Well, I don't have much to say apart from opening your Bibles
with me and meet Me in the Old Testament and 1st Kings Chapter
15. I hope that you have been
following with us in this study. If not, everything that we do
here on Fridays is recorded and is archived.
So you can just go to our YouTube channel if you feel a
little lost and you can catch up.
But what we have before us today is pretty straightforward
because it is in this chapter that we are provided the
documentations of four kings, 4 kings in the nation of Israel
who followed the reign of Rehoboam and Jeroboam.
And in this chapter what you're going to see is that we have the
1st 2 kings who represent the Kingdom of Judah.
Is that the north of the South? It's the Southern Kingdom.
So the 1st 2 kings will be representing the Kingdom of
Judah, and the last two kings in this chapter will be
representing the Kingdom of Israel, the northern tribes.
And that is a pretty straightforward overview, but I
want to give you a heads up in our study of kings 1st and 2nd
kings. It's going to become a little
challenging to try to master the chronology of these kings, the
timeline of these kings, for two different reasons.
The first reason is because we're going to discover that as
we study the Southern Kingdom and and then revisit the
Northern and vice versa back and forth the the careers of some of
these kings will overlap the other.
And so it's going to require a little bit more effort to try to
put these things together in terms of timing.
Second to that is when we come to the writings of First Kings
and try to reconcile it with the thematic accents of the book of
First and Second Chronicles. That also will be a little bit
challenging because you're going to see Chronicles come in a
different light than the author of Kings, and they will mostly
complement each other. But there will be times where
we'll be like, well, how do these things to connect?
How do they make sense? And perhaps at some point, what
we'll do is we'll take a timeline and we'll present that
timeline and you and I will have a visual of the family tree of
both kingdoms and how they coincide.
And so that will come down the line.
But for now, until then, what we're going to do is patiently,
step by step, conquer the content of first kings as we go.
The way we've been going in this pace and in our study tonight,
what we'll simply divide what we're going to learn today in
the way that this chapter divides it naturally.
In other words, you and I are just going to look at each of
these kings and seek to see what we can learn from them, and even
what we can learn and how they intersect with one another.
So again I repeat, we have 4 kings to study and we're going
to seek to grasp this entire chapter in one setting.
And so let us read together. Beginning in verse one of
chapter 15, Now in the 18th reign or year rather, of King
Jeroboam the son of Nabat Abidjam began to reign over
Judah. He reigned for three years in
Jerusalem. His mother's name was Makkah,
the daughter of Absalom, and he walked in all the sins that his
father did before him. And his heart was not wholly
true to the Lord, his God, as the heart of David, his father.
Well, we ask that as we open this text together, that there
would be a grace from your Holy Spirit to understand it.
And Lord, as we discover different names and jump from
text to text, give us the ability to stay focused and to
understand everything that we are trying to grasp from this
text. We need your help.
Lord, you are the great teacher that has been promised to us.
You have told us that there is an anointing that we each have
received internally, and that is the anointing of the teaching
ministry of the Holy Spirit. May he guide us now in first
Kings 15 For you have preserved this text for our instruction
and your glory. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen. Let's stop here in the 1st 3
verses because we were introduced to the first king of
Judah after Rehoboam and it is the son of Rehoboam and his name
is Abidjan and he ruled in Judah evidently.
And he actually ruled only for surprisingly 3 years.
That should stand out to us three years.
It's obvious also here that Jeroboam he's the king of the 10
tribes of the north. He outlived Rehoboam who ruled
the southern part of the nation of Israel.
So Rehoboam dies and his son takes his place and Jeroboam is
still ruling and reigning in the north.
But what a brief tenure, what a brief governance.
For three years alone did he exercise his throne.
And unfortunately, the summary of such a brief breath is given
to us in verse 3, the characteristic of his rule, as
mentioned in that he walked in all the sins that his father did
before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his
God. That's disappointing, and
prepared to be more disappointed as we study the kings.
But notice there's a specific phrase about how he related to
the Lord. It says here that his heart was
not wholly, it was not wholly true to the Lord.
And that is an important distinction to make, because
when you read of Abidjem in Second Chronicles 13, which
maybe should turn there in preparation in Second Chronicles
13, in the way that the Chronicle presents Abidjem, you
would actually see that he did have a facet of his character
and his devotion that did honor the Lord.
In fact, this is the setting, this is the one scene that
Second Chronicles 13 presents of this very same king.
He's actually going to go to war with Jeroboam.
And he has half the man that Jeroboam has and he stands on a
mountain. And before he even goes to war,
he actually preaches A sermon. He gives this wonderful speech,
this the speech that entails the history of Israel, especially
the monarch who God made a covenant with.
And more than that, he makes a proclamation of his personal
devotion to the Lord. Now we're not going to read the
entirety of it, but let me read you 2 verses from that chapter
and you'll get a sample of where he stood and what he believed.
So you're there in Second Chronicles 13, I hope.
Look at verse eight. In the middle of his message to
Jeroboam and Israel, he says. And now you think to withstand
the Kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David,
because you are a great multitude and have with you the
golden calves that Jeroboam made for, made you for gods.
Have you not driven up the priest of the Lord, the sons of
Aaron and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the
peoples of other lands? Whoever comes for ordination
with a young bull or seven Rams becomes a priest of what are not
gods. Now look at verse 10.
But As for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken
him. We have priests ministering to
the Lord who are sons of Aaron and Levites for their service.
OK, this is undoubtedly and allegiance that he proclaims a
statement of honor to the true God, is it not?
But the problem is now when we come to this, how do we
reconcile it with what we read here?
And more than that, not only does he honor the Lord, God
actually honors him. So Scroll down in verse 18 of
Second Chronicles 13 and notice what happens.
Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the
men of Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord, the God
of their fathers. I bring this to your attention
because it seems as though we are reading about two different
kings, when in fact it's one in the same.
In first kings were we read what that Abidjan walked in all the
sins that his father did. Then you come to Second
Chronicles and you realize that he's being showcased as a man of
God, and God even honors him when he makes this incredible
defense of the truth. So how do we connect these
things? How do we make sense of what
seems to be two different biographies?
It's very simple. In those three brief years,
Second Chronicles 13. This place for us the
beginnings, something that we've seen so many times and we're
going to see on different occasions, The beginnings of
Abidjem's faith and 1st Kings 15 will describe the dominating
feature of his life. Enough is character.
So Abidjan teaches us something that you and I need to take
heed, something that's far too common.
People who start off with courageous, consecrated and even
bold faith, and over time who can even testify of God's
interventions in their lives, but then not continuing on that
path, something that you and I are very familiar with in our
study of God's Word. And it makes you wonder, well,
what was the turning point for this man?
How was it that he could say the Lord is our God?
How was it that he can even rely on God and God would honor him,
only for him to be described in our original text to be an
apostate? It's actually in Second
Chronicles 13. So look at verse 20.
Jeroboam did not recover his power in the days of Abaja.
By the way, Abaja is another name for the same person.
And the Lord struck him down and he died.
But Abaja grew mighty. Does that ever turn out good for
most people? But Abaja grew mighty, and here
it is. And he took 14 wives and had 22
sons and sixteen daughters. Why is it a problem to have more
than one wife? For many practical reasons, I'm
sure. But it's a theological issue,
especially for kings, because as you know, in Deuteronomy 1717,
the kings were instructed not to have too many wives, not to have
more than one wife, according to the Genesis account, obviously,
but to not have too many wives for this reason lest their
hearts be turned away. That is exactly what happened to
this man. His heart was turned away
because he did not trust God concerning the area of marriage,
and ultimately that was disobedience that caused many
other problems in his life, including apostasy.
And so this man disobeys the Lord at that juncture.
Now we come back to first kings 15 and look again here in verse
three and five, four to five. Nevertheless, for David's sake,
the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son
after him and establishing Jerusalem, because David did
what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside
from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life.
This is not the only lesson from Abajam's life.
You see here that we are being reminded that the reason why God
didn't give up on the Southern Kingdom, why he didn't just
throw away the tribe of Judah, is because he made a covenant
with David. And despite the lack of
faithfulness of David's sons, God is faithful because he made
a covenant with David that is unconditional.
I made a promise to one man, and I'm going to keep it no matter
what. And despite seasons of
discipline, he would never revoke, he would never turn away
from what he originally promised to this man, that there would be
a throne, that it would last forever, and that he would have
one of his sons sit on that throne and rule forever and
ever. And so again, even early on
here, when we're seeing now this, this new moment for Israel
where you have two kingdoms, those are supposed to be one.
We want to be able to understand that what we see here and what
we're going to see moving forward is that despite men's
disobedience, God is a God who keeps his word.
But more than that, it's supposed to.
Also remind us what God was really looking for in the sons
of David. He made a promise to David and
his sons, but though it's unconditional, he wants
something from them. He wants the same heart that was
in the very one that he made a covenant with.
And you see this contrast between one of the sons of David
and David himself. And here's what's so important
about this, because we see here that Abidjan's faith is often
the reflection of many people's walk with the Lord.
Perhaps you have seen this. I've seen it at least.
When when some people try to make a fire, they're they're
very impatient. And so they pour gasoline on it.
They they stuff a bunch of paper, whether that's a pit or a
fireplace, and they just light the thing up and hope to get
something big and bright. And it shows up in that way,
combust, and you even feel the heat of that moment touching
your skin. But very quickly, what happens?
That fire dwindles and it becomes nothing, and you're back
to square one. And that's what many people are
like in their walk with the Lord.
It's called firework faith. It shines in the sky.
It's impressive. It makes a lot of noise, but
then within seconds it turns into smoke.
That's not what God is after. God is not after that kind of
quality of faith. God wants what's in our hearts
for him to burn long term. God wants what's in our hearts
for him to persevere, to endure an enduring flame, if you will.
And that's what you see in David.
And you see this conscious in this text.
You see a man who started. He started well.
He started with the right theology.
He started with boldness. He started with actually
confronting compromise and seeing God move in his life.
And then now he turns into what his father and his grandfather
were like. And then we mentioned David in
this text, and we see someone who, though he even sinned.
Look at this. We read that in verse 5, right?
He commanded him all the days of his life in the last part,
except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite, to remind us that
he was he was human, and he did have shortcomings, and he did
sin grievously, but he had something that was of
persevering value, and it was precious in the sight of God.
And you can almost hear God's heart in these texts.
Oh, that I would see the same heart that was in David and the
sons of David. Despite it I will be faithful to
my promise. But how I long to see the same
thing that I saw in that man who was after my own heart.
God is not after what we see here in Abide Jim.
He wants what was in David. And there's one more thing about
this man's biography worth mentioning before we move on.
Look at verse 6 now there was war between Rehoboam and
Jeroboam all the days of his life.
Why are we talking about that? In fact, if you remember last
week's study, that's where we concluded.
We concluded about how the summary of Rehoboam and
Jeroboam, the first kings of the divided kingdoms, they were
continually at war with one another.
And then we have that resurface in our text.
We're talking, we're not talking about Rehoboam talking about his
son, but we're reminded here that Rehoboam and Jeroboam were
at war all the days of his life. And I believe it's the next
verse that gives us the understanding of why this is
brought up. The rest of the acts of Abajim
and all that he did. Are they not written in the book
of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
And there was war between Abujam and Jeroboam, so there was war
between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. Now you have Rehoboam son
Abujam, and there was war between Abujam and Jeroboam.
And these are mentioned side by side for a reason.
It's as though the Spirit wants us to see that Abidjem's
relationship with Jeroboam was heavily influenced by the
example in the pattern of his father, Rehoboam.
This is a lesson. This is a lesson.
Listen, young guys, pay attention.
Yeah, especially young men who want to be fathers, Men who are
fathers of children today. Men who are fathers of adult
children. Can I ask you a question on this
Friday night? What kind of legacy are you
going to leave your children? What kind of legacy are you
going to leave your sons? What kind of legacy are you
going to leave your daughters? Because you see, Rehoboam, who
was generally characterized by warfare with the brethren and
his son, follow suit. Here's what I thought to myself
when I read this Lord, it is my prayer that my life, my life
would testify. If you were to give me a family
would testify that your word is a treasure, that the local
church is a priority, and that there is no greater honor in
this life than to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in any capacity.
You know, I heard an interesting phrase that stuck with me all
week of a minister who who taught about how to win your
children for Christ, and he made this statement that touched me,
and I didn't need to hear anything else.
I understood the implications of that.
At least, I think I did. If you want to see your kids,
come to Christ. If you want to see them one over
to the gospel, do your part in this.
Amaze them with God. Amaze your children with God.
Let them through your life, your words, your actions, your
priorities, your responsibilities.
Let them see that God is indeed a treasure, the treasure of all
treasures, the delight of all the lights, the most supreme
thing you can know. And listen, if he's not going to
be that in your life now, if he's not going to have that kind
of a place in your heart and your schedule and your
resources, don't be like one of those parents who, down the line
will come to the pastor and ask the pastor to rescue your kid.
Endeavour today to believe in the outcome of your life for God
overflowing and spilling on your children.
And I believe it's as simple as that.
I know that there are complicated cases, and I know
that there are very devoted fathers and mothers who are
struggling with their children. But the best thing that you can
do is stare at God, love God, worship God, and let your
offspring witness someone who actually prizes God above all
things to at least cause them to be curious enough to be like, is
God that real Because he's so real to daddy and mommy?
Is he that worth it for our lives to revolve around serving
him and serving God's people and learning about him in his word?
That can be true for the positive.
That could be true for the negative.
You had a dad who went to war with one of the brother and his
son had no issue following in that same example with your
children. See with them how amazing God
is. Now we move to the next king of
Judah. And mind you, we're just
touching on some things. We can stay on one king for one
Bible study, but we won't do that.
Let's read verse 9 and 10 and the 20th year of Jeroboam, King
of Israel. ASA began to reign over Judah
and he reigned 41 years in Jerusalem.
His mother's name was Macca, the daughter of Abby Shalom.
And ASA did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as David,
his father had done. Now let's pause here.
If the three-year reign of Abidjem stood out to us, then
surely the 41 year reign of his son ASA should stand out to us.
Because think about it, He actually is in the position of a
king longer than David and Solomon.
They were there for how long? 40, And now you have one of
their sons who's there for 41. Now some people have problem
with a problem with verse 10. What stands out to you?
That seems to be an issue concerning the description of
this man who is the mother to Abidjan Maka, the daughter of
ABI Shalom, right. And in chronicles actually says
Absalom. And then you see here that Abby
Gems son ASA has the same mother, right?
Look at verse 10 again. Macca, the daughter of Abby
Shalom. So what's going on here?
Father, son, and brothers at the same time?
Here's the thing to remember that there are terms in the
Bible that do not have this strict definition and
description that we might assume.
So I'm going to do something rapid fire with you to show you
how even though the word son is used, or the mother's name
rather is used in this case, it's not a contradiction, it's
not an error, is that the definition of this relationship
is broader than what we might understand.
So if you want to write these references, you can and maybe we
can look it up on the screen together instead of turning to
these places. But this is all from First and
Second Samuel. If you look at First Samuel,
chapter three and six, it's Eli who calls Samuel my son.
When Samuel is hearing the voice of the Lord, he mistakes it with
Eli's voice. So he approaches Eli while he's
sleeping, wakes Eli up, and Eli refers to him as my son.
Question is Eli Samuel's father? No.
So this is a relationship, like a mentor relationship, Father,
son, son of education, so to speak.
So he calls him my son. But they're not really father
and son. It's not just there.
You go to First Samuel 24, first Samuel 24, verse 16, and you see
somebody else calling another person his son, when in fact
they don't have that real relationship.
It is Saul who calls David. What is this your voice, my son
David, is Saul David's father? No, but he's his father-in-law.
And so though David is a son-in-law, he still calls him
my son. And here's the most important
example. It's not in First Samuel, but in
Second Samuel. In Second Samuel, chapter 19,
verse 24, Look what I said here. In Second Samuel 19, verse 24,
Mephibosheth, the son of Saul, came down to meet the king.
He had neither taken care of his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor
washed his clothes from the day the king departed until the day
they came back in safety. Question.
Is Mephibosheth the son of Saul? No.
Who's Mephibosheth's father? Jonathan.
And Jonathan is a son of Saul. So you you even see this, right?
You see that a grandfather is related to his grandson as
though they were actually father and son.
And that's exactly what you see here.
In Asa's case, the mother of ASA is actually his grandmother.
And it could be that Maca actually took a prominent place
in Asa's life. Though she was the grandmother,
she played a motherly role. And so it's simple as that there
there's no copyist mistake. There's no issue here.
It's simply a thing of description and how the Bible
uses terms and has broader definitions in some areas.
And so we see here that he had a grandmother who was really a
mother figure to him. And that's true in many cases
today where grandparents have such influences over their
grandchildren. Now, to our surprise, despite a
similar upbringing to his father, you have a different
future described. Because look at verse 11.
And ASA did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David
his father, had done. That's incredible.
We just heard that that's what the Lord was longing for from
the descendants of David. And here early on, you see ASA
reflecting the heart of David. This is a breath of fresh air,
is it not? And we look at this and we
think, well, this is not predictable and it's true.
It's not predictable. And here's where it gets even
more important. ASA not only was a worshipper of
such a caliber, ASA was one of the reformer kings in Israel's
history. In fact, he was the first
reformer for the Kingdom of Judah to reform something's
means to correct or make changes where there is great error or
corruption. And what ASA is known for is
cleaning the Kingdom of Judah. Spiritually he brought revival
and from time to time God will raise up a person to lead the
charge of bringing spiritual cleansing in different contexts.
Sometimes it can be in the home. Sometimes it can be in the local
church. Sometimes it can be in a region
where many ministries and churches are blessed by one
person whom God has raised up, touched and used to bring about.
The charge of a campaign of cleaning our hearts, purifying
our hands so that we can be where God wants us to be.
And so many people pray for revival.
It's a wonderful thing to pray for.
Many people believe that we need revival.
Today, I'm one of those people. Revival, by the way, is not for
the world. Revivals for the church.
Evangelism is for the world. You don't revive something
unless it was once alive. And so when you revive it, it
comes to life and then it operates in the way that it was
designed to operate. So yes, one of the benefits of
revival in the church is that the community feels it, but it
begins in the House of God. And what you see here in First
Kings 15 is a model of what happens when reform, spiritual
reform comes, whether that be to a church or region of churches
or even an individual's life. There are three things that
stand out from this. They give us an example, at
least an illustration, of what happens when your heart is
revived again by God. Look at the first thing with me
in verse 12. So ASA again in verse 11 he did
what was right in the eyes of the Lord and in verse 12.
This is the first consequence of that he put away the male cult
prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his
father had made. When God revives a church, when
God revives a person, one of the first things that will be
changed is that the way they view the culture, the way they
relate to society. You see, these male cult
prostitutes were state sanctioned worshippers who
performed homosexual acts in idol temples as acts of devotion
to false gods. It was gross.
It was contrary to God's will in so many fronts.
And we see here that these perversions were tolerated for
generations. They were tolerated by Asus,
father and grandfather, even encouraged.
But this man would not, would not submit to the norms of his
culture. He stood against it.
And you may not have the capability or the authority to
physically remove such things, but you do have a voice.
And you will be put in positions where you have to voice your
opinion, which is ultimately the truth, in a way that might
influence others, for good or not, up to us for the negative.
And when the Lord listen, when he does a true work in the
heart, you will not be fearful. You will not be submissive to
the narratives and to the patterns and the practices of
the culture. You will stand against it.
You will speak out, if need be, against it.
And that's exactly what this man exemplifies.
And we see here that he stands for the truth in a way in which
he refuses to be stained by the world.
James tells us in chapter one, verse 27, that true religion
that is pleasing to God is not that you would visit orphans and
widows in their distress, but that you would you would be
undefiled by the world, and a person whose heart is revived.
Listen, they want to protect themselves from being stained
from the world, and they want to be as consecrated as possible as
they interact with the world. And here you see this man who
uses his ability and his authority to do more than just
that. He makes an offensive move and
he begins to cleanse the culture.
And listen when the church begins to be pressured by the
culture and sounds like the culture and tip toes around
issues because they know that it will offend the culture, that
Church needs revival. It does because revival does
what we see here, but it doesn't just do that.
Look at verse 13. This is the second thing that
Revival would do. He also removed Macca, his
mother, from being Queen Mother because she had made an
abominable image for Ashra and ASA cut down her image and
burned it at the Brookedron. When the Lord moves in a
person's heart, brings it to life, brings into alignment with
his will, that spiritual reform will change the condition of a
home. So we see that this woman is the
Queen Mother. She has a position of authority.
And ASA was not selected with his righteous pursuits.
He didn't just deal with the culture, but didn't deal with
the closest relationships with him.
Now he came home and he made a dramatic shift.
Because when God shifts your heart, it's going to shift the
closest relationships with you and to you.
So he goes to his mother and he says you're fired.
You're not, you're not going to be doing this anymore.
You're not going to be influencing, you're not going to
be having you're saying anything, You don't fear God,
you don't know God. So this is it.
And she gave into it obviously because he came with that
authority and in Asus case, listen, he removed his
grandmother from that position. That obviously doesn't relate to
you and I much, but it does in this that when God does a work
in your heart, it will change. Something about your day-to-day
interactions and the closest people to you.
Forgiveness will be given. Forgiveness will be sought.
Reconciliation will be realized. Purity will happen in the home.
Things that were entertained in the home, things that were
tolerated in the home, things that were justified in the home.
That grieve. The Holy Spirit will no longer
be justified, will no longer be entertained.
Something happens. Worship is no longer just a once
a week thing. Worship is there in the home.
Your home becomes a Tabernacle, especially if you're the leader
of the home. Something will happen as the
head of the house, where the overflow of your decision will
bless those around you and there's no work that when
there's no doubt that when a purging work takes place in one
person in a home, it will have an effect on those who are
around him. Look at the last thing here in
verse 14. But the high places were not
taken away. Nevertheless, the heart of ASA
was wholly true to the Lord all his days.
And here it is in verse 15. And he brought into the House of
the Lord the sacred gifts of his Father and his own sacred gifts,
silver and gold and vessels. So not only does revival
personally change the way you view the culture, not only does
it change the condition of your home, it will change the way you
associate and relate and invest in the House of God.
What does he do? It says here he brought into the
House of the Lord the sacred gifts of his father, not just of
his father and his own sacred gifts.
He now made a personal investment.
I'm going to actually make a personal, conscious decision
that I'm going to be responsible to what it is that God called me
to, and I'm going to contribute to what I can contribute to as
an individual person. When a person is truly walking
with the Lord where he needs to be, the temperature that God
desires him to be at, he will have this fervency about the
House of God. It won't be an afterthought, it
won't be tertiary and his priorities.
It will be something that he again will prize and he will
treasure. And ASA shows that here that
when a person has a David like heart, a heart after God's own
heart, he will actually make much of the House of God.
And when he does a deep work in you and I, the same will be true
of us. You will love, you will attend,
you will serve, you will sacrifice for the place where
God is worship and where he promised to speak and meet with
us. Little glimpse of what reviving
does by the Holy Spirit. I know you agree with me in
saying that we need it in this land, but that's not the only
thing that happens about ASA. Look at verse 16.
And there was war between ASA and Bashar, King of Israel all
their days. You can't have this kind of
devotion that ASA exemplifies, and you can't have this kind of
reform without opposition arising at some point.
And at this point Basha takes the place of Jeroboam and
another king following him again.
Remember I told you that the overlap of some things requires
a little bit more effort to to make sense of, but you see this
king Basha who comes now and wants to interfere with the very
thing. Listen to the very thing that
ASA was trying to revive. He revived the House of God, the
priority of it from a cultural standpoint.
And what is Basha do? Look at verse 17.
Basha, king of Israel, went up against Judah and built Rama
that he might permit no one to go out or come in to ASA king of
Judah. A similar strategy of Jeroboam
originally. Remember Jeroboam.
He institutes idolatry because he's worried that if the people
go down to Judah, where Jerusalem is, they will worship
the true God and they might shift their allegiance to the
Kingdom of the South. He's not going to let this
happen. So he sets up this barricade
where it's near impossible for the people of the North to
travel down and worship at the House of God.
Opposition will always come when God does a work and your heart,
a true work where it overflows into culture, overflows into
your house, overflows into the House of God.
Don't be surprised when it happens.
And be careful praying that prayer for God to do something
in your life where you burn for Him.
Because when you burn for him genuinely, the enemy will take
notice and there will be barricades and there will be
hurdles and there will be attempts to try to stifle that,
and that should be no 'cause to be fearful.
Listen, it should be causing to be ready.
I'm reminded of a verse that Paul mentions to the
Thessalonians, who attest to the truth that there will always be
Satanic resistance against anyone who is serious about
advancing the work of God, living for the glory of God, and
we're going to touch on that this Sunday.
It is a lifelong experience for the true Christian who's walking
with the plow in their hands, Moving forward for the glory of
God. You will have an unending cycle
of experiences with Satanic resistance.
Paul experienced that almost immediately and he says
something in First Thessalonians chapter 2.
In one verse, verse 18, he says to this church because we wanted
to come to you, I Paul, again and again, but Satan hindered
us. Can I encourage you to pray
about something if you haven't been praying about it?
Always ask God for discernment. Always ask God for discernment.
This man Paul had the sermon. You know how I know he had the
sermon? Because he knew when something
was closed, when it was the Holy Spirit and when it was Satan.
In Acts 16 him and his team knew that the resistance against
their missionary efforts was the Holy Spirit was the Spirit of
Jesus. And in this situation he knew
that when he was trying to do a work with these Christians that
it was Satan hindering him. The only way you can know is if
you have Holy Spirit inspired discernment.
He had that, and because he understood that, he responded in
the following way. It's it's right there in the
same verse. I Paul again and again, again
and again. I tried over and over to make my
way to you because I know that the enemy is trying to halt this
and I know you will benefit from this.
I don't know we will benefit from this.
So I'm doing what I can to make sure that this will be realized.
And it seems as though in this verse that he confesses defeat
because he says, I Paul again and again.
But Satan hindered us. He hindered us.
So what happened, Paul? Does that mean that you never
were able to minister to this group?
You know what I find so amazing about this?
That though he tried to physically arrive to this group
of Christians, he he couldn't, evidently.
So what does he do? What do you think he do does to
minister to this group of people?
Any idea? Let me give you a hint.
It's the verse that we're quoting.
He wrote them a letter. He wrote them a letter.
So he writes this epistle to them, and he's explained to
them, I tried to get to you, but I can't.
So let me explain this to you, and let me, let me give you some
expression instructions by way of letter.
You and I are familiar that Paul wrote many letters, but you know
what's significant? Theologians believe in.
Scholars believe that this is the first epistle that Paul ever
wrote. You know why that's important?
Just think about it. Here's Satan thinking that he's
going to hinder the work of Paul.
And what Satan really did was he started a new ministry for Paul.
Paul couldn't arrive there physically.
So you know what began to happen?
Paul started writing letters. I wonder if Satan regretted
hindering Paul from going to the Thessalonians.
You and I should never fear satanic opposition.
We should be prepared for it, and we should never be
discouraged when it comes. We should never lose our zeal
and our passion and whatever it is that we are committed to,
whatever is that we're believing God.
For there will be moments that will frustrate us, maybe confuse
us even. But here's the thing.
We will always overcome if it's the will of God and if we're in
tune with God. Perhaps the very thing that
Satan thought he had victory over and that we might think
that Satan had victory over, is the start of something new.
You never lose when you're walking with the Lord.
You never lose if you're on the team of the Kingdom of God in
Christ Jesus. Never.
So this very man admits that there was a hindrance.
But it really started something fresh that you and I are
benefiting from today. How did ASA respond to this
surprise attack from the Kingdom of the North?
Unfortunately, not the same way. He didn't rely on the Lord.
He didn't stay the course when he learned about the schemes of
Basha. Instead, look what he does.
Look at verse 18. Our First Kings. 15 Then ASA
took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures
of the House of the Lord and the treasures of the King's house,
and gave them into the hands of his servants.
And King ASA sent them to Ben Haddad, the son of Tabramon, the
son of Hesion, king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying,
Let there be a covenant between me and you, as there was between
my father and your father. Behold, I'm sending to you a
present of silver and gold. Go break your covenant with Bash
the king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.
So Asus panicking, and he goes to the House of the Lord.
He empties it of its treasures. And he seeks the assistance of
the king of Syria. And he says, hey, you have an
agreement with the northern Kingdom.
Break that agreement. Join with me.
Here's a here's a price for that.
And and help me out here. Good thing or bad thing.
Tell me why that sounds like a good strategy, politically
speaking. Fear.
Fear is bad. But just from the plain reading
of the text, there's no explicit statement, at least in King's
account, the first King's account of it being wrong or
evil. But what do you see from this
text that should give you the indication that this is a no,
no? OK, it's two people at the same
time, but I got it. Maybe it's the same answer I
heard from you. Don't you think it's unthinkable
for somebody to empty the House of the Lord, the very thing that
you replenished it with? What did he do with the House of
the Lord? He he He funded it again.
He brought sacred gifts, silver and gold, and at this time, now
he withdraws everything from it, and he gives it to a Pagan king.
You don't need to be a theologian to realize that's not
good. That belongs to God.
And you took what belongs to God, and you gave it to a guy
who worships another God. And it's when you go to Second
Chronicles or realize the extent of the evil that ASA committed
in his fear, in his unbelief. But here's the thing that we
learn already from this. Even if you're just reading
First Kings 15, here's what you learn when you rely on the arm
of the flesh, when you remove yourself from what God has to
say, and you exercise human wisdom at the expense of God's
clear commands. This is what happens, The same
thing that happened to ASA. ASA robbed God.
When you and I, whether it's in fear, whether it's in concern or
anxiety, whether it's in moments where we're being opposed or
threatened and we rely on sinful means to try to save us or
provide an answer, you too will rob God of what?
His glory. We rob God of His glory when we
don't trust him, when we don't submit to him, even when
everything in US calls for a different direction or approach
in the same way God was robbed of physical treasures.
You and I, in disobedience, robbed God of His glory.
But it's not just that there was a different price that this man
paid. It's found in Second Chronicles.
Look at it with me. In chapter 16.
You see ASA mentioned in I don't know, half a chapter in First
Kings 15 and Second Chronicles. He's given 3 chapters, Second
Chronicles 1415 and 16, and look at Second chronicles 16, seven
and eight. Right after ASA did this, a
prophet arise, arises and he arrives on the scene and look
look what he says in verse seven.
At that time Han and I, the seer came to ASA, king of Judah and
said to him, because you relied on the king of Syria and did not
rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has
escaped you. Which army escaped him?
Well, think now. Which army was ASA concerned
about? Israel.
Hanan. I shows up on the scene.
He goes, because you didn't rely on the Lord your God.
Read it slowly. The army of the king.
Did he say Israel? No.
What does he say? The army of the king of Syria
has escaped you, the Han. And I miss it.
No, he's showing something that's heartbreaking.
Because you relied on the king of Syria and you didn't rely on
God. You were so unbelieving.
You think that you got your answer because we're going to
find out that it worked. What he did worked.
But what he's reminding him is I would have given you Israel and
I would have given you Syria if you had trusted in the Lord.
Not only would I have given you the northern tribe, I would have
also given you Syria. But you didn't.
You didn't, you know, because when you read in First Kings 15
you see that it actually worked. Syria did break the covenant
with Israel, and ASA was able to know peace again.
He was able to gather in some towns and a little bit of
resources, But no matter what we succeed apart from God.
It will always be less than what you could have had in God.
No matter what you accomplish without God in disobedience to
God, it will always, always, always fall short of what you
could have known with God. That's what this prophet is
saying. You could have had Syria with
Israel, but because you didn't rely on God, you have a little
bit of victory. What could have ASA have done
that? What was it that God was
expecting from ASA? Well look at verse 8.
The Prophet reminds him we're not The Ethiopians and the
Libyans, a huge army with very many Chariots and horsemen.
Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your
hand. Asus war with Israel was not the
first war that he had. Again, when you read Second
Chronicles 14, ASA had a much bigger problem with The
Ethiopians, a 1,000,000 man army, and he was able to
overcome that. You know how Read it when you
have time. ASA prayed and God intervened
and many years passed and now he has this problem with Israel.
A much smaller problem by the way.
And he doesn't believe God. Then something happened.
Over time, his faith weakened, He lost track, he lost sight of
God, and because of that he's reminded you lost touch of your
prayer life. It was prayer that helped him
overcome the Ethiopian invasion. Again, many people can do things
without prayer. You know how I know?
Because many people do things without prayer.
They don't really believe it works.
And here's the thing, like a so you can do You can do things
without prayer. People do it all the time, but
you always miss out. There could have been more you
could have known if you had committed it to the Lord.
So learn to commit it always to the Lord.
Yes, be practical. Yes, be realistic.
Yes, strategize. But learn to prioritize and seek
God's wisdom and intervention before all things and you will
never fear missing out. Unfortunately, this man missed
out and he was reminded of that. ASA stopped praying and it cost
him. He robbed God originally when he
partnered with Syria and there was a much larger reward that he
also forfeited. And you and I do the same when
we lose touch with the Lord in the place of dependency on Him.
So you and I are ready to turn our attention to the 2 kings of
Israel. But before we do that, let's
summarize the 2 kings of Judah. You have Abidjem and you have
ASA, father and son. Abidjem ruled for how long?
Three years. His son ASA.
Did they have the same outcome? Pretty much.
Because you realize that after ASA was confronted by the
Prophet, ASA got angry and he wanted nothing to do with
repentance. And come back to First Kings 15
and notice what happens. It's the same thing happens in
Second Chronicles verse 23. Now the rest of all the acts of
ASA, all his might and all that he did and the cities that he
built, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of
the Kings of Judah, but in his old age he was diseased in his
feet. You'll read that in Second
Chronicles 16 he was disease. That wasn't coincidence.
That was an act of God, because even when he was confronted
about his disconnection with God, he still didn't see God.
He still didn't come broken before the Lord.
You know what the Lord did to try to get his attention?
He afflicted him with a pain. He afflicted him with a disease.
There's debate about the nature of the sickness, but it was
enough, enough to debilitate him.
And we're told there in Second Chronicles that even after that
he did not seek the Lord. That's how ASA finished.
And here's the reminder as we end with the kings of Judah.
In this chapter, both of these men turn from the Lord,
reminding us that no matter how old you are, no matter how
advanced you are in your walk with Christ, there is no one,
absolutely no one, who is impervious to sinning in such a
way where they harm their testimony.
Three years, if you have three years to live, you and I must be
careful that in those three years we would not do anything
that would harm our testimony with the Lord.
If you have 41 years, equally dangerous.
And this man shows us that in your old age, be careful, right?
It happened to Solomon, it happened to ASA.
So we have to by God's grace, rely on him every step, every
day, and trust that he will complete the work that he began
in us as we walk with him. And so we see here that the
conclusion arrives now to the kings of Judah.
Now we shift over to the kings of Israel.
Look at verse 25. Naidab, the son of Jeroboam,
began to reign over Israel in the second year of ASA, king of
Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.
He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in
the way of his father and in his sin, which he made Israel to
sin. Here's what you're going to
notice with me. As we study first kings, first
kings from this moment on is going to be preoccupied with
dealing and describing the kings of Israel, the Northern Kingdom.
When you read first and second Chronicles, the author is more
concerned paying attention to the kings of Judah David's
descendants. So from this moment on, we're
going to be a lot more with the Northern kings than we are the
Southern. And that's the opposite is true
when you come to the first and second books of Chronicles.
And what's also interesting here is what you're going to see is a
trademark of the nation of Israel.
The northern tribes of Israel will be recognized for political
and spiritual instability, like severe, much more severe than
the Southern Kingdom. And that is obviously a result
of their total apostasy to the Lord, whereas the Southern
Kingdom had moments of return and reform.
And the example of that is even in these first chapters that
we're going to discover in this divide.
Listen, ASA reigned 41 years, and in those 41 years you have
several kingdoms that rose and fell in the north.
You see with Nadab, you're going to see it with Basha, and it's
going to continue on. Zimri and Omri are just going to
keep going. So while there is one king in
Judah, you're going to have several in the north.
And it begins with this man who is the son of Jeroboam.
His name is Nadab and he began to reign over Israel in the
second year of ASA, king of Judah.
He only reigned 2 years, so if you have three years, we're
short. Imagine two if you want an idea
how short that feels, we've been in this church building for over
2 years. That's very brief to be a king,
but I want to combine Nadab and Basha.
I don't want to look at them separately because they are
connected. So we read here that he did what
was evil on the side of Lord. And look at verse 27.
Basha, the son of Ahija of the House of Issachar, conspired
against him and Basha struck him down at Gibbethan, which
belonged to the Philistines. For Nadab and all Israel were
laying siege to Gibbethan. So Basha killed him in the third
year of ASA king of Judah, and reigned in his place, and as
soon as he was king he killed all the House of Jeroboam.
He left to the House of Jeroboam, not one that breathed,
until he destroyed it, according to the word of the Lord that he
spoke by his servant Ahija, the Shiloh knight.
So Basha, this man from the tribe of Issachar fulfills
prophecy because Jeroboam was told that his dynasty would die
and this is the fulfillment of it.
This man ransacked and absolutely destroyed the entire
household of Jeroboam. But I want you to see one thing.
There's many things. Applaud this.
I I want us to conclude here this Bible study on one note to
encourage you. I hope this stirs you to not be
one, to give in to the temptation to overlook details.
Nadeb was assassinated, right? But notice where he was
assassinated. Bashar, the son of Ahi John,
verse 27 of the House of Issachar, conspired against him.
Bash has struck him down at Gibbethan Ever heard of it?
Probably not, unless you memorize the book of Joshua.
He struck him down at Gibbethan and then it's we're we're we're
told. It again says here that Nadab
and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethan.
Well, where's Gibbethan mentioned?
And is there anything about it that makes sense of this, or at
least gives us insight to this? Yes, but if you're still with
me, you have to turn to Joshua to see it.
So Joshua and look at verse 20 of chapter 21.
Joshua 21, verse 20. In this chapter you have the
list of areas and lands and villages that were allotted to
the Levites. Levites.
The Levites had certain cities to their name, though they
didn't have a a tribe tribal area as the other tribes said,
they did have different parts within those tribes, including
the list mentioned here of Joshua 21, verse 20.
Let's read it together as to the rest of the Koathites belonging
to the Koathite clans of the Levites.
The Koathites are descendants of the tribe of Levi, the cities
allotted to them. We're out of the tribe of
Ephraim. To them were given Shechem, the
city of refuge for the manslayer with its pasture lands in the
Hill Country of Ephraim. Gazer with its pasture lands,
Kibzem with its pasture lands. Beth wrong with its pasture
lands. 4 Cities Now be honest, how many of you would read this
with great attention in your devotional time?
I want to show you why it's important.
Look at verse 23 and out of the tribe of Dan we read here Alt
the key with its pasture lands. Gibbeth On with its pasture
lands. There it is.
So here's one clue. Where this man was assassinated
was a city that was meant to be purely populated by the Levites.
And the Levites were set apart by God to be the communicators
and the teachers of his law. They were to be models of
holiness and godliness, not just in Word but also in deed.
Did anything click? Yet?
This was a place that was supposed to be occupied by the
Levites in Israel, the northern tribes, anything click yet.
What happened to the Levites in Israel around this time?
Good. If you didn't hear it, you can
read it in Second Chronicles 11, verse 14.
We got to do work if we want the reward, my friend.
We read this text many times in our study of first kings,
especially after the reign of Solomon.
Look at Second Chronicles 11, verse 14 to be reminded what
happened to the Levites in the time of Jeroboam.
And not just Jeroboam. You'll see it now.
Second Chronicles 11, Verse 14. For the Levites left their
common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem,
because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as
priests of the Lord. So Gibbothon was supposed to be
populated by the Levites. But when Jeroboam took position
of the ruler of the tribes of Israel, he and his sons,
including the son that we ran, read here in First Kings 15
Nadab, they kicked him out and they cast them off and they
migrated to the South. So what happens when all the
Levites live? Gibbethan, is it populated
anymore? No, it shouldn't be when
everybody is gone. And because everybody was gone,
what happened? Come back to First Kings 15,
verse 27. The second part says at
Gibbethan this is where he was killed, which belonged to the
Philistines. What do you mean it belonged to
the Philistines? If you thought it was given over
to the Levites, yeah, but they were kicked out by this time.
So who took over the Philistines?
Listen, when you kick God out, the devil moves in.
That's the lesson. So the Philistines moved in, the
enemies moved in, and now you have Pagan presence, false God
worship, war, and more than that, an assassination.
Assassination between two people who supposedly come from the
same family. You don't want light, You don't
want God's light. There's nothing as an
alternative except darkness that is true for a church, that is
true for a city, that is true for a state, that is true for a
nation. You kick God out, you kick his
word out. You silence the messengers of
God who stand for the truth. The devil moves into that place,
and it doesn't matter what scale again, if it's a whole nation,
even if it's a nation like the United States of America, there
is no other nation like the United States of America in all
of history. But they are not immune to the
same principle. You kick God out, the
Philistines will come in. You kick God out, Satan will
come. And So what do you and I do?
Even in a time where that seems to be more and more true, I was
thinking about that because I'm not a king.
You're not a king. You're not a president.
I'm not in Congress. None of us have any authority
politically. None of us can do anything,
really, about laws. There's a lot of questioning
even about the integrity of our voting system.
Here's what you do. Let the nation do what it will.
Let the states do what they will.
Let cities do whatever they want.
You acknowledge God. You invite God into your
marriage, into your home, into the lives of your children, into
your business. And here's what we're promised.
According to Isaiah chapter 3, it shall be well with the
righteous, and it's given in the context of national judgement
orchestrated by a holy God. Even in that setting, it will be
well with the righteous. And so we see here that Basha
here assassinates him, and I'll read it here from verse 30 down.
In closing, it was for the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned that
he made Israel to sin, and because of the anger to which he
provoked the Lord, the God of Israel.
Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are
they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of
Israel? And there was war between ASA
and Basha, king of Israel all their days.
Verse 33 In the third year of ASA king of Judah, Basha the son
of Ahiajab, began to reign over all Israel Tirza, and he reigned
24 years. He did what was evil in the
sight of the Lord. And walked in the way of
Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.
Lord, we thank you for this Bible study.
And we pray, O God, that the truths that we heard would not
escape our memory, but the by Your grace we would recall.
These things give us perfect recall.
Lord, help us, Lord, with our meditation, with our reading and
studying of the Word, to be able to connect these truths with
future truths that we discover. Lord Almighty, help us be mighty
in the scriptures. And Lord, on that final note, we
pray we want you to have the supreme place in every area of
our lives. So Lord, even now, tonight, as
we live in an age where darkness is creeping in and intensifying
and the blackness of sin seems to be thickening, we can feel
it. Lord, make us like Goshen, where
we know light though there's darkness around us.
Make us like Goshen. Where there is life though there
be death around us. Make us like Goshen.
That though there may be plagues that cover the lands and sweep
up sinners and the wicked, we are safe and secure in your
presence. Lord, we ask you in the end of
this Bible, say because, Lord, we're not just studying a
history, we're not studying just a piece of a moment of a pastime
thing. Lord, we realize that this is
revealing how we should relate to you now.
Lord, please rule and reign over our lives afresh.
And Lord, if we need reform, so be it.
Let there be reformed by your spirit and let it change the way
we view the world. Let it change the way we live in
our homes, and let it change the way we commit to the local
church. We ask for these things to be
true by Your grace and mercy. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen. Amen.
You're doing well.
You guys made it. Let's stand and worship the
Lord.