God’s Standard of Judgment. (1 Kings 15: 1-24)

The Bible Project Daily Podcast is a daily, in-depth, encouraging, and uplifting study through the entire Bible,  chapter by chapter, verse by verse. 

Today's Episode: God’s Standard of Judgment. (1 Kings 15: 1-24)

Episode Notes:

If the Bible teaches anything, it teaches this: God judges people. That’s not a popular idea today, but it is a biblical one.  But if that is so, then what standard does God use when He judges? What does that look like on a human level? Suppose God chose a person—a human being, not Himself, not His Son—and said: “This is the standard, this is the life by which I will measure others.” 

In the first 24 verses of 1 Kings 15, God does this. He points to a human being and says, “This is My standard”, and then He measures two kings by that standard.

 Let’s look at the passage today…..

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

You know what, friends? If the Bible teaches us anything, it teaches us this. God judges people. Now that's not a popular idea today, but I have to say it's a biblical one. So here's the question I want us to explore today. If God judges people, what standard does he use when he judges? Now, the instinctive answer is probably fairly straightforward. It's by his standard. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, the Bible tells us. And of course that's true. But what I want to look at is look at this on a human level. What does that actually look like for us in real life? Or let me put it another way, suppose God were to choose a person, a human being, not himself and not his perfect son, but just another human being, and said, This is the standard, this is the life which I want to use as a measure of others. Now I wonder if you've ever known anyone like that. Someone whose walk and way with God was so genuine, so steady, so steadfast, so faithful that you thought, if I could be like anyone spiritually, I would like to be like them. Now I know a few in my life, and as a younger man I met someone that I thought, when I'm 80, like he's 80 now, I want to be like him. Well, in the first 24 verses of today's chapter of One Kings, God in a way actually does this. He points to a human being and says, This is my standard. Did this person measure up to them? And he measures two kings by the standard of that other person. So though the portion of the chapter we're going to look at today is about these kings, it's really more about comparing these kings to the man and his life by whom they will be judged. So that's what we're going to do today, in today's episode of the Bible Project Daily Podcast. And 1 Kings chapter 15, the first couple of verses open like this. It says, In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jerobam, son of Nebat, Abijah became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother's name was Macha, daughter of Abshalom. Now, do you get that detail again here? That what should catch your attention in this? It tells us his mother's name was Macha. Now we'll come back to that in more detail in a moment, but moving on, the next verse gives us God's evaluation on him. He committed all the sins his father had done before him. His heart was not fully devoted to the Lord, as had the heart of David his forefather before him had been. So there it is. The standard and the person is going to be the life of David. Now, before we even get to study Abijah in close detail, the text points us to David and says, This is actually what God's looking for in life. So before we examine him, we need to understand the standard by which he, and in fact every other king thereafter, will be judged. So verses four and particularly verse five expands the description a little bit for us, saying, Nevertheless, for David's sake, the Lord gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong. For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not failed to keep any of the Lord's commands all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. Now that's fascinating. It's giving us the whole picture here. It's saying David wasn't perfect, and we all know, because we studied it a few months ago, about that situation with Bathsheba and her husband, Uriah the Hittite. I don't need to go into it again, but God is saying that this man, though not perfect, overall his life is the standard. Why is it the standard? Well, within that short fifth verse, he actually gives us four reasons. It tells us firstly David's heart was loyal, loyal to the Lord, and this is the key, and in fact, it's the theme of the entire chapter. It's what we are told God is looking for in this. The context of loyal here meant he was he lived a life free from idolatry. David at no point ever turned to other gods. Secondly, David did what was right. He obeyed God's command, especially, of course, again in matters of worship. He actually longed to build this temple that he himself. But God said, No, your job is to establish and secure the land. God simply allowed David to prepare the ground for everything Solomon would do later. It also adds that David never turned aside. He stayed the course, in other words, he didn't drift, he didn't wander into idolatry, and he didn't go chasing after other gods. And then for it says David dealt with his sin. So although he wasn't perfect, when confronted, we know he confessed and he repented, and importantly he returned to the Lord. And that of course is the difference between David and his son who followed on Saul. Saul, of course, knew the Lord. Scripture said, in fact, that early on at one point God gave him a new heart. But then Saul drifted. He turned aside, he ended up, do you remember, consulting a witch at Endor instead of going before and praying to the Lord? David, the difference is David sinned but he came back. Saul sinned but then drifted away. And that is why David is the standard here. But back to Abijah, how did he measure up? Well, we've already been told he walked in the sins of his father. Now his father, of course, was Rehuabam, and Rehuabam's sin was idolatry, setting up those high places we heard about, tolerating pagan worship, allowing spiritual compromise. Now it's interesting to note that Abijah himself didn't necessarily worship idols. We don't see that, that charge being levelled against him, but he definitely tolerated them in the land and among the people. He allowed them, and that in itself was good enough for God to say he didn't have a loyal heart. So for him it was pretty much like father, like son. But before we need on, we need to notice that little thing I pointed out in the previous verse. The fact that Ibijah was clearly a believer. He did not walk with a loyal heart, but he was a believer, just not a very committed or loyal one. Someone who we might describe today as a sort of nominal Christian, and yet we are told God preserved his dynasty, but not because of Abijah himself or his life or his character, but because of his grandfather David before him. Why? Because God made a covenant with David and God keeps his promises. God honors faithfulness and it shows here he honors it across generations. So Abijah didn't earn that blessing in any way. He inherited his blessing. Now that's real godly grace. That is covenant, promise, faithfulness kept. This is God keeping his word even when his people fail. And verse 6 adds, There was war between Abijah and Jerobam throughout Abijah's lifetime. So Abijah inherited a divided kingdom and ongoing conflict, and scripture suggests that this ongoing war was part of God's discipline upon him. So Abijah didn't abandon the Lord entirely. He just permitted the spiritual compromise his father had introduced, and God disciplined him for it. Not destroyed him, that's the important point, disciplined him. So there's a difference. Verse 7 and 8 then gives us a simple summary of Abijah's life. It says, As for the other events of Abijah's reign and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? There was a war between Abijah and Jeroboam, and Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David and Asa his son. So verse seven says the rest of the acts of his life are recorded elsewhere, and verse eight says he died and was buried in Jerusalem. So it pretty much says that's it. So it's a short reign with a compromised heart and a life that was measured by the Lord against David as the standard and found wanting. So what do we learn from that? Well, God's standard of judgment is the heart of the believer. David's heart was declared to be loyal, Abijah's heart was seen not to be. David did what was right, and Abijah followed in the sins of his father. So the posture of the heart is the issue here. The heart determines the direction, and the heart is the thing that determines the legacy. Okay. The passage now turns to our second king, someone called Asa. The contrast will not, could not be sharper. Verse 9 and 10. It says, In the twentieth year of Jerobam, king of Israel, Isa became king of Judah and reigned in Jerusalem for forty-one years. His grandmother's name was Makhah, daughter of Abshalom. Now that's remarkable. David reigned forty years, Solomon reigned forty years, and Isa reigns forty-one. Now we know that longevity in Scripture is often a sign of God's blessing. But then we meet a familiar name. His grandmother was Macha. Now we've seen her before. She was Abijah's mother, so that means she's Isa's grandmother, and she will matter in this story. Confirms verse 11 tells us Isa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done. So there again we see it. David is again being offered as a standard, as a standard, and Isa is the king who meets it. He has a loyal heart, he did what was right, and he walked in obedience. So what does that look like? Well, the details of it were told. Verse 12, he expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his ancestors had made. So he institutes sweeping reforms. The perverted persons, that's how the King James calls them, refers to male shrine prostitutes. They were a central figure of pagan worship in the ancient world. These practices were part of those very abominations that God judged in Canaan and called for them to be driven out and destroyed. But Abijah had tolerated them, but Isa comes along and eliminates them. He removed the idols, he tore down pagan practices, and he reversed the spiritual decline of his father and indeed his grandfather. But then he does something even more remarkable. Verse 13 is the key here. It says, He even disposed his deposed his grandmother Macha from her position as Queen Mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Ashrah. Asa cut it down and burned it in the Kidron Valley. So Asa removed his own grandmother from civic life. This is extraordinary. The Queen Mother was and had been the most influential woman in the kingdom. Micah was a part of was a powerful political figure, but she was also an idolater. And Asa removed her. He dethroned his own grandmother for the sake of spiritual purity, and that indeed is true loyalty to God. That shows real courage as well, doesn't it? It shows a real heart for the Lord. And yet, in spite of all that good stuff, he is not perfect either. Verse 14 says, Although he did not remove the high places, Isis's heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. Now that's a fascinating and rather confusing verse. What's going on here? He removes the idols. He even removed his own grandmother, but he did but it's saying here he does not close down those high places. Why? Well, I had to study this and research this some to come up with, I hope, a satisfactory answer. The majority of scholars believe that what's going on here is that these high places were not necessarily or certain had certainly had not begun as pagan shrines at the point they were being used that way now. They had been worship sites, places where people would naturally gather together and worship the true God, but of course do it in the wrong way. God had said he wanted his pla the place of worsh to be established and centred in Jerusalem. And Asa it seems though clearing those places of their pagan influences didn't fully enforce that. So it's saying he wasn't perfect, but overall his heart was loyal, and that was the point. Now I think when you consider that Aisa raises a question that we all need to ask ourselves today. Do sometimes are we inclined to eliminate the obvious sins but keep the ones that are perhaps convenient for us? Do we in a spiritual sense remove the idols from our life but keep some of the high places? Do we say we love the Lord but neglect the very place and the way in which he calls us to worship? Now in the New Testament, spiritual growth is clearly seen to happen within a community. There isn't even the very idea of someone maturing in their faith and doing it alone. That's something that came along much later in church history. The point is we need instruction, we need the example of other people, we need encouragement also, and sometimes it has to be said we may even need correction. We definitely need fellowship, and all of those things happen in and can only happen in the church. Now, many believers today have a loyal heart, but they keep their distance from the very community that God designed for their growth, the local faith community. Too many Christians these days are living isolated lives, living almost solely online and not meeting with other Christians in the real world to benefit from all the things I've just mentioned a minute ago. Particularly in this ministry, I have people all the time tell me I don't really need to go to church, I simply listen to teaching online. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm really glad you're listening today, and I'm glad if you're learning anything, but this is never a substitute for church. Now I know some of you have caring responsibilities. In fact, this podcast, when it was launched mainly many years ago, was first launched with the idea of supporting people who couldn't go to church, who needed to stay home because of their caring responsibilities. But what I'm saying to you is, if that's not the case, then you shouldn't use this situation and situations like it to replace, to create another sort of high place in your life. Don't replace the gathered body of the body of Christ with a simple screen in your pocket and don't place true fellowship with convenience. You need a community, you need people. We all need church. The New Testament is crystal clear in this. You cannot truly grow in isolation, you cannot mature alone. You can do all the good things and learn all that you need to from the Word of God by studying it. Of course you can, but the one thing you cannot learn to do is how to get along with other people, how to love other people in the real world, and here's where it gets tough, which it's a and it's also the only place you can do it is in the real world, is love people that you maybe don't even like or would naturally get on with. You're forced to rub up together and to work things out, and that is part of your path of developing spiritual maturity. Anyway, I've said my piece, I'll get on with the next section. Picking up in verse 15, it says, He brought into the temples of the Lord the silver and the gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated. There was war between Assa and Basha, the king of Israel, throughout their reigns. Basha, the king of Israel, went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Isa, king of Judah. Asa then took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord's temple and of his own palace. He entrusted them to his officials and sent them to Ben Hadid, son of Tebramon, the son of Hesion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. Let there be a treaty between me and you, he said, as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Basha, the king of Israel, so he will withdraw from me. Ben Hadad agreed with the king Assa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel, Beth Mekah, and all Kinereth in addition to Naphtali. And when Basha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and withdrew to Terzan. Then King Essa issued an order to all Judah, no one was exempt, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Basha had been using there. With them King Asher built up Gibba in Benjamin and also Mizpah. Okay, there's a lot of detail there, but basically what's going on here is the northern kingdom that carries now the name of Israel, even though it's only part of the original Twelve Tribes, the majority granted ten of them. They did not want their people travelling south to Jerusalem to worship anymore. So the king of Israel built a fortified town that he called Rama, which is just north of Jerusalem, and it's a sort of blockade town. It's a spiritual Berlin dividing wall, if you like. He wants to stop the flow of potential worshippers who are heading to the temple to worship. And how does Assa respond? It tells us he brought treasures into the house of the Lord, spoils of war from earlier victories. That sounds good so far, but then in verse 19 it tells us something very troubling. He takes that silver and gold that was left in the house of the Lord and delivered it to the king of Syria. Why? Because Assa is making a treaty with Syria. He's effectively bribing the king of Silia, Syria, to attack the northern kingdom so that Israel would abandon the blockade at Rama. And it worked. The king of Israel pulls out to defend himself, Assa swoops in, dismantles the blockade, and uses the material to fortify his own cities. Strategically brilliant, but spiritually disastrous. Why? Because he takes the treasures of God's house and uses them to buy military help. He trusted in Syria instead of the Lord. And ISIS's problem wasn't just military strategy, it is the ultimate act of misplaced trust. He trusted alliances instead of trusting God. He trusted his own political manoeuvring instead of prayer, and he trusted human help instead of divine help. And that will become the theme of his life. Now, verse thir twenty-three to the end of today's passage, finishing in verse twenty-four, ends with an odd little detail. It says, As for all other events of Assa's reign, all of his achievements, all he did, and all the cities he built, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the King of Judah? In his old age, however, his feet became diseased. Then Assa rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of his father David. And Jehoshaphat, his son, then succeeded him as king. Now there's a couple of things mentioned here, unusual things. It tells us that it's recorded in the books of the Annals of the Kings of Judah, that probably represents today's biblical books called One and Two Kings and One and Two Chronicles. And in the Book of Chronicles, in fact, it does tell us and gives a little more information about the fact he had a disease in his feet, but he did not seek the Lord, but rather he sought physicians. Now scripture is not condemning doctors here. Jesus himself says those who are sick need a physician, but the issue is not about the medical care. Again, it's showing the trust was misplaced. He Asa trusted physicians instead of the Lord, just as he trusted Syria instead of the Lord, just as he kept the high places instead of fully obeying the Lord. His heart was loyal but not perfect. His devotion was real but incomplete. His obedience was sincere but inconsistent. And Scripture records that whole planoply for us. Asa's story is fascinating precisely because it is so human. He had a loyal heart, he did what was right. He removed those idols, he removed immorality from the land, he even removed His own grandmother. He trusted the Lord deeply at first. But then also he allowed the high places to be left intact. He removed the idols, yes, but the geographical locations were still where naturally people went and gathered. He then trusted political alliances and he trusted in human hands instead of the Lord. He failed to make God's house, the temple established by his father, the sole centre of worship. So he was a man of mixed emotion and devotion. And you know what? That sounds a little like many of us, I'm sure. And that brings us back to the central theme of the chapter. God's standard of judgment is our hearts. David was the one who had a loyal heart, Abijah did not, and Isa did. Well, mostly he did, but even he is seen to drift. And I would suggest that all of this is recorded in scripture for us because God is wanting to show us something really important. He's looking at this guy's whole life and he weighs the whole heart and he evaluates the whole pattern of his life. God sees the whole picture as it was, and when we stand before him, he will evaluate us in the same way. He will look at our life of loyalty, of obedience, of whether we trusted in him, our motives for doing the things we did, even the words that we spoke. Jesus reminds us that every idle word is heard because it is the heart that God sees, and it is the heart that God measures, and indeed it is the heart that God will one day reward. Okay, so we've walked through the lives in this first half of the chapter of three men Abijah and Isa, and they've been compared in a way to David. And this scripture has made one truth unmistakably clear, I believe, that being God judges the posture of our heart, not our resume, not our reputation, not our public image, and not even our outward performance. So the big question, of course, that we need to take on board is to ask ourselves, where is our heart at? Because that is the standard of judgment God is going to use when looking upon our life, not in terms of salvation, but in terms of final judgment and the rewards that we will receive in eternity. Now we finished the opening section of One King's, but we're not entirely finished with the subject of the heart. Because I want to finish today by looking at a parable that Jesus told that shines a spotlight on this very issue and gives us really deep insights into what it means and how we might approach this matter. You see, Jesus began teaching in parables, and the first one that he taught in Matthew chapter twelve is the parable of the sower, and it is seen by many as the foundational parable. Certainly when it comes to this issue at least. Mark says if you don't understand this parable as he has recorded it, then you won't understand any of the further parables that are to come. So this parable is indeed a seed parable, and it is a parable about seed, soil, and growth. Jesus tells us plainly what the parable means, because at the beginning he says, by the way, the sower in the story is he himself, and the seed is the word of God, and the soil represents the human heart. So there's no danger of us misinterpreting this one. And I'd like to close today by walking very quickly through the four soils because they represent the four postures of heart, and as I describe them quickly for you, I want us today to ask ourselves, which heart do we have? Is it number one? The hard heart, the heart that the word never penetrates. The scripture says these are the ones by the wayside. Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in the heart. Now in ancient fields, footh paths ran between the rows. They became hard packed, sun-baked soil, and the seed could not penetrate those paths. So birds, of course, snatch those seeds away. And these are the people who hear the word of God, but it never enters those hearts. Not because they're particularly hostile, but because they've become hardened and indifferent. To them Christianity maybe seems irrelevant. Life seems quite manageable without God and their heart is hard. There's no opportunity for the root to take growth, there's no growth, no response. The second type of heart is the shallow heart, in which we see quick growth but no endurance. The text in Mark says they receive the word with gladness but have no root, and when tribulation or persecution arises they stumble. So this is a thin layer of soil over rock, one in which the seed sprouts quickly at first but then dies just as quickly. These represent the sort of people who respond emotionally respond emotionally, they believe for a while, but they never develop deep roots and depth. Trouble comes along, pressure comes along in life, maybe even persecution comes and they immediately fade away. Now I believe they are Christians who are shaved, saved, but they have shallow lives. They never let the word sink in deep and they never put down those roots and achieve spiritual maturity. The third type of root is the crowded heart, those with too much stuff going on in their life, too much competition, if you like. It says the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires of others' things choke out the word in those people. This is the heart that is full of weeds. Now, what are those weeds? Well, weeds are things like worry, materialism, busyness, ambition, maybe just distractions. These again are people I believe being described as saved, but living half-hearted, nominal, compromised lives. Their hearts are divided, their priorities are spread widely, and their spiritual side of their life is gradually choked out. They may love the Lord at first, but they also love the other things they do. And I actually believe this describes a large portion of Christians today. They don't grow, they never grow, not because they don't believe the basics, but because their heart is crowded out with all its other stuff. And finally, there is the good heart, the faithful, fruitful, receptive heart. The text says these are the ones where the seed is sown on good ground. They hear the word, they accept it, and they bear fruit, thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. Now this is the heart that God desires. Here it is in the New Testament context, and it seemed to be open, receptive, teachable, obedient, and because of that it will be fruitful. In that life, you see the fruit of the Spirit. But even here, Jesus notes a difference between such people, because it says some people will produce thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and some a hundredfold. So not even all good hearts produce the same fruit, but all good hearts produce some fruit. That's the important point. And that raises another sobering question. How much fruit of the Holy Spirit do we see in your life? Now fruit are those things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Those are the declared fruit of the Spirit. That's what we should be looking for. And are you seeing those and are those things growing in you? Are you a 30-fold Christian? Are you becoming a sixty-fold Christian? Will you one day be a hundredfold Christian? But the important point is only one soil, one type of heart is seen to declare, is seen to bear such fruit. Only one heart is then seen out of the four described in this parable, are seen to grow in maturity. And that's a sobering thought. So the point is, the point of this whole passage today, Old and New Testament, is you need to have a good heart. If someone asks you what this message is about today, I hope you can sum it up in one sentence. I'm simply saying you need to have a good heart. That's it. A loyal heart, a receptive heart, a whole-hearted life with a fruitful heart serving the Lord. David had a Abijah didn't have it, and Isa had it, well mostly, and God judged each one accordingly. Let me close today with a final word from Proverbs. It says, Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life. And if we want to know what those real issues are, the next verses in the Proverbs tell us, we are called to guard our mouths, guard our eyes, guard our steps, guard our direction in life, even guard all our choices, because everything flows out from the heart, every decision we make. And that, my friends, is great foreknowledge and forewarning and equipment to help us live the sort of fruitful life that God wants you and I to live today. Thanks for joining me today! Another day in the Word of God over. We'll pick up again and finish off the second half of this chapter, and if I've got time, I'll run through all of chapter 16 tomorrow. But today we have seen God's standard of judgment dangled before us. We've watched him evaluate kings not by our accomplishments but by the posture of the hearts. And in the next chapter and a half, we'll see what happens when the nation continues to drift and when God raises up new kings who will either follow David's example or repeat the sins of their fathers. The patterns will continue. So join me tomorrow as we continue our journey through One Kings and discover a little more about how God evaluates every life, every leader, every heart, including yours. And if you want to keep up to date and across all of my podcast episodes, subscribe to my weekly Substack newsletter where I do a short devotional and an update of what's coming across all my podcasts in the coming week. 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