Bible Reading for: June 29

1 Kings 20-21

God uses all things to His good purpose which means He even uses evil for good. Even if bad people do well for a time, justice will eventually be served.

As I’ve said earlier in our reading in 1 Kings, Ahab was a bad king. He and his wife Jezebel lead the people of Israel to sin by whoring after foreign gods. You’d think that God would bring these two to ruin rather than saving them from the Syrian king Ben-hadad. God saved Ahab from Ben-hadad’s first attack, and then saved him from his second attack. God has punished many rulers by having them defeated by foreign kings. Why did God make an exception in Ahab’s case?

1 Kings 20:28 ESV
“And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The Lord is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.'”

God chose the people of Israel as His people in order to demonstrate His power and glory to all of human kind. Israel did not earn their chosen status. Ahab and Jezebel would be punished for their evil ways, but God was still using Israel to demonstrate His power to the rest of the world. This demonstrates how God uses even those who deny Him to achieve His purpose. When we see bad people doing well, we view it as a great injustice. I think we would do well to remember that God uses all things to His good purpose, and that in the end justice will prevail.

There is one other thing going on in the verse above. God is all about redemption. With all that Ahab and Jezebel have done, they could submit to God’s authority and be saved. In fact, when faced with God’s judgment, Ahab repented for a time, and God showed mercy. No matter what you have done brother, God doesn’t want to punish, He wants to forgive. If you will confess your sin, ask forgiveness, and submit to God’s authority, forgiveness is yours, if you won’t – look out.

Vivere Victorem! (Live Victorious!)

Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Alternate Reading Plans
Bible Order: Psalms 79-84
Old Testament Only: 2 Chronicles 10–12
New Testament Only: Acts 4:1–31