FBC Morning Light (6/15/2024)

Good Saturday morning people of faith. This weekend we're looking at 1 Kings chapters 15 through 20. And so chapters 15 and 16 deal with the progression of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel for a time and then it switches to the story of Elijah and his relationship with Ahab.

The Kings of Judah and Israel in 1 Kings 15–16

And so let's let's go ahead let me I'm gonna give you just a little bit of an overview and then we're gonna focus on one thing at the end of chapter 16. So in chapter 15 talks about Abijam is reigning in Judah and so he's one of the kings of Judah.

And the thing about Judah is every once in a while Judah would have a good king. Israel never had a good king. Israel being the northern tribe Judah being the northern tribes and Judah being the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

So Abijam reigned for a short time but he did evil in the sight of the Lord and then he was replaced with Asa. Asa did did good in the sight of the Lord and even to the point of his grandmother had made an idol and he tore that idol down and did good.

And so he reigned a long time in Judah. And then it switches to Israel and in verse 25 says,. Now Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah and he reigned over Israel for two years and he did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father.

Who was his father? Jeroboam. Who was Jeroboam? Jeroboam was the one who led the rebellion against Judah's leadership and established places of worship outside of the temple. All right? So that was idolatry.

And so we see that all these kings of Israel keep walking in the path of Jeroboam. And the next one is Basha. He walks, it says, at the end of verse chapter 15 it says,. He did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin by which he made Israel sin.

And it goes on, chapter 16, we see Elah and we see Zeruih and Amri and Ahab finally. And there's treachery, there's drunkenness, there's murders, there's assassinations. Some of the kings reigned for a year or two, some of those kings reigned for just a matter of days.

Ahab’s Wickedness and the Downward Spiral of Israel

Then it says in verse 29 of chapter 16, it says in 38th year of the book, it's a king of Judah. Ahab, the son of Amri, became king over Israel and Ahab, the son of Amri, reigned over Israel and Samaria twenty years.

Now Ahab, the son of Amri, did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him. And it came to pass as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbel, king of the Sidonians.

So we get this progression and it's just this downward, downward, downward spiral until we get to Ahab, to the point where he considers the wrong that Jeroboam does, that he walks in those sins as if it's trivial, as if it's nothing, as if it's an easy thing to do.

Joshua’s Curse on Jericho and Its Fulfillment

And we come upon this, the fulfillment of what I consider to be one of the darkest prophecies in all of Scripture, and to show you that prophecy, we're gonna go back to Joshua and Joshua chapter 6. In Joshua chapter 6, Jericho has just been conquered and it's laying in ruins, and Joshua says the following in verse 26 of chapter 6 of the book of Joshua, he says,.

Then Joshua charged them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord who rises up and builds this city Jericho. He shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates.

And then we go back to chapter 16 of the book of 1 Kings, and the very last, the very last part of it, it says, it says,. In his days, that is in the days of Ahab, Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundations with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Seagub he set up its gates according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.

The Tragedy of Sacrificing Children for Human Ambition

I don't understand this at all. How could a man sacrifice his own children to build a city? I guess metaphorically we sacrifice relationships to do things and build things and build our own little kingdoms, but this is sacrificing your own children to build a city.

That is tragic. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, let us not be like Hiel. Let us not sacrifice our children or any of our relationships just to build a city or or whatever little temporary thing that we want to build.

Let us walk faithfully with you. Let us not consider the things that we do, but consider the things of you as what is most important. It's in your son's name, Jesus, we pray. Amen. Have an excellent day, people of faith.