A statement that is often spoken in churches about the character of God is this: "God is good—all the time!" "All the time—God is good." The psalmist said about God’s goodness, "Your goodness is so great" (Psa. 31:19) and, "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever" (Psa. 106:1). Because the nature and character of God is unchanging, that statement is true: God is always good and his love is everlasting.

At the same time, God is always just. In other words, at the same time that he is acting toward his creation with goodness, he is also acting toward it with justice. God can be trusted to do that which is just, right and fair. It would not be possible for God to be totally good without being totally just, because if he were not just he could not be good. We understand that for a judge in a human court to be good they must also act fairly by punishing those who chose to violate the law. The same is true of God. If God chooses, acting out of his goodness, to ignore evil then that is not just or fair. God’s goodness and his justice are two sides of the same coin. God is totally good and totally just—all the time.

When God expresses his justice he does so by demonstrating his "wrath" or his anger. We think of "wrath" as the actions of a person responding to a real or perceived injustice. Romans 1:18 says, " But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves." My theology professor in seminary, Dr. Bill Hendricks, said that God’s wrath is his sustained resistance to evil. There has never been a moment where God has not been constantly and persistently resisting evil in our human lives or our human world. There are times, however, that this resistance reaches such a point when he must act clearly and decisively to halt the advance of evil. When he does act it is his way of saying, "That’s enough! You will go no further. The evil stops and it stops now!" That is what we see in our text for this morning as Elijah confronts Ahab because of his murder of a man named Naboth. It’s a place where God says, "That’s enough!"

To understand God’s limits toward evil I want us to look at Proverbs 29:1: "Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be broken beyond repair." This verse includes both a warning and a severe promise. It says that whoever-anyone, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, urban, rural, male, female-stubbornly refuses correction-especially God’s correction-will suddenly-immediately, swiftly, quickly-be broken-bent, confronted-beyond repair-without hope of changing the results that the resistance brings. The Message says, "For people who hate discipline and only get more stubborn, there'll come a day when life tumbles in and they break, but by then it'll be too late to help them." God’s word says that there comes a time in life when our stubborn refusal to change our actions results in the justice that those actions have required.

This is true in life and it is true in Scripture. There are specific times that God says, "That’s enough!" to the actions of cities, rulers and individuals. One example is the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Gen. 19. In his grace, God tolerated the actions of the citizens living in the two towns. He eventually came to a point when he said he would tolerate no more of their immorality, perversion and moral pollution. The result was that God said, "That’s enough!" and he destroyed both cities forever. I realize that there is a popular interpretation of this event that what was really upsetting to God was not the immorality but the rudeness of the people toward the two angelic visitors. Somehow I can’t see God pouring down fire and brimstone on people who forgot to be nice to strangers!

Another example is Herod Agrippa I whose death is recorded in Acts 12:21-23. This man, the grandson of Herod the Great, dressed up in his royal attire on an appointed day and appeared before his people. The claims they made of him, he accepted: "The voice of a god and not of a man!" The Bible says that because of his refusal to give glory to God for his acclaim Herod Agrippa was "immediately" stricken by God. God did this because the monarch immorality, rebellion and injustices had pushed God to the end of his patience. The scriptures say that a horrible illness afflicted Herod, apparently attacking his intestines, at the age of 34 (in 44 A.D.), he died.

Still one more example is the death of Ananias and Sapphira from Acts 5: 1-11. Ananias and Sapphira were two Christians in the first church who had chosen to lie about what they were giving to the church. They were pretending to be more spiritual than they really were and when Peter confronted them they chose to lie rather than tell the truth. Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself...How could you do a thing like this? You weren't lying to us but to God." (Acts 5:3-4) The Bible says, " As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified." (Acts 5:5) The scripture continues by telling us that the same thing happened to his wife. God would tolerate no collusion with Satan in any capacity in this very new community of believers.

God at last comes to the end of his tolerance. He can come to a point where his goodness and patience are exhausted and justice must come. He can do it with a city. He can do it with a ruler. He can do it with deceptive individuals. Today as we look at this next event in Elijah’s life we’ll see how he comes to the end of his tolerance with the sin of King Ahab and his Queen, Jezebel. For them it was a time when God said, "That’s enough!"

The story of Elijah’s confrontation with Ahab and Jezebel is told in 1 Kings 21:1-29. Elijah has been off of Ahab’s radar for some time. However there was no doubt that the words of the "Troubler of Israel," as Ahab referred to him, were still replaying over and over in his mind. For years Elijah had confronted Ahab and Jezebel with God’s word and warning but there was no change of heart or attitude as this story indicates. Ahab could not accept even the relief from the drought as an invitation to turn from the tragic direction of his life and his leadership. Remember the summary statement about Ahab from 1 Kings 16: 30, "Ahab did what was evil in the Lord's sight, even more than any of the kings before him." That was true at the beginning of his reign and it was still true at the time of this story.

Our story begins with Ahab wanting something that he couldn’t have (I Kings 21:1-4). The scene given to us is really pitiful. A man named Naboth, a Jezreelite, owned a vineyard located within the shadow of Ahab’s palace. Wanting the vineyard for a vegetable garden, Ahab tried to negotiate a trade or a purchase, but Naboth refused to sell the inheritance of his ancestors. Naboth, according to the Law of Moses, as recorded in Leviticus 25:23-28, was completely within his rights to do this. It had to have taken a tremendous amount of courage from this one lonely farmer to stand up against the king. It may have been that he had been pushed around by Ahab before and this was the last straw. Regardless he says "No!" and Ahab was angry and sullen at the response, and began to pout.

Ahab acts completely childish and idiotic about this and refuses to eat. (I Kings 21:5-13) Jezebel wants to know why he is so upset and he tells her, "I asked Naboth to sell me his vineyard or to trade it, and he refused!" (v.6) Upon learning of the refused offer, Jezebel rebuked her husband and moved in to take control, promising, "Are you the king of Israel or not?…Get up and eat and don't worry about it. I'll get you Naboth's vineyard!"(v. 7) She devised a strategy that framed Naboth and resulted in premeditated, cold-blooded murder. Two false witnesses recruited by the king and queen said to him, "Naboth cursed God and the king" (vv. 10, 13). As a result he was stoned to death.

With no thought of the injustice and the sin they had committed Ahab and Jezebel take possession of the small vineyard (vv. 14-16). Without guilt, regret, or fear, Jezebel seized the vineyard for her husband. She tells him, "You know the vineyard Naboth wouldn't sell you? Well, you can have it now! He's dead!" Without any remorse Ahab immediately went down to the vineyard to claim it.

What I find compelling about this event was that it was so small in the list of things that Ahab and Jezebel had done. I mean scheming to get a piece of property from one little farmer and having him murdered was nothing compared to the immoralities and decadence of their lives. Yet it was the final thing on God’s list that crossed the line of his patience. What this tells me is that we can never estimate the things that affect the heart of God when it comes to our sin and rebellion. We resist his grace over and over, time after time and nothing seems to come from it. We notice no change in our life or the way things happen for us. We might say, "It’s all good!" Then we go beyond a line of God’s tolerance and he says, "That’s enough!" When God says, "That’s enough!" is when we come face to face with his wrath.

It was at that point, God stepped in and said, in essence, "That’s enough: I will take no more." God gave Elijah a message with clear instructions, "Go down to meet King Ahab…He will be at Naboth's vineyard in Jezreel, taking possession of it. Give him this message: 'This is what the Lord says: Isn't killing Naboth bad enough? Must you rob him, too? Because you have done this, dogs will lick your blood outside the city just as they licked the blood of Naboth!" (I Kings 21:17-19) I realize those words have a way of unpleasantly effecting our sensibilities. Often until we are shocked out of our comfortable understanding of God, as little more than a heavenly grandfather, will we accept that our actions have consequences! God’s patience and tolerance had come to an end.

The meeting between Ahab and Elijah is one that would make an excellent scene in a movie. There is Ahab standing out in this stolen vineyard, gloating over the ridiculous prize of his own selfish greed and cruelty. Elijah, clothed in his prophets garment, steps into the middle of the vineyard. Ahab, trying to play down the confrontation, says, "So my enemy has found me!" Elijah answered, "I have come because you have sold yourself to what is evil in the Lord's sight." Elijah doesn’t stop there because he says, "The Lord is going to bring disaster to you and sweep you away. He will not let a single one of your male descendants, slave or free alike, survive in Israel!" Then concerning Jezebel he says, "The Lord has also told me that the dogs of Jezreel will eat the body of your wife, Jezebel, at the city wall."(vv. 20-24)

Those shocking words had, at last, an effect on Ahab and he humbled himself before God in deep repentance (I Kings 21:27). However it was too late. While the punishment was delayed it nevertheless was certain. For the scripture later records that Ahab and Jezebel both met the very fate that was predicted. Ahab’s death is recorded in 1 Kings 22:37-38 and Jezebel’s in 2 Kings 9:30-37. Regardless of his remorse it was too late to stop the result of the justice of God. God’s tolerance had reached its limit and there was no time left on the clock. The game was over. The writer of I Kings concludes Ahab’s life with these words, "No one else so completely sold himself to what was evil in the Lord's sight as did Ahab, for his wife, Jezebel, influenced him. He was especially guilty because he worshiped idols…"(v. 25). That statement is the final comment on a life that had at last reached a point where God said, "That’s enough!"

So what do we do with this story? What is the "take away" for us today? Let me give you two things to think about in regard to this message. The first is this: There comes a time when God’s tolerance is exhausted but we don’t know where that is. As I said at the beginning, God is always resisting evil. There is never a time that God says about the evil that we do, "There, there, I know you didn’t mean it. Now go on back and play and be a good boy." We imagine, though, because nothing happens negatively to us when we sin over and over again that God isn’t watching or doesn’t care. Wrong! We become "ten-feet tall and bullet proof" imagining that we can just continue and nothing happens.

Then one day, as Proverbs 29:1 said, "life tumbles in…but by then it’ll be too late." The problem is we don’t know when that will be. At some point God reaches his divine limit and he says, "That’s enough! I will tolerate no more!" It is then that we come face to face with the justice of God on our life. There is a prevailing principle from this study today that God’s tolerance toward sin can run out but we don’t know where that is. The question a person has to answer is, "Why do you want to risk it?"

Another principle that comes from this passage is: God always keeps his word and we are unable to stop it. The principles of living life that God has placed in his word will always be sustained. That may be in this life or it may be in eternity but that doesn’t alter the fulfillment of his word. Humans are unable to stop what God says will be. Ahab and Jezebel may have thought they had cheated God, but they had not.

If you are a believer and you are consistently refusing to obey and follow his direction, you will meet God’s discipline. He loves you too much to let you continue on a path of rebellion. There is no limit to the tools he can use to get your attention. If you are a person who is far from God, then know that God’s word says that if you persist in rejecting his appeal of love then you will meet God’s justice in eternity. John 3:16 promises eternal life for believing in Jesus Christ but it also promises destruction for rejecting God’s love in Jesus Christ. God doesn’t play games with our lives so why should we try to play games with him.

Max Mayfield is the mild mannered, bespectacled scientist who has been the director of the National Hurricane Center since 2000. Mayfield is a trusted, valued meteorologist who carefully and cautiously advises local, state and federal governments about hurricanes and appropriate responses to those hurricanes. It is well understood that if Max Mayfield calls you and tells you to leave an area in advance of a hurricane, wise people listen and do just that.

On Saturday, August 27, 2005 as Hurricane Katrina developed in the Gulf of Mexico it was giving every sign of being the worst hurricane in United States history. Realizing the enormity and intensity of the storm, Mayfield knew the city of New Orleans was in grave danger. He began making scores of phone calls to anyone who would answer in New Orleans and in Louisiana, telling them, "This is scary." He tried repeatedly to reach New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin to advise him to order a mandatory evacuation of the city but received no response. At last Governor Blanco gave Mayfield Mayor Nagin’s cell phone number late that Saturday or 24 hours before the storm made landfall. Nagin was at a restaurant with his wife. Mayfield told Nagin, "Mr. Mayor, I’ve never seen a storm like this. I’ve never seen conditions like this." Another official said, about Max Mayfield, "When he calls you like that, he is telling you you need to be ready, be prepared." Still Nagin delayed a mandatory evacuation till Sunday morning. It was too late. Hurricane Katrina roared ashore deep into the night on Sunday and early dawn on Monday. The result was over 1000 people in New Orleans died who might have been saved. Nagin later said that when he did order an evacuation, "I wish I had talked to Max earlier…I wish I had done that earlier." (Source: The Great Deluge by Douglas Brinkley, p. 57-58)

God is persistently telling the creation that he loves that a storm of his justice and wrath is coming that humans are unable to stop. The time is now for you to change. There comes a point when God says, "That’s enough!" And when he does, it’s too late. Today I plead with you to listen, respond and stop. His love is calling! His justice is coming! Don’t continue waiting!

Sources: "Elijah" by Charles Swindoll

"Knowing God" by J. I. Packer

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org