1 Kings 21:1 says, And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. Naboth had a vineyard close to the palace of Ahab. This would make it be a convenient location for use by Ahab. Still, even as king, he could not just take the property. Verse two adds, And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. Ahab told Naboth to either trade his vineyard to Ahab for a different property or to sell it to him since it was near Ahab's property. This might seem like a fair proposition if Naboth was really interested in moving or selling. Some proposals made to us today may seem fair in the eyes of the world, but they may not be what we need or want in following God's will. Verse three continues, And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. Ahab may have been king, but Naboth deferred to God. He said that the LORD forbid him from giving the inheritance of hi fathers to Ahab. No matter how good or fair a proposal may sound to us today, we need to look to God for how we respond, and we should never give away or trade the spiritual things that God has given to us, and I believe that this was a spiritual thing to Naboth. The land given to the different families of Israel was to remain in their possession forever, with even a provision for it to be restored if they did lose it. We have inherited everlasting life from our relationship with Jesus Christ, and we should never let anyone tempt us to trade it away. Of course, I believe that once we do accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord that we can never lose our salvation, because it is sealed by God. Verse four concludes, And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. Ahab went home and pouted. To his credit, he did not exert his power as king and say that it didn't matter what Naboth wanted. Today, those in authority do not always exert their power over Christians if they want something that they have, but this is not always the case throughout the world. In some countries, they do take everything belonging to Christians and don't just pout about not being able to. Verse five states, But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread? While Ahab was pouting, Jezebel came to him and asked him why he wasn't eating. This was a reasonable question for a concerned wife to ask. I believe that if we see our spouse troubled by something that we should attempt to find out what is wrong with them. Verse six adds, And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard. Ahab said he was upset because he had asked Naboth to give or trade him his vineyard and he refused. At least he was truthful about the reason for his being upset. People today too often allow not getting what they want to cause them to be despondent. Verse seven continues, And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. Jezebel asked Ahab if he wasn't the ruler of Israel, told him to get up and eat, and said that she would get the vineyard of Naboth for him. She basically said that as king he should be able to do whatever he wanted to do, and that if he wouldn't, then as his wife she would. Sometimes, the spouses of those in power feel even more impowered than the one who is actually in power. Verse eight declares, So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. Jezebel wrote letters to the elders and nobles around Naboth in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal. Of course, Ahab had to know what she had done or was just willingly unknowledgeable about it. Either way, he had allowed Jezebel to take control. Verse nine adds, And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: Jezebel told these elders and nobles to proclaim a feast and set Naboth on high among the people. She was using religion to condemn Naboth, and the elders and nobles were going along with her. We need to be careful that we never use Christianity to attempt to get what we want when it is not what God wants. Verse ten continues, And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. These elders and nobles were told to set two false witnesses, called sons of Belial, against Naboth and accuse him of blasphemy. This was not a case of these men not knowing what was happening but of their willingly participating in the lie. Some people are more than willing to participate in the lies of those who are in power or who have been in power today. We as followers of Christ should never do this though. Verse eleven states, And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. The elders and nobles did as Jezebel asked them to do. These were the leaders of Israel, God's chosen people, and they were willing to participate in Jezebel's lies. We as Christians should never be guilty of doing the same thing. Verse twelve adds, They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. They proclaimed the feast as Jezebel had instructed them to do and set Naboth up for judgment. Verse thirteen continues, And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died. They proclaimed a feast, had the two witnesses lie about Naboth, and took him out and stoned him. A lot of people were involved in Jezebel's plot, some willingly and some maybe not so much so, and they were all guilty of unjustly killing Naboth. We should always look to God for guidance and not just go along with what may be happening around us, and we certainly should never participate in unjust plots against others. Verse fourteen concludes, Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead. The nobles and elders then sent word to Jezebel that Naboth was dead. We have to assume that they were more interested in what Jezabel wanted than they were in what God wanted. We can never afford to be that way, being more interested in what people in power want more than we are in what God wants.
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