The Champions Spirit
Volume 69, Issue 14
April 11, 2010
Unfathomable Mercy
Talk about notorious couples! Bonnie and Clyde couldn’t hold a candle to the exploits of their two biblical counterparts—Ahab and Jezebel!
Jezebel was so very wicked! She actively sought to replace the worship of the Lord in the land of Israel with the worship of the Baals. She had the prophets of the Lord killed. (1 Kings 18:4)
While Jezebel was so evil, Ahab was wicked in his own right. In fact, on one occasion Elijah told Ahab, “...you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord.” Later, the statement is made, “Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord...” The rest of the verse tells us why—“because Jezebel his wife incited him.” His sins were noted in 1 Kings 21:26, “he acted very abominably in following idols...” Because of this, Elijah told Ahab that evil would be brought upon him, he would be swept away, and every male descendant would be cut off.
This sounds right to us....we would think this “justice” and cheer the sentence.
Yet, an amazing thing happens in the text.
Upon hearing those words from the spokesman of God, Ahab tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. Now that’s not so amazing when we consider that many take the same course of action when bad news comes their way. No, there is something even more amazing!
The amazing thing is in the Lord’s reaction to Ahab’s obviously heartfelt actions! The Lord told Elijah, “Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house...” (“Evil” in this sense isn’t “wicked” but rather refers to the punishment previously announced.)
Why? Why would the Lord have mercy on this evil tyrant? Why would the Lord not bring all kinds of punishment upon Ahab in his lifetime? Why? Because there are qualities of God we haven’t really begun to grasp. As we are told in Num. 14:18: “The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.”
Now, I don’t want to be an Ahab. I don’t want to push my luck—to try to live a lifetime of evil and then hope to humble myself at the end of my days. (Remember, it just says that Ahab will be spared these calamities in this life.) However, I do see a most important lesson—one given to Ahab and one I want God to apply to “me, the sinner.” I want to humble myself before Him and repent “in sackcloth and ashes for our God is a God of Amazing Grace! Truly our God is a God of Unfathomable Mercy!
—Larry Keele
FAMILY MATTERS...
The Psalmist says, “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you...” We seek our God today as we worship Him together. What a blessing! Guests, please complete a visitor’s card—and, come again!
We were blessed to be able to witness the baptism of Ryan Joachim by his father, Charles. We pray he will have a long and useful life in the Lord’s kingdom!
After services we will see some of the achievements of our young people at LTC. In reality, while the “gold, silver, and bronze” designations are good, the lasting value of their study of the book, their service and work for the Lord will be lasting blessings! We are proud of them.
APRIL 18—FRIEND DAY and DAY IN THE PARK!
Goals: Bible class: 330. Worship 440! A potluck lunch at Spring Creek Park in Tomball will follow morning services. Following the meal, we will have a devotional and then time to play and visit with “the family.” Plan on it!
Parting Thought: Laziness— resting before being tired.
Look at the Book: 2 Kings
HAVE A BLESSED WEEK!
Jeremy's Junction
“Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” (Matthew 25:34-40)
It started with one teenage boy who has a huge heart.
As many of you know, I started feeling pretty awful while we were at LTC last weekend. In fact, as soon as we made it to the church building, Aubri sent me to my bed and I passed out for a long time. Tyler came looking for me after church, wanting to plan a youth group visit to Griffin Turley. He and Aubri spoke with Larry, and they made a tentative plan to have the group visit Griffin the next day after his doctor’s meeting.
On Monday, before Aubri even had a chance to call Tyler, he was already calling her to find out when the group could schedule their visit. This was only the first of several phone calls that day, as I found out that Tyler had spent most of his day off from school driving around to get balloons and cards to surprise Griffin and lift his spirits and spreading the word about the visit.
Monday evening, about 25 people went to visit Griffin. They presented him with the cards and balloons, sang songs together, prayed together, and simply shared what was on their hearts. Before the visit, Griffin had asked his mom, “What is a youth group?” I want to thank Luke Sandhop, Brittany Schlesener, Tyler, Debbie and Kaitlyn Jones, Shanna and Madison Phillips, Renee Lewis, Kevin Dean, Charis, Shandon and Braden Nutter, Shannon Harris, Brent, Lisa, Elizabeth, Jonathon and Timothy Killough, Paulette, Tony and Elijah Brown, Jackie and Megan Doherty, Christy and Ryan Smith, and Jeanie Kuehl for showing Griffin the blessing of a youth group and Christian family.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort (II Corinthians 1:3-7).
—Jeremy Geurin
John’s Jogs
BIBLE BASICS #11
The Jewish nation had three kings who united the nation for 40-year reigns each. Saul the first king established the nation as a power in the region. He was a good king at first but disobeyed God and wound up in a struggle with David who had been anointed as his successor. David strengthened the nation and was a man after God’s own heart and did what was right in the sight of God except for his affair with Bathsheba of which he repented. David had desired to build a temple for God but was not allowed because of the blood on his hands. But now the book of 1 Kings begins with the death of David and the reign of the third great king Solomon.
Where David had made the nation a military power, Solomon made it an economic power with world recognition. As he assumed his reign, God granted him one desire; he asked for wisdom to lead his people justly. God granted that desire and also allowed him to become wealthy and powerful.
Solomon built the temple for God which took seven years. Then he built his palace which took 13 years. They used lots of cedars from Lebanon and gold in both buildings. The Queen of Sheba expressed that the “Half had never been told” when she saw Solomon’s surroundings. Solomon had 700 wives of royal descent and 300 concubines. These led Solomon to stray from God’s covenant and God removed the kingdom from his descendants but for David’s sake he would keep Judah. Solomon left the kingdom ripe for rebellion and division.
The first 11 chapters of 1 Kings deals with Solomon’s reign and death. His son, Rehoboam, replaced him as king. Waiting in the wings was Jeroboam, an official who had rebelled against Solomon. Jeroboam and his followers approached Rehoboam concerning the heavy yoke Solomon had placed on them and wanted relief. Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders who had advised Solomon and placed even heavier burdens on them. Jeroboam then led the 10 tribes of Israel in revolt. Thus the nation divided with 10 tribes as the nation of Israel under Jeroboam and the tribes of Judah and Benjamin as the nation of Judah under Rehoboam. God forbade them to go to war but accept this arrangement as his will. Jeroboam established Samaria as the central place of worship instead of Jerusalem for Israel. He did evil in God’s sight.
The latter part of 1 Kings and all of 2 Kings deals with the various kings of Israel and Judah in their history until 586 B.C. when they were taken into captivity. Judah had 19 kings with only 8 not being evil. Israel had 17 and all were evil in God’s sight.
See the time-line chart of kings and prophets insert in bulletin.
Next: Elijah & Elisha in Kings – Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther
—John Qualls