned Hezaiah's conscience 388 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,040 at this moment, right? Because we're told he was 389 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:13,800 embarrassed. Now, you might read that as this 390 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:15,840 is awkward, like you're not saying anything, you're just 391 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:19,320 staring at me. But it could be that as a 392 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:23,640 prophet is looking at him, this man feels as though he's being 393 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:28,040 exposed. In other words, Elijah saying 394 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:30,200 what's going to truly happen to the king of Syria. 395 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:33,480 And by looking at him, the way he's looking at him could be 396 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:37,040 communicating. I know what you're capable of, 397 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:40,720 and I actually know what you might really want to do. 398 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:44,400 I know the deepest desires of your heart. 399 00:24:45,120 --> 00:24:49,720 And he's almost scanning this man, and so he looks at him and 400 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:52,040 he starts weeping. But before we get to the weeping 401 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:56,400 part, are we not reminded of something through this man, this 402 00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:59,480 man of God? God sees everything. 403 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:04,680 God knows everything. There is nothing hidden from his 404 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:08,240 sight. Every move, every motive, every 405 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,480 meditation is laid bare before the Lord. 406 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:16,280 And so we even get a glimpse in this that the Lord registers and 407 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:21,080 takes note of it all. And so there is nothing that we 408 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,080 can conceal from. There's nothing that we can 409 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:24,760 dodge. There's nothing that we can 410 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,240 hide. And this is supposed to remind 411 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:29,760 us of that. You know, I think a lot of 412 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:33,280 Christians are familiar with Hebrews 412, right? 413 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,760 That that famous passage that talks about the power of the 414 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:40,880 Word of God, that it is what it is living, it is active, it is 415 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:44,200 sharper than any 2 edged sword, piercing to the division of soul 416 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:47,840 and spirit. And there are many, many people 417 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:51,120 who are familiar with Hebrews 414 and 15 that talks about how 418 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:55,200 we have this great high priest who enters into the heavens. 419 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:58,320 And because he is such a great high priest, he sympathizes with 420 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:00,680 our weaknesses, right? People know those verses by 421 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:04,480 heart, but I'm afraid most people don't know the verse 422 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:07,760 tucked between those two. So you have Hebrews 412 about 423 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:11,280 the power, the sharpness, the position of of God's word. 424 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:13,680 Hebrews 414 and 15, this great high priest. 425 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:17,400 What about Hebrews 413? This is not, this is not one 426 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,400 that's often memorized in Sunday school, but let's go there to 427 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:22,560 see it. Hebrews 413 It's probably 428 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:25,240 already behind me. What does the Lord say there? 429 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:30,440 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and 430 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:33,560 exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. 431 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:39,360 No wonder it's not memorized. People like to skip over this 432 00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:44,480 one. God sees everything. 433 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:47,040 That's what it means to live in the fear of God. 434 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:50,920 By the way, at least partly. I know God is here. 435 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:53,240 I know God hears. I know God sees. 436 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:57,320 So I can't get away with anything that's to live as a God 437 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:00,720 fearing man or God fearing woman in part. 438 00:27:02,360 --> 00:27:05,440 But I'd love to ask these questions because the Bible is 439 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:09,240 not meant to be quoted like fortune cookies where you take 440 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:11,080 one verse and no, there's a context. 441 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:14,440 What's the context of this? You go from talking about the 442 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:19,560 word of God to God seeing and knowing everything to this great 443 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:23,800 high priest, right? And I think this is this is the 444 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:28,760 context after explaining how sharp the word of God is, how 445 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:31,800 precise it is to discerning the thoughts and the intents of the 446 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:35,440 heart, we go to verse 13 now where the Holy Spirit tells us 447 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:38,920 God, like his word is perfect in his judgment. 448 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:44,120 He is fully aware, he he, he scans perfectly and no one can 449 00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:47,880 dispute him. He evaluates without anybody 450 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:52,480 being able to protest him. So just like his word, the God 451 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:57,280 of the Word is accurate in his assessment and no one, no one 452 00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:01,720 can evade his evaluation. And so you read about the Word 453 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:04,520 of God, then you realize the Word of God is, yes, this 454 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:07,240 powerful, but it also reflects the God of the Word. 455 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:09,560 And it's supposed to overwhelm you by the way. 456 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:13,560 It's supposed to make you feel He knows everything. 457 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:18,120 That's the point. Only for you not to be overcome 458 00:28:18,120 --> 00:28:21,440 by despair to the point where you're crushed and condemnation. 459 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:24,160 We're then in verse 14, now we're told about this great high 460 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:27,320 priest. Do you get it Now He knows 461 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:29,080 everything. He sees everything. 462 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:34,200 We're all doomed then. But listen, there's a great high 463 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,040 priest who's able to sympathize with our weakness. 464 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:40,280 And then you go to Hebrews 416 where we're told that we now, 465 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:42,760 because of this high priest, though God sees and knows 466 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,920 everything, gives us the confidence to approach the 467 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:48,400 throne of grace. Isn't that wonderful? 468 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:51,000 Even in that yes, He sees everything. 469 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:55,360 He knows everything that can terrify you, and it should. 470 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:59,440 But you're relieved of that terror when you realize Christ's 471 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:03,960 forgiveness in your life and how He mediates on your behalf and 472 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:06,120 how because of that, now, despite anything that you have 473 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:08,200 done, you are covered in His blood. 474 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:11,920 And you can boldly approach God and you can come to Him at any 475 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:14,360 point anytime, even on that final day. 476 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:19,440 So this man is about to learn that God sees everything. 477 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:21,600 And it's supposed to remind us that God sees everything. 478 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:25,240 He hasn't changed. But oh, if you're in Christ, 479 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:28,880 that shouldn't bother you a bit because in your account you have 480 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:32,400 Christ's perfection. So what happens? 481 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:36,920 The man of God wept. Why did he weep? 482 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:44,880 Because he's now about to disclose the potential evil that 483 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:48,280 this fellow is about to commit in the near future. 484 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:50,920 But I don't want to go there right now. 485 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:55,600 I want to just look at Elisha. The man Elijah was faithful in 486 00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:57,800 preaching the whole council of God, was he not? 487 00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:00,720 He preached judgement when he needed to preach judgement. 488 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:04,880 However, we've seen continually how he was a man of deep 489 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:07,480 compassion. Haven't we seen that over and 490 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:09,640 over, especially when he deals with widows? 491 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:12,680 There's so much compassion in his heart and that compassion 492 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:16,120 continues on here. How so? 493 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:20,960 Because when he was asked, let's look here at verse 12, Hazael 494 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,680 said, why does my Lord weep? He answered, because I know the 495 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:27,160 evil that you will do to the people of Israel. 496 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:30,720 You will set on fire their fortresses and you will kill 497 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:35,240 their young men with the sword and dash in pieces their little 498 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:38,160 ones and RIP open their pregnant woman. 499 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:44,920 So what is he weeping about? He's weeping about the fate of 500 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:49,280 his people, Israel. He is overcome with grief in the 501 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:52,160 realization that though the people have been idolatrous, 502 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:55,800 though they've been apostate, they're going to be severely 503 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:58,160 judged. And this broke this man's heart. 504 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:01,320 And here's why I moved. People might be moved by the 505 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:03,040 prophetic knowledge that Elijah had. 506 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:06,480 People might be impressed by how he was bold despite the 40 camel 507 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:08,880 loads of gifts. He said this is what God said. 508 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:11,080 Those are all wonderful things, but here's what I moved by 509 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:19,240 Elijah was broken about souls. Elijah was overcome and the 510 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:24,520 realization of the fate of sinners after all those years of 511 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:26,400 ministry were coming. Near the end of Elijah's 512 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:29,040 ministry, he did not become jaded. 513 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:35,200 He didn't become too familiar. He didn't lose his sensitivity 514 00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:40,680 to the eternality of things, the severity of sin, the goodness of 515 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,640 God. His heart was still tender. 516 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:46,960 And I read that earlier tonight. I thought to myself, Lord, keep 517 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:53,840 my heart soft towards the lost. Let not frustration with 518 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:57,840 sinners, let not disappointment caused by sinners ever cause me 519 00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:00,840 to become calloused. It's just OK. 520 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:03,920 It's just another number, OK? Just in the no, no, no, to 521 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:06,280 really feel what you feel about people. 522 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:11,120 And the way that you and I protect our hearts from becoming 523 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:15,480 cold in that area is by staying connected to the Lord in 524 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:18,080 communion. Only communion with the Lord and 525 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:22,760 His Word and His presence will keep your heart warm towards 526 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:25,840 those who don't know the Lord, towards even the church. 527 00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:30,160 If you don't have Christ's heart beating in this chest of yours, 528 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:34,000 you'll become very, very, very, very jaded, not just towards 529 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:35,760 sinners, but even towards the people of God. 530 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:40,840 But Elijah was not there. Elijah was sensitive. 531 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:44,560 He still could have tears streaming down his face because 532 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:47,560 he still had God's heartbeat even after all these years. 533 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:52,920 This made me want to pray. Lord, I I want that kind of 534 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:58,520 heart for the rest of my life. I never want to preach with ice 535 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:02,480 covering my heart. I never want to counsel with an 536 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:04,680 indifference. I never want to treat people. 537 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:07,480 Look at them as numbers. I want to see them as you see 538 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:12,480 them, each one by name, created in your image, loved by you. 539 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:16,200 You shed your blood for them. Help me see them as you see 540 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:18,080 them. That's what I find in this 541 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,360 mighty man of God. And so he begins to cry when he 542 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:24,600 sees in his mind's eye what's about to happen. 543 00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:29,800 How does this man respond? Let's look at verse 13. 544 00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:37,600 And Hazael said, What is your servant who is but a dog, that 545 00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:42,400 he should do this great thing. Now, how would you interpret 546 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:46,960 Hazael's response? Here's I think, here's what I 547 00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:51,400 think most people understand it to me that he was so repulsed by 548 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:54,520 this prophecy, he was so almost offended. 549 00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,160 In other words, you can almost translate in this way am IA 550 00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:03,160 moral monster that I would commit such heinous things, 551 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:04,800 right? Is that how most people would 552 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:08,280 understand it? That's not what he's saying. 553 00:34:09,679 --> 00:34:11,320 That's not what he's saying at all, actually. 554 00:34:12,199 --> 00:34:15,639 And we have two main reasons for that. 555 00:34:15,639 --> 00:34:20,360 One, notice here that he refers himself as a dog. 556 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:26,040 Look again at verse 13. He says, what is your servant 557 00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:30,880 who is but a dog? Who is but a dog? 558 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:36,600 Now, when we think of dog, we think of, you know, as as a term 559 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:41,679 to kind of denote insensitivity or cruelty or selfishness or 560 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:44,880 animalistic kind of behavior. But that's not what he's saying 561 00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:49,159 In different contexts, it can simply mean one of lowly 562 00:34:49,159 --> 00:34:54,920 position or status 1 who's inferior in position, right? 563 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:58,080 He says, who am I? I'm but a dog. 564 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:01,760 And the reason why we can say that is because of how Elisha 565 00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:03,760 answers him. What does Elisha say in 566 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:06,840 response? He says I'm but a dog, that I 567 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:08,320 should do this great thing and I should answer. 568 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:10,840 The Lord has shown me that you were to be king over Syria. 569 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:15,080 So what he's saying essentially is, you know you're going to be 570 00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:17,160 able to do this because you're going to be king next. 571 00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:21,760 So that confirms that Heziah's answer is not so much about 572 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:25,040 being offended. He's actually perplexed. 573 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:27,800 You're saying I'm going to do this. 574 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:29,440 You're saying that I'm going to have this kind of military 575 00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:31,120 conquest. And I'm telling you, I'm but a 576 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:35,160 dog in comparison to a king. And if he was talking about his 577 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:38,280 moral integrity, you would think that Elijah would answer with 578 00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:40,640 no, no, I'll tell you actually, you're actually you're corrupt 579 00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:43,200 or evil, this or that. No, no, Elijah's not. 580 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:44,880 It's going to happen because you're going to become king. 581 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:46,560 You're going to have, you're going to attain the authority 582 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:48,640 and the power to be able to execute these things. 583 00:35:50,720 --> 00:35:52,840 So then we have to now see this in a different light. 584 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:55,960 This is not this man being offended. 585 00:35:56,240 --> 00:35:58,680 This is the man actually you ready for this, being humbled. 586 00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:05,600 He's being humbled. So he hears this great victory 587 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:08,800 and instead of like, as you just probably reacted when you heard 588 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:12,080 the details of what he was going to do, instead of recoiling, he 589 00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:19,400 goes, I can't do that but a dog. So then what are you supposed to 590 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:20,880 see? You're supposed to see just how 591 00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:25,240 vile this man is. You're supposed to see the 592 00:36:25,240 --> 00:36:34,280 depths of his corruption. He's not humbled because of his 593 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:37,400 moral depravity. He's humbled because he can't 594 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:39,680 imagine him being able to do this. 595 00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:45,760 And when he says I'm but a dog, and then he goes on to add who 596 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:48,120 would do this great thing? He's not talking about this 597 00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:49,960 great thing as was this great act of evil. 598 00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:51,760 He's thinking of it as a positive thing. 599 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:56,520 I'm going to be able to commit this great thing, do this great 600 00:36:56,520 --> 00:37:01,400 thing, achieve this great thing. So when you see that way, then 601 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:05,240 you get different insight because the way some people, 602 00:37:05,240 --> 00:37:08,320 most people interpret that is see, just like Hazael, you do 603 00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:11,800 not know the potential of your sinfulness, right? 604 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:14,520 And they might connect it with Peter, who who refused to 605 00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:15,800 believe that he could deny Christ. 606 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:18,080 I don't think that's a text to use that for. 607 00:37:18,720 --> 00:37:22,280 Instead, what you're supposed to see in this is that this man 608 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:28,200 proves to us that so many people are willing to commit great 609 00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:31,760 evils when the right opportunity comes. 610 00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:37,040 That's the lesson. You know, some people think and 611 00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:40,280 believe that only when somebody's promoted to a certain 612 00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:43,080 position of power or they acquire a level of resources 613 00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:46,640 that makes them powerful, that's what corrupts people. 614 00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:49,960 And it can. But I am of those who believe 615 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:53,960 that when or if somebody attains that position or that status or 616 00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:56,120 that kind of influence, it doesn't corrupt them. 617 00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:58,560 It just exposes the corruption that was in them all along. 618 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:05,440 And you've probably seen some of those people in your life where 619 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:08,040 for the longest time they seem calm, they seem sensitive, they 620 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:10,640 seem understanding. And the moment they climbed a 621 00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:14,720 certain ladder, even within the church, something changes. 622 00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:18,760 Something changes, Something changes in their outlook, 623 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:20,440 something changes in their attitude, something changes in 624 00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:24,520 how they treat people. Why did the position corrupt 625 00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:26,920 them? It could, but oftentimes it just 626 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:31,120 reveals what was in their hearts all along, and I believe that's 627 00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:34,040 the case here. Hazael had this in his heart, 628 00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:38,200 and it would ultimately manifest when he occupied the throne. 629 00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:44,360 And the corruption of Hazael will begin to manifest in the 630 00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:46,640 next couple of verses. What happens? 631 00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:51,040 Let's read in verse 14. Then he departed from Elijah and 632 00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:55,640 came to his master, who said to him, what did Elijah say to you? 633 00:38:55,640 --> 00:38:58,440 And he answered, He told me that you would certainly recover. 634 00:38:59,240 --> 00:39:02,840 But the next day he took the bedcloth and dipped it in water 635 00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:05,760 and spread it over his face till he died. 636 00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:10,080 And Hazael became king in his place. 637 00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:13,600 You know what? Some people might believe that 638 00:39:14,240 --> 00:39:16,520 Hazael committed this crime because it was predicted by 639 00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:19,440 Elijah. Did Elijah predict that this 640 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:22,640 would happen? No. 641 00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:26,520 What did he tell this man? He said that, yeah, he'll 642 00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:28,160 recover, but he will certainly die. 643 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:29,600 He didn't tell him how he was going to die. 644 00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:34,160 So this isn't has a yell mustering up the courage to do 645 00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:36,160 this because he thought, well, it's been prophesied that I'd be 646 00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:38,200 the next king through assassination, so I'm just going 647 00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:39,560 to assassinate him. That's not what's happening 648 00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:41,520 here. Here's what I believe is 649 00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:45,640 happening, that as he's making his way back to his boss, the 650 00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:49,280 thought came to him, Well, if Benedad is going to die anyway, 651 00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:52,200 might as well speed up the process. 652 00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:58,040 That's what's happening. And so he makes his way before 653 00:39:58,040 --> 00:39:59,680 the King. And let me let me make this 654 00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:05,440 point based on that. Lust for power has a way of 655 00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:08,920 arousing and excusing other evils to obtain it. 656 00:40:10,240 --> 00:40:15,280 Lust for power has a way of arousing and excusing other 657 00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:20,480 evils in order to obtain it. Even as I said earlier, within 658 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:22,840 the context of ministry professing Christians. 659 00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:31,640 Will they not resort to lying, slander, flattery to gain or to 660 00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:36,440 protect some kind of role in the church, especially if it's a 661 00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:42,360 leadership role? If you're really truly called by 662 00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:47,120 the Lord, man or woman, then you will act like David, who is 663 00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:50,840 faithful and whatever he was found in while he waited on the 664 00:40:50,840 --> 00:40:53,680 Lord for his timing. You don't have to do anything of 665 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:54,720 the flesh. You don't have to resort to 666 00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:58,160 anything of the carnal man in order to get something from the 667 00:40:58,160 --> 00:40:59,960 Lord or get something from somebody else. 668 00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:03,640 Hazael is quite different from David. 669 00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:06,840 In fact he's the opposite. So he makes his way to the 670 00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:10,200 bedside of this king. The king asked what's what's the 671 00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:13,800 message and what is? Hazael said you shall certainly 672 00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:17,200 recover. Is that the full truth? 673 00:41:17,920 --> 00:41:20,520 No, it's not the full truth. What's the full truth? 674 00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:23,720 You're going to recover, but you're going to die too. 675 00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:31,240 And I can't help but think, but if Hezbollah was righteous, then 676 00:41:31,240 --> 00:41:33,200 he would have delivered the full thing. 677 00:41:33,200 --> 00:41:34,920 And if he delivered the full thing, that he might have 678 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:37,880 granted Ben Haddad the opportunity to get right with 679 00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:40,400 God before he slipped into eternity. 680 00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:42,960 But he doesn't. Why? 681 00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:45,000 Because he wants to fulfill that second part. 682 00:41:45,560 --> 00:41:49,400 He wants to ensure that he is dead and he doesn't want to 683 00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:51,560 raise up any suspicion. So he just says you're going to 684 00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:55,520 recover from the sickness and he can hardly wait. 685 00:41:55,520 --> 00:42:02,000 So he does it the next day. I think as I'll here is a 686 00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:05,600 reflection of many things, but he's primarily a reflection of 687 00:42:05,600 --> 00:42:09,640 how Satan works. How does Satan work with the 688 00:42:09,640 --> 00:42:12,760 word of the Lord? If he can't stop God's word from 689 00:42:12,760 --> 00:42:18,240 being preached altogether, then he will find people to leave out 690 00:42:18,240 --> 00:42:24,720 the parts that would necessitate you to reflect and potentially 691 00:42:24,720 --> 00:42:30,680 repent. He will lull you to sleep in 692 00:42:30,680 --> 00:42:35,640 your condition by giving you. Is that not part of Elijah's 693 00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:36,720 word? Yes, it was. 694 00:42:36,720 --> 00:42:39,160 You shall certainly recover. That was part of the message. 695 00:42:39,160 --> 00:42:41,360 That was what he was he was exposed to. 696 00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:46,080 So it's partly God's Word, but not totally God's Word. 697 00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:50,000 And I find that what we see with this man is what we see in many 698 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:53,360 pulpits. If you can't stop the Word from 699 00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:56,160 being shared, He will have those who share it withhold the parts 700 00:42:56,160 --> 00:43:01,000 that stirred urgency to make the appropriate response. 701 00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:04,360 And he will deceive messengers into using the Word, O Lord, to 702 00:43:04,360 --> 00:43:08,280 lull people into a complacency until they die in their unbelief 703 00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:10,800 and sin. Is that not true? 704 00:43:11,040 --> 00:43:15,720 It is true, and like the King, to be so relaxed that they never 705 00:43:15,720 --> 00:43:20,440 consider repentance. Now, I'm thinking of this from 706 00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:22,800 Hazel's point of view, and I'm also thinking of this from 707 00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:26,680 Benedict's point of view, because this man has received 708 00:43:26,720 --> 00:43:31,360 ample opportunity to repent. How much has God done for this 709 00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:34,760 man? How many experiences of His 710 00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:39,040 grace has he tasted for Him to finally change his ways? 711 00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:41,600 And he refused to do so. And now, when it comes to him 712 00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:45,640 being riddled with this disease, he shows some interest in the 713 00:43:45,640 --> 00:43:49,960 true God. And though we think here that 714 00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:54,120 this is a bedside opportunity to repent, it's not really. 715 00:43:56,480 --> 00:43:59,520 Because instead of an invitation, a revisitation of 716 00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:02,480 the truth being brought to him in his final moments, what's 717 00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:06,880 there? An incomplete truth you can say. 718 00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:10,880 A lie that robbed him of the opportunity of getting right 719 00:44:10,880 --> 00:44:15,680 with God. Bedside repentance is never 720 00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:20,000 guaranteed for anyone, even if you find yourself on a bed 721 00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:22,120 knowing that you're going to die in any moment. 722 00:44:24,120 --> 00:44:28,200 Because like Ben had died, instead of having the 723 00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:32,320 opportunity to get right with the Lord through Jesus Christ, 724 00:44:32,440 --> 00:44:36,840 you might be surrounded by the lies of the enemy to the point 725 00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:44,480 where they overwhelm and overtake any opportunity to come 726 00:44:44,720 --> 00:44:48,240 to the truth. I remember a time many, many 727 00:44:48,240 --> 00:44:52,120 years ago, maybe a year or two into me moving to the city here 728 00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:55,840 in Chicago where I receive. I'll be as broad as possible. 729 00:44:55,840 --> 00:44:58,640 I don't want to be too specific, that I received a phone call 730 00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:02,080 from a relative who was at the hospital visiting another 731 00:45:02,080 --> 00:45:06,240 relative who was sick. And while this relative was 732 00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:10,120 visiting this other relative, she heard her name being called 733 00:45:10,120 --> 00:45:15,400 down the hospital aisle from a young man who went to my high 734 00:45:15,400 --> 00:45:18,160 school. My brother and I had a chance to 735 00:45:18,160 --> 00:45:23,360 play basketball with this fellow and the relative who engaged 736 00:45:23,360 --> 00:45:29,160 with this young man who recognized, called her name, 737 00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:35,320 told this person that he's dying of cancer and he's my age. 738 00:45:36,720 --> 00:45:41,640 And so my relative contacted me and said so and so is dying of 739 00:45:41,640 --> 00:45:44,760 cancer. Can you believe that I bumped 740 00:45:44,760 --> 00:45:47,240 into him or he bumped into me? This is the Lord because this 741 00:45:47,240 --> 00:45:52,920 person doesn't know the Lord. And so I received the number to 742 00:45:52,920 --> 00:45:54,800 contact him while he's in the hospital. 743 00:45:54,800 --> 00:45:57,480 I haven't seen this man in years. 744 00:45:58,280 --> 00:46:00,440 And the last that I knew of him is that he was a troublemaker. 745 00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:01,840 He got in trouble with the police. 746 00:46:02,080 --> 00:46:05,800 He had a broken family life. So I called this young man, I 747 00:46:05,800 --> 00:46:09,680 called him from Chicago and I talked to her for 10 minutes and 748 00:46:09,680 --> 00:46:10,920 I. And I thought to myself, surely 749 00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:16,440 this is of the Lord to give this man a chance to repent if he's 750 00:46:16,440 --> 00:46:19,760 not healed. And so I, I had short 751 00:46:19,760 --> 00:46:21,600 conversation with him just about, you know, life. 752 00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:24,440 And then I got to it. I hear what's happening in your 753 00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:25,560 life. I hear what's happening to your 754 00:46:25,560 --> 00:46:27,720 body. And I just gave him the gospel. 755 00:46:27,720 --> 00:46:30,600 Now, here's what's interesting. This man's father was a Muslim 756 00:46:31,760 --> 00:46:35,440 and he identified as a Muslim. And So what he allowed me to 757 00:46:35,440 --> 00:46:37,720 share the gospel that at some point he said, yeah, but do you 758 00:46:37,720 --> 00:46:39,600 understand that I'm a Muslim? I said, with all due respect, 759 00:46:39,600 --> 00:46:42,680 Muhammad can't save you. Your faith can't save you. 760 00:46:42,680 --> 00:46:44,960 Only the Lord Jesus Christ can save you. 761 00:46:45,400 --> 00:46:47,760 You need to repent and put your trust and faith in him. 762 00:46:48,080 --> 00:46:51,000 And as I am presenting the gospel, I hear people in the 763 00:46:51,000 --> 00:46:52,680 background coming into the hospital room. 764 00:46:54,280 --> 00:46:56,360 And I could tell that he was getting distracted and I could 765 00:46:56,360 --> 00:46:59,680 tell that I need to give a little bit more oomph to my 766 00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:01,800 presentation here to get his to get his attention. 767 00:47:01,800 --> 00:47:06,280 So I tried only for me to be interrupted with brother, I'm 768 00:47:06,280 --> 00:47:09,280 sorry, but my family's here and I have to go. 769 00:47:10,960 --> 00:47:14,440 It's good hearing your voice and the conversation ended. 770 00:47:16,960 --> 00:47:18,400 I don't know what happened to this young man. 771 00:47:18,480 --> 00:47:20,720 I actually ended up learning that he did pass away. 772 00:47:20,720 --> 00:47:26,160 I don't know when, but I wonder if I was the last voice that was 773 00:47:26,160 --> 00:47:30,640 able to give him the truth or if whatever I said was eclipsed by 774 00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:35,120 family that believed in a different God that maybe 775 00:47:35,120 --> 00:47:37,280 cancelled out the things that I was able to share with him. 776 00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:41,560 I'm putting my faith and trust that the seed of the gospel was 777 00:47:41,560 --> 00:47:43,360 able to do something in that young man's heart. 778 00:47:44,200 --> 00:47:48,320 But I was reminded that as much as we think God is gracious 779 00:47:48,320 --> 00:47:51,720 enough to meet us in our final moments, Satan is vicious enough 780 00:47:52,720 --> 00:47:56,400 to make sure that you don't make it in your final moment. 781 00:47:59,440 --> 00:48:03,800 Azael came to this man supposedly with a word from the 782 00:48:03,800 --> 00:48:10,120 Lord, but it was a lie, half truth, one that would not 783 00:48:10,240 --> 00:48:13,200 prepare him to meet with his God, but one that left him 784 00:48:13,200 --> 00:48:18,320 unprepared. Well, we can end here, but look 785 00:48:18,320 --> 00:48:22,000 at all those verses left. So hang tight because we're 786 00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:24,800 going to complete this chapter. You know, if you've been 787 00:48:24,800 --> 00:48:27,880 studying with us in Second Kings, then you'll realize that 788 00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:30,560 the writer has primarily focused on the events concerning the 789 00:48:30,560 --> 00:48:32,360 northern Kingdom of Israel. And this is going to be 790 00:48:32,360 --> 00:48:33,960 overview. We're not going to be touching 791 00:48:33,960 --> 00:48:36,760 on every verse here, but what's interesting with the remaining 792 00:48:36,760 --> 00:48:39,400 verses of this chapter is that we are transported from the 793 00:48:39,400 --> 00:48:42,560 events taking place in the Kingdom of Israel and the 794 00:48:42,640 --> 00:48:46,720 affairs related to the Kingdom to the transfer and the change 795 00:48:46,720 --> 00:48:48,560 of politics in the Kingdom of Judah. 796 00:48:50,320 --> 00:48:53,200 And the question is why? And here's the answer. 797 00:48:53,800 --> 00:48:57,520 Because the corruption and the evil that overtook the nation 798 00:48:57,720 --> 00:49:00,560 and the Kingdom of Israel was seeping into the Kingdom of 799 00:49:00,560 --> 00:49:05,200 Judah. So the the very sin that invited 800 00:49:05,200 --> 00:49:08,200 God's judgement, the judgement that was ready to be unleashed 801 00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:12,360 to the king of Syria being elected and the king of Israel, 802 00:49:12,360 --> 00:49:14,640 this man J, who is going to show up in the next chapter. 803 00:49:15,080 --> 00:49:17,840 Now we're left to wonder that sin that brings about this 804 00:49:17,840 --> 00:49:22,960 judgment, it's now seeping into the Kingdom of Judah and we're 805 00:49:22,960 --> 00:49:24,440 wondering what's going to happen to Judah. 806 00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:27,360 Now, if you need proof of that, look down here at Second Kings. 807 00:49:28,080 --> 00:49:31,240 Let's just read verse 16 down. It says here in the fifth year 808 00:49:31,240 --> 00:49:34,560 of Joram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was 809 00:49:34,560 --> 00:49:37,920 king of Judah, Joram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, 810 00:49:37,920 --> 00:49:39,680 began to reign. Now you might be wondering 811 00:49:39,680 --> 00:49:42,280 what's going on here. I thought Joram was the king of 812 00:49:42,280 --> 00:49:44,160 Israel. That's the son of Ahab, right? 813 00:49:44,480 --> 00:49:46,840 Joram is the son of Ahab. But we learn here that there's 814 00:49:46,840 --> 00:49:49,600 another Joram who's going to be the king of Judah. 815 00:49:51,080 --> 00:49:52,280 Ready for this? It's not a contradiction. 816 00:49:52,280 --> 00:49:54,760 People can share the same name, right? 817 00:49:55,080 --> 00:49:58,640 Daniel, Daniel. Right, Daniel, Daniel, Jairam, 818 00:49:58,640 --> 00:49:59,680 Jairam. It's possible. 819 00:49:59,960 --> 00:50:04,040 So you had Jairam of the king of Israel, and then now you have a 820 00:50:04,040 --> 00:50:07,320 Jairam who's the king of Judah. He was 32 years old when he 821 00:50:07,320 --> 00:50:10,400 became king and reigned 8 years in Jerusalem. 822 00:50:10,560 --> 00:50:12,800 Now here, here's the important verse, verse 18. 823 00:50:12,960 --> 00:50:17,520 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the House of 824 00:50:17,560 --> 00:50:21,160 Ahab had done. For the daughter of Ahab was his 825 00:50:21,160 --> 00:50:24,080 wife. And he did what was evil in the 826 00:50:24,080 --> 00:50:28,320 sight of the Lord. So we're supposed to, as the 827 00:50:28,320 --> 00:50:33,800 readers go, this is bad. He married a daughter of Ahab, 828 00:50:34,360 --> 00:50:36,360 and now he's walking in the ways of the king of Israel. 829 00:50:36,640 --> 00:50:39,240 You just read up to this point that God is ready to judge, 830 00:50:39,240 --> 00:50:41,160 fulfill the word that he gave to Elijah. 831 00:50:41,320 --> 00:50:43,680 Hey, Hezail is going to come up and he's going to be an 832 00:50:43,680 --> 00:50:45,360 instrument of judgement. Jehu's going to come up. 833 00:50:45,360 --> 00:50:46,680 He's going to be an instrument of judgement. 834 00:50:46,880 --> 00:50:49,520 So what's going to happen to the Kingdom of Judah then? 835 00:50:50,880 --> 00:50:52,520 Are they going to face a similar fate? 836 00:50:52,520 --> 00:50:54,720 Are they going to see a worse fate? 837 00:50:55,920 --> 00:50:59,680 And then look at what happens here, verse 19. 838 00:51:01,240 --> 00:51:04,720 As though the Lord anticipated this question, we get an answer. 839 00:51:05,160 --> 00:51:08,920 Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah for the sake of 840 00:51:08,920 --> 00:51:12,240 David His servant, since He promised to give a lamp to him 841 00:51:12,240 --> 00:51:17,840 and to his sons forever. So God is going to treat the 842 00:51:17,840 --> 00:51:19,400 Kingdom of Judah differently. Why? 843 00:51:19,400 --> 00:51:23,520 Because of the Davidic dynasty. So he is not going to wipe out 844 00:51:23,520 --> 00:51:25,680 the Kingdom of Judah. He's not going to destroy them 845 00:51:25,680 --> 00:51:28,080 completely because he made a promise. 846 00:51:28,080 --> 00:51:30,280 And this is so important as you read through the whole Bible 847 00:51:30,760 --> 00:51:33,480 that from time to time when you see the people of God 848 00:51:34,280 --> 00:51:38,000 entertaining sins that are worthy of God, deserting them 849 00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:42,600 and keeping them in that place, we are frequently reminded God 850 00:51:42,600 --> 00:51:46,440 is faithful even though His people are faithless, and that 851 00:51:46,440 --> 00:51:49,880 he is a covenant keeping God. And he made a promise to David, 852 00:51:49,880 --> 00:51:54,280 and despite his descendants, he would hold on to his promise to 853 00:51:54,360 --> 00:51:58,280 his seed. Say, well, does that mean that 854 00:51:58,280 --> 00:52:00,160 they can do whatever they want? No, because they would still 855 00:52:00,160 --> 00:52:02,160 experience chastisement. That's what you read in verse 856 00:52:02,160 --> 00:52:05,040 20. In his days, Edom revolted from 857 00:52:05,040 --> 00:52:07,680 the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. 858 00:52:07,960 --> 00:52:10,600 Then Joram passed over Zaire. Now Joram, you see that? 859 00:52:10,720 --> 00:52:13,080 That's an alternate way of spelling Jahoram. 860 00:52:14,440 --> 00:52:19,080 So Joram, Joram, same person, passed over to Zaire with all 861 00:52:19,080 --> 00:52:21,760 his Chariots and rose by night, and he and his chariot 862 00:52:21,760 --> 00:52:25,000 commanders struck the Edomites who had surrounded him, but his 863 00:52:25,040 --> 00:52:28,440 army fled home. So Edom revolted from the rule 864 00:52:28,440 --> 00:52:31,200 of Judah to this day. Then Libna revolted at the same 865 00:52:31,200 --> 00:52:33,080 time. Now the rest of the acts of 866 00:52:33,080 --> 00:52:36,560 Joram and all that he did, are they not written in the book of 867 00:52:36,560 --> 00:52:38,120 the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. 868 00:52:38,280 --> 00:52:41,160 So Joram slept with his father's and was buried with his father's 869 00:52:41,160 --> 00:52:44,320 in the city of David, and his son reign in his place. 870 00:52:44,520 --> 00:52:47,960 In other words, they were chastised and discipline for 871 00:52:47,960 --> 00:52:50,160 their sin. But God would have put an end to 872 00:52:50,160 --> 00:52:56,000 this Kingdom because everybody said to David, right, Edom was 873 00:52:56,000 --> 00:53:00,480 raised up to depart from them. Libna was raised up to revolt 874 00:53:00,480 --> 00:53:03,240 against him, and that was his. If you want proof that that was 875 00:53:03,240 --> 00:53:06,560 God's doing, let me quote to you Second Chronicles. 876 00:53:06,720 --> 00:53:08,200 And this is important. You don't have to turn there, 877 00:53:08,200 --> 00:53:11,480 but just to know as a reference, 2110, this is the parallel 878 00:53:11,480 --> 00:53:13,880 account, and here's what the chronicler says. 879 00:53:13,960 --> 00:53:16,840 So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. 880 00:53:17,080 --> 00:53:20,360 At that time, Libna also revolted from his rule because 881 00:53:20,360 --> 00:53:22,960 he had forsaken the Lord, the God of the fathers, of his 882 00:53:22,960 --> 00:53:26,360 fathers. So this uprising of the Edomites 883 00:53:26,360 --> 00:53:30,200 and the people that lived now was because Joram the king of 884 00:53:30,200 --> 00:53:32,800 Judah departed from the Lord and walked in the ways of the kings 885 00:53:32,800 --> 00:53:35,280 of Israel. So what happens? 886 00:53:35,440 --> 00:53:37,120 Does it get any better with his son of Heziah? 887 00:53:37,120 --> 00:53:41,040 Let's read 25. In the 12th year of Joram, the 888 00:53:41,040 --> 00:53:43,720 son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahazzai, the son of Joram, king 889 00:53:43,720 --> 00:53:47,800 of Judah, began to reign as I was 22 years old when he began 890 00:53:47,800 --> 00:53:50,600 to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. 891 00:53:50,600 --> 00:53:55,400 His mother's name was Athalia. She was a granddaughter of Omri, 892 00:53:55,640 --> 00:53:59,120 king of Israel. His mother's name was Athalia. 893 00:54:01,280 --> 00:54:04,360 I believe it was Matthew Henry who said when you choose a wife, 894 00:54:04,360 --> 00:54:06,400 you have to understand you're also choosing the mother of your 895 00:54:06,400 --> 00:54:10,720 children. So his mother's name was 896 00:54:10,720 --> 00:54:12,440 Athalia. She was a granddaughter of Omri, 897 00:54:12,440 --> 00:54:14,960 king of Israel. He also walked in the way of the 898 00:54:14,960 --> 00:54:17,800 House of Ahab and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, 899 00:54:18,000 --> 00:54:20,640 as the House of Ahab had done, for he was the son-in-law to the 900 00:54:20,640 --> 00:54:23,760 House of Ahab. Now notice what happens here. 901 00:54:24,800 --> 00:54:27,280 He went with Joram the son of Ahab. 902 00:54:27,280 --> 00:54:29,800 That's Joram, king of Israel, not the one that just died, king 903 00:54:29,800 --> 00:54:31,360 of Judah. I hope I'm not confusing 904 00:54:31,360 --> 00:54:33,400 anybody. He went with Joram, the son of 905 00:54:33,400 --> 00:54:37,200 Ahab, to make war against who? The new king of Syria, Hazel, 906 00:54:37,200 --> 00:54:41,520 king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead, and the Syrians wounded Joram 907 00:54:42,160 --> 00:54:45,200 King Jerem returned to be healed, and Jezreel of the 908 00:54:45,200 --> 00:54:48,040 wounds that the Syrians had given him at Rama when he fought 909 00:54:48,040 --> 00:54:51,280 against Hazael king of Syria, And Haziah the son of Joram king 910 00:54:51,280 --> 00:54:54,640 of Judah, went down to see Joram the son of Ahab and Jezreel 911 00:54:54,640 --> 00:54:57,800 because he was sick. So now you see this alliance 912 00:54:57,800 --> 00:55:02,680 between the king of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel as Zion 913 00:55:02,680 --> 00:55:07,160 now is checking up on Jerem after this war against Syria. 914 00:55:07,960 --> 00:55:12,280 And though they felt as though they potentially evaded Hazel's 915 00:55:12,360 --> 00:55:17,480 punishment, his ruthless antics and ability, they don't see 916 00:55:17,480 --> 00:55:21,320 what's coming in the next chapter because there's still 917 00:55:21,320 --> 00:55:24,920 one more person out of the three from First Kings 1915 to be 918 00:55:24,920 --> 00:55:26,160 anointed. Who's that person? 919 00:55:27,960 --> 00:55:31,400 Jehu. And Jehu is going to be the 920 00:55:31,400 --> 00:55:36,000 instrument in God's hand that's going to bring an end to the 921 00:55:36,000 --> 00:55:38,960 House of Ahab. And we have to come next week to 922 00:55:38,960 --> 00:55:41,400 see it. Why don't we stop here and give 923 00:55:41,400 --> 00:55:57,340 thanks to God for this study? Lord, we thank you for the 924 00:55:57,340 --> 00:56:01,260 study. We bless your great and holy 925 00:56:01,260 --> 00:56:06,020 name. That Lord, just as your word 926 00:56:06,020 --> 00:56:10,060 says in Hebrews 412. This word is indeed living and 927 00:56:10,060 --> 00:56:12,900 active. It is as a double edged sword. 928 00:56:14,420 --> 00:56:16,660 There is no part of it that doesn't cut us. 929 00:56:17,600 --> 00:56:20,320 Every part of Your word has the potential of pricking our 930 00:56:20,320 --> 00:56:23,920 conscious or comforting our weary souls. 931 00:56:24,440 --> 00:56:29,040 Thank You that every part has an edge and we've experienced that 932 00:56:29,040 --> 00:56:32,760 tonight in this chapter. Lord, receive maximum glory and 933 00:56:32,760 --> 00:56:37,400 praise from the fruit of our lips, the sacrifice of praise, 934 00:56:37,440 --> 00:56:42,080 as we acknowledge Your greatness in Your word and in our lives. 935 00:56:42,440 --> 00:56:45,440 In Jesus name we pray, Amen and Amen. 936 00:56:45,840 --> 00:56:49,000 Let's praise the Lord for His goodness and his wisdom and His 937 00:56:49,000 --> 00:56:51,080 glory. You know, if there's one take 938 00:56:51,080 --> 00:56:52,640 away from this Bible study, it's this. 939 00:56:52,640 --> 00:56:54,440 When God says something, he means it. 940 00:56:55,800 --> 00:57:00,160 When God promises something, he means it both for our good and 941 00:57:00,160 --> 00:57:04,880 both for his justice if it means the pain of those who deny His 942 00:57:04,880 --> 00:57:06,880 good. So he keeps his word. 943 00:57:06,920 --> 00:57:08,480 Let's stand, let's give him thanks tonight. 944 00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:24,120 God keeps His word, whether it's a warning or it's a promise. 945 00:57:24,680 --> 00:57:27,320 You know, I left something out for my our Bible study tonight, 946 00:57:27,320 --> 00:57:28,720 but I'm going to share it in closing. 947 00:57:29,520 --> 00:57:34,040 Who are the Edomites? They're the descendants of Esau. 948 00:57:34,120 --> 00:57:37,480 Who is Esau? Jacob's brother. 949 00:57:37,480 --> 00:57:39,840 Remember that, right? And what did Jacob do to make 950 00:57:39,920 --> 00:57:44,240 Esau very, very upset? He stole his inheritance and he 951 00:57:44,240 --> 00:57:48,520 took away his blessing. And so Esau comes to his father 952 00:57:48,520 --> 00:57:51,360 and begs him, Oh, do you have something left for me? 953 00:57:52,000 --> 00:57:53,600 Do you have something left for me? 954 00:57:53,600 --> 00:57:57,680 And really, it's a bottom of the barrel prophecy that he grants 955 00:57:57,680 --> 00:58:00,080 him. But there's something in it that 956 00:58:00,080 --> 00:58:05,560 is related to 2nd Kings Chapter 8, and it's quite staggering. 957 00:58:06,360 --> 00:58:09,400 It says here in Genesis 27 verse 39. 958 00:58:09,400 --> 00:58:13,680 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, Behold, away 959 00:58:13,680 --> 00:58:17,520 from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away 960 00:58:17,520 --> 00:58:22,080 from the dew of heaven on high by your sword you shall live, 961 00:58:22,440 --> 00:58:26,320 and you shall serve your brother right though he was older, he 962 00:58:26,320 --> 00:58:29,200 was going to serve his brother. But notice what happens. 963 00:58:29,640 --> 00:58:34,080 But when you grow restless, you shall break his yoke from your 964 00:58:34,080 --> 00:58:38,000 neck. So it wasn't a permanent 965 00:58:38,000 --> 00:58:40,960 servitude to Jacob and his descendants. 966 00:58:40,960 --> 00:58:44,920 At some point ISON his descends would grow so restless that they 967 00:58:44,920 --> 00:58:47,120 would break free from the yoke of Jacob. 968 00:58:47,520 --> 00:58:51,040 When do you think that happened? And what you heard in the final 969 00:58:51,040 --> 00:58:54,000 verses of Second Kings chapter 8, that when the Edomites broke 970 00:58:54,000 --> 00:58:57,360 free from Israel and became their own independent Kingdom, 971 00:58:58,480 --> 00:59:02,080 why do I bring that up? Because a promise that God gave 972 00:59:02,080 --> 00:59:05,360 in Genesis was fulfilled in Second Kings. 973 00:59:05,760 --> 00:59:08,560 Why? Because God doesn't forget his 974 00:59:08,560 --> 00:59:10,960 word. When God says something, he 975 00:59:10,960 --> 00:59:13,680 means it. And so even in things that we 976 00:59:13,680 --> 00:59:16,920 have not yet realized, he will bring it to pass. 977 00:59:17,360 --> 00:59:20,880 Even things from Genesis that have not yet been realized, it's 978 00:59:20,880 --> 00:59:23,320 going to happen because as God is true. 979 00:59:24,120 --> 00:59:26,400 Amen. We thank you, Lord. 980 00:59:27,400 --> 00:59:30,960 You're a trustworthy God. This book in our hands is the 981 00:59:30,960 --> 00:59:34,000 living Word. It's your breath, it's your 982 00:59:34,000 --> 00:59:41,840 voice, it's your promise, it's your guidance in our lives. 983 00:59:42,440 --> 00:59:45,520 We honor you for it, Lord, May we love it every day. 984 00:59:46,120 --> 00:59:48,880 I pray personally for every person here, and I pray for 985 00:59:48,880 --> 00:59:52,920 myself that there would be an appetite for the Word in 2025 986 00:59:53,320 --> 00:59:56,000 that has never been realized in prior years. 987 00:59:56,560 --> 00:59:59,880 We pray that you would enlarge our hearts, that we may run in 988 00:59:59,880 --> 01:00:03,360 the way of Your commandments. We honor you, we thank you, we 989 01:00:03,360 --> 01:00:06,680 pray that this church, by your grace, would be a Bible 990 01:00:06,680 --> 01:00:11,800 preaching, Bible believing, Bible heralding, Bible honoring 991 01:00:11,800 --> 01:00:14,960 church until you come and bring us home. 992 01:00:15,480 --> 01:00:19,440 Lord, may we not be like Hazel and shy away from everything you 993 01:00:19,440 --> 01:00:23,480 have to say, but we may believe that even the strongest words, 994 01:00:23,480 --> 01:00:27,840 the strongest warnings are for our good for people's lives to 995 01:00:27,840 --> 01:00:30,520 be saved, including our own. We bless you. 996 01:00:30,680 --> 01:00:35,640 Bring us back again safely in Jesus name, Amen and Amen. 997 01:00:36,000 --> 01:00:37,560 Lord willing we will see you this Sunday. 998 01:00:37,840 --> 01:00:40,240 We're breaking bread together. We're going to welcome in new 999 01:00:40,240 --> 01:00:42,960 members and again we're going to hear from the Lord. 1000 01:00:43,240 --> 01:00:46,400 No Bible series just yet. Still preaching different 1001 01:00:46,400 --> 01:00:48,480 messages. So be praying for the next 1002 01:00:48,480 --> 01:00:50,440 series will be pleased. That would be wonderful for me 1003 01:00:50,440 --> 01:00:52,800 and for the leadership. We'll see you there Lord 1004 01:00:52,800 --> 01:00:53,840 willing. God bless you. 1005 01:00:53,840 --> 01:00:55,160 Be safe, take Care now.