See the love of God; understand the hatred of Jezebel

Father in heaven, we thank you that you speak and teach us about you, our world and our place in it. Help us to see and learn from your word this morning. Amen

How do you make sense of it all? And how do you respond? How do you make sense of the riots in England? How do you make sense of the stabbings in Southport? How do you respond to the news? How do you respond if it’s on your doorstep? Or how do you make sense of the culture wars and the people who wage them? How do you respond when you’re asked to take a side? Or how do you make sense of the colleague who makes your life a misery, and it seems there’s nothing you can do to change their behaviour – they just seem to hate you? How do you make sense of that? How do you respond?

We need to fit all these things into a bigger picture (we need to be able to make sense of senseless violence and evil) so that we can respond wisely and well. We’ve been following the life and ministry of Elijah; he was one of God’s prophets to God’s people, Israel, almost 3000 years ago. And although he lived such a long time ago and in a very different land to us, he lived his life within that bigger picture, and his life puts some of the scenery of that big picture in frame. If you imagine life is like a jigsaw puzzle and we’re trying to understand it, Elijah’s life puts some of the key pieces in place to give us an idea of the whole.

What we are seeing is the conflict between the love of God and the hatred of his enemies. And Elijah is a man on God’s side and so his life is caught up in that conflict. If we can understand the nature of that conflict, then we can make sense of all the other conflicts we encounter in our age, and we can learn wise principles of engagement and response. Elijah loved his country and his countrymen. He was distressed by the evil he saw around him. He spoke out against the corrupt leaders of his day, and he was vilified and persecuted for it. He knew what it was like to feel alone. And in today’s passage we see he experienced heartbreaking disappointment and failure. This passage acts as a hinge: it moves us from one setting of Elijah’s ministry to another. It’s a passage of contrasts: it shows what outwardly looks to be the highpoint of Elijah’s ministry (at the end of 1 Kings 18) followed immediately by the lowest point of his life and ministry. And 1 Kings 19.3 is a good place to stop, because Elijah’s journey to Beersheba would have been about 120 miles, on foot. So there’s plenty of thinking time between 1 Kings 19.3-4. How do we make sense of it all? By understanding the contrast between the end of 1 Kings 18 and the start of 1 Kings 19. 1 Kings 18.41-46 we see: The Love of God and 1 Kings 19.1-3 we see: The hatred of Jezebel.

1. The Love of God (1 Kings 18.41-46)

So far in our series in 1 Kings, we have seen God’s people turn away from him. Remember God’s people at this point were split into two kingdoms; the Kingdom of Judah in the South (capital city Jerusalem), and Israel in the North (capital city Samaria). And Ahab is King of Israel at the time.Let’s just remind ourselves how he is described a few pages ago in 1 Kings 16.30-33:

And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat [a previous King of Israel], he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

We saw a few weeks ago, when we read 1 Kings 17, that God’s response to that was to withhold rain, causing a draught and famine in Israel. He did this because Baal, the God that Ahab turned to, was thought to be a god of rain and fertility. That’s a key piece of the jigsaw: God is the one who made and rules the world (and who understands how it works) and who keeps it working. When rulers turn their back on God and think they know best they put their whole country in peril. And God warned Ahab through Elijah what would happen. But Ahab doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong. He doesn’t change his behaviour. Instead, he allows his wife Jezebel to carry out an extermination program to kill all the prophets of God. And all the while the draught and famine is crippling the land and people. After three years God tells Elijah go show yourself to Ahab and I’ll send rain on the earth. That leads to a dramatic showdown on Mount Carmel against the prophets of Baal which we looked at last week. And now we read in 1 Kings 18.41:

Elijah said to Ahab: “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.”

Ahab has not once admitted that he was wrong. And yet God chooses to end the draught and send the rain that he and his country needs. It’s an olive branch – a peace offering. That’s another key piece of the jigsaw: God loves those who rebel against him and offers them peace before they do anything to deserve it. It means the ball is in Ahab’s court. What does it mean for Elijah that God loves his enemies? It means he must love them too even when it’s hard work.

Elijah has spent the last three years in isolation and in hiding because God commanded him to speak against Ahab. And then, God tells him it’s time for rain, go speak to Ahab again. And then look at what happens 1 Kings 18.42:

Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees.

So again, Elijah is doing all the work. Ahab just eats. We don’t know how long Elijah stays like that with his head between his knees; 20 minutes? An hour? And we don’t know if he knew how long he would have to stay like that. Go check – nothing. Go check – nothing. Go check – nothing. Do you think he ever doubted that God would send rain? Go check – nothing. Do you think he worried Ahab would lose patience? Go check – nothing. Do you ever get tired of praying for people who don’t show the slightest hint of change? Go check – nothing Are you ever tempted to give up? Go check… (1 Kings 18.44):

Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea…[So Elijah says:] Go up, say to Ahab “Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you. And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.”

How do we make sense of everything going on around us? There is a huge conflict raging between the love of God and the hatred of God’s enemies. How do we make sense of the riots? On the one hand, individual people are consciously choosing to commit evil. But on the other hand, who are the individuals? Where do they come from? Who raised them? What are their hopes and expectations about living in Britain? Understanding these issues takes time, responding to them takes wisdom and love. And the love of God means that he keeps the world spinning, the rain falling and the sun shining on the whole show because he loves those who hate him. Some key jigsaw pieces for us are: God loves his enemies. God gives us time. Loving people takes time. God sends his people to his enemies to turn their hearts back to him. And we live after Elijah’s time, so we can see more of the jigsaw than he can because we can see the centre piece of the jigsaw is Jesus Christ, crucified, and risen. We can see the way God has made for his enemies (people who have turned from him and done evil) to be forgiven so they can turn back to him.

How do we make sense of it all? Humanity has turned away from its maker and plunged itself into misery and darkness. God loves the world he gave his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. The question every individual must make is: Will you turn back to God and accept his Son Jesus as your King and your Saviour? Or, will you stand against him? As we look at the contrast to the love of God in this passage:

2. The hatred of Jezebel (1 Kings 19.1-3)

Let’s read 1 Kings 19.1-3:

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

1 Kings 19.1 means that God has shown himself to be the true God. The prophets of Baal had been leading people away from God, and so God had sent a drought. They had taken their stand against him until the end and lost. Now there’s rain, Baal has been shown to be a false God, the prophets of Baal have been shown to be the cause of the devastating draught. Why would Jezebel take the stand she takes and vow revenge on Elijah? Why not rejoice at the coming of the rain? Why not admit she had been wrong and ask for the same favour as had been shown to Ahab her husband? Why dig in and continue to take your stand against God, when he has so powerfully and dramatically demonstrated that he alone is God?

I don’t know. Except that sadly, people still continue to behave like Jezebel to this day. Their hatred runs so deep. It’s as C.S Lewis puts it in one of his stories: He imagines a story where those from hell are taken to heaven and given a free choice to stay there. One of his characters explains why so many of them turn back:

There is always something they insist on keeping, even at the price of misery. There is always something they prefer to joy – that is, to reality. You see it easily enough in a spoiled child that would sooner miss its play and its supper than say it was sorry and be friends.[C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce].

I don’t know what it was for Jezebel. Maybe she really did love her demon Baal. Maybe she loved herself too much to admit she was wrong? Ultimately the question is – what is it for you? Which side do you want to be on? Do we want to side with Jesus, and accept his love for us at the cross, and the way he has made for us to be forgiven, and restored to friendship with God? Or will we insist on keeping our lives for ourselves?

For those of us who have chosen to follow Jesus there is this to say: This is the beginning of the lowest point in Elijah’s life and ministry. He had a five day journey to think about it on his way to Beersheba. I don’t know if he was right or wrong to run away. Some Christians read this and say was afraid should be translated 'he saw', that is, assessed the situation and saw that there was no point remaining. Hebrew translators can make a case either way for that one. What is clear from the text, whether Elijah was right or wrong to flee (and Ramzi will develop that more next week), God is with him the whole way.

The point is, you will find yourself in the company of a Jezebel. They will hate you because you are a follower of Jesus, and they will try to silence you from speaking up about Jesus. And they will try to make you feel like you are doing a wicked thing by speaking about Jesus instead of a loving thing. When that moment comes, remember you are part of a bigger conflict. It is the conflict between the love of God and the hatred of God’s enemies. You are not doing a wicked thing by telling people about the love of God in Jesus Christ on the cross. The people rioting on the streets need to hear about the love of God in Jesus Christ on the cross.

This was the lowest moment in Elijah’s life. It was where the conflict was fiercest, but God was with him the whole way. So, can I ask us to take courage, and learn to love those who are right now enemies of God, yet loved by him? And can we learn to speak about the love of God in Jesus Christ on the cross. What might that mean for you? Maybe it means to begin praying for your friends, family and neighbours, and praying asking yourself where will they be in 100 years time? Exam results come out next week and will determine where many will spend the next 3 or 4 years. Yet we do not know when we will die, and our decisions about Jesus will determine where we spend eternity. Maybe it means courage to speak about Jesus to a friend. Can I encourage you to invite them to church or to watch online? It will be good for all of us to know that any Sunday some of us will be praying and inviting our friends to come. It will help us hold out Jesus together. And if you’re thinking about specific friends and specific stumbling blocks they have to believing in Jesus, I’d be really grateful if you would let me know. One thing to be praying for them and you, but also because in October we are having an outreach week and I would be so grateful for help to make it is relevant and useful as possible.

Alongside that, we are stocking an excellent resource called Word One to One which is essentially John’s Gospel, but with some really excellent notes alongside it. We stock them on the bookstall and I would love it if our whole church family could become familiar with them, so that when newcomers come along we can help them read John’s Gospel with a member of our church. The world’s a complicated place, and we don’t have the wisdom or capacity to understand all of it but God does, and he speaks to us to make us wise to live in it. Let me pray for us before we the musicians lead us in response.

Father in heaven, we thank you that you understand this world, you see all the evil in it and you still look on it with love, and you know how to rescue it. We thank you that you have made a way for all people to be saved through Jesus at the cross. We thank you that knowledge of your love and your salvation has reached us in Newcastle. Help us please live wisely, speak with love and courage, and may we not grow weary of doing good. May we not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. For Jesus’ name sake, Amen.