Ironworks

 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. 1 Kings 16:33  But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. 1 Kings 20:25-26                   There is a good amount of talk on what makes a good leader. Some love charisma. Some love decisiveness. Some love demeanor. While these are good things to consider, one chief qualification is how they will provoke the governed. The word provocation carries a lot of weight with it. One might provoke others to good things such as the case in regards to our Sunday assemblies. We are familiar with the command found in Heb 10:25 to not fo...

  Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri.   But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri reigned.   1 Kings 16:21-22 Is anybody surprised when people divide after dividing? At the outset of the northern kingdom, we understood that Jeroboam divided from King Rehoboam of Judah and assisted in breaking the unity of Israel. Afterward, there was a series of idolatrous practices, war, and discord within the rebel nation. It would only be logical that after an origin in division that division could come again. We have seen it in history repeatedly, and the most obvious is within the religious landscape of Christendom. When man decided to build churches that were not the church that was built by Jesus, (cf. Matt 16:18) this was obviously a division. In math we understand that the denominato...

  And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and died, For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin. 1 Kings 16:18-19                    Treason is a crime so vile in the eyes of men that it has been met with the stiffest of punishments, namely death. A nation cannot survive with great turmoil and chaos in leadership. This type of rancor was ever present in the northern kingdom of Israel. Zimri became king after he committed treason and murdered King Elah.                    One might assume Zimri’s treason was justified. It was prophesied by Jehu son of Hanani that all of Baasha...

Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins; Behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of his house; and will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat. 1 Kings 16:2-4             There is an old saying amongst the brethren: you cannot live wrong and die right. We often say this to get the point across that a life of sin, while it may seem fun and entertaining, will end with eternal damnation. Yet many live a life of self-gratification, and when they pass we are faced with the question, “Where will so-and-so spend eternity?” The answer is obvious if we will only look at the Word of God.  ...