1 Kings 21:1-29
Naboth Is Murdered for His Vineyard
1 And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near, next to my house; and for it I will give you a vineyard better than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money.”
3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “The LORD forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”
4 So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food. 5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?”
6 He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’”
7 Then Jezebel his wife said to him, “You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
8 And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. 9 She wrote in the letters, saying,
Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people; 10 and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, “You have blasphemed God and the king.” Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.
11 So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. 12 They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. 13 And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”
15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” 16 So it was, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
The LORD Condemns Ahab
17 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. 19 You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Have you murdered and also taken possession?“‘ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.”’”
20 So Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?”
And he answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD: 21 ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free. 22 I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin.’ 23 And concerning Jezebel the LORD also spoke, saying, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’ 24 The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field.”
25 But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up. 26 And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
27 So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.
28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.”
Ahab coveted his next-door neighbor Naboth’s vineyard but was refused the purchase by the owner who valued his possession as his rightful inheritance and refused to sell it. His wife Jezebel (whose name now carries a very unpleasant meaning) saw his plight of depression and told him she would arrange it so that her husband as dictatorial king over all could have it. She connived a slander campaign by sending for a witness tribunal of sorts to pretend to honor the landowner but set him up with false accusations of paid witnesses. These scoundrels were paid to say Naboth had blasphemed the LORD and the king, as if a leader could be blasphemed at the same level as God. She then urged the elders gathered there to stone the innocent accused to death that her husband could take the land for himself! Because of this dastardly act, the word of the LORD was given to Elijah the Tishbite to bring a condemning accusation to Ahab for plotting murder and theft. Because they murdered an innocent man and allowed the dogs to lick up his blood while his body lay in the street in dishonor, the prophetic proclamation against Ahab and Jezebel promised the same end for him (1 Kings 22:37-38) for following the plot of his evil wife (2 Kings 9:33, 36, 37) Jezebel whose blood was also required, and the resulting excrement of her body was left by the same dogs who consumed her in judgment. The prophecy by the mouth of Elijah accused Ahab of mercenary conduct against the LORD for personal gain while breaking the commandments of covetousness and murder; such ungodly actions earned him the wrath of God by offending Him and misleading His people. The words here sum it up best, “there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up.” Ahab was accused of the same evil as the ungodly nations Israel had been commanded to drive out of the presence of God in the promised land such as the Amorites, and of worse evil than even Jeroboam and Baasha before him. But as Ahab was faced with the seriousness of these true accusations, he repented in humble mourning and God relented from passing an immediate sentence on him, delaying the calamitous consequences until the time of his son Ahaziah after his passing. Though his blood would be licked up by dogs as promised, it was only after dying in battle when his chariot was washed (1 Kings 22:38) afterwards, not the same as that of Jezebel who died from being thrown out a window and left in the street to be licked up and consumed by the dogs. She did not repent and suffered a worse end. This leads us to learn not only to treat others as the second greatest commandment summarizes for us (Mark 12:30, 31) in areas such as hate for murder and stealing for covetousness, but also to move us to repentance when we do stumble, breaking these commandments and losing love for our neighbors, and fall under God’s grace and mercy in order to humbly turn from our sin (1 John 1:9) to go on to follow Him and treat others as we desire to be treated by them and the Lord.
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