1 Kings 21 Murder Most Foul

Ahab throws a fit because he can’t have Naboth’s vineyard. Jezebel comes up with a plot of murder most foul. And the ELDERS go along with her!

We have already seen that Ahab is not an even halfway godly king. Today we see him throw a tantrum. Not drop in the floor and scream, but take to his bed and refuse to eat. More of a ‘teen tantrum’ than a ‘toddler tantrum’.

He throws this tantrum because someone tells him “No” to something he wants. And Jezebel, the ever resourceful and evil wife, makes sure he gets what he wants. She uses others to do the actual deed of murder. She also sends the instructions in Ahab’s name.

The leaders and elders of the town GO ALONG WITH HER PLAN. That frightens me the most! Let’s rejoin our story with an ‘entitled’ royal couple and see where the Spirit takes us today.

♥ ♦ ♥

Ahab is back from the war with Ben-hadad. It has been months since the prophet provoked him with his prophecy of judgment. Ahab works daily to forget his words. Most of the time, he is able to keep them from his mind. Today is one of those days.

Ahab is looking out his window. He is inhaling the fragrances of spring. He looks down and sees Naboth’s vineyard. This isn’t the first time he has seen it, for it is a well-established vineyard that produces good fruit. Today though, Ahab sees it in a different light.

“That would be a perfect spot for a vegetable garden. I could go out in it, like I did as a child, and get my hands dirty. It would also provide vegetables for my table without having to go to the market.” Having convinced himself of the ‘need’ for it, now he convinces himself of the right to it.

“Naboth doesn’t need this vineyard. There are many other vineyards that would serve him better. Those vines are too old anyway and need torn down. Besides all that, he could make a very tidy sum for its sale. And who better to sell it to and appreciate it than his king!”

Ahab chances to see Naboth coming into the vineyard to tend it. He hurries down from his room and makes his way into the vineyard. “Naboth my faithful subject, how is your day going” Ahab asks in a congenial tone.

Naboth looks up from where he is tying vines. When he sees that it is his king, he bows his head in respect, then responds. “It goes well my king. I’m here working on keeping my vineyard strong. Is there something you needed from me?”

“Actually, there is” begins Ahab.

Naboth stops what he is doing and gives Ahab his full attention.

“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” (1 Kings 21:2).

Naboth looks at Ahab in surprise. “My king, this is a thriving vineyard. To grow vegetables, one would have to clear all the vines from the land.”

“I don’t mind that. It could easily be done.”

“It is not just a piece of land or any vineyard to me. It is my inheritance from my father.”

“I will purchase you a better property that you may pass down to your children as their inheritance. But give me this vineyard for my own.”

Naboth has tried to be gentle with his king, but Ahab isn’t listening. Now it’s time to say it plainly. “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers” (1 Kings 21:3).

Ahab starts to ask again, but Naboth turns and walks away.

“Come back here! I didn’t dismiss you” Ahab shouts but Naboth continues walking. Ahab is angry. Naboth’s refusal keeps running through his head in a childish snotty voice. “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers” (1 Kings 21:4b) chants Ahab’s mind. With each repetition of that refusal, Ahab’s anger deepens.

Ahab turns and storms back into the palace, straight up to his room, and throws himself on his bed. When his servant tries to speak to him, he turns his face to the wall and won’t even acknowledge his presence.

“What is going on” one of the household slaves asks Ahab’s personal servant.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him like this before.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Nothing for now. Maybe it will pass.”

“I hope so, or…”

“Stop speculating and get back to your work.”

The lower servant hurries away. And, like any network of people, the rest of the servants know of Ahab’s ‘condition’ within a few hours.

“Maybe he needs something to eat, to snap him out of this funk.”

“That is a good idea. Make it one of his favorites.”

“I know just the recipe to use.”

The cook quickly fixes Ahab’s favorite meal and has it taken up to his room. Ahab’s personal servant brings it in and sets it on his table. “Arise my lord, for your favorite meal awaits you.”

Ahab grunts, but does not turn over, speak, or attempt to rise. The servant has never seen his master refuse food. “Maybe he will eat it in a little bit” he tells himself.

“I will leave it here for you, my king. For when you are ready to eat it.”

Ahab growls and his servant scurries from the room. After two hours, he returns to see if Ahab has risen and eaten his meal. Upon entering the room, the servant sees everything exactly as he left it, including the king whose face is still turned to the wall. “This is serious” he thinks. “I will have to speak with the queen.”

Ahab’s servant does not like, or trust, Jezebel, but he knows that she can reach him when all others fail. He hurries to her room and knocks softly.

Her servant opens the door partway.

“I must speak with your mistress. I believe my master is ill. She may be able to save him where no other can.”

Jezebel, hearing Ahab’s servant’s message motions him into the room. “What is wrong with the king? Is he still in his bed? With his face to the wall?”

Ahab’s servant at first wonders how Jezebel knows these things, but then he remembers the household slave who came by. “Yes, my queen. My master took to his bed several hours ago. He won’t speak or eat. I don’t know what to do for him.”

“I will go and see him. I’m certain he will disclose his troubles to me.”

“Thank you, my queen” Ahab’s servant says while bowing low. He follows Jezebel to Ahab’s room at a respectful distance.

Jezebel enters Ahab’s room and walks over to his bed. She puts a gentle hand on his forehead. She feels no indication of illness. She softly asks him a question; “Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?” (1 Kings 21:5).

Ahab turned his face to her. His eyes were puffy and red as if he had been crying. “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’” (1 Kings 21:6).

Jezebel sits down beside him on the be. “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” (1 Kings 21:7).

Ahab nodded. Jezebel took his hand. He rises up from his bed and goes to his table. His meal is cold by now. He calls out to his servant. “This is cold! Have it made fresh.”

“Now that’s the Ahab I know” thinks his servant as he bows and retrieves Ahab’s meal to take to the kitchen. When he enters the kitchen, all turn towards him.

“The king’s meal is cold. He commands to ‘have it made fresh’.”

“Well, he’s back to his old self again.”

Jezebel waits with Ahab while his food is being prepared. She slowly paces the room as she develops her plan. Ahab knows better than to disturb her when she is like this. In fact, he knows that these are the times she is most dangerous, to others. A wicked smile blooms on Jezebel’s lips and it sparks a twin on Ahab’s. “She has figured it out” Ahab thinks.

Ahab’s meal arrives and Jezebel goes to her room. She takes out her parchment, quill and ink and begins composing an order in Ahab’s name.

“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” (1 Kings 21:9-10).

Jezebel looks ‘Ahab’s’ order over one last time, then blots it dry. She rolls it for delivery and then returns to Ahab’s room. “I need your signet.”

Ahab immediately takes it off and gives it to her. Jezebel pats him on the shoulder and walks away. Her next stop is at his desk where sealing wax is kept. She uses the candle to melt a little wax onto the seam and then presses Ahab’s seal into the warm wax. Then she returns to Ahab and hands him back his signet ring.

“Do I want to know what that was all about” asks Ahab.

“Nothing to concern yourself with my king.”

Ahab nods and Jezebel leaves. She takes the letter to one of the runners.

“Have this delivered to the chief elder of Jezreel.”

The runner sets off immediately on his task and is back in the palace with twenty minutes of his departure, having completed his task. He has no idea what was contained in the letter, and no desire to ask.

Daniel, the chief elder, examines the seal and sees that it is the king’s personal seal. He carefully breaks the seal, so as not to tear the paper. He takes it and a candle to the table and begins reading the letter. With each passing word, weight is added to his shoulders and knots form in the pit of his stomach. “How can I do this? This is wrong! Yet, how can I refuse? It is an order from the king.”

After wrestling with his conscience for some time, Daniel decides to call all the other elders together. “I will NOT bear the burden of this alone. It will be a group decision as to the outcome” he tells himself as he awaits the arrival of the others. Once everyone is assembled in his home, Daniel reads them the letter.

“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^[a] God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”

The room is deathly quiet as each man absorbs what they have just heard. After a few minutes, Michel speaks.

“Are you certain it came from the king?”

“It was his runner, his signet seal, and his name upon the page. Who else could it be?”

“What are we going to do” asks Timmons.

“We are going to decide together whether to carry out the king’s command or not. Either way, we will all stand together.” Daniel silently ads; “Before the king or before God.”

The debate raged on for nearly two hours before it was agreed that they would in fact follow the king’s command. No one was excited about the decision, but they all agreed to abide by it.

“The first thing we have to do is hire the accusers. There must be two of them, as the law will not convict on the evidence of one man.”

“I know just who to get. There are two men who work with the waste and refuse. They are always looking for extra ways to line their pockets. Bribery and robbery are their ‘specialties’.”

“You will be the one to hire them. Depending on how ‘reliable’ they are, we may need to find a way to charge them on an earlier offense, deserving of death. We don’t want them telling anyone that we hired them.”

Heads nod around the room. This is NOT something they want to get out.

“After they are set, we need to find a reason to proclaim a fast.”

“What if we said it was for the harvest. To seek God’s blessing for this harvest. And we will have to do it as one; the whole community together.”

“This could work. But we will have to go through with the fast, especially after Naboth’s death.”

“Make it a one day fast. I don’t think I could stand being in the presence of the people, with this guilt, any longer than that.”

It is agreed and an edict is written. Two days later, all the people come together to seek God’s blessing for the harvest. Everyone assembles around the city square. Naboth is expertly steered front and center in the group and the two hired men slip in beside him. As people begin settling into place, the two men begin their act.

First, one pretends to recognize who Naboth is. “You are that man!”

Naboth has a questioning look on his face. “Are you speaking to me?”

“Of course I am! You are that man who was cursing the king and God!”

The man on the other side of him turns to look at Naboth and fakes a look of recognition. Before he can say anything, Naboth protests the first man’s accusations.

“NEVER! I would never curse the king or God!”

“It was you” chimes in the second man. “I was there when you did it. Your words were vile and spiteful.”

“No! It was not me” protests Naboth.

The more Naboth protests the louder and more insistent the two men become. They even ‘carefully’ repeat some of the words that ‘Naboth’ said.

The crowd has been seeded with anger and it quickly turns on Naboth full force. People begin shoving and shouting at him.

Daniel steps up. “This man is deserving of death, by the mouth of two witnesses. Take him and stone him.”

Naboth continues to cry out his innocence but no one is listening. By the end of the hour, Naboth lies dead, surrounded by hundreds of rocks. His blood seeps from his body in myriad cuts; some shallow and others quite deep. His head sheds the most blood as it is received the most impacts from the stones. His face is nearly unrecognizable by any but those closest to him. His body is left lying in the streets, as such an offender does not receive a burial. The dogs come and lick up his blood. The people move back to the city square to continue their fast. Daniel is the last one to leave. He carefully wipes the tears he has been shedding from his face before joining the others.

When the fast is completed, Daniel returns to his home and writes a letter to the king. He calls for a messenger to deliver it to the palace. “This is for the king. See to it that he receives it.”

Jezebel recognizes the runner from Jezreel and intercepts him. “I will take that message.”

“It is addressed to the king.”

“I will see to it that he receives it” Jezebel says while holding out her hand.

The runner would not dare defy the queen. He hands her the message and departs.

Jezebel takes the message to her room before opening it. She does not want anyone accidentally seeing what it contains. She carefully opens it and her wicked smiles returns as she reads the words. “Naboth has been stoned; he is dead” (1 Kings 21:14).

Jezebel picks up her candle and walks with it and the letter to her fireplace. As the day is warm, there is no fire so Jezebel uses the candle to ignite the letter. Then she drops it into the ashes. No one else will ever see this message. But the king will benefit from its contents.

Jezebel goes to Ahab’s room. He has still been sullen since his encounter with Naboth, despite her promise to remedy the matter. Jezebel knocks softly, then enters Ahab’s chambers. He is lying on his bed thinking of the vineyard he so desperately desires. Jezebel silently walks over to his bed and sits down beside him. Ahab turns his face to her. She smiles.

“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” (1 Kings 21:15).

Ahab’s eyes brighten instantly and he nearly springs out of bed. Jezebel laughs as he rushes around looking for his sandals. After a moment he calls out to his servant who rushes in and helps him dress.

“I have to get down to my new garden right away” he tells his servant as he fastens Ahab’s sandals.

Ahab bounds down the stairs two at a time. Once he reaches the ground floor, he chances to think about how he appears to everyone else. He stops, straightens his robe, and proceeds the rest of the way at a dignified pace.

While Ahab is making his way to his new property, God is speaking of it to Elijah.

 “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”’ And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood”’” (1 Kings 21:18-19).

Elijah and Elisha ready for a short journey immediately. They are not far from Samaria at present. It takes them less than an hour to make the journey to Naboth’s vineyard. Ahab is still walking in it when they arrive. Elisha waits at the edge of the vineyard while Elijah approaches Ahab.

Ahab looks up and sees Elijah coming. “Have you found me, O my enemy?” (1 Kings 21:20a).

Elijah does not respond to Ahab’s jab. He goes straight to the point. “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel the Lord also said, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel.’ Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat” (1 Kings 21:20b-24).

As soon as the words finish falling from Elijah’s lips, Ahab’s heart tears within him. He KNOWS that he has sinned. Naboth’s blood must be atoned for. He did not personally kill Naboth, but he allowed his wife to have Naboth killed in his name. The fact that Jezebel won’t get off unscathed is not unexpected, but it is not in his power to atone for. For his own sins, he is undone!

Ahab lets out a mournful cry, grabs his robe by the neck and rips it apart. He falls to the ground weeping. Elijah looks down at him and shakes his head before turning and walking away. Elijah rejoins Elisha and the two of them leave with the sounds of Ahab mourning in the background.

“What will become of him, my lord” asks Elisha.

“He is in the Lord’s hands. And I know that the Lord will bring about justice.”

Through his tears, Ahab watches the retreating back of Elijah. After Elijah is out of sight, Ahab rises from the ground. He makes his way to the entrance of his palace. He does not go in but calls out to a servant.

“Bring me sackcloth.”

The servant hurried away and quickly returned with what sackcloth and twine. He watches as his king strips his royal robe from his body and the under garment from his upper body. Ahab then wraps the sackcloth around his torso. The servant ties it to him with the twine. He then holds Ahab’s robe as Ahab exposes his lower body and wraps it also in sackcloth.

Once Ahab is clothed only in sackcloth, he takes one more piece and lays it on the ground. Then he lays himself on it. He stays in this same spot for a full week. He rises only to relieve himself. He fasts the whole time. No one, even Jezebel, coaxes him to break his fast. When Jezebel tries, he tells her of Elijah’s words concerning her. Outwardly she laughs it off, but inwardly, she is terrified.

When the week has ended, Ahab rises from his place and goes to wash himself. He didn’t have a visit from Elijah, but he hopes that the Lord heard his heart. He truly is repentant. He chooses to leave Naboth’s vineyard as it is. He will not plant his vegetable garden. And he will quietly seek to return it to Naboth’s family.

God is pleased with Ahab’s true repentance. Prior to this point in time, Ahab was the most ungodly man Israel had ever spawned. He did more evil than anyone before him and brought the people of Israel into sin right along side him. But he truly humbled himself. It was a beautiful thing. God wants Elijah to know that, what he saw that day, was not done in pretense but was the beginnings of a true change in heart; at least for a time.

“Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house” (1 Kings 21:29).

Elijah is pleased that Ahab truly humbled himself, and that God is not telling him to go to Ahab with this message. “If the Lord wants to tell him, I’m sure He will send someone with the message” thinks Elijah. “I’m glad it’s not me. At least not yet.”

(to be continued)

When I read over this story, I wonder at the ability of the elders to justify killing Naboth. They did exactly as Ahab (actually Jezebel) instructed. How far will we go in following those ‘in authority’ over us? Will we kill an innocent person, just because we are ‘ordered’ to? With the turmoil in our world today, that is a good question.

Will we blindly and obediently follow where we KNOW God would not want us to go? Will we ‘love our brother’ or ‘obey our leaders’? Where do we draw the line? Maybe we don’t arrange the murder of someone, but will we stand by when we know they will be injured, imprisoned, beaten, and maybe tortured? What will we silently watch, in the name of obedience.

And how will we ‘fight back’ against the evils in our world? Our greatest ‘weapon’ is prayer. Our second is speaking out in truth. I hope that I am doing that right here. I believe this is what the Spirit has for me to do today.

Father God, our world is in a MESS right now! I KNOW that things have to get VERY bad before Jesus’ return. I would not be surprised to learn that Jesus’ return is only days away. Only You, Father God, know the day and the hour. I pray for all those who are living in this time with me. That they will stand up for truth; YOUR truth. That they will LOVE like Jesus loved. That they will ask if what they are expected to participate in or condone is something YOU would have them do.

I ask You to help me know where and when to speak out. You know how conflict turns my stomach, but sometimes, it needs to turn. Show me where, when, and what to say Holy Spirit. I want to do NOTHING that would be contrary to Your will.