00:00 Evangelism Outreach This Weekend!

00:41 Ahab's Wars with Syria

05:54 Ahab's Covenant with Ben-Hadad

07:23 Naboth's Vineyard and Jezebel's Scheme

09:01 Elijah's Prophecy and Ahab's Repentance

12:29 Conclusion and Prayer

13:53 Closing Remarks and Podcast Information

Find out more about Compass Bible Church.

Learn more about our Bible Reading Plan.

Questions or Comments? Email us podcast@compassntx.org

Happy Saturday and welcome back to another Daily Bible podcast This

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Saturday, our church is gonna go

out to do some evangelism outreach.

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If you haven't signed up for that, I

suspect there's still an opportunity to do

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this if you're getting this early enough.

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We do it at 10 o'clock

central standard time.

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So if you're in Texas,

you go to our church.

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This is for you.

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We'd love for you to be part

of this if you're able to.

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And if you're not able to do it

today, there's still gonna be

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opportunity tomorrow, Sunday, the 29th.

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That will be after church, and we'd

love to have you be part of this.

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We'd love to put our name out there and

introduce ourselves to our neighbors.

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If you can help with that,

we'd love for you to do that.

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Please sign up@compassntx.org

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or just show up.

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I'm sure we could fit you in.

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Okay, today we're covering

one Kings 20 and 21.

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You remember yesterday we took a brief

pause on Ahab's ministry to see how

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Elijah interacted with him, see some of

the events that took place between them.

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Today we pick up with more of

Ahab's leadership in his kingdom.

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I.

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And in One Kings chapter 20, we start

off with Ahab's Wars with Syria.

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And so we have Ben Hayad.

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This has likely been Hayad the second

who as the aggressor, comes against

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Israel and makes certain demands.

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In fact, he says to Syria, your

silver and your gold are mine.

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Your best wives and

children are also mine.

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And so Ahab says, you got it.

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This is interesting.

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He just lays down and

says, okay I can do that.

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But when he gives in so quickly and

easily, Ben Hayad suggests, okay,

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maybe there's more here, more meat

on the bone that I could get off.

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And so he comes back and says, I,

here's what I said to you, but actually

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what I really want, verse six is, my

servants will come to you tomorrow

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about this time, and they shall search

your house and the houses of your

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servants and lay hands on whatever

pleases you, and they'll take it away.

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In other words, all that you hold

dear and precious beyond what I or

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originally said, I'm gonna take away.

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And so verse seven, Ahab recruits all the

elders of Israel and says, let me see.

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Let me show you what this guy

is saying and what he's doing.

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And then verse eight, they

agree, do not listen or consent.

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And so he sends messengers

back to Ben, Hey dad.

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And says I can't do what

you're asking me to do.

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And so then Ben, Hey, dad threatens

him and says, I'm gonna take you out.

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What's really funny is in verse 11,

Ben, Hey, dad gets a response from Ahab.

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That's this.

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Let him not, let not him who

straps on his armor boast

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himself as he who takes it off.

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In other words, don't count your

chickens before your eggs hatch.

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That's essentially what this is.

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And so finally they take their positions.

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Here's what's fascinating.

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God sets a prophet to Ahab and he

says, thus says the Lord, have you

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seen this great multitude of Syria?

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Notice God is still sending

prophets to the Northern Kingdom.

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How gracious is God?

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This is not Elijah.

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This is one of the prophets

and by one of the prophets.

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He says, I'm gonna give

this guy in near hand.

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And verse 13, you shall

know that I am the Lord.

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And here's what's fascinating.

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Ahab.

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Ahab believes him.

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He believes him enough to do

exactly what the prophet says.

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And so in verse 14, he says, by whom?

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In other words who should go first?

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And the Lord said, by the servants

of the governors of the districts.

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These are the young folks, young leaders.

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And then he says, okay, then

who will begin the battle?

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And then God tells him, you

are gonna begin the battle.

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You're gonna jump in.

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You're gonna be the first responder here.

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You're gonna initiate this.

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And so then he does this, and then he

also recruits 7,000 people in Israel.

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Then he confronts Ahab.

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And Ahab is unaware that they pose any

real threat because he's actually sloshed.

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He's not in his right mind.

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And so he sends the people that

God tells 'em to send the servants

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of the Governors, and they're

like, oh let's see who they are.

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Verse 18.

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He says, if they've come out

for peace, take them alive.

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Or if they come out for

war, take them alive.

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Either way, we're gonna keep 'em alive.

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We're gonna show some

grace and mercy here.

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They're unaware of the kind of

onslaught that they're about to

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receive, and God utilizes this to

surprise them and to strike them.

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In fact, it sends Ben, Hey dad,

hightailing it out of there.

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In verse 22, they have temporary reprieve,

and so the prophet comes near and says

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to him, look, strengthen yourself and

prepare for the spring because you're

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gonna do this again, and I'm gonna

teach you how to fight against them.

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They think that the reason why you

won is because God is in some way

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only limited to a certain region.

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I'm gonna show them that's not the case.

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In verse 26, that's exactly

what happens in the spring.

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Ben Hayad, musters, Assyrians, and

he comes back to fight against them.

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And God points out, look, you're two

little flocks, but because Assyrians

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have said the Lord is the God of

the hills, but not the God of the

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valleys, therefore, I will give all

this great multitude into your hand,

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and you shall know that I'm the Lord.

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And so God is showcasing the fact

that he is not limited by any earthly.

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Stricture.

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God is unlimited in his resources and

he doesn't need a certain landscape.

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He doesn't need certain weather.

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He doesn't need certain

monetary resources.

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God is infinitely able to do all that

he pleases to do, and so God does the

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work here and God soundly beats them.

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And in fact, just to showcase

that it was him, he throws a

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wall on top of 27,000 of them.

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I don't know how that works,

but that's what happened.

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God took out 27,000 of

their soldiers with a wall.

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Ben Hayad is on the run and he

gets counsel from the people there

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and says, how about you do this?

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You put on sackcloth and you

put a rope around your waist,

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you're gonna show mourning.

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It's a sign of repentance.

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And perhaps the kings of the north,

we've heard good things about them.

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They're merciful.

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Maybe he'll show you mercy.

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And so when King Ahab shows up,

they say this, your servant Ben

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Hayad says, please let me live.

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Here's what Ahab says.

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Does he still live?

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He is my brother.

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He's my friend, he's my family.

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And that was all the sign they needed.

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They said yes.

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Yes, Ben.

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Hey dad, your brother.

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And so they broker a deal and they

make a covenant, and he lets him go.

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Now, God is not pleased with this.

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God is not happy.

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This is not what God had intended.

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God wanted him to soundly defeat Ben Hayad

instead of making a covenant with him.

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This is basically what

Ahab has been doing.

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He's been making partnerships with people

that he should not be making partnerships

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with, including Jezebel herself.

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And so God's gonna call him out

for this and say, you should not

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be making these partnerships.

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Don't unequally yolk yourself.

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You've seen this before.

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In verse 35, a certain man of the

sons of the prophets, again, we

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don't know who this isn't Elijah.

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This is somebody, he comes to Ben

Hayad and he says, here's his story.

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I was, there was, I was supposed to

be guarding this guy, and he got away,

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and now I've got the death sentence.

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And verse 40 the King of Israel

said to him, so shall your judgment

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be, you yourself have decided.

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In other words, you've made

your bed, you got a lie in it.

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And then he.

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Hurry used to take off the bandage

from his eyes and reveals himself as

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one of the prophets, and he said to

the king, thus says the Lord, because

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you have let go out of your hand.

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The man whom I devoted to destruction.

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Therefore, your life for his

life, your people, for his people.

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In other words, you've condemned yourself.

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King Ahab, and you might remember

this strategy, was also played

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employed by Nathan the prophet.

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When he approaches King David, he

uses the same idea with the uam.

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David declares that man is guilty

and he says, you're the man, David.

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You have a very similar situation here.

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I guess this was a tactic.

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It's a.

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I don't know.

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It's a way of approaching

rebuke that isn't direct.

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It would be more of a,

an inductive rebuke.

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He gives him all the facts in order

to have him declare a verdict and then

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surprise the verdict is against yourself.

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I.

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In verse 43, we end this chapter

with Ahab being vexed and solen,

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and those are two words, vexed and

solen, that carry us into Chapter 21.

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And you see this in verse four,

Ahab went to his house, vexed and

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solen because Naboth, the jezreelite

would not sell a vineyard to Ahab.

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Now imagine having so many resources and

so little to do that, you're really bummed

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out that you can't get a vegetable garden.

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This is his place.

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He's upset about it.

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And so he walks around

mopey and disappointed.

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Okay, no big deal.

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However, he has a wife

that is very crafty.

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She's good at doing evil.

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And so in verse five, she says, why is

your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?

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And then he tells her the story like,

I'm trying to get this vineyard.

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He doesn't wanna sell it to

me despite all my efforts.

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He won't give it to me.

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And then she says, Hey, but don't you

govern Israel, aren't you the leader here?

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She says, you know what?

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You go take a nap.

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Go have a snack.

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I'll take care of this.

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Verse eight.

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She writes letters in Ahab's name.

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She finds two worthless men to oppose

him, and that's an important number.

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You couldn't have just

one person oppose you.

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You needed two.

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She's using the law, which said on

the basis of two witnesses, would

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someone be able to be put to death?

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There has to be more than one.

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So there's two witnesses.

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She gets two worthless men to oppose

him and to say he cursed God and King.

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And that's what they do.

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They trick him into this feast NEBA,

the Ezra Light that is, and they

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eventually kill him because these two

worthless men give testimony against him.

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So he's gone.

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Jezebel tells Jezebel tells Ahab,

Hey, by the way, the guy that

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was unwilling to sell that plot

of land to you, he's dead now.

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Why don't you just go take it?

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And that's what he does

In verse 17, enter Elijah.

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We haven't seen him for a few

chapters now, but Elijah's back.

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He goes down to meet

King Ahab and he says,

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have you killed and also taken

possession, thus says the Lord.

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In the place where dogs licked

up the blood of Naboth shall

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dogs lick your own blood?

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In other words, you're getting

exactly what you've given.

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Even though you weren't the one to do

this, it was actually his wife Jezebel.

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He was complicit.

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He was willing, and he was able to swallow

that in order to get what he wanted.

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And so Elijah calls him out and he

says, by God's decree, you're gonna die.

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And it's not gonna be a glorious death.

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It's gonna be a dishonorable

and shameful death.

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Now that's a big deal for

the ancient nearer mindset.

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An honorable death was a big and important

feature of their life and society.

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It would've been a huge problem for

them to die in any other way than a

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proper burial with proper dignity.

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And so God gives him a very

strong slap in the face.

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And Ahab says to Elijah,

have you found me?

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Oh my enemy.

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Remember the last time

Elijah and Ahab spoke?

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Ahab called him the Troubler of Israel.

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He delivers the bad news.

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I.

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And on top of that, he says, I'm

also going to obliterate your house.

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I'm gonna make your house like the house

of Jira Beum, who was totally cut off, and

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the House of Beha, who was also totally

cut off because of what you've done

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now, first Kings 21 ends with

a shocking turn of events

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after all that was done so far.

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And after all that Ahab has said and done.

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He repents,

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and I think this is the idea that

scripture's trying to highlight to

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us is in verse 25 and 26, it says,

there's none who do, who There was

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none who sold himself to do what was

evil in the side of the Lord, like

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Ahab, whom Jezebel, his wife incited.

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He acted very abominably in going after

idols as the Emirates had done, whom the

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Lord cast out before the people of Israel.

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And yet.

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After all that scripture now turns

the steering wheel so tightly

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that we get thrown across the door

and says, Ahab heard the words.

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He tore his clothes.

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He put on sackcloth and fasted.

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He fasted.

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He went about dejectedly, and

here's what's so remarkable.

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Verse 28, the word of the Lord came

to Elijah saying, have you seen how

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Ahab has humbled himself before me?

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Because he has humbled himself before me.

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I will not bring the disaster in his days.

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This is remarkable.

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This is jaw dropping.

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This is the God we serve.

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The moment we repent, the moment

we humble ourselves before him.

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He is a God who is willing

to forgive and to restore us.

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I just love this.

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I can't believe it.

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It still shocks me.

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I've read this account before, and yet I'm

still moved by it, and I hope you are too.

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The God that you serve is not a

merely vindictive God who just

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judges people left and right.

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He's a God who loves his people

and he loves, he is attracted to

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humility by way of repentance.

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Let me encourage you today.

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This is the way of the Christian

life a life of repentance, a life of

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turning from sin and turning to Christ

that ought characterize who we are.

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And in the same way that God shows Ahab

kindness, he shows us kindness too.

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He does so because we are

made righteous by Christ.

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We are grafted into the family of God

by his grace through faith, and I'd love

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for you to take advantage of that today.

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To pray to him, to seek him, to humble

yourself before him and to enjoy

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the relationship that he has worked

so hard to purchase on our behalf.

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And with that, why don't

you join me in some prayer?

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Lord, we are so thankful that you are

a God who is gracious and merciful.

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Exodus 34, 6, when you revealed

yourself to Moses declared this,

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you declared this about yourself.

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You are a God who's gracious

and merciful, slow to anger and

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abounding in steadfast love.

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And keeping steadfast love for

thousands, for giving iniquity

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and transgression and sin.

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We thank you so much, God,

that this is who you are.

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Help us to appreciate this

and to love this about you.

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And not just to know it.

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We do know a lot of facts about you

and that's good, but we want to feel.

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With affection, what

those facts mean for us.

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And so we asked Lord that we would love

who you are and that we would worship you

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for who you are, that we would draw near

to you to experience more of who you are

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so that we might not live lives like Ahab.

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We don't wanna live a life

of rebellion or wickedness.

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We don't wanna make a

train wreck of our lives.

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We wanna live faithfully.

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We wanna live faithfully this week,

Lord, we wanna live faithfully

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for the duration of our lives.

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We wanna end well.

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Ahab is promised not to give,

not to have a glorious death.

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And in fact, we'll soon see in the

next chapter that in fact comes true.

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We want to die honorably.

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Lord, we want to die with your

favor and with your pleasure.

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We want you to welcome us into

your dwellings and to say, well

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done, good and faithful servant.

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Please help us to live faithful

the Lord and the die the same.

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We ask all this in Jesus name.

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Amen.

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Thank you so much for joining me again.

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I'm grateful for this.

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I love doing this.

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It is such a pleasure for me.

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It's a work of love.

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It's a labor of love, and I hope that it

comes across in what we talk about and

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how we communicate through the scriptures.

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So thank you again for joining.

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It is an honor and I look forward to God

willing, another edition of the Daily

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Bible Podcast and I'll see you tomorrow.

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PJ: thanks for listening to another

edition of the Daily Bible Podcast.

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This is a ministry of Compass

Bible Church in north Texas.

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You can find out more information

about ourChurch@compassntx.org.

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We would love for you to leave a

review to rate to share this podcast

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on whatever platform you happen to

be listening on, and we will catch

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you against tomorrow for another

edition of the Daily Bible Podcast.