Sermon Recap | 1 Kings | Greed

Last weekend, Matt Williams taught about Greed from I Kings 21 regarding the inevitability of God’s judgment as well as the beauty of repentance to a just God.

In the opening of Chapter 21, King Ahab desires a vineyard neighboring his palace and approaches a man named Naboth to obtain it. However, Naboth selling his land would have violated Jewish law, and so he refuses Ahab. The king’s pride and selfishness catapult him into a state of childish depression. When his wife, Jezebel, finds him in bed and refusing to eat, she rebukes him for not acting like a king and steps up to take on situation herself.

We will soon see that King Ahab’s passivity in this moment alters the course of his life. In the midst of an opportunity to repent and turn to God, he wallows in his own self pity and chooses to walk away from the charge God has given him as a man. As we saw at the beginning of creation, man forfeits responsibility and takes a step back leaving a void of leadership for the woman to step into and gain command over the situation. Likewise, woman craves autonomy and quickly seizes her opportunity to lead. This is a scenario that has played out over and over in each person’s life through out the course of history, starting with Adam and Eve and continuing with us. Like both Adam and Eve, as well as Ahab and Jezebel, “we are vulnerable to losing our soul” if we constantly assume control and put our own selfish desires above who God intended us to be.

While King Ahab is entrenched in his own self interest, Jezebel arranges for two men to accuse Naboth of cursing God and the king, resulting in a death by stoning. When she received word that her plan was a success, she tells Ahab the news, and he immediately goes to claim the vineyard.

Just as God called to Adam first after the fall, God sends King Ahab a message of judgment through Elijah. The prophet tells Ahab that God will destroy the king’s family, dogs will eat Jezebel’s body, and disaster will come to sweep Ahab away. And just as Eve could not escape God’s judgment, neither could Jezebel.

God sends this judgment upon Ahab after rampant corruption and devastation that he has caused to Israel. Ahab allowed Jezebel to influence him to the point of adopting the pagan rituals of the Ammorites, including human sacrifice. He continually turned away from God and led his people away from Him as well. When the rest of the world looked to God’s people, the face of the nation was ravaged with sin. Yet, God continually pursued and warned His people.

This passage is proof that God is always watching, and that even kings cannot escape accountability for what they have done. Though God’s judgment is not always immediate, it is always certain, either in this life or on judgment day. This account of Ahab’s life was written to not only explain to the people of Israel the reason for their captivity, but also to us understand the inevitability of God’s judgment.

In the final verses of Chapter 21, Ahab dresses in sackcloth and repents. Because he humbles himself before the Lord, God actually says he will not do what He promised to do during his lifetime. Instead, God spares Ahab and removes the judgment to his sons.

God is sovereign, and He can still be sovereign while allowing us to make our own choices.

At one point or another in our own history we have either received or brought sin to a situation. It is quite easy to find ourselves often questioning how our choices can matter to a sovereign God. But the fact of the matter is that we will never be able to fully answer how God works or what His purpose is in a situation.  God is sovereign, and He can still be sovereign while allowing us to make our own choices. The comfort lies in knowing that “if the human mind can get around who God is, then He isn’t God.”

For believers, Romans 5:6-11 brings striking clarity to our own brokenness and God’s commitment to us in despite of it all. Though some of us might be willing to die for a great person, no one runs to the front of the line to take the place of the mass murder or human trafficker. Yet Christ took our place while we were still His enemies. He promises us that He is on our side. Should we need proof, all we have to do is look back over our lives and acknowledge the times he pursued us and fought for us when we were running from Him.

For nonbelievers, the cross is an open invitation to all to have the Creator of everything take on the judgment of His creation. Life cannot be defined by our own terms. And for some, the understanding you seek will not come until you give your life over to Him.

Application:

Ask God to show you when and how He pursued you when you did not pursue Him.

-Katie Gural