God & Country
GOD & COUNTRY
Week 3 Generations
We started a new series called God & Country. The series is based upon two books that I have been reading, New Days, Old Demons by Mark Driscoll and Return of the Gods by Jonathan Cahn.
The point of this series is to open up our eyes to what is going on in our culture.
But church, we are in a WAR!!!
Ephesians 6:12 NKJV 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places
We are fighting. We're fighting for freedom. We're fighting for faith. We're fighting for family. We're fighting for future.
We are not fighting against flesh and blood. It's not people that we hate. It's the principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places that are deceiving and using and enslaving and destroying those people.
We're going to jump into 1 Kings chapter 16 and 17. If you've got a Bible and are finding your place there, two things I want to say as we venture in.
1. Treat God's Word as a mirror.
It’s easy to look at the culture and point fingers. We as a church, as individuals instead should be looking at our own life, our own tendencies, some of your own sins and failures and ways that God needs to strengthen you.
2. Then use God’s Word as binoculars.
Start to look through the storyline and to see your marriage, see your parenting, see your family legacy through generations, see your experience in church. Look through it and see what you find in culture as well as in politics.
We're going to look at five generations of a family. The main characters are Elijah, the man of God, Ahab, the king, Jezebel, the queen. They are demonic and evil and at war against Elijah and God.
We will see generational patterns as we look at five generations of King Ahab's family. I need you to look at yourself and your family. Look back as many generations as you can to see if you find patterns.
Generationally, there are families that are cursed and families that are blessed. Those that are cursed, it is increasing brokenness one generation after the other. For those who are blessed, it is degrees of health one generation to the next. As we look at this family, I need you to look at your family.
And I'm just going to read this quickly to get us to 1 Kings 17.
We'll start with Ahab's great, great, great grandfather, King Jeroboam. All of this is summarized in 1 Kings 16. Here's what it says about him.
1 Kings 14:16
"…which he sinned and he made Israel to sin.”
That's it.
Next generation, Ahab's great, great, great grandfather, King Nadab. It says referring to him
1 Kings 15: 26
26 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.
Like father, like son, for good or bad.
Men, if you are a bad man, you will have bad sons and grandsons. If you are a good man, God's man, you could have good sons and grandsons. Our future is held by our fathers.
In addition, we then read of Ahab's great-great grandfather, King Baasha. First and foremost, he killed his father Nadab and murdered all the descendants of his grandfather, Jeroboam in 1st Kings 15.
In addition it said of him in
1 Kings 16: 2,4
2 “Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins,
4 Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat.”
Not even a dignified burial because these men are without dignity.
We are told of Ahab's great grandfather, King Ella, in
1 Kings 16:13
13 for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel to sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols.
Ahab's grandfather, King Zimri, we are told in
1 Kings 16: 15-19
15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimrī reigned seven days in Tirzah… That's all God could stomach of this man
18 And when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over him with fire and died, 19 because of his sins that he committed, doing evil in the sight of the LORD, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and for his sin which he committed, making Israel to sin.
Ahab's father, King Omri,
1 Kings 16: 23-26
23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for twelve years; six years he reigned in Tirzah. 24 He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.
25 Omri did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him. 26 For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols.
He built Samaria. God told them Jerusalem is supposed to be the center. And he instead created Samaria as the center. He created his own nation, his own government, his own demonic pagan religion. By the time of Jesus, the Northern and Southern kingdom had Samaria in the middle, and the Jews would walk an additional few days around it to avoid it. Jesus walked through it and met with a woman from Samaria at a well. It was a detestable place from this man's legacy. He built Samaria and he did more evil than all who were before him.
And then we get to King Ahab.
1Kings 16:29-33
29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. 31 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
So this is a five generation family. And here are somethings I want you to consider…
1. Not everyone has a good heart.
Every once in a while, somebody will do something horrifying and someone will get on television and say, they had a good heart.
No, they didn't.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 ESV
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick;
who can understand it? 10 “I the LORD search the heart
and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”
Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.
Overflow of the heart, the hands act.
That's why a good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit and if you have bad fruit, you're a bad tree.
And you don't have a good heart if you have a bad life.
In addition, time doesn't improve anything. Sometimes the longer you wait, the worse it gets.
2. We evolve externally, we devolve internally.
We have this technological progress and yet at the same time there is moral deterioration.
The progress is out there. The regress is in here. (HEART)
We're making progress culturally but that doesn't mean we're making progress morally.
The progressive lie is that there's progress out there and progress in here.
As things get more advanced out there, people become more primitive, in here.
3. Things can always get worse.
I’m assuming because you are in South Georgia, you have been disappointed with recent elections. That being said, what we tend to think is, if we can just endure this season with this politician, I'm sure we'll get another one and things will turn around and get better. Here we have five successive kings that get increasingly evil and worse. Increasingly evil and worse.
Judges 2:10-15 ESV
And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.
4. Government is usually the problem, not the solution.
What happens here, we have five generations of kings ruling, and that is the problem, not the solution.
5. Politicians come and go, but the demons remain the same.
What we tend to think is if we just got a new politician, then we get a new environment or culture. Well, if the old demon is working through the new leader, you get the old culture.
This is five generations of leadership, but every one of them is led by, guided by, the same demonic forces to do the same evil.
A lot of people are frustrated because it doesn't seem to matter who we vote for, there seems to be this pull within politics that takes everything southward.
We call it the swamp. Like there's this invisible group of people that are just determined to wreck our culture. And I would say it may not just be people, it may be principalities, powers and spirits.
The Bible talks about a swamp. It talks about it in Revelation, multiple places. It uses the word the pit. And in context, out of the pit come demons that then rule in governments and create cultures. I'm telling you that in addition to the swamp of people who are employed in politics, so are spiritual forces at work as well.
Satan and God are both working to create generational legacies. Here we see in Ahab's family, five generations of evil doers.
God is wanting to send the Holy Spirit to create generational legacy for life. And Satan is sending demonic forces to create generational cursing and death.
6. Nations have politicians, God's kingdom has prophets.
We just read five generations of politicians, nothing changes until there's one prophet. The point is this, we don't need more politicians. We need more prophets and what a prophet does they speak against the politics.
Politicians tend to be Ahabs and also Jezebels by nature, Those who are politicians and Ahabs they do what everyone wants. They are passive. Those that are Jezebels, they control and dominate and no one gets what they want. What they hold in common is God never gets what He wants.
When a prophet shows up, it's not about the politician getting what they want or the people getting what they want, but the Lord getting what He wants.
And that's the issue in our churches today. We have congregations that have itching ears and so we too many politicians in the pulpit.
What do people want? What do they think? How do I keep my job? What does the board say? What does the Ahab say? What is the Jezebel say? What does God say?
A prophet hears from God and speaks for God. That's their job.
Let’s meet Elijah.
1Kings 17:1
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab The dude walks out of the woods, gets right in the face of the king, didn't even schedule an appointment,, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, like this is between you and God I didn't write the message I just deliver the mail before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
Now this is a war between God and the other gods.
Baal and Asherah are demonic false gods. They're fallen angels that are being worshiped as gods.
Baal was considered the chief male deity, Asherah the chief female deity, and they are at war against God and the prophet of God.
Baal is considered the God of the rain. He oversees fertility and crops. And if you want it to rain, you pray to Baal.
So what God is doing here he is picking a fight with Baal.
Satan is not equal to God. God is over Satan and demons. And so this is going to prove to the people that they have been worshiping the wrong god and the real God is in charge.
Let me ask you this question: Has God been patient?
What people do is when they read the Bible, and the Bible says that God judges us, and then we start judging Him.
Oh, that was mean for Him to kill people and end lives and judge people and not allow people who are in love to just pick their gender, get married, and do whatever they want.
The point is we're not to judge God, God is to judge us.
And let me ask you this, at this point in the story has God been really patient?
How many of you, five generations, how many of you, you look at your enemy and you're like, look if your family doesn't turn it around in five generations I'm gonna do something.
God waited five generations and then we just read that King Ahab got to rule for 22 years. We've only got four-year terms. I mean, imagine, just imagine, 22 years of Biden and then Hunter. You're like, ah! You wouldn't be like, you know Lord, you shouldn't judge people.
You'd be like, Lord, you need to judge people as soon as possible.
Plus, it's not going to rain for three years, and God's still being patient. I would say five generations, 22 years, plus a three-year grace period, God's very, very patient.
2 Peter 3:9-10
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
He's been patient with you, hasn't he? Been patient with me. And it's not because he's okay with you. It's not because he tolerates you. There's a difference between God's patience and God's tolerance.
God isn't tolerating you, he's being patient with you, because God doesn't want any to perish but all to come to eternal life. But the scripture continues…
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Ahab and Jezebel, they're the politicians. They have all the power, they have all the money, they have the staff, they have the army, they have the kingdom, they have the castle. We would say they're winning.
Maybe you are here this morning, and you look at your life and looks to you like the enemy is winning.
We started out today talking about how I wanted you to listen today with a mirror and binoculars.
What kind of family did you grow up in? Which line were you a part of? What kind of person are you? What kind of life do you have? What kind of marriage do you have? What kind of legacy are you leaving? What habits are you carrying that were in your family?
Whatever God does not transform in your life, you will not die with it. You will pass on to your children and to your grandchildren. Some of you are fighting a battle that did not start with you, but I prophesy today it will end with you.
I want you to see “GENERATIONS”…
Exodus 20:5 New Living Translation
5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.
Proverbs 3:33 New Living Translation
33 The Lord curses the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the home of the upright.
Now we may not like to think this way, but the scripture is clear. Blessing AND curses flow in the house…or the family.
Science confirms that traits get passed on through our parents’ genes but they lay dormant until they're activated by our choices and our associations. You are not responsible for what is passed on to you. God will not hold you accountable, but you are empowered not to pass that on to a next generation.
And God is a God of generations. He evens calls Himself in the OT the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
One of the main points is that New Days, Same Demons.
Well, New Days, Same GOD as well.
You can have a NEW DAY in HIM. You have a NEW FATHER, NEW inheritance,
2 Corinthians 5:16-19 NLT
16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
See we have the characteristics of our ancestor Adam…when he fell, sin entered the world and thus into our lives. And it is prevalent today…
1 Corinthians 15:21-22 English Standard Version
21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
BUT we have a promise in JESUS!!! What should we do??
Acts 2:37-39 ESV
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
ACTS 2:16-21ESV
16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
18 even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
20 the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’