One Year Bible, Sunday June 26th "Jehu Kills All Of Ahab's Descendants" "Paul Preaches to the Intellectual Capital of the World in Athens, Greece"
Audio Readings
1 Kings 9:14-10:31
Jehu Kills Joram and Ahaziah
Today we see the prophet Elijah's prophecy fulfilled against the descendants of Ahab, and also evil Queen Jezebel. King Joram, the more evil of the two kings, was killed with an arrow that pierced him in the back and went through his heart. Instead of a proper burial, they threw him on to the plot of Naboth for the murder of he and his sons. Ahaziah, the king from Judah, was also shot and killed. But he was buried in Judah properly, because he was related to Jehoshaphat, and was a descendant David.
The Death of Jezebel
The death of Jezebel was not pretty, as she was thrown out of a window, trampled on by horses, and eaten by dogs leaving only her skull, feet, and hands.
God’s promise against Jezebel and the house of Ahab was exactly and righteously fulfilled (1 Kings 21:19, 21:23-25).
Eventually they buried her remains because she was a daughter of the king.
Jehu Kills Ahab’s Family
Not only was the curse for the kings who were related to Ahab, but all of his family too. The officers of Ahab were spared for the moment because they obeyed Jehu's order to kill all 70 of sons of Ahab. Later all the people gathered in the city and not only were the rest of Ahab's descendants killed, but also his officials, priests, and friends.
Jehu had executed justice that had been prophesied by Elijah. Did Jehu go too far by killing people outside of Ahab's family?
"Some believe that the execution of Ahaziah’s family was an example of Jehu going too far. “The sword of judgment, so far as the expressed purpose of Jehovah was concerned, should have been confined to the house of Ahab. But a reckless and ambitious hand was wielding it, and it devoured beyond the allotted limits.” (Knapp)
Jehu Kills the Priests of Baal
Jehu tricked all the prophets of Baal to gather to worship Baal, and he feigned he would join them in offering sacrifices. All the prophets of Baal were summoned and they all came. When they were all gathered, Jehu had the door closed, and his men went and slaughtered every one of them. They also smashed down all the altars of Baal and burned the pillars converting them to a public toilet (that's interesting!)
Yet, Jehu did not smash the golden calves set up by idolatrous King Jehoram at Bethel. But because Jehu had been faithful to God's other commands, God promised Jehu the throne of Judah down to the 4th generation.
Sometimes we may be obedient to the Lord but then keep one thing that we can't let go of. We think we have done such a good job at least we deserve something. This was the error of Jehu.
And we see this compromise eventually caught up with him, as the chapter concludes with the fact that he did not follow Law of the Lord with all of his heart and refused to turn from the sin Jeroboam had committed.
“Jehu did obey God up to a certain point. It happened to be a profitable thing to him to exterminate the old royal house of Ahab, because it would confirm himself upon his own throne; but anything beyond that did not pay, and therefore Jehu did not touch it.” (Spurgeon)
Paul Preaches in Thessalonica
When Paul arrived in Thessalonica, as was his custom he went and preached in the synagogue. He did this for three straight Sabbaths. His teaching consisted of proving from the Old Testament scriptures how Jesus was the Messiah. Specifically, he pointed out how the prophets had predicted that Jesus would suffer and die and be raised from the dead.
Notice it says, "he reasoned with them". Our faith is reasonable. It is explainable and not just based on emotions. This is why knowing the Old Testament is so important.
Some of the Jews were persuaded to believe, as well as some Greek speaking Jews, and not a few prominent women. They followed Paul and Silas at once. Once again some troublemakers stirred up a crowd, and they went to find Paul and Silas which led them to Jason's home. Jason's house was apparently a place where the believers in that town met. Though the officials had Jasons and others arrested, the city officials had them post bail and they were let go. The official charge was treason in that they swore allegiance to another king, Jesus Christ.
This theme will continue right up until Jesus' trial before Jewish kings and Roman rulers.
Paul and Silas in Berea
The believers then sent Paul and Silas to Berea. It says that the Jews there were more open minded to Paul's message. Why? They were studiers of God's Word, and God had prepared them to hear gospel through Paul.
This reminds us that God is often preparing people before we share a witness with them about Christ. Some plant, some water, and some reap the harvest!
Once again many Jews, Greeks, and prominent women came to faith.
Also, they searched the Scriptures daily to find out what they meant. They believed they could find out truth from the Bible. For them the Bible was not just a pretty book of poetry or mystery or nice spiritual inspiration for thoughts-for-the-day. It was a book of truth, and that truth was there to find out. - Guzik
But the troublemakers from Thessalonica eventually caught up with Paul and came and stirred up more trouble. The believers sent Paul back to Berea without Silas and Timothy, and then eventually sent them to help Paul.
Paul Preaches in Athens
Paul travels to the intellectual capital of the world Athens, Greece. Paul's strategy changed at this point. Though he spoke to the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles in the synagogue, he now expanded his preaching and teaching to the public square. He saw so many idols in the marketplace, he was deeply troubled. He saw there yearning for God and he knew he had the answer that could fill the void in their souls.
He spoke daily there, and the philosophers all gathered to hear his ideas. As we look at the words and ideas Paul communicated, we can see a good strategy for reaching out to unbelievers. Start with where they are at and then point to the gospel of Jesus. In this case Paul noticed all of the shrines around the city so he said to them, "I can see you are religious in every way."
By starting with this question he was establishing a common ground. Obviously they had the shrines there because of some belief that they represented something bigger than they were. Rather than slamming them for worshipping these shrines, he tried to generate interest by explaining to them about the real and personal God he worshipped.
Paul remarked there was even a shrine dedicated to "an unknown god!" To this Paul played his hand saying, "There is a God who you can know. This God knows you already because He made you and everything that exists.? Importantly Paul says God's purpose in creating us was so that we could seek Him and find Him.
What a great way to inspire people to listen to his message. God created you to know him and sent His Son Jesus to show you what He is like. Jesus showed you God's love by dying for you, and God raised him from the dead proving He was truly the Son and by believing you might have life in His name!"
When they heard Paul talk about the resurrection of the dead some laughed, some wanted to hear more, and some came to faith and joined Paul and the others. This included Dionysius a member of the Council and Damaris (who must have been an important woman in the city).
So we see that the results were mixed. But by and large you could say that Paul's message in the public square led some to be curious and hear more and some actually came to faith!
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