May the mumbling commence!
There are some bad people in the Bible. King Ahab of Israel was one of the
worst. But even someone as bad as King
Ahab can know the grace of the Lord – if Ahab would only repent and mourn in
dust and ashes. Read from First Kings
chapter twenty-one:
No one else so completely sold himself to what was evil
in the Lord's sight as did Ahab, for his wife, Jezebel, influenced
him. He was especially guilty because
he worshiped idols just as the Amorites had done – the people whom the Lord had driven from the land ahead of
the Israelites.
When Ahab heard this message, he tore his clothing, dressed in sackcloth,
and fasted. He even slept in
sackcloth and went about in deep mourning.
Then another message from the Lord came to Elijah, who was from Tishbe: "Do you see how Ahab
has humbled himself before me? Because he has
done this, I will not do what I promised during his lifetime. It
will happen to his sons; I will destroy all his descendants." (Verses 25-29)
Ahab was a complete sell-out for doing evil in the Lord’s
sight. What evils are mentioned? Marrying Jezebel was one. Ahab married outside of Israel – a strict
no-no at the time. Ahab also worshiped
the idols that the Amorites did – one of the peoples who were driven out before
Israel in the Promised Land.
But, when Ahab was confronted with this message (likely
by the prophet Elijah), Ahab went into deep mourning that stopped for neither
day nor night. Clothing was rended. Sackcloth was donned. And no food or drink passed Ahab’s lips.
Another message from God came to Elijah – one that
Elijah was probably not as happy to deliver.
Because Ahab had humbled himself before the Lord, Ahab would get a reprieve. The destruction of his family would not
happen in his lifetime. That’s a small
consolation – but a consolation all the same.
There is always hope to turn things around when we’re dealing with the Lord!
However, if we choose not to return to the Lord, there
will be consequences. God’s Good News
will go to someone else. A whole other
people even! That is the message that
Paul gave to the Jews of Jerusalem. Read
from Acts chapter twenty-two:
"One day after I returned to Jerusalem, I was
praying in the Temple, and I fell into a trance. I saw a vision of Jesus saying to me, 'Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here
won't believe you when you give them your testimony about me.'
'But Lord,' I argued, 'they certainly know that I imprisoned and beat those in
every synagogue who believed on you. And
when your witness Stephen was killed, I was standing there agreeing. I kept the
coats they laid aside as they stoned him.'
But the Lord said to me, 'Leave Jerusalem, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!'"
The crowd listened until Paul came to that word; then with one voice they shouted, "Away with such a fellow! Kill him! He
isn't fit to live!" They
yelled, threw off their coats, and tossed handfuls of dust into the air. (Verses 17-23)
The Jews were ready to have another one of their own
stoned to death… or crucified. Talk
about following in the footsteps of Jesus!
But, we need to realize that if we reject the call of the Lord in our
lives, there will be a price.
God and
His servants will go to someone else… to the Gentiles… to the “illegal” aliens…
to the single parents… to the people of the SNAP program. Think about it. Who among us is disliked the most? The message of Christ is for them, too!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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