2 Kings 10 (Part 2) Bible Study (Jehu Strikes Down the Prophets of Baal) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Let U.S. Open our Bibles to 2nd Kings

chapter 10 and I ask you to place your finger there at verse

18. I want to remind you that Jehu

accomplished what the Lord asked of him and what Elijah

prophesied concerning the House of Ahab.

He did bring total annihilation to this dynasty.

And that is how our study concluded last week in Second

Kings 10/17. So we might expect then that

since Jehu's campaign is now over, then we're going to

encounter what we usually find at the end of a brief account of

one of the kings, a general summary of his reign.

But what we're going to discover is that's not the case.

Jehu is not finished with his efforts.

Actually, Jehu is much more motivated and ambitious than we

initially thought, because Jehu is not content in just dealing

with the House of Ahab. He wants to cleanse the land of

Israel of all worshippers of Baal.

And it's in these final verses of Second Kings chapter 10 where

2 Kings 10 · chapter mention

we're going to study how Jehu is going to accomplish this.

And so we're going to start by reading verses 18 and 19, pause

slowly, reflect as we usually do, and continue with that pace

until we complete this chapter. Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for this wonderful book.

We trust that by the power of your Holy Spirit, You will guide

us to glean every golden nugget of truth that is necessary for

our sanctification at this point in our lives.

Thank you for every person who is here, every person who is

watching as our brother opened the service with may your voice

be heard. We want your complete majesty

and glory and power to be felt and realized in the fruitfulness

of our lives being lived out. In response to these truths.

We entrust our hearts, our minds, our emotions, our

decisions to you. Conform everything of who we are

to Your complete will. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. Verse 18 Then Jehu assembled all

the people and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little, but

Jehu will serve him much now. Therefore called to me all the

prophets of Baal, all his worshippers, and all his priest.

Let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to

Baal. Whoever is missing shall not

live. But Jehu did it with cunning in

order to destroy the worshippers of Bail.

What a way to open a Bible study, especially you've been

following this week after week. There are a couple of questions,

crucial questions that we have to find answers for before we

move on. The first one is this.

Is Jehu's determination to eradicate the land of Israel

from all Bail worshippers something that is legitimate and

authorized by God? So just just give me a hand if

you think this is right for Jehu to do 2 people and if it's wrong

lift your hand more than two people and the rest of you are

not sure which is OK. Given that we've already studied

him enough to know that his mandate was very specific, that

he was to deal with the House of Ahab alone, correct?

So then at face value we might think this is just another case

of JU going beyond what the Lord asked of him.

However, if you are a student of the Law of Moses, then you will

recall that there are specific laws pertaining to idolaters in

the land. And when we look at some of

those laws, we might realize and conclude that JU is actually

more aligned with God's will than we initially thought.

Here's a general verse that summarizes God's heart for this

people in this covenant concerning idol worship.

Here's a reference for you. In Exodus 22, verse 20, he says

Exodus 22:20

whoever sacrifices to any God other than the Lord alone shall

be devoted to destruction. So again, that is a general

prohibition against, and it is a call for punishment for idolatry

among this people. But it's not until you go to

Deuteronomy chapter 13, and that's where I'm going to ask

Deuteronomy 13 · chapter mention

you to turn, where you get the specific detailed protocol of

how this destruction should take place.

And it's in the latter portion of Deuteronomy 13 where we learn

what the people ought to do when idolatry becomes larger in

scale, where communities and cities are infected by apostasy.

What should the people do then? And here's what we find here in

Deuteronomy 13, verse 12. If you here in one of your

Deuteronomy 13:12

cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to dwell there,

that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you, and

have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go

and serve other gods which you have not known, that you shall

inquire and make search, and ask diligently.

And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination

has been done among you, you shall surely put the inhabitants

of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction all

who are in it, and it's cattle. With the edge of the sword, you

shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square and

burn the city and all its spoil with fire as a whole burnt

offering to the Lord your God. It shall be a heap forever.

It shall not be built again. Now we don't have time to delve

into why such severe punishments were enacted under the Old

Covenant. The main point is this.

Based on this, we learned that Jehu is not in the wrong.

He's not out of line in this pursuit.

To identify and chase down and discipline those who are

worshippers of false gods. Now that is clear.

We've established that. Here's the second question,

though. The ambition is in alignment

with God's will. It's his strategy, the way he

brings us about. Is this something?

Praiseworthy. Is this something that reflects

God's methodology? Answer no.

It's not, and this is not the first time that we found Jehu

implementing deception in order to achieve his political goals,

is it? So what are we discovering about

this man that this manipulation is actually embedded in his

character? He was very good at lying and he

often wielded that as a weapon. Oh, you say, well, it's for a

righteous goal. OK, well we'll talk about that

in a moment. However, what I want us to see

here is that this man is pretending to be a worshipper of

Baal in order to attract worshippers of Baal.

Now listen, Jehu's goal is far different, but I want to make a

comparison with many Christians who implement similar tactics in

trying to attract. The lost.

If your attempt to draw people who are outside of the truth

requires you to betray your convictions or to participate in

their sin, you're outside of God's will, no matter if your

righteous goal is what you're trying to achieve.

That never justifies the means and never justify the means.

And when I looked at this, I remember because it's wonderful

to look back at things that you've seen before that might

compliment or add commentary to what you're discovering here.

This is not the first time a leader in Israel called for such

a large conference, is it? I think back to Elijah.

Remember when Elijah called for a showdown between him and the

prophets of Baal and Ashra on Mount Carmel?

And here's what I recall, that Elijah didn't have to pretend to

be a worship of veil to bring in the worshippers of veil, did he?

No, no, He enticed them by standing true to the Lord, even

if he stood alone. That's what drew people in to be

like, OK, is this real? Is his God real?

Is his God really more powerful than Baal?

So if we're going to use any way of hooking people in closer to

the truth, to encounter the truth, let it be because you are

different, not because you're so similar.

Yes, his goal is different, but his tactics are copied by many

today. You don't have to change the way

you talk. You don't have to sin, you don't

have to look a certain way as long as it's not sinful.

Like Paul said, he was willing to converge himself and to

conform as long as it didn't betray his conscience or God's

will in order to win some, yes, but never at the expense of your

holiness and God's honor. And.

Glory. So we read on.

He asked them to meet him in the capital Samaria.

And the Holy Spirit even tells us here that he did this with

cunning. Just in case anybody thought

that he became a bill worshipper overnight.

Let's read at verse 20. And Jay, who ordered sanctify a

solemn assembly for bail. So they proclaimed it.

And Jay, who sent throughout all Israel and all the worshippers

of Bail, came so that there was not a man left who did not come.

And they entered the House of bail, and the House of bail was

filled from one end to the other.

My initial reaction when meditating on these verses was

where did. All these worshippers come from.

Do you know why that crossed my mind?

Because again, look back and remember what we've studied in

Second Kings when Jeho Ram or Joram, the king who was on the

throne before Jehu assassinated him and occupied the throne,

though he was a wicked man, he did not encourage Bale worship.

Do you recall this? Let me remind you, in Second

Kings 3 verses one and two, look at Second Kings 3 when he first

became king. We're told here in verse one in

the 18th year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Jehoram, the son

of Ahab, became king over Israel and Samaria, and he reigned 12

years. He did what was evil in the

sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother, for

he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.

So a wicked man, but he must have observed something living

in the House of Ahab. Ahab being his father.

Baalism doesn't work. Baal failed my dad over and over

again. So he doesn't really repent.

But as a strategist, as an opportunist, he takes this

monument that was dedicated to Baal and he tucks it away

somewhere. Desire in the hearts of God's

people to worship Baal. It revealed a deep seated

idolatry that was there all along and bail, yes, he was

proven false. He was proven weak on Mount

Carmel and under this administration, Joe Rams

administration, it was discouraged and it waned over

time. And yet still, what I learned

from this is that throughout that time.

You had a group of people who worshipped Bale all along.

This is fascinating because you could admire this unwavering

commitment, can't you? It's toward a false God.

But the discipline and the dedication is kind of

convicting. And we see it here, a great

number of people who still worship Bale.

But God is going to see this kind of commitment, and in his

wisdom, it's going to lead to mass casualty.

Why? Because deception is the fate of

those who persistently reject the truth.

Not that God approves of Jehu's trickery, but he permits it.

How does he permit it? He does not rescue the victims

of this deception and will allow them to be led to the slaughter

as punishment. And I don't know if you

recognize this, but what Jehu does here as a leader and how he

tricks all these people is a preview of what we're going to

see in the last days. Because we are told in the New

Testament that there is going to be a leader known as the lawless

one, known as the Antichrist. Who?

Will win the world by way of wicked deception through the

activity of Satan, and that deception will end up proving to

be damning for millions and millions of people and.

Paul, by the Holy Spirit tells us how God works in the midst of

all of this. And that's what I want you to

see in Second Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 9.

2 Thessalonians 2:9

Notice what Paul says about the final moments of human history.

The coming of the lawless 1 is by the activity of Satan with

all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked

deception for those who are perishing because they refuse to

love the truth and so be saved. We read this a few weeks ago,

but we didn't touch on verse 11 and verse 12.

Therefore God sends them a strong delusion.

God, you would think Satan would send them a strong No, no, no,

no, no. God does.

God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is

false. God wants people to believe what

is false. Oh, you can cut this verse up

and make. It sound like that no?

He's willing to let people believe what is false after they

have denied the truth. This is not his first move.

This is his response to the persistent rejection of a

generation. Let's continue on in order that.

All may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had

pleasure in unrighteousness. So for Paul to say, I mean, this

is incredible. There's so.

We can make a Bible study just out of these verses, but for

Paul to say that God sends them a strong delusion.

Encourages us in this way, you're saying?

How does that encourage me? I'll tell you because we just

read about how the Antichrist will rise and he will sweep the

world off its feet and he will deceive and he'll perform all

these persuasive things. And you think the Lawless 1 is

ruling the world? He's governing the affairs of

this planet and it Paul's quick to say God is actually

supervising all these events. He is actually sovereign over

all these things. Not that he's the author of it,

but he's still in control over it.

He allows the strong delusion to be unleashed.

He's the one who lets loose the Antichrist at the right time for

the right generation. So this is prophetic, but it's

also practical because in practical terms, what this

teaches me is that when a people deliberately deny the truth,

they become helplessly vulnerable to deception.

There comes a time when someone objects and refuses and stiffens

their neck so much that they are destined to believe a lie to

their own destruction. Is it any wonder that over and

over in the new. Testament.

You hear this admonition today if you hear his voice.

Today, not tomorrow. Today, Friday night, Bible study

at 7:45 if you hear his voice, not Saturday morning.

Today, if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart.

Don't harden your heart. And so we see something similar

here. A deception sweeps over Israel.

The masses are coming believing it to be true.

And this is not a people that are just being introduced to the

idea of Baal. This is a people who have

experienced God's favor, His intervention, His grace, his

deliverance, and they denied him over and over.

You don't want the one that I sent that I'm going to give you

someone else. You don't want Christ.

Here's the Antichrist that will come because the Bible says so.

But there's another comparison that I'd like to make, and it's

more of a contrast. So we've been studying these

past couple weeks. Jehu's climb to the throne of

Israel. But we still have many chapters

in Second Kings, and one of the kings that we're going to

discover together is Hezekiah. He's not going to be the king of

Israel. He's going to be the king of

Judah. And you don't see this

explicitly in Second Kings. You find him more in Second

Chronicles, in the parallel account to 2nd Kings.

But Hezekiah himself will make a call for the solemn assembly.

He's going to reach out to the whole nation, not just the

Kingdom of Judah, but even Israel, all the northern tribes

to come to not Samaria but Jerusalem, not to worship Baal,

but to worship the true and living God.

And when you compare Jehu's attempt and success of bringing

in these worshippers of Baal to Hezekiah's attempt of bringing

in the true worshippers of God, you're going to discover a

heartbreaking outcome. Would you like to see it?

Well, let's see it together. Go to Second Chronicles 30, and

I want you to see it in verse one.

Hezekiah is one of the few reformers.

In Judah's history, and we read here what he does for the glory

of God in Second Chronicles 30 verse one, Hezekiah sent to all

Israel and Judah. Why is that significant?

Because he's the king of Judah at this time, but he's.

Even reaching out to the northern tribes, so to all

Israel and Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and

Manasa that they should come to the House of the Lord at

Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the Lord the God of Israel.

Why is he doing this? Because you read in the same

chapter that it's been so long since they honor the Passover as

one nation. And so he's reaching out saying

why don't we do this the way God told us to do it?

Let's, let's all make pilgrimage and all come to the House of God

and worship him at the Passover. Here's the response.

Scroll down to verse 10. So the couriers went from city

to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh and as far

as Zebulun. But they laughed them to scorn

and mocked them. How funny when you call

everybody to worship Bill. We're going to see how many

people showed up when it came to worshipping God.

You had many. You want me to come all the way

down to Jerusalem? Yeah, right.

Well, it's not completely bleak. Look at verse 11.

However, some men of Asher, of Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled

themselves and came to Jerusalem.

And in the following verse you learn that the hand of the Lord

was upon the tribe of Judah, and they were one heart to come and

honor this feast. So let me remind you something.

You don't have to turn there, but back in Second Kings chapter

2 Kings 10 · chapter mention

10, we're told there that all the worshippers, not some of the

worshippers of Baal, all of the worshippers of Baal came to

Samaria. When Hezekiah calls for the

worshippers of Yahweh, specifically in the northern

tribes, some. This breaks my heart, but it

also stirs a fire in my soul. And I'll tell you why, because

it teaches and it challenges you and me, that our devotion to the

Lord should never be outshined. By those who live for idols.

Never, never listen to this. The gospel of grace should make

you and I more faithful, more earnest, more zealous, more

committed, more devoted than those who are working for their

salvation. This gospel of grace should make

you more, more committed, more invested.

Wait to the Lord Jesus Christ, never, never live for this

legacy that when your family, your spouse, your children

reflect on your brief pilgrimage on the earth, they can say with

confidence, he lived for Christ. She lived for Christ.

Oh, yeah, they, they had this job and, and they had those

hobbies and, and they, they had those kind of connections, but

none of that compared to how that person loved Jesus, just

determine that, that this is what my life will be about him,

him alone. Everything else will orbit

around him. This little life that I have a

breath will be a fragrance unto him.

So when it came to Baal worship revival, when it came to the

worship of the true God, the sanctuary was not full.

Let's read on. In verse 22, Second Kings 10, he

said to him who was in charge of the wardrobe, bring out the

vestments of all the worshippers of Vail.

So he brought out the vestments for them.

That's quite interesting. So they had even their own

wardrobe. And I wonder if Jay, who's doing

this so he can just easily target them.

So dress them up. They do.

Verse 23 Then Jay who went into the House of Bail with Johanna

Dab, the son of Recap, and he said to the worshippers of Baal,

search and see that there is no servant of the Lord here among

you, but only the worshippers of Baal.

Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.

Don't you find it interesting that right before Jehu executes

quite literally these worshippers?

He asked the group. To.

Scan the room. Ensure that there aren't any

worshippers of the true God in their midst.

This should cause you to pause and ask, why would there be any

worshippers of the true God at this assembly anyway?

That's a fair question, isn't it?

Why would there be? You called for the worshippers

of Baal. Here's the honest truth that

even for a true believer, they can lapse and they can find

themselves in the wrong place with the wrong people doing the

wrong thing. That's possible for a true

servant of God, and that's what we see here.

And this is just an imaginative way this could have played out

in this situation. So just imagine the news.

Jehu calling the masses to Samaritan worship.

Bale reaches your neighborhood, right?

This rising king Jehu, and there's so many different

discussions about him. There's rumors of what he's all

about. But this news comes to your

town, calling all these worshippers to honor Bale in a

new and fresh way. And your friends and some of

your family, they're ecstatic. About this, they're absolutely

thrilled. And here you are in their

presence, hearing them talk about this is it.

We're we're going to see Bill bless us now.

He's going to unleash his goodness on our land.

And surely he will honor us if we abandoned everything and make

our way to his house. And as you look out your front

step, maybe sitting on your little porch, you are watching

people frantically walking and running, packing their mules and

their donkeys and their Chariots, and there's Glee on

their faces and there's a buzz in the air, and finally a few

colleagues approach you. And they ask.

Would you come look how many people are going join us?

We haven't seen anything like this for so long and you think

to yourself perhaps. It's not a big deal, is it?

What can one visit the House of Bill really do?

I mean, how harmful can it be? If anybody asks I can just say I

was curious. What if Bale is real?

What if he's making a comeback? What if, what if Bale is

actually using this to test to see who is truly for him?

And, and if we don't pass the test, if if I don't pass the

test, then I'll be judged, I'll be cursed.

Oh, how wrong you would be to go to the House of Bale on that

day, because you see Jay who in asking for the room to be

evaluated. I'm not sure if you recognize

this is an act of God's intervening grace for a true St.

who might have made a wrong decision.

But know this, we don't always walk away from sinful

experimentation unscathed. That's not always granted to

people. And I've heard horrific life

altering stories, especially of young people who are too curious

for their good and it impacted them for the rest of their

lives. So let me say this, the best

thing to do is to always take God at His word.

If he says it's sin, if He says it's evil, leave it at that and

walk on and enjoy him and live for him.

So make sure that there's nobody here who worships the Lord.

Why would there be there anybody there to begin with?

Because it's possible for us to waver, and Jehu shows us that

God is gracious enough to deliver us.

But sometimes we can't always determine the outcome of our

sinful choices. Verse 25 of Second Kings 10

let's. Read back at verse 24.

Then they went in and to sacrifice, to offer sacrifices

and burnt offerings. Now J who had stationed 80 men

outside, and said, the man who allows any of those who might

give into your hands to escape shall forfeit his life.

This man is serious. You can't miss one of them.

I mean business here we have every single worshipper of Bail

in attendance. Not one is going to leave with

their life. What happens?

Verse 25 S As soon as he had made an end of offering the

burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the officers, Go in

and strike them down. Let not a man escape.

So when they put them to the sword, the guard and the

officers cast them out and went into the inner room.

Of the House of bail, And they brought out the pillar that was

in the House of bail and burned it.

And they demolished the pillar of bail and demolished the House

of bail. And made it a latrine.

To this day, you know what they did with that area?

They turned it into sewage. Now, many things were said here,

but is there any detail that stands out to you in light of a

comment that was maybe made earlier in this study?

Particularly with an object that was mentioned in these verses,

if you know, you can say it out loud.

Somebody said it, the pillar of Baal.

Did you notice that this is the same pillar that Jeharam put

away in Second Kings chapter 3 and now it makes a reappearance.

2 Kings 3 · chapter mention

So obviously when Jairam was trying to discourage Baal

worship, he didn't do it to the degree that Jehu does.

Here Jairam tucks it away. When Jehu gets a hold of it, he

crushes it to find powder. And hopefully you agree with me

in this. I see 2 examples of how people

handle and relate to sin. Jehoram when he comes to deal

with this object of idolatry, he recognizes that it's

unbefitting. He recognizes that it's no good.

And in like manner you have some who profess Christ that will

identify patterns, habits, decisions, addictions and they

they know full well this is unbefitting for a follower of

Christ. But instead of.

Putting it to death, they put it aside because down deep inside,

they, they don't know if at another future time they can

make use of that. Use of what?

Anything A harmful substance in times to medicate your anxiety.

An ungodly relationship that yeah, you ended it.

But all it takes is one text message or a phone call and a

night of loneliness so that you can feel loved or even

dishonorable ways of making money that you vowed to never

revisit again. But when times get tough and the

bills start piling up, I put it aside.

But I can make use of it. Again, we're not told why Joe

R.E.M. just put it aside. But one thing is for certain,

that is not a way to deal with idols.

The example here is JU. He's not the best example for a

lot of things, but in this case, he showcases the kind of

ambition that you and I have to have in our fight against sin.

Here's what you have to do to determine that.

I'm not going to give this thing another chance to reappear in my

life. It is that kind of level of

determination that God will honor and supply strength for.

That is true repentance, though we may repent over and over

because sin has a tendency to reintroduce itself.

In our lives, even sin that you hate and that you put aside,

even something that you were never tempted by for years, it

has a tendency of of knocking on the door of your heart and

saying you Remember Me. We must meet that sin with the

same force that we have when we originally decided that we are

going to put it to death. God will honor that kind of an

attitude, and we see it here. Unfortunately.

Get ready for probably the most shocking part of this Bible

study. Unfortunately, Jehu did not

extend the same determination he had against bail to other idols

in the last verses of this Bible study.

We have to honestly conclude that Jehu was an idolater at

heart. Very successful in honoring God

in this specific specific lane, but not in the ways that God had

asked of him and any Israelite of his time.

So he. Burns down the House of bail.

He destroys pillars. Any images that reflect him,

it's all gone. And you would think that he's

going to be the one, a very few who were honorable in this

roster of kings. And by way of comparison, he

still is. But notice what you read here in

verse 28. Thus, Jehu wiped out Bail from

Israel. But Jehu did not turn aside from

the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabad, which he made Israel to

sin, that is the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan.

What, you did all that to make sure that not even a stone would

be left representing Bill? But when it came to those two

golden calves that Jeroboam erected in Dannon and Bethel,

you left them. And not only did you leave them,

you reinforced worship for them and toward them.

How? How?

I'll tell you how. This confirms what we were

suspicious of all along. That though this man Jehu did 1

honor God in destroying Baalism, there was mixed ambition.

This man also wanted to arrive to the throne of Israel and

secure his position as long as possible.

So here's how we make sense of this.

He got rid of Baal, but then he remembered now being the king of

Israel and with the selfish goal of being the king of Israel,

staying the king of Israel. He recalled what Jeroboam did

when he was fearful that the people would go down to the

Kingdom of Judah and worship at Jerusalem.

Here's how he's thinking. I have to do what Jeroboam did.

In the same way Jeroboam kept the people by making them

worship idols and making worship convenient, I will do the same.

So if he was truly honorable to the Lord, he would have totally

respected God's wishes that three times a year the people

were to go down and worship at Jerusalem.

But no, no, no, that was too dangerous, that was too risky.

He might lose popularity, he might lose people.

The king of Judah might take them from him.

So what does he do? Let's resurrect.

Let's reinforce the worship that Jeroboam established in this

land. It's a dangerous thing when you

idolize power, when you idolize popularity, when you idolize

your position. And that's exactly what this man

does. And we read something strange in

verse 30. And the Lord said to Jehu,

because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my

eyes and have done to the House of Ahab, according to all that

was in my heart, your sons of the 4th generation shall sit on

the throne of Israel, full stop. So the Lord, hold on, hold on.

We just learned that this man was not completely devoted.

And then we get God's not condemnation commendation since

you've done what was in my heart.

And so I'm going to reward you to the 4th generation, which is

quite impressive when you compare the succession of kings

in Israel for four generations. Your seat is going to rule on

this throne. But where's the criticism of the

motive of his heart? Where's the denunciation of his

worship of Jeroboam's calves? Though God doesn't explicitly

say it, He is not pleased with it.

How do we know that in the last verses of this chapter?

Notice what happens verse 31. But Jehu was not careful to walk

in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart.

He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which He made Israel,

to sin. Here it is verse 32.

In those days the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel.

Pause. What was Jehu's desire in

compromising this way? I want to keep.

These tribes to myself, I want to keep the population as near

to me, as close to me as possible.

They're mine. I want their praise.

I want their allegiance, even at the expense of them truly

honoring the Lord. Even if I have to promote

idolatry, so be it. So you want the people, huh?

Here's how God disciplines them. I'm going to cut off some tribes

from your people. Here's how I'm going to humble

you. You betrayed me for these

people, so I'm going to take some of these people away from

you. How does he do it?

The second part of verse 32, Hazel.

You remember Hazel? You didn't forget about him,

right? The king of Syria, Hazael

defeated them throughout the territory of Israel and

specifically we were told where verse 33 from the Jordan

eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gaudites and the

Rubenites and the Menacites from error, which is by the valley of

Arnon, that is Gilead and Bashan.

So remember when Elijah was told by God back in First Kings 19, I

need you to anoint three people, Hazel to be the king of Syria,

Jehu to be the king of Israel, and Elisha to be your successor.

Those three were raised up to ultimately be means of

discipline towards Israel. The King of Syria does so

throughout Jairam's Lent reign. We see here that the king of

Israel, Jehu, does so. But the moment that Jehu now

turns and joins Israel in their idolatry, now he is personally

going to be disciplined by the Lord.

So now Syria is the means of discipline, the main means, and

he does so by cutting off a particular group of the tribes.

And this is very important to realize.

Within the boundaries of the Promised land, you had tribes,

but you also had certain amount of tribes that were just.

Over the border, That's the Jordan River.

Can anybody tell me the tribes that were just over the border?

If you can, if you know, you can say it.

Half tribe of Manasseh, not the full tribe.

Half tribe of Manasseh and the two other ones, Ruben and Gad. 2

1/2 tribes remained beyond the Jordan.

They they did not want to enter in.

Now I'm curious to know, was anybody here?

Not here, but Friday night Bible study here back when we studied

the Book of Numbers. Three people?

Really. Is that more?

Yeah. Well, we studied the Book of

Numbers together. And in the.

Book of Numbers We learn why these 2 1/2 tribes stayed back

instead of going into the promised land.

And this is how we're going to end our Bible study.

Go to Numbers 32. Here's my question as you're

turning there. Was it God's original will that

any of the tribes should establish themselves outside of

the boundaries He determined? Good.

It wasn't. So why did these 2 1/2 tribes

choose to settle? There are a couple of obvious

answers. Let me just show you 1 #32 verse

one. Now, the people of Reuben and

the people of God had a very great number of livestock and

they saw the land of Jazzer and the land of Gilead and behold,

the place was a place for livestock.

Read the rest of the chapter on your own time.

It's a fascinating discussion between these tribes and Moses.

And they tell Moses, I'm summarizing Moses.

Thanks for being faithful to us throughout these, you know, past

40 years. But we'd like to stay here.

And Moses is I can just imagine because just read it.

He goes, we're right at the border.

We're just here. Don't mess this up for us.

The not the wandering in the wilderness these past four

decades. Was that enough?

For you, did you not see what happened to the first

generation? And so they're going back and

forth. And Moses even warned if if you

actually pursue this kind of rebellion and distrust, God will

wipe us out and he'll raise up another generation.

And so they come to an agreement.

And here's the agreement because Moses was worried that their

decision to stay back would discourage the other tribes from

going in and fighting for their possession.

So here was the contract. KK, you can stay here if you

want, but you have to come in and fight with us.

And that's what we find in the book of Joshua.

However, though we might read this and think that this is

strategic, that this is practical, in reality it's a

manifestation of unbelief. On the part of these 2 1/2

tribes now you read here initially it's Reuben and Gad,

right? You're saying where's Manasa?

Manasa shows up later and here's what I believe that after Reuben

and Gad introduced this idea, they.

Influence half of the tribe of Manasa.

And that's why that tribe joins at least half of the tribe.

But let's take this tool here. What's their reasoning based on

verse one? They looked at their

possessions, they looked at the land and they thought, this is

perfect. Why get all cramped inside that

place and be limited and split that up when we can have this

and they can have more? This is perfect.

This is wonderful. It's unbelief because.

They didn't trust that what God had determined for them would be

enough for them. And they were so consumed with

their possessions, the fear of their future, their children's

future, their their livestock, their agriculture, their

businesses, that they totally dismissed God's glory #1.

And God's perfect provision and will for your life and mine.

Can I tell you how you can enter into very spiritual, spiritually

danger territory? When you begin to be convinced

that God's will is limited, when you begin to be convinced that

living fully for the Lord limits your options, you're flirting

with danger because that's what they're believing.

Here we have more on this side than if we go forward.

Who said that? Did God not know exactly what

would be enough for you? He did.

They didn't believe it. And So what do they do?

They lived on the fringe of God's will, these 2 1/2 tribes.

They wanted to be close enough where they're associated with

the people of God, but far enough where they can have what

they desired in the flesh. So they settled where some many

Christians settle on the outskirts of God's purposes and

plans for their lives. You read the end of Joshua and

you already begin to see the trouble of this because it seems

like, OK, it worked out. And this is one of the beauties

of reading through the the word of God because you come to

numbers and you think, all right, it seemed to have worked.

Then you continue on. There's no issues.

And it's not until you come to books like Second Kings.

Where you begin to. See the consequences of that

ancient choice. What do I mean by that?

All seems to be well, the end of Joshua.

There was a little bit of a confusion because they

understood that since we're not in the Promised land, these

tribes within the land of Canaan might think that we're not a

part of their family. And so they set up an altar and

it was a memorial right at the border so that the tribes within

would remember. These two of tribes outside are

a part of us. And what was the confusion

there? That the tribes within thought

that they were raising up an altar to worship when there was

supposed to be one place of worship which would be

established in Jerusalem later on.

So already there's problems in the beginning.

Things get quiet. You think, OK, seems like maybe

that was the right choice. Everybody has more space.

They're happy. Israelites within are happy.

But if you read your Bible carefully, what you'll realize

is that oftentimes the first ones to be harassed by

neighboring nations. Were the very tribes that chose

to be outside of the promised land Go back to 2nd Kingston.

Look at verse 33. Who did Hazael first come to

from the Jordan eastward? All the land of Gilead, the

Gaddites and the Reubenites and the Menasites, the very tribes

that thought it would be better for them to stay outside of

God's promise, were the first ones to taste punishment, were

the first ones to be harassed by the enemy.

And if you think this is an isolated case, look at Second

2 Kings 15:29

Kings 15 verse 29. This is when not Syria, but US

Syria comes into the land of Israel and captures some of the

people. Second Kings, 1529 in the days

of Pika, king of Israel. Tiglath pilot Sir King of

Assyria came and captured Skip. Name #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 What's that

name there with the letter G? Gilead and Galilee, all the land

of NAFTA, and he carry the people captive to Assyria.

There's nothing more prosperous, nothing more protective than to

be in God's complete will. And no matter what kind of

advantages you think you'll gain by remaining on the outskirts,

know this. It's always at the cost of being

more exposed to trouble, removing yourself from God's

perfect perfection, protection, provision.

I think there's a wonderful way to kind of tie everything

together. In the study of Second Kings 10,

you have this example of Jehu who was not wholehearted to the

Lord and reminded of these 2 1/2 tribes who also were not

completely invested in the will of God.

Both were robbed of God's complete reward.

It makes me wonder how much more Jehu would have been blessed

with if he had done it God's way completely.

Some reward, not a total reward. Yeah, these.

Tribes were able to enjoy some openness and good soil.

But it came at a great price. Here's how we end this study.

Don't settle. Don't settle for partial

obedience. Don't justify 1 area where you

know you're honoring the law about other areas where you know

that you're not trusting him. Don't settle living close enough

where your conscience is a little bit more calm, but you

know that you're not supposed to be where you are.

God will help us if we're willing to say, Lord, take

everything. He is so faithful and kind to

lead us. The moment we acknowledge we

need to be LED. Can we pray and ask for that

together? Father, from the bottom of my

heart, I give you maximum glory. That every Friday night we come

together to hear challenging verses in your book.

That every week we are confronted with truths about

sin, sin, sin, sin. We are constantly reminded

because your Word wants to remind us.

But Lord, in these discussions of the deception of sin, the

severity of sin, Lord, we ask that we would never lose the

fragrance and the sweetness of the Savior.

That you are right there ready to redeem us, forgive us, wash

us, restore us. And that's what we're asking for

now, Lord, if, if any person here has chosen to live

spiritually where they're not supposed to be, may they loosen

the ropes of their tents and make their way into the fullness

of your will. Lord, if if as we close with J

who any of our hearts are not totally there with you and for

you, if, if there are areas in your word where we ignore

deliberately, where we deny but justify with other areas that we

are praising and preaching, Lord, submerge us completely and

all that you have for us every single aspect of Your truth.

And so, Lord, we even consider that, like Jehu, send out a

final call for those who are of you to be removed from the place

and the people and the pursuits that they should not be

indulging in. May this Bible study serve as

that same warning and loving admonition that we would escape

and rejoice in your grace, that You love us enough to speak into

our lives even while we're in sin.

Lord, we honor you this evening and we want to praise you for

your word. Again, thank you for this Bible

study. Thank you for these precious

people. We give you all the honor and

all the glory and all the thanks.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Let's stand and let's worship

Him, glorify him, and give him the sacrifice of praise.

So I have a pastor friend who was led by the Lord to take that

that principle of some who put away their idols and others who

should be destroying it. And he was a brand new believer

and he was in his room worshiping the Lord, spending

time in his word. And the Lord impressed on his

heart, you have stuff that you put away, but that you didn't

destroy. And he was preaching that out of

the text that we were studying, but just the principle, because

you can find that at different places of God's word.

And sure enough, he, he knew exactly what the Holy Spirit was

convicted me of. And he opened his closet door

and there was a box there filled with paraphernalia and, and

items and even ungodly music and all these different things.

And he, he without hesitation took it and he destroyed it and

he threw it all out. Then he never looked back.

And it could be that there's some people here tonight who

need to do something similar. And it might not be physical

objects, it might be digital. It might be phone numbers.

The Lord will convict you if you're looking to know exactly

what He's asking of you. And perhaps it's true of some

here who you're not experiencing the fullness of joy in Christ

for this main reason. You're not fully given over to

Christ. You've planted your tent beyond

the Jordan. You're not within the promised

land. So maybe tonight for you, it's

not particular things as a believer, it's you becoming a

true believer. It's you saying, I'm giving my

complete heart over to you. I'm not reserving anything.

And that's where that's where you unlock all the blessings

that are in Christ. He will fully give the moment

you fully surrender. He's waiting for you.

He's waiting for you. Lord, we thank you again that

you can speak so loud and clear on a Friday night through a

Bible study because it's Your Word and it's a supreme

authority over our lives, and it is the supreme joy of our lives.

Lord, go before us as we make our way home, even in these

small moments of fellowship. May that just be added blessing

to our own hearts. We give you all the glory.

Bring us back together again. If it is your will, in Jesus

name we pray, Amen and Amen. May the Lord be with you, bless

you, empower you, reveal himself to you and we'll see you next

week, God willing. Take Care now.

Bye bye.