What Is and Is Not For Sale

Mark Dunagan
06/19/11 - Sunday Morning

 

Not For Sale

Naboth owned a vineyard, which just happened to be the property adjacent to King Ahab's summer place (1 Kings 21:1). King Ahab earnestly coveted this piece of property for a vegetable garden. He was willing to either trade Naboth for a better piece of land or pay for it (21:2). Yet Naboth refused. Why?

"The Lord forbid me that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers" (21:3).

Naboth was a God-fearing Israelite (one of the seven thousand faithful), who in obedience to the Mosaic Law refused to sell his paternal inheritance (Leviticus 25:23-28; Numbers 36:7). How impressive, this faithfulness in Naboth, even when it came to a more technical law that many who were less noble may have simply ignored. One less faithful might have argued that simply owning some land in the Promised Land was enough, but that wasn't what the Law had taught. Like Daniel, who refused to compromise himself when it came to God's food laws (Daniel 1:8), Naboth was willing to be obedient in what might be considered "little". Yet Jesus noted that people who are faithful in little can be trusted with much and people who are unfaithful in a little will be just as unfaithful in other more consequential areas (Luke 16:10). Satan tries to convince us that being faithful in what are considered to be small areas does not matter because, after all, he seeks to whisper in our ears, while we won't sacrifice a small thing for God's honor, "When push comes to shove, we would die for Christ."

The Impact on Ahab

This account of what Ahab did after the refusal is so insightful, "So Ahab came into his house sullen and vexed because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him... And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and ate no food" (21:4). It is so easy to forget that there is no one who gets everything they want. Even Kings have their plans and dreams frustrated. Not everything is for sale, and there are many things that the very, very rich cannot have. Another observation: Kings are people too and they can sulk and pout with the best of them. Just because someone is famous or powerful does not mean that they are mature.

Jezebel's Point of View

Jezebel was shocked at Ahab's response, but for a different reason than we may be. In her mind, a king and queen should get whatever they wanted, even if they had to murder their own subjects. She was used to a dictatorial leadership style. Do not be surprised by Jezebel's point of view for she is simply practicing her religion. Jezebel was no atheist or purely secular thinker; rather, she was a very religious person. She was an ardent supporter of Baal worship (16:31); in fact, she financially supported 450 prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:19). Some have noted that Jezebel was only acting out her religion when she ruthlessly had Naboth falsely accused and eliminated. "One of the myths of Canaan told of a goddess who found a young hunter one day with a beautiful bow, the gift of another god. He would not part with such a precious possession. Then she gained permission from El, the chief of the gods, to take measures to obtain the bow. She selected a man of brutal character, turned him into an eagle, placed him in a flight of eagles, and had him swoop down one day to peck the young hunter to death. She then took the bow with impunity. Might was right in Canaanite mythology, if gods and goddesses behaved in this selfish fashion, could it be expected that their worshippers would be any better?" (The Bible and Archaeology, J. A. Thompson, p. 125).

Worthless Men

Jezebel now comes with a plan: Have a feast where Naboth is falsely accused by worthless men of cursing God. Eliminate him, and thus have the property this ancient East criminal reverted to the crown, so that thus the property would come to Ahab for free. The fact that the elders carried out this plan demonstrates how much corruption existed in Israel and how much power Jezebel possessed. Jezebel was careful that everything looked legal.

• Do not overlook the fact that Jezebel knew not only about the God of Israel (21:10), but she likewise knew things about God's law. She knew enough of the Law to use it against God's own people. The wicked often try to hide behind God's law when it profits them.
• The wicked are not ignorant. I was reminded of this by someone recently with reference to the false predication about the Second Coming being on May 21st. The person noted that people at work who seemed to have no religion at all, made the point at their workplace that the Bible taught that Jesus would come like a thief in the night. Unbelievers often know more Bible facts than they sometimes will admit!
• Jezebel also knew that one can only get "worthless" people to falsely accuse a man like Naboth - men who would say anything for a price. It is always insightful to listen to how unbelievers speak about other unbelievers. In essence, Jezebel is saying, "Find a couple of losers". Now if men willing to carry out Jezebel's plan were worthless men - by her own admission, what does this make the person who actually planned the worthless thing? It seems that Jezebel does not, or is not willing to make the connection, that she is likewise a loser. It is like young men who are hoping to meet a physically attractive, yet morally ugly woman - and yet never seem to make the connection that they are morally corrupt as well. While Jezebel is doing all of this in Ahab's name (using his official seal), Ahab does nothing to check his wife's scheming n does he express disapproval of her deed.

Silence

Sadly, not a soul in the city of Jezreel stood up for the good man, Naboth (21:13). It looks like the common people feared Jezebel much more than they feared God. And Ahab is so self-centered that all he can think about is his new little vineyard, and does not even pause and reflect upon the tragic death of Naboth.

The Confrontation

Ahab and Jezebel may have been moving swiftly, but so was God! And while everybody else in Jezreel may have closed their eyes to fair dealing, our great and just God has seen everything. Elijah is sent to confront Ahab and God tells Elijah exactly where Ahab is, "behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth". God tells Elijah exactly what to say to Ahab. As Ahab is joyfully inspecting his new vineyard, suddenly Elijah meets him and courageously inquires, "Have you murdered, and also taken possession?" In the end, the prophecy in this verse was somewhat altered because of Ahab's future repentance (27-29). Instead of dying some ignominious death and having the dogs lick up his blood in Jezreel, he died in battle and was honorably buried in Samaria, however the dogs did lick up his blood as it was washed from his chariot (1 Kings 22:38), and the corpse of his son, Jehoram, was cast onto Naboth's land, however (2 Kings 9:25-26).

Who is Confronted

Note that Jezebel is not confronted, even though the plan was 100% hers. For the moment she is ignored. So why is Ahab confronted?

• Because being a man, he was expected to lead and he did nothing but follow, but became a silent collaborator. The attitude "Just get it done and don't tell me how you did it" is not of God, and does not remove the guilt of the silent accomplice.

Who is the Trouble Maker?

When Elijah approached Ahab in the vineyard, Ahab tried to make Elijah look like the bad guy. To Ahab, Elijah is no longer the "troubler of Israel" (18:17), rather he is now Ahab's enemy. "This diversionary tactic - calling attention to other's sins (or supposed sins) to detract attention from our own, is a common characteristic... the criminal faults the justice system; the hypocrite exposes the mote (Matthew 7:1-3), and the indolent blame the system (Luke 19:21-22)" (Winters, p. 158).

The Fatal Choice

"Because you have sold yourself to do evil"(21:20): Elijah does not back down, he quickly reminds Ahab who was the real enemy. "Sold yourself" is the language of choice and freewill, for Ahab had deliberately chosen evil instead of good. Ahab had completely surrendered himself to do what was evil (Romans 6:13, 16).

Because of his evil, Ahab will die and so will all his descendants. Like Jeroboam, Ahab had "made Israel sin", specifically by condoning the calf worship and also by promoting the horrific worship of Baal. God is especially harsh on people who cause others to sin, and even though Ahab had not actually killed Naboth himself - he was still responsible. God does condemn those who stand by and allow evil to go unchecked in a family or congregation. Nor would Jezebel escape, the dogs will eat her, which implied the denial of even a decent burial. (Remember, dogs in this culture were not cute household pets, but rather "...in ancient Palestinian cities, dogs were not kept as house pets but ran wild in the streets as scavengers. Always hungry, they rapidly devoured anything edible" (Vos, p. 130).

"I am Weak"

Ahab was a weak man when it came to standing up to Jezebel. The text says, "Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife incited him" (21:25). Nevertheless he is not excused, but is still condemned. His weakness was chosen. Jezebel was only able to manipulate him and move him into further evil because he had previously made the decision to sell himself when it came to evil.

Brief Humbling

You never know how people are going to react to the Word of God. Ahab, who had been so dominated by Jezebel, is actually convicted by what Elijah says. He actually manifested the outward signs of repentance. He rent his garments, put on sackcloth, fasted, and even slept in his sackcloth. How humbling for a man in Ahab's position, and because of this attitude God was willing to postpone the judgment previous announced. Our loving God is patient and not willing for any to perish but for all (even people like Ahab) to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Let us take advantage of the opportunity to change for good our hearts and lives, an opportunity which His great love provides us. 

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net