Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 14. In the bulletin, it says we're looking at the whole chapter. I decided this morning that I could not make it through the whole chapter, so we'll stop at verse 20. Also, I gave Danny a title, Concern for Sons, that's okay. But I have since entitled on my notes, My Father is Yahweh. Maybe the most common charge against the God of the Bible is that he is harsh and uncaring. And who really would want to love a God who does not care for the details of our lives? Well, I believe the book of Kings, in particular chapter 14, speaks to this issue. The book of Kings was compiled during the exile. God's people had watched Jerusalem fall, their beloved city. They'd watched their beloved temple destroyed. They'd watched the Davidic kingship come to nothing. They had lived through war and famine and exile. Some people did remain in the land, but only under the reign of the Babylonians. So, they had seen a lot of tough stuff. How could these suffering people continue believing that God really cared for them. How could they go on trusting God's promises? Chapter 14 begins with a mother and father worried about the sickness of their son. They feared for his life. Naturally, We think that God, if he is a good God, should be compassionate and loving towards this sick child and his parents. What if I told you at the beginning that God is going to take the life of this son? What would you conclude about God? You might conclude that he doesn't care. you might conclude that he is not good. You might even say that the God that the Bible presents is really not a God I want anything to do with. Now today's story is not going to answer the questions of every loss that people experience. But I do believe this story will provide a foundation that whenever we are experiencing suffering, there is more that is going on than meets the eye. And the conclusion that God doesn't care could not be further from the truth. So let's just, I'm gonna read the first four verses, and then we'll walk through this. At that time, Abijah. Now, that's a Hebrew name, and it means my father is Yahweh. It's very important in this. At that time, Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, fell sick. And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah, that's a very different name. The H and the B make it very different. Ahijah, the prophet, is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people. Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child." Jeroboam's wife did so. She arose, went to Shiloh, came to the house of Ahijah. Now these verses are very important. It's very easy to just fly through these and move on to the more Impactful verses, but they're very important in setting the stage You are supposed to feel that Jeroboam and his wife are deeply concerned for their son He could very well die and they know it Now they have already made attempts other attempts other ways to secure the healing of their son and We get a sense of desperation in them. You see, why else would they secretly send his wife in disguise to Ahijah the prophet? You get the feeling that this is probably the last thing they wanted to do. They don't really wanna go to Ahijah. Now Ahijah is the prophet who had told Jeroboam that God would give him the kingdom. And so immediately you should ask, why is there bad blood between Ahijah and Jeroboam? It's very simple. Jeroboam has directly disobeyed God's clear commands. He was given the task, and I think Dan did a very nice job of talking about with privilege comes responsibility. He was given the privilege and the responsibility of leading God's people in the same way that David had led God's people. And instead he leads them into all manner of false worship. In the last chapter, chapter 13, we saw how God had mercifully sent another prophet, another man of God, to Jeroboam, telling him that all these false altars that he had made, they will be destroyed. Jeroboam has completely ignored that warning. And Jeroboam knows that he has ignored that warning. And he also has no intention of acknowledging his guilt before Ahijah. He could have just went to Ahijah and said, I have royally messed up. Please forgive me. Will you have mercy on my son? Not what he does. He wants God's mercy towards his son. In the face of the wrongs that he's committed, he doesn't want to care about those wrongs at all. Now, he sends his wife in disguise because he thinks that he can fool Ahijah. If Ahijah happens to believe that this woman is just another Israelite, he might be willing to speak a word of blessing over her. So Jeroboam's intention is to trick Ahijah. Now that may sound silly to us, but you have to remember that it was not obvious to Jeroboam that Yahweh was all-knowing. He might be smart, he might be powerful, but it didn't mean that he could be fooled, that he could never be fooled. Or at least that God's prophet might be fooled. In the last chapter, Was it not true that the man of God was fooled by a false prophet? And it's also true that in the history of Israel, is it not true that Isaac was fooled by Jacob and gave a blessing that didn't get taken away? So it's not out of the question to try to fool a prophet to say something that would come to pass. Jeroboam is still full of pagan ideas. He thinks of the prophet's power like it is a talisman. That if he can just get this prophet to speak a word, that maybe he can get a blessing for his son. And I just want to say that we're not always that different than Jeroboam. Sometimes we can ignore God for weeks and then we hit a problem and we're like, help us in this problem. We don't really have an intention of really following God. We're not really intentionally wanting to bow to Him, but when we get into trouble, we'll cry out to Him for help. Now, there's one more detail in these verses that I think is Probably easy to miss but maybe the most important and seen the impact Jeroboam tells his wife that Ahijah is the one who told him I should be king over And you might want to look in the text there in verse 2. I should be king over This people That little pronoun is important. Jeroboam thinks of Israel as just another people. Maybe they're significant, maybe they're insignificant. He doesn't care. He's just been made a steward over this people. But who has he been made steward over? God's treasured people. Look at verse 7. We'll get to there in a minute, but look there for now. Listen to how God gives an instruction to Ahijah. Go back and tell him this. Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel. They are not just this people, they are my people. But let me make it even more piercing. When we look at the broader scriptures, we can see clearly that God considers Israel to be His Son. When God was redeeming his people up out of Egypt through Moses, he emphatically declares this. Go tell Pharaoh, thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son. I say to you, let my son go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son. You see, we miss this story if we miss that Israel is God's son. If someone comes to you and harms your child, how are you going to feel? God has appointed Jeroboam to be the caretaker of his son. You want to put it in our terms? He has made Jeroboam to be a babysitter for a while. If that babysitter then goes on to neglect or abuse or treat harshly or teach things to your son that have been evil, how would you feel? The wording of the scripture is that Jeroboam has made Israel to sin. He has made God's son to sin. Now you would just imagine that. Imagine someone treating your son that poorly and then when that steward has their own child sick, comes to you with no intention of apologizing for anything he's done against your son and tries to trick you into giving blessing to his son. Then you start understanding the story. I can't imagine not being angry. I don't get angry very often. You harm Jenny, I'm gonna get angry. I would even say that to not get angry with this person would say there's something wrong about God. I mean, there's a reason why Jesus says, temptations come, but woe to the person who leads someone into sin. Far from being harsh or uncaring, God's reaction in this story is a reflection of his deep and abiding love for his child. One other thing I need to talk about before we go into the reaction and the rest of the story. Can a human being fool God? On the surface, that is absurd. But how many people do that in our day? How many people act towards God as if he doesn't see all of the evil of their hearts? If you think that you can fool God, you will try to. If you think that somehow you can pull the wool over his eyes, you will try. And I'm telling you that God will not tolerate on the judgment day anyone coming to him with some form of deception. You can forget it. He knows all. He sees all. You are foolish if you think you can fool him. Can you fool your parents, kids? Yes, you can. Can you fool your spouses? Can you fool other people in the church? Can you fool your pastor? Yes. You cannot fool God on the Judgment Day. Let's continue in the story. Verse 4. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of age. In other words, it would have been an easy guy to fool. It would have been easy to fool him. It's not that Ahijah sees through the deception. This is actually freeing to me as a pastor. It's not my job. If you're trying to fool me, it's not my job to figure you out. Often people tell the pastor what he wants to hear, not what is really true. It's not my job to kind of sneak in there and figure out what's going on in your head. If you're not being honest, you're going to have to be brought into the open on the day of judgment. And so even before Ahijah steps through, I mean, Jeroboam's wife steps through the door, Ahijah says, hey, hey, hey, hey, the Lord said, behold, the wife of Joboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick, thus and thus you shall say to her. And I love that, thus and thus you shall say to her. It's like, first off, you just need to get clear. God says, I want you to know who's coming. And then he tells Ahijah what to say, but we as the reader don't get to hear what that is yet. Because we're supposed to hear that at the same time that the wife hears it, or the impact. When she came, she pretended to be another woman, but when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, he said, come in, wife of Jeroboam. Talk about eeriness, like whoa. I'm not even sure I'd want to go in. How do you know that? Why do you pretend to be another? That is a piercing comment. Why do you think that you have to deceive me? For I am charged with unbearable news for you. As readers, we know the reason why she's trying to deceive him. Because Jeroboam knows his guilt, but he's unwilling to acknowledge it. Ahijah doesn't even give her time to answer. I mean, she didn't have some kind of excuse to get. He just says, why have you come here in disguise? And then let me tell you what's gonna happen. Verse seven, go tell Jeroboam. In other words, Jeroboam should have come himself, but you go tell him this. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you. And yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all of his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes. But you have done evil above all who were before you. Did I get mad at King Saul? Yeah, I got mad at King Saul. Tore the kingdom away from him. Can't even hold a candle to you. Way worse than him. Have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger and have cast me behind your back. And put it in normal terms, Jeroboam has received kindness upon kindness from God, and Jeroboam has turned around and spit in God's face. It is hard to put in words the evil that Jeroboam has done. It is even more difficult to put into words the anger that God feels towards him at this moment. And that's why he says it's unbearable news. And he states it in some of the most vulgar language. Verse 10 and 11, therefore, behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male with both bond and free in Israel and will burn up the house of Jeroboam as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city, the dogs shall eat and anyone who dies in the open country, the birds of the heavens shall eat for the Lord has spoken it. Now you and I are rightly not to use vulgarity on regular occasions. But in this situation, God uses profanity. And he does it because he wants his, he wants everyone to know he is not playing games. Now the translators of the ESV, Remove a little bit of the vulgarity. They mellow out the language. But thankfully, we still have the King James version. Anybody here still read the King James? There's a couple. OK, good. OK, here you go. First Kings 1410. Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisses against the wall. And him that is shut up and left in Israel, I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung." I won't use that vulgar word I could use. He'll all be gone. He that pisses against the wall. I don't even like to use that word most of the time. And I thought, am I going to use that in this sermon? But I am. I did. You see, Him that pisses against the wall is an idiomatic expression for a guy being able to piss. But it is a vulgar way to describe it. It's not the normal way. And God is making a point. He is mad. He is talking about Jeroboam in the most derogatory terms. It is normally correct, even if there's an ungodly person, to treat a dead body with respect. And God says, you're going to get no respect. Dogs are going to eat you. Birds are going to peck at you. It's no wonder that he calls this unbearable news. But even this unbearable news is a call to repentance. So a lot of times we don't realize this. God could have done these things without ever telling Jeroboam. And he tells him. It is a pleading call to Jeroboam to turn from his sin and repent. And God's gonna do one more thing. He's gonna give Jeroboam another sign that he means business, but also a sign that there is grace. What is the sign? The sign is that Jeroboam's son will die. Ahijah tells Jeroboam's wife to go home. Arise, therefore, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. Oh my. I hope when you read the Bible and you come across verses like this, you don't just say, that's confusing, just move on. I hope you wrestle with Scripture. There are so many little nuances in this verse that you're just like, what is happening? Even for someone who's studied the Bible their whole life, I was going, Lord, what is going on? You don't seem to care about my child, Jeroboam. Let's see how you care about your child. But, unlike the rest of your children, should you not repent, this child will be treated with dignity in his death. That should shock you. Every other one of Jeroboam's sons will go down in an undignified way, but this son will be treated with dignity. And then it says something that's just like, what? There is something pleasing in this son? And this is where I became convinced that God's providence, I've become convinced of this in the past, but it was reiterated in my mind again, God's providence is too high for me to understand. Normally, we would conclude that the child dying would indicate the failure of God to love the child. But in this case, it's the exact opposite. Isn't that crazy? How often do you and I think that we can understand God? We're always trying to figure him out. Well, I know he did this because he's going to do something good here and he's got this and I got him all figured out. We haven't a clue what God is doing most of the time. God says that this son will be given a proper burial. So in some way he will not suffer the indignities of the other kids. This son, and I don't even know how old he is, this son in his death will be used as a witness to the parents that they should repent. Just as God used signs in the previous passage, And the beauty of this is that this son dying does not mean that he's going to hell. In fact, just the opposite. He's found pleasing to God, and I believe he's in glory. Now he's not saying that this kid was righteous in and of himself. He's saying we know from the rest of Scripture that without faith it is impossible to please God. We also know that faith itself is a gift of God. So in some way, God has chosen mercifully to pour out salvation in this one son. And so at the same time, his death is a sign of God's being certain that he would come through on his other promises of judgment. Jeroboam and at the same time he is a token of mercy that God will have pleasure in those who come to him humbly I don't know everything that's going on in there but here's one thing I do know Do not look at the things that happen in your life at face value. God has many more purposes going on than you can ever imagine. Is that not the message of the whole book of Job? This story is not gonna answer all of your questions to your own trials. I mean, we all go through this. When it rains, it pours. And you're thinking, Lord, what is going on? Well, it's not wrong to want to know what's going on. And it at least is right to ask the question, am I rebelling against you? Because if I am, I need to turn from that rebellion. But if you're broken and humble and acknowledging your sins before God and you're crying out to him for mercy, you can trust that even though you don't know what's going on, God. And his actions are not motivated by unconcern or harshness, they are always motivated by love for his children. You see, in verse 14, this child is not just a sign to Jeroboam. He is one piece of the greater picture that Jeroboam is a sign to all who think that they can live in rebellion to God and everything will be fine. See verse 14, moreover, that's in addition to what he's already said, the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. Jeroboam, your house is going down because you will not come clean and confess your sins and cry out to me for mercy. Then, verse 15, henceforth, in addition, the Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. Remember, Israel is his son. God is going to even shake his own son. and will root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them beyond the Euphrates because they have made their ashram, provoking the Lord to anger. And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin. Now, how ironic, how even eerie. If you are sitting in exile by the river in Babylon, and you read this, that hundreds of years later, earlier, a message of prophecy was given that you would be taken out of the land and be sitting in a foreign land, and you're going, oh my word. Notice as well that not only does Jeroboam have his own problems because he was given a steward and he failed to do that, but God doesn't place all of the people as victims. They were victims of Jeroboam's evil, but he also gives them their responsibility. Did you have parents that didn't lead you to Christ? Doesn't make you guiltless. You're responsible before God. You've made your own idols, and therefore you must come to repentance and faith. Human rebellion from beginning to end is always the problem. I know it's the problem in my life. You see, God gives this whole story to help you and I understand. Why did He take Israel into exile? Because He wants you and I to understand that if we remain in hardened rebellion to God, we will be cast out. That's the way it is. And God loves you so much as His people that He doesn't want that to happen. Gets mad at shepherds when we don't teach you guys the truth. He calls you repeatedly to repentance, but on the judgment day, if you fail to actually turn from your sin and come clean with God, you will be judged like Jeroboam and his family. Try to imagine the wife of Jeroboam as she's walking away from Ahijah, and I'm thinking, what is she thinking? Is she thinking, that guy's Is she thinking, I'll show him. I don't know what she's thinking. But I know how people think today. They disdain God's judgment. They blame him for being harsh. And they think that they're gonna suffer no consequences for that. She walks into, it's hard to tell if it's into the walls of the city or into her own house, but as soon as she does, the child dies. Verse 18 tells you everything happens according to what? The word of the Lord. God's word is God's word. The only caveat I would say to that is if he pronounces a word of judgment over you and you repent and confess your sins, then Jesus takes the curse of that judgment and you are given the blessing of Christ. But if you don't repent, the word of the Lord of judgment will occur. Now, one last thing in closing. It is easy to scare people of God's wrath. But I am convinced, and I think that your Westminster, writers of the Westminster Confession and larger and shorter catechism agree, that fear will never bring someone to repentance. Westminster larger catechism 76 says this. Repentance unto life is a saving grace wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and the Word of God whereby out of the sight and sense not only of the danger but also the filthiness and odiousness of his sins God was declaring to Jeroboam the filthiness and odiousness of his sins But that's not enough Large catechism has an and upon the apprehension of God's mercy. No person will ever turn to a God whom they think is cruel. Why would you ever repent to someone who you think is just going to crush you? It is somehow as you look at Jesus Christ and you see His, the mercy of God in Jesus Christ, that you believe somehow if I just confess my sins and I cry out to Him honestly, He will truly forgive me. It's that apprehension of mercy that leads any of us to repentance. And so, we need to fight against this. When people tell you that your God is harsh, you need to let them know He loves me more than anyone else. He is devoted to me. He is so devoted to me that He calls me to repentance and He is committed to rooting out all of the sin in my life so that I can enjoy Him forever. You see, my Father is Yahweh. I have a dad who loves me. And I'm not saying that this son is portrayed, Abijah, is portrayed as a foreshadow of Christ, but I can see a little connection here. Is it not true that at least two times God said of Jesus, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased? And yet the means by which the Father makes a way for you to come into His presence to be forgiven of your sins is that He does not spare His only beloved Son. He loves you. And the son was willing to take up that anger upon himself, why? For the joy set before him, that he could win a bride for himself. Brothers and sisters, one of the greatest lies in the world is that our God is cruel and harsh. I get it that it appears harsh. Read the Psalms and you will find how many times David is confused at what God is doing. I get it that this world causes suffering and you do not know what is happening. That makes sense to me. But look to Christ to convince you of how deeply your God loves you. Humble yourself under God's hand. I mean, the biggest thing is, Lord, I don't have to understand everything. I just need to know that you love me, and I come to you humbly, and honestly, you will receive me. That's what the gospel is. And so if some of you are out there, and you're playing games with God, and you don't really want to deal with God, and you're trying to hide from him, or you're just kind of living your life the way you want to live it, and let the chips fall, I beg you, don't do that. Honestly come to Jesus. If you don't, the harshness will be in the final judgment. But when you come humbly, he will receive you with gladness. Angels in heaven will rejoice. That's the beauty of our God. Amen.