1Ki 16:29-31 NIV In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. (30) Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. (31) He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him.

• Notes (1Ki 16:25 says that Ahab's father, Omri sinned more than all those before him).

• What were the sins of Jeroboam? (1 Kings 12:26-30)

• How did Ahab go one step further? How was this bad (Sidonians – Phoenicians: 1 King 11:1) (Deu 7:3-4)? How does this correspond to today, for Christian marriage?

1Ki 21:1-5 NIV Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. (2) Ahab said to Naboth, "Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth." (3) But Naboth replied, "The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers." (4) So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, "I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers." He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.

• Why did Naboth refuse to sell his land to Ahab (Lev 25:23, Numbers 36:7, Eze 46:18)?

• What do you see in Ahab's attitude after he was refused by Naboth (verses 3-4)?

• Was Ahab's attitude open to other means to acquire the land?

• How might we be vulnerable to the influence of those around us both in a negative and positive way.

1Ki 21:5-16 NIV His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, "Why are you so sullen? Why won't you eat?" (6) He answered her, "Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, 'Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.' But he said, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'" (7) Jezebel his wife said, "Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I'll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." (8) So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth's city with him. (9) In those letters she wrote: "Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. (10) But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them testify that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death." (11) So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth's city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them. (12) They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. (13) Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, "Naboth has cursed both God and the king." So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. (14) Then they sent word to Jezebel: "Naboth has been stoned and is dead." (15) As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, "Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead." (16) When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth's vineyard.

• What reveals Jezebel's knowledge of the Israelite's laws? (Ex 22:28, Lev 24:15-16)

• Why do you think the elders and nobles of the city went along with Ahab's orders (Jezebel's forged orders)?

• Why didn't, in fasting, the people hear from God and do what was right? (Isaiah 58:3-4)

Esther and Xerxes

Est 4:7-17 NIV Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. (8) He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to urge her to go into the king's presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people. (9) Hathach went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. (10) Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, (11) "All the king's officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that he be put to death. The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king." (12) When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, (13) he sent back this answer: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. (14) For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" (15) Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: (16) "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish." (17) So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther's instructions.

• What is Mordecai asking of Esther?

• What does Esther risk by approaching the king, her husband, uninvited?

• How does this apply to our marriage relationships today (1Peter 3:1-6)?

• What was the first thing that Esther asked of Mordecai? How was this fasting different from Ahab's (Jezebel's) request for fasting?

  • Who are they fasting for?

  • What is at stake?

  • When we face important, life changing decisions, is this our approach?

Est 5:1-2 NIV On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king's hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance. (2) When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.

• How much time had passed since Esther called for a fast?

• How could Esther approach the King?

• Compare Esther's approach to with Xerxes with Jezebel's approach to Ahab in 1Ki 21:4-6. What is different? Who is different and why?

• What relevance does this have in our own marriage relationships today? (1Peter 3:7)

• How is Xerxes behavior as king similar and at the same time different from God's?

• How is Queen Esther's behavior as she approached the king similar to how we approach God?

• How are we also clothed in royal robes in preparation for our approaching the throne?

• How are we meant to approach the throne of God (Heb 4:16)? How does that compare to Esther?

Est 5:3-8 NIV Then the king asked, "What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you." (4) "If it pleases the king," replied Esther, "let the king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet I have prepared for him." (5) "Bring Haman at once," the king said, "so that we may do what Esther asks." So the king and Haman went to the banquet Esther had prepared. (6) As they were drinking wine, the king again asked Esther, "Now what is your petition? It will be given you. And what is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted." (7) Esther replied, "My petition and my request is this: (8) If the king regards me with favor and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king's question."

Est 7:1-6 NIV So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther, (2) and as they were drinking wine on that second day, the king again asked, "Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted." (3) Then Queen Esther answered, "If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. (4) For I and my people have been sold for destruction and slaughter and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king." (5) King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, "Who is he? Where is the man who has dared to do such a thing?" (6) Esther said, "The adversary and enemy is this vile Haman." Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

• What did Esther do to find favor with the King? What word would you use to describe her behavior? What does this reveal about Esther's character?

• How does this marriage relationship instruct us about:

  • Honesty

  • Respect

  • Trust

• As we have seen, Xerxes may symbolize God while Esther may also symbolize us, his chosen people, royal priesthood. If this is true, who would Haman represent? If Haman represents Satan, what do we learn about how we, as God's royal priesthood, deal with Satan and his schemes; directly and on our own?

Est 8:1-8 NIV That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. (2) The king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman's estate. (3) Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews. (4) Then the king extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before him. (5) "If it pleases the king," she said, "and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king's provinces. (6) For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?" (7) King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, "Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have hanged him on the gallows. (8) Now write another decree in the king's name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king's signet ring—for no document written in the king's name and sealed with his ring can be revoked."

• How is this interaction similar to Ahab and Jezebel?

• How is this interaction different from Ahab and Jezebel?

• Certainly this is different than our marriage relationships in that the king has absolute authority over the lives of his kingdom, but what can we apply to our own marriage relationships from these two contrasting relationships?

• How is Xerxes giving Morecai and Esther authority to write an edict different than Ahab giving Jezebel authority to write an edict in his name? Is there a difference between granting authority and abdicating authority? Who abdicated their authority between Xerxes and Ahab?

• What does God through Jesus offer His priesthood – abdicated authority or granted authority? (Mat 16:19, 18:18)

• Which King would you rather serve?

• A pivotal point in this story is the powerful irony of Haman's gallows constructed to destroy Mordecai employed to hang Haman. What does this teach us about God's ability to transform evil into righteousness? Do you have a gallows being built by the enemy in your life? What encouragement do you receive from this amazing story?

Hosea and Gomer

Hos 1:2-10 NIV When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD." (3) So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. (4) Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. (5) In that day I will break Israel's bow in the Valley of Jezreel." (6) Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them. (7) Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by the LORD their God." (8) After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. (9) Then the LORD said, "Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God. (10) "Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'

• Why did God tell Hosea to marry an adulterous woman; one who was a prostitute?

• Why do you think God used marriage as a way to express the unfaithfulness of His people?

• Even though Gomer is unfaithful, does God allow divorce? What does this reveal about God's relationship with His people?

Hos 2:13-23 NIV I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot," declares the LORD. (14) "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. (15) There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. (16) "In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.' (17) I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked. (18) In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety. (19) I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. (20) I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD. (21) "In that day I will respond," declares the LORD— "I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; (22) and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. (23) I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called 'Not my loved one.' I will say to those called 'Not my people,' 'You are my people'; and they will say, 'You are my God.'"

• What do you see about God's relationship to His people in verses 13-15?

• What metaphors does God use in describing his relationship with His people?

• What is the turning point in the relationship? How do you describe the difference in relationship with someone as master versus husband? (Verse 16)

• What words of commitment and love are used in these verses? What do these words mean to you?

• Who is doing the most of the work in this marriage reconciliation? What does this reveal to you about God?

Hos 3:1-5 NIV The LORD said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes." (2) So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. (3) Then I told her, "You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with you." (4) For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol. (5) Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days.

• How did Hosea demonstrate that he loves Gomer as the Lord loves Israel?

• Hosea paid a high price for Gomer – the total combined worth of shekels and grain would approximate the commonly accepted price of a slave; about 30 shekels. (Exodus 21:32)

• What does this act of buying back an unfaithful wife reveal to you about God's attitude toward His people?

• Does Hosea's symbolic action demonstrate God's tolerance for idolatry? (Hosea 2, 4-10)

Hos 11:1-12 NIV "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. (2) But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images. (3) It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. (4) I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them. (5) "Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent? (6) Swords will flash in their cities, will destroy the bars of their gates and put an end to their plans. (7) My people are determined to turn from me. Even if they call to the Most High, he will by no means exalt them. (8) "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. (9) I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man— the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath. (10) They will follow the LORD; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west. (11) They will come trembling like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria. I will settle them in their homes," declares the LORD. (12) Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, the house of Israel with deceit. And Judah is unruly against God, even against the faithful Holy One.

• Note the people of Admah and Zeboiim were destroyed along with Sodom and Gemorah in Deut 29:23

• What do you see in the heart of God in these verses? What powerful difference and truth is revealed in verse 9.

• What does it mean to you that God would choose marriage as a symbol of His relationship with His people and, through Jesus sacrifice, with you?

THEME

APPLICATION

CHARACTER OF GOD

REFERENCES

1Ki 12:26-30 NIV Jeroboam thought to himself, "The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. (27) If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam." (28) After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." (29) One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. (30) And this thing became a sin; the people went even as far as Dan to worship the one there.

Lev 25:23 NIV "'The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.

Num 36:7 NIV No inheritance in Israel is to pass from tribe to tribe, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal land inherited from his forefathers.

Eze 46:18 NIV The prince must not take any of the inheritance of the people, driving them off their property. He is to give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people will be separated from his property.'"

Exo 22:28 NIV "Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.

Lev 24:15-16 NIV Say to the Israelites: 'If anyone curses his God, he will be held responsible; (16) anyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.

Isa 58:3-4 NIV "Why have we fasted,' they say, "and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. (4) Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.

1Pe 3:1-6 NIV Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, (2) when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. (3) Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. (4) Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. (5) For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, (6) like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

1Pe 3:7 NIV Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker* partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. (*asthenous – without strength, powerless)

(1Pe 2:9 NIV) But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

(Heb 4:16 NIV) Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

(Mat 16:19 NIV) I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

(Mat 18:18 NIV) "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.