Prophetic Order Is Scriptural Order

PASTORS ON WHEELS – KINGDOM KINDNESS & HELPS MINISTRIES Dr. Michael Torres December 14, 2020

Title: Jehovah – The SHOWDOWN God (Part 11) Text: I Kings 17:1; 21:1-29; 22:1-40; II Kings 9:1-37; 10:1-28 Introduction: Prophetic Order, Prophetic Will & God’s Covenant People

• Prophetic Order – Must Be Entirely SCRIPTURE Based: Sola Scriptura – Scripture Alone. The Five Books Of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy). There Is Simply No Order Without Scripture!

PROPHETIC ORDER IS SCRIPTURAL ORDER

God Hands Moses The Torah, Including The 10 Commandments For All Generations To Consult And Obey – Joshua 1:7-8

PROPHETIC ORDER IS SCRIPTURAL ORDER CONSULTED AND OBEYED! CONSULT THE BOOK, OBEY THE BOOK!

I. God In Need Of Elijahs Today: I Kings 17:1

Quote #1: I Kings 17:1 In Elijah’s day, the Israelites, under the influence of the royal family, were swayed to the pagan view that Baal, the Canaanite god of weather and fertility, was the source of water and food. Unless Baal was worshipped, rain would not fall. Without rain, there would be no crops. And without crops, there would be no life…Elijah appears on the scene surprising

abruptness. He is introduced without any information about his prior life, without reference to his family or clan in Israel, and even his birthplace (Tishbe) is not known with confidence today. He is assigned no elaborate pedigree, whereby we could place him in the social register in ancient Israel, and no support group is mentioned for whom he could be considered the spokesman. He lived in Gilead, a peripheral area in ancient Israel, isolated across the Jordan. He had no fame or notoriety, no particular political clout, no credentials to command a hearing, no alphabet soup of academic degrees following his name…Elijah’s great qualification for serving God at his moment in history was the same as that other Servant of the Lord: his food and drink were “to do the will of Him who sent Me,” (John 4:34). All too often as Christians, we tend to think that the work of God in our day is done by the great and powerful, the famous preachers, celebrities, and the influential wealthy. God looks not for fame but for faith, not wealth but willingness, not renown but reliance. The only pedigree needed to serve God in our world is His call obedience.1

King Ahab Worshipping Tyrian Baal

1 Raymond B. Dillard, Faith In The Face Of Apostasy (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing Company, 1999), pp. 15, 16, 17. 2

II. God’s SHOWDOWN And SMACKDOWN Prophet – Elijah: Prophets Who Deliver God’s Rebukes And Spankings!

Quote #2: Showdown n. clash, confrontation, climax, face-off, turning point, moment of truth, duel.2

Quote #3: We are impressed with the suddenness of Elijah’s appearance. Everything seemed to be capitulating to Baal (I Kings 16:31-33a) when suddenly we are staring at a prophet whose confession of faith is his name: ‘My God is Yahweh’ [El – Jah]…Awfully abrupt. No introduction. Hardly a snatch from his curriculum vitae. We’ve never heard of him before and now he is just – there…Elijah is saying that Yahweh is going to inflict the covenant curses upon Israel for her covenant-breaking. Moses had warned that if Israel worshipped other gods, Yahweh would, among other things, ‘shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruits,’ (Deuteronomy 11:16-17 NSAB; see also Deuteronomy 28:23-24).3

Quote #4: Drought was one of the recognized Divine punishments for idolatrous apostasy. If Israel should fall into disobedience, we read in Deuteronomy, “the Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust; from heaven shall it come down upon thee – until thou be destroyed”; and in Leviticus we read “If ye will not hearken, I will make your heavens as iron and your earth as brass.” Three years’ famine was a recognized penalty for apostasy. It was one of the sore plagues of God.4

Quote #5: I Kings 17:1 The first task set Elijah was to announce to Ahab the coming of a drought. Drought in Eastern lands means famine and severe suffering, the loss of cattle, the general impoverishing of the nation, the untimely death of thousands of the inhabitants. It was doubtless understood that the judgment was on account of the recent change of religion; and it was openly announced, that no removal or modification of the scourge would take place, except at Elijah’s word.5

Quote #6: I Kings 17:1 Such a drought would have been a national disaster. It would have been looked upon by the people as sent by God as punishment for some sin. The fact that it followed Elijah’s words authenticated his claim to be

2 Marc Mc Cutcheon, Roget’s Super Thesaurus (Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1995), p. 465. 3 Dale Ralph Davis, I Kings: The Wisdom And The Folly (Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, Ltd., 2009), pp. 201-202. 4 F. W. Farrar, The First Book Of Kings (New York, NY: George H. Doran Company, n.d.), p. 362. 5 George Rawlinson, The Kings Of Israel And Judah (New York, NY: Fleming H. Revell Company, n.d.), p. 65. 3

the servant of God and, by implication, condemned the policies of Ahab which Elijah had opposed.6

Quote #7: I Kings 17:1 In those dark times God raised up a light, the prophet Elijah. Reared in rugged Gilead, Elijah was a rugged individualist, a man of stern character and countenance, zealous for the Lord. Elijah sought Ahab and delivered the Lord’s pronouncements. In contrast to those who were not gods, whose idols Ahab ignorantly worshipped, the living Lord, who was truly Israel’s God, would withhold both dew and rain for the next several years. Already the drought had lain on the land some six months (cf. Luke 4:25; James 5:17 with I Kings 18:1); now the reason for it all was to be revealed to Israel’s apostate leadership. The message was clear: Israel had broken the pledge of its covenantal relationship with God (Deuteronomy 11:16-17; 28:23-24; cf. Leviticus 26:19; I Kings 8:35). Therefore, God was demonstrating His concern for both His people’s infidelity and their folly in trusting in false fertility gods like Baal. No rain! There would not even be dew until God’s authentic messenger would give the word!7 III. Elijah, God’s CLOSED DOOR Prophet: I Kings 21:1-29 Because of Ahab’s continual sinning, Elijah goes from SHOWDOWN/SMACKDOWN prophet to CLOSED DOOR prophet!

A) God’s “Closed Door” Pronouncement: I Kings 21:1-29

The Prophet Elijah Confronts King Ahab About Naboth’s Death

6 J. Robinson, The First Book Of Kings (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999), p. 200. 7 R.D. Patterson and Hermann J. Austel, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary – I & II Kings, Volume IV, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988), p. 138.

B) God’s “Closed Door” 1st Phase Fulfillment: I Kings 22:1-40

King Ahab Killed In Battle – Key Verses 37-38

C) God’s “Closed Door” 2nd Phase Fulfillment: II Kings 9:1-37

Jehu Anointed King And Avenging Destroyer – II Kings 9:1-10 – Key Verses 6-10

Jehu Kills King Jehoram, Son Of Ahab And Jezebel – II Kings 9:11-26 – Key Verses 24-26 5

Queen Mother Jezebel Thrown Out The Palace Window – II Kings 9:30-37 Key Verse 36

D) God’s “Closed Door” 3rd Phase Fulfillment: II Kings 10:1-17

Kings Ahab’s 70 Natural Sons Beheaded Key Verses 7, 10-11

Quote #8: Sin destroyed Ahab just as Elijah had warned. Try as he may he could not keep the prophecy from coming true. In the battle at Ramoth Gilead, Ahab removed his royal robes and donned his armour. All his precautions were to no avail. A Syrian soldier drew a bow at random and the arrow struck Ahab between the joints of his armour, and he died. That evening, someone took his chariot to the pool of Samaria to wash the blood out of it, and there the dogs came and licked the blood, just as Elijah had predicted (I Kings 22:29-38)…Sin also destroyed all the male descendants of Ahab (II Kings 9:24-26; 10:6-7, 9-17), and it finally destroyed Jezebel herself. Her own servants pushed her out of the window as she watched Jehu come through the city gate, and she was trampled by his chariot. When he sent someone back to bury her, the dogs had already savaged her body. Nothing was left except her skull, her feet and the palms of her hands. No one has ever stated better the significance of this than R. G. Lee in this famous sermon, Pay Day – Some Day:8

God Almighty saw to it that the hungry dogs despised the brains that conceived the plot that took Naboth’s life. God Almighty saw to it that the mangy lean dogs of the back alleys despised the hands that wrote the plot that took Naboth’s life. God Almighty saw to it that the lousy dogs which ate carrion despised the feet that walked in Baal’s courts and then in Naboth’s vineyard.9

8 Roger Ellsworth, Standing For God – The Story Of Elijah (Edinburgh, UK: The Banner Of Truth Trust, 2013), pp. 128-129. 9 Robert G. Lee, Pay Day-Some Day (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1957), p. 31. 7

E) God’s “Closed Door” Final Phase Fulfillment: II Kings 10:18-28 Key Verses 23 [The Lord Priests Spared], 25 [Baal’s Priest Not Spared]

Quote #9: Jehu makes sure all Baalists don vestments (v. 22), which will make them easy to identify for his execution squad. He also makes sure no servants of Yahweh will be there – this is no ecumenical service (v. 23). Jehu goes in for the sacrificial procedures but has eighty commandos under orders outside (v. 24). When he leaves the liturgy, he sends in his men to cut all down (v. 25). This they do, wiping out worshippers and leveling temple and its pagan paraphernalia, making it all a part of Jehu’s temple-to-toilets program (vv. 26- 27). Then verse 28 – that frugal summary: ‘Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel.’10

Quote #10: II Kings 10:18-24 Jehu ‘s continued purge of Baalism in Israel next took the form of deception. Feigning that he himself was a devotee of Baal, he ordered a great assembly for sacrifice to be held in Samaria and ordered all the priests and ministers of Baal to come, on penalty of death (vv. 18-19). On the day set for the feast, the various ministers arrived. To readily identify them as Baal’s faithful, each was given a special robe (vv. 20-22). With the temple of Baal crowded with Baal’s priests, and with the temple guarded securely by eighty selected guards, Jehu and Jehonadab entered the temple to see the opening

10 Dale Ralph Davis, II Kings: The Power And The Fury (Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, Ltd., 2011), p. 164 – Bold Lettering Added.

sacrifices (vv. 23-24). II Kings 10:25-27 When the ceremonies had begun, Jehu and Jehonadab stepped outside; then Jehu gave the prearranged signal for the guards to enter the temple and slay the worshippers (v. 25). This they did, penetrating even into the ruined shrine of the temple. None escaped. After the execution had been accomplished, the wooden images and the stone statues of Baal were carried outside and demolished; then the temple itself was torn down and burned (vv. 26-27a). To desecrate the site and mark the contempt attendant to it, Jehu converted it into a place for public convenience (v. 27b). II Kings 10:28-30 Jehu had exterminated the worship of Baal in Israel (v. 28). For this the Lord commended him and promised him a royal succession to the fourth generation (v. 30).11

All The Priest Of Tyrian Baal Killed On Jehu’s Orders

Conclusion: Let Us Make Sure That Whatever We Do For God In 2021 Is Scripturally Sanctioned And Prophetically Approved. If We Don’t Do Ministry According To The Due Order, We Will Certainly Pay A Heavy Price At The Hands Of JEHOVAH – The SHUT DOOR God!

11 R.D. Patterson and Hermann J. Austel, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary – I & II Kings, Volume IV, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988), p. 212.

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