Stephen Whitehouse - Class 5 - The Whirlwind

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   I have left me 7,000. And that 7,000 there, brothers and sisters, was a remnant according to the election of grace, God's divine token. And so then, this momentous moment takes place in the history of time. I think immediately the exhortation springs out. Elisha was working. God wants laborers. And so then, Elijah, with the symbol of the prophetic office, he casts his mantle onto Elisha and appoints him as the next prophet.

2. 0:38

   Now, I love that little phrase there that we find in verse 21 concerning Elisha at the end of the chapter that he ministered unto him. He ministered unto him. That's a consistent theme, isn't it, about Elijah? We can go back a few pages to chapter 17. Let's just go there. Chapter 17. And we see there at Cherith how the ravens would feed thee.

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   We go down to verse 9 and we see how the widow was going to sustain thee. We go to chapter 19 and we look at verse 6. And we see how there was going to be a cake that was going to feed him. And throughout all this time, Elijah was saying, I'm alone, I'm alone.

4. 1:30

   And all the time, Elijah was being fed by the hand of God. And now he provides a servant. A fellow friend, a fellow companion. He wasn't alone. And this man was devoted to Elijah's cause. And he ministered unto him. Well, I want to now skip on a few chapters in the interest of time.

5. 1:55

   And I want to come to 1 Kings chapter 21. And it's Naboth and his vineyard. But before we go to this chapter, I want to set the scene for you. I want to go to Matthew chapter 21. And you'll all know that Matthew chapter 21 is the parable of the vineyard. And I believe, brothers and sisters, that when we come to Matthew chapter 21, it sets the scene so beautifully for 1 Kings chapter 21.

6. 2:24

   You know the account well. I just want to pick out some important details. Looking at verse 33. Jesus says, here's another parable. There was a certain householder which planted a vineyard and hedged its roundabouts and digged a winepress in it and built a tower and let it out a husbandman and went into a far country.

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   You see then, as you glance down, that at a time he sends servants. The husband, it says in verse 35, they took the servants, they beat one, they killed another, they stoned another. And then he sent other servants and they were killed. Verse 37. But last of all, he sent unto them his son.

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   They will reverence my son, said the Lord. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, this is the year. I'd like you to notice this. This is the year. Come, let us kill him and let us seize on his inheritance. Let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him.

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   And when the Lord, therefore, of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, he will miserably destroy those wicked men and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits of their seasons. Now we know that the vineyard here is Israel. The landlord there is the Lord God himself.

10. 3:43

    He sends his servants. He sends his prophets and his judges. And they're all despised. They're all afflicted. They're all killed. And then finally, he sends his son. And they kill his son. And so to the Jewish commonwealth, they are cast out. AD 70. And he hands it over to other husbandmen, which is us.

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    Being grafted into the olive. So here then we have a parable concerning AD 70 and the way that the Lord God is going to work with the nations. How he's going to work with the nations. And how Israel would reject the Messiah. Now I want to come back to 1 Kings chapter 21.

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    Because I believe in this chapter we have the same parable. So here then in verse 1. And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelites had a vineyard which was in Jezreel. Hared by the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria. So there's Ahab, this great king. He lives in Samaria with a fine palace.

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    But also he has a palace in Jezreel. And we've already said Jezreel, which means God sows. It was a beautiful flush valley. Very green. Verse 2. And Ahab spake unto Naboth saying, Give me thy vineyard that I may have it for a garden of herbs. Because it is near unto my house and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it.

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    Or if it seems good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. And so there Ahab, as the great king of Samaria, has all these things and he wants this man's vineyard. Now it's worth just highlighting the point that the name Naboth means fruit. And Jezreel means God sows.

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    So in this little allegory, is it suggesting, is the narrative suggesting to us that God had sowed his word into Naboth's heart and this was a man who was bearing forth fruit? Well the narrative would suggest that that is the case. So I'd suggest again to you that Naboth now takes on a type of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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    And Ahab and Jezebel will see what type they take on. Well look at verse 3. And Naboth said to Ahab, Now do you think this was an unreasonable law of Naboth to not give the king the land? But those of you taking notes, we can't turn to all the references, but Leviticus chapter 25 and verse 23.

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    And Numbers chapter 36 and verse 7. Both say that the land was God's. They could not bequeath it to anyone. And more than that, it could only be shed within a given tribe. So Naboth then is quoting the law of Moses, just like the Lord Jesus Christ.

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    He's quoting the word of God. And he rebukes the king. So then we see in verse 4, Ahab goes home, he turns away his face, he would eat no bread at the end of verse 4, just like a spoiled child. And then verse 5, But Jezebel his wife came in and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad that thou eatest no bread?

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    Look down at verse 25. Who is this woman? 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 or incited. She was the one who incited the evil imaginations of Ahab. She was his generator. The source of all his evil was this woman.

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    And there, she's about to start a plan that's going to end up in the murder of Naboth and his boys. But did you notice that at the beginning of verse 5? There was none like unto Ahab. Why was he different? It wasn't just because he stood against God and introduced a new religion.

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    He did sell himself. He sold himself. That word, sell himself, literally means to sell to surrender, to be sold to slavery. He sold himself to his wife Jezebel. Now, who is it in the word of God who also sold something? Now, remember, Ahab was the Lord's anointed. He was supposed to be representing God in the kingdom of Israel.

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    Who else sold himself, brothers and sisters? Well, I want to go to Hebrews chapter 12. It was Esau, wasn't it? Now, it's very interesting when we go to Hebrews chapter 12, because the writer to the Hebrews picks out a detail concerning Esau that we don't read in the Genesis account. Hebrews 12, then, and verse 16.

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    And you might be startled at the extremity of the language that's being used here. It says here in verse 16, Lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat he sold his birthright. Now, Ahab sold himself, and Esau sold his birthright. And it says there he was a fornicator.

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    And the Greek word for fornicator is the word pornos, which means to sell. It's where pornography would come from. Pornos. It was absolutely filth in the sight of God. So he sold his birthright. He was a fornicator. He was a spiritual harlot. You see the language? And who was Ahab married to? A spiritual and physical harlot.

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    And so Esau sold himself. He was a fornicator. Pornos. And so was Ahab. And what happens to these? Well, let's go to Revelation chapter 18. This is what we love about the word of God. These themes just thread all the way through. Revelation 18.

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    And verse 3. We saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-coloured beast here. And we see in verse 3 of chapter 18. For all nations have drunk the wine of the wrath of her fornication. The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. And the merchants of the earth are waxed rich to the abundances of her delicacies.

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    Can you see what the word of God is saying? He had fornicated with his wife Jezebel, a symbol of this false religious church. He'd given over the birthright. He'd given over the hope of Israel. He'd lost everything. And we've already considered this week about the merchants that trade with her. But this is what happened to Ahab at the end of verse 13.

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    This woman trades in the souls of men. And this man had lost his soul. He was dead. Spiritually dead. And he was about to come under a curse by Elijah. And he soon was going to be naturally dead. He was a fornicator. And brothers and sisters, the exhortation is so stark. I don't need to develop that.

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    We have the truth. And we are to preserve the truth. Which Ahab did not do. So coming back then to 1 Kings and chapter 21. We want to now develop a few echoes of Naboth being a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. So this woman then. She schemes this terrible plan. And we see there in verse 8.

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    So she wrote letters in Ahab's name. And sealed them with the seal. And sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles. That were in his city dwelling with Naboth. So there's Naboth dwelling peacefully in Jezreel. And this woman, she writes a forge letter to the neighbors. The elders and the nobles of Naboth.

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    What does he say about the Lord Jesus Christ in Zechariah chapter 13 and verse 6? He was wounded in the house of his friends. And here we're beginning to see what would take place with Jesus. Verse 10. And two men were set up, sons of Belial, before him to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king.

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    And then carried him out and stoned him that he may die. Let's go to Matthew chapter 26. He was wounded in the house of his friends. The plan was to show that he blasphemed God and the king. Matthew chapter 26, verse 59. Concerning the master. Now the chief priests and elders and all the council sought false witness against Jesus to put him to death.

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    That's what Jezebel was intending to do. Verse 65. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy. What further need we of witnesses? Behold, now we have heard his blasphemy. So we see then in verse 59 that there were false witnesses and they claimed that Jesus spoke blasphemy. Look at Luke chapter 23.

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    And the whole multitude of them arose and led them unto Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that himself, He is Christ the king. And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the king of the Jews? So they sent out false witnesses and they accused him of blaspheming God and the king.

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    And they took Naboth and they stowed him outside the city. Hebrews chapter 13. We see then that it is Jesus. Hebrews chapter 13, concerning the crucifixion of our Lord. Verse 12 of chapter 13. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

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    So it is Christ. And so when the Lord Jesus Christ spoke about the parable of the vineyard, he would have had in his mind Naboth's vineyard, Elijah and Ahab. But I want now to piece together a few short scriptural references in the law. I want to go back to Deuteronomy chapter 17. I want to now to get into the mind of this woman.

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    She was the apostasy. She did these terrible acts under the cloak of religion. She was a wolf in sheep's clothing. And the most frightening thing about this woman is that she understood the law of Moses. And she leveraged it to her own advantage. Deuteronomy chapter 17, verse 6. Out of the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death.

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    But out the mouth of one witness, he shall not be put to death. And she asks for two witnesses, doesn't she? Deuteronomy 19, and verse 15. One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin. In any sin that he sinneth, out the mouth of two witnesses, or the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

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    It's frightening. She understood the law of Moses. Look at Leviticus chapter 24 now. She even knew when stoning was acceptable. Leviticus 24, verse 13. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp, and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.

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    And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curses God shall bear his sin. And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him. Notice. So she was aware of the word of God. And that's the apostasy, isn't it?

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    The undermining of the truth. And we read of that in the book of Thessalonians. They shall believe a lie. And so here then we see the beginnings of this woman. If you go to 2 Kings chapter 9, I know we're moving around the word of God quickly, but I think it is important to piece together this picture.

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    2 Kings chapter 9. Here we have Jehu and Bidkar. They're having a conversation, a private conversation together. And they were two that actually witnessed the murder of Naboth. And they say there in verse 25, Then said Jehu to Bidkar, his captain, take up and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth, the Jezreelite.

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    For remember how that when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the Lord laid this burden upon him. So Jehu and Bidkar, Bidkar the captain of Jehu's army, they both witnessed the murder of Naboth. And look at verse 26. Surely I've seen yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons.

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    Now we don't read that anywhere else in the word of God. But his sons were murdered. And what did we read in our opening chapter? In Matthew chapter 21. This is their heir. Come, let us kill him and seize on his inheritance. And all the heirs of Naboth were killed.

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    So that Jezebel could take the Lord's inheritance. You see that? Under the cloak of false religion. Well, let's go back to 1 Kings chapter 21. We see then the woman drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus very powerfully now. And Jezebel informs Ahab what she has done.

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    And then in 1 Kings 21 and verse 16, And it came to pass when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab arose up immediately to go down to the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. And the word of the Lord once again came to Elijah, the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, which is in Samaria.

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    Behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he has gone down to possess it. And so then Elijah comes upon the scenes and passes judgment upon this man. Verse 19, And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, hast thou killed and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, in the place where dogs lick the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.

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    What I want to do, I just want to quickly go through the death of Ahab. I want you just to turn over a chapter now and pick up the account in verse 29. Gruesome language. Much exhortation to be had from these verses. 1 Kings 22, verse 29. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, they went up to Ramoth-Gilead.

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    We see here Ahab fighting a battle with Jehoshaphat against Syria. Verse 34, And a certain man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness. Verse 35, And the battle increased that day, and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and he died at even, and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.

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    Verse 37, So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria, and one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria, and the dog licked up his blood, and they washed his armor according unto the word of the Lord, which he spake. So this is how Ahab died.

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    Now keep a hand in 1 Kings 22. I want you to go back to chapter 29, and let's re-read the judgment on Naboth. It says there at the end of verse 19, In the place where dogs lick the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. Now in the centuagent, an additional phrase is added at the end of verse 19, that says these words, And the harlots also shall wash themselves in thy blood.

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    So dogs would come, and harlots. Now turn over a page to chapter 22 now, and let's re-look at verse 38. Those of you with the Revised Standard Version, against that phrase, And they washed his armor according unto the word of the Lord, the Revised Standard Version, and the centuagent says, The harlots washed themselves in his blood.

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    And so these harlots that were in the temple of Baal, they came out, and they washed themselves in Ahab's blood. Ahab was a fornicator, pornos. And so he dies with fornicators. You see the letter of the law applied to Ahab? He had committed harlotry with Jezebel. And so he dies with harlots. And so, brothers and sisters, the exhortation that we take ourselves, however somber, God will give us our heart's desire.

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    He will give us our heart's desire. And Ahab's desire was fornicating with Jezebel. And so in death, the prophetesses of the temple of Baal, they washed themselves in his blood. Can you imagine a more gruesome scene than that?

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    Let's think about Jezebel now. In chapter 21 and verse 23, it says, And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. And what I want to convey to you now, brothers and sisters, is the seriousness of the language. The dogs here were scavengers. I want to just describe to you what was in the mind of the Father.

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    Go back to Deuteronomy chapter 23. Deuteronomy chapter 23, verse 18. The Lord God spells out to the children of Israel in verse 18, Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore or the price of a dog into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow. For even both these are an abomination unto the Lord thy God.

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    So a dog, this scavenger, and a harlot were both marked out as an abomination to God. So for a dog to eat this abomination, you can see abomination eating abomination. They were both marked out. But there's something very special about this dog. I want to go to Isaiah chapter 56.

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    Now here, the prophet Isaiah is talking about the children of Israel and the leaders and how they were forfeiting the responsibilities that they were given. And look at the language here, brothers and sisters, in verse 11. It says there in Isaiah 56, these leaders, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough.

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    Now you'll notice in your margin, greedy dogs are dogs of strong appetite. It was the same dogs. And that phrase, which never have enough, they know not to be satisfied. So these dogs were an abomination and they ate everything and they never knew when it was enough to stop.

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    They never stopped. And God thought they were filth. That's why the Gentiles were called dog. Now, brothers and sisters, let's go back to 2 Kings chapter 9. We've set the scene.

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    And let's see how this woman dies. Through the hand of Jehu, Yahweh is he, the man who was going to be the earthquake, who was going to bring the house of Omri to its knees. 2 Kings chapter 9 then and verse 30. When Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it and she painted her face and tied her head and looked out at a window.

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    Verse 32. And he lifted up his face to the window and said, Who is there on my side? Who? And they looked out to him, two or three eunuchs. And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall on the horses and he trod her underfoot.

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    And when he was come in, he did eat and drink and said, Go, see now this cursed woman and bury her for she is a king's daughter. And when they went out to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull, the feet and the palms of her hand. Wherefore they came again and told him and said, This is the word of the Lord which he spake by his servant Elijah the prophet saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel.

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    But they were hungry dogs. They stopped at nothing but they left her skull, her feet and her hands. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 59.

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    Isaiah chapter 59 and you'll see why these dogs that were cursed associated with with harlots themselves, why they left the skull, the hands and the feet. Verse 3 then, For your hands are defiled with blood.

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    Verse 7, Their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. This woman with her hands had defiled with blood. This woman had run to and fro for evil. This woman used her skull for the evil imaginations of Ahab and she had committed gross iniquity and so evil was she that even the dogs couldn't eat the workings of her mind, the workings of her hand and the workings of her feet.

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    Go to Proverbs chapter 6. Here the Proverbs pick out the same thoughts. Proverbs 6 and here the Proverbs talks about the six things, six, the number of man that God hates and he says there a proud man, a lying tongue in verse 17 and hands that shed innocent blood. Verse 18, a heart that diviseth wicked imaginations, that's the skull and feet that be swift in running to mischief and this woman did these things and she was destroyed.

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    These dogs could eat anything but they couldn't stomach her and that's why she's noted as that religious system that the Lord Jesus Christ will destroy with his mouth we read in the book of Thessalonians and they will be destroyed this wicked woman that rides the beast. And we don't have much time unfortunately so let's go back to 2 Kings chapter 2.

69. 28:38

    I was going to spend a bit of time with Elijah and Elisha walking together but I don't think time is going to allow for that. So what I'd like to do I just want to pick out a few important pieces of this narrative. I want to go to verse 7 there's Elijah and Elisha and they fittingly they go to the school of the prophets there's Elijah's mind he's developing the school of the prophets passing on the truth to the next generation where we heard that this week then verse 7 of 2 Kings chapter 2 and 50 men of these schools of the prophets they went out and they stood to view afar and Elijah and Elisha they stood together at the river Jordan there they are at this river the word Jordan means the descender and I want you to imagine this brothers and sisters before Elijah is taken into the whirlwind they stand at the Jordan which means the descender speaks of mortality we know in Joshua chapter 3 and verse 16 that on the route of the river Jordan is the city of Adam and that descends all the way down into the dead sea it spoke of mortality and Elisha was going to open it up he was going to reverse the waters what does that speak of spoke of the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't it verse 9 and it came to pass when they were gone over that Elijah said unto Elisha ask what I shall do for thee behold I be taken away from thee and Elisha said I pray thee let a double portion of thy spirit be upon

70. 30:14

    me I'm sure we all know that that double portion from Deuteronomy chapter 21 is the double portion of sonship Elisha wanted to be the elder of the sons of the prophets to continue the work of Elijah but Elijah says to him that's a very difficult request and the excitation for ourselves look at verse 10 and he said thou hast asked a hard thing nevertheless if thou see me when I am taken from thee it shall be so unto thee but if not it shall not be so we know this excitation Elisha wanted to be the firstborn and Elijah says if you look and watch and you never let me out of your sight let's go to Hebrews chapter 12 where the mount of Zion and the mount Horeb are written in contrast here and then the writer to the Hebrews says in verse 23 to the general assembly and the ecclesia of the firstborn that's us Hebrews 12 verse 2 looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith you see that come back then to 2 Kings chapter 2 so let's look at verse 11 and it came to pass as they still went on and talked and behold there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire and they parted them both for Sunday now those of you taking notes we haven't got time now to refer to these references but in 1 Chronicles chapter 28 and verse 18 we read of the chariot of the cherubim it's part of the temple it's part of the altar the chariot of the cherubim and Hebraists say that the word chariot and cherubim

71. 31:56

    are very closely aligned a chariot and a cherubim it also says in Psalm 18 verse 10 that God rode upon a cherub you see that so we have figures here riding upon a cherubim and here in Psalm 18 it says God rode upon a cherub but it was fiery and we know in Isaiah chapter 6 that the cherubim take on a different form they're called the seraphim and the seraphim literally means the burning ones or the fiery ones they are vehicles of God's manifestation vehicles of God's glory God is traveling upon this chariot in his cherubim and this cherubim comes forth and parts Elijah and Elisha God had to intervene between these two men though Elisha had said I will never let thee go he had the same resolve of Ruth with Naomi I will never let thee go three times and the cherubim parts them this wonderful wonderful verse in a chariot of fire and the horses of fire and parted them both and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven and Elisha saw it and he cried my father my father the chariot of Israel and the horseman thereof and he saw him no more and he took hold of his own clothes and he rent them in two pieces he took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and went back and stood by the bank of Jordan so he's taken up into a whirlwind now this cherubim we know at the end of Genesis chapter 3 preserved the way to the tree of life and here Elisha says my father my father the chariot of Israel and

72. 33:53

    the horseman thereof what do you think that's the recognition of Elisha saw that Elijah was the chariot that he was the horseman and the rider thereof his work with Samaria was the work of the cherubim preserving the way of truth if only Elijah realized that no wonder God said go back to Israel and love the children of Israel because he had to preserve the way of truth for them go over a few pages to 2 Kings now and 2 Kings chapter 6 I've often pondered why Elijah was so determined to hold on to that mantle he even carries the mantle as he goes up in the whirlwind so imagine Elijah's going up in the whirlwind the whirlwind takes him up into heaven and he sees the chariots of God staying with Elisha God had picked the next prophet the preservation of the truth the work of the cherubim was no longer his it was divinely appointed by God the work of the cherubim now was with Elisha and so he drops the mantle he knew that Elisha now his work was to preserve the truth all