Getting Right About God

Brothers and sisters, God reveals Himself brilliantly and powerfully in this book of Kings. We have just finished a three-chapter cycle that focused primarily on Elijah and his exploits — and revealed God as the God who judges His people, who calls them back to fellowship with Himself, and who blesses them despite their sin. Chapter 19 showed us Elijah’s plea for God to judge Israel for its covenant-breaking — and chapters 20, 21, and 22 will show us how that judgment was carried out on and through Ahab. In every one of these chapters, Ahab fails. In this chapter, chapter 20, Ahab fails to recognize that God is indeed Yahweh— that He is indeed the God revealed in Scripture. In the next chapter, Ahab oppresses God’s people and receives God’s curse for it. And in chapter 22, Ahab meets his death at the hands of a Syrian soldier. These chapters also feature many unnamed prophets, and of course Elijah, stepping forward to declare the word of God in situation after situation. Thus, both of Elijah’s complaints are answered here and in the following chapters. On the one hand, we see that Elijah is far from the only true servant of God remaining in Israel; on the other, we see that God’s judgment will indeed overtake covenant-breaking Israel. But in that midst of that judgment, God highlights His grace and His universal dominion. When that grace is ignored, when it does not meet with the response it demands, then God works through His dominion to judge everyone who refuses to live in light of His gracious character. What we’ll see in this chapter is the unasked, undeserved grace of God, the universal dominion of God, and the certain judgment of God on those who refuse His grace.