9/11/13
S: 1 Kings 21:17-29
But the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He will be at Naboth’s vineyard in Jezreel, claiming it for himself. Give him this message: ‘This is what the Lord says: Wasn’t it enough that you killed Naboth? Must you rob him, too? Because you have done this, dogs will lick your blood at the very place where they licked the blood of Naboth!’”
“So, my enemy, you have found me!” Ahab exclaimed to Elijah.
“Yes,” Elijah answered, “I have come because you have sold yourself to what is evil in the Lord’s sight. So now the Lord says, ‘I will bring disaster on you and consume you. I will destroy every one of your male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel! I am going to destroy your family as I did the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat and the family of Baasha son of Ahijah, for you have made me very angry and have led Israel into sin.’
“And regarding Jezebel, the Lord says, ‘Dogs will eat Jezebel’s body at the plot of land in Jezreel.’
“The members of Ahab’s family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the field will be eaten by vultures.”
(No one else so completely sold himself to what was evil in the Lord’s sight as Ahab did under the influence of his wife Jezebel. His worst outrage was worshiping idols just as the Amorites had done—the people whom the Lord had driven out from the land ahead of the Israelites.)
But when Ahab heard this message, he tore his clothing, dressed in burlap, and fasted. He even slept in burlap and went about in deep mourning.
Then another message from the Lord came to Elijah: 29“Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has done this, I will not do what I promised during his lifetime. It will happen to his sons; I will destroy his dynasty.”
O: God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. (Ezekiel 33:11) He would prefer evil people to repent and be saved instead.
Ahab was the most wicked king of Israel, yet God gave him chance after chance to repent.
In 1 Kings 18-19, it seemed like he might actually repent after seeing the power of God demonstrated in the miracle of the fire from heaven, but in the end, he went back to his wicked ways, which eventually led to the framing and murder of Naboath for his vineyard, which was what led to Elijah's condemnation in 1 Kings 21 I quoted above. But even then, his partial repentance brought some relief, as we see above.
But in the end, (1 Kings 22) Ahab went ahead and kept on disregarding what God and His prophets said and so God arranged for him to be killed by the Arameans.
A: As we struggle against the evil that the anti-democratic Barisan Nasional government has done, we must remember that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. I find it so easy to hate Najib, Muhyddin, Mahathir, etc. but God loves them and would rather they repent and be saved that for them to die and go to hell.
Similarly, evil dictators around the world like Kim Jong Un of North Korea, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Vladimir Putin of Russia, etc. are people with an eternal soul which God seeks to save.
God sent His Son to seek and to save the lost. Jesus calls us to love our enemies. It is so hard to do, but it is what our Lord has called us to. Who knows, Ibrahim Ali of Perkasa may even have a Paul-like experience?
And closer to home, how about that colleague who had back-stabbed us, that driver who cut us off in the road, that relative who always knows the most cutting thing to say?
P: Father, when hatred wells up in my heart, remind me that You so loved the world that You sent Your only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. In Jesus' name, amen.
Note: this is using the SOAP method. For more information, see this page (not written by me.)
No comments:
Post a Comment