1Kings 16:30-33
Ahab, son of Omri, did evil in the sight of the LORD more than any of his predecessors. It was not enough for him to imitate the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat. He even married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and went over to the veneration and worship of Baal. Ahab erected an altar to Baal in the temple of Baal, which he built in Samaria, and also made a sacred pole. He did more to anger the LORD, the God of Israel, than any of the kings of Israel before him.
1Kings 21:17-29
But the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite: "Start down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He will be in the vineyard of Naboth, of which he has come to take possession.
This is what you shall tell him, 'The LORD says: After murdering, do you also take possession? For this, the LORD says: In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs shall lick up your blood, too.'"
"Have you found me out, my enemy?" Ahab said to Elijah. "Yes," he answered. "Because you have given yourself up to doing evil in the LORD'S sight, I am bringing evil upon you: I will destroy you and will cut off every male in Ahab's line, whether slave or freeman, in Israel. I will make your house like that of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and like that of Baasha, son of Ahijah, because of how you have provoked me by leading Israel into sin."
(Against Jezebel, too, the LORD declared, "The dogs shall devour Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.") "When one of Ahab's line dies in the city, dogs will devour him; when one of them dies in the field, the birds of the sky will devour him."
Indeed, no one gave himself up to the doing of evil in the sight of the LORD as did Ahab, urged on by his wife Jezebel. He became completely abominable by following idols, just as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD drove out before the Israelites.
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh. He fasted, slept in the sackcloth, and went about subdued.
Then the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his time. I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son."
==========================================================
Luke 23: 39-43
Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us." The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
==========================================================
Matthew 5: 43-48
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Ahab held the world record for sin, and he and his wife, Jezebel, held the world record in doubles for sin. However, when Ahab heard Elijah’s prophetic words, “he fasted, slept in the sackcloth, and went about subdued. Then the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, ‘Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me?’”
The Lord didn’t bring up Ahab’s years of sin, but Ahab’s moment of repentance. We see this same pattern with the good thief who was crucified next to Jesus. Jesus didn’t focus on the man’s crimes. He focused on the moment the man repented of blaspheming Him (Mt 27:44) and prayed: “Jesus, remember me when You come into your kingdom.”
Most of us do the opposite of what the Lord does. We ignore hundreds of acts of faith and love while bringing up the few evil things a person has done. If we were God, we wouldn’t “rain on the just and unjust” and let the Ahabs and Jezebels of the world literally get away with murder, at least for a while. We don’t see the point of loving our enemies. However, if the Lord didn’t love His enemies, all of us would be condemned because of our sins.
We have all received the Lord’s mercy, bought at the price of His blood. Now the Lord asks us this question: “Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?”
=========================================================
I was going to have a "2 for 1" blog day today and post pictures and have a little history of the California missions in tribute to the Saint of the Day, Blessed Junipero Serra, but I'm on dial up in Bakersfield, so you'll have to settle for going to the following website. http://missions.bgmm.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment