Transcript
Thank you, Arch. And of course it’s a pleasure to be back with you once again. I think this is the only time ever that I have spoken two consecutive Sundays at Coast Bible Church. If you can endure another message you’ll get Arch back the following Sunday. And I’m sure you’ll be grateful for that.
I debated with myself whether I should wear my suit into the pulpit in informal Southern California. But I’m a preacher of the old school. And my suit is my security blanket. And my philosophy is don’t leave home or enter the pulpit without it. So you can ignore that and listen to the word of God.
Let me invite you to turn for our passage of Scripture to Second Kings chapter 10. The book of Second Kings chapter 10. And we want to begin reading at verse 9. Our text actually begins with verse 12. But for the sake of connection I’d like us to begin reading at Second Kings 10 and verse 9.
So it was in the morning that he went out and stood and said to all the people, ‘You are righteous. Indeed I conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these? Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of the Lord which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab. For the Lord has done what He spoke by His servant Elijah.’
So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel and all his great men and his close acquaintances and his priests until he left him none remaining. And he arose and departed and went to Samaria. On the way at Beth Eked of the Shepherds Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah and said, ‘Who are you?’
And they answered, ‘We are the brothers of Ahaziah. We have come down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.’
And he said, ‘Take them alive.’ So they took them alive and killed them at the well of Beth Eked, forty-two men. And he left none of them.
Now when he departed from there he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. And he greeted him and said to him, ‘Is your heart right as my heart is toward your heart?’
And Jehonadab answered, ‘It is.’
Jehu said, ‘If it is, give me your hand.’ So he gave him his hand. And he took him up into the chariot. Then he said, ‘Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.’ So they had him ride in his chariot. And when he came to Samaria he killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria till he had destroyed them according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to Elijah.
Now skip down and we’ll read the first half of verse 31. Verse 31.
But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart.
Last May the 31st twelve-year-old Rivano Krabinda was out in a boat with his uncle helping his uncle to cast fishing nets at the mouth of the Coppename River in Suriname. Now if you are wondering as I did where Suriname is I want to tell you that it’s on the northern coast of South America. So Rivano was out with his uncle in a twenty-six-foot-long boat.
But suddenly a violent wind struck the boat. And both of them were thrown overboard. Rivano remembers hearing his uncle scream. But then the current bore him away so rapidly that pretty soon he couldn’t hear him at all. Rivano clung to a piece of driftwood that was smaller than his own body. And he did so throughout the night as the current took him further out to sea.
In the morning he could no longer see land. But he could see a gash in his foot that turned the waters around him into the color of blood. Meanwhile the Coast Guard of Suriname had launched a search. And on Tuesday a helicopter appeared over where Rivano was. But it didn’t sight him. And it simply flew away.
By Thursday the Coast Guard had called off the search. And Rivano had given up hope that he was going to come out of this alive. And somewhere during this long ordeal he cried out the name of his grandmother. His sixty-four-year-old grandmother with whom he lived.
The next day he sighted land. And he kicked as hard as he could and brought himself to a seashore that was barren and covered with seashells. He lay down on the beach for several hours not even able to feel his own limbs. Then he got up and he searched a nearby mangrove forest for people. And couldn’t find them there. There was nobody there that he could see.
He cupped his hands against the trunk of a tree. And when it rained that’s how he drank. That evening weary he lay down on the beach to go to sleep. But when he woke up he found a wild cat sleeping next to him. He jumped up. He screamed. He grabbed his piece of driftwood. And he ran back out into the ocean again.
And that led to another day of drifting along the coast. The current finally carried him along the coast of Guyana. And some fishermen who were working off of the coast there sighted him and rescued him. And Rivano was returned to his family. His sixty-four-year-old grandmother for whom he had cried out told the media, “We all cried. We were so happy. When I heard what happened to him I can only say that God kept him alive.”
And to perfect the ending of this story I can also tell you that Rivano’s uncle was likewise rescued.
Now I think you will agree with me that here’s a twelve-year-old little boy that went through a real-life experience that was more dreadful and more terrifying than most nightmares that you or I can imagine having. And yet it was a very real experience for him.
And a picture is oftentimes worth a thousand words. And I am thinking of an experience that can happen to Christian people that can to some extent be imaged by the story that I have told you. On the surface this experience may seem like a quiet drift down a slowly moving stream. But in reality that’s a delusion. That’s a deception. And it’s much more like being cast adrift in an ocean. It’s much more like being buffeted by the waves of a restless sea.
Which brings me to the title of my message to you this morning which is this: Get back to shore. Now you may be sitting there wondering how in the world is that going to apply to me this morning. And if you’re wondering that that’s good. Because I’m hoping you will listen to the rest of the message.
But first I want to be sure that you’ve got the title in your mind. So here it is again. Get back to shore.
Now there is no doubt about it that you will probably not find in the entire biblical record a more striking personality than the personality of the man named Jehu the son of Nimshi. In fact the way that Jehu lived his life was very much the way he drove his chariot.
And in the previous chapter of Second Kings we are told about a watchman who was on the wall of Jezreel. And he sees a chariot being driven rapidly in the direction of Jezreel. And he cries out, “The driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi for he drives furiously.” And that’s the way that Jehu lived his life.
When he had an objective, when he had a goal, he drove furiously toward the accomplishment of that goal. And that is nowhere more evident than in the biblical story about Jehu. Because Jehu is the first in a number of kings who is anointed by the prophetic word of God and is given a commission by God to execute God’s judgment on the wicked house of Ahab.
And as soon as Jehu gets this commission he begins to drive in the direction of that goal. And it isn’t very long before he has killed Jehoram the son of Ahab the king of Israel. And it isn’t long before he’s killed Ahaziah the grandson of Ahab the king of Judah. And even that wicked woman Jezebel is dead now because she is trampled by the horses and the dogs eat her flesh.
And Jehu is driving furiously toward the goal that God has set for him. But there is such a thing as driving too furiously. And at this point in our narrative that is what Jehu has done.
You see Jehu sent a message to the leaders of Samaria where there were seventy male descendants of King Ahab. And he gave orders that these seventy male descendants should be executed. And that was certainly within the commission that God had given to Jehu.
But then he goes too far. And he insists that the seventy male descendants who are executed also be beheaded. And that their severed heads be sent to Jezreel. And when the heads of these seventy male descendants come to Jezreel he orders that they be stacked in two piles outside the gate of Jezreel.
Ugh, awful, repulsive. There was no real need for that. And when Jehu comes out in the morning there is naturally a crowd of people around the gate of Jezreel. And evidently Jehu senses that what he has done has not met with the approval of the people.
And so he stands up before the crowd and he says to them, “You are righteous. You’re not guilty of this.” And then he says to them, “As for me I killed my master. I rebelled against my master and killed him. But who killed all these?”
But Jehu knew perfectly well who had killed all these. In fact Jehu had given the order. And it is he who had commanded the heads to be brought and stacked at the gate of Jezreel. Which probably included the heads of some little children who were part of the descendants of Ahab.
But don’t you see that what Jehu wants to do here is to wash his hands of the responsibility of these horrible deaths? Jehu has driven too furiously.
And then something happens in this story that is totally unexpected in my judgment. Totally surprising. Something that we would not have expected as a sequel to these events.
You see Jehu is now finished with his job in Jezreel. And his next step is to go to Samaria the capital city. And when he’s finished with what he needs to do there his kingdom will be established over Israel. And so he gets back into his chariot.
Now I don’t think he’s driving his chariot this time. He’s a king now. He probably has a designated driver. And I doubt if this driver drove his chariot as furiously as Jehu had. But he is proceeding in the direction of Samaria.
But before he gets there he meets a group of men. And he doesn’t recognize them. And he says, “Who are you?” And they inform him that they are the relatives of Ahaziah the grandson of Ahab. And they tell him that they have come up to greet the king’s sons and to greet the queen mother.
And in saying these words they sign their own death warrant. And Jehu orders the execution of all these people. Forty-two of them in number. And they are killed at Beth Eked. And in doing this Jehu is well within the commission that God has given to him.
But it is just here that the surprising event occurs. You see as he proceeds on in the direction of Samaria he meets somebody that he knows. A man by the name of Jehonadab the son of Rechab. And when he sees him he greets Jehonadab.
And listen to his words. He says to Jehonadab, “Is your heart right as my heart is with your heart?” Say what? Say what? He is not saying, “Is your heart right with God as my heart is right with God.” That’s not what he’s saying.
“Is your heart right as my heart is with your heart? Do you approve of me as I approve of you? Do you have a proper attitude toward me as I have a proper attitude toward you?”
Do you see what’s happening? In the midst of carrying out the judgment of God upon the house of Ahab, in the midst of doing the very work of God, Jehu is seeking human approval. Jehu is seeking human approval.
Does that ever happen in churches? Hey you better believe that it does. A person may be coming to church. They may be active in the ministry of the church. They may teach a Sunday school class. They may do any of a number of a dozen of things.
And they may say in their heart, “I hope the pastor is noticing what I do. I hope the board of this church recognizes my value to this church. I hope my fellow brothers and sisters in the congregation notice what I’m doing and approve of me as an upstanding member of Coast Bible Church.”
Couldn’t that possibly happen? Could that possibly happen? And you know what’s wrong with us sometimes? Sometimes when we are supposed to be seeking the approval of God we find ourselves also seeking or even only seeking human approval.
In 1675 nine years after a serious fire in the city of London a famous architect by the name of Sir Christopher Wren laid the foundation for his greatest architectural achievement which was Saint Paul’s Cathedral. It took him thirty-five years to construct the cathedral. And when he did so he waited anxiously for the response of Her Majesty Queen Anne who was given a guided tour of the cathedral and was shown all of its wonderful aspects and its architectural features.
And when she had finished the tour Queen Anne said, “It’s awful. It’s amusing. It’s artificial.” And believe it or not folks Sir Christopher Wren was relieved. And he bowed to the queen and thanked her for her comments.
For you see in 1710 when those words were spoken the word “awful” meant “awesome.” The word “amusing” meant “amazing.” And the word “artificial” meant “artistic.” So the queen had really said, “This is awesome. This is amazing. This is artistic.”
But you know what I think? I think if you build a church or if you do anything else for God and you’re looking for the approval of a king or a queen or a pastor or a fellow Christian I think that’s awful. I think that’s amusing. And I’m using modern language here. And I think that is highly artificial.
And sometimes we forget that if God approves of what we are doing it doesn’t matter who disapproves. And if God doesn’t approve of what we are doing it doesn’t matter who does.
So Jehu says, “My heart is right with your heart as your heart is right with mine.” And so Jehu reaches out to Jehonadab and he says, “If that’s true,” he says, “come up and ride with me in the chariot.” Gets into the chariot with Jehu. Is this impressive or what?
You and I were standing along the road and in Washington D.C. the presidential limousine were going by. And as it came to our particular spot the door opened and President Bush leaned out his head and said, “I would like you to ride in the limousine with me.” Would that be a privilege? Well if you’re a Democrat maybe it wouldn’t be a privilege. But in any case for many of us that would be a very great privilege.
So Jehonadab comes up into the chariot. Now fortunately folks, very fortunately, this is not the only place in the Bible where Jehonadab is mentioned. There is an ancient Jewish tradition that the book of First and Second Kings which was one book in the Hebrew Bible was written by the prophet Jeremiah.
And in the thirty-fifth chapter of the prophecy of Jeremiah we read about Jehonadab the son of Rechab. And we find out that he was a man who lived in tents. He was what we would call today a Bedouin. And he had commanded his sons not to build houses, not to sow fields, not to plant vineyards, not to drink wine.
And Jehonadab was now dead. And under the guidance of God Jeremiah takes his sons into the house of God and he offers them wine. And the sons refused to take the wine because they are faithful and obedient to their father Jehonadab who is in the grave.
Now I don’t know about you but I find that pretty impressive. I mean wouldn’t your parents love to give some orders to your kids that they would obey even if you were dead and gone? And the problem is that while you’re still alive they don’t do some of the things that you tell them to do.
And here was a man who was very, very impressive. He lived a very simple and frugal life. And he had a tremendous impact on his sons. And they obeyed his commands even after he was gone.
And obviously Jehonadab was a man of piety. He was a man who had a commitment to God and to the simplicity of life in those days that related him to God.
And don’t you see what’s happening here? That Jehu who has made a mistake in Jezreel and has incurred the disfavor apparently of the people, he would like to have Jehonadab ride with him now. He wants to wrap himself in the piety and reputation of this godly man.
And now listen. When Jehonadab gets up into the chariot Jehu says to him, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.” Did you hear that? Not “Come with me and see the word of God as spoken by Elijah the prophet fulfilled.” Not “Come with me and see God execute his righteous judgment against the intolerably wicked house of Ahab.” No none of those things.
“Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.” And the very man who wanted the approval of Jehonadab now wants to show off to him.
And of course I don’t need to tell you that happens in churches. You know I’ve been in prayer meetings. People have gotten up to pray. And by the time they were finished I said to myself they were addressing the Lord but they were telling us what good Christians they were.
I have been in testimony meetings where people have told you the wonderful things that have been done in their family and in their life and with the response of God to their prayers. And it is amazing how easily we can move from what looks externally to be a spiritual expression to a way of showing off to our fellow Christians.
There was a minister one time who was walking down the road. And he saw a bunch of boys with a dog. And he said to the boys, “Boys what are you doing with that dog?” And one of the little boys spoke up and he said, “Whoever tells the biggest lie wins the dog.”
And the preacher replied, “My, my, my. When I was your age I didn’t tell lies.” There were a few moments of silence. And then a little boy spoke up and said, “Here you win the dog.”
And it’s surprising how often we toot our own horn. And when the dog, “Come with me and see my zeal, my zeal, my zeal for the Lord.”
Well evidently Jehonadab got to see that. They got to Samaria. And Jehu promptly carries out his mission in Samaria. And he executes all who remained to Ahab in Samaria thus fulfilling the word of the Lord through Elijah the prophet.
And it all looks very beautiful doesn’t it? But when we get to the end of the biblical narrative about Jehu we read, “But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart.”
What is going on in this story? Jehu is drifting. Jehu is drifting. Beginning with a sincere desire to execute the Lord’s purposes he has gone too far at Jezreel. And instead of acknowledging to God the mistake that he has made, instead of getting back to God, he tries to make up for his mistake by getting the approval of a man, by showing off his zeal for the Lord.
And the result is in the outcome of his life apparently that he never really gets back to a close relationship with God. And he himself is involved with idolatry in some measure before he dies.
What did Jehu need to do? He needed to get back to shore. He needed to get back to shore.
Now the message that I am preaching to you this morning is obviously not a message for people who don’t habitually go to church. No use preaching a message to people who are not going to be there. My message is for all of us who are involved with church, who are involved with the Lord’s work, who are involved with the service of God.
And I want to ask you to ask yourself because you’re the one who knows the answer to this question. Even though I’m involved with this church am I as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I really ought to be? Or is there a sense in which I’m doing some of what I do for the praise of others, to satisfy my own ego, to build my own reputation?
Or it may not be anything like that. It may be something else. But if you know in the depths of your heart that you’re not as close to God as you need to be, if that’s the case this morning here’s my advice.
Go home. Find a time where you can be with yourself. Talk to the Lord about this. And acknowledge to Him that you’re not as close to Him as you ought to be. And ask Him by His grace and strength to draw you back into intimacy and deep fellowship with Him and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Or to put it another way, get back to shore. Get back to shore.
There was a man one time by the name of General Metaxas who was the dictator of the nation of Greece. And on one occasion he was a guest aboard a water plane, a hydroplane, a plane that had pontoons instead of wheels.
And as he was up in this plane he wanted the privilege of piloting the plane. And so they allowed him to do that. And he piloted it with skill. But then the commander of the plane his host noticed that General Metaxas was about to land the plane at an airport.
And so he said to General Metaxas, “Excellency it would be more suitable to land this plane on the water since this is a hydroplane.” “Why of course,” laughed General Metaxas. “What was I thinking of?” And so he took some skillful readjustments of the direction of the plane and he landed very smoothly on the water.
And then he turned to the commander and he said, “I want to really commend you on the way you warned me about the horrendous blunder that I almost made.” And then General Metaxas got up from his seat. He opened the door of the plane. And he stepped out into the sea.
Now I’m happy to report they apparently rescued him because he did not die of drowning. But isn’t it true that sometimes in the Christian life we think we’ve made a three-point landing? And we believe that we have avoided all sorts of horrendous mistakes.
And in reality we’re not as close to shore as we ought to be. And we may step out into a sea of troubles.
I think frankly that the songwriter has very wonderfully captured the essence of our need.
Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly, while the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high. Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life has passed. Safely into the harbor guide where my soul shall be at last.
My dear Christian friends if you need to get back to shore shall we pray?
Father help us each one to be honest with ourselves and in Your presence about the real nature of our relationship with Thee. And if we need it help us to get back to You. We ask in Christ’s name. Amen.