Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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. 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." But Naboth replied, "The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers."
So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, "I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers." He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.
His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, "Why are you so sullen? Why won't you eat?"
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.' "
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."
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. In those letters she wrote:
"Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them testify that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death."
So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth's city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them. They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 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. Then they sent word to Jezebel: "Naboth has been stoned and is dead."
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." When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth's vineyard.
Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: "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. 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!' "
Ahab said to Elijah, "So you have found me, my enemy!" "I have found you," he answered, "because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. 'I am going to bring disaster on you. I will consume your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free. I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have caused Israel to sin.'
"And also concerning Jezebel the Lord says: 'Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.'
"Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country."
(There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.)
1 Kings 21:1-26
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Have you ever found yourself yearning for something that someone else has?
Perhaps you found yourself envious of a person’s occupational status. Or maybe you found yourself wishing you had a person’s fame, wealth or appearance. Or possibly you hoped that you might have some possession that another person had.
Indeed, we are immersed in a value-based world that would compel us to have the best of everything, whatever the cost…even if we have to get what we want by dishonest means.
It’s little wonder that God made it a point to command, “"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (Exodus 20:17)
As we look at today’s scripture from 1st Kings, Chapter 21, we find King Ahab seemingly forgetting God’s command as he gets involved with “an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite”.
The vineyard, located in Jezreel and conveniently “close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria”, led the king to ask its owner, 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."
The request seemed simple enough to Ahab. After all, he was the king and surely Naboth would have no problem either getting a new vineyard better that the one in Jezreel or being paid fair price for the land.
But money isn’t everything to people sometimes, especially when the purchase proposal involves something of sentimental value to the owner. In the case of the vineyard, Naboth had inherited it from his fathers who had worked it generations before him. And knowing how much the Lord valued respect of elders, Naboth declined Ahab’s offer.
Well…as we see…this did not set very well with Ahab who “went home, sullen and angry” because Naboth would not swing a deal with him for the vineyard. Such was the depth of Ahab’s disappointment that he just “lay on his bed sulking” and refusing to eat.
Wondering what was wrong with her husband, we read where Jezebel went to Ahab and asked, "Why are you so sullen? Why won't you eat?"
And so Ahab told his wife about what happened. That he had went to Naboth and offered to either give him another vineyard or pay for the one he owned but Naboth refused to part with his land. We sense that Jezebel is wondering whether or not she married a wimp for a king as she mockingly says, “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.” In other words, Jezebel basically said to her husband, I’ll do what you were unable to do…and she knew just how to do it.
What would follow would show just how ruthless people can be when they allow sin to rule supreme in their lives, especially when greed and coveting are involved. A person is literally poisoned so much by pining for what another has that they lose all regard for the one that possesses what they yearn for…even for that person’s right to live.
And this is exactly what happens as Jezebel vows to get her husband what he wants and then sets a sinister plan in place to do just that.
Scripture tells us “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”, writing the following:
"Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them testify that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death."
And so the “elders and nobles who lived in Naboth's city did as Jezebel directed in the letters”, proclaiming a fast and seating Naboth “in a prominent place among the people”. Then, as directed, “two scoundrels came…sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth…saying, "Naboth has cursed both God and the king."
And with that, Naboth was taken “outside the city and stoned him to death”.
Word soon traveled back to Jezebel that Naboth was dead and so 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." And so Ahab did just that. He finally got what he wanted…but not before disobeying yet another of God’s commands: “You shall not murder.”
So up to this point, we have not seen the Lord involved in the matter of the vineyard. But that was about to change and in a big way.
For we catch back up with one of God’s most trusted prophets, Elijah, as he receives the word of the Lord that instructed him to, “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. 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!' " And with that, the Lord’s obedient prophet and servant went to carry out His orders.
Well, you’ll recall that there was a little bit of history between Ahab and Elijah, particularly after Elijah had slain his prophets of Baal. (1 Kings 18:40) Ahab’s wife jezebel vowed to kill Elijah for his actions but the Lord kept his prophet safe in the midst of the danger. We sense that Ahab had not forgotten Elijah’s actions as he greets him by saying, “So you have found me, my enemy!"
Elijah, undeterred by Ahab’s words, goes on to tell the king why he is there...saying, "I have found you…because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord.”
And with that, Elijah passed the message of God’s judgment to Ahab saying, “I (God) am going to bring disaster on you. I will consume your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel — slave or free. I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have caused Israel to sin.”
But that wasn’t all that was going to happen for Elijah added, “And also concerning Jezebel the Lord says: 'Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country.’ " There was little doubt that both Ahab and Jezebel were in serious trouble with the Lord. In fact, our passage has this to say about Ahab:
“There was never a man like (him), who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.”
Imagine you’re Ahab. Things are not looking good…in fact, things are looking downright fatal as he found himself squarely in God’s disfavor.
And the same thing will happen to us if we allow the poisonous nature of covetousness to enter our hearts.
So what will it be?
Will we be satisfied and thankful for what God gives us?
Or will we instead wish and desire for what others have?
Perhaps the answer for us can be found in the words of David…a man after God’s own heart…who wrote:
“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4
Come to think of it…what else would we ever want if we made the Lord our sole delight?
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com
No comments:
Post a Comment