Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/pbclincoln/sermons/68200/whats-your-price/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] As we've been looking here at King Ahab and how he is, we know, has been stated as the most evil king to this point in Israel's history.

[0:14] And, you know, we find here that Ahab last time had been confronted by the Lord through the prophet because he made a covenant with Ben-Hadad of Syria up there in verse 34 of chapter 20.

[0:30] And so he gets reprimanded by God for making a covenant that he shouldn't have made. You know, he made a partnership that shouldn't have been made.

[0:41] You know, today we need to realize that as we look at this lesson tonight, the importance of not making partnerships and covenants with people that God would not want us to be partnered with.

[0:56] Because it has an impact upon your life. It impacts things about how God is working. It limits that, but also it can bring judgment.

[1:08] Because as we're going to look here tonight as he goes back home to Samaria, and we're going to find here that he goes back home and he's mad about it.

[1:20] You know, it's one of those things that we find here that people, he gets upset about it. Look here in chapter 20, look at verse 43 of our text here tonight in chapter 20, then we'll move into 21.

[1:34] And it says, The king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased and came to Samaria. So we see here that he was upset with God about God's judgment upon his decision.

[1:50] You know, and oftentimes we need to know that God will hold us accountable for our decisions. Hold us accountable for those things. And we find here that Ahab, we're going to look here tonight because God talks about Ahab selling out to the wrong thing.

[2:08] You know, and so the lesson tonight is called, is going to talk about what's your price. Because, you know, oftentimes, especially today, people will sell out if the price gets right.

[2:21] You know, if the benefit outweighs what they see as the negatives, they will sell out to it. And so we're going to look tonight as Ahab was about to sell out, one, to his desires, but also to allow his wife Jezebel to do some things that's totally contrary to the word of God.

[2:45] And so as we're going to begin looking here, look at verse 1 here in chapter 21. And it says, And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, and hard by the place of Ahab king of Samaria.

[3:01] And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house, and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than that.

[3:13] Or if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.

[3:26] And Ahab came to 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.

[3:38] And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we just come before you tonight, Lord, as we look at the life of Ahab, and even this man Naboth a little bit, Lord, we pray that you just help us to understand the importance of things in a way of not selling out to things, because it may be convenient or profitable.

[4:07] But Lord, we might not let go of your heritage that you've given, and that you've provided for us. And Lord, we pray just have your hand upon the message, upon the time together, as we take a few minutes to look and examine your word here tonight.

[4:22] And so, as we look here tonight, we find here that his character, Ahab's getting, we're learning a lot more about Ahab and his character. His character that we have tonight is one that's not of maturity, but of childishness.

[4:40] It's immature. I mean, as you read through this, and you think about what Ahab did, doesn't it remind you of a child? He gets angry and upset, and he goes to his bed, and turns his face to the wall, and says, I'm not going to eat anything.

[4:55] You know, that's immaturity showing forth. Immaturity that is there, but we're going to look here tonight, because we find here that he was coveting a particular vineyard that he had his eye on.

[5:12] He desired to have it. He wanted to purchase it. You notice in verse 1, it says that Nabath the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, the hard by the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria.

[5:26] And so Ahab sees his vineyard, and says, I want, I desire that vineyard. Now, I want you to understand, on the surface, when you begin reading this, you say, well, he went to purchase it.

[5:38] What's wrong with purchasing it? You know, but there were some other details that we see, because how he responded tells us what the intent of his heart was. You know, the one thing oftentimes people forget, how you respond to something, tells you what the intent was to begin with.

[5:58] And we see his anger and resentfulness that's coming here, this coveting that he had. He coveted the vineyard, as we're going to watch here, because he starts and he goes with the conversation that's taking place here.

[6:15] And it says, he goes in verse 2, and he spake unto Naboth, saying, give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it was near unto my house, and I will give thee a better vineyard than it, or if it seemed good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

[6:33] And so he approaches Naboth about buying or trading this vineyard. He says, basically, he says, what's your price? You know, what's your price on this?

[6:47] You know, oftentimes in life, the devil offers us the same things. The devil begins to look, and we're going to see Naboth's response here. Because Naboth, we're going to see here, was a man of character, and a man that feared God in how he responded.

[7:04] Because it wasn't just about him that he didn't want to sell. He didn't want to give up the vineyard. It wasn't about him, but it was about the heritage that had been given to him that he was responsible for.

[7:19] And so we're going to see here, because Naboth's reply was not just, I don't want to sell. I want you to see here, his response was, I cannot sell. I cannot give it away.

[7:31] I cannot trade it off. And you say, well, why couldn't he? Well, this goes back, look back in the book of Numbers for a moment. Numbers chapter 36, because you have to keep in mind that God gave the Israelites commands as they went into the land.

[7:47] If you remember, when Joshua went into the land, what did they do amongst all the tribes? Each tribe got a portion of land, and then the people within that tribe got a portion of that portion.

[7:59] And we're going to see here, as we look at Numbers chapter 36, and notice what it says in verse 7. It says, 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.

[8:19] In other words, they had a responsibility attached to what they were given. You know, we can apply this even in our lives today. As believers today, we have a responsibility for what God's given us.

[8:33] What are we doing with God's heritage that he's given to us? Are we using it and protecting it, or are we willing to sell it? You know, because I want you to understand, within the tribe, you'll find something that could happen that could take place because there would be times when the land would be put up for usury, or they would have to borrow money against it, and it would be sometimes transferred within the tribe, but it would be within the tribe that that was taking place.

[9:05] In other words, if they were the tribe of Gad, it had to be somebody else that was of the tribe of Gad that would take possession of it. But I want you to see, turn to Leviticus chapter 25, because Leviticus 25, even tells us some interesting things about how God looked at the land, even if they had to sell it for financial reasons or other dynamics in place.

[9:28] You know, notice what it says in Leviticus 25 in verse 10. It says, And ye shall hallow the 50th year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land and all the inhabitants thereof, and it shall be a jubilee unto you, and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

[9:49] You know, God had a way of making sure people couldn't become greedy and overpowerful. That's really what God was doing in keeping them from leveraging their resources against one another, because here in Leviticus 25, you know what it says?

[10:04] On the 50th year, the land resorted automatically back to the family that was originally given. It was given back to the family to which it was originally given.

[10:17] God had a plan that everybody would have a possession, that everybody would have that. And we see that Naboth understood that he was holding on to not what just belonged to him in the eyes of Ahab.

[10:33] He was holding on to a heritage that God had given him. He was holding on to something far greater than the vineyard. You know, today, we need to realize that what God has given us as a spiritual heritage when you become his child is far greater than anything else.

[10:53] And when we realize the importance of it, you know, look a little later there in Leviticus chapter 25 and look in verse 23. It says, the land shall not be sold forever for the land is mine for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.

[11:08] You know, in Leviticus, you find out God says, hey, it's going to resort back and you know, the first thing somebody's going to say, well, I paid for that. You know what God says? You don't own it anyways. God says, it belongs to me and you're just being allowed to use it.

[11:22] You know, we could spend a lot of time even on that tonight when it comes to what we possess. Because sometimes we get the idea that I've acquired it, I've got it, it's mine. But the reality is there's nothing we have that doesn't already belong to God.

[11:37] And when we realize that it's God's, it impacts us because simply Naboth was not willing, it had nothing to do with the land, it had everything to do with the heritage.

[11:49] Because take a look at what it tells us here in verse 3 and it says, the Lord forbid it me. Now, what's he basing it on? What's Naboth basing his commitment on?

[11:59] He says, the Lord forbid that I would sell it to somebody outside of my tribe. I don't care who you are. I'm not going to be, my heritage is not up for sale.

[12:10] It's not something that's up for negotiation. Because notice it says that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. You know? But we see here that Naboth was a man of character, but then we contrast that with Ahab.

[12:25] Ahab here, we're going to see here, is really, instead of Ahab the horrible, you might say Ahab the childish. You know?

[12:37] Because, look at his response. He comes home sad and angry about him being rejected.

[12:49] Things didn't go the way he wants. Look at verse 4. It says, And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased. Now notice, this is the same response earlier up in verse 43 against what God had told him about making the wrong covenant.

[13:06] In other words, he's reacting the same way when he doesn't like the outcome. And so we see here, And because the word of Naboth the Jezerite had spoken to him, for he said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my father, and laid him down upon his bed and turned away his face and would not eat.

[13:25] You know? I don't know about you, but that's a childish pouting, isn't it? You know, oftentimes, even as believers, we can pout about what God tells us because what did Naboth tell him?

[13:36] Naboth just told him what God said. He didn't say, I'm not going to sell it because I don't like you. I'm not going to sell it because of, you're not offering me much money.

[13:47] I'm not offering, I'm not going to not sell it to you for whatever reason you put there. He says, I'm not going to sell it because it doesn't belong to me. It's a heritage God has given. He's quoting back there from Numbers in Leviticus.

[14:01] He's applying the principles of God's truth and the ungodly, you know, today, the ungodly get upset when you apply God's truth. You better be ready for ungodly people to get upset when you apply godly truth to situations.

[14:16] Just as Ahab did about Naboth. Because Naboth wasn't being disrespectful. Naboth was just honoring God first.

[14:29] And we need to do that. But we're going to see here that Ahab, though, he returns home. He's heavy and displeased, the Bible tells us. He's sad and he's angry and he's pouting.

[14:40] And so he goes and crawls in his bed, looks at the wall and says, I'm not eating anything. You know? Now, how many moms of four-year-olds say that's, you know, if you have kids, that fits the description, doesn't it?

[14:56] That's exactly how a kid gets upset when they're mad and they're angry and they want to go pout and hide in the corner and do what they want to do. You know, really, Ahab, we're going to see here that he was really a shallow, immature little brat in his life about how he processed things.

[15:15] You know? And we see here because you know what made him immature? The same thing that makes people immature today. What makes you immature in the Lord even if you're saved is because you hold on to the things of the flesh more than you hold on to the things of the Spirit.

[15:30] Your flesh hinders you. Look in the New Testament for them. Go to 2 Peter 2. 2 Peter 2 and we'll look here in verse 9 because notice here it says in verse 9, the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under the day of judgment to be punished.

[15:48] But chiefly them that walk what? After the flesh and the lust of uncleanness and despise government presumptuously are they self-willed they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

[16:01] In other words, we see here that Ahab didn't care what God said. Naboth told him the word of God but in his flesh he said I don't care what God said about it.

[16:13] You know, when we don't care about what God says where does that come from? It comes from our flesh. It's not pleasing what we want. We become heavy and displeased with the things God has said. And so as we see here he lays upon his bed pouting his covetousness his greed his desire is showing forth because he's pouting about not being able to buy the land.

[16:36] You have to be greedy or desiring or coveting that land and that possession if you went to buy it and the guy told you no and you get all upset about it.

[16:47] You know, we realize that that's one of the basic commandments God's given us. That's one of the ten commandments. Thou shalt not what? Covet. You know, Exodus 20 verse 17 look what it says there it says thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife nor his man's servant nor his maid's servant nor his ox nor his ass or anything that is thy neighbor's.

[17:10] It's interesting that Naboth's plot of land neighbored right up next to Ahab's. But what was Ahab's problem?

[17:22] He wanted what his neighbor had. His problem with the flesh his problem with coveting with that and so we see his childishness but we're going to look here tonight because I want you to see the scheme of Jezebel because Jezebel his wife if you want to do a study do a study of Jezebel and where she's referenced in the scripture because she's one of the women you'll find referenced in scripture that never has a good connotation.

[17:53] There's never a good connotation attached to Jezebel and we've talked about her a little bit but notice her inquiry about this. Look at verse 5. Here's Ahab pouting in his bedroom you know he's tucked up against the wall he's pouting and his wife Jezebel comes in and looks at him and says and said to him why is thy spirit so sad and thou eatest no bread you know so his wife comes in and says what's wrong why are you pouting you know why do you have a sad countenance and we see her as he looks down through here in verse 6 he said and he said unto her because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite and said unto him give me thy vineyard for money or else if it please thee I give thee another vineyard for it and he answered I will not give thee my vineyard and Jezebel his wife said unto him now notice Jezebel's response here because this is important statement that she makes in her assumptions of what a king is and what a leader is because

[19:04] I want you to see here what did she say what she asked him she looks at Ahab and says does thou now govern the kingdom of Israel now we can read that you know what that really states is this she looks at her husband Ahab the king and says aren't you in charge aren't you the one in authority you're the king you're the one that has absolute authority dost thou now govern aren't you a king you know what Jezebel's problem was is she made a worldly assessment of leaders she made a worldly assessment she assumed the absolute total authority of a king that's the worldly mindset of a king and leaders isn't it that they want to have absolute authority it's the world idea of rulers but not God's idea because even all the kings of Israel understood if you look at Saul understood it even at the very beginning you see David understood it you see Solomon understood it you see some of the other kings along the way understood that yes

[20:14] God rose them up to that position but that position came with responsibility there's responsibilities given to it you know look into the New Testament go to Mark chapter 10 Mark chapter 10 we see here in verse 44 because notice what Jesus tells his disciples you know and you know it's interesting the disciples quite a few times began to argue over what who was going to be what greatest you know they were worried about who was going to have authority you know that's really what their main concern was is who's going to have the prominence who's going to have the authority who's going to have the say but look here in verse 44 of Mark 10 it says and whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be what servant of all now notice what he correlates it to when Jesus looks at and says for even the son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many spiritual leadership and that includes all steps whether it's a pastor or whether it's being a dad or whether it's just being somebody responsible for yourself we have to have entering into it with the right attitude we're entering into it with a godly heritage and not a fleshly heritage enter into it with the right mindset for that you know and you know even as Peter makes mention there in 1 Peter 5 he says to feed the flock of God which among you taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind neither being lords over God's what?

[21:58] Heritage you know the heritage God gives us is not something that gives us authority it's what God blesses us with and we see God's blessing in that but Jezebel came with a worldly mindset she came from she was a daughter of a king who practiced absolute authority that's the reason she looked at Ahab and said what's wrong with you?

[22:21] if you want it take it you're the king and I want you to see here is the acquisition of her authority because now Jezebel does something that steps out of God's authority she takes charge over her husband she steps out and does something because Jezebel was a dominant and domineering woman she took authority that was neither given or that she possessed now that's not very popular today but that's the reality that's God's word because you know when we get things out of God's order we end up with a mess anytime you take things out of God's order you end up with things upside down and I want you we'll cover that in another lesson in a little more detail but I want you to look here tonight because notice what she says in verse 7 when she says this at the end of verse 7 she says

[23:23] I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite she just looks at her husband and says you're king you're the one in charge and she says well hold on I'll take it I'll give it to you we see here that she takes authority even from her husband and notice what it tells us here is it works in here she writes a letter and notice what she writes there in verse 9 and she wrote in the letters saying proclaim a fast and set Naboth on high among the people and set two men sons of Bilal before him to bear witness against him saying thou didst blaspheme God and the king and then carry him out and stone him that he may die now I want you to see here she does something that people do today too because what you'll find interesting is she doesn't take something strange to the people and twists it she writes a letter to those of Jezreel and says proclaim a fast now a fast is something that was proclaimed in Israel because of one there was a problem that needed dealt with so she takes a religious pretext she proclaims a fast now let's take a look at that

[24:45] Isaiah 58 for a moment because if we look at this idea of what she's using because you know oftentimes today people will use a religious context to twist it to make it to say something or to do something that's not what it means of what God said you know we can see that all the time today I mean one of the things you'll see well God is love well we've got to understand that yes God loves everybody and God is the author of love but let's define what that love means because they're trying to play religious context into something that isn't there they're trying to take things that are there it's like today you see well love thy neighbor we just need to have open borders you know what I'll get political for a moment love thy neighbor is not open borders that's going against God's rule of nations and sovereignty you're not loving anybody by just letting your country be destroyed you're causing havoc in that but notice here in verse 50 in Isaiah 58 verse 4 notice what it says behold ye fast for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of the wickedness ye shall not fast as you do this day to make your voice to be heard on high now I want you to understand when children of Israel fasted it was not to manipulate or control fasting you'll find was to get your voice heard on high in other words to get your heart right with

[26:21] God and to get connected with God that's godly definition of fasting look at verse 5 of that same passage it says it is such a fast that I have chosen a day for a man to afflict his soul is to bow down his head as a bull rush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him wilt thou call this a fast an acceptable day to the Lord is not this the fast that I have chosen to loose the bands of wickedness to undo the heavy burdens and to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke I want you to see God's definition of a fast was to get somebody right with God get them right with them make sure if there was a need or there was something that was required or beneficial to say I want to get serious with God but you know what she declared something religious to be able to manipulate she used something religious to manipulate the people you know today often times things get used that are religious that manipulate people we need to make sure that it's being used in the right context because notice what she did she hires two guys to bear false witness two sons of

[27:39] Belial the Bible calls them you know we see that what she has is she wants to declare a fast and she said she has set up two men sons of Belial before him to bear witness against him saying thou did blaspheme the God and the king you know here we go again thou shalt not covet!

[28:02] and the one right above that in Exodus chapter 20 verse 16 is thou shalt not bear false witness! it's interesting that you got one sin builds to another sin they tied together you know when we realize the men of Belial evil people that would do anything for gain what were they going to do they were going to lie about something they were going to lie about Naboth saying he blasphemed God and the king he was not only against God he was against God's authority they were trying to manipulate in that there was a lie look back into Exodus chapter 22 for a moment Exodus chapter 22 and we find here that God warns the children of Israel in that he says thou shalt not revile their gods nor curse the rulers of thy people you know God tells them that they're how they're supposed to do how they respond to that but what does she what does

[29:05] Jezebel apply to this look over to Leviticus 24 in verse 16 because you know what I want you to understand the devil knows scripture if you don't think the devil knows scripture you're naive because you remember even when he came to tempt Jesus what did he try to tempt Jesus with he took a passage of scripture out of context to try to trip Jesus up with!

[29:33] you know what the devil still does the same thing to people today he'll take a passage of scripture and twist it and make it sound good you get all sorts of false doctrines from it look here Leviticus 24 in verse 16 says and he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord he shall surely be put to death and all the congregation shall certainly stone him as well as a stranger as him and he that is born in the land and he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord shall be put to death so when she writes this letter what's she applying it to she says I'm going to take he was an individual who wanted to honor God that's the reason he didn't want to sell the land remember it didn't have anything to do with him he said I'm not going to sell the heritage my responsibility before God I'm not going to sell out to something that God has told me I ought to hold in high esteem and hold on to you know one thing we can learn intertwine there's a problem you know what

[30:51] Jezebel did she took government and took religion and intertwined them for her twisted benefit you know we looked at that in our Sunday school series a little while ago about the dynamic of government that government is not God but government has godly people are government's conscience you know we help keep things in the right focus in the right perspective but they're not to be mixed you know when you let government control religion you get tyranny you get destruction because they begin to use it to manipulate you know you can see that if you want to study a little history you can look at even early American history and the English kings talking about their absolute authority you know their context was the same thing that Jezebel used to say I have absolute authority and no responsibility tried to play that same card but we're going to see here let's take a look at what happened look at verse 12 it tells us here it says notice notice what happens here she writes a letter she takes authority she twists scripture she misapplies she puts those things out there she kills a man who wants to honor

[32:38] God in what he's doing and then we find her response is by finishing stealing the property because then she says okay Naboth is gone we're just going to claim it you know I'll get in trouble with this one they just did eminent domain well they're dead so we'll just take it notice what he says here in verse 15 it came to pass when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned and was dead that Jezebel said to Ahab arise take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezerite he refused to give thee money for Naboth is not alive but dead and it came to pass when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead and Ahab rose to go down into the vineyard of Naboth the Jezerite to take possession of it so we find that he stole the vineyard he tried to steal the heritage that belonged to Naboth and to his family but you know

[33:39] I want you to understand that sometimes we say well man that's terrible what happened to Naboth you know one thing we need to keep in mind that God always holds the evil to account they might have thought they got by with it but they didn't you know you might look at it this way I believe as you read this and you see that little bit we see about Naboth he was a man who feared God and trusted God all Jezebel did was give him a quick promotion because he went into paradise as a believer sometimes we get the wrong mindset we hold on to this life so tightly we forget that what we have ahead is far superior to what we possess but I want you to see here because God does hold him to account because who shows back up on the scene Ahab's favorite prophet here comes Elijah once again out of obscurity you know God sends Elijah once again look at verse 17 here tonight it says so here

[34:53] God tells Elijah he says hey get back up there to Samaria and I'm going to tell you where you're going to find Ahab you're going to find him in Naboth's vineyard because he took it from him and so God sends Elijah there and we're going to see the return here of Elijah and notice what God says to speak to him in verse 19 and thou shalt speak unto him saying thus saith the Lord hast thou killed and also taken possession and thou shalt speak unto him saying thus saith the Lord in the place where the dogs lick the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood even thine and Ahab said to Elijah hast thou found me oh mine enemy you know you gotta appreciate some of that you know here's Elijah showing up again and here he is remember earlier he says you know you're the one that always opposes me you're the one that's always against me and Elijah always reminds him

[35:54] I'm not against you you're against God you're bucking against what God has said you know sometimes truth causes that reaction in people sometimes truth makes people upset look to the New Testament from Galatians chapter four Galatians chapter four and verse sixteen you know this is a good verse to keep in mind you know notice what Paul says am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth you know sometimes people get upset when they're confronted with the truth they don't like to have the truth Naboth didn't like the truth the truth was that he allowed Jezebel his wife to usurp authority and to kill Naboth and to take possession of what he didn't have right to have he did those things he sold himself to the work of evil in the sight of the Lord notice what he tells me in verse 20 and

[36:54] Ahab said to Elijah hast thou found me O my name and he answered I have found thee because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord he sold himself that's something we ought to consider because when we consider the price of Naboth he says I'm not for sale the things of God are not for sale Ahab said what does it take to get what I want Ahab was willing to know because remember Ahab knew what he ought to do Ahab wasn't ignorant to the things of God but he made a conscious choice to go against the things of God because remember how much had God been calling out to remember Elijah on the mount God said choose you to why halt you between two opinions he's calling him out if you're going to!

[37:44] are you going to serve Baal he brought forth those things and we see here that he reveals that he's selling himself to work evil in the sight of the Lord but notice what he tells him that God told him look at verse 21 he says behold I will bring evil upon thee and will take away thy prosperity and will cut off from Ahab him that pisses against the wall and him that shut it up and it left in Israel now notice in verse 22 it says I will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat like the house of Basha the son of Ahijah for the provocation where thou provoked me to anger and made Israel to sin now notice as we see here the revelation how did he sell himself he said I want to do what I want and I'm going to lead others with me I want you to understand your sin always impacts more than you

[38:47] Ahab was held accountable because he drugged not only himself into sin he took a whole group of people with him he drags them all in you know he's selling himself and he receives the condemnation of the Lord you know the Bible makes it very clear in the book of Galatians says be not deceived for God is not mocked for whatsoever man soweth that shall he also reap you know I want you to understand God is not mocked God isn't getting fooled by fancy tricks God knows what's going on and says he's going to take away his lineage you know that posterity means he's going to cut off the line of Ahab he already told him Ahab hey where Naboth's blood was spilled!

[39:38] the dogs are going to lick your blood you know that's probably not a pretty good prophecy to receive is it you know hey you're going to be laying in the dirt where Naboth was stoned and they're not going to have stones on top of you but the dogs are going to lick the blood dogs are going to be gnawing on you and we see here as he tells them this he's going to be like that of Jeroboam and Abasha you know Ahab already had examples before totally destroyed from the lineage we see here that God had caused them to be taken away in that and so but I want you to see here because something interesting happens as God also gives a prophecy for Jezebel verse 23 and of Jezebel also spake the Lord saying the dog shall eat

[40:38] Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel in other words from the very place that she did her dirty work to desire God says the dogs are going to chew on her at the base of the tower but notice what happens next we see here in verse 25 and there was none like unto Ahab which should sell himself to work the wickedness in the sight of the Lord whom Jezebel his wife stirred!

[41:13] We are talking about Ahab and his responsibility now notice verse 26 and he did very abominable in the following idols according to all the things as did the Amorites whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel now notice verse 27 and it came to pass when Ahab heard these words that he rent his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went softly and the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite saying see thou now Ahab humbled himself before me because he humbled himself before me I will not bring the evil in his day but in his son's now I want you to understand what is pictured here is something very important even in a New Testament application because I want you to hear God had respect into Ahab because he humbled himself but God didn't humbling yourself before

[42:13] God isn't enough unless you trust God but I want you to see something turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 7 for a moment because I think what happens here you're going to see Paul talk about 2nd Corinthians chapter 7 because Paul talks about two different types of repentance that are very important to make a note notice here in verse 9 of chapter 7 he says now I rejoice not that ye were made sorry but that ye sorrowed to repentance for ye were made sorry after notice this a godly manner that ye might receive damage by us in nothing notice verse 10 for godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of but sorrow of the world worketh death for behold this self same that you sorrowed after a godly sort that carefully it wrought in you yea that if clearing of yourselves yea that what indignation yea what fear yea what vehement desire yea what zeal yea what revenge in all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter wherefore though

[43:24] I write unto you I did it not for his cause that done the wrong nor for his cause that suffer wrong but for our care for you in the sight of god might appear unto you yea i want you to see there's two types of sorrow you have worldly sorrow and godly sorrow when you look at this you see that Ahab had a god because of the judgment of god that was coming but i want you to notice something god still pays attention when we humble ourselves even the wicked when they humble themselves before god humility always gets god's attention because true humility is not something that you arrive at or that you contrive true humility is a state of mind it's a condition of the heart towards god and so as we look at these things tonight i want to encourage you to consider a few things because that we can learn here from chapter 21 one is a godly person will not violate god's law for personal gain you know naboth is clear he says i'm not going to violate what god has said or what god has established even if it benefits me you know selling the vineyard would have understand that good people may suffer persecution even unto death but i want you to also know god will hold the persecutors to account god will deal with it you know another one we always find is the reality of the devil will always have somebody to accuse the righteous you know the devil is always going to bring somebody and make accusation those things are going to happen you know we find that the wicked are found out because they persist in their wickedness you know and lastly the outward piety or humility will receive its measure of blessing

[45:30]  God allowed the judgment to pass onto Ahab's children and Ahab would not directly face all the judgment of his lineage being wiped out in his generation I want you to understand as we'll look a little later Ahab still dies and the dogs still lick his blood from the very spot God told him but what he's talking about is the posterity his children his lineage he would not see wiped out and so as we look at those things it's important to keep in mind the reality of what God has for us and so let's go to the Lord in prayer