1 Kings 14 (Part 1) Bible Study (Prophecy Against Jeroboam/His Death) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

First Kings chapter 14. I was wrestling over this chapter today, and I'll tell you the main reason why I was wrestling over this chapter because I was trying to determine whether or not we should complete it in one sitting or we should divide it in two parts. And I have concluded that we will divide it in two parts. We could do it in one shot, but I would feel that we would do a great disservice to this text and that we would have to force ourselves to ignore certain verses that deserve much attention. And so what we are facing within this chapter is very simple.

We are looking at the record of the final moments of two kings. The first king, the king of Israel, Jeroboam, and his final moments leading up to his death, and then the king of the Southern Kingdom, the king of Judah, Rehoboam. And so what we're going tonight is do tonight is just look at Jeroboam carefully and see what the spirit of God has preserved for us in the final moments, the final glimpse of what we are to know about him before he will not be revisited again, at least in an active way. His name will appear many times throughout kings because, unfortunately, he will be recognized as the worst example of a king for the nation of Israel. In the same way David is used over and over again as the exemplary king, Jeroboam will be the face, will be the name measured against those who have not risen up to the standard that God desired for them.

So before we pre before we begin, let's pray and ask the lord to help us with these verses. Father, it is with our greatest desire and longing that you would help us by the spirit of God to understand your mind and your heart behind this passage. And we ask, Lord, that we would be renewed in our joy, in our affections for you, in our strength to serve you. Lord, inspire us afresh. We we beg you, Lord, that the Holy Spirit's presence and power would be recognized in this bible study.

Lord, whether this place is full or half full or barely full, we long for your presence to dominate our midst. And so we desperately yearn for you to captivate us and help us, lord, see you above everything else and hear you above anybody else. We need you, lord, desperately. Our hearts cry out for your nearness, and we pray that that would be recognized tonight. And so, Lord, we pray for your, grace and mercy and wisdom to cloak this pulpit.

And we ask, Lord, that our eyes would see Jesus more clearer than we did before we entered in. Win our hearts, Lord, to you. Win our hearts afresh to you, Lord. And may not this Bible study be done in the power of the flesh or in the cleverness of the mind, but through the assistance of the Spirit of God who's been granted to us as a gift. We ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. First Kings chapter 14. Let's read the first few verses. At that time, Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, fell sick. And Jeroboam said to his wife, arise and disguise yourself, let it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh.

Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people. Take with you 10 loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child. We have been studying Jeroboam for a few weeks, and one of the things that we noticed about Jeroboam is that though he was walking further and further away from God, God in his mercy sought his attention, pursued him aggressively. Whether that be through messages or through miracles, the Lord was relentless in trying to rescue Jeroboam from destroying himself and destroying the people that were under his leadership.

And we get the impression from the first verse of this chapter that there's something else, almost a final attempt to get Jeroboam's attention. And it was not going to be through Jeroboam directly, but through his son, Abijah. And what we read in verse one is that, at that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. Now for it to be written at that time is telling us that we are to connect this statement with the context that we just finished reviewing. Something happened just before this that is meant to link it to this news.

At that time what what time? We'll scroll back to chapter 13 and look here in verse 33. After this thing, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priest for the high places again from among all the people. Any who would, he adorn ordained to be priests of the high places. So we remember here that Jeroboam shooed away the hand of God through the the messages and the miracles that he performed in his life, and he headlong went along with doing what he was doing before, hiring priest, an illegal priesthood for his false religion.

And then we're told here in verse 34, and this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth. So because he was so stubborn, he was so diamond hard against God trying to win him into repentance. We're told here in verse 34, the last verse of this chapter that it has been decided that the house of Jeroboam was to be cut off and destroyed from this face of the earth. And verse one of chapter 14 is declaring that the fulfillment of this judgment is beginning. The house of Jeroboam now is determined to disappear, and it's going to begin with this boy, Abijah, who fell sick.

And this is what Jeroboam is ready to do. He's ready to do something about it. But we're reminded that this is not the first time that someone has suffered, even someone else suffering as a result of one's sin. The consequences of one's disobedience leading to the affliction of another. This is not foreign to us.

We've seen this before. And who comes to mind? Who is a person who was also a king who saw other people suffering because of his decisions in disobedience? David. David because of his murder, David because of his adultery with Bathsheba saw that baby that he had with this woman suffer a disease that would lead to his own death.

But the the response of David in comparison to Jeroboam who finds himself in a in a very similar situation is quite striking. What does David do once he hears the news that his boy is actually going to perhaps die? He repents even more. He cries out to God. He fasts.

He seeks the face of God, hoping that the Lord would extend mercy upon this boy. And then we come to Jeroboam and we see that his son now is suffering. And what will he do with the sight of his boy now, who's showing little sign of surviving? What is he going to do? Is his heart now going to finally give up?

Is he now going to fall on his knees and surrender and repent, or at least inquire of God in brokenness? No. Instead, he has his wife disguise herself to go to a true prophet. You might think, well, this is kind of good. He he's seeking a true minister to give some guidance about what's happening here.

But why is he sending his wife? And why is he sending his wife in disguise? And why is he not going directly? All these questions arise and they are legitimate questions. Any idea why Jeroboam is sending his wife, cloaking herself to be someone else?

I'm actually asking if you have any idea. Doesn't have to be a long explanation. Yes. He's ashamed of what he is doing. Any other reason perhaps?

So he probably doesn't wanna deal with the prophet confronting him like that other prophet, that man of God from Judah. Right? That's another good answer. Any other idea why? So he thinks he can trick the prophet?

How silly. Do you think people attempt to fool God? They do all the time. Do you think it looks good for this man who said, behold your gods pointing to golden calves who delivered you from Egypt now seeking a prophet of Yahweh for help? It doesn't look very good, does it?

And perhaps it's a mixture of all those things that he doesn't want to reveal his lack of faith in his own gods. But I believe it's more than that. I believe it's what we heard earlier that here's Jeroboam who is fully aware of how far he has walked away from God, and so he does not feel confident to approach God's messenger openly. And so instead, aware that this prophet is old and as we're about to discover, he has his sight that's, impaired, he would disguise his wife and have her speak on his behalf. And Jeroboam shows us something here.

He shows us that he's not only distant from God from the standpoint of disobedience. He is far from God from a theological understanding as well. This shows just how out of touch Jeroboam is with the character and the true nature of the Lord. Do you know why? Because if Jeroboam understood who God was, then he would know that he could approach God directly and freely.

You and I have studied the word of God to know enough and be convinced that the Lord is always ready to be approached, that he has open arms for the one no matter how long they've been away from God, no matter how far they have distance themselves from God, the Lord is always ready to receive us and hear us and heal us and restore us. Jeroboam got it all wrong. He did not perceive the true purity and beauty and loveliness of the Lord, and so he comes up with the scheme. But Jeroboam here is not demonstrating the hesitation of a person who's broken because of their sin and is unsure of the depths of God's mercy for idolaters and deceivers. Expectedly, Jeroboam here is acting cunningly.

Jeroboam here is trying to be smart. And predictably, we we can see here that Jeroboam is a picture of people who want God to save them out of their trouble, but not out of their sin. Are there people like that? Are there people who are ready to turn to God when they're in trouble, but not ready to turn to God to see God heal them from their sin and bring them into righteousness and right relationship with God all the time. All the time.

Go talk to the man of God. I need some answers for this predicament. But he's not ready to go to God and say, God, I I see and I hear you now. I'm ready to give my life over to you. And so he does now send his wife, his poor wife, and we read what happens in verse four.

Jeroboam's wife did so. She arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. And the Lord said to Ahijah, behold the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.

This moves me. So now the scene shifts over to Ahijah who is this prophet that we've seen before who is well advanced in years. And not only is he advanced in years, he's suffering to some degree because of his old age. And this is moving because we don't have to think too long to think about the disadvantages that physical blindness can bring about someone. But at the same time, we learn here that this man who is blind is in a greater position than those who can see but are not with God.

The man who can't see has greater perception than those who do see with their physical eyes but are blinded in their hearts. So this man here, he does not have his eyes, but you know what he does have? He has God. And you can sense the tender intimacy that God has here. You read this and you can see that there's almost like a friendship going on here.

Where the Lord now comes to the ear of his servant, Ahijah, and he whispers into it. And he gives some insight of what's about to take place before it even happens. He gives them a heads up. And so you see this nearness, you see here again this companionship of the Lord, and you see the Lord as a friend deeply caring for his other friend. He extends these thoughts that would give him the grace to deal with what's about to take place.

And we would be tempted to think, well, that's the advantage of a prophet in these times that they had access to God's provision and protection in such a way, and I say no. Yes. He's a prophet. Yes. He could hear God's voice in a unique manner.

But the protective care of God in this moment, the psalmist says, is available for a different category of people. I think of Psalm 33 verse 18 where it says that the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him. The eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love. You know what Ahijah is experiencing? That God is ultimately his eyes.

God is ultimately his ears. And through that perception that is beyond him, there is protection in his life. And that's extended to a different group of people, not just a roster of prophets in the old covenant, but the psalmist says, for those who fear him, the eye of the Lord is on them. What does that mean for the eye of the Lord to be on those who fear him? Well, we're told in Psalm 33 verse 19 that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.

You know, God can do what he did here with Ahijah. He can supernaturally reveal to you the next step. He could tell you what's gonna happen to the stock market. He's gonna he can tell you what's gonna happen in this election year. He can tell you anything if he desires.

He can. He can supernaturally reveal it. But if he doesn't, there's not one moment in your life where his careful eye is not on you. If it's not gonna be there supernaturally, manifested, it is always there providentially. Always there.

Guiding and leading, pivoting, reacting, shielding, it is always in our favor for for who? For those who fear him. So you don't have to, wonder even for a moment, can I know such grace in my life? Can I know such shepherding? As long as you walk in the fear of the Lord, you win God's eye on your life until you meet him face to face.

The eye of the Lord is on those who fear him. I see the eye of the Lord here for a blind man who can't see for himself, but he's not at a disadvantage at all. He He was prepared for what was to come because the Lord will not allow his servants to be overcome by the evil one. So the wife of Jeroboam is now coming, and the Lord says, she's coming, and she's gonna inquire of you concerning her son for he is sick. So this is what you're going to say.

Let's read what happens. It says here, when she came, she pretended to be another woman at the end of verse five. But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another? Imagine how frightening that would be.

For I am charged with unbearable news for you. So we see here that the man knew, and then he says something in the middle of this. Right? That you can imagine how jaw dropping this experience might have been. Here you are thinking that you're gonna have this advantage over a man who could not see.

You have these gifts that makes you seem like a commoner. Right? These loaves and this jar of honey, and you have everything set up. And before you even meet the man, you before you even open your mouth, the prophet knows, come in wife of Jeroboam. Let's not play these games now.

But he asked this piercing question. It's a question that applies to her, and it's a question that applies universally to all men. Did you see it? Look here again at verse six. He said, come in, wife of Jeroboam.

Why do you pretend to be another? That's a good question to ask some church people. Wouldn't you agree? Why do you pretend to be why do you feel the need to masquerade as someone else in the presence of God's people, in this case, in the presence of God's prophet? God can't be misled.

He can't be fooled. And the principle here deals with hypocrisy. Hypocrisy may offer some kind of relief and advantage for a moment, but its success is never long term. It never works long term. It may work for a moment.

It may please you for a season. It might gain you some kind of, feat and some kind of accomplishment, but it never ever it just as the law of gravity is established in the universe, so is the law of hypocrisy in God's world. It can never go on without eventually being exposed. It's a waste of time. It's a waste of energy.

And no matter how clever you are, no matter how believable you are, in God's universe, whatever is hidden in the darkness will come to light eventually. And Jesus is the one who defined that law, not me. This is not me making it up by inference. No. He says in Luke 12 verse one and two, he warns his disciples of the leaven of the Pharisees.

What is the leaven of the Pharisees? Hypocrisy is the leaven of the Pharisees. He tells his disciples. He's not telling the world. He's telling his own.

He said, Disciples, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. You know what that tells me? That even followers of Jesus Christ are tempted to pretend to be someone else. Don't do it. He says, beware.

Be careful. And then he tells us why in verse two of Luke 12. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Why don't we go to verse three? Because he just elaborates on that.

Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. It doesn't work. It doesn't. And some disguise themselves to be as someone else maliciously. Sometimes those people are wolves.

Sometimes those people just want to impress others. And that's why it's not always malicious, sometimes it's out of insecurity. Either way, just determine in your own heart that God champions and he prizes authenticity. God just wants you to be real. He just wants you to be true.

Not just before him in private, but before God's people. Jesus was moved. Jesus praised Nathaniel because there was no guile in him. That tells me something about the heart of Christ. He loves when people are simple.

What you see is what you get. This is who I am, and I I want Jesus to praise my life, not just privately, but publicly. And so we have to understand here that when we try to pretend to be another, it doesn't work with God. It may work with others, but it doesn't work with God, and it doesn't work with those who are in tune with God. And so this woman tried it, and it did not even work for a second.

Why do you pretend to be another? And then verse seven, go tell Jeroboam, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel, and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, And yet you have not been like my servant David who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes. But you have done evil above all who are before you and have gone and made yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger and have cast me behind your back. I mean, he's not even done yet. This is all in one breath.

Verse 10. Therefore, behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam, and I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. I need to breathe after that. Here's what's about to take place. The charade is now exposed, and Jeroboam is gonna give this discourse.

He's gonna lay out in detail the indictment against Jeroboam and his house. So he does in the first part explains why the judgment is coming, and then he explains what the judgment is going to be. That's what he does in the first two verses that we read. Why? Why is Jeroboam going to experience the wrath of God?

Look again at verse seven. Because I exalted you from among the people and made you a leader over my people. The main reason for divine retribution is because of God's grace being dispensed, but it also being despised at the same time. Jeroboam, I took you out of obscurity. Jeroboam, I let my light of favor shine upon you when you did not deserve it, and I pulled you up from among the thousands and the hundreds of thousands and the millions, and I've elevated you to this privileged place where I could have secured your dynasty like the house of David.

And you have rejected that. And so we have to understand here that God's grace was available and experienced by Jeroboam, but because he did not allow that grace to humble him and to cause him to adore him and to stay close to him, he would not be free from guilt because of that. And we see this in a personal level, but let me talk about on a global level. You ready for this? God's grace has been shown ultimately through the person of his son, Jesus Christ.

And that grace has been made available to all. Right? We can all any person can approach the foot of the cross. You will be held responsible whether you say yes to it or no to it. And we're told in second Thessalonians one eight of what will become of those who will not respond to the grace of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What is prepared for them? We're told there that vengeance is prepared in flaming fire for those who do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what Paul calls the gospel? The gospel of the grace of God. So on a macro level, what we learn here is true universally universally.

When man rejects the grace of God that has already been expressed and demonstrated, he will not be guiltless. He will not go free. He will be held accountable with how he has treated God's mercy. And that's what we see here with Jeroboam. And the severity of his disregard for God reaching out in this way is spelled out in a very particular way at the end of verse nine.

Look at verse nine again, but you have done evil above all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back. Think of that imagery. You've cast me behind your back. So Jeroboam, while you're going on through life, my grace crashed on the scene. And instead of it bringing to your knees, you extended your arms not so that you can embrace this grace, but you placed your hands figuratively on my shoulders, and you thrust me behind you, and you kept walking as though nothing had happened.

That's the picture. We're not talking about a friend. We're not talking about the president. We're not talking about the most gracious saint that has ever lived. We're talking about God being cast behind the back of a person who drank deeply from the cup of his grace.

It's it makes you cringe to think about it. This is what God is trying to paint as a picture. You took me, and you threw me behind you, and you just kept going your way in life. And I can't help because David is mentioned in this context, but think of another verse in David's life that contrast this language concerning compromise with faithfulness. What's the imagery here?

What's the language? You've cast me behind your back. You know what David said about God in Psalm sixteen eight? I have set the Lord always where? Before me.

I have set the Lord always before me. And because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. What a difference. Jeroboam took God and says, you're you're behind me. David understood God and he says, please be before me.

Always before me. You know what that says in Psalm sixteen eight? It's a daily decision to filter life with God in view. It's to go through life with God as your priority. You know, unless you can find a medium, I can't.

There's no neutrality in how one relates to God. He's either first or he's behind you. He's either everything or he's nothing. He's either leading or you're leading. There's no in between here.

He's either before you or he's behind you. We everybody has to make that choice. And there's reward for him being before you and there's consequence if he's behind you. Jeroboam, you've cast me behind your back. You're not like David.

Because David said, I've set the Lord always before me. You know, this language of casting God behind our backs, that that idea of casting behind one's back. Doesn't that ring a bell of another awesome truth? Doesn't that ring a bell? Does anybody have an idea of what I'm referring to?

I know I'm being very generally on purpose. I don't wanna give it away. Casting behind one's back. Thank you, brother. Did you hear that?

Well, if you didn't, that's okay because I want you to see with your own eyes in Isaiah. In Isaiah 38 verse 17. This is Old Testament, by the way. This is under the old covenant that's very true in the new in the person of Jesus Christ. But look at what is said in Isaiah thirty eight seventeen as this is directed towards the lord.

Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness, but in love, you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction for you have cast all my sins behind your back. And speaking to the lord. You know what god's willing to do with his back concerning you? Take every sin that you've ever committed and to put it behind him and to never turn his head again. And you know what some do with this God who's willing to do that with our sins?

This God of grace, of mercy, of love. This kind of God to say, you're gonna go behind my back. The God who's willing to take all your filth, all your wrong, all your transgressions, and to throw it behind him, and to walk anew with you is the god that millions and billions of people see and say, I don't want you to be before me. I want you to be behind me. And they're willing to keep their sins clung to their bosom even unto damnation and reject this god who's willing to take their damnation, throw into the sea of forgetfulness, and embrace you into eternal life.

So if you feel a righteous indignation, good. The God who takes the sins of humanity, cast them behind his back, is rejected by billions and is cast behind their backs because they love sin more than the savior. And that's Jeroboam. I endeavor by the grace of God to echo David's prayer. I have set the Lord always before me, and may you have that same heart cry.

And now we're told of what the judgment will be. He says in verse 10, therefore, behold, because you've cast me behind your back, I'm gonna bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam. I'm gonna cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. Can you imagine your family and your dynasty being recognized as dung? I'm gonna take your little empire and burn it up for the waste that it really is.

This is strong language and for good reason. But after all that was said, Aja addresses the immediate concern of Jeroboam, which is the fate of his son. So this unbearable news, listen. It's only gonna get compounded more because the prophet assures the mother of the sick child that your son is gonna die the moment that you step foot back into your house. The moment you go back home is the moment your son is gonna give his final breath and live no more.

This would also be a sign that everything else that was declared would surely come to pass. And, you know, interestingly, with all of this, you get a fragrance of God's mercy. There's a perfume of his gentleness even in this. You're saying where? Let's read here in verse 11.

Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city, the dog shall eat. This is this is this is astounding. Anyone who dies in the open country, the birds of the heavens shall eat, for the Lord has spoken it. Arise, therefore, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die, and all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the Lord.

You're gonna go home, your child's gonna die. But every other male connected to Jeroboam's name is gonna die in the field and dogs will chew on their flesh. And if they die in the open country, the birds will have a buffet with their body. And if you know the law, then this sounds very familiar because in Deuteronomy 28, we're told there in verse 26 that to die and have your body exposed to the elements and to be feasted on by the beast of the air, the beast of the field is the result of God's curse upon somebody. You you read the Old Testament and you get the impression that this culture prize and highly valued not just your life, but how you died and where you were buried.

It was a disgraceful thing for a Jew to die in such a manner. It was a horrific thing. And yet with all of this, with the dynasty of Jeroboam having that faith, we're told about this one son who's suffering this sickness, who's ready to pass on from this life to the next, that he will have a proper and honorable burial. That he will be mourned and he will be esteemed in his death. Why?

You're told exactly why in verse 13. The last part of verse 13, because in him, there is found something pleasing to the Lord. God saw something in this boy. I I don't some people believe he's an infant. I don't believe he's an infant for this very reason.

There is something in him that God was pleased by, and we're not told explicitly what it was. What was it that moved God's heart to extend this kind of mercy? Perhaps he did not participate in the false worship of these golden calves. Perhaps his heart was inclined down deep inside he knew my dad is a false man, a false god worshiper, a pagan. And I know what God's law says, and I know that the true place of worship is in Jerusalem and the temple.

And I know Yahweh is the true and living God. We're not told what it was, but it was enough for God to be moved to say, I'm gonna honor this young man. There's something in him that pleases me. You know why this excites me? Because in the midst of this blackness and all this darkness and corruption in Jeroboam's family, in Jeroboam's kingdom, there is this flickering light in Abuja.

And you know what? In this day and age, when you and I are being surrounded more and more by apostasy and idolatry and satanic worship and blatant and obvious allegiance to evil and darkness from every front, we have the same opportunity to offer something to the lord as this young man did. Who cares? Who cares if you grew up in a family that hates God? You have a chance to stand out before God.

Okay. Who cares if all your friends wanna be lukewarm and worldly and be corrupt? Determine in yourself that you will offer something from your heart to the Lord that will please him. Who cares if this nation and this culture wants to abandon God and make you pay a price for fall? You have an opportunity today to give something to the Lord that can please him.

Don't get so overwhelmed by how many people are turning their backs on God and on Christ. I know it should break our hearts. I know it should cause us to have tears streaming down our face. Yet at the same time, you have an opportunity to shine brighter for Christ. That's how I view it.

That's how I sense it. Lord, thank you for the privilege that you've dispensed enough truth in my life to know that I can serve you and honor you in this day of so much pollution. Let my life be unto you as a perfume. Not concerned with anybody else. They wanna be spiritual skeletons, let them be spiritual skeletons.

They wanna add to the word of God, let them deal with that between them and the Lord. As for me, I wanna serve the Lord. I wanna pursue it. I want my life to be marked by that theme. He loved his God.

He served his God. He was unwavering to his God. He pleased his God. And that's what this young man did, moved God. You might be thinking to yourself, okay.

That thank you for that. That was exciting. But where do you see mercy in this? Where's the grace in this? Oh, that he wouldn't be eaten by dogs and by birds?

Okay. I guess it's better to have a nice formal funeral. Do you know why we would have trouble in seeing God taking the life of a young man who had so much life to live? Because we don't view death the way God does. That's why.

To us, death is always a heartbreaking tragedy, especially for those who had so much to look forward to. But to God, sometimes death for the righteous is him rescuing them from unforeseen tragedy and calamity. So the honor is beyond just what his funeral would look like. The honor in him bringing him out of the world that he was in was because of what the prophet said would come about for the house of Jeroboam. This would be so horrific that to witness it alone would be so overbearing and overwhelming.

And instead of this young man being numbered among the other sons and males of the house of Jeroboam, he would exit this world early, and he would be retrieved, hopefully, to be with God. And if you think that this is a stretch, that is exactly what the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 57 verse one and two. In Isaiah fifty seven one and two, in a context of judgment being declared, an invasion ready to come, the heaping idolatry now reaching a point that it's going to be dealt with with God's wrath, we're told something so interesting in those first two verses of Isaiah 57. The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart. Devout men are taken away while no one understands.

For the righteous man is taken away from calamity. You see what's being said here? Some people don't consider and are not moved by the fact that the righteous are taken away from this life, either through persecution or early death or whatever the case may be in this context. It's more persecution from evil men. And the Lord gives a little bit of an insight for why sometimes that is the case.

You know, it's so funny. Last week, we studied a man of God in first Kings 13 who disobeyed the Lord to such a degree that he would die because of it. Remember? That God's discipline would be expressed through him being cut off from the earth. And now we come to this passage and read of an example of another young man who had something in him that pleased the lord.

And according to Isaiah, there are sometimes where the righteous are taken from the earth, not because God disciplined them, because it's an act of mercy, that he is going to preserve them and protect them from enduring and witnessing calamities first Kings 13, sometimes the Lord does discipline his own, and he takes them home Like in first Kings 13, sometimes the lord does discipline his own, and he takes them home early. And sometimes the lord takes his own home because he is preserving them from something else in this life that would be more horrific than death itself. We don't know the ways of god, but we do know who god is, and he gives us glimpses of his ways from time to time to reassure us. You know, we read this and we're reminded something about what death is in verse two for the righteous. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity, verse two, he enters into where?

Does it say it? Peace. They rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness. That's how the righteous experience death. That's how god views death for the righteous.

And we see here that this young man was being saved from something for God to take him in the way that he would take him. And I think of when I was meditating on this today, I thought of the words of Balaam. Balaam who tried to curse the people of God, his mouth was overtaken by the oracles of God, and he would pronounce blessings over Israel instead. And you can't help but see that this man, as he's having these visions of the people of God and even eventually of the Messiah that would come through that people group, he also gets a glimpse of the way of the righteous. And in numbers 23 verse 10, he says this about not the life of the righteous, but the promises that they experience when they are rightly related to God, but even of their death.

Here's what Balaam says in numbers twenty three ten. Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his. So Balaam is seeing something as he's going through these ecstatic supernatural experiences. And as a prophet, he he envisions the death of the upright, and he goes, I want that. That's how the that's how the upright get to die.

That's what death leads to. I want that. Can you imagine? We shrink from death and rightfully so. God put a desire in life for us, for life in us.

But this man says something so strange, I want to end my life in that way. And you know what? Balaam desired it so badly that he expressed it in a way that it was inscribed in scripture. But you can't have the death of the upright unless you live the life of the upright. You can't die the death of the righteous and know the rewards therein unless you're willing to live the life of the righteous, and you can't even begin to live the life of the righteous unless you first embrace the righteousness of Jesus Christ that empowers you unto righteousness.

Oh, let my death be like the death of the upright. And it was only a wish because he did not die the death of the upright. He died as a fool. He died in his apostasy, in his false worship, in his pagan ways. You know, there are a lot of people who have desires, but they'll never be realized as long as they are there in your heart and in your wishful thinking.

It has to come to a point where you say, k. Whatever it costs for me to know this, I will pay the price. Does anybody know as we come back to our story in first Kings 14 what the name Abijah means? Daniel, Ben, that you can't answer. Any idea what that name means?

The last part should give something away, Yeah. There's no j. Right? In Hebrew, there's no pronunciation of the letter j. Yeah.

Jehovah is my father. That's what this name means. So I was trying to think at what point did Jeroboam give that name to his son? Jehovah is my father. I'm not sure, but I hope that Abijah actually lived up to his name.

I hope the extent of his pleasure offered to God was that he recognized Jehovah as his father. And if that is true, then how encouraging is it for those who, like Abijah, did not have a father in this life, a mother in this life, a household that they grew up in that honored God as such. Because although Jehovah and his name was his father, Jeroboam was far from an example of what it means to serve God. You know, you have a lot of people who blame their perpetual shortcomings, the unwillingness to completely surrender to the Lord due to their upbringing, due to the lack of example in those who were meant to lead them, to the environment that they were familiar with. And you can make that excuse all you want, or you can make a decision and realize that identity in Christ crushes all of that.

Because if there be any man who is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone behold the new has come. Either this gospel really changes us or we're just singing empty words and hearing useless sermons. If you really do come in Christ, and you have a lot of people even out there that try to justify this theology of generational curses, which I don't understand biblically. I don't see it anywhere in scripture.

You can see patterns being passed down for generations. But even if that case, even that was something that was held to, what does the blood of Christ do? It cancels it anyway. It cancels it anyway. We have to revisit again in our gospel presentation, our gospel faith, our gospel singing, our gospel living, the power of the new birth.

He changes you. He does. No matter where you came from, no matter how perverted and twisted and blasphemous and evil it might have been, when you're in him, there's true transformation. A new future, a new hope, a new trajectory, no matter how it's been like for centuries. Abijah here shows, Jehovah is my father, and there was something in him that pleased the Lord.

Despite all the negative evil examples around him, he was able to stand out. So can you. So can you. You just have to make a choice. It's called faith to believe it for yourself, to believe it through the truths and the word of God.

That's why we're hearing these things. Oh, if it's possible for this guy who lived in a household that threatened people that serve the true god, to serve the true god to some extent, then let it be so of my life. Jehovah is my father. Oh, I hope that that was true in a practical way in this young man's life. It was Matthew Henry who said those that are good in bad times and places shine very brightly in the eyes of God.

Yeah. It's true. So what happens? There was found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. Verse 14.

Moreover, the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. And henceforth, the Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. The and root up Israel out of his good land, out of this good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them beyond the Euphrates because they have made up their ashram, provoking the lord to anger. And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin. So not only now is he dealing with the household of Jeroboam, he extends the judgment to the nation of Israel as a whole.

Judgment is not just coming to your family, Jeroboam. Judgment is coming to the 10 tribes of the North. And where this is leading to is an exile, not the Babylonian exile. The Babylonian exile would come after this one. This is what kind of an exile?

From who? Tell me the people group that would exile the the tribes of the North. The Syrians. The Syrians would come in and would remove these people, these 10 tribes from the good land, and then Judah will follow through the Babylonian exile taking them from their land as well. You know what's interesting is what we read here in verse 16.

He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin. So because of Jeroboam's sin, the nation will go into exile. Well, how does that work? Here's the here's the truth. Here's the lesson.

When we sin, there are consequences for sure. But when leaders sin, the shockwave is greater. Don't strive to be a leader in in ministry. Don't don't don't itch for that. Don't fight for that.

Don't push doors open because, yes, there is a great reward in that, but there is a heavy responsibility. And that's what we see here. Jeroboam's sins would lead to Israel being given up over to the Assyrians. You know, I wanna show this truth. This this is a truth that was mentioned in the study of Leviticus.

I'm not sure how man how many of us remember those lessons in Leviticus, but here is one of them. Let's turn there. This is not planned, but why not? Let's go to Leviticus. I want you to see something.

Look at Leviticus four. These are the laws for sin offerings, and we're told of different categories of people within Israel of what the protocol would be if they sinned. And the first category of people is found here in verse three. If it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a what? A bull.

Remember that. A bull from the herd without blemish to the Lord for a sin offering. So if the anointed priest, that class of ministers that was rarely shared among the people that was distinct and separate onto a particular group for generations, if the anointed priest sins, it required a bull to be sacrificed. Then you read on and you see different things, but look what happens here in verse 13 of the same chapter. If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly and they do any one of those things that by the lord's commitments are not to be done and they realize their guilt, when the sin which they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a what?

A bowl from the herd for a sin offering and bring it in the front of the tent of meeting. That doesn't mean much unless you continue to read on and you see other things. For example, verse 27. Look at verse 27. If any one of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the lord's commandments are not to be done and realizes his guilt or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a what?

A goat. Not a bull. Right? What's bigger, a bull or a goat? A goat, a female without blemish for his sin which he has committed.

And then you read of another category of people, we won't get into that. You know what I find interesting? That when the anointed priest sinned, it was the same process, and the same protocol, and the same sacrifice as though the whole community sinned. When leaders sin, there are different consequences. There are much bigger consequences.

And Jeroboam would sin, and it would cause the people to sin and eventually be led into exile. Now let's come back to this final verses of his life before we finish this study for tonight. It says here in verse 17, then Jeroboam's wife arose and departed and came to Tirzah. And as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. And all Israel buried him and mourned for him according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah, the prophet.

Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the books of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. And the time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty two years, and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab, his son, reigned in his place. That's how this guy is gonna be remembered forever. That's how he's gonna be remembered for the rest of human history. And when you close this chapter, at least this part of the chapter of his life, you can't help but think, Even here at this final moment, what would it have looked like if he had just turned to the lord?

If he had just stopped and he said, okay, lord. I'm done. I'm done running. I'm done ignoring. I'm done rebelling.

I need you. Forgive me. You know, some of us might think after everything, maybe that wouldn't make any difference. Maybe that's it. Maybe he had no other choice.

He's gone so far off the deep end that he might as well have continued in his sin. You know, there's some people who think like that about their lives. There's some people who think, I'm so torn up. I'm so scarred. I'm such a mess that I might as well make the most of it.

Let me eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow I die. I've seen such hopelessness. I've seen it. You don't see it much in the church scene, but if you step outside of the four walls a little bit and tell some people about Jesus who've never heard the name Jesus or or have heard it but don't even know what the gospel is, you'd be amazed to know the tragedies that people in your classroom have experienced, in your workplace have experienced. And when you come to the invitation of them receiving Christ, it's almost they can't even fathom it because of how trash their lives have been.

And just recently, I had a conversation with somebody who could not even imagine being a Christian because they could not see themselves living up to the standard of Christianity, and we just have to revisit what it means to embrace the gospel of grace. There are people who believe that. And this is why I was wrestling with this Bible study, whether they continue into the life of Jeroboam, at least the final moments of his life. Because when you come to Jeroboam's story, it looks just as hopeless as as Jeroboam's. But then when you look at a different part of the bible, you see that Rehoboam made a different decision than Jeroboam.

And it solidifies this truth that it's never too late to look to the Lord and say, please forgive me. Never too late. Even in the final moments of your life, you can turn to the Lord, and it can make the remainder of your life much sweeter than you could have imagined. And I wanna tell you tonight, because you you might be at bible study. You might come every single week.

I don't know what you do after these nights. I don't know what your life looks like. I'm not God. But it could be that you are equally broken and that you feel as though it can't really turn around. The damage has been done.

The history of my own family is almost prophetic in the sense that I know where I'm headed. And that's how people talk. That's how people talk. Their marriage is on the brink of divorce, and you know what they say? I've talked to people like that.

Oh, well, you know, my my cousin got divorced, my brothers got divorced, my they're just divorced all of my family. This is just something that I'm gonna have this is just part of our history. This is part of our family line. Not in Christ. He breaks all of that.

That's the power of the gospel. He plucks you out of any pattern, any destructive path, and he makes you a new creation. And he can transform your future and the future that would come through you. And that's what I wanna extend to you today. You might have come in here broken, sinful, filthy, heavy, discouraged to the bone.

If you just turn to Christ and give him your heart, you can leave here a different person with a different future. It's possible. Lord, I pray that people would believe it's possible. We pray, Lord, that our hearts would be reminded that even with a heavy chapter like this, Your yoke is easy and your burden is light. Thank you, Lord, that as Christians, we get to shine before you.

We might be despised by the world. We might be a fragrance unto death by those who love their sin and hate the truth of the gospel. But, lord, our concern is what you see and hear. And, lord, we wanna be greater than what Abhijat was. We wanna be in greater ways, a pleasing aroma unto you.

And we pray, Lord, that you would give us the strength and the energy to live the remainder of our days where people are worshiping things and giving their lives and their allegiance to things that are very similar to the foolishness of Jeroboam's golden calves. Help us, Lord, be set apart unto you. Help us, Lord, please you. It warms our hearts to know that you see our our inner man, and you can recognize something that blesses you. And, Lord, we want to declare to you that we love you.

We love your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We love your gospel. We love your word. We love your church. We love holiness.

We love to sing to you. We love to obey you. We love to serve you in any capacity. Lord, we love you. Receive our worship even now.

And Lord, may it be only stronger and stronger as you lead us from glory to glory. This is our heart cry, oh God. Even studying kings, we are more encouraged to stand out for your name's sake. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Well, do you believe it? Yeah? Do you desire it? I hope so.

I know Friday nights are tough. You worked all week, and you have to endure a guy that can't let go of the microphone so easily. You made it. Praise God. Praise God indeed.

Thank you for the encouragement. Let's stand and worship the Lord together. We worship a living Christ. He hears us tonight. And listen, if you really speak to him and give your heart to him, he will bless you tonight.

Let's do that.