- In Great Britain, there is a service provided to the people of England called "The Alibi Agency." Ever heard of it? Well if you haven’t, let me read to you their purpose for existence.
"We offer a Service which can help to protect your loved ones from undue anxiety, and help to ensure the stability of a long term relationship and financial security, by offering secure and professional handling of "Alibi’s" for you."
If you still don’t get what they are all about. Maybe an example of how they operate will fill you in...
Say you want your wife to think you are away on a business trip, but there really is no business trip. The "Alibi Agency" will send a fake invitation to some corporate meeting. They will even provide a phone number of the hotel, or convention center where you are supposedly staying. So if your wife wants to get in touch with you while you are away on this supposed business trip. She would call this fake number, where a fake secretary will answer and let your wife know that you are away at the moment. The fake secretary will get in touch with you, and give you the message. Where you, in turn, would call your wife back as if you are at this fake business meeting in this fake hotel which has a fake receptionist who gave you the message. For that service it will cost you 50 pounds (remember this is in England).
If you want fake purchases with fake receipts to make it look like you were where this fake purchase was made... well the cost of that depends upon the fake gift that is purchased.
The company even assures its customers that a tailor made alibi can be created to accomodate your needs... again price depends upon the situation you create. And all of this is done with the sole purpose is "to provide total peace of mind for you and your family."
Do you get it now? The "Alibi Agency" is for the spouse who wants to cheat on their husband or wife. This makes it possible for them to do so. To have what does not belong to them. It allows a husband or a wife to act on their every lustful desires. Isn’t that the mark of our sociey? If you want something, then just go out and get it. Don’t worry about the consequences, don’t worry about the pain caused to others, to yourself. Just go out and get it. A new car, no problem... call 1-800-buy-a -car and they’ll hook you up over the phone with a brand new car and a loan with a low low interest of 20%! A new watch, no problem, just go to the store and rip it off while nobodies looking. An adulterous affair, no probem, just call the "Alibi Agency" and they’ll cover your every move.
- What a world! But listen, this is nothing unique to our day and age. Why we can go all the way back to 800 BC??? and read about a similar operation like the one in Great Britain. The story is found in I Kings 21. You can follow along while I tell you what happened in I Kings 21.
- It all started with King Ahab’s desire for something that did not belong to him. In this case, it was a piece of property, a parcel of land, an obviously luscious vineyard owned by a man named Naboth. You can just picture Ahab sitting on his porch looking out, seeing the beautiful piece of real estate and thinking... "wouldn’t it be great if I owned that vineyard." So King Ahab does the reasonable thing, he calls the owner of the Vineyard, Naboth and offers a deal. Give me your vineyard so that I can use it as a vegetable garden and I’ll give you a nicer vineyard or some money for it.
- Sounds like a reasonable offer, but there is a problem. This piece of land had been in Naboth’s family for generations and generations. It would not only have been illegal according to Jewish Law to give up the land belonging to your fathers, but you can imagine the emotional attachment Naboth had to this land. And furthermore, the land gave him his place in society, his prominence among the people. And so Naboth replies in verse 3, "The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers."
- Oh well, deals off. So what did Ahab do, what did the king of Israel, the most powerful man in the land (notice I didn’t say the most powerful person in the land! We’ll soon see who that is!). What does King Ahab do? He went home, sullen and angry and he lay on his bed sulking and refusing to eat. All because he didn’t get his little vegetable garden.
- So in walks Jezebel, the wife, the one who had threatened Elijah’s life. The one who was really calling the shots. She sees her husband pouting, and she asks, "Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?" And Ahab explains what happened, how he had been rejected. And Jezebel replies, in my own words... "What’s a matter with you, you big wuss? Are you or are you not the King, don’t you rule this land? Aren’t you in control? Just stay here, and don’t worry, let me show you how it’s done... I’ll get you the land!"
- And listen to how she accomplished this feat of getting Ahab the vineyard. vss 8-16
- Such evil and disturbing behavior on the part of Ahab and Jezebel all over a vegetable garden. They murdered, and stole and used the power to get what did not belong to them. I am sure this is not the first time Ahab and Jezebel acted in such a vile manner, but here we catch a glimpse of what these two were capable of, what lengths they would go to satisfy their evil desires. And it is clear, that both of them were completely indifferent to the pain and suffering their sin brought to other people, and even to themselves. They didn’t even see the destruction they were putting on themselves.
A pig ate his fill of acorns under an oak tree and then started to root around the tree. A crow remarked, "You should not do this. If you lay bare the roots, the tree will wither and die." "Let it die," said the pig. "Who cares as long as there are acorns?"
- Well, Ahab and Jezebel are about to face the consequences of their sin. They will be confronted with the fruit of their actions. The Lord came to Elijah and told him what Ahab and Jezebel had done. How they had murdered, and taken what did not belong to them. And Elijah is commanded by the Lord to deliver the punishment for their crime, for their sin. Listen to the verdict handed down by God... vss 18-24
- You see just as Ahab and Jezebel had destroyed the family of Naboth, so their family would be destroyed. Just like the wicked kings before them, Jeroboam and Baasha, now Ahab and his entire family would eventually be wiped off the face of the earth. No longer existing, no longer ruling. And the dogs that licked up Naboth’s blood would lick up Ahab’s blood and would lick up Jezebel’s blood. And that prediction would come true.
- First for Ahab in 22:38. After the king was wounded by an arrow while fighting against the foreign nation of Aram, he eventually died. But it was a slow death, and his blood filled the chariot he had been using. After they buried, they took his chariot that was stained with his blood and they washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria and the very dogs who licked up Naboth’s blood licked up Ahab’s.
- Then it was Jezebel’s turn in 2 Kings 9:36. Eventually a man named Jehu would become king of Israel. And Jehu, after he was anointed as king was ordered by the prophet of God to destroy the house of Ahab and Jezebel. And so Jehu one at a time kills all of Ahab’s family and anyone claiming allegiance to Ahab. Until eventually he arrives in Jezreel where Jezebel is staying. When Jezebel hears of Jehu’s arrival she put on her makeup and from the top story of the castle she looked down at Jehu and his men. And when Jehu saw her, he called out, "Who is on my side? Who?" And their were two or three eunuchs who claimed allegiance to Jehu and not Jezebel. So Jehu said to them, "Throw her down!" And the bible says in 2 Kings 9:33... "So they threw her down and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot." And they left her there on the ground. Some time later, they went to get her and bury her, but all they found was her skull, her feet, and her hands. The rest was eaten by the very dogs that licked up Naboth’s blood, just as the Lord had predicted would happen.
- Gruesome isn’t it! And perhaps the question has entered your mind... why in the world are you telling us about this? Why do we need to know the gory details of how Ahab and Jezebel died? Why is that so important? The reason why is because it teaches us something about God. We learn that the Lord is a just God. He hates sin, he abhors evil, he can not, and will not stand for it.
- The Lord had watched Ahab and Jezebel, had seen their evil ways, and enough was enough. It was the end of the line for them and for their entire family. And when God says something will happen, then that is exactly what will happen. When God says that all sin must be punished then all sin will be punished. When God says their is a consequence for our actions then their will be a consequence for our actions. When God promises judgment then their will be judgement. For Ahab and Jezebel and their entire family, God did exactly what he said he was going to do. Down to the very last detail.
- We today live in a world where consequences for our actions, and repurcusions for our choices is a forgotten thing of the past. A man and woman choose to have sex outside of a marriage relationship and get pregnant, well instead of living up to the consequences of that sin, they would rather abort the child and pretend it never happened. A teenager who begins flunking in school would rather blame everything else... blame the teacher, blame the school, blame their parents, instead of placing the blame where it belongs, on themselves for not studying enough. A husband and wife who begin fighting and quarreling with each other, instead of owning up to their own mistakes, instead of admitting their own weaknesses, play the never ending game of blaming the other person. It’s always the other persons fault.
- And trust me, if it feels like I am pointing fingers at everybody else. I most certainly am not, and neither should you. If you are thinking right now that this is a sermon other people need to hear. If your thinking of other people who need this message right now, then you are thinking the wrong things. Because nobody needs to be reminded of this more than me. And I would guess that you are in just as much need as I am. We all need to be reminded that their are consequences for our sin. There is a price to pay for our iniquities, for our mistakes. Nobody is perfect, and nobody is free from the results of our imperfections.
- Romans 6:23... "For the wages of sin is death"
- Hebrews 10:26-27... "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God."
- I John 3:4-6... "Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin."
- Bottom line. There is a price that must be paid for our sin. Somebody must pay. God, because he is just, can not leave our sin unpunished. Just like we saw with Ahab and Jezebel who paid a terrible price for their sin, who suffered death as a result of what they did. Likewise, our sin must be punished.
- But here is the good news. Some one has taken our place. The punishment that we deserve for our sin. The consequence of our sin, of our mistakes, has already been paid in full. The death we deserved has already happened. It happened like this...
"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Cor 5:21
God, because he loved you and me so much, sent his one and only son to live a perfect life. And on the cross, Jesus took all of your sin and paid the price that we deserved. He died in our place, he suffered in our place. He died so that we would not have to. The punishment that we deserve, he took on himself.
"He died for us so that, we may live together with him." I Thes 5:10
Chief of sinners though I be
Jesus shed His blood for me
Died that I might live on high
Lives that I may never die.
William McComb
