Down the Slippery Slope, Part 2

1 Kings 15-16

INTRODUCTION

In April 1945, WW 2 was winding down and the only question left in Europe was, ‘how long could the Nazis hold on?’ Berlin was near its last gasp. One evening, Hitler’s Assistant Chief of Staff, was driving toward Berlin to attend the Führer’s night conference. He was encouraged to see a flight of Luftwaffe planes above him heading south. At the night briefing a Luftwaffe officer told Hitler about a successful air attack upon Soviet tanks. Everyone took a sip of encouragement from at least one small victory. It wasn’t long before the encouragement evaporated. It turns out - The ‘Soviet tanks’ had actually been the buses and trucks of a German army convoy heading south. The Germans had blown up their own kind.

In our text today, we are going to see a lot of muscle flexing and attacks on perceived threats in the Northern Kingdom of Israel … and it turns out - the people most hurt by all the scheming … are the people doing the scheming.

A NADAB

Pick up the story in 1 Kings 15:25, “Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa, king of Judah and he reigned over Israel 2 years.”

The first thing you notice about this king is his name: “Nadab”. If you know anything about Biblical history, or the Exodus in particular - you’ve heard this name before. Moses’ brother and right hand man was Aaron - who was also the first high priest of Israel. He’s the one who made the golden calf, while Moses is up on the mountaintop, in the presence of the living God - the Rescuer and Promise-Giver of joy and life to His people.

While Moses is receiving God’s instructions for how a special, particular, holy people, loved by God - how they are to live for maximum joy and impact on a dark world .... at THAT VERY MOMENT - Aaron is down in the valley below, making a calf out of gold - for the people to worship: “HERE ARE YOUR GODS, O ISRAEL,” he cries as he stands it on its podium in front of the gathered crowd.

And when Moses comes down the mountain with stone tablets, engraved with the 10 commandments, written by the finger, as it were, of the infinite, invisible, all-powerful God .... there it is, a direct assault on his eyes: a newly delivered people, who have finally tasted freedom - the chains of slavery broken only weeks before, after 400 years of oppression ...

… now, here they are - partying in an orgy of depravity around a statue of an animal?!!

This is not a story for Israel to be proud of.

I remind you of that because Nadab’s father - King Jeroboam, made a golden calf himself. In fact, he had to one-up Aaron - so he made not one, but 2 of them. And he introduced them o the people almost word for word the way Aaron had done all those years before: “Here are your gods, O Israel.”

Is that just a coincidence? And then, on top of that - Aaron had sons who were also priests in Israel. His 2 eldest sons he named, “Nadab and Abihu” .... names that have become infamous in history because they were the first 2 members of the people given the death penalty by God himself, for false worship … for treating God lightly.

Leviticus 10 :1-2 These 2 priests had just been ordained- they were all washed and dressed up in their priestly robes, had their censers - they went to the altar to offer up burning incense that God had not commanded them to do. God said, back in Exodus, “Don’t do that.” They did it … and fire shot out from before the LORD ... and struck the brothers dead on the spot. Executed for offering unauthorized fire.

Now I don’t know about you, but as a dad - when you are choosing a name for your new baby - there are so many to choose from - how do come up with just one? Well, you have a set of criteria that you use, that’s what you do. ‘How does it flow with the last name?’ ‘How many syllables?’ “Does anyone else in the family have the name? If so - are they the ones you want to remember fondly? … or is it the creepy uncle you never want to be left alone with?’

… which brings me to one of the criteria that we all use: “Does this name have any connection to people I would not want my child to be associated with, in any way.” So, I would never name my baby, ‘Adolph’ or ‘Osama’ … those names are famous for all the wrong reasons .... just like Aaron’s sons.

And yet - Jeroboam chooses to name his son, ‘Nadab’? It’s that just a little strange? Doesn’t it seem as though he’s clinging to the failuters of Israel’s history - prizing it’s humiliations instead of it’s triumphs? And sure enough, Nadab lives ‘up to’, or rather, ‘down to’ his name. Nadab’s father, just like Aaron before him - fell into the trap of trying to worship the right God, but in the wrong way. Aaron learned from his failure, but Jeroboam doubled down and increased his guilt. And when it comes to religion and worship .... Nadab is Jeroboam 2.0.

v. 26 pronounces God’s verdict on the new king: “He did what was EVIL in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and his sin which he made Israel to sin.”

Get used to the wording of v. 26. That same message, with minor variations, this judgment WILL be pronounced over every single king who will take his place on the throne of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Every single king of BOTH kingdoms is judged in one way and one way only:

“Was this person faithful in following God as David had done? OR … did he do evil in the sight of the LORD as Jeroboam had done?”

The record of the Southern Kingdom of Judah isn’t great … there are many dissapointments there. But in the Northern Kingdom - there is not a SINGLE king who doesn’t follow in Jeroboams’ evil.

1 Kings 8:46–50 ESV

“If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near, yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them

What happens to Nadab? Verses 27-29a tells us.

Political conspiracy happened to Nadab. there was a coup. And that’s not really surprising - it’s just the way of the world, isn’t it? History is filled with governments being violently overthrown in countries around the world.

Oh, but don’t miss the end of v. 29 and into v. 30:

“As soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of teh LORD that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. It was for the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned and made Israel to sin, and because of the anger to which he provoked the LORD, the God of Israel.”

..... now wouldn’t that mean that the new King, Baasha recognizes that he was God’s instrument of judgment on a rebellious king? And wouldn’t you think that Baasha just might decide, if he’s the ‘new sherriff in town’ - that he maybe should grab his broom and clean up the dirty streets? Apparently not: Verse 34: “He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of JEroboam and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.”

B BAASHA

One day, as Baasha is sitting on his throne, doing kingly things … a young prophet named Jehu bursts into the palace and strides fearlessly up to the monarch - pionting a bony finger at the king and piercing right through him with his gaze. Jehu launches directly into a ‘Thus says the LORD’ message.

God says, “I gave you this throne. I exalted you out of the dust and made you the leader of MY (Holy) people.” In other words, “You were nothing - an indistinguishable grain of sand on a beach … but I chose you. I lifted you out of obscurity and gave you a throne - over not just any third rate banana republic … I made you king over My people.”

“And you have shown your gratitude by ignoring my Word - in fact running away FROM it.” “Because of that,” thunders the prophet, “your whole family is going to end up exactly as Jeroboam’s family - you know, the one you destroyed”.

1 Kings 16:4, “Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat.” That’s not an enticing vision of the future … unless you’re a dog or a bird.

Well, the prophet speaks, he says his piece - then he makes an about-face swivel and walks out the way he came. And that’s it. No response; life goes on. Baasha goes on ruling - and nothing happens.

In fact, Baasha rules for 24 years - that’s a good, long time. He dies in peace. He’s buried with honour. And when he dies - his son takes over.

C ELAH

READ 1 Kings 16:8: “In the 26th year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, adn he reigned two years.”

So what was all that prophesying and warning about? We have a dynasty beginning here! Well, hold on - history isn’t finished in a one-hour tv episode of ‘Murder She Wrote’ (Okay - that dates me. How about an episode of ‘Magnum PI’?)

Elah is on the throne for only 2 years. He’s sometimes called ‘the Playboy King’ - and you’ll understand why, when you see what happened to him.

READ Verse 9

What happened to Elah? He went to a party - that’s what happened to him. Zimri, who wasn’t even a great military leader, just a mid-level officer who managed half of the chariots, got together with Arza, who was in charge of the palace … and they hatched a plan to get rid of the king. They made sure that king Elah’s cup was always overflowing while he was carousing at the party. He ended up drinking too much, which everyone who knew him probably expected was going to happen .... and once Elah was throroughly drunk and his guard was down, Verse 10 tells us, “Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him … and reigned in his place.”

D ZIMRI

King Elah is assassinated and Zimri steps onto the throne. Do you see how matter-of-fact these violent overthrows are described. There’s no surprise - it’s almost as if the Bible is saying, “Well, of course this is what happens in the Kingdom of Israel.”

But even if we are getting to expect this kind of thing - you can’t help but be taken aback, a little bit, when you read that the very first executive order that king Zimri issued - was to wipe out the entire family of Baasha.

Verse 11: “When he began to reign, AS SOON as he had seated himself on his throne, he struck down all the house of Baasha. He did not leave him a single male of his relatives or his friends.” Not only does he do to Baasha, what Baasha did to Jeroboam’s family - wiping them all out, leaving no survivors … but Zimri goes even further - he destroys even his friends. If you had any kind of positive relationship with the family of the old king, you were dead. It sounds like gangland violence, doesn’t it? And THIS is the holy people of God?!

Well, just like in ganglife - if you live by the sword, you better expect to die by the sword.

Take a look at v. 15: “In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned SEVEN DAYS in Tirzah.” If Elah is known as the Playboy King, Zimri is known as the ONE WEEK KING. Your jug of milk in the fridge has a longer lifespan than this king. So, what happened to Zimri?

Well, he may have been a great hitman … but he wasn’t quite so good at coalition-building.

READ vv. 15b-17

So, not everyone was thrilled to have Zimri on the throne … “We didn’t vote for this guy. We want the Military Chief - we want Omri”. So they gathered a crowd for a mass protest - they took Omri with them and marched up to the capitol of Tirzah and set a seige around it.

“Here’s Omri - and he’s the king we want!”

Zimri may be violent and evil, but he’s not completely stupid. He sees that he’s not coming out of this seige with the crown still on his head. This crowd IS going to get its way.

READ v. 18. So Zimri sets fire to his own palace and commits suicide by burning it down on top of himself. A violent end to a violent man. One week as king and that’s it.

E OMRI

So now Omri climbs the throne. But not everyone wants him. READ vv. 21-23.

After some kind of conflict - Omri does get the throne to himself - and rules over Israel for 12 years. I wonder how many of you are familiar with Omri? When you think of Kings of Israel - what names come to mind? David, Saul, Solomon, maybe Uzziah? When you think of Israel’s kings - probably none of you think first of the name ‘Omri’. And why would you - he only gets a few verses in one chapter of Kings.

You may not realize this - but in the Ancient world - Omri is one of THE most famous kings that Israel ever had. One important archaeological find from that time period is from outside of Israel, from the land of Moab. It’s called the Moabite stone - and on that stone - King Mesha of the Moabites admits that Omri ‘humbled Moab manh years.’ In fact, the Assyrians, who were the superpower of the day, called the land of Israel ‘The House of Omri’. They did that for the next hundred years. This king made his mark on the world.

But in God’s eyes - he only rates a handful of verses. And that’s because of v. 25, “Omri did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did more evil than all who were before him.”

When Omri dies, his son takes over. His son’s name is Ahab

F AHAB

READ vv. 29-30

Ahab is going to be on the stage for the next little while, so we won’t spend time on him today - except to point out a couple of things. First of all - that this is a new dynasty in Israel - Father passing on the throne to his son is rare in Israel - so this sure looks like the mark of a successful king.

The second thing I want you to notice is Ahab’s religious life. Obviously, he’s a king from the north, so you already know that he’s not going to be good. But there’s more than that. READ vv. 31-33.

From the very beginning of the northern Kingdom - the worship has been wrong. Jeroboam built those golden calves and built the high places to worship God away from His temple in Jerusalem. Jeroboam was worshiping the right God, in the WRONG way. But Ahab takes it to a whole new level. Now the king isn’t even pretending to worship Israel’s God .... He ‘went and served Baal and worshiped HIM.”

Do you see the slippery slope - Start with worshiping God any way you choose … and you end up not even worshiping God at all. And with Ahab on the throne of Israel - Baal worship has just become the state religion of God’s people in the Northern kingdom.

3 Kings in the south and seven in the north. Let me ask you: what does that difference in number of kings tell you about the 2 kingdoms?

Do you see the lack of stability in the north? There’s no enduring dynasty, kings who last a couple of years - a few days, even. Hardly any of these guys get to see their sons take a seat on their throne. Israel is looking more and more like the ‘reed shaken by the water’ that God promises in 14:15

What makes this truth of instability that much more powerfully is that 6 of the 7 northern kings ruled during the single reign of the good King Asa of the south.

From a human perspective - there are all sorts of reasons for political instability - geography makes a difference, ambitious schemes, power struggles - it’s just the way of the world.

We see empires rise and fall throughout history: Assyria was growing in dominance during the period of 1 Kings, then comes Babylon, The Persians, Alexander the Great and his hellenistic empire, then Rome and on and on it goes - but the author of Kings is telling us: “There’s so much more

At it’s root - the reason at the foundation of this instability … is because of the unrepentant sin of the king’s themselves. This is the sinfulness, the covenant-breaking of the kings of the people.

At this point in Biblical history - God’s Word is comparing the relative obedience of the Southern Kingdom and its relative stability - with the Northern Kingdom and its rebellion that has it floundering with wicked king after wicked king after wicked king.

So what does that have to do with us, here in 2021? Here’s the principle: “Sin leads to social dis-integration.”

You need to see how relevant this is to North American life today - to Western civilization as a whole.

If you grew up in the 1960s or ‘70s or earlier - you would have never thought you would see the social or moral disintegration that we are seeing before our very eyes today.

I don’t consider myself that old (no matter what my kids tell me), but still, in my early days of elementary school - we would begin the school day by reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Our Christmas pageants at school, would actually be called ‘CHRISTMAS’ programs and not ‘Winter fests’ - with actual Christmas songs about the Saviour of the world born in Bethlehem’s stable.

There is no way in the world you would get away with any of that today - not in the public school system. Obviously not everyone believed back then - not everyone was a worshiper of Jesus Christ. But let me ask you - do you think we’re better off today than we were when the ideals of the Christian message bound us together as a country?

SIN HAS CONSEQUENCES. And sin not only brings consequences to me as an individual on Judgement Day, when God will pronounce his verdict on my life:

… and one of the problems of some circles inside the Evangelical Church in our society is that people have been focused ONLY on that part of sin’s consequences. “You sin and you’ll get bound here on earth; sin and you’ll get judged by God for eternity”. It’s all true. But sin doesn’t ONLY bring God’s final judgment on me, as an individual, in the presence of a holy God - on judgment day - in the future.

Sin also impacts our world today. Sin brings present and ongoing social DIS-intigration.

Have you had a look around at our world today? Would you say that our society is ‘united’? It’s anything BUT united. I’ve never seen such division.

There’s division in the political sphere - we expect that.

But it goes so much deeper than that. There’s division in the sporting world -

It seems that there are people in high places that want nothing more than to keep the population divided. If you visit social media, or even turn on the t.v. news - you get the feeling that the new way the world works is that you’re supposed to pick a team: “Left” or “Right”, on one side or the other … pick a team, put on the jersey (or hat) and then your job is to HATE everything and every ONE on the other side.

We don’t listen anymore - if you come across anyone with a different view, you aren’t supposed to listen, to try to understand another perspective, think it through and interact with it. No way - that’s not the game plan for today. The game plan is that you get the talking points from your ‘team’ - and then you run with them. If anyone challenges - call them names, because they’re obviously the enemy!

The old saying hits the mark: “A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on.”

Proverbs 18:17, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.”

Proverbs 18:13, “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.”

Social media only adds fuel to the fire - you see a meme on Twitter-Tok or a grainy video on Face Gram - and if the person who posted it was outraged - then, “Well I’m outraged too”. And so many people jump on whatever bandwagon is trending and start spewing anger at anyone who doesn’t jump right on board. How did we get here?!

We are here because we’ve spent decades, in our society, throwing off every vestige we can of the Bible that shaped the foundation of our culture. No attempt to try to better understand and apply God’s Word .... “NO”, we’ve said, “We want no sound of God’s voice in the public square! We will decide our own morality, our own sexuality, we will make our own definition of what wisdom and compassion are.”

No longer do we see ourselves as special creatures of the Infinite, personal God - the only beings in the entire universe to be created in God’s own image - to enjoy relationship with Him - forever and to reflect His glory in the earth.

We aren’t all born in a state of sin and in need of a Savior - if we don’t listen to God’s voice speaking. Because there is no God - and we just ARE.

John Gribbon, in his book ‘The Scientists’

“The most important thing that science has taught us about our place in the Universe is that we are not special … (B)iologists tried and failed to find any evidence for a special ‘life force’ that distinguishes living matter from non-living matter, concluding that life is just a rather complicated form of chemistry.

… For human life turned out to be no different from any other kind of life on Earth. As the work of Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace established in the nineteenth century, all you need to make human beings out of amoebas is the process of evolution by natural selection, and plenty of time.’

In other words - science can’t prove that a human being is uniquely other - a soul and body. In fact - science can’t really distinguish between a human being and a hammer.

So we are ‘free’ from answering to a Holy God in heaven .... but at what cost?

And instead of coming together - in the vision of John Lennon, who “Imagined a world with no religion, no God, no heaven - above us only sky.” In that kind of world, he imagined all the people coming together and ‘living life in peace.”

Obviously, he wasn’t a prophet, because the reality is so different.

We have descended into TRIBALISM - where we define ourselves by what makes us DIFFERENT than everyone else - out there. That way, we can always be the ‘Good guys’ - and ‘out there’ are the bad guys.

… we find ourselves in a place described by William Butler Yeats in his poem, “The Second Coming”:

“Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”

We have sown the wind and now we are reaping the whirlwind.

Is there any hope here? Oh yes, friend. There’s hope in this text.