1 Kings 16:26: God Punishes Evil

"For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,

and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, provoking the LORD,

the God of Israel, to anger by their idols." 1 Kings 16:26

In 1 Kings 16, we find the great truth that God punishes evil. God is a just God who cannot let evil go unpunished. Although we often speak of this truth, it is always a great truth to be reminded of, as we realize how ultimately our evil had to be punished as well, yet praise be to God who punished Christ instead of us.

In 1 Kings 16, we find five unrighteous kings who all disobeyed the commands of the Lord. Each of them committed great idolatry and led the Israelites to great idolatry. Furthermore, each one of them committed more evil than their predecessor, as if they were all caught up in a downward spiral. Nevertheless, the Lord saw all of this evil and took to action. He caused all of these kings to die quickly, thus bringing upon them the greatest earthly destruction possible. Furthermore, one of these kings was so evil in the sight of the Lord that the Lord caused his entire posterity to be killed, thus leaving him no descendants. In the end, the Lord punished evil. He is a just God who cannot let evil run free forever, for this would be against his nature.

But what is the application for us today? Although it is certainly true that since God punishes evil, we ought to seek to be righteous, isn't there a bigger application here? Answer: YES! Here in this chapter, we find Christ (as we should in every chapter of scripture). As we understand from Luke 24 as well as the teachings of the apostles, every portion of scripture points to Jesus Christ. Like the roads in Europe that all lead to Rome, so the stories of the Old Testament all lead us to Christ, and 1 Kings 16 is no different.

In 1 Kings 16, we already established that the main point of the chapter is that God punishes evil. However, last time I checked, you and I commit evil every day, and we're not getting punished. Is God not faithful to his justice? Has he not followed through on his character? NO! Rather, he has punished Christ in our place. All of our idolatry, just like the evil kings of Israel, must be punished. Yet Christ on the cross took our punishment that we might not have to bear it ourselves. Praise the Lord! We have a God who is both just and merciful.

So, have you taken to heart that Jesus has paid the price for you? Reader, the Gospel is not you obtaining eternal life. The Gospel is you obtaining eternal life because of the price that Jesus paid. We must never divorce the fruit of Jesus' works from the works themselves. He paid the price so that you wouldn't have to pay it in eternal hell forever. The evil kings of Israel had to pay the price for their evil on their own, but praise be to the God who has saved me and you! Amen.