God Bless America: I Kings
Slide show from Pat on God Bless America.
Video Clip from the Patriot- “I failed because I did nothing!”
Theme: The failure of earthly Kings and the successful reign of the Divine King.
Key Verses: I Kings 9:4,5 4 "As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, `You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’
Key Words: King, evil (21x), upright, right, righteous
Illustration: Quote: Independence
(Our) striving after wind is motivated by a sinister desire to be independent of God, free from the frightening vulnerability of His watch-care. If we really do leave the securing of the universe up to Him, there is no telling what He might pull. When God calls the shots, people turn into prophets, mountains get cast into the sea, and dead men come back to life. Better we should be in control and have some idea of what is coming next. We will keep things on an even keel we so desire. I can’t help but feel that the Second Coming itself would be an inconvenience for many of us.
--James Sennet in "The Wittenburg Door"
(Aug./Sept. 1986), Christianity Today - Vol. 33, #6
Introduction:
The reality of I Kings’ message is clear. Mankind fails without God, Nations fail without God, leaders fail without God. Yet mankind always thinks they can do better without God!
Morgan states, "This book has something to say to us about human government and about Divine government, which is well for us to hear and heed. Concerning human government, it declares one thing. If God be counted out, every method ends in disaster. . . God bears perpetual witness to truth in the midst of falsehood and always causes some measure of light to shine in the midst of darkness. He keeps alive in the consciousness of at least a remnant the fact of Himself and His government." (187-189)
The eternal message of I Kings is that those who follow God and seek His divine direction are blessed. But when a nation and a King believe they do not need God to lead and guide their nation, they end up in disaster.
Our progressive look at the Old Testament reminds us that back in I Samuel, 8:7, that Israel rejected God as their King. Note "And the Lord told him: ’Listen’ to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king."
The problem in I Kings becomes clear. We see a nation who has rejected Jehovah as their king and they have decided that they have the wisdom and knowledge within themselves to govern themselves.
T.S. A nation that asserts that it does not want God to reign over it but believes it’s earthly leaders can do a better job, is headed for destruction.
I. THE FAILURE OF ALL EARTHLY KINGDOMS THAT LEAVE OUT GOD.
A. Solomon’s Failure (I Kings 11: 6-13)
So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done. 7On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.9The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’S command. 11So the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. 12Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”
1. Rejection of God brings disaster to an earthly king and earthly kingdom.
a. Morgan’s quote: "In order to discover the permanent values of this book, we must keep before the mind two thrones - that on earth with its succession of kings, and that in the heavens with its one King. In looking at the former, we see the failing government of men, and in looking at the latter, we see the unfailing government of God." (77)
b. Solomon had been warned by many that if he rejected God he would pay the price. Note the warnings:
1). From his father David’s death bed I Kings 2:2-4
2“I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, show yourself a man, 3and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go, 4and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’
2). From God I Kings 3:13,14
3Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”
3). From his own knowledge and teachings about God I Kings 8:22-26, 61.
22Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23and said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today. 25“Now LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me as you have done.’ 26And now, O God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true.
61But your hearts must be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”
4). From the Lord a second time I Kings 9:1-9
The Holy Bible, New International Version
1 Kings 9:1 (NIV)
1When Solomon had finished building the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do,
1 Kings 9:2 (NIV)
2the LORD appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.
1 Kings 9:3 (NIV)
3The LORD said to him:
“I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
1 Kings 9:4 (NIV)
4“As for you, if you walk before me in
integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws,
1 Kings 9:5 (NIV)
5I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’
1 Kings 9:6 (NIV)
6“But if you£ or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you£ and go off to serve other gods and worship them,
1 Kings 9:7 (NIV)
7then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.
1 Kings 9:8 (NIV)
8And though this temple is now imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
1 Kings 9:9 (NIV)
9People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the LORD brought all this disaster on them.’”
2. I Kings starts out by showing God’s blessings of obedience and as long as Solomon followed God, he was on the road of blessing. He gained wisdom, knowledge, and material wealth for the kingdom and himself.
a. I Kings 10:14, 15
The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents, not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the land.
1). THE WEIGHT OF THIS GOLD WOULD BE 25 TONS
b. I Kings 10:23-29
23King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. 24The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. 25Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules. 26Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,£ which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 27The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. 28Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt£ and from Kue£—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue. 29They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels£ of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.£ They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.
3. Solomon started out strong but ended in failure.
I Kings now turns from the blessings of obedience to tracing the destruction apostasy has on a kingdom.
a. Watch out for the "Howevers".
1). I Kings 7:1 1It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace.
2). I Kings 11: 1-13
The Holy Bible, New International Version
1 Kings 11:1 (NIV)
1King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.
1 Kings 11:2 (NIV)
2They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.
1 Kings 11:3 (NIV)
3He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.
1 Kings 11:4 (NIV)
4As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
1 Kings 11:5 (NIV)
5He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech£ the detestable god of the Ammonites.
1 Kings 11:6 (NIV)
6So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.
1 Kings 11:7 (NIV)
7On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites.
1 Kings 11:8 (NIV)
8He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.
1 Kings 11:9 (NIV)
9The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.
1 Kings 11:10 (NIV)
10Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’S command.
1 Kings 11:11 (NIV)
11So the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.
1 Kings 11:12 (NIV)
12Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
1 Kings 11:13 (NIV)
13Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”
c. Solomon’s wives caused him to sin when he himself knew the consequence.
d. Solomon ALSO fell prey to all the
luxurious trappings of power:
1). He introduced the system to forced
labor gangs to furnish manpower for his
ambitious building programs.
2). To finance all his programs, building programs, and luxurious living
he taxed his subjects so oppressively
that the nation simmered with revolt
during his last days.
3). According to Barker "Solomon was a shrewd, overbearing, worldly, comfort
loving dictator (333).
B. Rehoboam’s failure (I Kings 12)
The Holy Bible, New International Version
1 Kings 12:1 (NIV)
1Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king.
1 Kings 12:2 (NIV)
2When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from£ Egypt.
1 Kings 12:3 (NIV)
3So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him:
1 Kings 12:4 (NIV)
4“Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”
1 Kings 12:5 (NIV)
5Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.
1 Kings 12:6 (NIV)
6Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.
1 Kings 12:7 (NIV)
7They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”
1 Kings 12:8 (NIV)
8But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.
1 Kings 12:9 (NIV)
9He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”
1 Kings 12:10 (NIV)
10The young men who had grown up with him replied, “Tell these people who have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter’—tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.
1 Kings 12:11 (NIV)
11My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’”
1 Kings 12:12 (NIV)
12Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.”
1 Kings 12:13 (NIV)
13The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders,
1. He decided to be autocratic with the people of Israel and he rejected the advice of the elders.
2. There are those who say that he observed his fathers oppressive way to much and learned that heavy handedness is how you deal with people.
3. His folly is unimaginable but sin makes fools of its victim.
4. He continued in forcing his father Solomon’s plans but decided to be even tougher than his father.
a. Use the illustration of your dad’s
management style and yours.
1). Illustration of man at Giant Eagle
2). Dad’s life threatened and attempted murder.
3). Compare what you know today!
5. He split the kingdom and he drove the 10 tribes to leave and brought the kingdom down in 17 years.
a. He did evil in God’s eye’s and lost the
temple treasury to the Egyptian king Shisak.
6. His method of dictatorship - one person having absolute power, lead to rebellion.
a. Leadership is being a servant look at Jesus example.
C. Jeroboam - He was elected to office by a democratic vote but he sinned by building two shrines and creating two bull idols. He became fearful he would lose his kingdom so he fell into rebellion toward God.
1. 1st king of the ten Northern tribes. He was an
Ephraimite. Jeroboam at the urging of the prophet
Ahijah tried to organize a revolt against Solomon but it fizzled and he fled to Egypt.
a. He became the voice of the discontented masses who were tired of heavy taxes and forced labor gangs. When Rehoboam became king he and the 10 tribes tried to reason with him but to no avail. The 10 tibes then split off from Judah and made by popular vote Jeroboam their king.
2. He gave the people what they wanted, but did not listen to God’s commands or Word.
3. Morgan notes: "Rehoboam was an autocrat who believed that the people should trust princes to make all the decisions, whereas Jeroboam believed princes listen to what the multitude wants." (180) Problem: neither one trusted in Jehovah and they both failed miserably.
4. Society: Pluralism (Quotation)
Liberal democracy in a pluralistic society is an endless but fruitless search for the lowest common denominator that can serve as society’s moral bond. The more pluralistic the society, however, the more difficult it is to find a common denominator. Let us try to explain the problem crudely and over simply, not entirely inaccurately. We did away with state churches in this country so that all the Protestants could feel at home in it. We de-Protestantized the country so that Catholics, too, could feel at home in it. We have de-Christianized the country to make Jews feel welcome, and then de-religionized it so that atheists and agnostics may feel equally welcome. Now we are demoralizing the country so that deviants from accepted moral norms will not feel excluded. The lowest common denominator, we have discovered is like the horizon, always approached but never reached.
--Francis Canavan S.J., in "Catholic Eye" (Nov. 18, 1987). Christianity today - Vo. 32, #3.
5. Democracy is no guarantee of success. It is living for God and serving Him. Is America?
Morality: Moral Erosion in America (Statistics)
Moral erosion continues in America, according to James Patterson and Peter Kim. They report that 74 percent of Americans will steal from those who won’t miss it, and 64 percent will lie for convenience as long as no one is hurt. Most Americans (93 percent) say they alone decide moral issues, basing their decisions on their own experience or whims. Eighty-four percent say they would break the rules of their own religion. And 81 percent have violated a law they felt to be inappro priate. Only 30 percent say they would be willing to die for their religious beliefs or for God.
Reported in "The Day America Told the Truth" (Prentice Hall, 1991), Leadership - Vol. 12, #4
*** In 1788 Edward Gibbon completed his work The Decline and of The Roman Empire, and he listed the five reasons why this empire fell:
1. The rapid increase of divorce; the undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society.
2. Increasingly higher taxes and the spending of public money for free bread and circuses for the populace.
3. The mad craze for pleasure ; sports becoming every year more exciting and more brutal.
4. The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within, the decadence of the people.
5. The decay of religion-faith fading into mere form-losing touch with life and becoming impotent to guide the people.
(Peale, 112, In God We Trust)
6. Freedom is not free in accordance to the teaching of 1st Kings.
Responsibility: Freedom Is Not Free (Quotation)
Freedom is not free. If only Christians were as quick to act upon their responsibilities as they are quick to assert freedom. The tortures and agonies through which this generation is only the latest to go, represent the inevitable judgment upon people and nations that refuse to live by the law of love. I think Christians should stop blaming God for being absent when they themselves are not present. They should stop blaming God for all the ills of the world as if humanity had really been endlessly laboring to cure them.
-- William Sloane Coffin, "The Good News About the Broken-hearted Christian Blues," in U.S. Catholic (Aug. 1986). Christianity Today - Vol. 31, #4
* Peggy Germain states, “It is no coincidence that the last four letters in American spell, ‘I can.’” And I add we are One nation under God to all who believe. Why can It be done here and in no other nation? Because we did do it with God’s help and direction.
1. The world takes a belief about Americans that they can do anything! This is why so many want to come and live here!
2. But the reason we have been the heroes of the world up till recently has been our relationship to and with God.
3. But this step is quickly eroding in our society and that’s why we do not discover many genuine heroes today.
4. But Scripture says in II Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
7. He did evil in God’s eyes by erecting the two shrines and two calves . The cults undermined the Temple worship of God and the morals laid down by God. This act of betrayal to God earned him the title "Who made Israel to sin".
C. Other Kings’ failure
1. Judah-
a. Abijah he lasted three years and did evil and died.
b. Asa, and Jehoshapat - these kings used the method of reigning with God and were not considered evil. They ruled by Policy method means the use of political wit and political cunning management technique to lead a nation.
* Asa did however showed a lack of trust in the
Lord by buying protection from the Syrian king in
I Kings 15:16-22. It is noted in other references
that his diseased feet were a result of this sin.
* Jehoshaphat shortcoming was allegiance with the
king of Israel Ahab and letting his son marry
Athaliah, daughter of Jezebel and Ahab. Athaliah
later sent Judah on a downward spiral of degradation.
3. Israel’s Kings - Were more terrible in that these kings cared nothing for the welfare of the kingdom, and esteemed the throne only as a prize for personal possession.
a. There was corruption, murder, pay offs, etc. These corrupt Kings lead Israel deeper into evil.
4. It did not matter what form of government man devised. Any government style that leaves God out of the picture will fall, and fail, causing mass destruction.
II. THE SUCCESSFUL REIGN OF THE DIVINE KING.
A. I Kings teaches us that God is in control of history, even while evil is being done by nations leaders and have rejected His kingdom. (I Kings 22:19).
19Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left.
1. The Prophets, and Men of God.
a. I Kings 13 "Man of God."
The Holy Bible, New International Version
1 Kings 13:1 (NIV)
1By the word of the LORD a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering.
1 Kings 13:2 (NIV)
2He cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD: “O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’”
1 Kings 13:3 (NIV)
3That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the LORD has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”
1 Kings 13:4 (NIV)
4When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back.
1 Kings 13:5 (NIV)
5Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the LORD.
1 Kings 13:6 (NIV)
6Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede with the LORD your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before.
1 Kings 13:7 (NIV)
7The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift.”
1 Kings 13:8 (NIV)
8But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here.
1 Kings 13:9 (NIV)
9For I was commanded by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’”
1 Kings 13:10 (NIV)
10So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.
1 Kings 13:11 (NIV)
11Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king.
1 Kings 13:12 (NIV)
12Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken.
1 Kings 13:13 (NIV)
13So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it
1 Kings 13:14 (NIV)
14and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
“I am,” he replied.
1 Kings 13:15 (NIV)
15So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat.”
1 Kings 13:16 (NIV)
16The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place.
1 Kings 13:17 (NIV)
17I have been told by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’”
1 Kings 13:18 (NIV)
18The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the LORD: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (But he was lying to him.)
1 Kings 13:19 (NIV)
19So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.
1 Kings 13:20 (NIV)
20While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the old prophet who had brought him back.
1 Kings 13:21 (NIV)
21He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the LORD says: ‘You have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you.
1 Kings 13:22 (NIV)
22You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.’”
1 Kings 13:23 (NIV)
23When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him.
1 Kings 13:24 (NIV)
24As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was thrown down on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it.
1 Kings 13:25 (NIV)
25Some people who passed by saw the body thrown down there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived.
1 Kings 13:26 (NIV)
26When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who defied the word of the LORD. The LORD has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the LORD had warned him.”
1 Kings 13:27 (NIV)
27The prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they did so.
1 Kings 13:28 (NIV)
28Then he went out and found the body thrown down on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey.
1 Kings 13:29 (NIV)
29So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him.
1 Kings 13:30 (NIV)
30Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him and said, “Oh, my brother!”
1 Kings 13:31 (NIV)
31After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones.
1 Kings 13:32 (NIV)
32For the message he declared by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true.”
1 Kings 13:33 (NIV)
33Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places.
1 Kings 13:34 (NIV)
34This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.
b. I Kings 17 "Elijah"
The Holy Bible, New International Version
1 Kings 17:1 (NIV)
1Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe£ in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”
1 Kings 17:2 (NIV)
2Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah:
1 Kings 17:3 (NIV)
3“Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.
1 Kings 17:4 (NIV)
4You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there.”
1 Kings 17:5 (NIV)
5So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there.
1 Kings 17:6 (NIV)
6The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
1 Kings 17:7 (NIV)
7Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
1 Kings 17:8 (NIV)
8Then the word of the LORD came to him:
1 Kings 17:9 (NIV)
9“Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.”
1 Kings 17:10 (NIV)
10So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?”
1 Kings 17:11 (NIV)
11As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
1 Kings 17:12 (NIV)
12“As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
1 Kings 17:13 (NIV)
13Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.
1 Kings 17:14 (NIV)
14For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.’”
1 Kings 17:15 (NIV)
15She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family.
1 Kings 17:16 (NIV)
16For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.
1 Kings 17:17 (NIV)
17Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing.
1 Kings 17:18 (NIV)
18She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
1 Kings 17:19 (NIV)
19“Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed.
1 Kings 17:20 (NIV)
20Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?”
1 Kings 17:21 (NIV)
21Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”
1 Kings 17:22 (NIV)
22The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.
1 Kings 17:23 (NIV)
23Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”
1 Kings 17:24 (NIV)
24Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.”
2. The Prophets of God who surface in Kings, bear testimony of the throne of the evil kings. Jehovah used His people to declare Himself to the people.
B. God’s throne was secure and is secure. He is able to reign over the chaos and demise of the earthly kings’ reigns. He will push through and continue bringing order out of chaos to show, "He is God".
C. We need to be able to open our eyes and see His kingdom and reign.
Kingdom of God (Illustration)
While serving as a missionary in Laos, I discovered an illustration of the kingdom of God. Before the colonialists imposed national boundaries, the kings of Laos and Vietnam reached an agreement on taxation in the border areas. Those who ate short-grain rice, built their houses on stilts, and decorated them with Indian-style serpents were considered Laotians. On the other hand, those who ate long-grain rice, built their houses on the ground and decorated them with Chinese-style dragons, were considered Vietnamese. The exact location of a person’s home was not what determined his or her nationality. Instead, each person belonged to the kingdom whose cultural values he or she exhibited. So it is with us: we live in the world, but as part of God’s kingdom, we are to live according to His kingdom’s standards and values.
-- John Hoss-Yoder in Leadership - Vol 7,#3
Conclusion:
Remember, God is able to take things that are bad and turn them around for good.
Blessing: Good From Bad (Illustration)
I once read about farmers in southern Alabama who were accustomed to planting one crop every year -- cotton. They would plow as much ground as they could and plant their crop. Year after year they lived by cotton. Then one year the dreaded boll weevil devastated the whole area. So the next year the farmers mortgaged their homes and planted cotton again, hoping for a good harvest. But as the cotton began to grow, the insect came back and destroyed the crop, wiping out most of the farms. The few who survived those two years of the boll weevil decided to experiment the third year, so they planted something they’d never planted before -- peanuts. And peanuts proved so hardy and the market proved so ravenous for that product that the farmers who survived the first two years reaped profits that third year that enabled them to pay off all their debts. They planted peanuts from then on and prospered greatly. Then you know what those farmers did? They spent some of their new wealth to erect in the in the town square a monument -- to the boll weevil. If it hadn’t been for the boll weevil, they never would have discovered peanuts. They learned that even out of disaster there can be great delight.
-- Roger Thompson. Leadership Vol. 7, #2
It’s happening today with revival all over the world!
Satan stands no chance and man stands no chance of twarting God’s plans.
For example: American Beliefs (Statistics)
More Americans believe in heaven today than in 1981. A Gallop Poll reveals the increase (up from 71 to 78 percent) along with an increase in those who believe in hell (up from 53 to 60 percent). Of those who call themselves evangelicals, 88 percent claim they have an excellent or good chance of going to heaven. Only 61 percent of those with no religion say the same thing. A few evangelicals (3 percent) by contrast, believe they have an excellent or good chance of going to hell. Nine percent of those with no religion believe they are headed for hell. Those 18 to 29 years old believe in the afterlife more than older adults: 84 percent of the younger group believe in heaven; 71 percent believe in hell.
--"U.S. News & World Report", Mar. 25, 1991, Leadership - Vol. 12, #4.
SUMMARY:
1. ALL LEADERS NEED TO HAVE GOD IN THEIR PLANNING AND SEEK HIS DIRECTION IN ALL THINGS.
2. THEY NEED TO BE 100% DEVOTED TO GOD TO SUCCEED.
3. THEY ALSO NEED TO REALIZE THAT GOD WILL OUT LAST ANY KING, KINGDOM, NATION, ETC. AND BE THE ONLY KING STILL REIGNING ON HIS THRONE IN THE END.
4. GOOD BEGINNINGS DO NOT ALWAYS HAVE GOOD ENDINGS.
5. BAD BEGINNINGS DO NOT ALWAYS HAVE BAD ENDINGS.
