Jehoahaz: The King who Loved Sin (2 Kings 13:1-9)
Jehoahaz: The King who Loved Sin
2 Kings 13:1-9
You probably noticed we are now again dealing with
One of the kings of Israel.
It has been a while since we have studied that line,
So let me put it back in context for you.
• Ahaz was the wicked king.
• He was followed by his son Ahaziah who fell through the lattice and died
• His brother Jehoram followed him as king.
• Jehoram (also called Joram) was shot and killed by Jehu
And then of course Jehu instituted a clean up of the northern kingdom by tearing down Baal’s temple and killing Jezebel.
I hope you remember Jehu.
He was the king who started out well in purifying Israel,
But one who allowed sin to ruin what he could have been.
2 Kings 10:28-33 “Thus Jehu eradicated Baal out of Israel. However, as for the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin, from these Jehu did not depart, even the golden calves that were at Bethel and that were at Dan. The LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing 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 fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel sin. In those days the LORD began to cut off portions from Israel; and Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel: from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites and the Reubenites and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.”
And you may remember that when we studied that
We talked about Jehu’s stubbornness not to repent
Even though God was judging him for his participation in the sin.
HIS SON IS A CHIP RIGHT OFF THE OLD BLOCK
So let’s just look at him this morning.
5 Points
#1 HIS SIN
2 Kings 13:1-2
We are familiar with Jeroboam’s sin by now.
• He was the man who built the two golden calves and told Israel that they no longer had to go and worship at the temple.
• Instead of making the long journey they could just do their worshiping at one of his convenient spiritual ATM machines.
Sure it was bowing to a graven image…
Sure it was failure to obey God’s commands…
But to Israel it was no big deal.
In fact, initial sin is now well over 100 years old,
And we are dealing with a people steeped in tradition.
And unfortunatel, Jehoahaz falls right in line,
And therefore the summary of his life is:
(2) “He did evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel sin; he did not turn from them.”
This king is remembered as an evil king.
• One who blatantly disregarded the second commandment…
• One who conveniently forgot the golden calf incident…
• One who refused to consider the judgment of Ahab’s house…
• One who stubbornly clung to an unbiblical tradition…
He sinned, and he stuck to it.
And he is remembered as evil.
His Sin
#2 HIS PUNISHMENT
2 Kings 13:3
And there is that big word “So”
“So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Aram, and into the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael.”
And of course you remember Hazael.
He was a tyrant, but one used mightily by God.
1 Kings 19:17 “It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death.”
2 Kings 8:12 “Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” Then he answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword, and their little ones you will dash in pieces, and their women with child you will rip up.”
God took a wicked man who hated His people and allowed him to inflict pain on His people as punishment for the continual wickedness.
And so allow me to remind you of a foundational truth.
SIN GETS PUNISHED
It doesn’t matter if it is a 100 year old tradition or not.
Our God does not condone disobedience from His children
Or unfaithfulness from His wife.
Where sin is entertained the judgment of God will follow.
• Look at Sodom…
• Look back at the flood…
• Look at Adam and Eve, clothed in animal skins, leaving the garden…
• See Moses standing on Nebo wishing he could touch the Promised Land…
• Look at David weeping over the death of his son conceived in adultery…
• Listen to Solomon in Ecclesiastes as he cries “meaningless”…
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS UNPUNISHED SIN.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death…”
Proverbs 10:16 “The wages of the righteous is life, The income of the wicked, punishment.”
Sin gets punished and it is being punished in Israel
Because Jehoahaz will not depart from the sin of Jeroboam.
His Sin, His Punishment
#3 HIS RESPONSE
2 Kings 13:4-5
Because Aram was bearing down on Israel…
Jehoahaz does a great thing.
He seeks God.
(Surely this was also instilled in him by his father)
“Then Jehoahaz entreated the favor of the LORD…”
And when a person seeks God, the result is guaranteed.
“and the LORD listened to him; for He saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Aram oppressed them.”
It is an absolute fundamental Law of God.
Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”
1 Chronicles 28:9 “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.”
Deuteronomy 4:29-30 “But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. “When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice.”
Continually in Scripture we are reminded
That when you seek God He shows up.
It doesn’t matter where you have been or what you have done.
You may be an obedient saint or the chief of sinners
THE PROMISE IS THE SAME.
When you seek God you find Him.
When you call on God He answers.
He delights in responding to those who seek Him.
And so when Jehoahaz entreats God, God listened.
(5) “The LORD gave Israel a deliverer, so that they escaped from under the hand of the Arameans; and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as formerly.”
Many have speculated as to who the deliverer was.
• Some think it was Elisha…
• Some think it was Jehoahaz’s son…
• Some think it was the Assyrian king (Adad-Nirari III) because he attacked Aram and drew them away from Israel…
But it really doesn’t matter who the deliverer was.
The beautiful point is that God provided deliverance.
Their sin brought about judgment,
Their cry to God brought about deliverance.
As we said not so long ago, God is a Savior by nature.
He delights in deliverance.
He delights in salvation.
And even more so when we cry out to Him for it.
Psalms 50:15 “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”
Psalms 18:3 “I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.”
Psalms 57:2-3 “I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me. He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth.”
Psalms 28:6-7 “Blessed be the LORD, Because He has heard the voice of my supplication. The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.”
And certainly it was true for Jehoahaz.
IF ONLY THE STORY ENDED THERE.
His Sin, His Punishment, His Response
#4 HIS DECEIT
2 Kings 13:6
What a huge word – “Nevertheless”
“Nevertheless they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel sin, but walked in them; and the Asherah also remained standing in Samaria.”
Israel returned right back to the sin
That started all the problem in the first place.
John MacArthur pointed out how this seemed to be a continuous cycle in Israel, especially paralleling the way Israel lived during the period of the judges.
TURN TO: JUDGES 2:11-23
Israel sins – Israel is punished – Israel cries out for deliverance
God sends deliverance – Israel returns to the sin
AND JEHOAHAZ IS RIGHT IN THAT CYCLE
WHAT WE LEARN IS THAT ISRAEL DIDN’T LOVE GOD,
ISRAEL LOVED SIN.
They were willing to use God for relief when life was hard,
But the second relief came, they returned to their first love.
And so many people use God in exactly the same way today.
• They don’t want to leave sin…
• They don’t want a life change…
• They just want God to come in a bail them out of their adversity so they can get back to being comfortable in their life of sin.
It is apparent that people have
Forgotten the purpose of God’s salvation.
Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
It does not say that Jesus came to save you from hell.
Might I remind you that God created hell.
Jesus didn’t come to save from hell.
Hell is a consequence and Jesus deals with the source, not the symptoms
Nor does Scripture say that Jesus came to save you from God.
It is not as though God is in heaven shooting at us
And we need someone to protect us from His wrath.
God is love. God is gracious. His mercies are new every morning.
In fact it was God who sent Jesus.
JESUS CAME TO SAVE YOU FROM SIN.
It is sin that is killing you.
It is sin that is wrecking your life.
It is sin that is sending you to hell.
It is sin that is inviting the curse on humanity.
Jesus came to save us from sin.
THE TRAGEDY IS THAT THE LAST THING
MOST PEOPLE WANT TO BE SAVED FROM IS SIN
Most people today want to be delivered from the consequences of sin,
But they want to keep their sin.
That was Jehoahaz.
He cried out to God for relief from the consequences,
But the second he had relief,
He loved his sin so much that he quickly returned to it.
IT WAS FAKE REPENTANCE, AND IT IS NEVER FULLY EFFECTIVE.
And we see false repentance continually in Scripture as well.
Hosea 6:1-6 “Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him. “So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth.” What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
Hebrews 12:14-17 “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”
Psalms 78:34-37 “When He killed them, then they sought Him, And returned and searched diligently for God; And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. But they deceived Him with their mouth And lied to Him with their tongue. For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.”
Isaiah 58:3-5 “Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers. “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high. “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD?”
In fact your Sunday school lesson alluded to false repentance.
Matthew 3:7-8 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;”
It is people who will tell God anything He wants to hear
So long as He will step in and fix what hurts.
But the second He does, they head back to the sin they love
It is deception, it is false repentance.
It is the common practice of those who love sin and desire to use God.
Jesus would save us from sin.
He desires to so change our hearts that no longer do we love sin,
But instead we love God.
It is the imposter who only seeks to use God
As the deliverer from everything but sin.
That is what Jehoahaz wanted.
His Sin, His Punishment, His Response, His Deceit
#5 HIS FATE
2 Kings 13:7-9
Because he returned to sin,
Eventually punishment had to come back around.
(7) “For he left to Jehoahaz of the army not more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and 10,000 footmen, for the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.”
Israel was beaten into a fine powder.
Israel returned to sin, and therefore they returned to judgment.
AND WE MUST LEARN THAT THIS IS THE CYCLE OF SIN.
When seeking to be delivered, false repentance never truly cuts it.
WE ARE REQUIRED TO TRULY REPENT.
What is true repentance?
It is a total change of the heart and of the mind regarding sin.
And it always manifests itself in a change of action.
But it starts with the heart.
Joel 2:12-13 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.”
James 4:7-10 “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
We have to come to the point where we see sin through God’s eyes.
We must realize that sin isn’t worth it, but that it is deadly destructive.
We must learn to hate it.
And then when we learn to hate it, we naturally flee from it.
That is what John the Baptist preached.
Luke 3:10-14 “And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?” And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”
To the church at Ephesus, Jesus explained repentance.
Revelation 2:4-5 “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place — unless you repent.”
Repentance is primarily a change of the heart,
But one that is definitely seen in a change of the actions.
If you need an example, look at this man.
Luke 19:8-9 “Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.”
Repentance is a true and total turning from sin.
AND THAT IS ALSO A MARK OF TRUE SALVATION
In fact, the apostle John gave a great explanation
Of how a true believer views sin.
TURN TO: 1 JOHN 1:5-10
This is a great study of the difference in the way
A true believer and false believer views sin.
1) OUR AWARENESS (5-7)
A true believer longs to be aware of any and all sin in their lives.
They hunt for it, and long for others to expose it.
A false believer however doesn’t want to know.
They want it left alone, allowed to linger.
This is why Jesus said:
John 3:19-21 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
True believers want their sin exposed, false believers want it ignored.
2) OUR ARROGANCE (8)
True believers are conscious of their sin and want it fixed.
False believers lie to themselves that they are fine as they are.
One is self-righteous, one desires God’s righteousness
3) OUR ADMITTANCE (9)
True believers confess their sin and find purity.
False believers conceal their sin and want it to remain.
One wants purity, one wants comfot.
4) OUR ARGUMENT (10)
A true believer humbles themselves before God’s conviction.
A false believer argues with God’s conviction.
One is justified by God, one is justified by self.
Jesus said to the Pharisees:
Luke 16:15 “And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.”
WHICH ONE ARE YOU?
• Do you acknowledge the fact that there is sin there?
• If there is sin there, do you want to know it?
• If God wants to remove it, can He, or do you desire to keep it?
• If God reveals it, will you admit it, or argue with Him?
Jehoahaz didn’t hate sin, he loved it.
He hated the consequences of sin.
And so he only wanted relief, not purity.
This action didn’t bring lasting relief.
Their cycle of sin brought a cycle of judgment.
Jehoahaz needed to seek God for deliverance and leave his sin behind.
And that is true for each and every one of us as well.
• God is a Savior.
• God is a Deliverer.
• If you call on Him, He will answer and deliver.
But you must leave your sin behind,
Or you will only return to where you were.
I want to leave you this morning with a prayer of David.
Psalms 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”
