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Turn in your Bibles to 1 Kings 
chapter 21. 1 Kings chapter 21. Last week in chapter 20 we noted 
that it was something of the beginning of the end for Ahab. 
Ahab released Ben-Hadad after two successful victories over 
the Syrians in battle. God handed Ben-Hadad over to 
Ahab and he let him go. And so God sent an unnamed prophet, 
some suppose it's Micaiah, to prophesy to him that God would 
indeed kill Ahab. Notice in chapter 20 at verse 
42, Then he said to him, Thus says the Lord, Because you have 
let slip out of your hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, 
therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people 
for his people. So the king of Israel went to 
his house, sullen and displeased, and came to Samaria. So that 
was the first statement concerning his impending death. Chapter 
21, Ahab does not help his cause in his exercise of tyranny over 
this man Naboth. And certainly when we get to 
chapter 22, he once again rejects the word of God and dies in battle 
on the battlefield. So I'll begin reading in chapter 
21 at verse one. 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. 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. But Naboth 
said to Ahab, The Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance 
of my fathers to you. 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 not eat no food. But Jezebel, 
his wife, came to him and said to him, Why is your spirit so 
sullen that you eat no food? 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. And 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. 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. She 
wrote in the letters saying, Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth 
with high honor among the people. 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. 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. They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth with 
high honor among the people. 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. 
Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth has been stoned and is 
dead. 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. 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. Then the word of 
the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 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. 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 lick 
the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours. 
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. 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. I will make your house like the 
house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of 
Besha, the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which 
you have provoked me to anger and made Israel sin. And concerning 
Jezebel, the Lord also spoke, saying, The dog shall eat Jezebel 
by the wall of Jezreel. The dog shall eat whoever belongs 
to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall 
eat whoever dies in the field. But there was no one like Ahab 
who had sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because 
Jezebel his wife stirred him up. 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. 
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. And the word of the Lord came 
to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 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. Amen. Well, there are two broad sections 
in this particular chapter. In the first place, we have the 
murder of Naboth in verses 1 to 16. And then secondly, the condemnation 
of Ahab in verses 17 to 29. And as I said, the text or the 
narrative is building up ultimately to chapter 22 when Ahab meets 
his end. He's a foolish king. He's a godless 
king. He's an idolatrous king. He has 
done and exceeded the wickedness of those who had gone before 
him, which is really saying something because there were a lot of wicked 
kings prior to Ahab. But in the first place, let's 
look at the murder of Naboth and note the desire of Ahab in 
verses 1 to 7. We notice that this man called 
Naboth in Jezreel has a particular vineyard. It's next to Ahab's 
palace there in Jezreel. Earlier in chapter 18, we learned 
that Ahab does have a residence in Jezreel. So he has this particular 
desire, and he makes this offer, and it is a generous offer. It 
is a gracious offer that Ahab gives to Naboth. Notice in verse 
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." That is a generous offer. He 
could have just went over and seized it or just told his wife 
Jezebel that he wanted it. As it does play out later in 
the passage, she certainly does achieve this or gain this for 
him. But note the refusal by Naboth in verse 3. Naboth said 
to Ahab, the Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance 
of my fathers to you. Now the fact that he invokes 
the name of God indicates that he does this under the auspices 
of God. And I think the argument is very 
simple as to why Naboth refuses this even generous offer. It was God who promised the land 
to Abraham. It was God who delivered the 
land to the children of Israel by Joshua. And in Joshua, after 
they conquered the land, the land was then allotted tribally 
to the people in Israel. It was a gift from God. It was 
an inheritance of the fathers, and that is what he alludes to. 
He says, the Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance 
of my fathers to you. Now, there were certain instances 
where a person could sell his land, but it was very restricted 
to those who are in poverty, and then the design was that 
they would ultimately get it back. Again, when God gifted 
the land to these particular tribes, it was a gift from the 
Lord. It was to be confined to that 
particular family or to that particular tribe. You can read 
about that in Leviticus chapter 25, verses 23 to 28, and then 
as well in Numbers 36, verses 7 and 9. So under certain circumstances, 
an Israelite might part with his land, but Naboth obviously 
is not in those particular circumstances. And so he refuses, he doesn't 
do it rudely, he doesn't do it callously, he doesn't do it in 
an ungodly manner, but he does in fact do it with a degree of 
firmness. And I think Davis explains it 
well. He says that Naboth treasures God's land gift passed down via 
his ancestors more than making bucks or placating kings. Naboth 
is nasty, not nasty, but definite. His refusal is couched in strong 
language, but one cannot say he is obnoxious. He had a perfect 
right to refuse Ahab's offer. He did so because his thinking 
was covenantal rather than pragmatic. Note that in his reply, Naboth 
identifies himself as a man subject to God and caring for God's law. So Naboth is to be commended 
here for not wanting to part with his tribal allotment. He 
is to be commended for not wanting to sacrifice this vineyard even 
for the handsome or generous offer given by Ahab so that Ahab 
could extend his holdings and make a vegetable garden out of 
this particular piece of land. And so we see then the response 
of Ahab in the conversation with Jezebel. Remember back in chapter 
20 when he gets this news in verse 42. He goes to his house 
sullen and displeased and he came to Samaria. Well the same 
thing is true in verse 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 father's. And he laid down on his bed and 
turned away his face and would eat no food. So basically the 
text is telling us that he was pouting. He wasn't able to get 
this particular vineyard. He wasn't able to engage in this 
new sort of vegetable garden to sustain and support. Well, 
I doubt it was to sustain and to support. It was probably a 
matter of convenience that happened to be next to his his summer 
home or his winter home or whatever it was there at Jezreel. It was 
something that would have proved convenient and a blessing to 
him. He doesn't get it on principle and nevertheless he's sullen 
and displeased. We might also read that he was 
a bit rebellious. This did not make him happy and 
everybody would be able to tell. Certainly Jezebel is able to 
tell because she says to him in verse 5, why is your spirit 
so sullen that you eat no food? Now this is good and commendable. 
A wife should care for her husband, should ask why he doesn't come 
down for dinner, should ask why he's refusing the pot roast. 
That's a, you know, a decent trait in an otherwise very unholy 
woman. And certainly she runs with it 
in the opposite direction. But let's just commend her where, 
give her some credit where credit is due. Why is your spirit so 
sullen that you eat no food? Now note what she says in response. Well, first, let's look at his 
response. He says, 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. He answered, 
I will not give you my vineyard. Now, he makes Naboth sound obstinate 
in his reply to Jezebel. He doesn't mention anything about 
Naboth's appeal to the name of God and to the inheritance laws 
in Leviticus chapter 25. Now, there may be two reasons, 
one of two reasons why he does it this way. Because on the reading 
here in verse 6, he makes it sound like Naboth just said, 
I will not give you my vineyard. No reason, no argument, no rationale, 
I will not give you my vineyard. Maybe he told Jezebel that to 
elicit the type of response that Jezebel actually engaged in. Or he may not have mentioned 
that because he knew good and well that Jezebel didn't care. 
about Israelite inheritance laws one bit. Whichever the case, 
he does change the response of Naboth as he replies to Jezebel. Now, her response in verse 7 
is very telling. Matthew Henry makes a good observation 
about Jezebel. He says, nothing but mischief 
is to be expected when Jezebel enters into the story. That cursed 
woman. Matthew Henry is absolutely right. 
When Jezebel enters the scene, we cannot think for a moment 
that Ahab is going to just be content with the answer from 
Naboth and carry on as life was. But no, Jezebel essentially says, 
you need to pull up your big boy pants and get in there and 
take what you want. That's what she says. 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. In other words, act like the 
king that you are. Remember that Jezebel hails from 
Phoenicia. And her daddy was the king in 
Phoenicia. When her daddy, the king, wanted 
a parcel of land, I doubt he went home sullen and displeased 
after having been rejected with reference to that land. He probably 
just killed the inhabitants and took the land for himself. In 
fact, one commentator said she had been trained in the absolutistic 
traditions of the Phoenicia city states. To her, Ahab seems a 
weakling. And he ought to seem a weakling 
to each and every one of us as well as the narrative unfolds. Now, he is ultimately held responsible. He is culpable. Elijah the Tishbite 
comes to him and not to Jezebel with reference to the murder 
of Naboth. What happens under his command 
is ultimately his responsibility. He is a gutless king operating 
here, hiding behind his wife's skirts, ultimately, and that 
is the way the text reads, and that is the way we are to understand 
it. Now note her particular plan. First of all, verses 8 to 10, 
she sends a letter. This letter carries with it royal 
authority. Notice, she wrote letters in 
Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal. So she wanders upstairs, 
goes into his home office, opens up his desk drawer, takes out 
his letterhead and his signet ring, drafts this letter and 
sends it to the elders and to the nobles of Jezreel. Notice as well that this plan 
falls under a religious guise. It is going to be an unjust, 
wicked murder of a particular man, but it's going to have all 
the trappings of religion. It's going to have all the trappings 
of legal procedure. It is going to have all of that, 
at least outwardly, but inwardly it's a sham. It's a means by 
which they can liquidate this particular man and steal his 
land. Notice. Verse 9, she wrote in 
the letter saying, proclaim a fast and seat Naboth with high honor 
among the people. Robert Alter explains, a common 
function of an ad hoc communal fast was to supplicate God, excuse 
me, when some ill had befallen the community because of an offense 
committed within the community. So she says, call a fast, assemble 
a fast, and then I want you to bring Naboth and seat him with 
high honor among the people. And then, seat two men. Again, 
this is under the guise of proper legal procedure. Never mind that 
they engage in a summary execution with no regard whatsoever for 
due process or cross-examination or the defendant being able to 
plead his particular case. But nevertheless, on the surface, 
it's got this guise of religiosity. It's got this guise of judicial 
process. Seek two men, scoundrels, or 
literally sons of Belial, and then have them bear witness against 
him saying. Now this plan carries with it 
a very serious charge. You have blasphemed God. and the king. So this is not 
only blasphemy, but it's treason against the crown. You see, it 
cannot go well for Naboth as this whole thing unfolds before 
his eyes. It is a kangaroo court, it is 
mock, it is horrible, and this is the sort of thing that is 
happening at the governmental level. So you have blasphemed 
God and the king, then take him out and stone him that he may 
die. So that's her plan, that's the 
particular letter. Now note the execution of the 
plan, and note the culpability of these leaders in verse 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. Now, I think that 
this confirms what I mentioned earlier in chapter 19. Remember 
in chapter 19, in verse 4, Elijah under the boom tree. Elijah there 
is distressed, he is sorrowful, he is depressed, and he asks 
God to kill him. He asks God to take him. And 
then we posited or hypothesized that one of the reasons why he 
might have been despondent in that particular situation is 
because he saw fire come down from heaven on Mount Carmel and 
consume the offering that Elijah had offered. And then on the 
heels of that, he saw God answer prayer with reference to ending 
the drought. So two powerful displays of God 
Most High and the nation continued to rebel and reject God. This 
is what depressed Elijah. This is why in chapter 19, verses 
10 and 14, he tells God specifically what his problem is. He says, 
essentially, the whole nation has gone astray from you. They 
have rejected you. They've broken your covenant. 
They have, you know, despised your altars the whole time. whole 
thing. I think it just confirms it. The people did not repent. She is able to appeal to these 
elders and nobles of this particular city, this city of Jezreel, and 
they're all too happy to just follow blindly what this wicked 
woman suggests or tells them to do. As well, we ought to appreciate 
the two forms of injustice that the text sets forth before us. 
There was a Roman politician and lawyer. It's not just politicians 
in our day that are lawyers. They were politicians slash lawyers 
back in Cicero's day. He lived in about, you know, 
the last century BC. And he made this observation. 
There are two kinds of injustice. The first is found in those who 
do an injury a la Jezebel and Ahab. The second in those who 
fail to protect another from injury when they can. You see, 
that is the culpability of these elders and these nobles. This was a godless thing on the 
part of Jezebel. They should have balked at this. 
The fact that she tells them to call two scoundrels, two sons 
of Belial, to just assert that this man had committed blasphemy 
and treason against the crown and then take him out and stone 
him. This should make any leader of any city say, wait a minute, 
boss, what you're doing is wrong. Cicero is right. There is the 
active propagation of evil and then there is the failure to 
act on the part of spineless people who stand by and do nothing. John Gill says that Jezebel should 
contrive so wicked a scheme and that there should be such sons 
of Belial among the common people to swear such falsehoods need 
not seem strange. He said, that's not surprising. 
You'll always find sons of Belial in any body politic. He says, 
but that the elders and nobles of the city, the chief magistrates 
thereof, should be so sadly and universally depraved as to execute 
such a piece of villainy is really surprising. And then he makes 
this beautiful statement we're going to revisit at the end, 
because I think this passage sets this truth forth. He says, 
idolatry, when it prevails, takes away all sense of humanity and 
justice. You know why abortion and euthanasia 
and sodomy and all manner of lawlessness flourish in our society? It is ultimately an idolatry 
problem. It is ultimately a reality that 
man has exchanged the true and living God, and he worships the 
creature. When we fail to render obedience 
to the first table of the law, the second table always, always 
follow suit. If we will not fear God and honor 
God, we will victimize the helpless. We will steal from those who 
are poor. We will rape, pillage, and destroy. Because when there is no thought 
of God in the minds of man, all bets are off. I think he's absolutely 
bang on. Idolatry, when it prevails, takes 
away all sense of humanity and justice. Davis comments on verse 
11. He says, the text is telling 
us that injustice flourishes not only by wickedness, but by 
weakness. You see, brethren, we may not 
be in the position to actively propagate the sorts of evils 
that go on in our generation, but if we passively stand by 
while all these things sort of go on, and we don't raise any 
voice of opposition or seek to intervene as we are able, then 
we are as guilty, maybe not as guilty as actually cutting someone's 
throat, but we are certainly guilty. He goes on to say, not 
merely from a lack of goodness, but by a lack of guts. And I think this passage is reminiscent 
of what we see in Judges 15. You remember the particular instance 
there. The Philistines want to arrest, they want to seize Samson. And instead of Judah standing 
behind Samson, rallying alongside with him, and opposing the Philistines, 
the Judahites are giving up Samson to the Philistines. The Judahites 
actually say to Samson, don't you realize the sort of benefits 
we have under Philistine rule? Don't you understand the kind 
of blessing that we have under Philistine rule? Judah was the 
tribe initially that went into the Promised Land and engaged 
in the conquest. By Judges 15, they are giving 
up the Savior of Israel to the hands of godless Philistines. 
It's the same sort of thing. It was the wretched Philistines 
that wanted to see Samson, but it was the wretched Judahites 
that gave him up into their hands. So the culpability of the elders 
and nobles is palpable in this passage. Now note the execution 
of our plan in verses 12 to 14. It goes according to plan. In 
fact, if the chapter ended at verse 16, we would say we have 
the perfect rhyme. we would say that this was absolutely 
successful. As far as Jezebel was concerned, 
as far as Ahab was concerned, everybody won. Everybody got 
what they wanted. Jezebel got to throw around her 
royal weight. Ahab ultimately got his new vegetable 
garden. Everybody prospered, of course, 
except for Naboth and the guilt of these men involved. So they 
proclaim the fast, they seat Naboth down, and they have the 
sons of Belial. Notice in verse 13b, these guys 
don't miss a step. Naboth has blasphemed God and 
the king. Now then they took him outside 
the city and stoned him with stones so that he died. Then 
they sent to Jezebel saying, Naboth has been stoned and is 
dead. So this was indeed the lawful 
penalty for blasphemy in Leviticus chapter 24 verses 14 to 16. If someone was found guilty of 
blasphemy, they would be executed, they would be stoned to death. 
But as we see obviously, there is no due process here. You see, 
the Scriptures call specifically in Deuteronomy 17 and in Deuteronomy 
19 for the presence of two or three witnesses. That doesn't 
mean you get two sons of Belial there to allege a charge and 
then you just proceed from there. Due process means hearing witness 
statements. Due process means examining the 
evidence. Due process means letting the 
defendant have his day in court to defend himself. Perhaps if 
Naboth had been enabled to speak, he would have said, it's because 
of the inheritance laws. It's because of Leviticus 24. they 
would have never found him guilty of blasphemy against God and 
against the king. This was a mockery of justice. And you also ought to know that 
it wasn't only Naboth, but all of his sons were executed as 
well. In 2 Kings 9, verse 26, it tells us it wasn't just Naboth, 
it was all of his sons. Why do you think Jezebel had 
a vested interest in slaying all of his sons? So there would 
be no heir for this particular land allotment. The deed was 
done, and now the report goes back to Ahab. The good news for 
Ahab. Notice in verse 15, 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. See what a wretched, 
terrible thing. Not only what she did, but the 
fact that this gutless wonder now goes and he takes this particular 
property. What a terrible human being. 
Ahab had everything coming to him that he got. And then verse 
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. Now there's some question as 
to why he would have been able to take this land. Certainly 
the heirs were gone. So in terms of Nabof passing 
the field or the land on to his sons, you certainly couldn't 
do that. Some suppose that because Nabof 
had been found guilty of a capital crime, then his land would be 
turned over to the crown. Others suppose that Ahab and 
Naboth may have been kin. They may have been relatives. 
And there's some merit to that thought, because their land or 
their property was right next to each other in Jezreel. I maintain 
that it was an ungodly, unlawful confiscation of personal property. When the Tishbite comes, he says, 
not only have you murdered, but you have taken possession. He 
stole the land. In the Trump campaign, I remember 
that whole time where there was that big question about eminent 
domain. I'm not picking on Trump here. We all heard about eminent domain. Eminent domain is when the government 
can seize private property from a person as long as that will 
benefit the public. Again, a wretched concept in 
and of itself. But this isn't even that. This 
wasn't a piece of land that was going to benefit the public. 
This was a piece of land that was going to benefit Ahab. Namely, 
it was going to provide him some more vegetables. So a case of 
eminent domain gone drastically wrong under the hand of this 
godless man. House says, Ahab and his queen 
have added murder, stealing, and oppression to their already 
serious religious sins. You see, up to this point, Ahab 
has been an idolater. We have seen that, we have witnessed 
that, we have seen him bring the worship of Baal right into 
the political capital of the Northern Kingdom, specifically 
in Samaria. He has done terrible things all 
along the way, and now, as it were, he is adding to his resume 
to underscore just what a godless man he is. But as I said, if 
we didn't have the rest of chapter 21, at this point it would appear 
to be an apparent success. It would appear to have been 
the perfect crime. You see, we live in a world governed 
by a sovereign God. We live in a world that does 
take notice of such things like eminent domain, who takes notice 
of such things like governmental tyranny, who takes notice of 
such things like oppression and wickedness. And that brings us 
to consider the condemnation of Ahab in verses 17 to 29. Notice 
God's response, verse 17. Then the word of the Lord came 
to Elijah the Tishbite, saying..." Now, we need to remember that 
there wasn't a conscientious elder or noble in the city of 
Jezreel that went to his prayer closet and say, Lord, we engaged 
in a travesty of justice today. We sentenced to death a poor 
man by the name of Naboth on the testimony of two sons of 
Belial with no due process or no nothing of the sort. Nobody 
told God this. God knows what's happening to 
His people. God knows the injustices that 
we face in this world. And God's time frame may differ 
from ours, but God's certain execution of justice and judgment 
is always sure. You see, we might say, why didn't 
God intervene earlier and spare Naboth from this particular death? I don't know. God had purposed 
that on whatever date this was, Daboff was going to pass from 
this life into the next. And that may trouble us, and 
it may puzzle us, in terms of why didn't he act sooner? I can't 
answer why God doesn't act sooner, but I can affirm with the entirety 
of Scripture, He does act. And he will visit with judgment 
those who trouble his people. This is the message of 2 Thessalonians 
1. And Paul says it's right with 
God to repay with tribulation those who try the church. You 
see, the people of God have become spineless wimps as well. Any concept of divine retribution 
makes us uneasy and uncomfortable. We don't like the thought of 
an old covenant God wiping out the masses. Somehow the new covenant 
God wiping out Ananias and Sapphira Doesn't seem to trouble us so 
much, but in the church today, all talk of divine retribution 
seems to have gone by the wayside. Brethren, 2 Thessalonians is 
for the church and it is for us to praise God for and to pray 
to God for His divine intervention against the wicked who indeed 
destroy His people. So the Lord acts, the word of 
Yahweh comes to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Now he is told to go 
and reprove Ahab. 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. You shall speak to him, saying, 
Thus says the Lord. Have you murdered, and notice, 
and also taken possession? He seized this land. He confiscated 
this land. It was government overreach. Again, we look at the sorts of 
things that are happening in our day. There is nothing new 
under the sun, brethren. If there were bakers back in 
that day, there would have been perhaps forced to bake cakes 
for homosexual people. I realize probably not, but the 
sorts of oppression that we see today, it has a long pedigree. If we learn anything from this 
particular chapter, besides the fact that God will indeed visit 
with punishment those who trouble His church, realize that as long 
as the people of God desire to live godly in this world, they 
will suffer persecution. We will face manifold injustices. And it's a horrific thing. And 
I hear these stories, and it makes me just shudder to think 
what's happening in Canada and in the US when persons are not 
given the sorts of rights that ought to be afforded to citizens. 
And yet, brethren, we see that very thing here. Naboth was railroaded 
from beginning to end. I mean, you can't miss that. 
But God comes and He speaks. And then notice, there's a prophecy 
included here as well. In the place where dogs lick 
the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours. 
Ahab actually dies closer to Samaria, and some say, well, 
he didn't die where Naboth did, there at Jezreel. It may simply 
mean, as Naboth died near Jezreel, so Ahab is going to die near 
Samaria. The point is, is that the dogs 
are going to lick up their blood. What does that indicate? They 
didn't even give Naboth a decent burial. I mean, that was adding 
insult to injury in Israel when you didn't give a proper burial. We've already seen that in chapters, 
I think, 11 and 14, where men died, the sons of kings died, 
and they were not given a proper burial. They were basically food 
for the dogs and for the birds of the air. So they didn't even 
give this man a proper burial. And so the prophecy is, is that 
Ahab's gonna die and dogs are gonna lick up his blood. Now 
note the word of the prophet in verses 20 to 26. I mean, if 
Ahab is anything, Ahab is tenacious. Notice in verse 20. So Ahab said 
to Elijah, have you found me? Oh, my enemy. Remember in chapter 
18, he calls Elijah the troubler of Israel. I'm sorry, in chapter, 
yeah, chapter 18, he calls Elijah the troubler of Israel. It isn't 
Elijah that's troubling Israel. But listen to what this admission 
is. Have you found me, O my enemy? What's Elijah's job? Elijah's 
job is to speak forth the word of God. And Ahab sees him as 
the enemy. Matthew Henry makes the observation, 
that man's condition is very miserable that has made the word 
of God his enemy. And his condition is very desperate 
that reckons the ministers of that word his enemies because 
they tell him the truth. You see, this says a whole lot 
more about Ahab than it does about Elijah. Now note the word 
of the prophet in verses 20 to 26. He identifies, or rather, 
he tells him, I have found you because you have sold yourself 
to do evil in the sight of the Lord. And this is a statement 
that shows that he has gone headlong into sin, abomination, wickedness 
and rebellion. He promises that there would 
indeed be calamity on Ahab and an end to his dynasty. That's 
the language employed. 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." It's an end of 
Ahab's dynasty. That's an end of his lineage. That's an end of his legacy that 
political leaders so often like to boast of. This is very similar 
to what happened with Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and Besha, 
the son of Ahijah. This is what he says in verse 
22. We go back to chapter 15 for Jeroboam, we go back to chapter 
16 for Besha, we see not specifically their deaths, but the deaths 
of their sons, an end to their dynasty. You will no longer have 
seed or fruit of your loins on the throne. And then as well, 
he says that there would indeed be an end for Jezebel. And this is one of those passages 
where we just amen the Lord, don't we? I mean, if you don't 
amen verses 23 and 24, you don't have a proper understanding of 
righteousness or justice. I mean, this woman is terrible. 
She's an ungodly, horrible, horrible woman. Matthew Henry elsewhere 
said, unhappy princes those are, and hurry to pace towards their 
ruin, who have those about them that stir them up to acts of 
tyranny and teach them how to abuse their power. Unhappy is 
Ahab that he has this woman for a wife. And then note, there 
is a commentary, a bit here, a commentary by the narrator 
in verses 25 and 26. It's almost as if to say, well, 
let me just remind you what we're dealing with in this man Ahab. 
Before you start getting all misty-eyed and thinking, well, 
this isn't really fair. I mean, he had a bit of a lapse 
in judgment. You know, overall, he's a pretty decent guy. No, 
let's read verse 25. 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. 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. 
Now, let's just look back at verse 25. He sold himself to 
do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his 
wife stirred him up. incited him to do evil. Now, some might be led to consider, 
well, you know, it really wasn't his fault. I could hear that 
today, right? He was a victim. I mean, it wasn't 
his fault. It was his terrible wife. She's 
the one that caused him to engage in this sort of sin. I mean, 
you give this text to a good lawyer and he's going to have 
Ahab, you know, walking. He's going to have Ahab off the 
hook. He's going to have Ahab, you know, playing golf next week. 
Is that what the text indicates? He sold himself to do wickedness 
in the sight of the Lord because Jezebel, his wife, stirred him 
up. I can do no better than quoting 
Davis here. He says, that Jezebel incited 
Ahab to evil does not lessen but aggravates Ahab's guilt. It makes it worse. He is the 
king in Israel and he is letting this wretch tell him what to 
do. Davis goes on, I'll email him 
and tell him I called him Ahab tonight, he'll love that. For 
it shows he was not only wicked, but weak, not simply sinful, 
but spineless. That's what we're dealing with 
here. Yeah, he's a wretch in and of 
himself, but he allows himself to be incited by another wretch. But the chapter ends on a very 
high note. And the high note is seen in 
God. Note verse 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. The king humbles himself at God's 
word here. The indictment affected him. He got a bit misty-eyed at this 
particular point. The word penetrated that hard 
heart. Now, I don't believe he was repentant. I think we probably describe 
this as remorse. Because notice what he doesn't 
do. He doesn't confess his sin. Now, I guess he could have done 
that, and the text doesn't record it for us, but based on what 
follows in the text, I don't think that is the case. He doesn't 
get rid of the vegetable garden, and he certainly doesn't listen 
to the prophetic word in chapter 22. But nevertheless, there's 
a bit of remorse here. I mean, even this hard rock of 
a man, nevertheless, hears these words, tears his clothes, puts 
sackcloth on his body, he fasts, and he lays in sackcloth, and 
went about mourning. Now, as I said, the text ends 
on a high note, and that high note is the grace, mercy, kindness, 
and goodness of God. Look at verse 28. And the word 
of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, See how Ahab 
has humbled himself before me? Isn't that amazing? Again, this 
is, you know, anthropopathic. God's not learning. This is an 
improper predication. But it evidences to us or indicates 
something to us of God's gracious character and mercifulness and 
his goodness. As Davis says, it's almost like 
he pokes Elijah in the rib and says, did you see that? Did you 
see that? He humbled himself. It's almost 
as if God, looking upon the mass of humanity, sees so little of 
these sorts of expressions that the faintest resemblance of one 
evokes his attention. Elijah, did you see what he did 
there? Now, in the goodness and kindness 
of God, he doesn't suspend or he doesn't rather end the possibility 
of judgment, he does suspend it and he gives him something 
of a stay of execution. It says, 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 Now, 
we'll see that in 2 Kings 9-10, when Jehu, that soldier of God 
Most High, goes about executing the household of Ahab. Ahab is 
going to die, but the dynasty will succeed him, at least for 
a time. Again, this isn't repentance, 
this isn't God saying, Well, I'm not going to judge you anymore, 
but it is, in a sense, a stay of execution. And I think that's 
good news for sinners. Again, I think we could preach 
the grace of God from 1 Kings 21, verse 28. prone to look at that kind of 
repentance favorably? What does he do when a sinner 
actually casts himself upon the mercy of God through Jesus Christ? Is he going to refuse him? Is 
he going to forsake him? Is he going to resist him? Is 
he going to say, no, I won't have you? No, John 6, 37 goes 
right along with this passage. All that the Father gives me 
will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly 
not cast out. This is that God I will certainly 
not cast out, even when an Ahab who is still a wretch who has 
been underscored in verses 25 to 26 as the supreme wretch, 
even when this man tears his clothes and humbles himself before 
the Lord, God says to Elijah, did you see that? He actually 
showed some humility. So if a sinner comes to the Lord 
Jesus Christ, do we have any reason to doubt that the Lord 
Jesus Christ is going to receive him? If the Lord Jesus Christ 
or God Most High is going to show some degree of favor to 
an Ahab, He's certainly going to show a degree of favor to 
those who come to Him through the Lord Christ Most High. Isn't 
that a beautiful thing that our God displays in this particular 
section? Well, in conclusion, a few lessons, 
kind of a repeat, but it should hopefully drive it home. In the 
first place, the fact that God's people face injustice in this 
world. You know, here's another place 
where we can really just adore and praise God for what our Savior 
went through on our behalf. Could Jesus identify with Naboth? Absolutely He could, because 
there were false witnesses brought up to testify against Jesus. Matthew chapter 26. Christ really 
identifies with His people. He is like us in all points, 
attempted like us in all points, yet without sin. Christ knows 
what it's like to be a Naboth in this world. Christ knows what 
it's like to have the difficulties and the injustices. Christ knows 
what it's like to face godless mobs who are crying out, away 
with him, away with him, crucify him. I mean, if anything, Naboth 
ought to lead us to the Lord Jesus Christ, this one who was 
turned over by two false witnesses and ultimately summarily executed. I mean, if anything, Naboth is 
just a bit of a glimpse of the horrors of what our Savior went 
through on our behalf. But the fact is, brothers and 
sisters, the moment we expect that everything's always going 
to go hunky-dory for us in this world, that's the moment we have 
forgotten the Word of God. Perhaps we have unwittingly swallowed 
the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel. Perhaps it's not the 
kind of a Benny Hinn or a Kenneth Copeland. Perhaps it's not quite 
that severe, but there might be that mindset in all of us, 
well, I'm a believer, why am I having any difficulty? I'm 
a believer. Why is there ever any trouble? 
I'm a believer. Why am I ever sorrowful? Brethren, 
oftentimes it's because you're a believer that you're having 
those trials, and you're having those sorrows, and you're having 
those difficulties. What did we learn with King David 
of Israel? Remember when he is anointed 
in 1 Samuel chapter 16. What happens on the heels of 
that? His troubles begin. When the spirit comes upon David, 
that's when his life got difficult. When he was tending, I mean, 
yeah, he had to kill bears and lions. I can't imagine, you know, 
that was a fun thing. But what's worse, a bear, a lion, 
or a human being that's got that bear or lion sort of ferocity? 
I take my chances with bears and lions sometimes and with 
people. And I like to carry bear spray around town, not because 
I'm afraid of bears, but because I'm afraid of crackheads that 
want to cut my throat. Those are the people that really 
scare me. It ain't the bears. They don't 
wake up in the morning saying, how do I ruin people's lives? 
I guess maybe they do. But you see, the injustices that 
we face are oftentimes associated with the fact that we're believers. Have we unwittingly swallowed 
the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel? Consider David's greater 
son. When does his troubles begin? 
After the Spirit comes upon him. What happens? At his baptism, 
the triune God is present at the Jordan River. The father 
says, this is my beloved son. in whom I am well pleased." He 
affirms his love and his delight in the Son. The Spirit descends 
upon him like a dove. And then the very next scene, 
what happens? The Spirit drives him out into the wilderness to 
be tempted by the devil. Why do we think we're going to 
have it easy in this world? I mean, really, it may not be 
of the Benny Hintz variety or Smile and Joel Osteen variety, 
but have we sucked down this false gospel that everything's 
going to be hunky-dory for us on our Christian walk? We're 
never going to have problems, we're never going to face injustice, 
we're never going to have any opposition. I submit that if 
those things never happen to you, you're probably not living 
godly in Christ Jesus. Try being a faithful Christian 
in the workplace. Try being a faithful Christian 
in society. Try being a faithful Christian neighbor. Try being 
a faithful brother in a context where there are unfaithful people 
that hate and despise God. If we're not suffering to some 
degree or other, now I'm not saying go out and yell that everybody's 
going to hell and repent or perish so people throw things at you 
and do, you know, I'm not saying that. But brethren, this passage 
teaches us the people of God are going to face injustice in 
this world. Secondly, the fact is that governments 
may administer injustice. Governments may, and we see it 
happening. I mean, look at what happens 
in this passage. You talk about government overreach, 
the unlawful confiscation of private property. Obviously, 
the unlawful murder of the owner of said private property, the 
unlawful rejection of due process, and of course the unlawful arrogance 
of tyranny and oppression of God's people. Davis again makes 
this observation, I think it's fitting, I think it's appropriate, 
and I think we ought to take heed. Ordinarily we are to submit 
to government, always we should beware of it. Always, we should 
beware of it. Again, submit, honor, pay your 
taxes, do what Paul says in Romans 13, but guard your back. I mean, brethren, I could voice 
my concerns on a whole host of things about government. Let's 
just keep our minds focused upon Ahab's government. Thirdly, the 
fact that God intervenes in the affairs of men. This is conspicuously 
obvious as well. Perfect crime as far as Ahab 
is concerned. And then the tishbite shows up. 
I mean, what a killjoy that must have been, right? What a bummer! I mean, he might've had his gardener 
out there, you know, doing the lines. Okay, I want my beets 
there. I want my peas there. I want 
my beans there. And then the Tishbite comes and 
says, hey, guess what? God saw what you did. I mean, 
this couldn't have been a happy occasion for Ahab. Not that I 
care about his happiness. The Lord renders justice on those 
who oppose him and his people. And I do want to just read 2 
Thessalonians chapter 1, a passage that the people of God ought 
to be familiar with in every age of the church. But unfortunately, 
in our age, again, I don't think we're very comfortable with the 
vengeance and the judgment and the justice of God. But Paul 
encouraged the church in Thessalonica, 2 Thessalonians 1. for, so that 
we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your 
patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations 
that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment 
of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God 
for which you also suffer, since it is a righteous thing with 
God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you. You know, 
you see this when persons say, well, what about in the Old Testament 
where God told Israel to go in and utterly destroy those Canaanites? 
How do we respond to that? We don't typically say the Canaanites 
had it coming. They were wretched, godless, 
wicked people that engaged in brutality, murder, and rape. 
They deserved the vengeance of God. I guarantee you we don't 
answer the question that way. We dance around it. We try to 
pretend that, you know, well, it really, you know, it doesn't 
mean that. And God, look, brethren, they had it coming to them. The 
grim reality is that God raised up not-so-righteous Israel to 
go in and destroy the less-than-righteous Canaanites. But you know what 
else? When Israel apes the Canaanites, what does God do? He raises up 
the Assyrians to destroy them. When Judah apes the Israelites 
before and the Canaanites before, he raises up Babylon and sends 
them in to destroy. God's not capricious. He's not 
arbitrary. He's not picking on innocent 
people. He is judging wicked, godless people, and that is characteristic 
of the divine nature. That's how we ought to answer 
the question. Persons say, well, that sounds 
like genocide. Well, when a whole race violates 
the law of God, and the Lord brings judgment to bear upon 
them, it's His call. He's a just God, it's righteous 
with Him. Paul says, it is a righteous 
thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble 
you. I don't know that we embrace 
that reality as well. Salvation and redemption and 
all those sorts of things that we love to speak of always and 
necessarily include an opposite. In other words, there is destruction 
involved in salvation. In other words, when God saves 
Israel time and time again throughout the Old Testament, what does 
that usually mean? It means he destroys their enemies. The two go hand in hand. Salvation 
and judgment cannot be bifurcated or polarized. Where there is 
the one, there is necessarily going to be the other. Where 
does our salvation lie? Ultimately in the judgment of 
God upon his own dear son. You see, when we get to the New 
Jerusalem, we see various statements in chapters 21 and 22 about those 
outside the city of God. And we say, well, you know, that 
just seems a little bit unfair. No, it's a blessed reality. I 
want to know, when I'm in the New Jerusalem, all the riffraffs 
on the outside. Don't you? Don't you want to 
know that they're not going to get over the gates? Don't you 
want to know that they're not going to come and rape you? Don't 
you want to know they're not going to come and manufacture 
drugs and sell them on the fair city streets of the New Jerusalem? That exclusion of the wicked 
is one of the blessed aspects of heaven. They'll not be there 
anymore. That's a good thing. That's why 
in chapter 19 of Revelation, after the fall of Babylon in 
chapter 18, what do the saints in heaven do? They cry, Alleluia 
to the Lord God Most High for his judgments because the whore 
has fallen. You see, judgment is good. Righteousness 
is good. Justice is good. The church somehow 
feebly and spinelessly wants to apologize for God's actions. He never calls on us to apologize 
for his actions. He calls upon us to set forth 
the truth of his word. in all of its accuracy. As well, 
fourthly, we got four minutes, don't freak out. The fact that 
idolatry leads to manifold social ills. The rejection of the first 
table is always followed by a rejection of the second table of the law. Again, Chapter 1 in the Book 
of Romans, prior to all of the wickedness, all of the homosexuality, 
all of the lawlessness that is detailed there by the Apostle, 
the chief or arch sin is, although they knew God, they did not honor 
Him as God, nor were their hearts thankful. You see, when we exclude 
God from a society, then this is what we get. And everybody 
wants to say, well, where is God when bad things happen? It's 
like we just want God to make sure life goes well. That's all 
God is for, isn't it? Wasn't that the cry on September 
11th? Where was God on September 11th? Who cared on September 
10th? Who cares now? But as long as 
we need protection, then God is our friend. That's like the 
genie in the bottle. That's the holy horseshoe. That's 
the four-leaf clover. That's Baal. Manipulating him 
to provide us with health, wealth, and prosperity. God will not 
have it. As Gil said, idolatry, when it 
prevails, takes away all sense of humanity and justice. Proven 
says, abandonment of God, Exodus 21-6. inevitably leads to abandonment 
of righteousness. We see the reality of this in 
1 Kings 21. In this society, given over to 
idol worship, covetousness leads on to false testimony, murder, 
and theft. You see that? First table offenses, 
second table offenses. That's not accidental. When we 
reject God, we'll ultimately brutalize man. That's the problem 
in abortion. That's the problem in euthanasia. 
It's a God problem. It's because men hate God. They'll murder babies. It's because 
men hate God. They'll murder old people. It's 
because men hate God. They'll murder that little boy, 
that 10-month-old in London, England. That's the reason it's 
idolatry. So yes, we need to preach against 
the social ills, but we need to set forth Christ and Him crucified. He's the answer to the problems 
that face us in every generation. That's the culturally relevant 
solution. You'll hear that sometimes. Well, 
we can't reach our culture unless we address these particular issues. 
What more culturally relevant doctrine is there than Christ 
and Him crucified? You preach that, God blesses 
it, it fixes things. It really does. And then the 
fact that God is indeed a merciful God. I just want to end with 
two quotes by Gil and Matthew Henry with reference to verse 
29, that C, Ahab has humbled himself before me moment. Gil 
said this was not a pardon, only a reprieve. The sentence pronounced 
on him and his family was not taken off nor countermanded, 
only the execution of it prolonged. It is promised that the destruction 
of his family should not be in his lifetime, but after his death 
in his son's days. Otherwise, he himself died a 
violent death and the dogs licked his blood as were foretold. And 
he says this, however, this may be an encouragement to those 
who are truly humbled for their sins and really repent of them, 
that they shall receive forgiveness at the hand of God, since he 
showed so much regard to an outward humiliation and repentance. If 
you're trying to lead somebody to the Savior, you would do worse 
to go to 1 Kings 21, 29 and say, look, this is a God of mercy. I mean, He suspended judgment 
on Ahab for a time over that. Imagine if you actually come 
to Jesus. And then Matthew Henry says, 
this encourages all those that truly repent and unfaintedly 
believe the Holy Gospel. If a pretending partial penitent 
shall go to his house reprieved, doubtless a sincere penitent 
shall go to his house justified. Praise God, the gospel is in 
1 Kings 21, 29. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for your word and for what it teaches us. So many 
wonderful lessons in a dark and bleak chapter, but it's also 
a gracious and a merciful chapter. And I thank you that you grant 
us grace. And so much of our repentance 
is a sham, and so much of it is shabby at best. And nevertheless, 
you receive us, and you are merciful to us, and you are kind to us. 
How we thank you that you have not dealt with us according to 
our sins, nor rewarded us according to our transgressions. How we 
thank you that there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. 
And may texts like these always call us to repentance and faith, 
and call us to a humility before our God. Go with us now, we pray, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.