January 23, 2025, 1 Kings 21:1-16

January 23, 2025, 1 Kings 21:1-16

21 Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. ² And after this Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.” ³ But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” ⁴ And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said 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 eat no food.

⁵ But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?” ⁶ And 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 please you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” ⁷ And Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

⁸ So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city. ⁹ And she wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. ¹⁰ And set two worthless men opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, ‘You have cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.” ¹¹ And the men of his city, the elders and the leaders who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. As it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, ¹² they proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. ¹³ And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones. ¹⁴ Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.”

¹⁵ As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, 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.” ¹⁶ And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

This story of the evil of Jezebel and Ahab shows that the enemy has been winning for years in getting people to think only of themselves and not give others a second thought.  When I was first thinking about the hatred that had to be present to kill a man to take his land, but then I thought about David, the man after God’s own heart, that had a man killed so no one would find out he had committed adultery with the man’s wife.  Then from the first book of the Bible we saw a man kill his own brother because he was jealous that God liked his brother’s offering more than his own.  Evil ha been present since before the world was created.  Pride, ego and desire to be number one caused Lucifer, an angel of God, to pull an army of angels, now known as demons, to fight against God, love, and everything good and right.  No matter how hard we try, our flesh will fight against us and the enemy will try to convince us there is a good reason for our sin. 

What do you do when you are faced with temptation?  Paul even talks about knowing what is right, but the struggle to fight against doing the wrong thing.  Prayer for strength to fight temptation and wisdom to know what is right is something we need daily.  Who can you enlist to be praying for you in these areas?  Don’t underestimate the power of prayer!