2 Kings 10 (Part 2) Bible Study (Jehu Strikes Down the Prophets of Baal) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Let us open our bibles to second Kings chapter 10, and I ask you to place your finger there at verse 18. I want to remind you that Jehu accomplished what the Lord asked of him and what Elijah prophesied concerning the house of Ahab. He did bring total annihilation to this dynasty. And that is how our study concluded last week in second Kings ten seventeen. So we might expect then that since Jehu's campaign is now over, then we're going to encounter what we usually find at the end of a brief account of one of the kings, a general summary of his reign.

But what we're gonna discover is that's not the case. Jehu is not finished with his efforts. Actually, Jehu is much more motivated and ambitious than we initially thought. Because Jehu is not content in just dealing with the house of Ahab. He wants to cleanse the land of Israel of all worshipers of Baal.

And it's in these final verses of second Kings chapter 10 where we're going to study how Jehu is going to accomplish this. And so we're gonna start by reading verses eighteen and nineteen. Pause, slowly reflect as we usually do, and continue with that pace until we complete this chapter. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this wonderful book.

We trust that by the power of your Holy Spirit, you will guide us to glean every golden nugget of truth that is necessary for our sanctification at this point in our lives. Thank you for every person who is here, every person who is watching as our brother opened the service with, may your voice be heard. We want your complete majesty and glory and power to be felt and realized in the fruitfulness of our lives being lived out in response to these truths. We entrust our hearts, our minds, our emotions, our decisions to you, Conform everything of who we are to your complete will. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Verse 18. Then Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much. Now therefore, call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers, and all his priests. Let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal.

Whoever is missing shall not live. But Jehu did it with cunning in order to destroy the worshipers of Baal. What a way to open a bible study. Especially if you've been following this week after week. There are a couple of questions, crucial questions that we have to find answers for before we move on.

The first one is this, is Jehu's determination to eradicate the land of Israel from all Baal worshipers something that is legitimate and authorized by God? So just just give me a hand if you think this is right for Jehu to do. Two people. And if it's wrong, lift your hand, more than two people. And the rest of you are not sure, which is okay.

Given that, we've already studied him enough to know that his mandate was very specific, that he was to deal with the house of Ahab alone. Correct? So then at face value, we might think this is just another case of Jehu going beyond what the Lord asked of him. However, if you are a student of the law of Moses, then you will recall that there are specific laws pertaining to idolaters in the land. And when we look at some of those laws, we might realize and conclude that Jehu is actually more aligned with God's will than we initially thought.

Here's a general verse that summarizes God's heart for these people in this covenant concerning idol worship. Here's a reference for you in Exodus 22 verse 20. He says, whoever sacrifices to any god other than the lord alone shall be devoted to destruction. So again, that is a general prohibition against, and it is a call for punishment for idolatry among these people. But it's not until you go to Deuteronomy chapter 13, and that's where I'm gonna ask you to turn, where you get the specific detailed protocol of how this destruction should take place.

And it's in the latter portion of Deuteronomy 13 where we learn what the people ought to do when idolatry becomes larger in scale, where communities and cities are infected by apostasy, what should the people do then? And here's what we find here in Deuteronomy Deuteronomy 13 verse 12. If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to dwell there, that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their cities, saying, let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known, then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction. All who are in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword.

You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square and burn the city and all its spoil with fire as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again. Now we don't have time to delve into why such severe punishments were enacted under the old covenant. The main point is this.

Based on this, we learn that Jehu is not in the wrong. He's not out of line in this pursuit to identify and chase down and discipline those who are worshipers of false gods. Now, that is clear. We've established that. Here's the second question then.

Though the ambition is in alignment with God's will, it's his strategy. The way he brings us about, is this something praiseworthy? Is this something that reflects God's methodology? Answer, no. It's not.

And this is not the first time that we found Jehu implementing deception in order to achieve his political goals, is it? So what are we discovering about this man? That this manipulation is actually embedded in his character. He was very good at lying and he often wielded that as a weapon. Oh, you say, well, it's for a righteous goal.

Okay. Well, we'll talk about that in a moment. However, what I want us to see here is that this man is pretending to be a worshiper of Baal in order to attract worshippers of Baal. Now listen. Jehu's goal is far different.

But I wanna make a comparison with many Christians who implement similar tactics in trying to attract the lost. If your attempt to draw people who are outside of the truth requires you to betray your convictions or to participate in their sin, you're outside of God's will no matter if your righteous goal is what you're trying to achieve. That never justifies the means. It never justifies the means. And when I looked at this, I remember because it's wonderful to look back at things that you've seen before that might compliment or add commentary to what you're discovering here.

This is not the first time a leader in Israel called for such a large conference, is it? I think back to Elijah. Remember when Elijah called for a showdown between him and the prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mount Carmel. And here's what I recall, that Elijah didn't have to pretend to be a worshiper of Baal to bring in the worshippers of Baal, did he? No.

No. No. He enticed them by standing true to the Lord. Even if he stood alone, that's what drew people in to be like, okay, is this real? Is his God real?

Is his God really more powerful than Baal? So if we're gonna use any way of hooking people in closer to the truth, to encounter the truth, let it be because you are different, not because you're so similar. Yes. His goal is different, but his tactics are copied by many today. You don't have to change the way you talk.

You don't have to sin. You don't have to look a certain way. As long as it's not sinful, like Paul said, he was willing to converge himself and to conform as long as it didn't betray his conscience or God's will in order to win some, yes, but never at the expense of your holiness and God's honor and glory. So we read on. He asked them to meet him in the capital, Samaria.

And the Holy Spirit even tells us here that he did this with cunning, just in case anybody thought that he became a Baal worshiper overnight. Let's read at verse 20. And Jehu ordered, sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal, So they proclaimed it. And Jehu sent throughout all Israel and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they entered the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other.

My initial reaction when meditating on these verses was, where did all these worshipers come from? Do you know why that crossed my mind? Because again, look back and remember what we've studied in second Kings when Jehoram or Joram, the king who was on the throne before Jehu assassinated him and occupied the throne, though he was a wicked man, he did not encourage Baal worship. Do you recall this? Let Let me remind you in second Kings three verses one and two.

Look at second Kings three. When he first became king, we're told here in verse one, in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel and Samaria, and he reigned twelve years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. So a wicked man, but he must have observed something living in the house of Ahab, Ahab being his father. Baalism doesn't work.

Baal failed my dad over and over again. So he doesn't really repent, but as a strategist, as an opportunist, he takes this monument that was dedicated to Baal and he tucks it away somewhere, desire in the hearts of God's people to worship Baal. It revealed a deep seated idolatry that was there all along. And Baal, yes, he was proven false. He was proven weak on Mount Carmel.

And under this administration, Jehoram's administration, it was discouraged and it waned over time. And yet still, what I learned from this is that throughout that time, you had a group of people who worship Baal all along. This is fascinating. Because you could admire this unwavering commitment, can't you? It's toward a false god, but the discipline and the dedication is kind of convicting.

And we see it here. A great number of people who still worship Baal, but God is going to see this kind of commitment. And in his wisdom, it's going to lead to mass casualty. Why? Because deception is the fate of those who persistently reject the truth.

Not that God approves of Jehu's trickery, but he permits it. How does he permit it? He does not rescue the victims of this deception and will allow them to be led to the slaughter as punishment. And I don't know if you recognize this, but what Jehu does here as a leader and how he tricks all these people is a preview of what we're gonna see in the last days. Because we are told in the New Testament that there is going to be a leader known as the lawless one, known as the Antichrist, Who will win the world by way of wicked deception through the activity of Satan.

And that deception will end up proving to be damning for millions and millions of people. And Paul, by the Holy Spirit, tells us how God works in the midst of all of this. And that's what I want you to see in second Thessalonians chapter two verse nine. Notice what Paul says about the final moments of human history. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.

We read this a few weeks ago, but we didn't touch on verse 11 and verse 12. Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion. God, you would think Satan would send them a strong no no no no no. God does. God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false.

God wants people to believe what is false? Oh, you can cut this verse up and make it sound like that. No. He's willing to let people believe what is false after they have denied the truth. This is not his first move.

This is his response to the persistent rejection of a generation. Let's continue on. In order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. So for Paul to say I mean, this is incredible. There's so we can make a Bible study just under these verses.

But for Paul to say that God sends them a strong delusion encourages us in this way. You're saying, how does that encourage me? I'll tell you. Because we just read about how the antichrist will rise and he will sweep the world off its feet and he will deceive and he'll perform all these persuasive things. And you think the lawless one is ruling the world.

He's governing the affairs of this planet. And then Paul's quick to say, God is actually supervising all these events. He is actually sovereign over all these things. Not that he's the author of it, but he's still in control over it. He allows this strong delusion to be unleashed.

He's the one who lets loose the antichrist at the right time for the right generation. So this is prophetic, but it's also practical because in practical terms, what this teaches me is that when a people deliberately deny the truth, they become helplessly vulnerable to deception. There comes a time when someone objects and refuses and stiffens their neck so much that they are destined to believe a lie to their own destruction. Is it any wonder that over and over in the New Testament, you hear this admonition today if you hear his voice? Today, not tomorrow.

Today, Friday night Bible study at 07:45, if you hear his voice, not Saturday morning. Yes, sir. Today, if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart. Don't harden your heart. And so we see something similar here.

A deception sweeps over Israel. The masses are coming believing it to be true. And this is not a people that are just being introduced to the idea of Baal. This is a people who have experienced God's favor, his intervention, his grace, his deliverance, and they denied him over and over. You don't want the one that I sent?

Then I'm gonna give you someone else. You don't want Christ? Here's the antichrist. That will come because the Bible says so. But there's another comparison that I'd like to make and it's more of a contrast.

So we've been studying these past couple weeks, Jehu's climb to the throne of Israel. But we still have many chapters in second Kings, and one of the kings that we're going to discover together is Hezekiah. He's not gonna be the king of Israel, he's gonna be the king of Judah. And you don't see this explicitly in second Kings. You find it more in second Chronicles in the parallel account to second Kings.

But Hezekiah himself will make a call for the solemn assembly. He's gonna reach out to the whole nation, not just the kingdom of Judah, but even Israel, all the northern tribes to come to not Samaria, but Jerusalem. Not to worship Baal, but to worship the true and living God. And when you compare Jehu's attempt and success of bringing in these worshipers of Baal to Hezekiah's attempt of bringing in the true worshipers of God, you're gonna discover a heartbreaking outcome. Would you like to see it?

Well, let's see it together. Go to second Chronicles 30. And I want you to see it in verse one. Hezekiah is one of the few reformers in Judah's history, And we read here what he does for the glory of God. In second Chronicles 30 verse one, Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah.

Why is that significant? Because he's the king of Judah at this time. But he's even reaching out to the northern tribes. So to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. Why is he doing this?

Because you read in the same chapter that it's been so long since they honored the Passover as one nation. And so he's reaching out saying, why don't we do this the way God told us to do it? Let's let's all make pilgrimage and all come to the house of God and worship him at the Passover. Here's the response. Scroll down to verse 10.

So the couriers went from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh and as far as Zebulon, but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them. Oh, funny. When you call everybody to worship Baal, we're gonna see how many people showed up. When it came to worshiping God, you had many You want me to come all the way down to Jerusalem? Yeah.

Right. Well, it's not completely bleak. Look at verse 11. However, some men of Asher, of Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. And in the following verse, you learn that the hand of the Lord was upon the tribe of Judah and they were one heart to come and honor this feast.

So let me remind you something. You don't have to turn there, but back in second Kings chapter 10, we're told there that all the worshipers, not some of the worshipers of Baal, all of the worshipers of Baal came to Samaria. When Hezekiah calls for the worshipers of Yahweh, specifically the northern tribes, some. This breaks my heart, but it also stirs a fire in my soul. And I'll tell you why.

Because it teaches and it challenges you and me that our devotion to the Lord should never be outshined by those who live for idols. Never. Never. Listen to this. The gospel of grace should make you and I more faithful, more earnest, more zealous, more committed, more devoted than those who are working for their salvation.

This gospel of grace should make you more more committed, more invested to the Lord Jesus Christ. Never. Never. Live for this legacy that when your family, your spouse, your children reflect on your brief pilgrimage on the earth, they can say with confidence, he lived for Christ. She lived for Christ.

Oh, yeah. They they had this job and and they had those hobbies and and they they had those kind of connections, but none of that compared to how that person loved Jesus. Just determine that, that this is what my life will be about, him. Him alone. Everything else will orbit around him.

This little life that I have, a breath will be a fragrance unto him. So when it came to Baal worship, revival. When it came to the worship of the true God, the sanctuary was not full. Let's read on in verse 22, second Kings 10. He said to him, who was in charge of the wardrobe, bring out the vestments of all the worshipers of Baal.

So he brought out the vestments for them. That's quite interesting. So they had even their own wardrobe. And I wonder if Jehu is doing this so he can just easily target them. So dress them up.

They do. Verse 23, then Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, and he said to the worshipers of Baal, search and see that there is no servant of the Lord here among you, but only the worshipers of Baal. Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Don't you find it interesting that right before Jehu executes, quite literally, these worshipers, he asked the group to scan the room, ensure that there aren't any worshipers of the true God in their midst. This should cause you to pause and ask, why would there be any worshipers of the true God at this assembly anyway?

That's a fair question, isn't it? Why would there be? You called for the worshipers of Baal. Here's the honest truth, that even for a true believer, they can lapse. And they can find themselves in the wrong place with the wrong people doing the wrong thing.

That's possible for a true servant of God. And that's what we see here. And this is just an imaginative way this could have played out in this situation. So just imagine the news of Jehu calling the masses to Samaria to worship Baal reaches your neighborhood. Right?

This rising king Jehu, and there's so many different discussions about him. There's rumors of what he's all about. But this news comes to your town calling all these worshipers to honor Baal in a new and fresh way. And your friends and some of your family, they're ecstatic about this. They're absolutely thrilled.

And here you are in their presence hearing them talk about this is it. We're we're gonna see Baal bless us now. He's gonna unleash his goodness on our land and surely he will honor us if we abandon everything and make our way to his house. And as you look out your front step, maybe sitting on your little porch, you are watching people frantically walking and running, packing their mules and their donkeys and their chariots, and there's glee on their faces, and there's a buzz in the air. And finally, a few colleagues approach you and they ask, would you come?

Look how many people are going. Join us. We haven't seen anything like this for so long. And you think to yourself, perhaps, this It's not a big deal. Is it?

What can one visit the House of Bill really do? I mean, how harmful can it be? I if anybody asks, I can just say I was curious. What if Baal is real? What if he's making a comeback?

What if what if Baal is actually using this to test, to see who is truly for him? And and if we don't pass a test, if if I don't pass the test, then I'll be judged. I'll be cursed. Oh, how wrong you would be to go to the house of Baal on that day. Because you see, Jehu, in asking for the room to be evaluated, I'm not sure if you recognize this, is an act of God's intervening grace for a true saint who might have made a wrong decision.

But know this, we don't always walk away from sinful experimentation unscathed. That's not always granted to people. And I've heard horrific life altering stories, especially of young people who were too curious for their good. And it impacted them for the rest of their lives. So let me say this, the best thing to do is to always take God at his word.

If he says it's sin, if he says it's evil, leave it at that and walk on and enjoy him and live for him. So make sure that there's nobody here who worships the Lord. Why would there be there anybody there to begin with? Because it's possible for us to waiver. And Jehu shows us that God is gracious enough to deliver us, but sometimes we can't always determine the outcome of our sinful choices.

Verse 25 of second Kings 10. Let's read back at verse 24. Then they went in and to sacrifice to offer sacrifices and burn offerings. Now Jehu had stationed 80 men outside and said, the man who allows any of those whom I give into your hands to escape shall forfeit his life. This man is serious.

You can't miss one of them. I mean business here. We have every single worshiper of Baal in attendance. Not one is gonna leave with their life. What happens?

Verse 25. So as soon as he had made an end of offering, the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the officers, go in and strike them down. Let not a man escape. So when they put them to the sword, the guard and the officers cast them out and went into the inner room of the house of Baal. And they brought out the pillar that was in the house of Baal and burned it.

And they demolished the pillar of Baal and demolished the house of Baal and made it a latrine to this day. You know what they did with that area? They turned it into sewage. Now, many things were said here, but is there any detail that stands out to you? In light of a comment that was maybe made earlier in this study, particularly with an object that was mentioned in these verses.

If you know it, you can say it out loud. Somebody said it. The Pillar Of Baal. Did you notice that? This is the same pillar that Jehoram put away in second Kings chapter three.

And now it makes a reappearance. So obviously, when Jehoram was trying to discourage Baal worship, he didn't do it to the degree that Jehu does here. Joram tucks it away. When Jehu gets a hold of it, he crushes it to find powder. And hopefully, you agree with me in this.

I see two examples of how people handle and relate to sin. Jehoram, when he comes to deal with this object of idolatry, he recognizes that it's unbefitting. He recognizes that it's no good. And in like manner, you have some who profess Christ that will identify patterns, habits, decisions, addictions, and they they know full well this is unbefitting for a follower of Christ. But instead of putting it to death, they put it aside.

Because down deep inside, they they don't know if at another future time, they can make use of that. Use of what? Anything. A harmful substance in times to medicate your anxiety. An ungodly relationship that, yeah, you ended it, but all it takes is one text message or a phone call and a night of loneliness so that you can feel loved.

Or even dishonorable ways of making money that you vowed to never revisit again. But when times get tough and the bills start piling up, I put it aside, but I can make use of it again. We're not told why Jeoram just put it aside, but one thing is for certain, that is not a way to deal with idols. The example here is Jehu. He's not the best example for a lot of things, but in this case, he showcases the kind of ambition that you and I have to have in our fight against sin.

Here's what you have to do. To determine that I'm not going to give this thing another chance to reappear in my life. It is that kind of level of determination that God will honor and supply strength for. That is true repentance. Though we may repent over and over because sin has a tendency to reintroduce itself in our lives.

Even sin that you hate and that you put aside, even something that you were never tempted by for years. It has a tendency of of knocking on the door of your heart and saying, you remember me. We must meet that sin with the same force that we have when we originally decided that we are going to put it to death. God will honor that kind of an attitude. And we see it here.

Unfortunately, get ready for probably the most shocking part of this bible study. Unfortunately, Jehu did not extend the same determination he had against Baal to other idols. In the last verses of this bible study, we have to honestly conclude that Jehu was an idolater at heart. Very successful in honoring God in this specific lane, but not in the ways that God had asked of him and any Israelite of his time. So he burns down the house of Baal.

He destroys pillars, any images that reflect him. It's all gone. And you would think that he's going to be the one of very few who were honorable in this roster of kings. And by way of comparison, he still is. But notice what you read here in verse 28.

Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel, but Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebad, which he made Israel to sin. That is the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan. What? You did all that to make sure that not even a stone would be left representing Baal. But when it came to those two golden calves that Jeroboam erected in Danan and Bethel, you left them?

And not only did you leave them, you reinforced worship for them and toward them. How? How? I'll tell you how. This confirms what we were suspicious of all along.

That though this man Jehu did wanna honor God in destroying Baalism, there was mixed ambition. This man also wanted to arrive to the throne of Israel and secure his position as long as possible. So here's how we make sense of this. He got rid of Baal, But then he remembered, now being the king of Israel, and with this selfish goal of being the king of Israel, staying the king of Israel, he recalled what Jeroboam did when he was fearful that the people would go down to the kingdom Of Judah and worship at Jerusalem. Here's how he's thinking.

I have to do what Jeroboam did. In the same way Jeroboam kept the people by making them worship idols and making worship convenient, I will do the same. So if he was truly honorable to the Lord, he would have totally respected God's wishes that three times a year, the people were to go down and worship at Jerusalem. But no no no. That was too dangerous.

That was too risky. He might lose popularity. He might lose people. The king of Judah might take them from him. So what does he do?

Let's resurrect. Let's reinforce the worship that Jeroboam established in this land. It's a dangerous thing when you idolize power, when you idolize popularity, when you idolize your position. And that's exactly what this man does. And we read something strange in verse 30.

And the Lord said to Jehu, because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. Full stop. So the Lord Hold on. Hold on. We just learned that this man was not completely devoted and then we get God's not condemnation, commendation.

Says you've done what was in my heart. And so I'm gonna reward you to the fourth generation, which is quite impressive when you compare the succession of kings in Israel. For four generations, your seed is gonna rule on this throne. But where's the criticism of the motive of his heart? Where's the denunciation of his worship of Jeroboam's calves?

Though God doesn't explicitly say it, he is not pleased with it. How do we know that in the last verses of this chapter? Notice what happens. Verse 31, but Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin.

Here it is, verse 32. In those days, the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel. Pause. What was Jehu's desire in compromising this way? I want to keep these tribes to myself.

I wanna keep the population as near to me, as close to me as possible. They're mine. I want their praise. I want their allegiance. Even at the expense of them truly honoring the Lord, even if I have to promote idolatry, so be it.

So you want the people, Here's how God disciplines them. I'm gonna cut off some tribes from your people. Here's how I'm gonna humble you. You betrayed me for these people so I'm gonna take some of these people away from you. How does he do it?

The second part of verse 32, Hazael. You remember Hazael? You didn't forget about him. Right? The king of Syria.

Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel and specifically we're told where? Verse 33. From the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites and the Reubenites and the Menasites, from Arar which is by the Valley Of Arnon, that is Gilead and Bashan. So remember, when Elijah was told by God back in first Kings 19, I need you to anoint three people. Hazael to be the king of Syria, Jehu to be the king of Israel and Elisha to be your successor.

Those three were raised up to ultimately be means of discipline towards Israel. The king of Syria does so throughout Joram's reign. We see here that the king of Israel, Jehu, does so, but the moment that Jehu now turns and joins Israel under idolatry, now he is personally gonna be disciplined by the Lord. So now, Syria is the means of discipline, the main means, and he does so by cutting off a particular group of the tribes. And this is very important to realize.

Within the boundaries of the promised land, you had tribes, but you also had certain amount of tribes that were just over the border. That's the Jordan River. Can anybody tell me the tribes that were just over the border? If you can, if you know, you can say it. Half tribe of Manasseh, not the full tribe.

Half tribe of Manasseh and the two other ones? Reuben and Gad. Two and a half tribes remained beyond the Jordan. They they did not want to enter in. Now, I'm curious to know, was anybody here, not here, but Friday night Bible study here, back when we studied the book of Numbers?

Three people, really? Is that, more? Yeah? Well, we studied the book of numbers together. And in the book of numbers, we learn why these two and a half tribes stayed back instead of going into the promised land.

And this is how we're gonna end our bible study. Go to numbers 32. Here's my question as you're turning there. Was it God's original will that any of the tribes should establish themselves outside of the boundaries he determined? Good.

It wasn't. So why did these two and a half tribes choose to settle? There are a couple of obvious answers. Let me just show you one. Numbers 32 verse one.

Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. Read the rest of the chapter on your own time. It's a fascinating discussion between these tribes and Moses. And they tell Moses, I'm summarizing, Moses, thanks for being faithful to us throughout these, you know, past forty years, but we'd like to stay here. And Moses is I can just imagine it.

Because just read it. He goes, we're right at the border. We're just here. Don't mess this up for us. The not the wandering in the wilderness these past four decades, was that enough for you?

Did you not see what happened to the first generation? And so they're going back and forth. And Moses even warned, if if you actually pursue this kind of rebellion and distrust, God will wipe us out and he'll raise up another generation. And so, they come to an agreement. And here's the agreement, because Moses was worried that their decision to stay back would discourage the other tribes from going in and fighting for their possession.

So here was the contract. KK. You can stay here if you want, but you have to come in and fight with us. And that's what we find in the book of Joshua. However, though we might read this and think that this is strategic, that this is practical, in reality, it's a manifestation of unbelief.

On the part of these two and a half tribes. Now, you read here initially it's Reuben and Gad. Right? You're saying where is Manasseh? Manasseh shows up later and here's what I believe.

That after Reuben and Gad introduced this idea, they influenced half of the tribe of Manasseh. And that's why that tribe joins, at least half of the tribe. But let's take this slow here. What's the reasoning based on verse one? They looked at their possessions, they looked at the land and they thought, this is perfect.

Why get all cramped inside that place and be limited and split that up when we can have this and they can have more? This is just it's perfect. This is wonderful. It's unbelief. Because they didn't trust that what God had determined for them would be enough for them.

And they were so consumed with their possessions, the the fear of their future, their children's future, their their livestock, their agriculture, their businesses that they totally dismissed God's glory, number one, and God's perfect provision and will for your life and mine. Can I tell you how you can enter into very spiritual spiritually danger territory When you begin to be convinced that God's will is limited, when you begin to be convinced that living fully for the Lord limits your options, you're flirting with danger? Because that's what they're believing here. We have more on this side than if we go forward. Who said that?

Did God not know exactly what would be enough for you? He did. They didn't believe it. And so what did they do? They lived on the fringe of God's will.

These two and a half tribes, they wanted to be close enough where they're associated with the people of God, but far enough where they can have what they desired in the flesh. So they settled where some many Christians settle, on the outskirts of God's purposes and plans for their lives. You read the end of Joshua and you already begin to see the trouble of this because it seems like, okay, it worked out. And this is one of the beauties of reading through the the word of God because you come to numbers and you think, alright, it seemed to have worked. Then you continue on, there's no issues.

And it's not until you come to books like second Kings where you begin to see the consequences of that ancient choice. What do I mean by that? All seems to be well. The end of Joshua, there was a little bit of confusion because they understood that since we're not in the promised land, these tribes within the land of Canaan might think that we're not a part of their family and so they set up an altar. And it was a memorial right at the border so that the tribes within would remember these two tribes outside are a part of us.

And what was the confusion there? That the tribes within thought that they were raising up an altar to worship when there was supposed to be one place of worship, which would be established in Jerusalem later on. So already there's problems in the beginning. Things get quiet, you think, okay, seems like maybe that was the right choice. Everybody has more space, they're happy, Israelites within are happy.

But if you read your bible carefully, what you'll realize is that oftentimes, the first ones to be harassed by neighboring nations were the very tribes that chose to be outside of the promised land. Go back to second Kings 10. Look at verse 33. Who did Hazael first come to? From the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manasites.

The very tribes that thought it would be better for them to stay outside of God's promise were the first ones to taste punishment. We're the first ones to be harassed by the enemy. And if you think this is an isolated case, look at second Kings 15 verse 29. This is when not Syria, but Assyria comes into the land of Israel and captures some of the people. Second Kings fifteen twenty nine.

In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath pileser king of Asura came and captured, skipped name number one, number two, number three, number four, number five. What's that name there with the letter g? Gilead. And Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria. There's nothing more prosperous, nothing more protective than to be in God's complete will.

And no matter what kind of advantages you think you'll gain by remaining on the outskirts, know this, it's always at the cost of being more exposed to trouble. Removing yourself from God's perfect perfection. Protection, provision. I think there's a wonderful way to kind of tie everything together in the study of second Kings 10. You have this example of Jehu who was not wholehearted to the Lord.

And we're reminded of these two and a half tribes who also were not completely invested in the will of God. Both were robbed of God's complete reward. It makes me wonder how much more Jehu would have been blessed with if he had done it God's way completely. Some reward, not a total reward. Yeah.

These tries were able to enjoy some openness and good soil, but it came at a great price. Here's how we end the study. Don't settle. Don't settle for partial obedience. Don't justify one area where you know you're honoring the Lord, but other areas where you know that you're not trusting him.

Don't settle living close enough where your conscience is a little bit more calm, but you know that you're not supposed to be where you are. God will help us if we're willing to say, Lord, take everything. He is so faithful and kind to lead us the moment we acknowledge we need to be led. Can we pray and ask for that together? Father, from the bottom of my heart, I give you maximum glory that every Friday night we come together to hear challenging verses in your book.

That every week we are confronted with truths about sin, sin, sin, sin. We are constantly reminded because your word wants to remind us. But, Lord, in these discussions of the deception of sin, the severity of sin, Lord, we ask that we would never lose the fragrance and the sweetness of the savior, that you are right there ready to redeem us, forgive us, wash us, restore us. And and that's what we're asking for now. Lord, if if any person here has chosen to live spiritually where they're not supposed to be, may they loosen the ropes of their tents and make their way into the fullness of your will.

Lord, if if as we close with Jehu, any of our hearts are not totally there with you and for you, if there are areas in your word where we ignore deliberately, where we deny but justify with other areas that we are praising and preaching. Lord, submerge us completely in all that you have for us. Every single aspect of your truth. And so, Lord, we even consider that, like Jehu send out a final call for those who are of you to be removed from the place and the people and the pursuits that they should not be indulging in. May this bible study serve as that same warning and loving admonition that we would escape and rejoice in your grace that you love us enough to speak into our lives even while we're in sin.

Lord, we honor you this evening. We wanna praise you for your word. Again, thank you for this bible study. Thank you for these precious people. We give you all the honor and all the glory and all the thanks.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Let's stand and let's worship him. Glorify him and give him a sacrifice of praise.

So I have a pastor friend who was led by the Lord to take that, that principle of some who put away their idols and others who should be destroying it. And he was a brand new believer, and he was in his room Lord impressed on his heart. You have stuff that you put away, but that you didn't destroy. And and he was preaching that out of the text that we were studying, but just the principle because you can find that at different places of God's word. And sure enough, he he knew exactly what the Holy Spirit was convicting me of.

And he opened his closet door and there was a box there filled with paraphernalia and and items and even ungodly music and all these different things. And he he, without hesitation, took it and he destroyed it. And he threw it all out, and he never looked back. And it could be that there's some people here tonight who need to do something similar. And it might not be physical objects.

It might be digital. It might be phone numbers. The Lord will convict you if you're looking to know exactly what he's asking of you. And perhaps it's true of some here who you're not experiencing the fullness of joy in Christ for this main reason. You're not fully given over to Christ.

You've planted your tent beyond the Jordan. You're not within the promised land. So maybe tonight for you, it's not particular things as a believer. It's you becoming a true believer. It's you saying I'm giving my complete heart over to you.

I'm not reserving anything. And that's where that's where you unlock all the blessings that are in Christ. He will fully give the moment you fully surrender. He's waiting for you. He's waiting for you.

Lord, we thank you again, that you can speak so loud and clear on a Friday night through a bible study because it's your word. And it's the supreme authority over our lives, and it is the supreme joy of our lives. Lord, go before us as we make our way home even in these small moments of fellowship. May that just be added blessing to our own hearts. We give you all the glory.

Bring us back together again if it is your will. In Jesus name we pray. Amen and amen. May the Lord be with you, bless you, empower you, reveal himself to you, and we'll see you next week, God willing. Take care now.

Bye bye.