Bible Text: 1 Kings 14:21-31 | Preacher: Pastor Joe Ricchuiti | Series: 1 Kings, God’s Jealousy

1. When we choose to live and worship in a way disloyal to God He sees it as a betrayal of His love for He is a jealous God.  In the Old Testament Israel is seen as married to God.  In the New Testament the church is the Bride of Christ.  When we live for the world’s values, God sees this as adultery against Him.  (James 4:4; 1 Corinthians 10:22)

2.  Israel was to be a light to the nations, bringing God’s light to the darkness of licentious, immoral idol worship,  worship which included human sacrifice.  Instead of bringing light to the world, Israel embraced the darkness of the gentile world and was indistinguishable from the heathen nations around it. The church today is to be a light to the world bringing the truth of the gospel to the nonbelievers around us and yet too often we, like Israel of old, are more influenced by the darkness than we are influencers with the light.  Our values, our lifestyles, our morality is often no better than the world around us.

3.  Rehoboam’s sin brought God’s judgment upon Judah in the form of invasion by the Pharoah:

-believers cannot sin with impunity

-sin caused God to withdraw His protection from Judah

-sin cost them their freedom

-sin cost them what was precious, only to be replaced by a cheap substitute, an ever present reminder of their failure.