The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1954-05-22
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON

weak member Of the Sanhedrin
who secretly believed in Jesus but
due to the hostility Of the mob
Joseph did little until after, the
crucifixion when he did ask fol, the
body of our Lord. For fear of get;.
ting hurt many who believe stand
supinely by and watch men like.
Micaiah thrown in Jail or, Lither.s
subjected to satanic persecution Of
a hostile and powerful church.
Mieaiah Punished ..
How often men are punished for
telling the truth! Ahab had had
poor coaching in his pagan, wife,
Jezebel. While the prophets, Of
Baal had been destroyed by Eli.
jah, many of the prophets Of Je:
hovah compromised with the Dow:
ers that be- by serving in the. wot..
ship Of calves. They were the. oneS
whom Ahab could trust. But there
was one who spoke only as "Jeho,,
yah saith" and he was the one
whom Ahab hated. When he even
went so far as to predict Ahab's
death; you can hear the, old King
of Israel saying to his friend Je-
hoshaphat of Judah, "See / told
you So" ... -. ;,
No doubt Ahab and Macaiah had
clashed before. Ahab was afraid of
him largely because he had bad
counsel on one side, from Jezebel,A
and too he wanted to teach the
troublesome Assyrians under Ben.
hadad a lesson. He thought that
with Jehoshaphat's assistance tReyti
both could subdue the threatening
tribes from the east. When the. one
true prophet of Jehovah predicted
death to Ahab, the King thought
it was a personal insult. To show
that he was King, the prophet was
thrown in Jail. -.
100 often baffled kings and des.:
pots have taken their spite out on
innocent and truthful messengers
of the truth. Paul was thrown IN
Jail and abused for preaching the
truth. Peter was thrown in prison. ,
Christians were thrown. to tbs.
lions by wicked Emperor. simply
because they believed in God. Ka.
gawa was thrown in Jail and Nei-
moeller was put in a concentra.
ton camp under the NazI regime.
While "men shall revile you. and
persecute you, and shall. say al :
manner of evil against you falsely,
for my sake" honest men, Chris.
tan men will continue to proclaim
the truth as they see it under God.
The Outcome
What was the prophecy Ahab did
not relish? This prophet of Jeho.
yah whom Ahab hated predicted
that Israel would be scattered but
not destroyed in the battle with
Syria. Ahab only would be Destroy
ed. The old Kings army would run
like sheep who had lost their sheps'
herd. Josephus says that Ahab was:
killed in man-to-man combat BY
Naaman, a nobleman in Benha-
dads army. Ahab was brought
back a corpse. 80
Josephus gives an interesting
description of the battle. "BenhaI
dad, the King Of Assyria, had char
ged his army by means of their
commanders, to kill nobody by The
King of Israel. So when the Syrf'
ians, upon their joining the battie'
with the Israelites, saw Jehoshap:'
hat stand before the army, and
conjectured that he was Aifab,
they fell violently upon him, and
encompassed him round; but when
they were near, and knew that ~
was not he, they all returned backF
and while the fight lasted from
morning till late in the evening,
and the Syrians were conquerors,
they killed nobody, as their. king
had commanded them" Perhaps!
others were killed but JosephGS
says Ahab only was killed. -: :
Conclusion =.
-
Life is like storm. Heralds ct
the truth must face opposition, per-.
secution, death. It is always best
to face the truth and Ahab might
have gone down in history as q
great King had he needed the pro-
phets of Jehovah. A cowboy was
telling what he learned from his
herd of Herefords. While some cat.
tie would turn their back to the
icy wintry blasts and be pushed
along until they came to the fence
where they piled up. and died, the
Herefords face the wind and push
forward against it until they reach
the upper boundary fence where
they stand facing the story. Brave
souls face the storm of life.