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1 Kings Chapter 21
1 Kings Chapter 21
The law said that nobody must make a permanent sale of his land. People must not pass land from *tribe to *tribe. (See Leviticus 25:23; Numbers 36:7.) Naboth was right to refuse the king. If Naboth sold the field to the king, he (Naboth) would not be obeying Gods law. So this was not merely a business matter or an ordinary argument. Naboth could not obey the king, because such an action would be against Gods law. So Naboth firmly refused Ahabs request. Naboth chose to stand for God. Ahab was angry. He had everything that he needed. But he was not happy without Naboths *vineyard. Jezebel promised to get the land for him. She thought that the king should be like a god. If Ahab did not behave like one, she would!
v8 So Jezebel wrote letters and she signed them with Ahabs name. She put his mark on them. She sent them to the leaders and off icials of Naboths city. v9 This is what she wrote. Announce that there will be a day for people to go without food. Call the people together. Give Naboth the place of honour. v10 Make two wicked people sit opposite him. Tell them to say that he spoke badly about God and the king. Then take him out of the city. Throw stones at him until he dies. v11 So the leaders and officials of Naboths city did what Jezebel had ordered. v12 They told people to go without food. They gave Naboth the place of honour among the people. v13 Then two wicked people came and sat opposite him. They accused Naboth in front of the people. They said that Naboth had spoken badly about God and the king. So the people took Naboth outside the city. They threw stones at him until he died. v14 Then they told Jezebel, We threw stones at Naboth. Now he is dead. v15 As soon as Jezebel heard this she spoke to Ahab. Go. Take possession of the field that Naboth refused to give you. He is no longer alive, but dead. v16 Ahab heard that Naboth was dead. Then he got up. And he went to take possession of Naboths field.
Jezebel plotted Naboths death. She used the kings name and his mark. He did not know that she had done this. She organised a *religious meeting. She suggested that God was angry with the people because of some *sin. Two wicked people said that Naboth was responsible. They pretended that he had spoken badly about God and the king. When anyone spoke badly about God or the king, the punishment was death. The people killed Naboth and his sons. (See 2 Kings 9:26.)
When Ahab heard about this, he went down to take possession of Naboths field. By this action, Ahab showed that he approved of Jezebels deeds. Naboths *trial was like the *trial of Jesus. In both cases, false witnesses said that they had spoken against God and the king. (See Luke 22:70-71; 23:1-3.) So, although Naboth was innocent, people killed him.
We can see that Ahab and Jezebel were becoming even more wicked. They were ready to use false (lying) witnesses to accuse people who upset them. And they were not afraid to kill an innocent man. But God knew about their *sin.
Elijah went to meet Ahab again. This time he came to tell Ahab that God would punish him. Ahab considered Elijah as his enemy. Elijah told Ahab that all his family would die. They would not continue as kings. Their deaths would be awful and they would not even have proper graves.
Ahab then showed *sorrow for what he had done. He was not sorry enough to stop his *worship of *idols or to give back Naboths field. Still, God was willing to make his punishment less. *Disaster would not happen until after Ahabs death. God will answer if people change their ways. He will do this even if their change is not perfect. God does not want anybody to suffer *everlasting death (2 Peter 3:9). He wants everyone to have life. But later, Ahab died as Elijah *prophesied. The wages of *sin is death (Romans 6:23). The punishment on his family happened later. Ahab was a very wicked king. But in fact his wife, Jezebel, was responsible for many of his worst *sins. In these matters, Ahab was evil not because of his own cruelty, but because he was weak. We must never allow wicked people to control our actions. John wrote to a church where an evil woman was controlling some people. He warned the members of that church about her. They would suffer greatly if they continued to obey her. He called that woman by the name Jezebel (Revelation 2:20-25).