Psalm 31:1-3

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures, puzzling over a passage in 1 Kings 20. It was verses 35-43. The Mind of the Spirit started engaging the spirit of my mind in verses 35-36:

1Kings 20:35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.

1Kings 20:36 Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.

King Ahab and his evil queen, Jezebel, refused to “know that the LORD, he is the God” (1 Kings 18:39; remember the story of Elijah and Mt. Carmel, the great prayer contest between Elijah and all the prophets of Baal—1 Kings 18). Ahab was there the day God’s fire came to receive the sacrifice of Elijah on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18:41).*

But it appears Jezebel was not present, and so did not know Elijah had killed the prophets of her god (1 Kings 19:1). When she learned what happened, she vowed to kill Elijah (1 Kings 19:2). He feared for his life and ran into the wilderness to hide (1 Kings 19:3-4). He was, after all, “a man subject to like passions as we are” (James 5:17). God sent him to Horeb (1 Kings 19:8), the place where He spoke to Moses from the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-6). He was instructed to prepare for his departure: to anoint Hazael king of Syria, Jehu to succeed Ahab, and Elisha to continue his ministry after his departure (1 Kings 19:15-21). During Christ’s incarnate ministry, Elijah appears with Moses on either side of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17).

After Carmel, Ahab was blessed with extraordinary favor, God willing to show Himself strong on behalf of Israel so that Ahab would get the message he missed on Carmel: the LORD, He is GOD (1 Kings 20:13, 28). Yet Ahab failed to humble himself to the LORD God, and did not set the “sword of the Lord” upon the neck of God’s enemy, but embraced him as a “brother,” and so let him escape (1 Kings 20:31-34).

God sent a prophet to declare God’s displeasure at Ahab. He became dejected at the prophet’s message, and afterward committed the sin that crossed the line for GOD: Ahab oppressed the people of God, stealing the vineyard from his neighbor, Naboth (1 Kings 20:35—21:26). Elijah announced Ahab’s doom, and, at last, Ahab humbled himself and was again favored by God with a reprieve (1 Kings 20:27-29). God gave Ahab three years of peace until Israel’s king decided he would go to war against Syria. God had had enough of Ahab and sentenced him to death (1 Kings 22).

Thus, we come to the story that caught my attention this morning. Ahab had released God’s enemy, and God was very displeased against him. The LORD stirred up a prophet to deliver a message to Ahab, “a certain man of the sons of the prophets” (1 Kings 20:35). He was instructed to present himself to Ahab as a soldier who had let a captive go free. The prophet spoke “in the word of the LORD” and instructed his neighbor to smite him, but his neighbor refused the word of the LORD. The prophet declared a curse upon the neighbor: “Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee” (1 Kings 20:36). Indeed, as soon as the neighbor departed, he was met by a lion which killed him. The prophet found another man willing to obey, and fulfilled his mission to deliver God’s message to Ahab.

However, I kept thinking about this neighbor who refused to obey a very odd command from the LORD, and so was killed by a lion as he went down the path of disobedience to the voice of the LORD.

Along the still waters, as I reflected on this, I confess it confused me. Jesus once preached a message His followers called a “hard saying” (John 6:60). It served to weed out those who had “ears to hear” from those who did not, whose interest in the Lord was a physical lunch rather than spiritual manna. I’m glad the Spirit checked me with that thought before I proceeded to entertain doubts about the justice of God in this story.

We must always remember to bring every thought into the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Sometimes we judge people in an action that seems wrong without taking into consideration, 1. what we already know about the person from personal experience, 2. the fact that we don’t have all the information necessary to draw a firm conclusion, and 3. with regard to God’s actions recorded in Scripture, the important lesson God is communicating through the story.

We start with what we know about God: He is good, He is just, He is long-suffering and merciful, and He is Sovereign. God is good: the evil we might think we see in this story is not to be found in GOD. It would have to be either in the prophet or in the neighbor. God is just: He would not condemn the neighbor unjustly, nor would He have directed the prophet to unjustly tempt the neighbor. God is long-suffering nd merciful: if God had some controversy with the neighbor, His judgment would not be without mercy, nor would it fall without some long-suffering space to repent. God is Sovereign: He can do as He pleases because He is the Almighty, the Creator, and all things and people are His. He has no obligation to satisfy our sense of justice or explain His actions. Faith is about trusting what we know about God, even when contemplating events we don’t understand.

Taking all of this into consideration, it’s very possible this neighbor routinely mocked the prophet who lived nearby, that God saw the lion looking for someone to devour, and offered the neighbor an opportunity to respect the word of the LORD, thinking to deliver the neighbor from rather than to the prowling lion. The point of this story is that refusing to obey the “voice of the LORD” exposes you to the lion in the street.

James warned us, “in the word of the LORD,” “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (James 5:8). Here is something I know from personal experience a a pastor. Repeatedly, the LORD has spoken His word through me to someone who defiantly refused it, only to discover shortly after, they soon walked into the path of that devouring lion.

It often happens when the “neighbor” has developed a hard heart toward the LORD and or His messenger. The message is ill-received because it is misunderstood or because it challenges the neighbor on a personal level. In the case before us, it is apparent that the neighbor did not regard the prophet with the same respect as the other man did in this story (1 Kings 20:37).

The takeaway from this story is that we must beware that we do not dismiss a message delivered to us “in the word of the LORD,” because there is a lion prowling about looking for someone to devour (James 5:9).

In the valley shadowed by His Cross, I thought of a message Jesus sent His disciples that, if dismissed, will certainly lead to an encounter with the prowling lion in the streets of this world. He said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

At the table, He anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup with His grace. Goodness and mercy followed as we entered into the harvest.

Praying for revival! 🙏

Going live asap:

https://rumble.com/v740kuq-shepherds-pasture.html

[*I suddenly came under the attack of seducing spirits (1 Timothy 4:1), attempting to interrupt my communion with my Lord. I was grieved and cried, How do these wicked spirits have access to me in this holy place? My Shepherd quickly intervened and challenged me to consider where they find a place in me (Ephesians 4:27).

Toward the close of Jesus’ public ministry in His incarnate body (on the night of His betrayal, during His Farewell Discourses, (the 18th of 20), meaning He would offer only two more Discourses before His crucifixion), Jesus testified to His disciples that “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (John 14:30). I don’t understand why the devil’s coming meant Jesus would “not talk much with” His disciples, except that in fact He would offer only two more before His crucifixion.

Satan had assaulted Jesus during the temptations in the wilderness at the beginning of His public ministry (Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13). At the end of this ordeal, 1. Angels came to minister to Him (Matthew 4:11), and 2. Satan departed from Him for a season (Matthew 4:11; Luke 4:13). Jesus saw that Satan would return in Gethsemane, but declared he would find nothing in Him that he could use to turn Him from the Father. This last temptation of Christ almost killed Him (Matthew 26:38; Mark 14:34). During this massive attack, God dispatched an angel to strengthen Him (Luke 22:43-44).

Jesus could say his coming would be vain, for the devil had nothing in Him (John 14:30). He directed my attention to Ephesians 4:27, where we are warned, “Neither give place to the devil.” Satan will assault us, but pray when he sends a flurry of seducing spirits to attack, they do not find any place in us that he can use to separate us from our Shepherd. I earnestly searched to find any place I might have provided for devils to find in me. I prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). We spent some time here, identifying and removing places where devils could land and torment, harass, and tempt me. Thank you, LORD Jesus, for the blood you shed to break the power of sin.]