My Enemies Are Three – Part 1
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest [Ephesians 2:1-3].
In 1 Kings 21 the story is told of evil King Ahab of Israel and his wicked wife Jezebel. King Ahab wanted an Israelite named Naboth to sell his vineyard to the king. Trouble was, the Law of Moses interdicted the sale because ownership of tribal land had to remain within the tribe. If Naboth sold the vineyard to King Ahab, the land would pass from Naboth’s tribe to Ahab’s tribe.
Being the mighty king he was, Ahab went home and moped about it. Wicked Jezebel crooned him into telling her the tale, and was she irked! So she hired some wretched lowlifes to falsely accuse Naboth of cursing God. Here was Naboth upholding the Law, and there was Ahab/Jezebel perverting it. Naboth paid with his life, as did his entire family. Ahab went in and took over the vineyard.
The Lord was none to pleased with this state of affairs. All authority is established by God. He established it to represent Him. Ahab blasphemed God’s character by his crime, and he was the king of Israel! So the Lord took action against Ahab. He sent the prophet Elijah to confront Ahab and pronounce the Lord’s verdict on him and his family.
Elijah went to Jezreel, the city where Naboth’s vineyard was situated. When Ahab saw Elijah, he knew his crime was exposed. He knew the Lord dispatched Elijah to pronounce judgment against him because he had a predilection for sinning and had experienced the Lord’s pronouncements many times already. Let’s read verse 20 of 1 Kings 21 and hear what Ahab had to say to Elijah.
Ahab said to Elijah, “ Have you found me, O my enemy?”
Elijah was the Lord’s prophet, not his own person. What Elijah had to say to Ahab or anyone else was the Word of God, not the words of Elijah. Accordingly, if Elijah was Ahab’s enemy, then the Lord was Ahab’s enemy first. If the Lord was Ahab’s enemy, then Ahab was sinning and not repenting of his sins. These are the straightforward facts of spiritual life, dear people.
Well, I’ll leave the rest of the story to your imagination. Better yet, go to your Bible and read the story. It’s better and safer that way, rather than depending on the imagination.
What I want us to take from the story is how Ahab recognized Elijah as his enemy. Ahab was a child of the devil, Elijah a child of God. So Ahab rightly discerned this truth about Elijah.
I thought of this connection when I began reading the second chapter of Ephesians. God has His enemies and His family shares these enemies with God. There are three broad categories of enemies generally associated with the Lord and His people.
Oh, but time demands we cease our investigation. We will continue it on the morrow. Jesus summons us into His presence for personal time with Him now. Don’t keep Him waiting!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
In 1 Kings 21 the story is told of evil King Ahab of Israel and his wicked wife Jezebel. King Ahab wanted an Israelite named Naboth to sell his vineyard to the king. Trouble was, the Law of Moses interdicted the sale because ownership of tribal land had to remain within the tribe. If Naboth sold the vineyard to King Ahab, the land would pass from Naboth’s tribe to Ahab’s tribe.
Being the mighty king he was, Ahab went home and moped about it. Wicked Jezebel crooned him into telling her the tale, and was she irked! So she hired some wretched lowlifes to falsely accuse Naboth of cursing God. Here was Naboth upholding the Law, and there was Ahab/Jezebel perverting it. Naboth paid with his life, as did his entire family. Ahab went in and took over the vineyard.
The Lord was none to pleased with this state of affairs. All authority is established by God. He established it to represent Him. Ahab blasphemed God’s character by his crime, and he was the king of Israel! So the Lord took action against Ahab. He sent the prophet Elijah to confront Ahab and pronounce the Lord’s verdict on him and his family.
Elijah went to Jezreel, the city where Naboth’s vineyard was situated. When Ahab saw Elijah, he knew his crime was exposed. He knew the Lord dispatched Elijah to pronounce judgment against him because he had a predilection for sinning and had experienced the Lord’s pronouncements many times already. Let’s read verse 20 of 1 Kings 21 and hear what Ahab had to say to Elijah.
Ahab said to Elijah, “ Have you found me, O my enemy?”
Elijah was the Lord’s prophet, not his own person. What Elijah had to say to Ahab or anyone else was the Word of God, not the words of Elijah. Accordingly, if Elijah was Ahab’s enemy, then the Lord was Ahab’s enemy first. If the Lord was Ahab’s enemy, then Ahab was sinning and not repenting of his sins. These are the straightforward facts of spiritual life, dear people.
Well, I’ll leave the rest of the story to your imagination. Better yet, go to your Bible and read the story. It’s better and safer that way, rather than depending on the imagination.
What I want us to take from the story is how Ahab recognized Elijah as his enemy. Ahab was a child of the devil, Elijah a child of God. So Ahab rightly discerned this truth about Elijah.
I thought of this connection when I began reading the second chapter of Ephesians. God has His enemies and His family shares these enemies with God. There are three broad categories of enemies generally associated with the Lord and His people.
Oh, but time demands we cease our investigation. We will continue it on the morrow. Jesus summons us into His presence for personal time with Him now. Don’t keep Him waiting!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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