DIGGING DEEP NO. 1037 May 28, 2024 COVETOUSNESS; GREED AND CONSEQUENCES 1Kgs.21: 1- 29

This story reveals the lawlessness of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. The sins they committed and consequently the commandments of God that they disdained and disobeyed.

Covetousness – 1Kgs.21: 1- 4 Ahab and Jezebel had a summer place in Jezreel. The king wanted Naboth’s vineyard because he coveted a garden convenient to the palace Ex.20: 17. This is the last of the Ten Commandments and perhaps the most difficult one to obey. A covetous heart often leads us to disobey all the other commandments of God. The first nine commandments focus on forbidden outward conduct – making and worshiping idols, stealing, murdering, and so on; but this commandment deals with the hidden desires of the heart. Ahab masked his covetousness by first offering to buy the vineyard or trade it for another piece of property. It was a reasonable offer, but Naboth was more concerned about obeying God’s Word than pleasing the king or even making money. All property had to be kept in the family Lev.25: 23- 28. Which meant that Naboth was forbidden to sell his land to the king.

False witness – 1Kgs.21: 5-10 “Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor” is the ninth commandment and emphasizes the importance of speaking the truth. Truth is the cement that holds society together, and when the truth is gone, everything starts to fall apart Is.59: 14.  Ahab and Jezebel were breaking God’s law. What right did Jezebel have to write Naboth’s death warrant? Her husband was king! Samuel warned about this kind of monarch 1Sam.8: 14 and Jesus cautioned His disciples not to follow that philosophy of government but to serve the people in love Matt.20: 20- 28. A true leader uses his authority to build the people, while a dictator uses the people to build his authority, and people are expendable. Jezebel even threw in some religion and told the local authority to proclaim a fast. If you can sugarcoat your scheme with something religious, the people will quickly accept it. But no matter how legal and spiritual that royal edict may have looked, in the sight of God it was a lie; and God judges liars. Everything that God hates, Ahab and Jezebel did Prov.6: 16- 19.

Murder – 1Kgs.21: 11- 13 The procedure Jezebel outlined was in agreement with the law Deut.17: 6- 7; 19: 15; Numb.35: 30 but the accusation was false, the witnesses were liars, and the judges had been bought off by royal intimidation. In every town, there were worthless fellows who would do anything for money or just to become important. To curse God was a capital crime Lev.24: 13- 16 and cursing the king was dangerous because he was God’s appointed ruler Ex.22: 28; Acts 23: 5.

Stealing – 1Kgs.21: 14- 16 The weak rulers in Naboth’s city followed Jezebel’s orders, conducted their illegal trial, took Naboth and his sons outside the city, and stoned them 2Kgs.9: 26. Nobody in the family was alive who could inherit the land, so, Ahab felt he was free to take it. The officers notified Jezebel, not Ahab, of the execution, so it’s obvious who had the power in the royal family. If ever two people were guilty of blaspheming God and breaking His laws, it was Ahab and Jezebel, and judgment was about to fall.

Hearing God’s sentence – 1Kgs.21: 16- 29 Surely the Lord does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets Am.3: 7. Previously, Ahab called Elijah “the troubler of Israel 1Kgs.18: 17, but now he makes it more personal and calls the prophet “my enemy.” Actually, by fighting against the Lord, Ahab was his own enemy and brought upon himself the sentence that Elijah pronounced. Ahab would die dishonorably and the dogs would lick his blood. Jezebel would die and be eaten by dogs. All of their posterity would eventually be eradicated from the land. They had enjoyed their years of sinful pleasure and selfish pursuits, but it would all end in judgment.

Ahab actually repented, and the Lord who sees the heart of men accepted his humiliation and told it to His servant. The Lord didn’t cancel the announced judgments but postponed them until the reign of Ahab’s son Joram (2Kgs.9: 14- 37). Ahab was slain on the battlefield and the dogs licked his blood at the pool of Samaria (1Kgs.22: 37- 38). Because of the postponement of the judgment, the dogs licked his son Joram’s blood on Naboth’s property, just as Elijah predicted (2Kgs.9: 14- 37). Later events proved that Ahab’s repentance was short-lived; the influence of his wife couldn’t easily be broken for when Ahab married her, he sold himself into sin.

In Conclusion – He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house, But he who hates bribes will live. (Prov.15: 27)