When The Flesh Wants Its Way

1 Kings 21:1-29

Ahab is an example of a person radically devoted to himself. In chapter 21 we see that he will do anything to get what he wants. And when he doesn?t get it he pouts and throws a fit like a toddler. He?ll then submit to any means to satisfy even the smallest desire. He?ll also do anything to avoid God, especially when that means being called into account for his attitudes and actions.

Last time we saw God reach out to this ungodly man, performing two miracles on behalf of him and the nation of Israel. The purpose was so that Ahab would see who was really God. Ahab apparently wasn?t listening, though, as we?ll see in chapter 21.

Chapter 21

1 ? 4

Apparently Naboth owned a vineyard next to Ahab?s property. Ahab decided he wanted to grow some vegetables there (which seems a little bit odd for a king to worry about) so he offered to buy it from Naboth. He even offers Naboth a better piece of land in exchange. This might seem like an innocent transaction, and why wouldn?t Naboth want to give something to his king?

Turns out that it was against the Mosaic Law. Leviticus 25:23-28 and Numbers 36:7 specifically prohibit the transfer of land between tribes, declare that the land is really God?s, and that no transfer of land shall be permanent, which is what Ahab apparently wanted to do.

Ahab goes home and throws a tizzy fit. This is the second time we?ve seen him ?vexed and sullen.? ?Vexed? comes from a Hebrew word that means ?sad? and comes from the root word ?to turn away.? ?Sullen? comes from a root that means to ?boil over.? So he was depressed and seething at the same time.

What reaction do you have when someone around you declares they are following the Lord? Maybe you are asking them to do something you know you or they shouldn?t do. Hearing someone say ?The Lord forbid? is a wakeup call. But what do you wake up to?

Paul said: (2 Corinthians 7:10-11) For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Let?s just say that Ahab?s reaction shows the true position of his heart, not soft towards obeying God, but as we?ll see, soft towards obeying the lusts of the flesh, which leads him further away from God and righteousness.

5 ? 7

Notice how Ahab leaves out the part about Naboth wanting to obey God? Jezebel I think here basically chides Ahab for not just taking charge but I think too she is being sarcastic. Ahab was king but he didn?t rule, Jezebel did. And she shows it by taking the think over. Though it is actually her that comes up with the idea to have Naboth killed, God holds him accountable. Just because a sin is someone else?s idea, if we go along with it, we are complicit.

Satan will sometimes make it possible to give us the fleshly desire we crave, but it is really only meant to enslave us, not bring us joy, peace, or freedom. We think that if I can just get that thing, that job, that person, then I?ll be happy. If we don?t seek God to see if it is something that will further His kingdom or make us more like him, and if we then stoop to whatever means necessary to obtain what we want, we will find ourselves enslaved and miserable.

Paul in Romans put it this way:

Romans 6:16-18 Don\'t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey ? whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. NIV

8 ? 16

Something that bothers me here is how the elders of the city were also complicit in Jezebel?s murder plot. I think this shows how powerful Jezebel had become and how far from God the people had gone. How odd that they use the Law of God to carry out the sins of man. They accuse Naboth of cursing God when in fact Naboth was obeying God and they cursed Him by committing murder. They spit in God?s face and broke lots of the 10 commandments they accused Naboth of breaking (false witness, murder, covet your neighbor?s house, steal, misuse the name of the Lord, not mention loving the Lord above all else and your neighbor as yourself ? Exodus 20). It?s also interesting because Jezebel is not a Jew, but she knows how to manipulate the Word of God to sinful ends for people who are not committed to following Yahweh.

Ahab may have gotten what he wanted, but there is no record of any joy it brought him. He took possession of it, but sold his soul to evil in return.

17 ? 24

I love God?s timing. As soon as Ahab walks into the garden and he?s looking around at this thing that came with a very great price, God?s representative shows up to convict him of sin, and in this case, pronounce judgment on him. Elijah is Ahab?s enemy because he represents God and His displeasure with sin. It?s a pretty harsh judgment but deserving. I think perhaps Ahab knew at some point God would find him. A death in this way was very disgraceful. I think it?s important to notice that God is making this judgment based on the relatively small matter of a piece of property and the death of just one individual. God truly is the champion of the weak, and sin really is sin, no matter how small.

25 ? 26

Here we see the author?s description of just how bad Ahab was. Notice it was Jezebel, who was a Sidonian, who incited Ahab. ?Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers? 2 Corinthians 6:14.

27 ? 29

I guess this shows that even the hardest person can repent. No longer sullen and seething, Ahab is ?dejected? which is a Hebrew word meaning ?soft.? He repented, but Jezebel did not. Never the less, I think his is foxhole repentance. It buys him time, but in the next chapter we see him just as opposed to God as before. His repentance, apparently, is short lived.

Conclusions

I think the story of Ahab here in chapter 21 is a good model for us to see the flesh and the enemy at work in our lives.

1. Watch for your reaction when you don?t get what you want

A lot of times we can judge whether something we want may not be something God wants for us based on our reaction to not getting it. Ahab wanted the garden. When he didn?t get it he reacted in two ways: he got depressed and he got mad.

Look at Matthew 6:8. The Lord?s Prayer. In it Jesus essentially directs us to pray so that the pure character of God will be manifest in our lives so that His kingdom and His will be accomplished everywhere. To that aim we are to be like God, forgiving and merciful, but also watchful and resistant to that which is opposed to God?s character.

The more we become like God, the more our prayers will be shaped by these principals. No wonder God says we can ask and receive. God knows our needs and will grant them according to His will. The more we are like Him the more in concert with His will we will pray.

This frees us from being ruled by the flesh, if God says no then that?s okay. It may be ?not now? but we need to examine our hearts to see if by getting that thing we will glorify God or our flesh. When we find ourselves getting depressed that we can?t have it, then angry at God or another, we may be dealing with a fleshly motivation, rather than a spiritual one.

James 4:1-4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

1. Watch for the enemy to support the flesh

Jezebel in this account represents Satan. She came alongside and basically told Ahab to man up and go get what his flesh wanted. She offered to be of service and help him fulfill his fleshly desires. To do that she made him an accomplice in twisting God?s Word, and committing a far worse sin than taking a piece of property, namely causing the murder of an individual.

James 1:13-15 Let no one say when he is tempted, \"I am being tempted by God,\" for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Death came from Ahab?s sin, not just for Naboth, but for Ahab, Jezebel, and Ahab?s family.

Death comes to us in consequences for our actions, harmed relationships, harmed fellowship with God, and death in us, and ineffectiveness for God?s kingdom.

So what do we do when the answer is no?

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you