LFE LESSONS
AHAB AND JEZEBEL
COMMUNION SUNDAY
DR. JIM DIXON
1 KINGS 16:29-33
SEPTEMBER 21, 2003
In the year 1947, Tennessee Williams wrote his famous play “A Streetcar Named Desire.” In the next year, 1948, Williams received the Pulitzer Prize for that play. “A Streetcar Named Desire” is the story of a woman named Blanche Dubois. It is a story of rape. It is a story of alcoholism. It is a story of materialism. It is a story of desire. It is about the delusions of desire. It is about the brutality of desire. It is about the hope and the hopelessness of desire. It is about desire out of control.
Ahab, King of Israel, was on that streetcar because his reign and the reign of his queen, his wife Jezebel, were all about desire, desire out of control. This morning God would ask you how you’re doing with regard to desire and the role of desire in your life.
The Greek word, the biblical word for “desire out of control” is the word “epithumia.” I want you to get a picture of the meaning of this word epithumia. Maybe some of you have seen the film short called “Gone Nutty.” It’s taken from bonus footage in the movie “Ice Age.” If you’ve seen that short film of Scrat the squirrel trying desperately and obsessively (and hopelessly) to gather his thousands of acorns, you have a picture of epithumia, desire out of control. Of course, in that little film short, you see the futility of desire. You see the destructiveness of desire as this neurotic prehistoric squirrel triggers an intercontinental divide. Of course, it’s a reminder that we’re all a little bit neurotic and sometimes desire gets a little out of control.
This word epithumia in the Bible is used in two different ways, and from these we get our two life lessons as they apply to Ahab and Jezebel. First of all, this word epithumia, this word for desire, is sometimes used in the context of wealth. It’s sometimes used in the context of material things and in regard to materialism.
You know how Ahab was the son of Omri. We saw last week how Omri was a syncretist and a pluralist, and certainly the House of Omri was characterized by syncretism and pluralism. This was true of Ahab. Ahab took for his wife the wicked Jezebel. She was the daughter of Ithobaal, who was King of the Sidonians. The Sidonians worshipped a fertility god. His name was Baal. He was a fertility god who was widely worshipped in the ancient world. He was worshipped by the Canaanites, an Ugaritic god. This was the god of the Sidonians, although they had a pantheon of gods. They also worshipped Asherah. Asherah was a fertility goddess and the consort of Baal. So, Jezebel came to Israel, the wife of King Ahab, queen now of Israel. She brought with her the worship of this fertility god and this fertility goddess. She brought with her the worship of Baal and the worship of Asherah. Ahab embraced her religion as part of his syncretism, the combining of religions. You will recall he allowed her to appoint 450 prophets of Baal in Israel and 400 prophetesses who served Asherah.
What was that all about? Why would Ahab embrace a fertility god and a fertility goddess? Why would he begin to build temples all over Israel and holy sites dedicated to Baal and dedicated to Asherah? He did this because of his desire for wealth. We need to understand that fertility gods and goddesses were worshipped throughout the ancient world in conjunction with wealth. In the ancient world, if you wanted your business to prosper, if you wanted your crops to increase, you would go to a fertility god or goddess. You would go to their temples, and you would offer a sacrifice. You would offer prayer and you would expect them to prosper you, to multiply your bank account, to increase your harvest, to make your business successful. It was all about wealth. It was all about materialism and material things.
So desperate was the ancient world for wealth that the worship of Baal in the Canaanite cultures was associated with child sacrifice. Moms and dads, desperate for prosperity, would offer their own children on the altars of Baal. Incomprehensible. And yet there is archeological evidence that child sacrifice was practiced in Israel under Ahab and Jezebel, so fallen had the throne of Israel become.
There’s a segment of the church of Jesus Christ today who tries to turn the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the one true God, Yahweh Elohim, into a fertility god. That’s why you see prosperity teaching in churches all over our nation and in other parts of the world, as though God existed to make you wealthy. But in the ancient world this was associated with Baal and with Asherah.
As you hear the story of Ahab and Jezebel, perhaps you’re not convicted because you think, “Well, you know, I’m not worshipping a fertility god or a fertility goddess.” When you hear of their misconduct, and of course in 1 Kings, chapter 21, we have the story of Naboth. I think many of you know that story. Naboth owned a vineyard and his land was contiguous with the land of the summer palace of King Ahab. King Ahab would look out of his summer palace, and he would see the vineyard of Naboth. He wanted it. He desired it. He thought about it all the time. He thought, “Boy, would I like to have that. It’s such a great vineyard. It’s so fertile. It produces so many grapes. I would love to have that!” He just thought about it and coveted it and desired it.
He went to Naboth, who was an Jezreelite. He said to him, “I will pay you for your vineyard and buy it from you. Or if you prefer, I will give you land in place of it, even a larger portion of land.” Naboth said no. He said, “I cannot displease the Lord by selling or trading the land inherited by my fathers.” So, Ahab was angry. He went back to his palace and his desire was great. He began to explain it all to his wife Jezebel. She said, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.” She knew the law of the land. She knew that if a person was convicted as a criminal and executed, then the property of that person passed to the king, to the government. And so, she hired two men to bear false witness against Naboth. They came and they slandered him and they bore false witness. On the base of that false witness, Naboth was executed. He was tried and convicted and then executed. Jezebel came to Ahab and said, “The land is yours.”
If he were an honorable man, he would have arrested his wife for murder. He would have arrested these two men who bore false witness for slander and as accomplices in murder. He would have sought to make some kind of restitution to the family of Naboth. But instead, in his desire he sought to seize the land. And the judgement of God came upon him as spoken to him by the prophet Elijah.
Again, you hear a story like that and you think, “Well, I don’t have that kind of desire.” You probably can’t remember the last time you killed somebody. You probably can’t remember the last time you slandered somebody. You don’t have that kind of greed, and perhaps you feel pretty comfortable. Perhaps we feel kind of comfortable about the level of our desires. But we need to be careful because we live in one of the richest nations on earth and we live in one of the richest places in this nation. We need to keep our desires monitored and in check. Our Lord Jesus tells us that sometimes the distortion of desire is subtle.
You know the story of the rich man who came to Jesus. It’s described in all three Synoptic Gospels, in Matthew 19, in Mark, chapter 10, and in Luke, chapter 18. We’re told that this rich man came to Jesus and he said, “Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
In Luke’s Gospel, we’re told that he was a ruler. The Greek word means he was of royal blood. In Matthew’s Gospel, we’re told that he was young, so we know he was not a ruler of the Synagogue because they were never young. He was rich and he was young and he had royal blood. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” he said. Jesus took him to Torah, took him to the books of the Pentateuch, and took him to the divine instructions of the word of God. Jesus took him to Exodus, chapter 20, and Deuteronomy, chapter 5, and to the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. He took the six commandments dealing with the way we should treat our fellow man and he quoted five of the six. Then he added Leviticus 19:18, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The one commandment that Jesus left out of those six was the tenth commandment and it was, “Thou shall not covet.” Surely Jesus left that out because he knew this man had a problem with coveting.
When Jesus listed the commandments, this young rich ruler said, “Master, all of these I have kept from my youth.” In Mark’s Gospel, we’re told that Jesus looked at him and loved him. Jesus saw something in him that was lovable. Jesus made an amazing offer to him. Jesus said to him, “One thing you lack. Go and sell all that you have. Give it to the poor and come, follow Me, and you will have treasure in heaven.” That’s an amazing offer. Bible scholars believe that Jesus was actually inviting this rich young ruler to discard his wealth and come and join the twelve, to come and be one of the core of disciples. Jesus never gave this invitation beyond the disciples. Usually he said to people, “Remember what you have heard.” Take it and share it with those in your community (or maybe don’t share it with those in your community because of the political sensitivity). Jesus would tell them, “Do this and live.” He would send them away with a new perspective, but He didn’t invite them to join the Twelve. “This man went away sorrowful,” the Bible says, because he was extremely rich.
Jesus said, “It’s harder for a rich person to get into heaven than for a camel to get through the eye of a needle.” They thought the rich were going to be the first to go to heaven because they viewed riches as manifestation of the blessing of God. Surely the rich will go to heaven first. The response of Christ was basically this. When the disciples said, “Who, then, can be saved?” Jesus said, “No one, humanly speaking. But with God all things are possible.” Now, when you look at that passage and you see how Jesus told the rich man to unload everything, to go and sell it all… You see that Jesus saw something wrong in this man’s heart with regard to desire. But I think we make a mistake when we think Jesus doesn’t ask the same of us. I believe it is clear biblically that the moment we come to Christ, Jesus says to us, “Give it all away.” The moment I accepted Christ, the moment you accepted Christ, in that moment you embraced Him as your Savior and your Lord, He said, “Give it all away.” There’s a sense in which we are required as Christians to give it all to Him—to give it all up, to renounce ownership of anything I own nothing then to try to discern what He would have me keep as a steward, knowing that my stewardship would be evaluated. That’s the Christian way.
I think something is wrong in the church of Jesus Christ. I think something is wrong in the churches. I think something is wrong in this church. You see, we’ve just completed our first two months of this our fiscal year, July and August, and we’re already $250,000 behind. I know we’re in the midst of a capital stewardship campaign and some people perhaps rob Peter to pay Paul and don’t support the operating budget like they have in the past, but this can’t go on. It’s only been two months, and if we continue it over the course of the year, we’re going to be $1,500,000 behind and it’s going to be critical for the ministry here.
You know how Jesus said of the rich man and his barns that the judgement of God came upon him because he was rich towards himself and he was not rich towards God? It all has to do with desire and what you most desire and what I most desire. Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness.” What do you desire most and what do I desire most? Do I desire most the kingdom of God and its righteousness or do I desire most the things of self? Desire that is excessive or improper was the problem of Ahab and Jezebel. Their desire was only for themselves.
There’s a second and final teaching related to Ahab and Jezebel and that has to do with pleasure. You see, sometimes this word epithumia, “desire out of control,” doesn’t relate to wealth and material things. Sometimes it relates to the whole world of pleasure. Some people’s desires are excessive when it comes to pleasure. This was certainly true of Ahab and Jezebel.
Historians and archeologists know how fertility gods and goddesses were worshipped. They know that at the temples of these fertility gods, the people would come to make their sacrifices. They would bring perhaps a bull, perhaps an ox, perhaps a goat, perhaps a lamb, and they would sacrifice their animal. One-third of the animal would be burned on the altar as a commitment to the fertility god. One-third of the animal would be given to the temple priest—in this case, the priests of Baal or the priestesses of Asherah. One-third of the animal was given to the priests for their livelihood. And then one-third of the animal was kept by the worshipper. It was a lot of meat. With that, they would have a feast. They would invite their friends. Many of their friends had also brought their animals to the temple to sacrifice to the fertility god or goddess, and so there was excess meat and there was this huge feast. It was a time of gluttony. The wine flowed and it was a time of drunkenness.
There were always temple prostitutes because scholars tell us in the world of fertility gods and goddesses, and particularly with Baal and with Asherah there were temple prostitutes. The people of the community, as they participated in this fertility god and goddess worship, would actually have sexual intercourse with prostitutes. It was all part of the deal. It was part of the debauchery and it is why fertility gods were so popular. In fact, archeologists have found evidence that in the time of Ahab, they took the fertility goddess Asherah and viewed her as the consort of Yahweh Elohim, so that even in the worship of Yahweh they began to do these things. Unbelievable. It’s easy to understand why the judgement of God fell.
We should understand God is not against pleasure. God gave us a capacity for pleasure. God gave us a capacity for sexual pleasure. But God wants us to view pleasure in the context of His perfect will and to curb our desires in accordance with His instructions. God has made it very clear that the gift of human sexuality, which is pleasurable, is only to be opened within the context of marriage. I mean, the Bible makes that so clear. It’s only to be opened within the context of marriage. When we open that gift of human sexuality outside of marriage, our desires have taken us out of bounds. Epithumia.
God has given us a desire to eat and it’s pleasurable and most of us look forward to it. Some of you are looking forward to it right now. But, of course, gluttony is condemned because that’s desire moving beyond the boundaries of God. God permits the drinking of wine, but the Bible condemns drunkenness. If a person cannot drink in moderation, they should not drink at all because it’s epithumia when a person drinks to excess.
The word “hedone,” the biblical Greek word for pleasure, was also used of comfort. You all have a desire for comfort, but that desire can go beyond the bounds too. God wants you to rest. He wants you to relax once in a while. It’s okay to watch a little TV, okay to read a fun book, but if in all your free time you’re just seeking comfort, that’s epithumia and it’s a great malady of our culture and time, this desire kind of gone out of control. God wants us to honor Him in the way we live our lives, which Ahab and Jezebel did not do.
Johnny Cash died last week. Johnny Cash was a mover and a shaker within the world of music, particularly within the world of country music. He was on the cover of Time Magazine in this last issue. Inside, there was a big article on Johnny Cash. It says, “The Man in Black. Country star, Christian, rocker and rebel, Johnny Cash showed the world how to walk the line.” I want to recommend this article. It’s a great article to read in Time Magazine and it explains how Johnny Cash’s life was being destroyed by his desire for pleasure. He was a drug addict, and he could not control his desires.
In the year 1967, Johnny Cash developed a friendship with June Carter, a talented musician in her own right and a committed Christian. She was concerned about Johnny Cash and his drug habit, which was out of control. She was concerned for his soul. She said, “Johnny, it’s time for me to invite you to church.” Johnny Cash said, “I’m not ready for that.” She said, “I’ll tell you what. We’ll go late, we’ll leave early, and you can sit in the back,” (just like many of you do). He said, “Well, okay.” So, they went to the First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee, that Sunday morning. They went late and sat in the back, but they did not leave early because that was the morning that Johnny Cash asked Jesus to come into his heart. That was the morning that Johnny Cash came to the cross and accepted the grace and the mercy of Christ and the power of Christ’s reign and his life was never the same. He began to walk the line.
I don’t know how many times you’ve heard that song “I Walk the Line,” but I love that song. Time Magazine really sums it up, the message of the song up, as being this: “Because I love you, I behave. Because I love you, I walk the line.”
Johnny Cash married June Carter in 1968. She died May 15 of this year. With her loss, it was hard for Johnny Cash. But he wrote that song, and part of the reason was, “Because I love my wife, I behave.” Part of the reason was, “Because I love my wife, I walk the line.” But Johnny Cash has said that he also viewed Jesus that way. “Because I love Jesus, I behave. Because I love Jesus, I walk the line.”
What about you? Because it’s not easy, and you’re going to stumble and fall. But if you’re committed you get up again and you “fight the good fight.” How about you? Do you love Christ in that way? I mean, it’s a culture that’s in decline morally and ethically. Not scientifically, but morally and ethically we’re a culture in decline in many ways. But the standards of God do not change. If you’re a Christian, you’ve been called to some moral boundaries, and we need to let Christ govern our desires. We have the warning of Ahab and Jezebel regarding what happens when we don’t.
So, the lesson this morning is about epithumia, “desire out of control.” God would caution us in terms of the world of wealth and what we desire most—the kingdom of heaven, or the things of self in terms of the world of pleasure. He would caution us at to whether we allow our morality to have boundaries determined by scripture. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.