Transcription of Nothing But the Truth - Biblecourses.com
1 1 ELIJAHFew things are more important than the said, You shall know the Truth , and thetruth shall make you free (John 8:32). The wiseman said, Buy Truth , and do not sell it (Prov-erbs 23:23). We must pay the price in time andenergy to learn the Truth ; and once we have it, wemust hold onto it, no matter what!In this lesson we are not concerned abouttruth in general, as important as it is, but ratherabout the Truth revealed from God. Jesus said toHis Father, Thy word is Truth (John 17:17).David prayed, Thou art God, and Thy wordsare Truth (2 Samuel 7:28).
2 In Psalm 119 thewriter stressed that God s Word is Truth : Thylaw is Truth .. all Thy commandments are .. The sum of Thy word is Truth (vv. 142, 151,160).God has given us His will in the Bible so wemight know the Truth that makes us free: He hasgiven us the Truth about Himself and His Son,the Truth about man and sin, the Truth aboutsalvation and Christian living, the Truth aboutheaven and hell. Since we live in a country filledwith Bibles, we cannot excuse ourselves by say-ing, We had no opportunity to learn the Truth . The question is, What will we do with thetruth?
3 Perhaps you have seen articles like these: 25 Things To Do With Leftover Turkey ; 19 Things To Do With Styrofoam Packing Balls ; 3 Things To Do With Your Old Polyester LeisureSuit. We can do hundreds of things with thetruth. We can seek it (Jeremiah 5:1). We canbelieve and know it (1 Timothy 4:3). We can obeyit (1 Peter 1:22). We can speak it (Zechariah 8:16;Ephesians 4:15). We can walk in it (1 Kings 2:4;3:6; Psalms 86:11). We can practice it (John 3:21;1 John 1:6). We can support it (1 Timothy 3:15).On the other hand, we can conceal the Truth (Psalms 40:10).
4 We can suppress it (Romans 1:18).We can exchange it for a lie (Romans 1:25). Wecan refuse to obey it (Romans 1:28; Galatians5:17). We can oppose it (2 Timothy 3:8). We canturn away from it (2 Timothy 4:4; Titus 1:4).First Kings 22 shows how Ahab s rejection ofthe Truth caught up with him. Before we get tothat climactic moment, however, we will see thetruth used, misused, and abused. Powerful les-sons are found in this chapter regarding ourattitude toward the Bible and the consequencesof ignoring and rejecting the wonderful sentiment is found in verse 16: I adjure you to speak to me Nothing but the truthin the name of the Lord.
5 (Emphasis mine.) Un-fortunately, the words were spoken by a manwho was playing games with the CAN PLAY GAMESWITH THE Truth (22:1-17)Most of us, if we were asked, Do you wantthe Truth ? would reply with an emphatic Yes! We may not, however, be that eager for the 1964, Eric Berne wrote Games People Play, abook on the psychology of human play games with the Truth . The first partof chapter 22 is packed with examples of gamespeople Compromise GameA godly king played the compromise three years passed without war be-tween Aram [Syria] and Israel.
6 And it came Nothing BUT THE Truth (1 KINGS 22)2101 Kings 17 in the third year, that Jehoshaphat theking of Judah came down to the king of Israel(vv. 1, 2).This was a remarkable event. As far as therecord goes, this is the first time a king of Judahmet a king of Israel other than on the cannot know all the reasons Jehoshaphatwent to see Ahab, but the writer of Chronicles2tied the visit with an event that had taken placeyears earlier: Jehoshaphat .. allied himself bymarriage3 with Ahab (2 Chronicles 18:1). Nineor so years before, Jehoshaphat s son, Jehoram,had married Ahab and Jezebel s daughter, the latter part of 1 Kings 22, as the minusesof Jehoshaphat s life are listed, the key one is thathe made peace with the king of Israel (v.)
7 44).Jehoshaphat was not perfect, but he was one ofJudah s better kings. He walked in all the wayof Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it,doing right in the sight of the Lord (v. 43).5 Incontrast with Jehoshaphat s godly life, Ahab wasone of the most ungodly kings Israel ever had(1 Kings 16:33). Apparently, Jehoshaphat be-lieved that peace was of prime importance, so heagreed to a marriage between his son and Ahab He also made an alliance with doubt Jehoshaphat s motives were thehighest. He probably thought peace would bemutually beneficial and that over time he couldinfluence Israel to abandon her ungodly , what he did was wrong in principle,disastrous in practice,7 and almost fatal in Peace is to be desired,9 but neverat the cost of compromising Truth .
8 The wise mansaid, Buy Truth , and do not sell it (Proverbs23:23). Never sell the Truth for peace; it is toohigh a Jehoshaphat arrived in Samaria, Ahabgave him a magnificent feast. Ahab slaugh-tered many sheep and oxen for him (2 Chronicles 18:2). In the middle of the feast,Ahab began casually to talk about a city on theother side of the Jordan: Do you know thatRamoth-gilead belongs to us, and we are stilldoing Nothing to take it out of the hand of theking of Aram? (v. 3). Ahab was talking for thebenefit of Jehoshaphat, but he spoke to hisservants.
9 He was playing a game. Ramoth-gilead means Ramoth in Gilead. Gilead was the rugged country east of the Jor-dan, the home country of Ramoth-gileadwas a walled city, a frontier fortress. It wasstrategically situated on the heights command-ing the approach to Israel from the east side ofthe Jordan. Now, however, it was controlled bySyrian forces and posed a constant threat toIsrael. Incidentally, 1 Kings 20:34 says that Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, had not kept his wordto his brother then spoke directly to Jehoshaphat: Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?
10 Jehoshaphat apparently did not hesitate: I amas you are, my people as your people, my horsesas your horses (1 Kings 22:4). This was an orien-tal way of saying, We will go to war together. The Chronicler added here, We will be withyou in the battle (2 Chronicles 18:3).Why did Jehoshaphat readily agree to go towar with Ahab? Perhaps it was to promote fur-ther unity between Judah and Israel. Maybe itwas because Syrian occupation of Ramoth-gileadwas also a threat to Judah, since Ramoth-gileadwas only forty miles from Jerusalem. Perhaps itwas because Ahab was a good salesman.
