Sermon Snippet – One of the Few – Part V
INTRODUCTION – The prophet Elijah thought that he was all alone in Israel as a person of faith (I Kings 19:14), but God assured him that he was part of a small minority (I Kings 19:18), which included the godly governmental official Obadiah (I Kings 18:1-16), the prophet Elisha (I Kings 19:19-27), an unnamed prophet (I Kings 20:1-30), and a smitten prophet (I Kings 20:35-43). I Kings 21:1-16 introduces another believer, a man named Naboth.
1. NABOTH HAD LEARNED THE LAW
(verses 1-3) – Naboth knew what God had said about property in Israel: “The land shall not be sold for ever” (Leviticus 25:23a). This prohibition was actually a provision for family sustenance and societal stability in an agricultural economy. Naboth knew what God had said in His Word and acted upon it. As James would write centuries later, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (4:17). However, wicked Ahab wanted this vineyard, and his wicked wife Jezebel had no problem twisting the law to her advantage (verses 6-11). We should note that blasphemy against God was a capital offense (Leviticus 24:16; Deuteronomy 17:5-6), but there was no possibility of blasphemy against the king (verse 10). I have often said that a text without a context is a pretext for a prooftext; in other words, anyone can manipulate Scripture to mean something that it does not and can not mean. We need to carefully study God’s Word and seek to apply it accurately to our lives. Naboth brought God’s Law into all areas of his life.
2. NABOTH LOVED HIS LAND
Verse 3b literally reads, “A profanation to me from the LORD should I give the inheritance of my fathers to you.” There is something compelling about a man who values what God values. The land was the Lord’s, merely entrusted to Naboth for a time. Thus, he could not sell it; selling it was not a temptation because it was not even an option. I Corinthians 6:20 states, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” Like Naboth, then, we are stewards of what God has granted to us: “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (I Corinthians 4:2).
3. NABOTH LOST HIS LIFE
The Bible is real history, chronicling both the good and the bad. The contrast between godly Naboth and everyone else in this account is absolute (verses 11-16). Ahab and Jezebel were evil and strong; the elders of Jezreel were evil and subservient. Elders were civic leaders, charged with making appropriate legal decisions. These men utterly failed in their responsibilities, and one of the few believers in Israel was murdered by his own government. The difficult truth is that the good guy died. However, as the great preacher Alexander Maclaren wrote, “Better to be lying beneath a heap of stones like sturdy Naboth who could say no to a king, than be one of his stoners who killed their innocent neighbor to pleasure Jezebel.”
CONCLUSION – Still, Ahab got what he wanted. How unfair it all seems! The rest of the story, though, reveals that Ahab and Jezebel would be judged and would die (verses 19-29). Verses 20 and 25 both use the imagery of Ahab selling himself for this vineyard – selling his eternal soul for temporary soil. Thus, even worse than Ahab’s death would be his second death – everlasting separation from the sure and tender mercies of God. Jesus, God the Son, spoke directly to this point in Mark 8:36-37: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give for his soul?” Jesus has “bought” us “with a price” – His own life. May we trust in Him for the salvation that He fully and freely offers, knowing that He will love us forever, and may we be good stewards of all that He has given to us here, including this nation that we love.