1 Kings 16 Bible Study (Elah, Zimri, Omri & Ahab's Reigns) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Well, meet me in the book of first Kings in chapter 16, please. This chapter that we aim to complete tonight will almost feel like a conveyor belt of truth because what we have before us is five consecutive accounts of five different kings who ruled and reigned in Israel. And their names are given to us in these added headings of our bibles, but they're mentioned there in the text as well. But a brief glance will show us that the first one that we are going to deal with is Baasha, the second being Elah, the third being Zimri, the fourth being Omri, and lastly, the infamous Ahab is where we will conclude our study. And just from a brief surface level reading of this chapter, you can grasp two features that all of these kings have in common.

It's pretty obvious. And the first one is no surprise. The first commonality that these kings share, these kings of the northern tribes, is that each of them were wicked. No surprise. Each of them were evil.

In fact, you get the impression that as you move from one king to the next, that the wickedness and the rebellion and the apostasy only gets more intense, more intense than the former king. That is the first thing to mention. The second characteristic that these kings share is that each of them ascended and descended during the one single administration of the king of Judah. So what you're gonna notice is that in this chapter, you have the introductions of these kings, and those introductions will be the time stamps of king Asa and when these other kings of the North ascended during his reign. In other words, in the one reign of king Asa in the southern part of Israel, you're going to have five kings show up, disappear, show up again, disappear at the same time.

And so how we're going to break down the study is the way that the text breaks up for us naturally. We're going to look at each of these kings, And though we're not going to exhaustively examine each one, though we can make each one into a bible study, we will just have principles based on preview. And so let's read together the first few verses of first king 16 as we now continue to examine the roster of the kingdom of Israel. Verse one. And the word of the Lord came to Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying, since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, Behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebath.

Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city, the dogs shall eat, And anyone of his who dies in the field, the birds of the heavens shall eat. Let's pause there. Before looking at the lessons of king Baasha, let's consider who this prophet was. Jehu, the son of Hanani. He appears on the scene, and he gives a very, as you just read, a bold rebuke to this king.

But my question is, who is he? And we have clues based on his lineage. He is the son of Hanani. Now Hanani might not be familiar to you in our study of first Kings, but he is familiar to us in the parallel study of Kings, which is found in second Chronicles. In chapter 16 in verse seven, you don't have to turn there.

Just listen to this. Hanani was a prophet himself. So Jehu's father was a man of God who spoke on behalf of God. Hanani was the one who approached a king, king Asa. When king Asa disobeyed the Lord, as we learned last week, by robbing God of his glory and his rights by taking the gold from the temple and the silver and giving it to the king of Syria in his time of trouble to fight against the king of the North.

Hanani was the one who approached king Asa and rebuked him, and he was rewarded with imprisonment. Asa was angry, and he threw him into jail. Now here's why this is so moving to me, and this is why I wanna just make a brief comment. God raised up Hanani's son, Jehu, to walk in the same steps as his father. And what I love, though we do not have much about Jehu, he's mentioned more than once, that we do not have much said about him, isn't the fact that he is the son of Hanani say enough?

That this man though he was, yes, called by God made a conscience choice to walk in the same prophetic mandate as his father, though he himself witnessed his father paying a high price for speaking the truth. I like Jehu. I'm moved by Jehu because here you have a man who is faithful and fearless, and he's willing to do what God called him to do even though he experienced a close pain seeing his father being treated as such as a man of God. And what we're going to see as we study kings is that though these kings will increase in wickedness, with that also will be the increase of the activity of prophets. If you actually look at the timeline of the kings, you'll see that a majority of the prophets spoke and appeared during the time of great apostasy.

That says something about God's heart. Prophets are like doctors, spiritual doctors who appear on the scene and treat a spiritually sick people. They speak a bold word. They speak a confronting word, but with the redemptive aim of seeing you restored. And so when you read the prophetic literature of scripture, keep in mind that those prophets were speaking and ministering during the times of these wicked rulers of both the northern tribes and the southern tribes.

When a nation goes south in terms of their sin and away from God, God will raise up in his mercy prophets. And what do prophets really do in the bible? People say, oh, they tell of what's to come. That's a small part of their ministry. The main job of a prophet is to tell people to go back to the word of God.

So when you hear me or anybody else in these texts, I've used this before, may God raise up prophets. What I primarily mean is may God raise up men who will speak the word and say, get back to the bible, because that's what a true prophet does. A lot of people claiming that they're prophets and they're more like fortune tellers. True prophets are those who say, thus says the Lord through the written word of the Lord and had that burning heart to see the bride of Christ purified and a lost world redeemed. And so Jehu is just one of many prophets.

In fact, maybe you didn't realize this, but we're going to spend a lot of time in King studying a major prophet, not a major prophet in terms of him having a big part of the bible with his writings, but a major prophet in terms of a figure, Elijah. Elijah's coming down to our study in the next one. So this is Jehu. And the first lesson that we get from king Baasha is what he says in verse two. Look with me.

We're gonna try to do this in one setting. Since I exalted you this is the lord speaking. Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel. So here's what the prophet is saying and reminding Basha. Where you are right now, who you are today is because of God's providential mercies.

Your promotion has been ultimately determined by God. And by saying this to him, he wants him to remember that he relinquished and he forfeited and he really trashed this opportunity to see reform as a king, to bring the people back to god, and instead imitated Jeroboam and his disobedience. So, essentially, from this being conveyed, what Baasha is hearing is you wasted. You wasted what God permitted to happen in your life. And it's important to know that this idea of promotional mercies is something that not just Baasha should be aware of, but every person should know of as well.

Here's a text for you to consider. It's very, very good in Psalm 75. You can look at it. Actually, I would encourage you to turn that to see it with your own eyes. Psalm 75 verse six and seven.

This is a universal principle of how God works in the earth, how God works in people's lives. It says here, for not from the East or from the West and not from the wilderness comes lifting up. And then it goes on to say, for not from the East or from the West, but it is from God who executes judgment putting down one and lifting up another. In other words, when you see the lifting up and the bringing down, that's ultimately god's orchestration. I like how the king James puts it.

The king James puts it this way, for promotion neither cometh from the East nor from the West. Promotion ultimately comes from God. Any kind of promotion. In any sector, any sphere of life, exaltation comes from the exalted one. Many truths can be drawn from this.

Can I give you one to meditate on, please? Let God exalt you. Let God exalt you. Do not rely on being combative with others. Do not come to a point where you promote yourself, where you advertise yourself.

Rest to know that ultimately, no matter even what you do, God is the one who gives permission for any kind of promotion. That should put you at ease. That should cause you to be content with where you are. And more than content, be faithful exactly where you are, trusting that if in God's wisdom, he wants you to do more, he will let it happen, and no one can stop him. He exalts.

He opens the doors. He shuts the doors, and he brings down. So he does it all, essentially. And what I see here is that there's a comparative jewel that we can look at when we look at these first few words of Jehu. Look again at Jehu's words.

He says in verse two, since I exalted you out of where? Tell me, out of the dust. Now go back to what one other prophet said to king Jeroboam. It's only two chapters before this. First Kings 14.

Look at verse seven. Go tell Jeroboam, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, because I exalted you from where? What does it say? Among the people. So Jeroboam was told, you are exalted from among the people.

Baasha was told, you are exalted from the dust. And why that's mentioned is to underscore the lowliness that Baasha was emerged from. And it was a reminder, and it is a reminder to you and I, that the Lord can elevate, and the Lord can draw out any run from anything or anywhere. That's the truth there. And so you and I have to take this, at least at least this truth.

Be faithful unto the Lord whether you are among people or whether you are as overlooked as dust. How much lower can you get than dust? How much more hidden can you be than dust? Among the people, I get it. You're among the common people, but you're at least on the same level as people.

Baasha, no. You're below people even. I can bring you from underneath people's feet if I choose to do so. That's what I'm able to complete. And all you and I have to do is just wait on the Lord.

And if he desires to do it, he will do it. And just smile in every season whether he exalts you or he doesn't. So he tells him that you came from the dust, but, unfortunately, this is how you treated what I allowed to happen in your life. Now let's read in verse five, and let's complete the rest of our lessons from Vashj, though not limited to this, I'm sure. Now the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried at Tirzah. And Eli, his son, reigned in his place. Now here's the verse that we wanna park at. Verse seven. Moreover, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Jehu, the son of Hananiah, against Baasha and his house, both because of all the evil that he had done in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.

Pause. God is not angry. That's not his disposition. God is provoked to anger. Many people view God as an angry God.

That's how the ancient pagan worshipers viewed their false gods, that they constantly had to appease them because, generally, they were characterized by fury. Notice that God is provoked to anger. His disposition is love. His disposition, yes, holiness. Yes, purity.

Yes, brilliance and light. But he is provoked to anger, and it's sin that angers him. But we see that he is provoking him to anger with the work of his hands and being now this is the reason why God was provoked to anger. There are two reasons. In being like the house of Jeroboam, one, and two, and also because he destroyed it.

Interesting. Interesting because what we learned last week of Abaasha is verse 29 of chapter 15. Read that with me. Speaking of Abaasha and how he ascended and secured the throne, we are told in verse 29 of chapter 15, 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 had destroyed it according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant, Ahijah the Shilonite.

So hold on. Vashj destroyed the house of Jeroboam according to the word of the Lord. And then you come to the next chapter and you learn that Vashj is going to be destroyed and his dynasty is gonna come to extinction because he destroyed the house of Jeroboam. How do we make sense of this? Let's consider three things.

Okay? Three very brief points that hopefully will help. First, it's important for you to realize that Baasha's pursuit of the throne was not from holy ambition. He coveted the throne. And he so wanted that power, not authority that he was willing to murder for, and he did.

So this is not coming from a holy place, a pure place, a good place. This is coming out of envy. This is coming out of selfish ambition. Secondly, though Baasha secured the throne through unfortunate means, he did not take advantage of the opportunity that he had to do good. He did not present the opportunity to reform and to change the place and to revitalize it for the glory of God, confirming the first point that he came to the throne and he secured and stayed on the throne for the purpose of self.

And here's the most important part. We have to remember that Baasha arriving to the throne and Jeroboam being destroyed as a result of that was prophesied. And just because the Lord predicts a historic shifting event does not mean that he authored it. In fact, what you'll realize about God is that if he desires to judge evil, he will allow and permit evil as the instrument to judge other evil. And that does not make him culpable or responsible for the evil of another.

It's just his providential permission allowing one to do what he desires to do, but God in his wisdom accomplishing his work through it. Baasha did destroy Jeroboam's household, and he would be guilty for it. God predicted it. He is not the author of evil. And even when he did arrive to the throne, God was willing to do something of mercy towards him if he took advantage of the realization of where he was at, but he failed even in that.

So he deserves to be judged as was prophesied. Let's go to the next king. Remember, conveyor belt. Right? We're looking at one.

Whoop. There it go. There it goes. Another one. Okay.

Here we go. Previews and principles from these previews in this bible study. Let's look at the son of Baasha, and let's read about him. Verse eight. In the twenty sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years.

But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, pause, is the fact that Elah having chariots a good thing or a bad thing? Why is it bad? Because kings were not to acquire many horses. And if you have a commander for half your chariots, that's an indication that you got a lot of horses. So already, we have an idea that this is not a good king, but it gets worse.

Commander of half his chariots conspired against him. So Zimri now is planning a conspiracy against Elah the king. When he, being Elah, was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arzah, who was over the household of Tirzah, Zimri came in and struck him down and killed them in the twenty seventh year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in his place. So Elah takes the place of his father, Baasha. He only reigns for two years before he was assassinated.

And the fact that Elah, again, was a commander of chariots is a clue that he was not a man who was concerned about being consecrated to the law of God. But Eli's problems go beyond that. Do they not? Because what we read about him is, yes, he was murdered, but he was murdered in a certain state of mind. Let's look at it again in verse nine.

But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him when he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arzah, who was over the household in Tirzah. So where do you find Elah, the king of Israel, the time where he was slain? He was at his coworker's house drinking himself into oblivion. I know of people in my lifetime who have died in that same state, even in high school. I remember being in high school, and we had to be brought together as a school because there's two students who were slain in a state of being at the wrong place doing the wrong things.

And it makes you wonder if Elah was busy doing what he was supposed to be doing as a king, that Zimri's conspiracy would be much more difficult to accomplish. Does that make sense? Because there is a lesson here. Based on the fact that this is presented to us in scripture for our instruction, for our completion as men and women of God, the lesson is the way you socialize and the way we indulge can be deadly. The way you and I choose to socialize and the way you and I choose to indulge can be absolutely lethal.

It's clear that Eli didn't take heed to the word of God of what kings were supposed to do in relationship to alcohol. Right? Do you remember what king Lemuel heard in Proverbs 31 verse four? That it is not for kings to drink or rulers to take strong drink. And it is for certain that both Elah and his coworker, another ruler, did not take heed to the words of Solomon elsewhere.

Where we're told this, and I encourage you to turn there with me in Ecclesiastes chapter ten ten verse 16. Meet me there briefly. I want you to see this woe that Solomon pronounces on kings who choose to do something that is related to what Elah does. Ecclesiastes chapter 10 verse 16. I'll wait for you.

As long as you bring your Bibles, I'll wait for you. Elah forgot or probably didn't even look at this in his lifetime. Woe to you, oh land, when your king is a child. And that is not limited to age, by the way, because there are kings who are young and they were righteous. Speaks of your maturity.

When your king is a child and your princes feast in the morning. Question for you, especially for my Middle Eastern friends, is it wrong to feast? No. Not wrong to feast. Is it wrong to feast in the morning?

Depends the occasion. But it was wrong for kings and princes and rulers to feast in the morning. Because the Bible tells us that kings were to be preoccupied with a different kind of activity before the heat of the day would arrive. And we even have a verse of what kings were to do in the morning time according to the prophet Jeremiah. You can turn there if you'd like.

I'll quote it to you anyway. It's found in Jeremiah chapter 21 verse 12. And it'll be up there on the screen. But notice what the prophet says to the house of David. In Jeremiah twenty one twelve, oh, house of David, thus says the Lord, execute justice when?

In the afternoon, at nighttime? No. No. Execute justice in the morning, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed, lest my wrath go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it because of your evil deeds. So he's speaking to the house of David.

He's specifically speaking to the rulers. And he's saying, oh, rulers, it's your job that you've neglected to execute justice. What time of the day? In the morning. In other words, we're being told here that the priority of the activity of the king is to administer justice first thing of the day.

It's to occupy the seat of justice and to give judgment and to administer wisdom and to give consultation, and as a result, to see the oppressor free and to see people experience god's righteousness through that vessel of a king. And so we see here that the morning, they are to be busy. And what does Solomon say? Woe to you, oh land, when your princess feast instead of fulfilling their god given role as a king in the land. Here's the larger principle.

Misguided priorities are spiritually deadly for you and for others. Especially if whatever you try to replace your god given responsibility with, even if it's in the pursuit of pleasure or delight, it will kill you and it will harm others. Woe to you, oh land, when your princess feast in the morning, when Jeremiah says, you're supposed to be busy doing something else in the morning, oh kings. And so we have to understand that if we do not properly frame our interactions and our activities, then we're in trouble. And that's what we see in the next verse of Ecclesiastes 10, the reward of doing it the way God calls us to do it.

Happy are you, old land. Happy are you, old land, when your king is the son of nobility and your princes feast when? Does it say it? Oh, it's not there. At the proper time.

A feasting is not wrong. When they feast, in Ecclesiastes ten seventeen, at the proper time. The morning is not the proper time. There are other times where you're supposed to be doing that. And notice this, when they feast, yes, for strength and not for drunkenness.

So a righteous king does not just eat for delight, he eats for strength. And so he's not mastered by anything. He's ultimately mastered by his God given call and he sees anything else that's inferior to that as a means, as instruments for him to better do what God's called him to do and be effective where God's called him be effective. So he eats. Yes.

He feasts, but it's his fuel. It's his energy, and he does not allow any delight, any delight. I don't care what that delight is, whether it's a morsel or it's a person or it's your job or it's your endeavors or it's your hobbies. Nothing will distract him from his ultimate responsibility of glorifying God in the context that he's been called. Never forget, listen, that self control will prosper you.

Self control is a lost art, and it's rarely proclaimed from the pulpit for fear of being indicted by the people of being legalistic. It's biblical. And don't be those Christians that look at things in the Bible that are clear and call it legalistic just because you don't like it. People do that. It's legalism.

No. It's actually Bible. Legalism is when you take your ideas and impose them on the scripture, or you take light things and make them major things. But when it's clear, it's a command and we are people who obey commands. Yes.

We people who love the grace of God. Happy are you, O land. Self control doesn't just prosper you, it prospers others around you. Notice he didn't say happy are you, oh king. He says happy are you, oh land.

In other words, your self control and your scripturally framed priorities will bless everything around you. It's gonna bless your marriage. It will bless your marriage. It will bless your relationships with your friends. It will bless your finances.

It will bless your business. It will bless your local church. But when you refuse to, by the power of the Holy Spirit, exercise that self control that leads to a more prosperous life, listen to this, it is a sure destination to a slow spiritual suicide. So Elah was found drunken. Doesn't say if he was there in the morning, but he was there in the morning.

Excuse me. He was there in Azra's house. And whether there he was in the morning or not, Zimri knew of his whereabouts for him to be able to come and do what he did and to commit this great crime. So it shows, I believe, that Elah was in that place in a frequent way, and I'm sure that he was there in the morning as well. And this is what led ultimately not ultimately, but it did contribute to his death.

And speaking of suicide, that is what will stand out in the next king's story. Let's go through it together. We'll skip verses 11 to 14 as it gives us a familiar commentary about why this king was judged and why he was ultimately destroyed by God. But let's come down to Zimri's story. In the twenty seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in tears.

So that's gotta be a world record of some sort. Seven days? Imagine being a king for a week. We thought two years were short. Seven days.

Now the troops were encamped against Gibbon, which belonged to the Philistines. We talked about Gibbon last week. And the troops who were encamped heard it said, Zimri has conspired, and he has killed the king. Therefore, all Israel made Omri the commander of the army, king over Israel, that day in the camp. So Omri went up from Givathon and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah.

And when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king's house and burned the king's house over him with fire and died. What a gruesome way to die. Because of his sins that he committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of Jeroboam and for his sin which he committed, making Israel to sin. Now the rest of the acts of Zimri and the conspiracy that he made, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Zimri, now who killed Baasha and his household, he fulfilled the word of the lord by the mouth of Jehu.

He reigns, and he reigns for a week. And in that week, we learned that he assumed too much. He seizes the throne. And because of him seizing the throne, we see that because of a lack of things taking place so quickly as they do in our day. Word went about in a matter of a few days that Zimri has become king, and Zimri, again, made this decision without realizing an important factor of becoming a king, especially in the way that he did it.

You need people to support you. And he didn't have the popular vote. In fact, when everybody heard Zimri becomes king, they go, he doesn't he he's not supposed to be the king. Omri should be the king. And so they elect Omri.

Omri has the entire support of the nation of Israel. And what happens? They besiege the capital. Zimri looks out of his window, and he sees that he is surrounded by the people that he thought that he was gonna rule and that they were gonna accept him. And this is this is his decision.

I have no chance. Because as you know, the pattern of this time was if a rival person was to come and attack your throne, they would not only attack you and ask you to kindly move and say some mean things to you. They would kill you, and they would kill your descendants and kill everyone associated with you, so that there would be no usurping in the future. So Zimri knows that he's finished. And so what does he do?

He's he chooses to finish himself. I'll I'll just do the job on my own. This is one of a few accounts and records of suicide in the bible. This is one of them. There's actually a total of seven.

And to make this a little bit more interactive, I'm curious to know if you know some of them. Can you tell me the different records in the scripture where we're told of a man who committed suicide? Samson is one. Judas. One at a time.

I'll just lift your hands so we don't talk over each other, please. Yeah. Judas. Judas is the obvious one. So let me let me put it this way now.

There's only one in the New Testament that our brother just mentioned and the rest are in the Old Testament. We ought to read that with Samson. Judas, yes. Saul. Saul.

Very good. Saul is another one. So that's three. Any other ones? Alright.

If you remember, let us know. Oh, that's a that's one that people don't have to get, but you gotta figure out the name. I can't just give it to you. You're on it, though. You're on it.

I'll give you a hint. He's in the book of Judges. Samson is in the book of Judges, but there was somebody else before him who committed this grievous act of self murder. He was the son of a very notable figure, one that you hear about in your Sunday school curriculum. He's the son of somebody who God told him to diminish his army down to a few 100.

Do you know? I saw yes. Abimelech. Abimelech is the first one. Yes.

Absolutely. In Judges chapter nine. Then there is Samson. Then there is Saul. We touch on Zimri.

We touch on Judas. There's two others. Two others. Anhiphoth. Anhiphoth is another one.

Yes. When he realized that his plot was not honored by Absalom, he went home and he put his house in order and he hung himself. There's one more. There's one more. Okay.

That was something else. That was actually an act of murder, but that's a good guess. There's one more. I'll give you a hint. I'll just give you one hint.

Saul. That's all I'm gonna say. And then we have to move forward because I don't want this to drag too too long. Saul's the hint. Yes.

Saul's armor bearer? Saul's armor bearer. You got it. Good job. Yes.

When Saul killed himself, the armor bearer thought, okay. I might as well join him. So those are the seven accounts. And I argue that there could have been I'm sure there could have been more that but there was a close call of another New Testament individual who could have been mentioned along with this horrific list of people who have come to such desperation in their lives? Can you think of a New Testament person who was close to committing that act but was spared?

What's that? The Philippian jailer. Can I show you that in act 16 verse 27? There could have been another suicide record in the bible, but it was prevented by something that, listen, you and I must believe is able to rescue anyone from such despair, even if such despair reaches a point where self murder seems to be a better alternative. Read this with me in act sixteen twenty seven.

When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. Why would the jailer wanna kill himself realizing that the prisoners had escaped? That could be one idea. Yes? His authorities would've killed him.

Yes. I think that's more likely that the authorities would have given him the verdict of these prisoners. And for letting them escape, they would've now put him to the butcher's block. And so he thought to himself, I'm finished. Like, my my my authorities are merciless, so let me just let just like Zimmy, let me just do the job myself.

But something prevented him. Two men who were so filled with God, Two men who had the hope of the gospel, who brought this man to salvation. So here you have an individual that's ready who's so hopeless, who's so overcome with grief and concern and worry with a bleak future, but was apprehended by two men who instead of escaping for their own benefit chose to remain in order to provide hope. Hey. We're still here.

Don't do this to yourself. And then this man asked as he trembled and fell before them, what must I do to be saved? What provoked the jailer to say that? This hardened, brutal, tough man to be weak in the knees and to be melted like this, to say what must be saved? Well, remember, before this and before the earthquake, you had two men, the same men, who were singing hymns and praying to god at midnight.

And they were heard, and I'm sure the jailer heard it too. And I'm sure something was trying to register in his mind. How do you have these two guys that have fresh wounds in their back, who are bleeding, who are bruised, who are battered? How is it that they have so much hope? What is it that they believe in that can have them singing in this way, though treated in this way?

I wanna know what they have. People often ask, is it possible for a true Christian to commit suicide? And the way I answer is this, that in a moment of extreme weakness, in a season of incredible challenges, a Christian is capable of many things. Is that not true? But what I will say with that is that if there is somebody who professes Christ and consistently contemplates and justifies something as severe as suicide, you and I have every right to challenge that person to examine the sincerity of their faith.

And the reason why I say that is because the Bible characterizes Christians in many ways, and one of the ways is that Christians are overcome by this thing called hope. We are a hopeful people, not wishful thinking, not just hope for a thing to come when I pass from this life, a hope that is so weighty and such an anchor to our lives that it brings about deliverance day by day. The Christian is characterized by hope. And what is suicide ultimately? It's an act of total and ultimate hopelessness.

One that convinces you because you do not believe you have purpose or that the things around you happening have purpose. And I wanna show you by way of example how this hope is not just a tenant of our faith or something that we, kinda throw around as Christians. It's something that has real impact on the life of a believer. So Paul says something in second Corinthians one eight where he is ambiguous in the nature of his trial, but he says this trial that we are enduring is so intense that we despaired of life itself. Paul is saying that.

We're not talking about a weak Christian here. We're talking about a strong, if not the strongest example of what a Christian should look like and live like. And yet even such a man was susceptible to such a temptation. Where he says in second Corinthians one eight, let me read it to you in his own words. For we do not want you to be unaware brothers of the affliction we experienced in Asia, for we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.

This was so overwhelming. This was so overbearing. This was so consuming that we thought, man, I can't live like this. And yet, two verses later in verse 10, notice what he says. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us.

On him, we have set our what? Our hope. So this Christian hope, this gospel hope, this Christ centered hope is power powerful enough to deliver you from the powerful temptation of despairing of life itself. Either this is true or this is just poetic license. No.

It's true. It's real, and it changes people. So, yeah, a Christian is capable of much in a place, in a season, even in a moment of extreme grief, pain, confusion, frustration. But I would say one who consistently entertains and justifies such an act, those around it and him himself must call for an examination of the sincerity of that faith. As you would any other sin that one would justify and consistently meditate on thinking that they are allowed to do it.

So we come to our fourth king in verse 21. Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni, the son of Ganath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. This is a mess. K.

So you already have the nation divided in two. And now we're focused on the northern part, and within the northern tribes, you have another division. Sin divides. Sin splits up. A kingdom that is divided in this way cannot stand.

And so now you have two parts within the one part, and you have half the people who follow this guy named Tibni and the other half who wanna follow this guy that they like the name Umri. And what I find so interesting is a brief note is that before we read earlier that all of Israel wanted Umri, And now half of the people want to don't put any stock in the recognition and praise from people. It's very short lived. It's very fickle. One day they praise you, the next day they condemn you.

So don't put too much, don't put any rather of your identity, of your esteem, of your joy, and what people have to say. Because one day they want you to be there and the next they want somebody to replace you. So now we read that the people wanted this other king, but Omri was a brilliant general. So in verse 22, but the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibne, the son of Ganath. So Tibne died, and Omri became king.

In the thirty first year of Asa, king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for twelve years. Six years, he reigned in Tirzah. He bought the Hill Of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill. So Tirzah was the capital for quite some time of the Northern Kingdom. Under Omri's administration, he transfers the capital over to a place called Samaria.

Why? Because strategically, it made sense. It was a hill. There was geographical advantage to that. You had created greater difficulty for any invasion, and you had a greater outlook of the horizon and your surroundings.

So this makes sense from a military standpoint. But we read on and we see something that is crushing. Because despite any accomplishment, the spirit of God does not speak highly of this man. Verse 25. Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did more evil than all who were before him.

So if Zimri broke the record of the shortest reign in Israel's history, Omri broke the record of reaching to new lows for the evil one can commit as a king. He did more evil than all who were before him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, provoking the lord, the god of Israel, to anger by their idols. What did Omri do? We're not told in detail, but we do have an indication of another place because he's barely mentioned in the bible.

But in this one other place where he is mentioned, we have an idea of the caliber of his wickedness. It's in a interesting place in the Bible. Mark it down if you don't wanna turn there now. I'll read it to you in Micah. In Micah six verse 16, the prophet pronounces an indictment against that generation, and this is the explanation of their ways.

For you have kept the statutes of Omri and all the works of the house of Ahab. So based on this, Omri was not just like a silly sinner. Right? He was not just this kind of foolish man who was just self absorbed and did things here and there. This man created laws that encouraged and discipled an entire generation and nation into sin.

He had laws. Laws that are contrary to God's laws. Laws that perhaps even punish those who would not submit to his desires. He had statutes. And I believe that indicates the level of evil that this man was consumed by, that he caused other people to intentionally sin by way of legislation, by way of even punishment in terms of disobeying what he had asked of them.

And so this man was evil. He was wicked. And if you think this man was bad, our final king will prove otherwise. But let me say this as a side note. If you're one who enjoys history and you like to see how world history coincides and correlates and complements biblical history, look up Omri, and you'll realize that there are ancient artifacts from the Moabites and the Assyrians that mention Omri by name.

And I just like those things from time to time because they are just nuggets of God's providential preservations to show us that this bible is in fact true. And so Omri was mentioned because he was praised even by neighboring nations of being a very successful commander and leader at this time in history. Look it up for yourself. But let's come to our final king as we close our bible study. You know this man, I'm sure.

It's the son of Omri. His name is Ahab. Look at verse 29 with me. In the thirty eighth year of Asa remember, every single king that we've touched on so far has been during the reign of Asa. In the thirty eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab, the son of Omri, began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel and Samaria twenty two years.

And Ahab the son of Imri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him, including his father. And here is what he is notorious for. Here is what is underscored and emphasized about Ahab. Verse 31. And look at how the spirit inspired the author to write this.

And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. It's like as though it wasn't enough for him to do what Jeroboam did, you know what Ahab did? He married a woman named Jezebel. For somebody to speak that like that about your wife says something about your wife, says something about this woman. And you're going to discover that though Ahab imitated the faults of many before him, including Solomon who imported much idolatry through his political marriage alliances.

The impression that you're supposed to get by reading this is that Jezebel is gonna cause more problems than Solomon's 1,000 wives combined. She's gonna cause more issues to the kingdom of Israel than all those other women who preceded her. And that is something that you and I have to brace ourselves for, and we get a hint of it already here. Notice verse 31. Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians.

And the next part is meant to show us that because of Jezebel's influence over Ahab, this is what happens. And went and served Baal and worshiped him. Look at verse 32. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. Now we've seen kings before this build temples in high places and stations of false worship here and there.

But what we're supposed to see here is that Ahab takes it to another level. Because Ahab does build this house of worship, but in the capital city of the Northern Kingdom. And though most of these wicked kings are being compared to Jeroboam, when Jeroboam introduced idolatry to the Northern tribes, he made an attempt to try to refashion the religion of Yahweh. And so he tried to incorporate this thing with the truths that they were familiar with. He tried to even mimic the feast and all of that.

Right? So he's trying to do this thing where you get the flavor of the Lord's truth and he's bleeding it in with his own ideas, but that's not what what Ahab does. Ahab is not looking to integrate. He's not looking to mingle. He's not looking to any of that.

Ahab is looking to completely replace Yahweh from the minds and the devotions and the worship of the nation of Israel. So he, under Jezebel's leading, institutes Baal worship, listen, as the state religion for Israel. And Jezebel would be so ferocious in her pursuit of wanting Baal to be recognized that she will even hunt down the prophets of the Lord as you and I are about to discover in the coming chapters. So this is a a new camp a new kind of campaign where Israel's existence as being distinct as a covenant people is now on the brink of extinction. This is serious.

This is severe. This is heartbreaking. Jericho, he laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram, his firstborn yet cursed be the man who rebuilds the walls of the city. And cursed be the man who rebuilds it. At what cost?

At the cost of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest son shall he set up its gates. There was a permanent, perpetual curse looming over the people if anyone would entertain and execute the resurrection of the city of Jericho. And this man does it. But what's the connection? Look at the first three words of verse 34.

In his days whose days? The days of Ahab. You know what this is meant to convey? Ahab as a leader created such an atmosphere and such an environment that it encouraged people to do the unthinkable. Leaders have that kind of an influence.

You have this individual here who felt confident enough to challenge God's curse. And check this out, at the laying of the foundation, the eldest dies. And he doesn't even stop there. He continues to complete the project at the death and at the cost of his other son's life. You're saying, well, wouldn't Hael be familiar with this curse?

Most likely. But what does it mean for somebody to do such a thing even at the price of losing his sons when you have been living in an environment where you're conditioned to sacrifice your children. That's what people were doing day in and day out around them. And so it meant nothing at this point of Israel's history to give up your children. We've been doing this in the Northern Kingdom for quite some time.

And so it was effortless. It wasn't even a second thought to do this grievous thing. And really what this meant to show us is to give us just a little taste of the path that Ahab as a ruler was leading this people into. And at the same time, I would say that this is an act of God's mercy towards Ahab. Because in God honoring his word by executing judgment in the way that he prophesied many generations ago, You know what that would communicate to Ahab and Jezebel?

I take my word seriously. I'm not playing around here. Ahab Jezebel, you think that you can bring in Baal to eclipse my glory in this place? Realize that by doing so and let me show you by way of example that I am looking at you, I'm marking you, and I will execute vengeance against you. If anything, like we've seen with Jeroboam, this was meant to awaken Ahab to his senses and to repent before he he met a similar fate, and they would meet similar fates in years to come.

Here's an here's a practical truth you can draw from this in seeing Hiel do this under the leadership of Ahab. Leaders have to realize this sobering rule. As a leader, you are leading people in a direction, whether you're intending to do so or not. By people choosing to submit under your direction, you will bear the responsibility of where you lead people. Do not covet the place of leadership, my friend.

And those who currently stand as leaders understand that there are souls under your care, especially if you're in the place of an elder. So this is a sobering reminder that your holiness can rub off on others, and your lack of holiness can equally rub off on others. What you do in your private life, what you do before the people of God, how you treat this word, all these things that you have to factor in does not remain with you, it will spill over to others. Now that is the rule, a sobering one for leaders, but there's also a warning for those who are not leaders. For those who are not leaders, hear me very carefully.

You have to make a conscious and calculated choice in your life, especially in your spiritual life about which leadership you choose to sit under. People often ask, what should I look for in a local church? And this is my go to answer. Look at the leadership of that church. Look at the leadership of that church because the leadership will ultimately determine the direction of that church.

The leadership will ultimately determine the reverence and the esteem and the obedience and the standard of that local body. So if you want to know if this is a place that I wanna commit to, look no further than those who are in charge. And you'll get everything that you need to know about whether or not this church is healthy or not. So be careful who you choose to sit under. Be careful, men, especially the men here who are now seeing not just the blessing of marriage, but the blessing of babies coming into your life.

You have to also make a choice. Today, tomorrow, every day, for the rest of your life, as long as you're in this world, who am I gonna allow to speak spiritual truths to my family every week? These are things that we must give ear to. And this is not going to be the last time we hear of Ahab. In fact, for the rest of the book of first Kings, he is going to be the main feature of Israel's history at this time.

And I'm excited to see what God does when a leadership, from from a governmental standpoint, from a spiritual leadership standpoint, goes south. What does God do? You know what you're gonna discover in first king 17? He raises up men of God. I'm excited to get there.

Let's thank God for this Bible study, please. Lord, we know that it is not often that we examine a portion of scripture at this rate and at this pace, but we trust that what's been said did something to our hearts. And, Lord, we pray that these truths will not be easily forgotten, but we would have recall, and we would be able to remember them. We'd be able to connect them with other truths. We'd be able to see the harmony and the symphony of the word of God as we personally study through it and as we study through it together.

Many truths from so many angles have come to us. Lord, help us apply what you want us to apply. And, Lord, at the close of this service, we are grateful for the weekly reminder that there is no king like the lord Jesus Christ. Now we worship him in spirit and in truth as we look to you in song. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. There is no king like king Jesus. Let's stand and worship him because he's the living king.