Judgement At Jezreel

JUDGMENT AT JEZREEL

I KINGS 21:1-4

Int. In the land of Israel lies a broad valley, that separates the mountains of Galilee, to the north from those of Samaria to the south. It has been given many names over the

Years.

1. Valley of Esdraelon

2. Valley of Jezreel

3. Valley of Armageddon

4. Valley of Megido

It has been the place of many battles

1. In Judges 4 Barak

2. In judges 7 Gideon

3. There Saul visited the Witch of Endor, and the died 1 Sam. ch. 28, 31

4. King Josiah was killed here by Pharoah-Necho, 2 Ki. 23:29

5. A battle with the Turks was fought in 1917

6. The Israeli army defeated the Iraqi troops in 1948

7. It will be be the place of the Battle of Armageddon Rev: 16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

a. One story that occurred here is the focus of our attention today

b. It is the story of Naboth the Jezreelite and wicked Ahab and Jezebel.

c. Note with me 4 things: The King and he FarmerThe King, the Queen

the King and the Prophet, the King, the Queen and God

I. THE KING AND THE FARMER

1. Almost all had bowed to Baal 1 Ki. 19:18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

2. Naboth owned a parcel of ground, next door to Ahab’s house 1 ki. 21:1-3

3. He was faithful in tending and cultivating the soil

4. Ahab wanted to buy Naboth’s vineyard, however he refused to sell to him.Lev.25:23 tells us why. The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me. Num. 36:7 So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 1 Sam 15:22 22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

5. He had spiritual stubborness 1 Ki. 21:4 And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.

6. Big Bad Ahab - Like a spoiled child

II. THE KING AND THE QUEEN.

1. A weak man dominered by a strong woman

2. The whole matter may have been resolved had Jezebel left it alone.

3. She is a cunning instrument in the hand of Satan. Who if Jezebel? The answer is found in 1 Ki. 16:31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him

a. In coming to the palace, she brings Baal worship with her.

b. She had persecuted the true prophets of God. 1Ki. 18:4,13 4 For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water. 13 13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’S prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

c. She even buckled the knees of Elijah 1 Ki. 19:4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. She is seen as the personification of evil An evil woman in the Church of Thiatiira is called Jezebel.Rev. 2:20-23

20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great to your works.