1 Kings 21:1-3
1 Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.” 3 But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” (1 Kings 21:1-3)
Naboth the Jezreelite’s vineyard lay right next to King Ahab’s palace. The king liked that piece of land, “since it was close to his palace,” and he wanted to have it. So he went to the owner of the vineyard and offered to buy it. Naboth, however, refused him flatly. Why? Why would Naboth turn down such an offer? From the king he could have asked for, and received, the highest price for his vineyard. With the money from the sale he could perhaps have bought land twice as good, only somewhere else. Why did Naboth refuse to trade his vineyard for a better one? Why did he decline such a favorable deal? Because he wanted to live according to God’s Word. In the Law of Moses, in Leviticus 25:23, it says:
23 “‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. (Leviticus 25:23)
Because God’s Law forbade the selling of land, that is why Naboth refused the king.
Numbers 36:7 explains the meaning of this prohibition:
7 No inheritance in Israel is to pass from one tribe to another, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal inheritance of their ancestors. (Numbers 36:7)
Without knowing the culture and customs of that time, we could not understand this account. When the Promised Land was conquered, Joshua had divided the land among the tribes of Israel. This land was their inheritance from the Lord, so it was never to be sold. It could be leased, but not sold permanently. So no matter what sum Ahab might have given for Naboth’s vineyard, that deal would have been contrary to God’s Law.
A LIFE RULED BY PASSIONS – RESTLESS AND MISERABLE
And it is precisely here that we see Ahab’s weakness. He wants something he cannot have. He sets his whims above God’s principles. This is usually what lands us in trouble – those moments when we begin to be led by our emotions instead of by our reason. How we feel does not depend on our possessions, but on our heart. Paul could feel content in prison, but Ahab could not feel content even in his royal palace. He did not look at all he had; he wanted more, and more, and more. Such are our whims. They are like leeches that can never be satisfied. In Proverbs 30:15 it says:
15 “The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry. (Proverbs 30:15)
We must remember, however, that even when our whims seem understandable and explainable, when they violate God’s principles they are wrong. King Ahab had already made one serious compromise by marrying the pagan Jezebel. This cunning woman had turned his heart away from God and drawn him to the worship of Baal. When we drive God out of our life, we begin to be led not by God’s principles but by our passions. This opens us up to sin and every kind of lawlessness.
Beyond that, Ahab’s desire to have Naboth’s vineyard was a violation of the Tenth Commandment (Exodus 20:17).
17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:17)
You shall not covet! Notice, this commandment is not tied to some action, but to the attitude of our heart. God knows us, and he knows that everything in our life begins in our heart. The Lord Jesus expressed this very eloquently (Mark 7:20-23).
20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” (Mark 7:20-23)
This is why, more than anything else, we must guard our hearts. We must watch what goes into them, because that determines what will come out of us.
Ahab’s weakness stands out in especially sharp contrast against Naboth’s integrity and righteousness. Naboth does not speak much in this chapter, yet he is one of the main characters. Naboth does not even stop to think before he refuses the king. He is an example to us in learning to say “No!” when a demand made of us violates certain boundaries. For Naboth, not even the king of Israel was above God’s laws. He refused the earthly king in order to obey the Heavenly one. His concern was for his righteousness, not for earthly riches. He said, “The Lord forbid…” This shows that Naboth had the fear of the Lord and was a man led by principles, not by whims.
There are things in our life that are not for sale. Our society is becoming more and more materialistic. People think that everything is for sale. Everything can be bought. But it is not so. There are things that cannot be bought with money. There are things that are not for sale. There are things for which, however much we are offered, we must say “No.” And Naboth did just that. In this he is an incredible example to us.
Naboth’s negative answer made Ahab suffer. Fixated on his whim, he could no longer see the big picture of life, but only his immediate desire (v.4).
4 So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat. (1 Kings 21:4)
Why was Ahab so cross, glum, and gloomy? Why did he sprawl on his bed and refuse to do anything at all? Why did he lose his appetite and refuse to eat? Why did he sulk as though someone had eaten his dessert? Because he could not have what he wanted. Although he had strayed from God, Ahab knew enough of God’s Word to know that Naboth was right. Ahab could not take his land or force him to sell it. Ahab felt powerless. Led by his passions and whims, he had lost all sense of what is important in life and what is not. Like a weeping child, he was a man sniffling and sulking over a little scrap of land, when in fact he owned two palaces and ruled a country of untold wealth.
A wild boar was once eating acorns under an oak tree. Having eaten his fill, he began to dig at the roots of the tree with his tusks. A crow saw him and made a remark: “You shouldn’t do that. If you lay the roots bare, the tree will wither and die.” “Let it die,” the boar replied, “who cares about the oak, as long as there are acorns?”
Such are we too, when, led by passions and whims, we lose all sense of reality.
What are the symptoms of the spiritual disease of “setting passions above principles”?
- Loss of spirits to the point that we lose all joy in everything else in life;
- Loss of appetite because of the unfulfilled desire;
- The desire to have our whim fulfilled seizes us to such a degree that it becomes a fixed idea for us, and we forget all our other responsibilities;
- Our happiness becomes tied solely to the fulfilling of our whim, instead of to the whole picture of life.
Ahab was a hopeless case. The fact that he could not get this one thing he wanted so badly threw him into a state in which he simply did not want to live and did not want to do anything. This is the perfect picture of a person ruled by passions instead of by principles.
A LIFE RULED BY PASSIONS – MERCILESS AND CRUEL
Most of us can hope that at the moment we have allowed ourselves to begin being ruled by our whims instead of our principles, someone around us will care about us enough to sober us up and make us start thinking responsibly. But if we surround ourselves with people who are governed by passions rather than principles, then it is very likely that we will get bad advice at a hard moment for us. Sadly, Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, was exactly such a person. She had no respect whatever for God’s Word. So, instead of restraining Ahab, she encouraged him to get his way even by forbidden and, I would say, quite cruel means (v.5-10).
5 His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?” 6 He answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” 7 Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” 8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city with him. 9 In those letters she wrote: “Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 10 But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.” (1 Kings 21:5-10)
The paradox in this case is that Jezebel uses God’s Word to achieve her devious aim. She knows that a crime such as blasphemy will be needed for Naboth to be condemned to death, and that at least two witnesses will be needed to prove this charge (Deuteronomy 17:6-7). Jezebel uses God’s Word to satisfy her husband’s passions.
Today, too, there are people who use certain Bible verses to excuse their sinful behavior. It is so important that we not justify our passions with God’s Word, but rather subdue and discipline them under its authority.
At the same time, Jezebel’s sinister plan was a violation of the Ninth Commandment (Exodus 20:16).
16 You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)
For wicked men, however, this was no problem, even if their false testimony would lead to the murder of an innocent man (v.11-13).
11 So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them. 12 They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 13 Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. (1 Kings 21:11-13)
From 2 Kings 9:26 we understand that at this moment not only Naboth was killed, but his sons as well.
26 ‘Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons, declares the Lord, and I will surely make you pay for it on this plot of ground, declares the Lord.’ Now then, pick him up and throw him on that plot, in accordance with the word of the Lord.” (2 Kings 9:26)
What injustice, what cruelty! And all of it because of the coveting of one wicked king and the unscrupulousness of his crafty wife. In Ecclesiastes 5:8 it says:
8 If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. (Ecclesiastes 5:8)
How pitiful! The innocent and righteous Naboth was unjustly accused and killed by Jezebel’s order, only because he refused to break God’s law and sell his ancestors’ inheritance to the king of Israel.
14 Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.” 15 As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.” 16 When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard. (1 Kings 21:14-16)
A LIFE RULED BY PASSIONS – EXPOSED AND CONDEMNED
Now the obstacle had been removed, and Ahab went to see and to enjoy his new acquisition.
17 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: 18 “Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it. 19 Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?’ Then say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’” (1 Kings 21:17-19)
Going into Naboth’s vineyard, Ahab was about to discover that what he had done to gratify his own whim had not stayed hidden from the Lord. Even while he was still celebrating the fulfilling of his desire, he meets Elijah with a dreadfully heavy, but just, message of judgment from God.
20 Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have found me, my enemy!” (1 Kings 21:20)
Ahab seems surprised that Elijah has found him out. As though Ahab had hidden himself from God and God did not know about his deeds. But is there any place where we can hide from God? Can we commit sin and have God not notice it? No, for God sees in secret and repays openly – both for our good deeds and for our sins.
“I have found you,” he answered, “because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. (1 Kings 21:20)
In Proverbs 6:16-19 it says:
16 There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19 a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. (Proverbs 6:16-19)
In this case Ahab and Jezebel had committed six of the seven things the Lord hates. This could hardly go unpunished. It is not in vain that Numbers 32:23 says, “you may be sure that your sin will find you out”!
21 He says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you. I will wipe out your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free. 22 I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have aroused my anger and have caused Israel to sin.’ 23 “And also concerning Jezebel the Lord says: ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’ 24 “Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds will feed on those who die in the country.” 25 (There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. 26 He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.) (1 Kings 21:21-26)
This prophetic word was not pleasant at all. The fact that Ahab did not honor a righteous man who honored God would lead to a similarly painful end for him and his family. And this punishment would not be only for the murder of Naboth, but also for his idolatry and for turning the whole nation away from the worship of the Lord.
Someone has said that “every sin comes with a price tag,” and the price of Ahab’s sin was by no means small. Ahab could not say that he had taken Naboth’s life unintentionally, or shift his guilt onto Jezebel. He was fully responsible for what had happened, so now, in the same way that he, through Jezebel and her protégés, had shed Naboth’s blood, he, his wife, and his sons would be killed.
REPENTANCE, GRACE AND JUDGMENT
What follows are the two greatest surprises in the whole story. The first is that Ahab repented of his sins.
27 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly. (1 Kings 21:27)
What repentance, what a change! Evidently the weight of the sentence Elijah pronounced over Ahab made him humble himself and repent. This same Ahab, who a little earlier had been called “evil,” now lay crushed, fasting for his sin and clothed in sackcloth.
This change in Ahab appeared genuine, for on seeing it God decided to postpone the punishment to the next generation, so that Ahab was to some extent spared.
28 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: 29 “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.” (1 Kings 21:28-29)
God noticed the change in King Ahab. He noticed his humility. In James 4:6 and in 1 Peter 5:5 it says that “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” That God noticed Ahab’s repentance and decided to postpone carrying out the sentence over his house is the second surprise in this passage. But this is a confirmation of Ezekiel 18:23:
23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? (Ezekiel 18:23)
Such is the character of God. He desires not death, but life. The great God whom we serve can be moved by a sincere repentance. He knows the heart and knows us perfectly. A genuine repentance can deliver us from judgment and place us under God’s grace. Our right response, when we discover our faults, is decisive for our future. Even after we make a mistake, even after a bad choice in our life, even after we have let ourselves be led by our whims instead of by God’s principles, even then there is hope for us of forgiveness and healing, if we repent.
Commenting on this case, a preacher named Ron Ritchie says the following: “Amazingly, Ahab asked God to forgive him – and God did. On the basis of this passage I believe that we will see Ahab in heaven. And if we ask him how, before God, he ended up there, he will tell us: ‘The same way as you – by God’s grace!’”
But we must know that even if we repent and God forgives our sin, the spiritual law of sowing and reaping remains in force. Yes, when Ahab repented, God postponed the punishment over his house, but he did not cancel it. Although he was forgiven, Ahab still had to meet the consequences of his sin. So we must be very careful in our conduct.
If you read the rest of this story, you will find that Ahab again gave himself over to his whims, and the prophecy was fulfilled. He was struck by a randomly shot arrow, and the dogs licked up his blood, spilled on the floor of his chariot (1 Kings 22:34-38). Jezebel, for her part, was thrown out of a window and trampled by Jehu’s chariot. When they went to take her body to bury it, since after all she was a king’s daughter, they did not find it, for it had already been torn apart by the city dogs (2 Kings 9:30-37). His son Joram was killed on the same day his mother died, and Ahab’s seventy sons were beheaded by the city’s leaders who were raising them, and their heads were carried in baskets to Jehu (2 Kings 10:1-11). So God became the avenger of Naboth’s blood.
In this chapter we have three main characters – one righteous man and two sinners. The righteous man is Naboth. Elijah is a man of God, and he represents God. In this chapter it is not he, but Naboth, who is the main character. Naboth is a man of principles. He refused to sell what is not for sale. He trusted in the Lord and proved faithful to the point that he was ready to lose his life rather than break God’s principles. Naboth lost his earthly inheritance in order to inherit the heavenly one. One righteous man and two sinners. The two sinners are Ahab and Jezebel. Between them, however, there is a difference. Jezebel was a hardened sinner. She never repented, was consumed by her sin, and ended up in hell. Ahab was another terrible sinner. But he repented, and God forgave him.
Which of the three would you want to imitate? Whom do you resemble? Jezebel, Ahab, or Naboth? Whose position of these three is closest to where you stand before God? Look at yourself and make a decision: to be like Naboth – to live not by whims, but by principles. But even if you have given yourself over to your whims, know that there is mercy for you. If you are going to be a sinner, then be a sinner like Ahab – a sinner who repented and who was forgiven. But whatever happens, never become like Jezebel. For her there is no mercy. If you are like her, then go on doing wrong from now on, because the day of your reckoning is drawing near. In Revelation 22:11-15 the Lord Jesus says:
11 Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.” 12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. 14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (Revelation 22:11-15)