1 Kings 21 (Part 1) Bible Study (Naboth's Vineyard) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

First Kings chapter 21. I believe that it will be helpful to remind ourselves of how first Kings chapter 20 ended in order for us to capture the essence of this new chapter that we are going to delve into together. And so though you are going to first Kings 21, I wanna read the last two verses of our previous study, and then we will open up chapter 21 together. So look at verse 42 of first Kings chapter 20. And he said to him, being the prophet speaking to Ahab, and he said to him, thus says the Lord, because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction.

Therefore, your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people. And the king of Israel went to his house, vexed and sullen, and came to Samaria. Remember, Ahab was called by God to completely destroy Ben Hadad and the Syrian army. He disobeyed by making a covenant with Ben Hadad. A prophet comes on the scene and says, you disobeyed God, so it's gonna be your life.

Your life is gonna be the price for this disobedience. Your people are gonna feel the pain of your rebellion. And the response to that was Ahab being frustrated, annoyed, gloomy. He makes his way dragging his feet back into his home. And you would think that such a declaration of certain judgment would drive him into his knees.

That though perhaps at first you were ruffled a little bit because that's not the most pleasant news to get for your future, You would at least sober up by the time you got into your living room and got right with God or at least sought God for clarity, for mercy. That's what you would think would follow this. That's what you would think the sequence would be to this profound judgment looming over a man who deserved it far before this time. And instead, when you honor the flow of thought, this is what you discover about Ahab, keeping this in mind as the backdrop in verse one of chapter 21. Look at this with me.

Now, Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 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. Now if you looked at this as a as an isolated scenario, you may make different judgments. You may think that some time has lapsed, and now Ahab is thinking about other things, but its placement is confirming something very concerning about this man's character.

Again, what's the backdrop? He received news that death is imminent, that he he's going to pay a high price for turning his back on a clear command from God. And what you read here is that though judgment was pronounced against him, the very next thing you discover is that he's preoccupied about a garden. What's this man thinking about? Real estate.

What's this man thinking about how to enlarge his estate? How to advance in his personal projects? I know you're tempted to do something because I was tempted to do the same. And let's jeer at this man. What a fool.

What an imbecile. What a careless man. Your soul is hanging by a thread into damnation. And what are you caught up by? How to make your little land a little prettier, how to make your possessions a little bit more glamorous, how to add glory to your house.

And, again, you might be tempted to mock such a thing, but you must be aware as I am that this demonstration of misplaced priorities is not uncommon. How many millions today are doing the same this very hour? Hopefully not you. That they're so concerned about these earthbound pursuits. And even after being confronted by gospel truth, maybe even week after week.

Oh, sure. They might get stirred emotionally. They might have a, an afternoon of sobriety, of clarity, but it doesn't take much time before they go back to their default. And that is to make their little brief existence about little trivial things while completely ignoring the confrontation of truth that demands a decision. So Ahab here is not an anomaly.

Ahab here is a reflection of a universal human symptom that we are easily distracted, that our concern for matters that are eternal, lasting, are very short, very brief. And Ahab here is proving something that is happening across the world and throughout generations. But now he's thinking about this, and we read the offer that he makes to this introductory man, Naboth. Right? We'd never heard of him before.

You're not gonna hear much about him. I mean, he appears and he's gonna disappear in the same chapter, less than a chapter. But he makes this offer. He extends this this invitation for an exchange, and it's a pretty good one. So here's this vineyard on the same street as the palace, and, he just says, hey.

Look. I'll take your vineyard, and I'm willing to even give you a better one. And if you don't want another vineyard, name the price, and I'll give it to you. There's nothing dishonest about this offer. There's nothing aggressive about it.

This is essentially profitable, for Naboth at least. This is something that's sensible. This is a good thing. Even his tone, it's admirable. It's, it's just somebody who wants to make a deal.

And you you and I might see it that way, but Naboth quickly is going to show us that he does not see it that way. In fact, he doesn't even entertain it. He doesn't counteroffer. He doesn't do anything. He just shuts it down right away.

So we read here in verse three. Look at it with me. But Naboth said to Ahab, the Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers. Full stop. I'm not looking to have a conversation about this.

I'm not looking to discuss this. I'm not looking to hear you know, you would think that if he was if he was unimpressed that he would again, kind of go back and forth and bargain. He doesn't do any of that. He squashes it right there and then. And the question that we have to ask is why?

There's nothing inherently sinful about this, or is there? Well, this is why you and I need to know the old testament. And we get a clue from David's answer. What does he say in verse three? The Lord forbid.

Is he just invoking the name of the Lord carelessly? No. He is aware of what God's law has to say about this very matter. So if you wanna know what God's law has to say about this, here's one verse among many, Numbers 36 verse seven. And this reveals something about this precious man named Naboth.

Numbers 36 verse seven. This is what the Lord says. This is what he established for the people of Israel even before they entered into the promised land. It says here in numbers thirty six seven, the inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another. For every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.

It can't get any more clear than that. God had designated that whatever land belonged to tribes were supposed to remain among those tribes. You're not supposed to transfer, make sales. It's supposed to remain among your specific clan. And this prohibition applies to Ahab and Naboth.

Naboth understood that what this suggests is illegal and he's not going to entertain it. He's going to immediately shut this thing down. And instead of expanding more about this law and the wisdom behind it and how we can apply it, we we did a whole study in Joshua. There's a lot of conversation about real estate and how that applies spiritually, at least, in the new covenant. I want to take the time to explore what this reveals about Naboth.

Again, you don't get his lineage. All you get is his name, the area of his residence, the first words, recorded words at least in scripture, and his strong stance against, illegitimate allurement to disobey God. Do you remember what the Lord told Elijah when Elijah felt like he was the only prophet standing for the truth? He already learned that there were other prophets being hidden by Obadiah, but then the Lord decided to highlight even a greater truth that there is a remnant of how many who have not bowed their knee to Baal nor have given their mouths to kiss him. Here's one of the 7,000.

And what's so impressive about this man's faithfulness is when you consider the wider context that Israel was an apostate nation. Yes. They got a little taste of revival through Elijah's ministry there in first Kings 18. But what makes it even more impressive is where this faithful man demonstrated his loyalty to the true and living God. He's in Jezreel.

We learned that that's where the palace of the apostate king and queen was placed. And not only that, I mean, it's one thing to live in Jezreel, but you're living on the same street as the guy. The same street of the guy who made it very clear and known on a national level that he does not he does not like people who are exclusive to worship the true and living God. In fact, they've demonstrated that by killing prophets. And yet, this man without blinking, without hesitation has the audacity to invoke the name of the Lord before this king.

But this man's faithfulness stands out not just in his willingness to be faithful in times of persecution, but to remain steadfast in a time of potential prosperity and opportunity. Yeah? Because Ahab doesn't show up to his front door threatening to take off his head if he doesn't surrender his vineyard. He offers him a better one. I mean, think about it.

Can you imagine? I mean, these days, people don't make much of national leaders. I get it. But but pretend. Even with even with leaders okay.

Let's just talk about a renowned person, like a internationally known figure showing up at your door. Showing up personally at your door with a little entourage and you possessing something that they are interested in and them making a deal with you is on the table. For some, they might feel the pressure of that. They they might feel just the natural pressure to budge in because of this affluent individual or this prestigious man. But more than that, it's the the the offer I mean, again, it doesn't threaten him.

He says, I'm willing to give you something even better than what you have. You can enhance your life. Whatever you're enjoying now, you can enjoy it even more. I can make it happen. I just want this one because it's near to my backyard.

So you have a lot here on the table, but you know what I see about Naboth? He refused still. You know why? Because he understood that to be materially wealthy at the cost of spiritual blessing is absolutely foolish. I wish most people would think that way.

That to be materially wealthy at the price of spiritual loss is not even in the conversation. It's absolutely foolish to this man. And guess what? It's not just foolish to Naboth, it's foolish to somebody else who's much more important than this man. Remember when Jesus, gave a sermon and somebody responded to it?

And this gives me great comfort because it shows me that even when Jesus preached, people were not listening sometimes. Let me prove that to you in Luke chapter 12. Go to Luke 12, and I want you to see this with your own eyes. Luke 12. I was going to originally read just a couple of verses from this text, but it's Friday night.

Where do we have to go? Matthew, Mark, Luke 12. Luke 12, and look here at verse 13. Now Jesus talks about hell. Before this, he talks about not fearing for your life.

He talks about God taking care of you. He talks about persecution and trusting yourself to the Holy Spirit who will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. Brilliant, eternal truths are being offered here. And here's what you read in verse 13. Someone in the crowd said to him, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.

Jesus isn't teaching about inheritances. And the Lord of glory discerns exactly where this question is coming from. So look how the Lord responds in verse 14. But he said to men who made me a judge or arbiter over you. And he said to them So now he's using this moment now as a lesson for the whole crowd.

Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. How many people make their lives just about that? Not just about possessions, but abundance of possessions. Expansion of possessions.

Updated possessions. Jesus is saying clearly to you and I, hey, be on guard for that kind of ambition being your reason for life. Then he gives a lesson. Verse 16. And he told them a parable saying, the land of a rich man produced plentifully.

And he thought to himself, what shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my crops. And he said, I will do this. I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. Sounds like Ahab a little bit.

Right? Wanted to expand his his crops and his garden. Verse 19, and I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, and be merry. Look what God says about that kind of an attitude.

But God said to him, fool, this night your soul is required of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be? Now pause. Is there anything inherently wrong with projects like this and advancing in business and promotions? Not necessarily.

But revisit the way this man spoke and realize that God is excluded from his thinking. Go back again to verse 18. And he said, I will do this. I will tear down my barns and build large ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, I I I I I.

Just me, myself, and I. That's what my life is all about. And the lord interjects, and he says, you're a fool. Oh, yeah. In people's eyes, you might be successful.

You might be clever. You might be well off, but you're a fool because this very night, your soul is required of you. But look what he says here in verse 21. It's not just this man in this parable. So is the one so anybody.

So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. Profound. I know people I know a lot of people who believe in God. I know a lot of people who serve God. Who do you know that is rich toward God?

I think that's a category in itself. Rich toward God. Implying what? That you can be poor in your relationship with God. You can be just giving the bottom of the barrel toward God.

You know, if my heart is moved to any kind of action, if anything grabs my attention, it should for you as well, is a person who's not rich in this life, but rich spiritually. You know what I mean? What does it mean for someone to be rich toward god? I think it means a lot of things. I think it includes people who are rich with testimonies because they've invested in prayer.

I believe it's in part Colossians three sixteen where we're told there, let the word of Christ dwell in you how? Richly. Richly. There are some people that I talk to when they talk about the scriptures, it's it's like John Bunyan. They said to John Bunyan, if you cut him, he would bleed the bible.

He'd bleed the bible. And so I look at this and I think there are so many people in this in this life who are stimulated and inspired by those you know, you see it on YouTube. These guys who are motivational speakers and knock you over the head to get disciplined so you can get rich or die trying. That doesn't move me an inch. In fact, most of it is cringe actually.

You know what does move me though? When a man in humility, when a man without advertising himself is so rich toward God, he just oozes. He oozes the fragrance of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want that. I want my life to be above that.

I wanna be as close to him as possible. And here you have Naboth who has an opportunity to get richer, but at the expense of disobeying God. And he says, I'd rather keep my smaller vineyard if it means that I'm going to bless my Lord. And unfortunately, Ahab thought the exact opposite. So let's come back to our main text in first Kings 21.

And what do we read here? The reaction of Ahab. You and I are inspired by Naboth, but not this king. We read in verse four, 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.

Is this a king? Sounds like a child. Right? This is a temper tantrum here. So this man, again, drags his feet back into his palace.

He curls up in a little ball in his royal bedroom. And when his servants called for dinner, he says, no. I'm not eating dinner. And this is the ruler of a nation. And when we consider it, meditate on it, as funny as it may be, it's actually revealing about something deeper.

Don't you find it strange that somebody who has so much feels so strongly about not receiving something so little? This man is way advanced in comparison to Naboth in terms of possessions, prestige, power. And yet, he's not content. You know what you learn from this? Verse four.

Contentment ultimately is not found in sustaining stuff, is it? Because you can have you can be a king and still not be satisfied. You can be royalty and still pout. You can still feel that vacuum in your heart sucking any pleasure. You think it's lasting and the next day it's gone.

Because contentment was not designed to be unlocked in the physical. And then you look at this and you compare it to what? Naboth. And what? He is totally content to remain as he is, to keep what he has.

Why? Because he has something Ahab doesn't have, a relationship with the Lord, an enjoyment of the truth. He has his roots established in something that Ahab had the opportunity to but refused. And so what we have here is, again, a man who teaches us that if you pursue things apart from God being primary, you're never gonna be settled. Never.

And so we've seen Ahab do this before, have we not? We read it in the beginning of this study. Go back to it, the last verse of chapter 20 verse 43. And the king of Israel went to his house, vexed and sullen, and came to Samaria. And then you're seeing him doing the same thing in verse four, vexed and sullen.

What's what's the similarities between these two responses that Ahab had in a short amount of time? Yes. Vexed and sullen, but as a reaction to what? The will of the lord being known to him. So back in the end of chapter 20, a prophet said, thus says the lord.

And then you have Naboth saying what? The lord forbid it. So both times, Ahab's reflex is to God's wishes being known to him and him being disappointed by it because it didn't honor his wishes. And this is the lesson about Ahab at this point. He shows his frustration with what God revealed, and that's a dangerous place for your heart to remain in.

Listen very carefully, my precious brother and sister. Offense is a breeding ground for the seed of temptation to flourish. Offense is the breeding ground for the seed of temptation to flourish. If you're not careful, aggravation, bitterness, unforgiveness towards people, sure, but towards the lord mainly. When you're unpleased with how providence has led you thus far.

If you do not challenge that, it can eventually impair so much about you, especially your judgment, which will leave you more attracted to sinful suggestions to try to solve and to heal your disappointment. Do you know what I mean by that? When you live long enough serving the Lord and something happens, maybe once, maybe more than once, and it doesn't line up with your blueprint, temptation becomes stronger when you allow your heart to remain in that place of unmet expectations or God's will seeming to make life more difficult for you. If you harbor that, you're creating unknowingly, but I'm making it known now, a foothold for Satan. Saying, what do you mean?

Here's what I mean. Because in a moment, you're about to read, Naboth is gonna have his life taken from him unjustly by the order of royalty, but it's not gonna come from Ahab's thinking. It's gonna come from his wife Jezebel. When does Jezebel appear on the scene? We haven't seen her in a bit.

She appears on the scene when we find Ahab with his heart prepared for her scheme. A scheme that will apparently provide the remedy to medicate his disappointment. So what do we read in verse five? Look at it with me please. But Jezebel, here she is.

But Jezebel, his wife came to him and said to him, why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food? 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. Let's just pause it for a moment.

What about Ahab's explanation stands out to you? Look at it again. Compare it to the actual conversation that he had with a man, and you're gonna notice a difference. Yes? Very good.

He omits the Lord from the whole thing. Look at it again. Look at verse seven. It says here verse six rather. And he said to her, because I spoke to Naaman the Jezreelite and said to him, give me your vineyard for money, or or else if I please, yeah, I'll give you another vineyard for it.

And he answered, I will not give you my vineyard. Is that what Naboth said to him? The Lord forbid. The Lord forbid that I give you what belongs to my fathers. So what do you have here?

You have a man who is righteous, who stands for righteousness, who vocalizes his righteous conviction, and you have a wicked king who does what? Something you should expect as the righteous, misrepresent him. Misrepresent him. Settle it in your mind today, please, that if you're gonna live for the Lord, if you wanna live with the conviction of truth driving every part of your life, not everybody is gonna agree with it. Not everybody is gonna praise it.

In fact, people won't see it at all and will mischaracterize you. You're doing the right thing. You're saying the right thing. You're standing for the right thing. But what we see here is a reminder that there are people who don't care.

They don't they don't care that you serve God. They don't care that you're living a consecrated life. They don't care that you are trying to honor the Lord and honor holiness. They could care less. And I'm reminded with what happened here to what happened with the Lord Jesus.

Here's what I'm trying to prepare you for. Serve God long enough, and you can expect to be misunderstood. You can expect to be slandered. You can expect to be lied about. Happened to Naboth.

More importantly, it happened to the Lord Jesus. Answer this for me, please. When Jesus was cornered and questioned about giving taxes to Caesar Caesar, what was his answer? Gift to Caesar. Gift to Caesar what belongs to Caesar in who?

God what belongs to God. Now many people know by heart. Virtually every Christian or church goer knows that answer. Even the world knows that famous phrase. But what many people don't remember is what people did when Jesus said that down the line when he was on trial.

Let me remind you from Luke 23 verses one and two. We've touched on this before in our study of Mark when we touched on that very passage, but maybe you've never seen this before. But, again, just because you're a part of club Jesus, I want you to be prepared for every potential attack, let down, shocking things. Maybe shocking to you, but it shouldn't if you're familiar with the truth. Look at Luke twenty three one and two.

Jesus said that so clearly, and notice what happens when he stands before Pilate. Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate, and they began to accuse him saying, we found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar. Did Jesus forbid them from doing that? A gift to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. How do they misrepresent him?

He's actually telling us and he's forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar. So even the righteous, even the son of God himself have had he had his words taken out of context, misrepresented, lied about. It's part of the package. It's part of the package. And if you're not going to soothe your heart, your soul in knowing that there's one day coming where the Lord Jesus is gonna vindicate everything, These kind of things will will weigh you down in your joy, in your service.

So so be prepared. Be prepared for that. And when it happens, learn how to take that and bring it before the Lord saying, Lord, you know me. One famous minister said it this way, I left my reputation where I left my soul in the hands of god. Naboth was misrepresented.

Jezebel asked this question about her husband who was throwing a little temper tantrum, gives this dishonest answer, at least an incomplete one. How does she respond to that? Look at verse seven. You would think that if Jezebel was a good wife, which she isn't, far from it. You would think if she was a helpmate the way God designed wives to be, that her response would be something like, well, I just sat back today and thought, if she was a holy woman, if she was an if she was godly, if she had just a a a hint of the fear of the Lord, perhaps her answer would have been, Ahab, You know what the the law of the Lord says concerning one tribe giving their land to another.

This doesn't apply to you. I know you want it, but this is prohibited. You have to trust God's wisdom above your desires. You would think that she might add to that by saying, and besides that, Ahab, you already have so much. Instead of focusing on the things that you don't have, look at all the things that you've been lavished with.

Look at your robe. Look at your throne. Look at this position that God's elevated you to. You would think that she would help him in this way. Instead, she adds gasoline to the fire of greed and covetousness.

Verse seven. 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. God says it doesn't belong, but you know what she's saying?

I'm gonna give it to you. Doesn't matter what God said. God's not even in that conversation, but indirectly she is saying that. You know, I was reading this and I thought to myself, there are many ways to categorize relationships. There there are many ways for you to be able to frame your relationships in life.

One of my favorite filters to apply, I've I brought up over the years because I think it's one of the most helpful ones, puts language to how you know what to invest in and what to be aware of and what to cut off completely. One of my favorite filters that I apply is this, does this person help me fight my temptation or do they fuel my temptation? I ask that question all the time. Like, when I spend more time with this person, do I leave that meeting? Do I leave that time?

Do I leave that outing with my spirit strengthened or with my flesh more flared up than when I than when I came? Yeah? That's just one filter among many. Does this person do they help me fight for my sanctification? Do they inspire me to be more godly?

Do they do they help me? Not even directly, just just their presence and the way they think. Do they help me look to and rely on the word? Or do I get more carnal? Do I feel my old man resurrecting the more I linger and engage with them?

Have you ever thought about that with your relationships, your friendships, the potential spouse that you're talking to? Have you ever thought about that? If you don't apply such filters in life that are derived from the word of God, then I promise you problems down the road, problems that you could have avoided. Because such a question will help you again know what to cut off, know know what to limit, know what to embrace and invest in in terms of horizontal relationships. Because you know what's gonna happen to Ahab?

Ahab is about to fall off the same cliff that many kings before him have, and that is receiving the wrong counsel. This is gonna be the turnaround for Ahab's life. Right here, we're gonna see that in the rest of the chapter. We're not gonna cover that today. But Ahab is gonna fall in the same trap that many notable kings of Israel have.

By what? Receiving wrong advice to make a decision that will be detrimental. So it just keeps appearing over and over again. And it's no different here. And, unfortunately, the person he is hearing this from is his wife.

So she's pretty inescapable. Right? Some people jokingly say that back in chapter 20, Jezebel must have been on vacation because for Ahab to obey those two instructions from the prophets means that she must have been out of town. Because here she is again, it it doesn't take her very long to meddle in his affairs and to cause more problems for him. Says, wife, here's a realistic picture.

Really. I know they're royalty. I know they have to make decisions that you I might not have to make, but you're gonna make decisions in life. Here's a realistic picture of what it means to be unequally yoked. If a man who knows better and he marries a Phoenician pagan princess remember, she's not a Jew.

He marries her and she grew up as royalty observing the way her father and her family did things governing a nation. And when she hears that Ahab doesn't enforce his authority, it's it's strange to her. Like, she has a different way of thinking about things. So Ahab, though he asked and though he doesn't get it, he has enough sense to be like, I don't have any authority to demand this. So I'm just gonna go back and pout about it for a few days.

Jezebel hears this and she goes, don't you govern Israel? Come on. You're the king here. Do something about it. Where did she get that idea from?

Surely her upbringing. Where she came from. Do you know how govern Israel? In other words, why are you letting this happen since you are the ruler of this people? Remember Jesus spoke about how Gentiles rule over their people.

Right? They lorded over them. And he tells the people who belong to his kingdom, that's not how you lead. But here's you have a perfect example of a Gentile woman who who can't fathom a king letting somebody determine what he desires. So that's just another, again, one of many examples of what happens when you get linked up with the wrong lady, brothers.

When you get linked up with the wrong guy, ladies. So what happens? She says, I'm gonna take care of it. You know it's not gonna be good. It'll be disastrous.

This woman's wicked. You're gonna be able to find out how wicked she is. Look at verse eight of our main text. 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 live with Naboth in his city. And she wrote in the letters, proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people, 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. What's concerning about that? There are many, many things. I mean, this is diabolical.

This is absolutely horrible. But the most horrific thing about it is if you read carefully, Jezebel, this hater of God, this hater of the truth is implementing the law of God to accomplish her murderous plot. How do we know that? What clues in here do we do we see are linked to God's truth, at least in the old covenant? Any ideas?

K. When you blaspheme against God, according to Leviticus twenty four sixteen, it it's punishable by death. It's a capital crime in the old covenant. Yes. Anything else?

Two witnesses. Two witnesses. Right? So she she even goes to the extent of honoring the protocol of making a legitimate accusation by saying make sure there are two of you. Worthless, but at least there's two of you.

One more. It's a it's a little bit more difficult. Specifically, the question more or less. Yes. Yes.

So even that. And that's what we find in Leviticus. Absolutely. So even the way that the capital crime should be punished is biblical. Fast.

The fast. Absolutely. The fast. So what you have here is her calling for a fast in this specific region for the purpose of disclosing or receiving divine clarity about supposedly a sin issue in the area. And so she implements a fast, she calls for these two witnesses, and she she wants to do all of that so she can get to this this punishable thing where she can execute this man unjustly.

It's wicked. And here's what you and I have to remember. Evil people, evil people feel very comfortable enacting their iniquity by weaponizing the word of God, by implementing the word of God, by applying the word of God, by quoting the word of God. Evil people are very, very comfortable taking God's truth and using it in a way to manipulate others so that they can receive something at your expense. Listen to this, if it was true in ancient times, do you think that Satan's strategy has changed in modern times?

No. There are too many gullible Christians even today who are disarmed just because somebody is quoting the Bible. It's it's not enough for somebody to quote the Bible. It's not enough for somebody to hold the Bible. It's not enough.

What are they saying about the Bible? How are they interpreting the Bible? How are they applying the Bible? How are they honoring the context of the Bible? And so this is what we see here.

We see a woman, Jezebel, giving us a warning that there will always be those who interpret and apply scripture wrongly to harm God's people. Naboth is a servant of God. And if you think that this is an isolated thing, if you think, brother, you're kinda you're kinda drawing too much out of this, let me remind you that this is not the final place where Jezebel is mentioned. She's not she's not gonna just end here in first and second Kings. Does she show up somewhere else?

Tell me where she shows up. Revelation. So in the final book of of divine scripture, Jezebel shows up. Not reincarnated. Let me show you what I mean.

Revelation chapter two. This is one of the seven churches that were addressed by the Lord Jesus Christ. This church, church of Thyatira, The Lord Jesus says something quite interesting to this one particular local assembly, and it goes to show that our study of Jezebel is much more applicable and relevant than we might have imagined. Look at verse let's read from the beginning. Why not?

Verse 18 of chapter two. And so the angel of the church in Thyatira write the words of the son of God who has eyes like a flame of fire, And who has feet and whose feet are like burnished bronze. Verse 19, I know your works, your love and your faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. Pause there. That's that's quite a commendation.

Like, I recognize that you're a loving church. I recognize that you're faithful in some ways. I recognize that you're you're busy, like there's ministry happening. And and not that your works are actually exceeding. You're actually growing in your efforts.

You're actually growing in your ministry. You're actually growing in your impact. That's a good church. Many people would love to pastor a church like that. But note notice verse 20.

But I have this against you. Scary words. But I have this against you that you tolerate that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my service servants to practice sexual morality and to eat food sacrificed to idol. It's very unlikely that somebody, even at this time, decided to call their daughter Jezebel. It's very, very unlikely that this is her literal name.

It's more likely that this is symbolic. That Jezebel had developed such a reputation for being evil and being an agent for the kingdom of darkness and affecting the kingdom of God that, whoever this woman was, a real woman in the church, resembles Jezebel in her tactics, in her attitude, and in her influence. So she's one like Jezebel. And Jezebel, this woman here, notice she calls herself a prophetess. She's not a true prophetess.

Self appointed, self proclaimed, self made prophetess. And what is she doing? Manipulating the people of God through teaching. She's in a teaching position, which is a problem on its own. Right?

Isn't it? It is. Because God has called for the teaching role in the church to be for men. And so you have a woman who's being tolerated as a teacher in a local church, already a flag, and more of a flag is that she is teaching the people through her teaching, whatever her doctrine is, it's encouraging people to practice sexual morality and to eat food It's very likely that her doctrine was this form of free grace. Just do what you want.

God will forgive it. It's very, very likely that it's something along those lines. But notice what her teaching is doing. It's not impacting the world. It's not giving people false assurance of salvation.

Notice again, and it's teaching and seducing who? My servants. The Lord is very intentional in the way he speaks. My servants, my people are being duped by this woman. So that same spirit that that that persuasive, intimidating, authoritative spirit that you find in first Kings chapter 21 and throughout many chapters is found here in Revelation chapter two.

And so this is what you and I have to be mindful of, that there will be people who will take God's word. And if you're not discerning, if you if you don't use this as a filter, if you don't if you do not like the brains who even tested Paul after his sermon, then even God's servants can be tricked. That's a dangerous reality. But let's come back to first Kings. We're not gonna cover this whole chapter in case you are wondering.

But we come back to first kings, we notice that after the scheme was conjured up, it is executed. And there's something quite insightful about the way the Holy Spirit words it. First kings 21, let's go to verse 11. And the men of his city, the elders and the leaders who lived in his city did as Jezebel sent word to them. As it was written in the letters that she had sent to them.

They proclaimed the fast, and set Naboth at the as the head of the people, and two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought us 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. Then they sent to Jezebel saying, Naboth has been stoned. He is dead.

I'm not sure if you see it, but when I read these set of verses over and over again, a certain word surfaced for me, at least. And I don't know if you see it as well. Other actors in this story, nameless, but very important still. Who are they? Worthless, and it's a second word.

Who worthless who? Men. Men. And not just the two worthless men that we find here in verse 13, but the men of verse 11. Look at the beginning of verse 11 again.

Again. And the men of his city, the elders and the leaders, assuming they're all men. We've been talking a lot about the wickedness of Jezebel and rightfully so. But Jezebel's wickedness is not the only problem in this whole predicament. I argue that you have to consider the combination.

Jezebel's wickedness is one thing, but you also have the weakness of men. The weakness of men. These men here and the main guy, Ahab, who is equally weak. So you have a weak husband, a weak king, a a weak leadership in this particular city, weak men in that city, weak men. Can I tell you something about a wicked society?

If society is prevailing in wickedness in great part, it's the outcome of weak men in that society. If if wickedness is prevailing in a culture, I can tell you that that's a symptom of something more significant. In that culture, you have weak men. Weak men. You're saying, what's the connection?

Because when a man does not honor their God given role as a gatekeeper in the spheres that he's been called to lead, namely the local church and the house, you should expect nothing less than problems to ensue and over time, the issues that arise in those areas will bleed into the wider culture. So I want you to think about it. This whole thing, this whole idea of chaos. Chaos as a result of roles that God designated for men and women not being honored goes back to the beginning. How did this whole thing even start?

What am I speaking about? The mess that we're in, this universe being impacted by sin. How did this all start? You had a woman who was being spiritually seduced by Satan, And not just her being seduced by Satan, but you had her husband standing idly by and letting it happen. People forget that part of the whole story.

Is that any wonder why over and over in the New Testament we're told about Adam being held responsible? Adam being the federal head? So as as Satan is having a conversation with Eve, we read that Adam is there passively. And this is something for you and I to consider because the chaos that entered into the garden and overall our world is in great part the fruit of a man and a woman who did not recognize and honor what God had called them to do separately and together as men and women. That's why feminism is so destructive.

Because the message of feminism supposedly is uplifting women. Right? It's not uplifting women, it's demeaning women. One. And two, it's demonizing men.

Because in the pursuit of trying to exalt and champion women, what what are they doing? They're trying to erase the gender roles. And now what you have is not men being encouraged to lead and to protect and provide, but to step aside and let women take what God called to be for men to honor and observe. So whether you delete the idea of a role or you replace it and you switch the the actors, both are gonna result in the same thing. And no matter how much the culture might push it and advertise it and make cycle analytical arguments for it, God has God has put in the fabric of the world a law.

So no matter what we do, what switcheroos we make, what clever ideas, no matter how progressive we wanna be, if we don't honor what God says, we're never gonna know the blessings. And you're only gonna have issues. So what are men called to do? They're called to be exemplary leaders, models. They're called to be sacrificial providers.

They're called to be ready for this word? Strong protectors. Yes. Men are supposed to have backbones. Men are supposed to, at the right time, wisely protest evil.

When it knocks on the door of your house, when it tries to creep into the church, and we're supposed to give our voices when we see it happening in society. But you don't have these men protesting Jezebel, they roll over. Jezebel says that, we'll do it. Sure. What would happen if they sided with Naboth?

Because you see, it doesn't take all men. All it takes is for a majority of men. And this is something for you and I to consider because this is what we're seeing under attack in our day. More and more are we seeing it attack, and we're seeing it in the church. This blurring of distinctives.

All in the name of what? Equality. All in the name of what? Justice. All in the name of what?

Love. Call it what you want. If it doesn't line up with God's word, I'm not interested in it. I'm gonna trust God's wisdom. And that's what Naboth did.

He trusted God's wisdom not knowing that this was planned against him. So what do we read? These men come, these weak worthless men. Verse 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. You know, I couldn't help but think to myself, if Naboth had just complied, if if he had just said, you know, I know what God's word says about this, but you're the king. Yeah. I know you're supposed to have a copy of God's law and read it every day, but I do love my vineyard. Okay.

Let's do it. He he could've just you know what could've happened? He probably could've saved his life. Not just saved his life. He could've known a better life.

Bigger vineyard, maybe open up a business and sell some of those grapes. He he could've done something for himself, but he doesn't. And what makes this so heartbreaking is when you actually continue to read in your bibles, which you're supposed to do, unless you miss out on greater revelations, and you discover that it wasn't just Naboth who who faced capital punishment. Go to second Kings. And I want you to see this with your own eyes in chapter nine verse 26 of second Kings.

Second Kings nine twenty six, as surely as I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons, Declares the Lord, I will repay you on this plot of ground. Now therefore, take him up and throw him on the plot of ground in accordance with the word of Lord. You see that in verse 26 in the beginning? Who else blood was spilled? Not just Naboth, the blood of his sons.

So it makes you wonder what happened. It makes you wonder that in this trial, Naboth was falsely accused and his sons were in attendance. He said, that that's not true. And And decided to shut them up. And even if they didn't protest, even if they were at home while Naboth was was there being accused, I'm fully convinced that Jezebel called for those sons to be to be murdered as well.

Why? Why do you think? Because they would be the the heirs to the land. Yeah. Because they would be the the heirs to the land.

And so being preemptive and and wanting to avoid potential challenge and protest, she said, let's get rid of the competition and let's just get straight to it. Kill the sons. Kill the heirs. So David didn't just pay a price for his righteous stance for the truth. His sons did.

His family did. Tragedy. Right? Actually, I can think of a worse tragedy. Tell me what's worse than this.

You might disagree with me, but I believe that if Naboth had compromised, what kind of precedent that would have set for his sons? Assuming that these sons even died as righteous men, what what kind of temptation would you have opened them up to, Naboth, if you had just given yourself over to disobeying the Lord for just temporary gain and your kids witness when they go to the vineyard and they realize that there's a for sale sign and there's a sold sign on it? Dad, where did the vineyard go? The king asked her, but dad, this is for our tribe alone. I know, but guys, come on.

It's we're gonna get a better vineyard. What kind of example? What kind of spiritual corruption would have Naboth's compromise caused his children? That to me is greater tragedy than them dying early. And so I I see a man who made a stance and listen.

If I was one of the sons of Naboth, as heartbreaking as it would have been to see my father, okay, if my life would have been taken, that's another thing. But to witness my father died, but to know that he died because he stood for the truth, I'll take that over him getting a better vineyard, a better car, better house. And in the pursuit of that, he compromised the god that he claimed to love. I know you don't hear that much these days like that. That's true consecration when there's a price attached to it.

So Jezebel gets the news. She goes to her husband and says, honey, Naboth's dead. How does how does Ahab respond to this? Verse 16 in our final verse of our study. 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.

What a pathetic man. Like, if you had any hint of dignity, any pulse of love left, you would at least maybe ask, how did he die? Or this is revealing that he cosigned on the whole thing to begin with, And he wasn't taken by surprise. He knew exactly what his wife was gonna do. Either way, pathetic.

And somebody made this observation and it's a really good one. When it came to Ahab killing a man, he was supposed to kill Ben Hadad, was he not? And what does he do? He preserves his life. And the one man he was not supposed to kill but to preserve and protect, he kills.

Woe to those who call good evil and evil good. Ahab is yet another example to us in a in a long series of studies, another illustration within the man himself, just him, of how corrupt we can be, of how corrupt government can be, of how corrupt leadership can be. But you know what I'm wondering? Here's the cliffhanger. Where is God in all of this?

Where is God's intervention? Why didn't God step in? He's gonna step in, but you have to come to church to find out when and how. Let's pray, shall we? You have a new historical character to add to your list of inspirational men and women of God, Naboth the Jezreelite.

Yeah? I love the way he answered Ahab. I just wonder what it looked like. Here's this royal knock on the door, and Naboth answers, says, yes. How can I help you?

Knowing what this man has caused concerning compromise in the nation. Naboth, I'm willing to buy your land, give you a better one, and whatever price. And you can just imagine the entourage and the whole spiel and the impressive presentation. And he was like, the Lord forbid that I do any business with you. More importantly, because this belongs to my father's, and this is according to his law.

It just slams that door. I love it. I love it. I wish he lived a little longer, but the Holy Spirit honored this man by placing him in the word. Though he had a brief appearance, it's enough for us to be stirred, to realize that God is worthy to be honored even in what we might consider obscure commands.

So Lord, we ask you tonight that you would give us such hearts that whether we are aware of the price of our obedience or not, that we would give it to you anyway. And we do ask Lord that you would, in this house, raise up strong holy men that will bless their homes, bless their churches, bless their businesses, bless any context that they come into contact with. Strengthen our fathers, strengthen the new fathers, husbands. And Lord, we do ask that this church would also know strong helpmates to help their husbands. We don't want Jezebels that only fuel the flesh.

Lord, not just in the context of marriage, but in all our relationships. We've seen enough kings throw themselves headlong because of the wrong counsel. Give us discerning ears oh God. Make us careful. Lord may we take the commands of our fathers and bind them on our hearts and the commands of our mothers and tie them around our necks.

May we be men and women who know your words so that even if somebody tries to manipulate us with the scriptures, we can smell it from a mile away. So protect Maranatha Bible Church. Protect every church represented here. May we not tolerate that which you hate. So, Lord, we wanna give you worship because you've spoken to us even from a scene in the Bible that deals with a vineyard, a king, and a faithful man.

Lord, we love you. Your word is your voice, and now we give you our voices in song as we rejoice in your truth. In Jesus' name, amen. Is he worthy? He's worthy.

Let's stand and worship him. So so good to see you on a Friday night to gather around the truth of God's word. Let's praise him for a faithful house and praise him for all the things that he's gonna do through our lives.