The Story of Naboth by Alonzo T. Jones

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Aug 20, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 32.

The Story of Naboth.

By Alonzo T. Jones

[INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR AUG. 30—1 KINGS 21 : 4-19.]

AT JEZREEL, about twenty-five miles from Samaria, Ahab had a palace. Hard by this palace was a vineyard belonging to Naboth. And Ahab said to Naboth, "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. And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee."

THE LORD had given commandment that the land should not be sold forever, "And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land." Lev. 25:24. "So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe; for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers." Num. 36:7. Naboth simply proposed to obey the word of the Lord, and so told Ahab that he could not have his land. But even though the Lord had given no directions on the subject, it was clearly the right of Naboth to refuse to sell his land for the private purposes of the king. For if he had no right to refuse to sell, he had no rights at all in the matter, and was thus placed subject to the mere whim of the king. And if he was obliged to so yield to the wish of Ahab, even though Ahab had given him a better vineyard, what assurance was there that he would not shortly have to give up that vineyard at the wish of the king, as he had given this at the first. Not only by the word of God, but by every principle of justice and right, Naboth was in the right and Ahab in the wrong.

FREDERICK THE GREAT once wanted, for a part of his garden, an adjoining piece of ground upon which a wind-mill stood. He sent an agent to buy the ground and the mill. The miller sturdily refused to sell it. At last the agent said, "Not at any price? Could not the king take it from you for nothing if he chose?" The miller replied, "Have we not the Kammergericht [the Imperial Chamber of Justice] at Berlin?" That was as much as to say that, though Frederick wanted the grounds for his own private use, yet if he attempted to take them by force, the miller would appeal to him as king, and that, in justice to his subject, Frederick as king would not allow Frederick as a private person, to take the land against the wish of the owner. Frederick was wonderfully pleased at the answer of the lowly miller, and "Have we not the Kammergericht at Berlin" became a popular saying in Germany.

BUT Ahab was not a Frederick. "Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him. . . . And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread." Throughout Ahab's whole career he appears as capricious as a spoiled child, with yet this shortcoming that he had no force of character even in his caprices, but was always ready to be ruled by whatever

influence affected him at the moment.

First he took to wife Jezebel, the very embodiment of imperious infamy; then he allowed her to stir him up to commit more iniquity than all the kings of Israel before him; then, when because of his wickedness Elijah pronounced to him the judgment of the Lord, in drought upon the land for three years and a half, there was no nation or kingdom round about that he did not send to in search of Elijah; and when Elijah finally came to meet him and denounced him to his face, all he did was to simply go, in obedience to Elijah's command, to gather together all Israel and the prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel. Then, when the contest had been decided at Mount Carmel, instead of firmly taking a stand on the side of the Lord, he simply went and told Jezebel all that had happened, and let her exert herself anew in behalf of Baal. And now in this instance with Naboth, because he can't have that vineyard he must go to bed and refuse to eat anything!

JEZEBEL, however, had enough self-assertion for ten men, and a regiment of women. She can tell in a minute what to do—she will murder Naboth and his family so that there shall be no heirs, and take everything that he has. All this will she do and be merry about it. "I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." And she did. And then, as might be expected, just as soon as she came telling him that Naboth was dead, this weak, wicked, and wickedly weak king "rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to take possession of it."

"AND the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab . . . behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth whither he is gone down to possess it." And there as Ahab stands with satisfaction contemplating his new possession, suddenly there strikes upon his ear a voice, as thunder out of clear sky, exclaiming, "Hast thou killed and also taken possession?" Ahab cries out, "Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?" The stern reply is, "I have found thee; because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord." "In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine." "The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat."

It is very natural for those who have sold themselves to do evil to count as their enemies those who reprove them and point out their sins. But there is no escape. It may long be delayed, but, sooner or later, "Be sure your sin will find you out." And it is vastly better for us to find out our sins, and put them away, than at last to have them find us out, when it is too late to put them away.

AHAB'S covetousness ended in murder and robbery. "Take heed, and beware of covetousness; for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." Luke 12:15. "Thou shalt not covet." Covetousness is the leading sin in the transgression of any commandment of the decalogue. Not one of the commandments can be broken but that covetousness leads in the transgression. Covetousness itself is idolatry (Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5), and covetousness in all its forms is summed up in one word—selfishness. May we all remember the Saviour's warning, "Take heed, and beware of covetousness." And may we, with David, ever pray, "Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness." Ps. 119:36. A. T. J.

"HONOR all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God." 1 Pet. 2:17.