Good news / Bad news about forgiveness

wild oatsI found a great message of encouragement but also a sobering warning – and I need both – in 1 Kings 21:25-29

(There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.) When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.”

Ahab was unsurpassed in his evil yet, when he humbled himself before the Lord God spared him the full consequences of his sin. What a word to encourage the one who thinks he has wandered too far. Even Ahab was not beyond the grace of God. When he sincerely humbled himself he caught the eye and captured the mercy of God. But there is more … Continue reading

I wonder ….

I wonderIn 1 Kings 2, Solomon takes vengeance on his father’s enemies. God does not condone or condemn it, He just tells us what happened.  I wonder if the Lord might be giving us a prophetic picture of what is to come when the Lord Jesus ascends to the throne and takes out all the enemies of the kingdom. For example …

1. Abiathar, the priest.

David said he wanted Solomon to be king but that wasn’t the proper protocol. The law of succession said David’s oldest son should be king. Solomon was not the oldest and, in fact, wasn’t even a legitimate son. Abiathar tried to follow the law and keep Solomon from the throne. He only wanted to obey the law but by doing so he was putting it above the expressed will of the king. Abiathar’s life was spared but he lost his priesthood – ability to minister before the Lord.

Will there be those who inherit eternal life but are not permitted to minister to the Lord because they insisted on clinging to the law refusing to embrace grace?  Hmmm … I wonder. Continue reading