God is the Ultimate Kingmaker

8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. 9 But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, 10 Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

11 When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he struck down all the house of Baasha. He did not leave him a single male of his relatives or his friends. 12 Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, 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. 14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? – 1 Kings 16:8-14 ESV

Being the heir to a king in Israel could be a dangerous occupation, particularly if your father was under judgment from God. There was Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, who was assassinated in the second year of his reign. Baasha, his murderer, took his place on the throne of Israel. And Baasha secured his kingdom by having the entire extended family of Jeroboam executed. That way there would be no heirs to try and reclaim the throne.

Twenty-four years later, Baasha’s son, Elah ascended to the throne after his father’s death. But he too would enjoy a reign of only two years before being assassinated by Zimri, one of his own military officers. And Zimri also took drastic measures to protect his newfound power and position.

Zimri immediately killed the entire royal family of Baasha, leaving him not even a single male child. – 1 Kings 16:11 NLT

Both Jeroboam and Baasha were under the judgment of God. In Jeroboam’s case, God had placed his entire lineage under a curse because he had led the northern tribes of Israel to worship false gods.

“You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made other gods for yourself and have made me furious with your gold calves. And since you have turned your back on me, I will bring disaster on your dynasty and will destroy every one of your male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel. I will burn up your royal dynasty as one burns up trash until it is all gone.” – 1 Kings 14:9-10 NLT

And though Baasha was not a descendant of Jeroboam, he would find himself under a similar curse because he had chosen to follow Jeroboam’s example.

“I lifted you out of the dust to make you ruler of my people Israel, but you have followed the evil example of Jeroboam. You have provoked my anger by causing my people Israel to sin. So now I will destroy you and your family, just as I destroyed the descendants of Jeroboam son of Nebat. The members of Baasha’s family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the field will be eaten by vultures.” - 1 Kings 16:2-4 NLT

These two men had been elevated by God from obscurity to places of power and great influence. But rather than respond to God in gratitude and reverence, they let their success go to their heads. They lost sight of the fact that they had been placed on the throne by God and it was He who deserved their honor, worship, and faithfulness. It was the prophet, Daniel, who told King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, “Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings” (Daniel 2:20-21 NLT). And the psalmist, Asaph,  added, “it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another” (Psalm 75:7 ESV).

Power is intoxicating. It has a highly attractive quality to it that, once tasted, can become addictive and habit forming. As has been made abundantly clear, the position of king was highly coveted in Israel. Since Jeroboam, a relative nobody had been able to enjoy his 15-minutes of fame and fortune, everyone believed the position was open to anyone with enough drive and ambition to take it. Baasha had deemed himself a far better candidate than Nadab, so he took matters into his hands, eliminated the competition, and crowned himself king. But in doing so, he failed to realize that he was nothing more than an instrument in the hand of God. The Almighty had used him to bring judgment against the house of Jeroboam. And God would have used Baasha if he had recognized the hand of God in his life and given Him the glory and honor He so richly deserved. But Baasha became blinded by his own glory.

The history of the kings of Judah and Israel has come a long way since the day when Solomon asked God for “an understanding mind” (1 Kings 3:9 ESV). As the newly crowned king of the still united nation of Israel, Solomon was aware of his shortcomings. He knew he was young and ill-prepared to rule over the vast kingdom his father had built. And, faced with the formidable task of following in his father’s footsteps, Solomon had sought the assistance of God.

“I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?” – 1 Kings 3:7-9 NLT

Notice that Solomon understood that the people of Israel were God’s chosen people, not his. He was simply a figurehead, serving on behalf of God and by the sovereign will of God. At this early stage of his reign, Solomon seems quite aware of his place on the depth chart. He has no delusions of grandeur or shows no signs of an overinflated sense of self-worth. He is humble, submissive, and fully aware of his need for God’s help. But over his four-decades-long reign, Solomon would grow increasingly more self-reliant and obsessed with the trappings of power and success. He began to seek fulfillment and satisfaction in all the wrong places and, ultimately, he was forced to confess that his quest had left him unfulfilled and dissatisfied.

I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me. Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere. – Ecclesiastes 2:9-11 NLT

In essence, Solomon had become an idol-factory. He manufactured all kinds of substitutes for God, hoping to discover meaning and purpose for his life. In the early days of his reign, he had turned to God. But as the years progressed, he began to seek help and hope in all the wrong places.

I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards. I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees. I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves. I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household. I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me. I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire! – Ecclesiastes 2:4-8 NLT

He had it all, but he had nothing. Surrounded by all the trappings of success, Solomon found himself empty and trapped in an existential maze with no hope of finding the exit. He was lost. Yet the answer to his problem was all around him. It was God who had given him wisdom and wealth. His fame and fortune were the handiwork of God. But Solomon had begun to read his own press clippings and assumed that his greatness was his own doing. He lost sight of God, and that ultimately led him to seek help from his menagerie of false gods. That decision would have long-lasting ramifications, resulting in the division of his kingdom and the rise of men like Rehoboam, Jeroboam, Nadab, Abijah, Baasha, and Zimri.

The pattern established by Solomon continued for generations to come. Each successive king seemed to lose sight of his calling and, in time, lost touch with his God. They each became guilty of making substitutes for God, a fact that the author 1 Kings makes painfully clear.

So Zimri destroyed the dynasty of Baasha as the Lord had promised through the prophet Jehu. This happened because of all the sins Baasha and his son Elah had committed, and because of the sins they led Israel to commit. They provoked the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, with their worthless idols. – 1 Kings 16:12-13 NLT

Late in his life, long after his meaningless quest for significance had left him empty-handed, Solomon came to a painful, yet important epiphany.

Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God. For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him? God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. This, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind. – Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 NLT

He had allowed God to become obscured by the pleasures and trappings of success. He had spent his entire life pursuing wealth, treasures, fame, and influence. But in doing so, he had turned His back on the very one who had made it all possible. It was God who had placed Solomon on the throne. It was God who had blessed Solomon with wisdom and wealth. And it was God who would take it all away and give it to someone else. Now, years later, the pattern continues to repeat itself, providing further proof of the validity of Asaph’s words: “it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.”

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

A Message from the Lord

1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:

2 Hear this, you elders;
    give ear, all inhabitants of the land!
Has such a thing happened in your days,
    or in the days of your fathers?
3 Tell your children of it,
    and let your children tell their children,
    and their children to another generation.

4  What the cutting locust left,
    the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
    the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
    the destroying locust has eaten. – Joel 1:1-4 ESV

As the name of the book implies, its author was an individual known as Joel. His name means “Yahweh is God,” so it would be easy to assume that his parents were faithful Israelites who raised their young son to worship the deity who had chosen the descendants of Abraham to be His prized possession. We know little about Joel, except for the name of his father, Pethuel. Joel did not come from a well-known or influential family. He had no apparent pedigree or status as a religious leader among his people. He simply introduces himself as “Joel, the son of Pethuel.”

The significant thing about Joel is not his name or his background, but the message he delivered. Even more importantly, it is the one who gave Joel the message that provides this book any weight and makes Joel someone worth giving the time of day.  He claims to be delivering “the word of the Lord.” 

The Hebrew word translated as “Lord” is actually the tetragrammaton YHWH. The ancient Hebrew language in which the book of Joel was written used only consonants and no vowels. So, the name of God was written with the four letters: YHWH. When translating the Hebrew text to English, the name of God has been translated as Jehovah, Yahweh, or as it is here, Lord. The ancient Hebrews held God’s name in such high regard that they refused to speak it out loud, even when reading the Scriptures. So, when they came to a passage where the tetragrammaton YHWH was found, they would substitute the word Adonai (“Lord”).

Joel is establishing from the outset that his message has been given to him by Yahweh, the God of the Jews. And it would appear from the context of the book’s content that God’s message is directed primarily at the southern kingdom of Judah. Determining a date for when Joel penned this message is difficult and has been hotly debated over the centuries. The disagreements all revolve around the period known as the exile – referring to the time when the southern kingdom of Judah was defeated by Babylonians, and the walls of Jerusalem were breached and the city destroyed. The city and its beautiful temple, built by King Solomon were ransacked by Nebuchadnezzar’s army in 586 B.C. And it is around this year that the debate regarding the dating of the book of Joel swirls.

Basing their discussions around the exile or the time in which the people of Judah were taken captive to Babylon, some argue for an early pre-exilic dating, while others defend a mid-pre-exilic timeline. Still others promote a late pre-exilic date. But the one thing they all share in common is the pre-exilic designation. In other words, they all believe that Joel wrote his book before the nation of Judah fell, and its people were taken captive to Babylon. But there is a fifth opinion out there that puts the date of the writing of Joel after the exile, designating it as being post-exilic in terms of its timing.

It seems that many who hold to the post-exilic view do so because they reject the prophetic nature of the book. In other words, because Joel’s message contains what appear to be predictions of Judah’s destruction at the hands of the Babylonians, he must have written it after the fact. Therefore, it is not really a book of prophecy, but a book of reflection, written in retrospect. Yet, one of the main themes in the book is the sovereignty of God. It is not meant to be a looking back at what God has done, but a revelation of what God is going to do. God is delivering through Joel a message of judgment against the nation of Judah for their unfaithfulness. They had repeatedly broken their covenant with Him, and now He was warning them what was going to happen as a result. If you adopt the post-exilic dating, the calls to repentance found in the book seem out of place and even unjust on God’s part, because if the people have already been taken captive and restored to the land, there is no opportunity or need for their repentance.

So, it would make much more sense to see this book as having been written before the fall of Jerusalem. It is prophetic in nature, containing God’s message for the people of Judah, warning of His coming judgment, calling them to repentance, and assuring them of His mercy should they do so.

But Joel opens his book with a stern message directed at the leaders, but intended for the ears of each and every citizen of Judah.

Hear this, you elders;
    give ear, all inhabitants of the land!
Has such a thing happened in your days,
    or in the days of your fathers?
Tell your children of it,
    and let your children tell their children,
and their children to another generation. – Joel 1:2-3 ESV

The land of Judah had suffered from a devastating wave of successive locust infestations. Joel describes what appear to be four different kinds of locusts: cutting locusts, swarming locusts, hopping locusts, and destroying locusts. But it is likely that he is only trying to illustrate that the destruction took place over time, with the locusts doing increasing degrees of damage with each successive infestation.

And Joel poses the question, “Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers?” This is a rhetorical question requiring no response. The answer is obviously, “No.” This was devastation on never-before-seen scale and Joel wants his readers to not miss the significance of what they have just experienced. They were to spread the word and retell the story for generations to come. And this command from Joel reflects the words of Psalm 78.

O my people, listen to my instructions.
    Open your ears to what I am saying,
    for I will speak to you in a parable.
I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—
    stories we have heard and known,
    stories our ancestors handed down to us.
We will not hide these truths from our children;
    we will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord,
    about his power and his mighty wonders. – Psalm 78:1-4 NLT

They were not to hide the glorious deeds of the Lord from their children. And in this case, Joel commands them to tell their children about the judgments of God as well. And the Psalmist goes on to provide the rationalization behind this disclosure of God’s power and mighty wonders.

   …teach them to their children,
so the next generation might know them—
    even the children not yet born—
    and they in turn will teach their own children.
So each generation should set its hope anew on God,
    not forgetting his glorious miracles
    and obeying his commands.
Then they will not be like their ancestors—
    stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful,
    refusing to give their hearts to God. – Psalm 78:5-8 NLT

God’s people are to paint a clear and comprehensive picture of Him. He is not one-dimensional and is not to be presented in a lopsided or incomplete manner. God is love, but His wrath cannot be overlooked or ignored. He is holy and righteous and stands in opposition to all that is unholy and unrighteous. God blesses, but He also curses. His rewards can come in both positive and negative forms, depending upon the actions of the one He is rewarding. Sin brings His condemnation and judgment. Obedience brings blessing.

Joel is issuing a stern wake-up call, demanding that the people of Judah assess their circumstances and recognize that hand of Almighty God. They could allow the devastating judgment they had just endured to draw them back to God, or they could grow “stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God.”

The choice was theirs. But Joel will spend the next three chapters calling on the people of Judah to wake up and smell the coffee. He will plead with them to repent and return. He will warn of future judgment to come should they refuse. The message he was delivering was from the Lord, and it would be best if they listened.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Ungodliness Among the Godly

14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage. – Jude 1:14-16 ESV

To strengthen his attack against the false teachers, Jude has utilized imagery from nature and borrowed from Jewish intertestamental texts, specifically the book of 1 Enoch. He has already used this book once when describing a scene in which the angel, Michael, disputed with Satan over the body of Moses. This story is recorded in the book of 1 Enoch, but most likely a part of Jewish oral tradition. The book of 1 Enoch was part of what has come to be known as pseudepigraphal writings, all composed somewhere between 200-300 B.C. Also known as the intertestamental period, this was a time marked by seeming silence from God. He had sent no more prophets to the people of Israel or Judah.

The people of Judah had returned from exile in Babylon and were living in the land of promise once again, but they had no king and were relatively powerless and defenseless. During that time, a number of these writings appeared, bearing the names of Old Testament saints, such as Enoch, Abraham, Ezra, and Solomon. Their designation as pseudepigraphal is based on the fact that they profess to be written by Old Testament characters, but were written centuries after these individuals lived. In Greek, pseudepigraphos means “false inscription.” None of these books were considered legitimate by the early church fathers, and so, they were not included in the canon of Scripture. But they were most popular within the 1st-Century Jewish community. So, Jude’s use of these texts should not be taken as his endorsement of their authenticity. He is simply using contemporary and familiar resources to drive home his point. 

In today’s text, Jude seems to quote directly from the book of 1 Enoch.

And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones
To execute judgement upon all,
And to destroy all the ungodly:
And to convict all flesh
Of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed,
And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. – 1 Enoch 1:9

We know little about Enoch, other than what we are told in the book of Genesis. He appears in the genealogy of Adam, recorded by Moses. And as Jude indicates, Enoch was the seventh name listed in that genealogy.

When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.

When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. – Genesis 5:18-24 ESV

Because of this Genesis text,  the Jews in Jude’s audience would have held Enoch in high esteem. Two times in this Genesis account it refers to Enoch as having walked with God. He was a godly man. And the passage in 1 Enoch that from which Jude quotes, portrays Enoch as having been a prophet of God. He spoke on behalf of God. And the whole reason Jude used that quote was because it spoke of God’s coming judgment against the ungodly.

Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way. – Jude 1:14-15 ESV

Notice the three times in which the word “ungodly” is used. That is Jude’s whole point. The false prophets he is warning the believers about are to be seen as what they are: Ungodly individuals who are committing acts of ungodliness. This does not necessarily mean they are unsaved or devoid of a relationship with Christ. Even the godly are capable of acting in ungodly ways. Those who are in Christ can find themselves doing un-Christlike things.

The real issue seems to be how these false teachers were treating God. The 1 Enoch passage refers to “the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” The primary problem with these individuals was their treatment of God Almighty. Jude calls them “grumblers, malcontents,…and loud-mouthed boasters.” They were ungrateful and prone to complain. And, as Jude pointed out earlier, they had a strong dislike of authority. They were driven by their need for control and their desire to meet their own selfish and self-centered agendas. Jude accuses them of “following their own sinful desires,” which simply means they were following the promptings of their own sin natures rather than the Spirit of God.

The apostle Paul warned about the inner conflict that is a very real part of every believer’s life on this earth.

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other… – Galatians 5:16-17 NLT

These false teachers were evidently losing the battle. And, according to Jude, their lives were giving evidence of the very things Paul said would mark the life of anyone who fails to yield to the Spirit of God.

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. – Galatians 5:19-21 NLT

Living according to our sin nature produces a whole host of unhealthy fruit. And the false teachers who were infecting the congregations to whom Jude was writing. The works of the flesh, as Paul called them, have a way of spreading. They’re infectious. As Paul told the Galatian believers:

This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough!
 – Galatians 5:9 NLT

It has to be irradicated and removed. It cannot be tolerated or ignored. When these kinds of individuals show up in a local congregation, claiming to be one of the flock and giving evidence of their faith in Christ, it may be difficult to spot them. But in time, the fruit of the lives will become apparent. Their true character will ultimately be revealed, and the condition of their heart will be exposed. When that happens, action must be taken. And, as Jude will reveal, the best defense is a strong offense. He will encourage the believers to rely on prayer and the constant pursuit of spiritual maturity to resist the influence of these grumblers, malcontents, and loud-mouthed boasters.

Spiritual maturity is the best weapon in our war against spiritual apostasy. An ever-increasing faith in Christ is the most effective antidote to godlessness in the camp. In the book of Numbers, we have recorded the story of the Israelites complaining against Moses and God. They were unhappy with their lot in life and were grumbling about their lack of food and water. So, as punishment for their ingratitude and lack of reverence, God sent a plague of poisonous snakes among them. When the people saw that God had sent His judgment on them, they confessed their sin to Moses and begged him to intervene on their behalf. So God told Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live” (Numbers 21:8 ESV). And when anyone who had been bitten looked on the bronze serpent, they received immediate healing. But their gazing at the serpent on the pole took faith. They had no guarantee that anything would happen, except for the word of God.

The best way to deal with sin in the camp is to look at Christ on the cross. We must focus our gaze on the sole solution to all sin, the Savior who was sacrificed on behalf of sinful mankind and offered Himself as the payment for mankind’s sin debt to God. There will always be false teachers among us. But a spiritual strong congregation who has a healthy love for God and a confident dependence upon the saving work of Jesus Christ will prove to be an unwelcome and unfruitful place for falsehood to gain a foothold.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson