1. "What caused the decline of God's people? Three simple steps are obvious in 1 Kings 12–22. They worshiped false gods, they followed bad leaders, they rejected God's word."

2. "Friends, when people are polarized, both sides may not be able to be right, but both sides can certainly be wrong. And here in these chapters we see that both sides were."

3. "Perhaps you're here this morning as one who is skeptical of any kind of religious worship. Maybe you think it's all man-made. But the question isn't if you're a worshiper, but who or what it is that you worship."

4. "Man made religion like Jeroboam made up won't answer the need we have for the true God. We are creatures made in the image of the only God there is. Made-up theology and civil service priests like Jeroboam made, offering sacrifices that he came up with, will never meet our need."

5. "My friend, what are you relying on this morning? Your virtues are compromised by your vices, your sins. The wrong thing, whether done poorly or done well, is still the wrong thing. No set of talents or virtues can make up for rebelling against God."

6. "Sin is not stable, but it degrades and devolves and destroys. Sons follow their fathers and their dad's bad choices are too often only compounded by their sons and their successors."

7. "There is no perfect wielder of earthly human authority. There is no leader so good that he can resolve all our human problems, no one really worth putting our hope in. Finally, no one, that is, except Christ."

8. "Simply hearing God's word is not enough. Even all the trouble you take to be here is not enough. In fact, it will be worth nothing and even worse than nothing if you then take the word you hear and are hardened to it and don't respond to it. We hear in order to heed; we listen in order to do."

9. "In these chapters we see it illustrated that religious decline ends in one of two ways, either repentance or the judgment of God. Religious decline ends either in repentance or in the judgment of God."

10. "God's word came through Elijah and led Israel to repentance for a time. But my friends, temporary repentance is no true repentance. Temporary repentance is no true repentance."

Observation Questions

1. In 1 Kings 12:3–11, what do the people ask Rehoboam to change, and how does he respond after consulting his younger advisors?
2. According to 1 Kings 12:28–31, what specific actions does Jeroboam take to establish his new religious system in Israel, and where does he set up the golden calves?
3. In 1 Kings 14:22–24, how is Judah’s sin under Rehoboam described, and what specific practices are mentioned that show how far they have turned from the Lord?
4. Looking at 1 Kings 16:30–33, how does the writer describe Ahab’s evil, and what new steps into idolatry does he take compared to the kings before him?
5. In 1 Kings 18:20–24, what challenge does Elijah put before the people and the prophets of Baal, and how do the people initially respond to his question in verse 21?
6. In 1 Kings 18:30–39, what does Elijah do to the altar and the sacrifice before he prays, and how does the Lord answer his prayer? How do the people react in verse 39?

Interpretation Questions

1. What do Rehoboam’s harsh answer (1 Kings 12:10–11) and Jeroboam’s new religious system (1 Kings 12:28–31) reveal about their hearts toward God and toward the people they lead?
2. Why do you think the author keeps repeating phrases like “walked in the way of Jeroboam” and “made Israel to sin” (e.g., 1 Kings 15:26, 34; 16:19, 25, 30), and what does this show about the power of leadership for good or evil?
3. In 1 Kings 18:21, Elijah asks, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions?” What does this image suggest about trying to serve both the Lord and idols at the same time?
4. How does God’s dramatic answer by fire and then by rain in 1 Kings 18 highlight the difference between the living God and man-made religion, and how did the sermon connect this to our need for Christ as the true High Priest?
5. Considering Ahab’s brief humility in 1 Kings 21:27–29 alongside his ongoing idolatry and his son’s continuation in sin (1 Kings 22:51–53), what can we learn about the difference between temporary remorse and true repentance?

Application Questions

1. If idolatry is not just bowing down to statues but giving ultimate trust or devotion to something other than God, what “modern golden calves” might be most tempting for you personally (e.g., career, comfort, political hopes, reputation), and how do they show up in your choices?
2. Think about the leaders you are influenced by—at church, at work, in your family, and in public life. What signs would help you discern whether they are leading you toward faithfulness to God or, like Jeroboam and Ahab, away from Him?
3. When you hear God’s Word—whether in personal reading, a sermon, or counsel from another believer—what are some typical ways you might “hear but not heed,” and what concrete steps could you take this week to respond with actual obedience?
4. Parents, mentors, and older believers: what kind of spiritual legacy are you currently modeling for those who watch you, and what is one specific change you sense God calling you to make so that your example points more clearly toward Christ and not toward compromise?
5. For those serving in public or community roles (or aspiring to), how might this passage reshape your view of your work, and what is one practical way you can pursue justice, mercy, and integrity in your responsibilities this week for the glory of God?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Exodus 32:1–35 — Israel’s golden calf episode shows an earlier, vivid example of man-made worship replacing devotion to the true God, paralleling Jeroboam’s sin.
2. 2 Samuel 11–12 — David’s sin with Bathsheba and his repentance under Nathan’s rebuke contrast with the largely unrepentant kings in 1 Kings and highlight what true repentance looks like.
3. Hebrews 9:11–15 — This passage explains Jesus as our true High Priest, whose own blood secures eternal redemption, fulfilling and surpassing all Old Testament sacrifices and priests.
4. 1 Samuel 8:1–22 — Israel’s demand for a king “like all the nations” and God’s warning about the consequences help frame the later failures of kings like Rehoboam, Jeroboam, and Ahab.
5. Revelation 19:11–16 — Here Christ appears as the faithful and true “King of kings and Lord of lords,” the only perfect ruler in contrast to the flawed kings of Israel and Judah.

Sermon Main Topics

I. Reflecting on the Fall of Great Nations

II. They Worshiped False Gods (1 Kings 12–14)

III. They Followed Bad Leaders (1 Kings 15–16)

IV. They Rejected God’s Word (1 Kings 17–22)

V. Turning Toward Repentance and Lasting Hope

---

Detailed Sermon Outline

• Reflects the human desire to reclaim perceived former greatness

• Explores the theme of how even powerful nations can decay
• Highlights interest in why great empires rise and fall

• Biblical narrative also addresses national decline
• Sets context for considering 1 Kings 12–22 and the downfall of Israel

• Families, communities, and churches can face similar “decline” principles

• Old Testament Israel was both exemplary and unique
• Encouragement for visitors and congregation to follow this series in 1 Kings

• Reference: 1 Kings 12:10
• People asked for relief from forced labor; Rehoboam responded with tougher demands
• Demonstrates failure to listen to wise counsel (12:15)

• Established rival worship centers in Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:28–30)
• Made two golden calves, echoing Israel’s wilderness sin (Exodus reference implied)
• Appointed non-Levitical priests, creating a man-made religion

• Shows God’s displeasure with idolatry
• Jeroboam persists in sin (1 Kings 13:33–34)

• Rehoboam’s kingdom in Judah falls into similar idol worship (14:22–24)
• Jeroboam’s family line judged for their sin (14:9–16)

• Humanity is inherently worshipful; the question is what or whom we worship

• Warns against substituting anything for God
• Points to the only true High Priest, Jesus Christ (Hebrews reference)

• Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab (1 Kings 15–16)
• Each “walked in the way of Jeroboam,” leading Israel to sin (15:26, 15:34, 16:19, etc.)

• Multiple assassinations highlight moral corruption
• Reflects a national rejection of God’s law

• Asa’s longer, more faithful reign contrasted with the turmoil in Israel

• Leaders either deepen sin or promote righteousness

• Sin never remains private; it spreads corruption (example of David’s sin, 2 Samuel implied)

• Our example is our influence, especially for parents, public servants, and church leaders

• God’s miraculous provision for Elijah by ravens
• Raising the Gentile widow’s son demonstrates God’s power over life and death

• Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal
• God answers by fire to prove He alone is the true God (18:20–39)
• The people temporarily repent: “The Lord, He is God!” (18:39)

• Earthquake, wind, and fire, yet God speaks in a low whisper (19:11–13)
• Reaffirms the power and centrality of God’s spoken Word

• Naboth’s vineyard injustice (1 Kings 21)
• Temporary remorse from Ahab (21:27–29), yet he fails to remove false worship
• Ahab’s ultimate downfall in battle (1 Kings 22)

• Ahab’s shallow contrition brings only partial relief from judgment

• Sin leads to decline and eventual judgment if we do not genuinely repent
• Calls us to heed Scripture, trust Christ, and live out obedience

• Jesus is the true King of kings (Revelation 19:16)
• Only His sacrifice can truly address sin and bring forgiveness

• We need the righteousness of Christ, not our own attempts at virtue

• Godly service in government, schools, and workplaces promotes good in society

• We oppose secularism that suppresses religious freedom
• We do not legislate Christianity, but uphold freedom for faithful worship

• Worship the true God instead of false idols
• Follow and become godly leaders
• Hear and obey God’s Word daily

• Urges personal trust in Christ, ongoing repentance, and hopeful service in the world

Make America Great Again is a slogan that packs a punch. Just two months ago, almost half of all Americans voting in the election voted for a candidate that espoused that as a summary of his goals, his principles, his plans.

Though a short phrase, it has a number of assumptions, each one significant in itself, like that America what was great, what that greatness was, that whatever that greatness consisted of, it can be recaptured, and that following Mr. Trump is the way to do just that.

At the time of the American Revolution, the first British empire was being significantly challenged by British colonists in North America aided by rival France. During this conflict, English member of Parliament and historian Edward Gibbon came out with a couple of volumes of a gigantic work, ultimately more than a million and a half words long, called the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. It sold well. Although the history was large and expensive to purchase, three volumes initially came out, three more would follow. It sold out printing after printing, ran through three editions in just two years.

It was an instant classic. Gibbons' detailed use of primary sources brought the reading public into contact, as it were, with actual ancients. Quoted by Gibbons. It came out in installments. The third volume proved to be scandalous because it became clear that Gibbons was asserting that one of the main causes of Rome's fall was the rise of Christianity.

Gibbons had a skeptical, even cynical, take on religion. Ancient Romans, pagans, found a sympathetic mind in Gibbons. He famously wrote that the various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true, by the philosopher as equally false, and by the magistrate as equally useful. Nevertheless, Gibbon's history gained not only immediate popularity, but lasting interest because of his careful observation and reporting of the specifics of the fall of a great empire, a great nation. And that fascinated the British ruling class at the time, as they reflected on the fact that even the greatest, the best organized, the most powerful states can decay and return into barbarism.

Gibbons, chapters 15 and 16, if you want to go looking them up this afternoon, took what had by then become the classic Enlightenment position. The nobler world of antiquity had been degraded and ultimately destroyed by Christianity, which by suppressing the truth, philosophy and science had sunk the West into centuries of darkness. And sounding like one of the new atheists today, Gibbon created a narrative to prove that polytheism was tolerant, monotheism intolerant. Polytheism was easygoing, monotheism evangelical. Polytheism demanded nothing from its adherents save some trivial rights, while monotheism imposed all kinds of irrational rights.

Well, that's Gibbon. Time and historians have not been kind to Gibbon's Enlightenment era ideas. But though people have discounted his answers, they have continued to be fascinated by the questions. How could all this grandeur, all this that we know is Rome become ruins? Sure, Rome wasn't built in a day, but neither did it fall in a day.

Can we understand what happened? And that's as Rome is just one of a number of examples we can give. Genghis Khan's vast empire stretched across most of Asia.

Have you seen maps of the world presented which only mark those few countries which Britain has never invaded or colonized? And today we wonder about America's greatness. We look around and as one writer puts it, our children are not being raised by exemplary lives and confident schools, nor by high culture, vigilant communities, families, churches and temples, but rather by an all-enveloping enemy culture, interested in amusement, titillation and consumerism. Does the Bible have anything to say about such concerns, concerns that especially animate communities like our own here on Capitol Hill, where a new Congress is sworn in and hours later a late president's remains lay in state, quickly followed by the debate and passage of important legislation to be followed in several days with the inauguration of still another president. These next few Sunday mornings we intend to give to some of the clearest portions of the Scriptures about the decline and fall of a great nation.

There's much here to learn for our country, perhaps even for you in your job, but also for us in our families, for us here in our church, and even in our own lives personally. If you're visiting with us, I hope you'll consider following us through these studies. You may be surprised by how much we'll be looking at in these ancient kings and prophets as we look at them, end up seeing ourselves. Or you may even find God. Old Testament Israel was a nation that was both exemplary and unique.

It was able to be exemplary and it provided a visible demonstration to the creation of what the Creator is like and what He made us all to be like. But it was also unique in that it was given special laws and land. It was given prophets and rulers that in their successes and their failures would point the observers on to the one greater than all prophets. The Messiah, the Son of God, who would show Himself to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In this whole series we'll cover about a century, 70 of those years we cover this morning.

Solomon died about 930 B.C. and when he died, the extent of Israel was at its greatest point. It looked to be a huge, united, powerful nation.

Actually, enemies external, like Rezon in Syria, the Edomites to their southeast, Pharaoh Shishak in Egypt, were all there, threatening, and enemies internal had been created. Most notably, the chief of their forced labor, Jeroboam, who we read about in 1 Kings chapter 11, had become alienated from the Israelite monarch and had taken refuge in Egypt, biding his time, waiting to strike to fulfill a prophecy that he would lead a successful rebellion against the house of David. What caused the decline of God's people? Three simple steps are obvious in 1 Kings 12 to 22. They worshiped false gods.

They followed bad leaders. They rejected God's Word. Let me say those things again. They worshiped false gods. They followed bad leaders.

They rejected God's Word. I pray that today you'll see these dangers, avoid them, and even do the opposite.

If you find in your Bibles, maybe the Table of Contents, if you're not that familiar with the Old Testament, these four books of history, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, they were all written together.

1 and 2 Samuel tell the story of King David, Israel's greatest king. And then the book we're in, 1 Kings, the first 11 chapters tells the story of David's son, Solomon, and his reign. Now in chapter 12, where we begin in our text today, Solomon has died. And we find almost immediately in chapters 12 to 14, The nation is divided, so open your Bibles and find these chapters now. If you're using the Bible supplied, you'll find them beginning on page 293.

293.

Where there should have been unity protected by their common loyalty to the one true God, there was instead polarization. Reading this sad story, you could say that their national decline began in church. In their leaders that led them to other places of worship, to worship other gods. What we see here in these first three chapters, 12, 13, and 14, are really two different examples of decline. Here we have the account of Solomon's son and successor, Rehoboam, and of Jeroboam, who led the rebellion against him.

It's in these three chapters that we see and find the division between the northern and southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin in the south, centered on Jerusalem, with the descendants of David on the throne, and the northern kingdom of Israel, centered on Samaria. These three chapters can be summarized pretty quickly. So in chapter 12, Rehoboam succeeds his late father Solomon. He makes unreasonable demands on his people. If you look there in chapter 12, verse 10, if you're not used to looking at the Bible, the chapter numbers are the large numbers, the verse numbers are the small numbers that come afterwards.

Look at chapter 12, verse 10. See that phrase he uses? My little finger is thicker than my father's thighs. What Rabboni was saying to the people who were complaining about the amount of work, they were conscripted forced labor, that they had had to do under Solomon. He was saying that they hadn't seen anything yet.

And by the way, it's interesting in verse 15, seems to imply that the king should have listened to the people. Early advocates of democracy in the U.S. who were using the Bible to support it would sometimes go here to 1 Kings 12:15 to see the implication that the king should have listened to the complaints of the people. Anyway, Jeroboam doesn't listen to the people. Instead, he embraces a harshness in his kingly responsibilities. And so Jeroboam, who was the former leader of the forced labor under Solomon, leads the northern ten tribes to revolt.

And Jeroboam also leads them into idolatry. Chapter 13 contains a remarkable sign involving two prophets about God's judgment on Jeroboam's idolatry. And then chapter 14 tells about Jeroboam's end and then summarizes Rehoboam's reign in Jerusalem. Now at first glance, apart from their names, Rehoboam and Jeroboam seem pretty different. Rehoboam is the privileged one, grandson of King David, son of Solomon.

Nick observed to me that, Wow, this is the guy all the wisdom of Proverbs was said to. Rehoboam, this is the son that Solomon was talking to. And then Jeroboam on the other hand, who is he? Jeroboam is the exact opposite. He is a nobody.

He is from the wrong side of the tracks. Look there in 1126 it's clear he grew up without his father. Rehoboam, presumably the young man with so much of Solomon's wisdom, Rahab was evidently stupid in the prideful way he dealt with his people. He was marked by hubris. Jeroboam on the other hand, the one with no advantages, was clearly naturally gifted.

He was a pretty savvy manager of people. Solomon had even seen that. Look back in chapter 11 verse 28. Solomon had noticed his talents earlier. The man Jeroboam was very able.

And when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. The Lord had called Jeroboam to be a part of his chastening of the house of David for the sins of Solomon. And so Solomon, eerily reprising the role Saul had had in his own father's life, Solomon beginning to fear this talented one he's recognized, tries to kill Jeroboam, fearing him, it seems, as the Lord's means of judging his family, maybe as the Lord's anointed. But Jeroboam flees to Egypt until Solomon dies. Okay, so now in our passage, chapter 12, verse 3, when Solomon dies, what happens?

Jeroboam is sent for and is evidently looked to by many to be an important player in the succession. Doesn't Jerusalem sound a lot like Washington, D.C.?

And Rehoboam, the one born to the throne, handles this initial parleying with his own people so poorly that Jeroboam seizes opportunity. Jeroboam's popularity plummets as he deals with the people and their concerns over labor. And so Jeroboam knows now is the time to strike.

For all their differences, these two leaders and these two nations had one great overriding similarity: they were both idolatrous. Solomon's own son had evidently received more than just his throne and his genes from his father. He had received his sins. Look there in chapter 14, verse 22. 14, verse 22.

Under Rehoboam's leadership, Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they had committed more than all that their fathers had done. For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did, according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. That's Rehoboam. That's Judah in Jerusalem.

But Jeroboam too led his people into idolatry. We don't know if it's the same unabashed adoption of straight Canaanite religion that flourished under Rehoboam in Judah, but the syncretistic religion which grew up in the north was even more closely tied Personally to Jeroboam himself. Rehoboam just let things his dad had started keep going. Jeroboam goes about with a great plan. He will create religious independence in the north in order to stop the people from needing to go down to Jerusalem and so seal their loyalty to him.

Look there in chapter 12, verse 28. You see his religious program.

Chapter 12, verse 28, so the king, and this is Jeroboam in the north, the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, you,'ve gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. By the way, when it says up to Jerusalem, if you look at a map in the west, we're used to thinking of up as north and down as south. They're not used to looking at flat maps like that, so they don't have those kind of associations in their mind.

When they say go up to Jerusalem, they're thinking of elevation. It's really high. You gotta climb a lot of steps to get up there. And you go down, it's not going south, it's like going down the hill, down into like a normal place, like the hills of Samaria. So that's why it says that language of up and down.

Anyway, you've gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Which is so interesting, he used that language, that is the same exact language the people of Israel used when Moses was getting the Ten Commandments. And remember they made the golden calf, and what did they say? Exactly these words.

And he set one in Bethel and he put the other in Dan. So those are both ends of the kingdom, way in the south near Judah and way in the north near Syria. He put them on both ends. Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one. He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people who were not of the Levites.

And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the 15th day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the 15th day of the eighth month, in the month that he had devised from his own heart. And he instituted a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar to make offerings.

You see how personally Jeroboam is implicated in all this. The prophet of the Lord told him back in chapter 11 that he, Jeroboam, would be blessed with a dynasty as enduring as David's. If you will listen, this is 11:38, if you will listen to all that I command you and will walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, That is exactly what Jeroboam did not do. Those are the things he did not do. Sounding like the Israelites in the wilderness all over again, he even makes golden calves of all things.

Symbols of strength and fertility. And isn't the author clear about who did all this? This language he keeps using, he made. He's letting us all know that this was a problem of man-made religion rather than the real God-made one. That's the problem with the kind of gifts Jeroboam had.

Great competence, great power recognized by others. Sometimes such people begin to think they can do anything. The success goes to their head. Jeroboam's own leadership blinded him to the fact that you can't make true religion simply a tool of national policy to serve the ends and needs of a human ruler.

Oh, friends, beware, especially strong leaders, when they lead you against God's clear instructions. The story in chapter 13 is an especially emphatic sign of God's judgment on idolatry. You can read that story later. But there at the end of it, in chapter 13, we read in verse 33 that, After this thing Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people, any who would be ordained. Any who would, he ordained to be priests of the high places.

Sounds like some desperate religious organizations today that can't find enough clergy. Any who would, he ordained. And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth. So Ahijah, the prophet of the Lord in 14 verse 9 thunderingly denounces Jeroboam in the name of the Lord, you have done evil above all who were before you and made for yourself other gods and metal images provoking me to anger and have cast me behind your back. Can you imagine a prophet of the Lord speaking in the name of the Lord, coming and saying to you, to your face, you, have cast me before your back.

Behind your back. And so he goes on to promise that Israel will be uprooted and scattered. And there in verse 16 he says, Because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin. We'll see more about this destruction of Israel next week when we come to 2 Kings. Rehoboam, Jeroboam, all those involved should have heeded God's Word.

At one point in 12:24 even they did listen to God's Word. But basically, largely through though Rehoboam was inept and Jeroboam was able, they were united iniquity. Together they polarized the people. They divided the nation and both led their people away from the Lord and into idolatry. Friends, when people are polarized, both sides may not be able to be right, but both sides can certainly be wrong.

And here in these chapters we see that both sides were. Perhaps you're here this morning as one who is skeptical of any kind of religious worship. Maybe you think it's all man-made. But whatever your particular habits may be, if you reflect carefully, I think you'll find that the question isn't if you're a worshiper, but who or what it is that you worship. Cherubim and Rehoboam were both obviously confused in this, and it hurt the countries they led.

How a culture is affected toward God and His laws is the most important thing about it. Let me say that again. How a country is affected, how a culture is affected toward God and His laws. Is the most important thing about it. False notions of God, of human nature, of worth, of good, of purpose, of the afterlife of judgment are a bane to any culture.

And man-made religion like Jeroboam made up won't answer the need we have for the true God. We are creatures made in the image of the only God there is, made up theology and civil service priests like Jeroboam made, offering sacrifices that he came up with, he instituted, will never meet our need. We need the true high priest that God has appointed, Jesus Christ. The one we studied not too long ago in the book of Hebrews, where we read, But when Christ appeared as high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent, not made with hands, that is not of this creation. He entered once for all into the holy place, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

My friend, what are you relying on this morning? If you're here as a Christian, surely you're relying on Christ. He is the one you trust. You realize you don't rely on your own virtues. Friends, your virtues are compromised by your vices, your sins.

The wrong thing, whether done poorly or done well, is still the wrong thing. No set of talents or virtues can make up for rebelling against God. They didn't for Jeroboam who had promises of God even given to him personally. If he would only obey the Lord. And they won't for you.

Only Christ will do for what you need. As a church, regardless of our other good points or bad points, we have to ask ourselves this question. Are we following God? Are those of us who are the leaders of this church following the Lord? We must continually refocus ourselves on this question.

Are we leading the church in following the one true God who has and he has revealed himself in his word. Young people here this morning, take note of this story of Rehoboam. He needs wisdom and he talks to experienced guys and he doesn't like what he hears. So then he talks to his friends who are his own age. And what do you think they give him?

They tell him exactly what he wants to hear. Which in fact is not wise. You are the definition of what the Bible calls a fool if you do not turn to the wise for counsel and advice. Those people who are wise are the people who know the Word of God, and they're people who have been experienced in following God and can help you to understand how you can follow God. That's what we try to do here in the fellowship that we have to encourage those kinds of relationships, those kind of honest conversations.

Well, summing up these first three chapters, the big message is, don't worship false gods, worship the only true God. And speaking of who Rehoboam followed, that brings us to the second way described here that we see national decline. Said again, one, worship false gods, two, follow bad leaders. Okay, chapters 12 to 14 cover about 20 years. Now the next two chapters, 15 and 16, cover twice that.

These two chapters cover 40 years. They're just sped through as we read these brief accounts of king after king, ruler after ruler that rises and rules and dies. And what you can't help but notice as you read through these two chapters, is that where there should have been good examples in the state, in the home, there were instead bad examples, both as kings and as fathers. And it becomes obvious that sin is not stable, but it degrades and devolves and destroys. Sons follow their fathers, and their dad's bad choices are too often only compounded by their sons and their successors.

The fruit of idolatry is sin, and sin is bitter and tends to include further decline. So here in chapters 15 and 16, we see the northern kingdom of Israel in quick decline. Let me summarize these next two chapters briefly. In chapter 15, if you look down at that, you'll see the headings that are there. We find Abijah having a brief reign in Jerusalem, followed by the long 41-year reign of his righteous son, Asa.

And righteous Asa's reign is not much commented on in 1 Kings. It's the drama up north in Israel that's the focus.

So what we see then Jeroboam's son up north, Nadab, is the only son of Jeroboam to ever sit on the throne. Baasha killed him and the rest of his family. In chapter 16, Baasha is succeeded by his son Elah, who is then killed and succeeded by one of his officials named Zimri, who is in turn pursued by the army commander Omri. Zimri commits suicide and Omri becomes king and is succeeded by his son Ahab, who will be the focus of the last part of the book. That we'll turn to in a few minutes.

First though, did you notice how many of these kings of Israel were succeeded by someone who killed them? You think our electoral process is fraught with problems?

In the space of a few decades, there were what? Effectively three assassinations. That should give you some idea of what kind of characters these kings were.

Look there about Nadab, chapter 15, verse 26. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father, Jeroboam, and in his sin, which he made Israel to sin. And then down in verse 34 we see about Baasha. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin, which he had made Israel to sin. And then about Baasha and his son Elah there in 16:1.

Chapter 16, verse 13. Mentions all the sins of Basha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned in which they made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols. And then down in verse 19 of chapter 16 about Zimri, his sins that he committed doing evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and for his sin which he committed, making Israel to sin. And then about Omri in verse 25, Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did more evil than all who were before him. And then about Ahab, read there in chapter 16 verse 30, and Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him.

Friend, notice the compounding interest of evil. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. And went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah.

Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. Friends, it just got worse and worse. The northern kingdom quickly deteriorated, sinking into sin, repeated lawless revolts which mirrored their own forsaking of God's law as person after person rose up to kill ruler after ruler. Even this constant dying by rebellion of the Israelite kings was an ironic recurring sign, a reminder of their own rebellion against God.

I wonder if you see any signs in your own life of rebellion against God.

As you look around, you don't have to be a king to sin. Do you imagine that the flouting of God's law has no consequences, no effect in your own life?

Remember the cautionary example of David and the spreading consequences of David's look, his lust, his actions. My friends, ungodliness affects more than just religion. It affects your whole life. It affects your family, your work, your neighborhood, maybe even more. What if that terrorist who drove that truck into people in New Orleans had different personal beliefs?

What if he personally, privately, in his own heart, thought there was a God, and that this God had made every person in His image, that every person was of value and worth, and that He had no right to take life like that. What if He personally had that kind of religion? Personal morality matters. Also, these brief summaries of Reigns remind us of the importance of our public leaders. Ruling well brings glory to God and it is good for the people.

That's one way it has been a privilege for me, decade after decade, to get to address so many of you who are public servants. Whether your office is high and elected or lowly and employed for a short stint, thank you. Thank you for your work to make this country, to make this district, to make our community better. If you are godly in your own life, And in the prosecution of your duties, you will do good to our community. You will promote education.

You'll work to improve the moral tenor of the district, the prosperity of our city. You'll work to enact laws and pass budgets to protect life and property and to preserve order. All of these goods come to us in substantial part through your work in public service. If there were not good public servants, we would be in a much worse state. Brothers and sisters, do it well.

Do it for the glory of God and the good of the people. I remember hearing one former president speak. He referred to his past victory in the words, you, put your hopes in us. And I remember thinking, Mr. So-and-so, I did vote for you, but I certainly never put my hopes in you. Friends, as surely as kings come, they go.

For every inauguration on the West Front, there will soon enough be a lying in state in the rotunda. There is no perfect wielder of earthly human authority, is there? No leader so good that he can resolve all our human problems. No one really worth putting our hope in, finally. No one that is except Christ.

We read in Revelation 19:16, He is King of kings, Lord of lords. Friends, the whole reason 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings are here is to show us, what about this one? Nope. How about this one? Nope.

Maybe this one? I don't think so. That's what's going on in these repeated stories of the kings. Is this one the Messiah? Is this one the descendant of David that would fulfill all the prophecies for our good?

Nope, not him either. Keep us looking for the real one who was to come.

As a Christian this morning, I pray that you are sensitive to the Lord's discipline of you in your own sins. Friends, what straits have your sins brought you into? Repent of them. Trust God this morning. We have to do this individually.

We continue to set our hopes on him and him alone. If our focus goes off of Christ, so goes our reason for being. Fathers and mothers, pray that God make you a burning and shining light to your children and those who come after you of what it means to know and love God. Don't leave a legacy like Rehoboam or Solomon or Jeroboam. Leave a legacy of a man or a woman who knew and loved God and who clearly showed that in not only your words, but in your actions, in your love and your wisdom.

Friends, your example is your influence. Your example is your influence. And we want to have good influence on our children after us, our neighbors around us, our friends, those who work with us or for us. How can we best do that? By regularly hearing and heeding God's Word, which brings us to the third point, the dramatic end of the book of 1 Kings.

What caused their national decline? Number one, they worshiped false number two, they followed bad leaders, number three, they rejected God's Word.

There was spiritual pride. Their hearts were hardened against God's Word. Where there should have been humility to hear and to listen and to repent, there wasn't. Friends, I hope you know that simply hearing God's Word is not enough. That is a perilous thing for a preacher to say.

Preachers succeed by people wanting to hear them. But as a faithful preacher of God's Word, I just want to urge you to realize that you're hearing, going to the trouble to be here on a cold morning, coming into a crowded auditorium to find a place to sit with you and your friend or your family, even all the trouble you take to do that is not enough. In fact, it will be worth nothing and even worse than nothing if you then take the word you hear and are hardened to it and don't respond to it. The whole purpose of hearing God's Word, God speak to us, is to heed it. We hear in order to heed.

We listen in order to do. And that's what we see here did not happen, and that's what causes the decline of any nation, any people, any family, any person sitting here. We see this played out dramatically in chapters 17 to 22, where we get the famous stories of these two characters, Elijah and Ahab, Elijah and Ahab. So in these chapters we see it illustrated that religious decline ends in one of two ways, either repentance or the judgment of God. Religious decline ends either in repentance or in the judgment of God.

This final section of the book is kind of begins in chapter 16, verse 29, with the summary of Ahab's reign, including his sin. Chapter 17 recounts a couple of miracles connected with Elijah, which demonstrate to us that this man is God's spokesman, as God gives him life and then through him life comes to another. And since chapter 17 is bringing up these very big, obvious questions, and is pressing them, who brings the rain? Who gives us food? Who raises the dead?

But they are all just an overture, getting ready for the main bulk of the movement of the symphony, which is chapter 18. And the question, who is the real God? 17 is just getting us ready. Chapter 18 is the famous story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. The chapter is packed with drama.

If you want to pick one chapter to read from this whole section of 1 Kings this afternoon, Chapter 18 is the one you want to read.

Begins with Queen Jezebel there in verse 4, cutting off the prophets of the Lord. Verse 18, we see the prophet of God rebuking the king, even the king is not above the law.

But really this chapter is a sort of recap of Exodus, as God demonstrates His power over the gods of the nations in a spectacular way.

To his people. Look there in chapter 18, beginning of verse 20. So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. And Elijah came near to all the people and said, 'How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him.

But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, I, even I, only am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it.

And I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire to it. And you call upon the name of your God, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, He is God.

And all the people answered, It is well spoken. Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many and call upon the name of your God, but put no fire to it. And they took the bull that was given them and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, 'O Baal, answer us.' But there was no voice. No one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made.

And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, Cry aloud, for he's a god, either he is musing or he is relieving himself, or he's on a journey, or perhaps he's asleep and must be awakened. And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. And as midday passed, raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation. But there was no voice, no one answered, no one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me.

And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down. Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, 'Israel shall be your name.' and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the altar as great as would contain two seahs of seed. And he put the wood in order, and cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood.

And he said, 'Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood. And he said, Do it a second time. And they did it a second time. And he said, Do it a third time. And they did it a third time.

And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water. And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that yout are God in Israel, and that I am youm servant, and that I have done all these things at yout word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that yout, O Lord, are God, and that yout have turned their hearts back. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering. And the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

And then the rest of the chapter, 39 to 45, they display their repentance and God's blessings. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, He is God. The Lord, He is God. And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal. Let not one of them escape.

And they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there. And Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink, and Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down to the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servants, Go up now, look toward the sea.

And he went up and looked and said, There's nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. And at the seventh time, he said, Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising from the sea. And he said, Go, say to Ahab, Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you. And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.

Friends, you see what's happening there. God raised up Elijah to show the truth about who is God. We just quickly look at the rest of this book. If you look down at your Bibles now, chapter 19, Elijah flees. The Lord speaks to him, he anoints Elisha as his successor.

Chapter 20 presents Ahab's victory over the Syrians and his condemnation by a prophet of the Lord. Chapter 21 is a story that pivots around Ahab wanting Naboth's vineyard. And Jezebel getting it for him, and Elijah condemning their sinful actions. And in the last chapter, 22, records Ahab's defeat and death, and Jehoshaphat's reign in Judah, and Ahab's son, Ahaziah, of Israel's reign. Friends, in all of this, God was standing astride Israel's path away from him, and he was confronting them.

So he confronted Baal, the supposed god of the weather of all things, and the Lord brought a drought, and then the Lord brought rain. God raised up Elijah, the greatest of the prophets before John the Baptist, calling for repentance. Chapter 17 presents him first being fed supernaturally by God, and then God using him to feed a Gentile widow way up in Sidonian Zarephath, very far north of the country, and then even to bring life to her dead son. God was showing that he was the real God.

Not just of Israel, but of the whole world, the Sidonians and every other nation. By God providing a foreign widow for Elijah, God was showing that Elijah was doing God's work and that the whole world belongs to God. He alone is the author of life. Elijah was the Lord's chosen instrument for this work. His very name, you realize what it means, Elijah, Eli, El is God, that I is possessive, my, Eli, my God.

And then Jah, My God is Yahweh. I mean even the very name he was given meant he couldn't hide. He was no Baal worshiper. He was all about his God being Yahweh. He was advertising that to the nation.

Elijah knew the Lord had been commissioning him to sort of reintroduce him to his people and that meant teaching God's Word. So in chapter 19 the weakness even of the mightiest of God's servants becomes clear.

Elijah flees for rest, and the Lord meets with him. This famous passage in chapter 19, verse 11. The Lord said, 'Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord, and behold, the Lord passed by, and a great strong wind tore the mountain and broke it in pieces, and the rocks before the Lord were not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

And behold, there was a voice said to him, what are you doing here, Elijah? And the Lord goes on and gives Elijah another mission. Friends, one of the many fascinating things about that that we should notice is the centrality of verbal communication as opposed to mere acts of power. I'm not just gonna consume this altar, I'm going to speak, communicate ideas, propositions specifically. When God will call his people to repent, he will do it by his word.

He will tell the truth about our lives and about him. Ahab was the king being called to lead his nation in repentance. He seemed like a very unlikely repentant. Remember how humbly and lovingly really King David had responded to Nathan's rebuke for his sin? That's nothing like Ahab responds to Elijah.

You look in chapter 18, verse 17, when Ahab first sees Elijah, he says, Is it you, you troubler of Israel? This leader was so blind he couldn't see he was really troubling Israel. Indeed so blind that he looks at the prophet of the Lord and calls him the troubler of Israel. When all the time it was Ahab who was causing the trouble for the people that he was supposed to be a blessing to. All the time he was the one leading them into sin and its manifold terrible consequences.

In chapter 21 verse 25 we read, There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab. That's what he was good at, selling himself to sin, whom Jezebel, his wife, incited. He acted very abominably in going after idols as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel. Friends, in David we see a king who sinned but repented. Now, in 1 Kings, we've seen several who sinned but without repentance.

Finally, the nation was being given a king to reflect their own character. And yet we can't miss the last few verses in chapter 21, Ahab repents.

And when Ahab heard those words, look at verse 27, 21-27, and when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite saying, have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days. But in his son's days I will bring the disaster on his house. How good was Ahab's repentance?

I don't know. It seemed temporary, it seemed limited. We don't have any stories of him pulling down the false altars or getting rid of the prophets of Baal. We have no record of Ahab doing any of that. And listen to how the book ends.

These are the last few verses, beginning verse chapter 22 verse 51 Ahaziah son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother, that's Jezebel. And in the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. He served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger in every way that his father had done. Well, sad to say, if you don't have time to read the whole book of 1 Kings, just read the last paragraph.

You got the point right there.

God's Word came through Elijah and led Israel to repentance for a time.

But, my friends, temporary repentance is no true repentance. Temporary repentance. Is no true repentance. I wonder if you've come here today with a sense of sin in your own life, a sense that everything is not as it should be. I wonder if you find in yourself a need to find forgiveness, maybe from someone else, but not just them, not just yourself.

But from God. That's why he sent Christ, as we've sung about him, several of our songs, oh Christ, what burdens bowed your head. That's why he sent his Son to live a perfect life and take on himself the punishment for all the sins of all of us who'd repent and trust in him. Friends, the righteousness you need to appear before God in love has been given by Christ. For you, if you will have faith, if you will trust in him and believe in him.

If you want to know more about what that means in your life, talk to the friend you came with. Talk to your parents, your brother or sister, the person you work with, whoever you came here with. If you came alone, great way to get to start a new friendship is talk about something pretty deep and important. Just when the service is over, risk embarrassing yourself with the person next to you. Talk to them about what's going on in your life.

Or talk to any of the pastors who will be at the doors on the way out. We would love to help you think more about how you can respond in repentance and faith. Friends, for us as a nation, we need to realize that this book does not call us to establish true religion by law. The time of a theocracy, a nation ruled directly by God's revealed law, has passed. With the coming of Christ and the establishment of his international, worldwide church.

That political doctrine of the state being responsible for the work of the church, it called Erastianism, is in Christian times a corruption. The state is not responsible for the preaching of the word, the administration of baptism, the Lord's Supper, church discipline, but the state is responsible to make sure that the churches are left free and unhindered in our work. We're called not to legislate Christianity, but rather to legislate freedom for Christianity to be practiced. We must work against aggressive secularism, which when it's trying to gain power, promotes itself as being neutral. Once it has power, it shows it was never anything like neutral.

It was opposed to the true God. It's the function of those in public life and government to promote and protect the freedom for the practice of religion. As great as Elijah was, it was not given to him to finally establish the kingdom of God. That would be done by the greatest of all prophets, the one to whom all others pointed, Jesus Christ. The word became flesh.

So, Christian, you have heard the Word of God calling you to repent of your sins with every day of life God gives you by repenting. I pray that our church will be characterized by sincere repentance in following God's Word. So the great empire of David and Solomon declined and literally fell apart because it was marked by, and let's recount the three things, worshiping false gods, following bad leaders, rejecting God's Word. So you wonder, am I wasting my time in Washington? Can this fallen world ever get any better?

Is the whole story just one of decline, decline, decline? I don't think it is just that. I think there are lots of examples of the Word of God running in a culture and changing its very character. In fact, 500 years ago today, this very date, January 12th in 1525 in the medieval town of Zurich, Switzerland, as the Reformation took hold there, as the Bible was taught by Ulrich Zwingli in the Grossmünster in the middle of the city, the council today, it's the 500th anniversary, decided to dissolve all the monasteries, and to give their money to create a fund to aid the poor. There the state was being affected by changing understanding of Christian principles as they became more exposed to the teaching of the Bible.

Friends, I'm not saying we should make monasteries illegal, but I'm saying in that country, in that time, in that city where the city funded things that they became were not They become convinced we're not constant with Scripture, they begin to move toward more certain virtues, like caring for people. It made a real world difference among the poorest people there in Zurich. Many of you, maybe most of you, have been involved in public service, in working for the government at one level or another. Sometimes you've worked for our common good in working for private enterprises, like companies, schools, or newspapers. I just want to encourage you and tell you that your work is worthwhile work.

You can reflect the character of God in the way you do things, not creating heaven on earth, but creating a better fallen world, rather than a worser one. And that is worthwhile doing. In a sense, me and all the other pastors we train, we're not trying to turn the whole world into a bunch of churches. We want churches everywhere, but we're only in church for a few hours a week. What we really care about is the main event, which is what you guys do.

It's what the members of the church do. We are here leading to you and what you do Monday to Friday and all seven days a week in your homes and families, neighborhoods. So friends, the point of all this that we do together is your life. It's what's going on with you. I pray that you will not turn away from God, but that you will do what the people in Elijah's day should have done, that you will worship the true God, that you'll follow good examples and be one yourself, and that you will hear and heed God's Word.

Let's pray together. Oh Lord, you, are God of all the earth, and youd call us to be youe people for your glory. Help us to hear and accept yout call. Help us to trust yout in a way, Lord, that doesn't just make America great, but makes every people on earth that hears and heeds great. Lord, that saves us forever.

We ask in Jesus' name, Amen.