Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20030706.htm

1 AND 2 KINGS: ENJOYING GOD'S BLESSINGS IN AN APOSTATE ERA
Part XV: Blessing By Taking God Seriously Though He May Graciously Punish In Stages
(1 Kings 15:25-31 with 14:7-16)
  1. Introduction
    1. The Bible reveals that obedience to God brings blessing where disobeying Him leads to His discipline.
    2. However, God at times punishes evil deeds in stages to allow a gracious room for repentance, so some of His discipline may not be experienced for years! That may lead one foolishly to assume God is slack in His oversight so that one need not take God's initial commands seriously!
    3. That assumption is a very foolish one to make, and the life of king Nadab proves it (as follows):
  2. Blessing By Taking God Seriously Though He May Graciously Punish In Stages.
    1. When Nadab, the son of Jeroboam came to the throne of Israel to rule in the Northern Kingdom, he chose to do evil, heeding the idolatrous worship instituted by his father, Jeroboam, 1 Kings 15:25-26; 12:26-30.
    2. Thus, in accord with the Mosaic Covenant, God allowed Baasha of the tribe of Issachar to plot against Nadab and kill him as he laid siege to Gibbethon of the Philistines, 1 Kings 15:27-28a; Deut. 28:15, 25.
    3. In fact, God let Baasha rule in Nadab's place (1 Kings 15:28b) and kill all in his line, 1 Kings 15:29a.
    4. This calamity fulfilled a prophecy made to Nadab's mother, the wife of Jeroboam when she went to ask God's prophet, Ahijah the Shilonite to heal her son, Abijah, 1 Kings 15:29b with 14:1-3.
    5. Well, that prophecy foretold God's judgment to come on Jeroboam AND his line in STAGES, something Nadab should have taken seriously enough so as to avoid God's wrath on himself and avoided idolatry!
      1. When Nadab's mother met with the prophet Ahijah, the prophet predicted her son, Abijah would die the instant that DAY that her feet entered the city where her son lay seriously ill, 1 Kings 14:12.
      2. Also, at some time subsequent to this more immediate event of Abijah's death, Ahijah predicted God would raise up a king over Israel who would destroy the line of Jeroboam, 1 Kings 14:14.
      3. In the final STAGE of this judgment, Ahijah predicted God would give the entire Northern Kingdom of Israel up for captivity because of its persistent involvement in the idolatrous worship Jeroboam had initiated in the land, 1 Kings 14:15-16.
      4. Now, all of these stages of judgment would come because of the idol worship Jeroboam had initiated to hinder his people from leaving his Northern Kingdom's rule to worship the Lord in Jerusalem:
        1. The prophet Ahijah prefaced his announcement of these stages of judgment by recalling Jeroboam had turned from God Who had given him ten tribes and had led these subjects into idolatry, 14:7-9.
        2. We know from 1 Kings 12:26-30 this sin was sparked by Jeroboam's unbelief in God's capacity to preserve his rule though his people were to travel south to worship God in Judah; this faithlessness caused Jeroboam to keep his subjects in Israel and away from the influence of Judah's kings.
        3. Accordingly, Ahijah had predicted God would destroy Jeroboam's line in its entirety, and in the process cause the bodies of his destroyed line to go unburied in disgrace, 1 Kings 14:10-11.
    6. The death of Abijah, Jeroboam's son that day would signal the START of God's judgment as a warning to the REST of Jeroboam's lineage as well as to the whole NATION to repent of Jeroboam's idolatry!
    7. However, when time elapsed between the death of his brother, Abijah and these other judgments, Nadab became complacent in not repenting of Jeroboam's idolatry, and even promoted it, 1 Kings 15:25-26.
    8. Accordingly, God judged Nadab and his seed in his lifetime, a judgment that served notice to the whole nation of Israel to repent or suffer similar destruction in TIME , 1 Kings 15:27-29, 30-31.
Lesson: (1) When God revealed His judgment on Jeroboam's seed to come in STAGES, such a format of discipline was NOT a sign that God was SLACK, but GRACIOUS in giving room for Jeroboam's sons THEMSELVES to REPENT, cf. 2 Peter 3:9! (2) Yet, as Nadab treated God's GRACE as SLACKNESS, he HIMSELF suffered the application of God's judgment in HIS era! (3) Nadab's fall in turn gave Israel an ADDED warning to repent or SURELY fall for its part in Jeroboam's idolatry!

Application: (1) What God commands us, He intends for us to OBEY or we will IN TIME yet SURELY suffer His unwavering punishment! (2) Let us never mistake God's GRACE for SLACKNESS, but (3) ALWAYS sense our need to be ACCOUNTABLE to Almighty God, cf. Luke 12:42-48!