Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20031012.htm

1 AND 2 KINGS: ENJOYING GOD'S BLESSINGS IN AN APOSTATE ERA
Part XXVII: Blessing From Countering Evil Unities To Avoid Our Own Apostasy
(1 Kings 20:42-43 with 21:1-29)
  1. Introduction
    1. God at times calls us to avoid unions with parties whom He clearly, repeatedly leads us to avoid, 2 Tim. 2:20-22; if we fail there, our intolerance of OTHER sins will wane, and we can only slip into apostasy.
    2. This fact is evident in king Ahab's life as we can see from 1 Kings 20:42 with 21:1-29:
  2. Blessing From Countering Evil Unities To Avoid Our Own Apostasy, 1 Kings 20:42-43; 21:1-29.
    1. When Ahab failed to follow God's leading to counter steadfastly Syria's king Ben-hadad so as to execute Ben-hadad when he came into Ahab's control, God judged Ahab to suffer death himself, 1 Kings 20:42.
    2. Being insensitive to the awfulness of his choice to befriend evil Ben-hadad, Ahab responded to the announcement of his judgment with a "sullen and vexed" attitude; he felt God's prophet had been far too severe with him, ["sullen and vexed" come from the words, sar and dza'ayf respectively], cf. 1 Kings 20:43 NASB; cf. Kittel, Biblia Hebraica, p. 551; B.D.B., Heb.-Engl. Lexicon of the O.T., p. 711 and 277.
    3. Ahab's insensitivity to the awfulness of violating God's will showed up AGAIN in a later situation involving his desire to gain Naboth's vineyard, cf. 1 Kings 21:1-4a:
      1. After returning home, Ahab tried to acquire a nearby vineyard to plant a vegetable garden, 1 Kings 21:1-2: he thus approached the land's owner, Naboth with a proposal to gain his land.
      2. Naboth knew he should not give up his lot, for Leviticus 23:23 taught the land was God's, so he could not sell it even to Ahab. Naboth thus refused Ahab's proposal, 1 Kings 21:3; Ryrie St. Bib., KJV, ftn..
      3. Ahab AGAIN expressed the same "sullen and vexed" response as he did when told of God's prophet of his coming judgment for failing to execute Ben-hadad; the same Hebrew words used to describe his attitude in 1 Kings 21:4a also appear in 1 Kings 20:43, cf. Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B.D.B.; Ibid., NASB.
      4. Thus, Ahab's insensitivity to the awfulness of his choice to befriend Ben-hadad against God's will spilled over to affect his insensitivity to the awfulness of OPENLY DISOBEYING the Mosaic Law!
    4. Well, Ahab's "sullen and vexed" attitude led to much deeper apostasy in his life, 1 Kings 21:4b-16:
      1. When Jezebel found Ahab depressed over being rejected by Naboth, she took matters into her own hands to have Naboth slandered and condemned to an unjust execution, 1 Kings 21:4b-13.
      2. When Naboth was executed, Jezebel told Ahab to take possession of Naboth's vineyard, 21:14-15.
      3. Not even wincing at the unjust means involved in obtaining Naboth's vineyard due to his developed insensitivity to EVIL, Ahab complied with her wishes and went out to view the vineyard, 21:16!
    5. Hence, God sent Elijah to pronounce EXTENSIVE judgment on Ahab and his household for this sin:
      1. God sent Elijah to meet Ahab in Naboth's vineyard to pronounce judgment on him, 1 Kings 21:17-19a.
      2. The judgment predicted was to be severe to match the sin involved: Elijah announced Ahab's blood would be licked up by the dogs where Naboth's innocent blood had likewise been so treated, 21:19b.
    6. Ahab's extensive INSENSITIVITY to his sin's awfulness is seen in his deteriorating attitude toward Elijah: where Ahab had once called Elijah a man who "troubled Israel" (1 Kings 18:17), Ahab now called Elijah "my enemy," 1 Kings 21:20a, signaling a more personal hostility toward God's prophet in proportion to the further he headed into full-blown apostasy!
    7. Elijah laid out the horrible degree of divine judgment that would befall Ahab for his sin, and the author of 1 Kings inserted his own clarification of the wickedness of Ahab that led to Ahab's judgment, 1 Kings 21:20a-24 with 25-26. God's punishment was so severe that Ahab humbled himself before the Lord, so God graciously delayed the application of this judgment until after Ahab's death, 1 Kings 21:27-29.
Lesson: Ahab's INITIAL insensitivity to the EVIL of his FALSE UNION with wicked Ben-hadad AFFECTED so as to DULL FURTHER his INTOLERANCE to EVIL in time so that he CAME to TOLERATE openly VICIOUS wickedness against the godly Naboth. This led to Ahab's further demise.

Application: If God reveals we must become INTOLERANT of an errant association, though WE might think such intolerance is EXCESSIVE, we must HEED His leading lest we become DULL in our INSENSITIVITY to WORSE sin, and incur God's greater discipline for GREATER sin LATER in life!