Tips for Teaching This Week’s Session of The Gospel Project for Adults

Listen to this week’s leader training podcast with Y Bonesteele, team leader for The Gospel Project for Adults, for a summary and guidance in leading your group.

This week’s additional resources for study and preparation:

• Article: “Justification Triumphs over Slander” by Jackson Gravitt
• Article: “Humble Yourself and Fast” by David Mathis
• Sermon: “The Exceeding Sinfulness of Sin” by Aubrey Sequeira

Transcript of Leader Training Podcast:

Hi, this is Y Bonesteele, team leader of The Gospel Project for Adults. Welcome to another leader training podcast. Today we are in Unit 13, Session 4, A Divided Response, with the core passage of 1 Kings 21:17-29, and the key concept of: God will not ignore injustice among His people, but He is merciful.

We are still in the history of the northern kingdom and King Ahab. Last week, we saw the showdown at Mt. Carmel which resulted in Elijah killing the prophets of Baal and rain pouring, ending the days of famine. Elijah though had to flee for his life as Jezebel threatened to kill him. As a continuation of Ahab and Jezebel’s wickedness, we arrive to today’s passage.

Some background and context. 1 Kings 21:1-2 start with Ahab wanting a vineyard that was next to his palace, but it belonged to Naboth. He wanted to use it for a vegetable garden. Now, Ahab probably thought he was doing the right thing: he approached Naboth and told him to give it to him and he would give him a better vineyard or its worth in value.  He wasn’t trying to swindle Naboth, he just wanted his vineyard and would pay its worth.

But Naboth told the king something he didn’t want to hear. He said, no. Family land is a big deal and Naboth was not giving up his so easily. So Ahab pouted around the palace, “He lay down on his bed, turned his face away, and didn’t eat any food,” as seen in 1 Kings 21:4.

Of course, Jezebel was going to do something about it; she didn’t want a pouter and weakling for a husband or king. She told the elders and nobles of town to frame Naboth, accusing him of cursing God, which is blasphemy, and cursing the king, which is treason, crimes worthy of death. And so that’s what happened. And the people stoned Naboth. So we come to our passage.

So Elijah comes back into the picture because Ahab found himself in a mess with God again. God told Elijah to go to Ahab and tell him, “Have you murdered and also taken possession?” confronting Ahab with his sin. Then God spoke judgment on Ahab: “This is what the Lord says: In the place where the dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, the dogs will also lick up your blood!’ in verse 19. Ahab seemingly responded to Elijah with a little humor, “you found me.” I can just imagine Elijah shaking his head: “I have found you because you devoted yourself to do what is evil in the Lord’s sight.” Then he announced more of God’s judgment on him, with God saying, “I will wipe out all of Ahab’s males, both slave and free, in Israel; 22 I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have angered me and caused Israel to sin.” And we know that Jeroboam’s house and line was killed by Baasha because of their idolatry seen in 1 Kings 15:28-30. And Baasha’s line was killed as well because of his sin, as pronounced to Jehu: “Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat” in 1 Kings 16:4. So the Lord’s judgment against Jezebel was reminiscent of what was said of Baasha: “The dogs will eat Jezebel in the plot of land at Jezreel: 24 Anyone who belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and anyone who dies in the field, the birds will eat,” in verse 23. And the next two verses comment again on Ahab’s wicked deeds, spurred on by Jezebel.

How are you challenged and comforted by the truth that God sees and will judge all injustice? There will be varying answers here, but some may be challenged by God’s judgment when looking at their own sin or the sin of loved ones. But comforted knowing that justice will prevail when looking at how they have been sinned against or even how those at large who sin but seemingly look like they’ve got money and power through their sin will face judgment.

What qualities should we look for when deciding who influences us? Ahab was easily influenced by Jezebel. But the qualities we should be looking for in those influencing us should be those with hearts for God, those who walk like Jesus, those who are constantly trying to live holy lives as ambassadors of Christ.

Now, in verse 27, the very next line, we see Ahab’s response: “he tore his clothes, put sackcloth over his body, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around subdued.” This is not the Ahab we’re used to. He actually looks remorseful and humbled. On the surface, our human skeptic eyes may think, how do we know if he’s not faking it. Well Scripture tells us. The Lord responded to his actions. And the Lord knowing all things, all hearts and minds, would know the heart of Ahab. And the Lord said to Elijah, “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me?” The Lord acknowledged Ahab’s humility as true so we must take it as true too. And in His mercy and grace, he relented on his judgment: “I will not bring the disaster during his lifetime, because he has humbled himself before me. I will bring the disaster on his house during his son’s lifetime.”

We have a good gracious Father. His love leads to His mercy. After all the wicked things Ahab did, God relented on His judgment. He moved the disaster that was to befall on Ahab to his son. Judgment still had a place. But mercy did as well.

What are some ways we might display repentance for our sin before God? Today, we may cry or mourn in our prayers to God to show our repentance. We say sorry and apologize to those we’ve hurt, we confess and ask for forgiveness from God. We make a plan to prevent ourselves from sinning again and we turn from our sin.

How does God’s mercy extended to Ahab help you to grasp the gospel of Jesus? God doesn’t expect perfection. He wants us to surrender our lives and know we can’t do it on our own. He wants us to run to Jesus with everything, humbling ourselves and accepting His forgiveness and love. That’s how we should respond to the gospel. Knowing judgment and death awaits us in our sin but Christ’s love and mercy overpowers that. Like the Gospel Connection states: “Like Ahab, we all have earned death as the wages for our sin, but those who humble themselves before the Lord, who repent of their sin and believe in Jesus, will never be condemned and will receive God’s gift of eternal life with Him.”

Though God spared Ahab, some may wonder why He did so only to punish his sons? Maybe they were innocent. God in His omniscience knew that Ahab’s sons would also be disobedient and wicked. So their judgment was deserved as well. On page 52 of The Gospel Project Commentary, we see that Ahaziah sought insight from a false God and died falling through a window in 2 Kings 1. Joram, Ahab’s other son, was wounded with an arrow and he died on the land belonging to Naboth, seen in 2 Kings 9:24-26. Ahab’s 70 other sons were also killed, beheaded, as judgment against Ahab and his family in 2 Kings 10. So God’s judgment prevailed against Ahab, but also His mercy to Ahab.

Onto the Group Experience, start with the icebreaker, making sure you have some sticky notes on hand. Think ahead of some justice type of scenarios like given on top of page 58 of the Leader Guide. Transition with the idea that some of us lean more toward justice in certain scenarios and others of us lean more into mercy. Keep this in mind as we continue in our study.

In the Context, fill in some of the detail of what happened from last week’s session to today’s; namely, Elijah killing the prophets of Baal, Jezebel threatening Elijah’s life and him fleeing, God meeting him and telling him I’m still here and you’ve still got work to do. Up to the fact that Ahab wanted something of Naboth and sulked about not having it and Jezebel scheming and getting Naboth stoned to grab it for Ahab.

Leading into the Recap, we can look at today’s passage asking for highlights or questions once God told Elijah to confront Ahab. What would you do in the situation if you were God? What do you think Elijah thought Ahab deserved? These are rhetorical questions to think about justice and mercy.

Into the Group Activity then, have the chart on the board as you point to page 48 of the Personal Study Guide. Divide your group into two, one tackling the first column on judgment and the other tackling the second column on mercy.

Have someone read 1 Kings 21:17-26 first. Have the first team on judgment search the passage today, as well as other passages if needed, on why Ahab deserved judgment. Then discuss why we deserve judgment. If needed, give the group the following verses to look up as well: John 3:36; Romans 2:16, 3:23, and 6:23; Ephesians 5:5-6; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Peter 4:17. So Ahab deserved judgment because he was more wicked than the kings before him, he married Jezebel and worshiped her gods of Baal, he was complicit in the false testimony and murder of Naboth, he was a thief in stealing Naboth’s vineyard. Why do we deserve judgment? Because we all have sinned; we all deserve death, we all should be judged by our acts of unrighteousness.

Now have someone read 1 Kings 21:27-29. And have the second group answer the second column. Answer why Ahab received mercy: from the text, it was because he humbled himself. We can draw on other verses too, like Lamentations 3:22-23, showing that God’s love and mercies are never-ending; Psalm 103:8, Ephesians 2:4-5, and Titus 3:4-7, showing more of God’s character. These all point to God’s character as loving and merciful. Thus, for Ahab and for us, we all receive mercy, not of our own doing, but because God is loving and merciful.

Review, giving your group time to process God’s mercy, especially for those who lean more toward justice. Maybe ask how to get a balanced view of God’s mercy and justice. Pass out Pack Item 6: Signs of Repentance to review what repentance looks like with examples from the Bible. Ultimately, God will know our hearts when we truly are repentant and will show mercy accordingly.

For the Debrief question: What does this passage teach us about God’s concern for justice? About God’s delight in showing mercy? God is perfect is showing balance for both justice and mercy. Sin has consequences, natural ones and spiritual ones. But God’s mercy reminds us that our relationship with Him is never broken if we belong to Christ. We still may see the natural consequences of our sin, but God’s mercy is extended to us, and the judgment of spiritual death is no longer extended to His people.

Summarize and head into the Head, Heart, Hands section, tackling the Hands question if time is limited. How will you reach out to unbelievers, knowing that the Lord delights in showing mercy to all who repent? When sharing the good news of the gospel, we do so in love, with a tender heart not a vengeful one. Though God executes judgment, His desire is that all may come to know Him, His love and mercy. We can win hearts with love and mercy and leave the justice part to God in His timing.

In Next Steps, I want to highlight the first bullet point that calls out James 2:13. There, we read that “mercy triumphs over judgment.” We all need to remember that as we live our lives and understand what the gospel is. Encourage your group to think about the other Next Steps, go into prayer requests and praises, and end, praying through Psalm 58:10-11 if time permits, thanking God for His justice, but also thanking Him for His mercy.

Hey, thanks again for joining me on another Leader Training podcast. Reach out at [email protected] and hope you have a great group time!