Let us turn to the word of God. 1 Kings, the 16th chapter. This is the word of the Lord. Come, let us hear God's holy, infallible, inerrant, and sacred word. The Lord helping us and giving us ears to hear and hearts to receive his word by faith. 1 Kings, chapter 16. Let us hear the word. of Almighty God, the Lord giving us ears to hear and hearts to receive his word by faith this morning. Then the word of the Lord came unto Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying, Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel, and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and has made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins. Behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house, and will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, him that dieth of Baasha in the city, shall the dogs eat. him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat. Now the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried in Terzah. And Eliah his son reigned in his stead. And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani, came the word of the Lord against Baasha and against his house, even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, in provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam. And because he killed him, in the 26th year of Asa, king of Judah, began Eliah, the son of Baasha, to reign over Israel in Terza two years. And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him as he was in Terza, drinking himself drunk in the house of Azra, Arzel, steward of his house in Terza. And Zimri went in and smote him and killed him in the 27th year of Asa, king of Judah. and reigned in his stead. And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Barsha. He left him not one that pisseth against a wall, neither of his king's folks, nor of his friends. Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Barsha, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake against Barsha by Jehu, the prophet for all the sins of Bashar and the sins of Elias, his son, by which they sinned and by which they made Israel to sin in provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities. Now the rest of the acts of Elias and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel in the 27th year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Terzah. And the people were encamped against Gibeathon, which belonged to the Philistines. And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath conspired and also slain the king. Wherefore all Israel made Omri the captain of the host king over Israel that day in the camp. And Omri went up from Gibeathon, and all Israel with him. And they besieged Terzah. It came to pass when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and died. For his sins, which he had sinned in doing evil in the sight of the Lord, in walking in his way, in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin, which he did to make Israel to sin. Now the rest of the acts of Zimri and his treason that he wrought, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? Then were the people of Israel divided in two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni, son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. The people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni, son of Ginnath. So Tibni died and Omni reigned. In the 31st year of Asa, king of Judah, began Omri to reign over Israel. Twelve years. Six years reigned he in Tirzah. He bought the hill. bought the hill Samaria of Shema for two talents of silver and built on the hill and called the name of the city which he built after the name of Shema, owner of the hill Samaria. But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord and did worse than all that were before him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities. Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his stead. And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel. And Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel and Samaria twenty and two years. And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. It came to pass as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethabal, king of the Sidonians, went and served Baal and worshipped him. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove And Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. In his days did Heel, the Bethelite, build Jericho. He laid the foundation thereof in Abiram, his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son, Segub, according to the word of the Lord which he spake by Joshua, the son of Nun. Amen. This is the word of the Lord. May the Lord be pleased to bless the public reading of his most holy and fallible, inerrant and sacred word. And all to the glory of his holy name. Well, dear congregation, I would ask you to please turn your prayerful attention to those words that I read to you in your hearing there in 1 Kings chapter 16. As a church, we've been going through week by week, studying through the Old Testament. We've been studying the book of 1 Kings over the last many months. We've now arrived in chapter 16. And we know, as the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 15 verse 4, For whatsoever things are written aforetime are written for our learning, that we, through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. These things are written for our learning, for our instruction in righteousness. And all Scripture, as we're reminded by the Apostle Paul, is profitable for doctrine, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be truly furnished unto all good works. So we come now to the 16th chapter. If you recall last week in chapter 15 from verse 25 of chapter 15, if you just look there with me, our attention was drawn to the nation Israel, which now is in the north. You have the ten tribes in the north, and the first king of Israel, as it were the ten tribes, was Jeroboam. The nation has been divided since Rehoboam, since the death of Solomon, and then remember his first son, Rehoboam, the nation has been divided. And by and large, Israel in the north falls very quickly into apostasy. And there are many lessons that we can learn as Christians this morning about apostasy. Not that we should ever go in the way of apostasy, but things that we should learn and try to avoid such apostasy. In verse 25, Nadab the son of Jeroboam, 1 Kings chapter 15 verse 25, Nadab the son of Jeroboam, notice there in the north, continued in his father Jeroboam's sin, terrible sin, of idolatry. Well really it was that Jeroboam was saying that he was worshipping the But remember, he had set up two places of false worship. One in Dan, one in Bethel, where he set up two golden calves, because he was worried, very concerned, that the people of Israel would defect to Judah in the south. Because, as you know, the scriptures teach us that all the men aged over 20, three times a year, had to go to Jerusalem to those annual feasts. And he was concerned that if the men of Israel went to Jerusalem those three times of the year, that they would defect back to the southern tribe of Judah and Benjamin. So he was a pragmatist. He was very worried. He thought, well, I'll lose the people. Well, I suppose his scheme worked, but it didn't please the Lord. God was very angry at this sin. This was pragmatism. He said to the people of Israel, as he pointed to the golden calves, these be your gods that brought you out of the land of Egypt. How sinful that was. Didn't he and Israel learn the lesson of many years prior to that? Remember how Aaron, in that terrible sin, as Moses went up the mount, Aaron fashioned a golden calf. And thousands of people were slain that day in Exodus. Now Jeroboam, wanting to keep the people, a pragmatist, he doesn't care about God. All he feared was losing that kingdom. How foolish he was. All he was concerned about was possible reunification of the 12 tribes. Well, it worked, but God was not pleased. And God is judging the nation now. And you will see that this nation, Israel, has spiraled into full-blown heathen worship, as we will see under Ahab. It began with, as we see here, a false kind of worship of the Lord. He was saying, yes, we believe in God. These golden calves, they represented the true and the living God, but God is never to be represented by any image. We know, don't we, the second commandment? Thou shall not worship any false or graven image. The Lord strictly forbids this in Scripture. We don't worship a cross, we don't worship any object, angels, We do not worship or venerate anything. God is Spirit. And there is nothing that has been left for us on record, not even a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. That would be idolatry, because you would be simply worshipping a picture or relic. My friends, I've been saved out of Roman Catholicism, and that darkness, it leads to all kinds of sin. Terrible. And we see it here. Israel falsely representing the living God, who is not to be represented by objects or anything like that. Now, here in chapter 15, God had, as we saw in chapter 15, notice verse 28 of even this chapter, how God fulfills this promise to bring judgment upon this nation. Remember even how God said that Jeroboam's house will be completely wiped off the face of the earth. It didn't happen in Jeroboam's day, but it happened in his son's day. Bashir slayed this son of Jeroboam. And it does remind us that God is always true to his word, isn't The threats that he makes are real. They're not empty threats. And God uses a wicked man to do it and then God judges the wicked man. That's amazing. Behold the power and the wisdom of God even in his sovereignty. Now there are many lessons for us to learn. Now let's just think about what is taking place. Our minds, our thoughts are taken up with the northern part. Here, Israel in the north, the ten tribes. But in the south, as we read this chapter, we have six kings literally before us. We'll go through the names in a minute. The death of each of these six kings, the rise and the fall of them, and the death of five of them at least, happened during the reign of godly king Asa in the south. That's quite remarkable. And one of the things we could, I suppose, write over this chapter is how God brings chaos and confusion to those who would apostatize and to those who would seek to go in their own way. We see that here. In chapter 16, we not only see the horrific downward spiral from Bashar all the way to King Ahab, but we see how it is really God that is bringing this about, how he leaves men to themselves. God is simply giving them over. We see king after king rising and then falling. How these men are destroying their own. Then this is what happens when a nation decides to go it alone without Almighty God. We eventually see this nation of Israel going headlong from calf worship to full-blown bowel worship. And it started really by King Jeroboam misrepresenting God. He was saying, yes, it's the true God, but it was all done out of pragmatism and trying to keep the people together. And there's nothing more, we must say, that God hates than a false representation of himself. There's nothing more that he hates. And we need to get that into our hearts and minds. God is jealous for his glory. God is holy. And he must be honored. He must be feared. Now, godly King Asa in the south ruled for 41 years. It's a long time. And you see the quick succession of these kings. You have King Jeroboam. Then you have his son, Nadab. Then you have Bashar. Then you have Zimri, then you have Omri, then you have wicked king Ahab. And we're told at the end of this chapter, there was none like Ahab. He sinned even worse than the others. Now, first of all, turmoil in the kingdom in the north and man's chaos under God's judgment. Again, this is the Lord bringing judgment upon wicked Israel. One man slays another, in his wickedness, but all ordained of God. How can that be? Well, we'll see. While God decrees everything, man is still responsible for his own sin, isn't he? Man is responsible for his sin. So as chapter 16 begins, you notice that Jehu the prophet announces God's judgment and the clear, unmistakable message to King Baasha, notice verse one, then the word of the Lord came to Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying, for as much as I exalted thee out of the dust, and just take note here, God is saying, who made Baasha king? It was the Lord, because it was judgment on, remember, Jeroboam's son, who he slew, And thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, yet he continued in the sin of Jeroboam, and has made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins. Now, this king slays Jeroboam's son, not because Jeroboam's son was wicked, and he was wicked, but because he wanted to be king. Do we not see the sinfulness of man's heart? We see it again and again. And we're reminded, notice in these first two verses here, this constant looking back, and that God is not allowing, the Spirit has declared these things, God is not allowing us to forget the sin of Jeroboam. It's perpetuating from one generation to the next. And we see here how God, again, not only detests false worship, but also Whilst he killed Jeroboam's son, and that was prophesied of the Lord, he's still guilty for it, just like Judas. We know the Scriptures make very clear that Judas, it was decreed that Judas would put our Lord Jesus Christ to death. That was decreed by Almighty God, and yet Judas was guilty in that sin. He did it for silver. He did it for the wrong reason, and the same here. And judgment is pronounced upon Baasha. You see not only how much God detests false worship, but how men are held accountable to their sin. And as I said, the Lord God Almighty attributes Baasha's rise to power to himself. It was the Lord that exalted him to this position. We're reminded, aren't we, in Romans 13, the powers that be are ordained of God. Yet sometimes the Lord gives a nation the leader it deserves. And Abash is responsible for his sin here. Now, notice what was to be the judgment of the Lord, verse 3. Behold, I will take away the posterity of Bashir. I'm going to do exactly to you what I did to Jeroboam's house, and the posterity of this house will I make thy house no notice. Like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, him that dieth of Bashir in the city shall the dogs eat, and him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat." Now, striking, it's very striking. If you look back to chapter 14 and verse 10, this is exactly, notice the wording, is exactly as we find it concerning the house of Jeroboam, what the Lord would do to Jeroboam's house. 1 Kings 14.10 Therefore, behold, I will bring an evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall. Now, the King James is not being rude there. That word, literally, there were men that urinated against the walls of Jerusalem. That was, they disrespected Jerusalem. The sound, pisseth, it's a sound that one hears. So, that noise, these men, who disrespected Jerusalem, now notice, and him that is shut up and left in Israel will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone. Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat, notice the same language, and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat, for the Lord has spoken it. You see how again the Lord is saying, Your family are not going to have a proper burial. The dogs are going to eat your children. They're going to be slaughtered. They're not going to be afforded a proper burial. The people will not respect you. He's saying this now to Bashar's house, as the Lord said to Jeroboam's house. These men rise to power. Yes, it's ordained, it's decreed of God, but they don't fear God. They only rise to power because they want power. They want privilege. They don't care about God and they don't care the way they represent the true and the living God. They continue on in Jeroboam's sin. Now this nation had no excuse. Had God not brought them out of Egypt? Had God not led them by that pillory cloud of fire by night? Had God not revealed himself to be an omnipotent God, not one who is to be worshipped by a calf? What can a cow do? What can a golden calf that can't even move, that can't speak? Is that a God? That's why we don't worship objects. Because you take a tree, you cut a tree down, you make a cross, You make an image of something. What is it? It's a created object. It's not God. God is high in the heavens and ought to be exalted and feared. We don't lessen God. We don't lower God. That's what was happening. These people had no excuse. God had delivered them. Now, it's the same message again. God is going to destroy. Basha's house. Now we see the uneventful passing of Basha. He doesn't see judgment in his day, but his son does. We see that here. Elah, his son, reigned in his stead. End of verse 6 there. And the lesson is this. God never forgets sin, does he? Basha's passed, but his son is judged. And it's violent. The whole of the house was slain, just as Jeroboam's house was slain. And we're reminded again, it's the sin of Jeroboam. You have forsaken the true and the living God and you have misrepresented him. That was the great sin of Israel. And some people might say, well, they did believe in the true and the living God. My friend, God is never to be misrepresented. People say, well, God knows my heart. Yes, He does. He knows every heart. And it's them that worship Him in spirit and in truth. The Lord says in Isaiah, heaven and earth, I have made all these things. Heaven is my throne, earth is my footstool. But on this one will I look, he that is of a broken heart and a contrite spirit and that trembleth at my word. Those who truly fear the Lord, not who just pay lip service to his word. My friends, God looks at the motives of your heart and my heart. and so judged. He was judged for the murder of even one who was an enemy of Israel, just like many other times. All decreed of God, and yet, he will face justice for his own sins. This is amazing how, indeed, all our sins, although they are decreed by God, Yet our sins are even our own, aren't they? You are a creature, as I am, that has a conscience. And we sin voluntarily. Nobody coerces you to sin or me to sin. And we are responsible for our sin. But Christ, in His love, in His mercy, took to Himself the sins of His people. And therefore they love Him. and they should want to turn from their sin. That's God's people. Now you notice, Elah reigned in Bashar's stead and then we notice in verse 8, in the 20th and 6th year of Asa, king of Judah, so we're looking, this is all happening during Asa's reign, began Elah, the son of Bashar, to reign over Israel in Terza, two years, and his servant Zimri, captain of Half his chariots conspired against him, that is, Elah, Bashar's son, and he was in Terzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arzah, steward of his house in Terzah. And Zimri went in and smote him. This is according to the Lord. He was a drunk. He had no respect for the Lord. He was given the office of a king, took it lightly. He was a sinner himself. and slain, even by wicked man, decreed by God. Can you see? While we have the responsibility of man, once again, we have this absolute sovereignty of Almighty God. Now back to our chapter here. So we see judgment upon Baalsha's house in the slaying of his son, verse 11. And it came to pass when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, he slew all the house of Baalsha. So we see the fulfillment there. God and His sovereignty and judgment even over Israel. Chaos in this confusion in this land. All the while, Asa, the godly king in the south, is reigning. And by and large, they have forsaken the Lord. They've gone in a false way. God is giving them over to themselves. It's a warning, isn't it? Romans 1, what does the Apostle Paul say? As he looks at the world in his day, God has given so many over. God revealing His wrath, men with men, woman with woman, unspeakable. But that's what happens, my friends, when society abandons Almighty God and abandons His laws and abandons His ways, man destroys himself. We see this successively time and time again. You even remember Rehoboam's son, Abijah, in 2 Chronicles 13, we saw it last time. Hear me thou, O Jeroboam, and all Israel, ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over to Israel and to David forever, even to him and to his sons by covenant of salt? Yet Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon, the son of David, is risen up and hath rebelled against the Lord." You see, what Israel were doing is they were saying, we do not need Judah in the south. But remember the promise of salvation was through Judah, because through Judah would come the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ, the Savior would come into the world. Remember how the Lord had promised to David in 2 Samuel 7, that one would sit upon David's throne, and that God the Father would give him an everlasting kingdom. And so we read, don't we, in Galatians 4.4, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, made under the law. He was a king. But my friends, he had to be crowned with thorns. He had to take the curse of his people upon himself. He had to suffer. He had to die. He said, if my kingdom were of this world, I would fight. But friends, he fought a mighty battle there on the cross, dealing with the sins of his people, bearing awful punishment to take us to heaven, to give us an everlasting kingdom. Yes, he is crowned in glory now, and soon we will see him. Jesus Christ had to come. You see, when we're looking at these kingdoms, the whole reason for this nation to continue is that the king would have to eventually come into this world, Jesus Christ. He would have to lay down his life as a ransom for many, as the scriptures tell us. He would have to live the life that we never lived and then die in our stead, Jesus Christ. Remember when Pilate asked him the question, aren't thou a king? that was said. He is a king. But friends, he is the king eternal. He is God only wise. And bringing about that salvation. Now back to the text here we come. This is all happening because of the sin of Jeroboam. Because of this sin perpetuating a false representation of God. God is not some calf. He is not to be worshipped by some Idle some image? Paul tells us, even in Romans 1, going back there, how he says, how they changed the image of the invisible God into a four-footed creature, says Paul. Worshipping, bowing to those things. We see that in India, how people worship even a cow still today, and all kinds of animals and things. You don't have to worship an animal, but you misrepresent God. You have stepped into idolatry. And God is nothing more that He detests than that. He says, My glory will I not give to another, neither shall I give my praise to false and graven images, or that all deliver it. Deliver us from such. Notice, secondly, we see here, we've seen the chaos, first of all, in Israel, in the north, they've abandoned God. We see the death of Elah, and then we see, if a man can't get what he wants, he commits suicide. Notice the next king that dies, verse 15, in the 27th year of Asa, king of Judah, did Zimri reign seven years in Terza, and the people were encamped against Gibeathon, which belonged to the Philistines, and the people that were encamped heard say Zimri had conspired and has also slain the king. Therefore all Israel made Omri the captain of the hosts." See even what confusion they have, they don't even know which king they want. And king over Israel, that day in the camp he was made. And Omri went up from Gibeathon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Terza, and it came to pass Verse 18, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house and burnt the king's house over him with fire and died. He burnt himself inside that palace, couldn't get what he wanted, so he takes his life. Do you see the folly of man? Do you see the emptiness of man? All these kings were living and reigning for themselves, not for God. Not honoring God. Verse 19, for his sins which he sinned against and doing evil in the sight of the Lord. And again notice, and in walking in the way of Jeroboam. God is not allowing us to forget this one great sin of misrepresentation of him. It's a solemn thing, isn't it? You know, God is simply driving this truth home. And notice in verse 20 there's a confusion. A split nation here we see over two potential rival kings here. Now the rest of the acts of Zimri and his treason that he wrought are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? Verse 21, then were the people of Israel divided in two parts. So this is this split. Half the people followed Tibni the son of Ginnath to make him king and half followed Omri. But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginnath. So Tibni died and Omri reigned. Now Omri is a very strong king and what we see thirdly is a wicked and determined, consolidating against the Lord. Because what happens is this king now, Omri, who seems to strengthen the nation, Israel, is a strong leader, and certainly that's a good thing, but he is hard against the Lord. He sets up Samaria, the capital of Israel in the north. And, well, it's a wicked city, because that It was served to be as some sort of rival against Jerusalem, a great capital city of these ten tribes. And we'll see from the New Testament how the Lord Jesus even addresses the woman from Samaria. And he says to her, you worship that which you know not. Now notice in the verse 23, the rise of Samaria, the capital of Israel in the north. And again, let us understand that the men of Israel were to go to Jerusalem because that was God's determination three times a year. That was the appointed means where they were to keep those three special feasts. Now there were seven altogether, but three of them meant that the men had to travel there and obey what the Lord had commanded. The Lord is keeping Judah in the south but Israel in the north decided to go alone and now to establish their own kingdom. Ultimately they were rejecting God and rejecting Judah as the means of God providing salvation to his people through the Lord Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Now notice verse 23. The first year of Asa, king of Judah, began Omri to reign over Israel. Twelve years, six years, reigned he in Terzah and he bought the hill, bought the hill Samaria of Shema for two talents of silver and built the hill and called the name of the city which he built after the name of Shema, owner of the hill Samaria. Now this place Samaria became the capital of apostate Israel, the people given to false worship. So if you turn to John chapter 4, you notice there in the verse 4, it says, when the Lord Jesus in his day, we're told, John 4, 4, and he must needs go through Samaria, then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well. It was about the sixth hour. And you come down to the verse 20, and he's addressing this woman of Samaria that's had five husbands, and the Lord knows all about her. He knows she's a great sinner, She's never found happiness in this life. She's a lost soul. And she says to him, because he asked for water, and she was surprised, he being a Jew, asking her for water, being a Sumerian. And she says, in verse 20, our fathers worshipped in this mountain. And bear in mind, he is in Sumeria now, isn't he? And ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Come down to verse 22. He says to her, ye worship ye know not what. We know what we worship. Samaria had been wholly become apostate by this time. of the last 10 tribes of Israel. By and large, it was so mixed up in its religion, so departed from the true and the living way. So the Lord upbraids even Samaria and this woman who thought they knew all about God and worship, but the Lord says, you worship, you know not what. But he says, we know what we worship. And the one she was meant to worship was the Lord himself, the one standing next to her or sitting next to her, the one who gives that water that leads to eternal life, he who is pure, he who is holy, he who is the son of David. By and large, they had rejected the promises of God that would come through that line, that lineage of David, Jesus Christ, the son of David. And he knew all about her. At the end of that conversation, remember she went to go and get water, she left her water pot behind. She was so taken up with him, he knew all about her. The five husbands that she'd had, he knew she was a discontented woman, And she said at the end of it all, she said, come and see a man that told me all things that I ever did. Is not this the Christ? Oh, the Christ came. But by and large, Israel had forsaken the way of truth. Now you notice verse 25, come back to 1 Kings 16. But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord. Well, he's built this great big city, Samaria, and did worse than all that were before him, for he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat." You see how we've been reminded again and again, God is not letting us forget of this apostate worship. However strong and however competent Omri was. As far as God was concerned, what he did was evil in the sight of the Lord. Building up a city, consolidating Israel, hard set against the Lord and his ways. Now you notice, fourthly, Israel becomes openly pagan. Verse 29, and in the 38th year of Asa, king of Judah, began Ahab, the son of Omri, to reign over Israel. So Omri dies, and now his son reigns. And it's even worse. Well, it continues on in his father's sin, that is Ahab. He began to reign, verse 30, and Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. And it came to pass As if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebatziatz reminded us again that he took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethelbel, king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal and worshipped him. Well, the children of Israel reminded long of old not to marry any of these Canaanites. And what does he do? He marries Jezebel. And even verse 32, rears up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal. Now the lessons, there are many lessons, friends. One of the main lessons of this whole passage, I think, that we're learning is that what did the sin of Jeroboam eventually lead to? Full-blown apostasy. Heathen worship. from worshipping God in a false way by misrepresenting Him, by making an image, led to a complete abandonment of Almighty God and worshipping a fictitious God. Of course, there is only one God. But the minute you start to decide how you will worship God, you have already behaved as an idolater. We believe in the regulative principle that God must be worshiped in his appointed way. And if we decide we're wiser than God, woe to you, friend, and woe to me. You've already behaved as an idolater. You see how easy it is to move from worship to the true God, to worship in God. And this is what we see in Israel. From the golden calf, well, it's just another idol. That's all it becomes. It was wrong anyway. It's like other idols then. You worship a cross. You worship stained glass windows. You worship a building. You worship a man. You can worship anything. and it brings God's judgment. Friends, we are not the same as other so-called Christians. We believe that God is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth. We are not the same as the Catholics. We are not the same as the Mormons. We are not the same as the Jehovah's Witnesses. We are not all in the same boat. We worship the true and the living God. At second commandment thou shall not make or take unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven or above. That means you don't even make an image of an angel. Remember how John was told in the book of the Revelation by the angel, don't worship me. Why? Because only God is to be worshipped. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them, for I, the Lord, am a jealous God. My friend's God is so high and holy. No eye can see him, because we're all sinners. And it's only when we're in glory will we see him. in the person of his son, Jesus Christ. For we shall be like him, and we shall see him as he is. The Lord says in Isaiah 42.8, I am the Lord, that is my name. And my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. And we decide, we know better. God says, we'll wait and see. I'll have the last word. Now something else. I want you to notice, God is completely forgotten in this land. We must close with this, I'm mindful of the time. But notice verse 34. In his days, that's Ahab's days, did Hill the Bethelite build Jericho. He laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son, Segub. According to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun. Now what is all this about? Well, do you remember the days of Joshua? Now the first city that the Israelites were told to destroy was Jericho. And outside that city was the angel of the Lord, the captain of the host, who gave commandment. And that city was cursed. We studied it this morning with the children in the Sabbath school. And even in the days of Elisha, the waters were cursed. People couldn't drink the waters. Elisha had to go and put salt in the very spring of the water so that even the waters would be healed. And any man, we were told in Joshua's day, any man that tried to rebuild that city, he would lose his firstborn son. And if he continued to build, again, he would lose another son. Let me just take you back there, to Joshua chapter 6, if you just turn there. It says there, this is after, and you see Israel's forgotten this now, they think God is light on sin. And God's promises, though hundreds of years have passed, my friends, they stand still today. Until this city was dealt with by the prophet. Joshua 6, 26, it says, And Joshua jawed them at the last time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up and buildeth the city Jericho. Now notice, he shall lay the foundation thereof in, that is, at the cost of his firstborn. And in, that is, at the cost of his youngest son, shall he set up the gates of it. And then we read, so the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was noise throughout all the country. So we notice there that any man trying to rebuild a city would lose his son. This man rises up, hail the Bethelite. He did build Jericho, and he laid, it says verse 34, 1 Kings 16, the foundation thereof in Adiram, his first son. He didn't stop. He carried on. And set up the gates thereof in his youngest son, Sigyn. You see, even how evil? Not only was the word of the Lord neglected, we see how men don't even love their own flesh and blood for money, for fame. And that is what man is like. He's lost. He lives for himself. Well, we know what happens. Jericho amazingly, and we see in our future studies as we thought this morning with the children, Elisha the prophet heals the water of Jericho. I mean, you couldn't grow anything in Jericho. It was once a lush palm tree city. It was known as the city of palm trees. Then Elisha heals it, heals the waters. But you see, it was the Lord, as we saw with the children this morning. The Lord said, I have healed the waters. The place was cursed. What's the lesson in all of this? Man is cursed without the Lord. The Lord Jesus said to that woman, the water that I give, that leads to eternal life. Man without God is cursed. Israel without the true Lord or the Lord and trying to worship God in a way that it thought was right, despite what God had said, despite all the warnings, it was cursed. And so is any so-called church or people that decide they know better than Almighty God. God have mercy. upon us, upon our land and our nation. May we fear Him only. May we worship Him only. And let me say this, only God can remove the curse. And He does so by His Son and those who truly know Him and love Him. They want to give Him their life. Who gave His life for them. Who took away their curse. Cursed is any man that hangeth upon a tree, but he was cursed for his people, suffered in their place. We read in Malachi 2.2, If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay to heart, says the Lord, to give glory unto my name, says the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yea, I have cursed them already, because You do not lay it to heart. Friend, let us lay it to heart. God is a glorious God. He cannot be represented in any way we like. But thank God, He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, who manifested the Father to sinners. There you see at the cross at Calvary, I say you see two things. You see the justice of God. He is holy. He had to bear sin to take away our transgressions. He had to suffer. But then we see his love, don't we? The love of God in Jesus Christ. God is both just, but he's merciful. And the only way that sinners may come is through Jesus Christ. That's it. There's no other name under heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved. You're not saved by your good works. You're not saved by anything else. It's not faith plus works. It's Christ and Christ alone. or Christ availeth nothing. True religion looks to the cross and humbly bows and resigns itself to God's will and God's way of worship. And we are pleased to render to Him that which He requires. Thank God, you know, we don't come here this morning to do what we think pleases God, but we do what He says pleases Him, and that pleases us, doesn't it? May we take our delight and pleasure in the Lord. Amen.