The last couple of weeks we’ve been looking at a couple of God’s Agents;
· First, we looked at Agent Elijah and the Showdown on Mount Carmel. We considered the question, “Does it Really Matter What I Believe?” We learned that the difference between Jehovah and Baal was a world of difference; not just a difference in name. Ahab learned that it totally matters what you believe.
· Last Sunday we looked at Agent Micaiah and the Itching Ears. We considered the question, “Does it Really Matter Who I Listen To?” Ahab had been warned to be careful who he listens to. He decided to ignore the prophet of the Lord and instead listened to the people who told him what he wanted to hear. In the end, he was killed.
This morning we’re going to look at another agent, agent Jehu.
· Jehu was the son of Jehoshaphat, who we learned last week was the one who had encouraged Ahab not to go to war. Now Jehu is being anointed King in Jehoshaphat’s place.
· What’s really interesting, or troubling, depending on how you look at it, was the task that Jehu was given once he was anointed king!
· We pick up the story in 2 Kings 9:6-10.
· "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ’I anoint you king over the Lord’s people Israel. You are to destroy the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the Lord’s servants shed by Jezebel. The whole house of Ahab will perish. I will cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel--slave or free. I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah. As for Jezebel, dogs will devour her on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and no one will bury her.’ " Then he opened the door and ran. 2 Kings 9:6-10
So, soon after Jehu had been anointed king of Israel, he proceeded to do what he was told.
· First he went to deal with Ahab’s wife, Jezebel.
· Now, there are some things in the Bible I can’t figure out. Verse 31 says that when Jezebel heard Jehu was coming, “she painted her eyes, arranged her hair and looked out a window.”
· I’m not sure if she was trying to impress Jehu or prepare for her own funeral.
· When Jehu saw her in the window he ordered that she be thrown out from the window… and it appears that there were people quite willing to help him out so down she went.
· I’m not sure how far she fell, but she died as a result of that fall and was trampled by horses.
· Well, Jehu must have been a union man because when it was time to eat and drink he stopped what he was doing and went in for dinner. After dinner he wanted to have the body buried, but alas, he wasn’t the only one who had stopped for dinner. Wild dogs had literally eaten Jezebel so that all that remained was her skull, hands and feet. (this was something that had been prophesied by Elijah).
But Jezebel was only one problem. There was still the rest of Ahab’s family.
· Jehu sent a message to the families that were raising the king’s sons.
· They could choose a leader and fight for the old royal family. Or they could kill the 70 sons of Ahab and demonstrate loyalty to Jehu.
· Frightened, the leading men of the kingdom killed Ahab’s sons.
But that wasn’t enough. Jehu still wasn’t through. There were still all the prophets of Baal that Jezebel had brought into Israel.
· Here is where Jehu got a little deceptive.
· Jehu announced his commitment to Baal, and called all Baal worshipers and priests to come to Baal’s temple for a great celebration, all of them appeared.
· Jehu then had every one of them killed, and had the temple of Baal burned to the ground.
Thus the prophesies against Ahab were fulfilled.
· The one who had done more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any that had gone before him was dead. So was his wife, who had ordered the slaughter of many of God’s people, and all his family, along with all those who were committed to Baal. What a sad family legacy. Not exactly a bedtime story.
You might think that this story is a little out of place in the Bible. With so much talk about love, and peace, and forgiveness, you wonder if God didn’t go a little too far. Wasn’t it enough for Ahab to be killed?
· OK, maybe we can understand why Jezebel was killed. But, why all of Ahab’s family?
· And what about all those priests and prophets of Baal? Weren’t some of them innocently mistaken?
· What happened to the easy-going, gentle God who is all forgiving and ever loving, slow to get angry and quick to forgive? Why was God so determined to have all of Ahab’s family wiped out?
To start with, Ahab was a king who had done more evil in the eyes of the Lord than all those who had gone before him. That’s not a very good position to start with. [LESSON: sin effects those around you]
· Furthermore, Ahab had married Jezebel – a woman who came from a country were people worshipped Baal and was determined to bring Baal worship into Israel. It became her goal to kill the prophets of God and bring in hundreds of prophets of Baal.
· It was in response to this infiltrating of Baal worship that God called Jehu to do something about it.
The question we need to ask ourselves is this: Does it Really Matter if I Accommodate Sin in My Life?
If you are like most people, you’re probably thinking that as long as you do reasonably well in life; your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds, you’ll be all right. You don’t murder – even though you might feel like it sometimes. You don’t steal – at least nothing too serious – you might copy someone’s music collection but you don’t take something out of the store. You don’t lie. Unless of course, it’s a white lie, you know, just to make someone feel better, I mean you’re doing it for them. You don’t commit adultery; at least not literally and physically. You might have some wayward thought and you might get a little carried away on the internet, you might have a sexual encounter here and there… but you figure you’re not hurting anyone.
· And slowly but surely, we allow sin to come into our lives.
· We stretch the truth. We develop a hate towards someone.
· We take what really doesn’t belong to us.
· We tolerate lust and sexual sin telling ourselves it is only natural.
We convince ourselves that a little bit of sin is tolerable. That it doesn’t really matter if there is a little bit of sin because nobody is perfect and we figure that God’s grace and mercy will cause him to overlook our sin.
· Or if we have more serious issues with sin, we figure that we still have time… that we’ll deal with it a little later in life.
And the reality we need to come face to face with today is this… Yes, it really does matter if I accommodate sin in my life.
· The Bible says, "…You may be sure that your sin will find you out”. Numbers 32:23
That’s the truth that applies to us today. There will come a time when the wages of sin will be paid.
· There will come a time when grace and mercy will run out.
God has something far greater for you. It is called holiness. Holiness isn’t about perfect conduct; it’s about a pure heart – a heart that is not interested in accommodating sin. That’s really what we’re talking about.
· Does it really matter if we accommodate sin? According to God’s word; absolutely.
· “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9
· God has a wonderful plan for your life. That plan is thwarted when you accommodate sin.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians;
· “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation”. 2 Cor. 6:2
· In other words, don’t put off to tomorrow what God wants you to do today. Tomorrow may not come.
As we close our service this morning, let me ask you a very personal question. You don’t need to give me your answer. Just talk to God about it. Let Him talk to you. The question is this:
· Is there an area of your life where you are accommodating sin?
· Will you ask the Lord to help you surrender that sin unto him?
· Will you let the Lord take the burden, the weight, of your sin off your shoulders?
· This is the kind of work that God specializes in – changing lives.
· I want you to know today – He can change your life.
