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1 Kings Chapter
Twenty-one
1 Kings 21
Chapter Contents
Ahab covets Naboth's vineyard. (1-4) Naboth murdered by
Jezebel. (5-16) Elijah denounces judgments against Ahab. (17-29)
Commentary on 1 Kings 21:1-4
(Read 1 Kings 21:1-4)
Naboth
perhaps
had been pleased that he had a vineyard
situated so near the palace
but the situation proved fatal to him; many a
man's possessions have been his snare
and his neighbourhood to greatness
of
bad consequence. Discontent is a sin that is its own punishment
and makes men
torment themselves. It is a sin that is its own parent; it arises not from the
condition
but from the mind: as we find Paul contented in a prison
so Ahab
was discontented in a palace. He had all the delights of Canaan
that pleasant
land
at command; the wealth of a kingdom
the pleasures of a court
and the
honours and powers of a throne; yet all avails him nothing without Naboth's
vineyard. Wrong desires expose men to continual vexations
and those that are
disposed to fret
however well off
may always find something or other to fret
at.
Commentary on 1 Kings 21:5-16
(Read 1 Kings 21:5-16)
When
instead of a help meet
a man has an agent for
Satan
in the form of an artful
unprincipled
yet beloved wife
fatal effects
may be expected. Never were more wicked orders given by any prince
than those
Jezebel sent to the rulers of Jezreel. Naboth must be murdered under colour of
religion. There is no wickedness so vile
so horrid
but religion has sometimes
been made a cover for it. Also
it must be done under colour of justice
and
with the formalities of legal process. Let us
from this sad story
be amazed
at the wickedness of the wicked
and the power of Satan in the children of
disobedience. Let us commit the keeping of our lives and comforts to God
for
innocence will not always be our security; and let us rejoice in the knowledge
that all will be set to rights in the great day.
Commentary on 1 Kings 21:17-29
(Read 1 Kings 21:17-29)
Blessed Paul complains that he was sold under sin
Romans 7:14
as a poor captive against his will;
but Ahab was willing
he sold himself to sin; of choice
and as his own act and
deed
he loved the dominion of sin. Jezebel his wife stirred him up to do
wickedly. Ahab is reproved
and his sin set before his eyes
by Elijah. That
man's condition is very miserable
who has made the word of God his enemy; and
very desperate
who reckons the ministers of that word his enemies
because
they tell him the truth. Ahab put on the garb and guise of a penitent
yet his
heart was unhumbled and unchanged. Ahab's repentance was only what might be
seen of men; it was outward only. Let this encourage all that truly repent
and
unfeignedly believe the holy gospel
that if a pretending partial penitent
shall go to his house reprieved
doubtless
a sincere believing penitent shall
go to his house justified.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 1 Kings》
1 Kings 21
Verse 3
[3] And
Naboth said to Ahab
The LORD forbid it me
that I should give the inheritance
of my fathers unto thee.
The Lord forbid —
For God had expressly
and for divers weighty reasons forbidden the alienation
of lands from the tribes and families to which they were allotted. And although
these might have been alienated 'till the jubilee
yet he durst not sell it to
the king for that time; because he supposed
if once it came into the king's
hand
neither he
nor his posterity
could ever recover it; and so he should
both offend God
and wrong his posterity.
Verse 7
[7] And Jezebel his wife said unto him
Dost thou now govern the kingdom of
Israel? arise
and eat bread
and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee
the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
Dost thou govern —
Art thou fit to be king
that hast not courage to use thy power.
Verse 9
[9] And
she wrote in the letters
saying
Proclaim a fast
and set Naboth on high among
the people:
A fast — To
remove all suspicion of evil design in Ahab
and to beget a good opinion of him
amongst his people
as if he were grown zealous for God's honour
and careful
of his people's welfare
and therefore desirous to enquire into all those sins
which provoked God against them.
On high — On
a scaffold
or high-place
where malefactors were usually placed
that they
might be seen
and heard by all the people.
Verse 10
[10] And
set two men
sons of Belial
before him
to bear witness against him
saying
Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out
and stone him
that he may die.
Blaspheme God and the king — Indeed his blaspheming God would only be the forfeiture of his life
not
his estate. Therefore he is charged with treason also
that his estate may be
confiscated
and so Ahab have his vineyard.
Verse 13
[13] And there came in two men
children of Belial
and sat before him: and the
men of Belial witnessed against him
even against Naboth
in the presence of
the people
saying
Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried
him forth out of the city
and stoned him with stones
that he died.
Stoned him —
And it seems his sons too
either with him or after him. For God afterward
says
( 2 Kings 9:26) I have seen the blood of Naboth
and the blood of his sons. Let us commit the keeping of our lives and comforts
to God; for innocence itself will not always be our security.
Verse 19
[19] And
thou shalt speak unto him
saying
Thus saith the LORD
Hast thou killed
and
also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him
saying
Thus saith the
LORD
In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy
blood
even thine.
Saying —
Thou hast murdered an innocent man; and instead of repenting for it
hast added
another piece of injustice and violence to it
and art going confidently and
chearfully to reap the fruit of thy wickedness.
Thy blood —
The threatening was so directed at first; but afterwards
upon his humiliation
the punishment was transferred from him to his son
as is expressed
verse 29
yet upon Ahab's returning to sin
in the
next chapter
he brings back the curse upon himself
and so it is no wonder if
it be in some sort fulfilled in him also.
Verse 20
[20] And
Ahab said to Elijah
Hast thou found me
O mine enemy? And he answered
I have
found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the
LORD.
Hast thou found —
Dost thou pursue me from place to place? Wilt thou never let me rest? Art thou
come after me hither with thy unwelcome messages? Thou art always disturbing
threatening
and opposing me.
I have —
The hand of God hath found and overtaken thee.
Sold thyself —
Thou hast wholly resigned up thyself to be the bondslave of the devil
as a man
that sells himself to another is totally in his master's power.
To work evil
… —
Impudently and contemptuously. Those who give themselves up to sin will
certainly be found out
sooner or later
to their unspeakable amazement.
Verse 23
[23] And
of Jezebel also spake the LORD
saying
The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall
of Jezreel.
By the wall —
Or
in the portion
as it is explained 2 Kings 9:36.
Verse 24
[24] 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.
Him that dieth
… —
Punishments after death are here most insisted on. And these
tho' lighting on
the body only
yet undoubtedly were designed as figures of the soul's misery in
an after state.
Verse 25
[25] But
there was none like unto Ahab
which did sell himself to work wickedness in the
sight of the LORD
whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
Was none —
None among all the kings of Israel which had been before him.
Whom Jezebel —
This is added to shew
that temptations to sin are no excuse to the sinner.
Verse 27
[27] And
it came to pass
when Ahab heard those words
that he rent his clothes
and put
sackcloth upon his flesh
and fasted
and lay in sackcloth
and went softly.
Softly —
Slowly and silently
after the manner of mourners
or those who are under a
great consternation.
Verse 29
[29]
Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself
before me
I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I
bring the evil upon his house.
Humbleth himself —
His humiliation was real
though not lasting
and accordingly pleasing to God.
This discovers the great goodness of God
and his readiness to shew mercy. It
teaches us to take notice of that which is good
even in the worst of men. It
gives a reason why wicked persons often prosper: God rewards what little good
is in them. And it encourages true penitents. If even Ahab goes to his house
reprieved
doubtless they shall go to their houses justified.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 1 Kings》
21 Chapter 21
Verses 1-29
Verses 2-16
Give me thy vineyard
that I may have it for a garden of herbs.
Ahab’s garden of herbs
Walking in the garden
what do we see?
1. Covetousness. God’s brand is upon covetousness. Contentment is a
Christian duty. Not sinful is the desire for comfort
for sufficiency; it is
the inordinate desire that is sinful. Does the prosperity of another pain us?
Do we desire for ourselves that which belongs to another? Then we are breaking
the commandment--“Thou shall not covet.”
2. Covetousness disappointed. Ahab has met with an unexpected master.
The band of sycophancy had been wont to obey him--to hasten at his word
to
answer to the silent solicitation of his eye. But here is a man that denies
him
who has a denial from the word of the Lord. Let us beware. This sin is
under the special reprobation of God. It was the sin in Eden
and by which Eden
was lost. It was the sin of Achan. It was the sin of Gehazi. It was the sin
which has branded out of use among names the name of Judas. Was Ahab
disappointed? Alas
for him!
3. We see his covetousness
successful. He gets what he desires. Jezebel finds her husband
and learning
the cause of his depression sneers with imperious scorn upon him. “What is done
by another for us is done by ourselves.” Are we willing to profit by the
dishonesty or hard dealing of others? Then you are not clean of their sin. Adam
plucked not the fruit of the tree
though “he did eat” (Genesis 3:6) of it; yet upon him as well
as upon the woman came the curse of the Almighty. Jezebel’s sin was Ahab’s; he
winked at its enactment
and took of its guilt-gotten spoil. If we wittingly
profit by others’ sins
we must share in their condetonation too.
4. Covetousness detected and doomed. Ahab walking in that
vineyard--his at last--meets “an hairy man
girt with a girdle of leather about
his loins.” It is Elijah the Tishbite. If there was one man in the whole world
he had rather not have met it was Elijah. But there he is! his unquailing eye
troubling him--detected king--to the deepest depths of his weak
wicked soul.
Elijah is the king! Ahab cowers before him. He is found out. And the prophet
the truest
though sternest friend that he has ever had
Ahab esteems an enemy. Is the
lighthouse on its wave-washed
rocky ledge the mariner’s enemy
because it
tells through the black and stormy night of the wrecking perils that lurk
around the shore? Because it tells of danger
shall it be hated and assailed
with angry epithets by those who sail the sea? (G. T. Coster.)
Naboth’s vineyard and Ahab’s covetousness
The visitor to Potsdam in Prussia
from the terrace of the palace
of Sans-Souci sees near at hand a gigantic windmill
the most conspicuous
object in the landscape. He wonders that the bold miller should have dared to
build so near. But on inquiry he learns that the mill was there before the
palace. In it several generations of the same family had ground their grist and
gathered their wealth ere the attention of the Prussian kings was directed to
the town as a place of residence. When palace after palace arose
and the king
came to see
behold! here was this ugly windmill
beating the air almost on the
very border of his splendid gardens. Then Frederic the Great did what Ahab did
in this Bible story. He tried to buy the mill. And the miller answered almost
exactly as Naboth answered. The king raised his offer again and again
and
ended by getting angry. The miller met the royal threats by an appeal to the
court judges in Berlin. The judges supported him against the king; the mill
went on grinding its corn; and to this day its great fans are whirled by every
passing breeze. The whole nation has come to regard the mill at Potsdam at a
symbol of the peace and prosperity of the poor under Prussian institutions. It
has recently come into the possession of the royal family
but only with the
proud consent
at last
of the descendants of the original owners. The world
has got ahead. So far as concerns men who bear public rule and are subjected to
the judgment of society
Ahabs must now be sought in darkest Africa or in
equally benighted regions. Would that the spirit of Ahab were equally remote
from all of us in our private lives and characters! Many of us
perhaps all
are too covetous
grasping
childish
weak in yielding to sin
even as was
Israel’s king.
I. The course of
temptation. It may seem to the casual reader that there was nothing wrong in
Ahab’s desire
or in the way in which he sought to gain it. So far as its terms
were concerned
he proposed a strictly honourable bargain. The offer was even
generous. Naboth might choose a better vineyard
or have cash. No hardship was
involved except in respect to Naboth’s principles and sentiments. But it was
just here that the bargain failed as it deserved to. That Naboth merely loved
the place would have been enough. Objects of affection are often beyond price.
He did not want either the money or a better vineyard. The reason for his
declining the bargain was deeper. Such a sale was an offence against the
religious and statute law of Israel. It was carefully prescribed that inherited
land should remain in the tribe where it was first owned. On this account a
daughter to whom an inheritance fell was forbidden to marry outside her tribe.
The theory was that the land all belonged to God
and that Be had parcelled it
out as He wished it to remain. Now the king must have known this law; it is a
stretch of charity to suppose that he did not. His proposal
therefore
showed
a thorough lack of principle
a wicked contempt for the Mosaic code. Jezebel
was virtually ruler of the realm. She said
“Dost thou now govern the kingdom
of Israel? . . . I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth.” So Lady Macbeth
drives her husband on to the murder of Duncan. She mocks his halting courage;
she provides suggestion and plan; she does all except strike the murderous
blow. She says to him at first--
“He
that’s coming
Must
be provided for; and you shall put
This
night’s great business into my despatch.”
“If
we should fail
” objects Macbeth.
“We
fail!
But
screw your courage to the sticking place
And
we’ll not fail
”
she answers.
And after it is done
and he refuses to return to put the evidence of guilt
upon the sleeping and drugged servants
she exclaims--
“Infirm
of purpose!
Give
me the daggers.”
Ahab
is weaker than Macbeth
though not so wicked; but Jezebel and Lady Macbeth are
not far apart. When woman goes into crime
she often plunges to the extreme
quicker than man. Jezebel said
“I will give thee Naboth’s vineyard.” There are
few events in a man’s life that stand alone. Every special sin has its long
preparation. The avalanche in Switzerland rushes down at last; but what of the
melting snows all through the spring and summer
until every waterdrop has done
its work and washed away the last pebble that supported the hanging mass of
earth and ice? The lightning-flash is sudden; but what of the hidden electric
forces that have been gathering in the atmosphere all through the heated
months
so that at last the bolt must leap from the cloud to meet the discharge
from the earth? So morally. Ahab started wrong
as he knew. It was not a
question of one sin
but of sin. He would have his Zidonian wife
though it
meant Baal-worship. His good resolutions failed one by one. When at last he
coveted the vineyard
his evil genius was at hand as ever
and he let her go on
to the end of the transaction. Through years he had been laying the fatal train
that was to shatter his kingdom and seal his doom. Who can tell just what moment
of an evil course will bring the sinner to his abyss? After the first step
every step is a peril. Even quiet consent
passive yielding
is fatal. The only
safety is in prompt
manly
uncompromising conversion--turning away from sin
for ever.
II. God’s patience.
Ahab’s rebellion had been long and obstinate: an alien marriage; adopted
idolatry; persecutions for conscience’ sake; open disobedience in war; and now
covetousness
leading him to break the most sacred obligations
and add robbery
and murder to the list of his crimes. He had had many warnings from God. This
triple crime of impiety
robbery
and murder settled the matter. God’s word
comes to Elijah
and Elijah comes to Ahab. The time had come for Ahab to
receive a harder lesson than ever before. The prophet spoke Jehovah’s decree
as Ahab’s own signet had given authority to kill Naboth. As Naboth had died
so
should Ahab die. As Naboth’s family had been cut off
so should Ahab’s race
disappear. The awful curse brought him to his senses and to his knees. He rent
his clothes
put sackcloth upon his flesh
fasted
lay in sackcloth
and went
softly. God is always patient. We sin; He pleads and waits. We go on grasping
after what is not our own: let my will
not Thine
be done
is the prayer
offered by every deed. God warns
instructs
shows us in a thousand ways that
His will is right
and that it is in the very nature of things our destruction
if we oppose it. He tempts us with every promise
and shows us the fair destiny
awaiting those who love truth and are obedient to Him. At last some evil comes
to us from our wrongdoing
and we are unfeignedly sorry; but it is more the
sorrow of a frightened than of a truly penitent soul. But the Divine heart is
yet patient. The story of God’s patience with Ahab is wonderful
but it is the
story of His patience with most of us. We
too
are covetous to the last
degree. My comfort
my pleasure
my wealth
my home
my loves
my will
--all
these will I have
though at the expense of every other man’s comfort
pleasure
wealth
home
loves
and will. And to this desperate covetousness of ours God
matches His infinite self-sacrifice.
III. The curse upon
Ahab fell at last. Sin must meet its doom. Brief and selfish repentance is not
enough. If sin is not slain
it will slay. God’s patience after all has its
conditions. Years pass by
Ahab still living. At last he undertakes a war
and
is slain in battle. Whether soon or late
the soul that sinneth it shall die.
It stands written that though the heavens pass away
the word of the Lord shall
not pass away. It is the final verdict: “He that seeketh his life shall lose
it.”
IV. What of Naboth
and his sons? They were good men
so far as we are told
yet they died
miserably. They were victims of injustice and cruelty
their very piety
hastening their end and making them martyrs. Are we to conclude from this that
what we have said concerning the doom of sin is untrue? Shall we draw the
inference that the good and the bad are treated alike
so that there is no
profit in godliness? It would be unfortunate to turn away from our lesson with
this question unanswered. (G. E. Merrill.)
In Naboth’s vineyard
Ahab has received scant justice at the hands of the Biblical
historians
and the popular estimate of his character is scarcely fair. We
never think of him except as contrasted with Elijah
or as dominated by the
fiendish Jezebel. Yet he had his good points. He was a courageous soldier
a
capable rule
a far-seeing statesman. He never intended to renounce the worship
of Jehovah--the names of his children are sufficient evidence of that. He
thought it was possible to serve Jehovah and Baal
and perhaps those who
denounce him most are not entirely guiltless of trying to serve two masters. If
it had not been for the influence of his wife
he would have been a better man
after what took place on Mount Carmel. But that was seven years ago
and in the
meantime he had twice defeated a dangerous enemy and rolled back the tide of
foreign invasion
tie had won for his kingdom peace and prosperity
and for
himself considerable wealth. He was free now to establish his own house
to
adorn his beautiful palace in Samaria
and his country house in Jezreel
eight
miles away.
1. Notice the danger of undisciplined d sire. This chapter enforces
in concrete form
the exhortation of our Lord
“Take heed and beware of
covetousness.” It was a subject on which He had a great deal to say
and His
warning was never more needed than now. This passion for getting
this longing
for a little more than we have
this worship of Mammon--it is not peculiar to
millionaires. Poor men sometimes forget that a man’s life consisteth not in the
abundance of the things which he possesseth.
2. Notice the peril of self-deception. There is many a man who lacks
the pluck to do a wrong thing himself
but is willing to acquiesce if others do
it. He is willing enough to reap the benefits of wrong-doing
and to shirk his
share of the responsibility. It is notorious that a committee
or a limited
company
will do what an individual would shrink from doing
and each member
tries to thrust the responsibility for it on others. A professional man will
sometimes do
according to professional etiquette
what he would scorn to do as
an individual. A tradesman
otherwise honest
will stoop to the tricks of the
trade. How easy it is to delude oneself by thinking that
because there is no
actual personal wrong-doing
there is therefore no responsibility. Ahab thought
this thing had been taken out of his hands. Yet he was responsible
and he knew
it. The fiction by which he deceived himself was exposed in a moment by the
short
sharp words of Elijah. But notice the amazing cleverness of Jezebel’s
scheme. “When a wicked thing is cleverly done
half the world is disposed to
condone its wickedness.” Many a sinner deceives his own soul by calling a
wicked thing smart. But when conscience wakes
it calls our sins by their right
names! In this case
all the legal proprieties were observed. A letter was
written in Ahab’s name
sealed with the royal seal. Nobody suspected Jezebel’s
part in the affair
except a few subservient nobles who could be trusted to
keep their secret. It is not difficult to reconstruct the conversation: “That
churl Naboth
who refused to sell his little vineyard
has been found guilty of
treason. He and his sons are dead
and the vineyard is yours--legally and
inalienably yours--and yours for nothing!” It was very clever! Ahab was willing
to pay a fair price
but he saved money on that transaction
he got that
vineyard cheap! But did he? It is possible to buy a thing at the lowest market
price
and yet pay very dear for it! That which a man gets by tampering with
his own conscience is dear
whatever the selling price. The money price one
]pays for a thing is not always the measure of what it costs. Here is a man who
is congratulating himself on a particularly smart bargain; but what if he has
paid down for it his own good name and his peace of mind and the welfare of his
family! Is it worth the price? And whether a man gain a kitchen garden or the whole world
what
does it profit him if he lose his own soul? So Ahab rose up to go down to his
vineyard. He rode in state the journey of eight miles to Jezreel. Two young
cavalry officers rode behind. One of them
Jehu
had good reason afterwards to
remember all that happened that fateful day! All the way
Ahab was
congratulating himself that he had such a clever wife
and thinking what a
pleasure this would be to his children afterwards! He could not entirely
silence his misgivings. He could not forget that to gain his ends he had
wronged a true-hearted man
a neighbour and a subject. “Wronged” was the word
which his lips formed. The word in his thoughts was “killed.” Conscience will
call things by their right names! But he told himself
if he had done a shady
thing
or allowed it to be done
it was really in the interests of his wife and
family. Self-deceit will carry us great lengths! How many a rogue has silenced
his conscience “in the interests of his family”! (A. Moorhouse
M. A.)
Naboth’s vineyard
It has been pointed out many times that of all the Ten
Commandments it is the last one which is the most searching because the most
spiritual and the nearest to the new law of the Sermon on the Mount. I say this
was a searching
spiritual commandment
for it dealt with the inward soul of a
man
his private thoughts and feelings and desires. For these
says the Tenth
Commandment--and not merely for your actual deeds--you are answerable to God.
“Thou shalt not covet.”
1. God’s way is to strike sin in the germ: to kill
as it were
the
very bacillus of the disease. Man loves to dally with evil suggestion
to play
with unclean thoughts
to toy with unchaste or dishonourable desires; to
entertain these while outwardly he is respectable and honoured by society. There
is something to him fascinating in this bargain
by which he consents to
outward respectability at the price of inward licence. But as verily as the
uncleanness of the water bears evidence that the spring has been fouled
an
evil life is born from an evil heart. That is the source of the mischief.
2. Ahab played with fire. He had wronged Naboth already in his heart;
it was a little thing that he should go further and wrong him in fact. There
are sinners and sinners. There is a covetousness that hides defeat in assumed
smiles
with deadly malice and envy smouldering within. And there is a
covetousness less formidable and more contemptible
that pouts and fumes and
frets and sulks. The latter kind was Ahab’s.
3. I think it very likely that Ahab was not meditating any serious
misconduct; but he was preparing his own heart
drying it of all true manly
feeling
so that it was like prepared tinder for any spark of temptation.
There” are hundreds of our fellowmen and women outwardly respectable and
innocent as yet of gross sin who are in danger just because their heart is in a
similar condition. A chance spark
a whispered suggestion
a rash impulse will
suffice to precipitate a course of action which can only bring ruin and
overwhelming shame. The heart is dry to the roots; no sap of honour
and manly
feeling
and love of justice penetrates and invigorates them. They have allowed
their hearts to wither.
4. Now while Ahab s heart lies there like so much prepared tinder
enter the temptress
with a due supply of sparks cunningly contrived for the
purpose of an explosion. “And Jezebel his wife said unto him.” The most deadly
weapons are made of the finest steel. Jezebel’s character was strong
firm
unmalleable; a diamond heart
cold
passionless
cruel
hard as steel
sharp as
a dagger’s edge. The words had not left Ahab’s lips a moment before her plan
was made. Treachery and murder came as natural to her as breathing Lady Macbeth
only did the deed of death when her husband’s courage failed Jezebel did not
dream of entrusting the task to her husband
for whom she had probably a very
just contempt. She herself laid the train and fired it that was to send Naboth
into eternity and give the vineyard to Ahab.
5. So the little sin of covetousness has found its reward. The coveted
object is obtained--Ahab was in the hands of evil. He had placed himself there;
and
like every man or woman who consents to sin
he was no longer his own
master. If he had been a giant instead of the weak creature he was he could not
have stayed the course of this crime. (C. S. Horne
M. A.)
Naboth’s vineyard
1. We sometimes hear that Ahab was a covetous man: are we quite sure
that the charge is just and that it can be substantiated? Do we not sometimes
too narrowly interpret the word covetousness? It is generally at least limited
to money. But the term “covetous” may apply to a much larger set of
circumstances
and describe quite another set of impulses and desires. We may
even be covetous of personal appearance; of popular fame
such as is enjoyed by
other men; we may be covetous in every direction which implies the
gratification of our own wishes; and yet with regard to the mere matter of
money we may be almost liberal. Sometimes when covetousness takes this other
turn we describe it by the narrower word envy; we say we envy the personal
appearance of some
we envy the greatness and the public standing of others.
But under all this envy is covetousness. Envy is in a sense but a symptom:
covetousness is the vital and devouring disease. Under this interpretation of
the term
therefore
it is not unfit or unjust to describe Ahab as a covetous
man. Look at his dissatisfaction with circumstances. He wishes to have “a
garden of herbs.” That is all! The great Alexander could not rest in his palace
at Babylon because he could not get ivy to grow in his garden. What was
Babylon
or all Assyria
in view of the fact that this childish king could not
cause ivy to grow in the palace gardens? Ahab lived in the very narrowest kind
of circumstances; as a little man
he lived in little things
and because those
things were not all to his mind it was impossible for him to be restful or
noble or really good. Once let the mind become dissatisfied with some trifling
circumstance
and that fly spoils the whole pot of ointment. Once get the
notion that the house is too small
and then morning
noon
and night you never
see a picture that is in it
or acknowledge the comfort of one corner in all
the little habitation: the one thing that is present in the mind throughout all
the weary hours is that the house is too small. If we live in circumstances
we
shall be the sport of events; we shall be without dignity
without calmness
without reality and solidity of character; let us
therefore
betake ourselves
into inner thoughts
into spirituality of life
into the soul’s true character
into the very sanctuary of God: there we shall have truth and light and peace.
2. Then notice in Ahab a childish servility to circumstances (1 Kings 21:4). Yet he was the King
of Israel in Samaria! He was in reality a man who could give law
whose very
look was a commandment
and the uplifting of his hand could move an army. Now
we see him surely at his least. So we do
but not at his worst. All this must
have an explanation. We cannot imagine that the man is so simply childish and
foolish as this incident alone would describe him. Behind all this childishness
there is an explanation. What is it? We find it in 1 Kings 21:25 :--“But there was none
like unto Ahab
which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the
Lord
whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.” That explains the whole mystery. But
this is an affair which does not take place in the open market or in the open
daylight. But the compact is made in darkness
in silence
in out-of-the-way
places. Now we understand King Ahab better. We thought him but little
frivolous of mind
childish and petty
without a man s worthy ambition; but now
we see that all this was but symptomatic
an outward sign
pointing
when
rightly followed
to an inward and mortal corruption.
3. Now let us look at the case of Naboth and the position which he
occupied in this matter. Naboth possessed the vineyard Ahab is said to have
coveted. Naboth said
“The Lord forbid” (1 Kings 21:3). He made a religious
question of it. Why did he invoke the Eternal Name
and stand back as if an
offence had been offered to his faith? The terms were commercial
the terms
were not unreasonable
the approach was courteous
the ground given for the
approach was not an unnatural ground
--why did Naboth stand back as if his religion
had been shocked? The answer is in Numbers 36:7. Ahab was taught that there
was a man in Samaria who valued the inheritance which had been handed down to
him. Have we no inheritance handed down to us--no book of revelation
no day of
rest
no flag of liberty
no password of common trust? So Ahab lay down upon
his bed
turned away his face
and would eat no bread. But there is a way of
accomplishing mean desires. Take heart! there is a way of possessing oneself of
almost whatever one desires. There is always some Merlin who will bring every
Uther-Pendragon what he longs to have; there is always some Lady Macbeth who
will show the thane how to become king. There is always a way to be bad! The
gate of hell stands wide open
or if apparently half-closed a touch will make
it fly back
and the road is broad that leadeth to destruction. Jezebel said
she would find the
garden or vineyard for her husband. (J. Parker
D. D.)
The story of Naboth’s vineyard
1. There is a strange fascination in sin. This man looks at this
thing; turns it over in his mind; says how nice it would be; and at last the
thing gets entire hold of him. He ought at first to have said
“No
that is
beyond my power; that is forbidden.” Instead
he plays with the thing
and
nurses it
and it becomes his master. And just as a bird might be seen trying
to escape
and yet is chained to the spot
the secret is discovered after a
while in the approach of the serpent
sure and slow
with its eyes fixed on its
prey
and held by its cruel glance; so it is with sin: there is a fascination
in it. You look at it
you get your eyes fixed upon its eyes; you can break
away if you have the will to do it
and the good sense
by God’s providence
to
do it; if you have not felt the full force of its fascination. But if you
loiter where its influence can be felt more and more on you
presently it
becomes your master
and you go to the evil thing
and bring the stain on your
soul. Is it not so? The doctor
though he may carry his life in his band
must
go where the small-pox or deadly fevers are raging
but the man who has no work
and no cure for the evil is a madman
and not a hero
if he goes needlessly
into an atmosphere laden with infection. It is the old soldier who has been in
many a battle
and carries the scars of many an engagement
who shelters
himself till the moment comes for the decisive charge. He is not afraid of
lying down. It is the raw recruit
who has never smelt powder
and who has
never had a scratch on him
who dare not be suspected of being afraid. And
believe me
young men
it is not a courageous thing to go needlessly into
danger of a moral character.
2. Yes
there is this fascination in man
but see what it brings us
to
and the degradation it brings with it. “He
laid him down on his bed
and
turned away his face
and would eat no bread.” Poor fellow! Yes
but that is
what sin always does to men; it eats the heart out of their manliness. If a man
wants to be strong to meet sorrow he must keep himself well in hand
and
by
the grace of God
learn to control his appetites and desires
so that
circumstances and possessions and pleasures shall always be his servants
never
his master. I have seen in this city an old man beggared in a day
by no fault
of his own
but through the wrong-doing and the misfortunes of others; a man
who had maintained a stainless character
and a prominent position in all good
works; and I saw him
not whining because he had lost his money
and asking all
the world to come and see how sorely he had been dealt with
but bravely
shaking off from himself the ruins of his fallen fortunes
and going out to win
another fortune in his old age
if that were God’s will
or to do without one
if that were God’s will; but keeping a good conscience and a brave heart
and a
face with the light of-God upon it
so that he could look any brother-man in
the face with self-respect. And I tell you the man who is to be ready to do
that sort of thing
and go through that sort of experience
is not the man who
has always been wanting the softest bed and the warmest corner
the easiest
path and the best dinner
whose one great thought is
how can I make myself as
comfortable as possible in the world. No
the man who is to be brave to meet
his own misfortunes when they come--and to all they will come
sooner or
later--is the man who has not been continually thinking about himself
but who
has let his heart go out to his fellow-men and towards the great Father
God
who tells us we ought to consider all men as our brothers. II you want to have
the manliness taken out of your heart live for selfish aims and objects.
3. And then see
too
another way in which sin degrades a man; how it
overturns all his mental conceptions
and even darkens and destroys the
sensitiveness of his conscience. Ahab is lying there on his divan
and Jezebel
comes to him. One can almost fancy one sees him and her together
and she is
saying to him
What is the matter? And he tells her this doleful story
how he
wanted the vineyard
and could not get it. Jezebel’s lip turns with scorn as
she looks down at him
and says
“Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel?
Are you lying here because you cannot get that nice toy? What is the good of
being king if you are going to take No for an answer
if you cannot have your
own way. “Arise
and eat bread
and let thine heart be merry; I will give thee
the vineyard of:Naboth the Jezreelite.” When Jezebel said that Ahab knew she
meant mischief. If he had been a true man and a true king
he would have said
to her
“Though you are queen
it is at your peril if you touch a hair of his
head; he is within the rights of this land. Dare not touch him
for every
subject’s rights and safety are sacred in my eyes.” But the poor
mean-spirited
wretch
degraded by his own follies
lies there
and lets his wife go and
contrive the wickedness for which he has not the wit or courage. And all the
time. I have no doubt
like other men in similar positions
Ahab was making to
himself all kinds of excuses: “Well
I don’t know what she is going to do;
perhaps she is only going to offer him a little more money
or appeal to his
respect for the king. At all events
it is not my business; I have not asked
her to interfere
and so I shall not trouble about it. I shall let her do just
what she will.” Yes
that “let alone” policy which is so popular in many
quarters
was admirably illustrated by Ahab on this occasion And I have no
doubt that to a certain extent that kind of reasoning was sufficient to drug
his conscience to sleep
at least for the time being. And there are constantly
men who are acting on that principle. Men used to say
“Oh
certainly I never
bribed any elector”; but when an election was coming on they would pay five
hundred pounds to the credit of their agent
and ask no questions about it.
There are men to-day in London who would say
“Of course I did not sell three
penn’orth of gin over a counter to a poor
bloated
degraded woman.” No
but
they take three times as much rent for a house because it has got a licorice
than they could get if it hadn’t any. Men say
“I did not tell that lie
or set
that slander in circulation.” No
but they suggested it quite delicately
and
“hoping it would go no further
” and so the carrion scent was awakened
and all
followed that they thought might be expected to follow. Many of these people
fancy that God’s eyes are closed
or that God does not know what is going on in
the world
and that in some way or other they have been able to cheat the
Omniscient! They cannot feel
and are not aware of the true nature of the life
they are living and the deeds they are doing. Just as the slaves when they were
flogged
after the first few blows felt very little
because the nerves of the
back had been lacerated; so the consciences of these men have been cut
lashed
and injured till their sensitiveness is gone out of them
and men have lost the
faculty of quickly detecting wrong
and knowing what is right. Can there
possibly be a deeper degradation for a man? She came back to Ahab and said
“Naboth is dead.” So the conscience of Ahab will let him at once rise with new
eagerness to go and take possession of his treasure. Away he goes from the
palace
promising himself many a pleasant hour in the cool shade of the vineyard.
Yes
yes
there is disappointment in sin. God does not let men get the good out
of it that they thought. God does not let them enjoy it as keenly as they
expected. And this is one of the great proofs of God’s love
that He will not
let men sin easily and comfortably. We sometimes say it is hard work to get to
heaven. That is true enough. But we may almost say it is as hard work for many
men to get to hell. If they will be lost they have to break through many a
barrier which the love of God built in their way; and not till they have forced
their way through these barriers can they be cast into the outer darkness
which they rush to encounter. How good it is that God will not let men sin
easily Some Elijah will stand in the gateway of the vineyard. Here is a man who
has gone away from home; perhaps he is a young man
and in the very midst of
some sinful revelry
where the air is thick with curses
where the atmosphere
is as the atmosphere of hell
suddenly
as though the heavens parted
and the
breath of heaven’s own atmosphere were thrust into the midst of that vile
scene
there comes to him a thought of his mother
of the pure blessed home
that he left years ago. No law of association will account for that. There was
nothing in the associations of the place to make him think that thought at that
time
but the exact opposite. Surely the blessed Spirit of God sent that
thought just there in order that that man might meet his Elijah at the gate of
the vineyard. Another man is trying to get away from the impressions of his
better days. As he passes hurriedly along
perhaps on a Sabbath day like this
some door opens
and some wave of sound comes out from the worshipping
congregation. Memories are at once set at work to carry him back to his purer
days. God has sent some Elijah to meet him at the gate of the vineyard. Oh
blessed be God
for the love that will not let us slip easily into hell! And
then one cannot help seeing the doom of sin. There is a sort of awful dramatic
propriety about this doom: “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth
shall dogs lick thy blood.” (T. B. Stephenson
D. D.
LL. D.)
Voices from Naboth’s vineyard
There are many voices addressed to us from:Naboth’s vineyard.
I. Beware of
covetousness. That vineyard has its counterpart in the case and conduct of many
still. Covetousness may assume a thousand camelon hues and phases
but these
all resolve themselves into a sinful craving after something other than what we
have. Covetousness of means--a grasping after more material wealth; the race
for riches. Covetousness of place--aspiring after other positions in life than
those which Providence has assigned us;--not because they are better--but
because they are other than our present God-appointed lot--invested with an
imaginary superiority. And the singular and sad thing is
that such inordinate
longings are most frequently manifested
as with Ahab
in the case of those who
have least cause to indulge them. The covetous eye cast on the
neighbour’s vineyard is
strange to say
more the sin of the affluent than of
the needy
--of the owner of the lordly mansion than of the humble cottage. The
man with his clay floor
and thatched roof
and rude wooden rafters
though
standing far more in need of increase to his comfort
is often (is generally)
more contented and satisfied by far than he whose cup is full. The old story
which every schoolboy knows
is a faithful picture of human nature. It was
Alexander
not defeated
but victorious--Alexander
not the lord of one
kingdom
but the sovereign of the world
who wept unsatisfied tears. How many
there are
surrounded with all possible affluence and comfort
who put a
life-thorn in their side by some similar chase after a denied good
some
similar fretting about a denied trifle. They have abundance; the horn of plenty
has poured its contents into their lap. But a neighbour possesses something
which they fancy they might have also. Like Haman
though their history has
been a golden dream of prosperity;--advancement and honour such as the
brightest visions of youth could never have pictured
--yet all this avails them
nothing
so long as they see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate! Seek
to suppress these unworthy envious longings. “For which things’ sake
” says the
apostle (and among “these things” is covetousness)
“the wrath of God cometh on
the children of disobedience.” Covetousness
God makes a synonym for idolatry.
He classes the covetous in the same category with the worshippers of stocks and
stones. “Be content with such things as ye have.”
II. Keep out of the
way of temptation. If Ahab
knowing his own weakness and besetting sin
had put
a restraint on his covetous eye
and not allowed.it to stray on his neighbour’s
forbidden property
it would have saved a black page in his history
and the
responsibilities of a heinous crime. Let us beware of tampering with evil. “If
thy right eye offend thee
pluck it out
and cast it from thee.” “Avoid it
”
says the wise man
speaking of this path of temptation
“pass not by it
turn
from it
and pass away.” Each has his own strong temptation
--the fragile part
of his nature
--his besetting sin.. That sin should be specially watched
muzzled
curbed;--that gate of temptation specially padlocked and sentinelled.
One guilty dereliction of duty
--one unhappy abandonment of principle
--one
inconsistent
thoughtless word or deed
--may be the progenitor of unnumbered
evils. How many have bartered their peace of conscience for veriest
trifles:--sold a richer inheritance than Esau’s birthright for a mess of earthly
pottage! And once the first fatal step is taken
it cannot be so easily undone.
Once the blot on fair character is made
the stain is not so easily erased.
III. Be sure your
sin will find you out. Ahab and Jezebel
as we have seen
had managed to a wish
their accursed plot. The wheels of crime had moved softly along without one rut
or impediment in the way. The two murderers paced their blood-stained
inheritance without fear of challenge or discovery.:Naboth was in that silent
land where no voice of protest can be heard against high-handed inquity. But
there was a God in heaven who maketh inquisition for blood
and who “remembered
them.” Their time for retribution did come at last
although years of gracious
forbearance were suffered to intervene. And are the principles of God’s moral
government different now? It is true
indeed
that the present economy deals
not so exclusively as the old in temporal retribution. Sinners now have before
them the surer and more terrible recompense and vengeance of a world to come.
But not unfrequently here also
retribution still follows
and sooner or later
overtakes
the defiant transgressor. Conscience
like another stern Elijah in
the vineyard of Naboth
will confront the transgressor and utter a withering
doom. How many such an Elijah stands a rebuker within the gates of modem
vineyards
purchased by the reward of iniquity! How many such an Elijah stands
a ghostly sentinel by the door of that house whose stones have been hewn and
polished and piled by illicit gain! How many an Elijah mounts on the back of
the modem chariot
horsed and harnessed
pillowed and cushioned and liveried
with the amassings of successful roguery! How many an Elijah stands in the
midst of banquet-hall and drawing-room scowling down on some murderer of
domestic peace and innocence
who has intruded into vineyards more sacred than
Naboth’s
--trampled virtue under foot
and left the broken
bleeding vine
to
trail its shattered tendrils unpitied on the ground! And even should conscience
itself
in this world be defied and overborne; at all events in the world to
come
sin must be discovered; retribution (long evaded here) will at last exact
its uttermost farthing. The most awful picture of a state of eternal punishment
is that of sinners surrendered to the mastery of their own special
transgression; these sins
like the fabled furies
following them
in
unrelenting pursuit
from hall to hall and from cavern to cavern in the regions
of unending woe;--and they
at last
hunted down
wearied
breathless
with the
unavailing effort to escape the tormentors
crouching in wild despair
and
exclaiming
like Ahab to Elijah
“Hast thou found me
O mine enemy?” (J. R.
Macduff
D. D.)
.
“Our desires may undo us”
1. There is no more striking illustration of this proverb than that
supplied in the sacred story of King Ahab and Naboth of Jezreel. It is a curse
of undisciplined desire that it never has enough. It has been asked
“When is a
man rich enough?” and it has been answered
“When he has a little more than he
has.” A little more just to make an even sum
to secure this profitable
investment
to finish this building
to make a complete ring-fence around this
property
to gratify this harmless fad or to please some friend’s taste--just a
little more
and I shall be content
and then I will rest and be thankful. But
undisciplined desire never comes to the resting-place
because such desire
always increases with every new accession.
2. Undisciplined desire is never reasonable. All considerations of
fairness and justice
of right and wrong
of doing “to others what we would
they should do to us
” must give way to this masterful desire.
3. But a man with a great passion of desire seldom hesitates long to
use any means
however unlawful
to gain his object. He either clears the path
himself
or
is too weak and cowardly to work with his own hands
he finds some
strong and unscrupulous instrument.
4. But when such a man as Ahab gains his heart’s desire
is he
satisfied with his possessions? Said Jezebel
“Arise
take possession of the
vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” Did he find the vineyard as large as it had
appeared through the halo of his glowing hopes? Would it really make a
satisfactory garden of herbs? Most of us have learned that there are two ways
of looking through a telescope. One removes a near object far away
but it
hides the blemishes; the other brings the object near
but it reveals all the
blemishes. Possession exposes everything. And if the desire has been
unreasonable and passionate
and especially if the conscience of the possessor
is aroused to condemn the means used
there is left only a miserable sense of
disappointment. When men use unlawful means to gain their desires
they must
face all the consequences. In what beautiful contrast appears the testimony of
St. Paul! “I have learned
in whatsoever state I am
therein to be content . .
. In all things have I learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry
both to abound and to be in want. I can do all things in Him that strengtheneth
me.” (Thomas Wilde.)
Mastery of self
Sir Richard Grenville said of Thomas Stukeley
“He was a knight
who wanted but one step to greatness
and that was
that in his excessive hurry
to rule other people
he forgot to rule himself.” The true victor is he who leads
his own captivity captive
is master of his own heart by giving it over to the
Master Himself. Until the kingdom that has been divided is united
how can it
conquer its foes?
The discontented man
A contented man may have enough
but a discontented man never can;
his heart is like the Slough of Despond into which thousands of waggon loads of
the best material were cast
and yet the slough did swallow up all
and was
none the better. Discontent is a bottomless bog into which if one world were
cast it would quiver and heave for another. A discontented man dooms himself to
the direst form of poverty
yea
he makes himself so great a pauper that the
revenues of empires could not enrich him. Are you impatient in your present
position? Believe me that
as George Herbert said of revenues in times gone by
“He that cannot live on twenty pounds a year cannot live on forty”; so may I
say: he who is not contented in his present position will not be contented in
another though it bring him double possessions. When the vulture of
dissatisfaction has once fixed its talons in the breast it will not cease to tear at your
vitals. (C H. Spurgeon.)
Verse 3
The Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers
unto thee.
The reply of Naboth
and its lessons
I. The reply of
Naboth.
1. It first assures us that he is a conscientious man
and a
worshipper of Jehovah. No; but from a conviction of his duty to God as the
Supreme Lawgiver: and
therefore
rather than offend Him
or violate His will
he would incur the anger and
vengeful power of Ahab.
2. Hence the moral heroism of the reply--similar to that which
distinguished the answer of the apostles
in after history
when forbidden by
the magistrates to preach in the name of Jesus. These brave men recognised the
Divine authority; and
basing their publication upon its evidence
they were
ready to undergo any persecution
any torture
any death
rather than disobey
God. And it was according to this spirit that Naboth uttered the words to Ahab.
3. In this reply of Naboth
there is also the recognition of an old
fundamental law
unrepealed
among the Hebrews
respecting landed property: and
this recognition stands out in direct opposition to the loose practices of
Ahab
the priests
and all the followers of Baal.
II. Its lessons.
1. The great value which every professing Christian ought to set upon
his inheritance
as purchased for
him
and handed down to him by Christ
and that no man ought to
part with it through the force of temptation.
2. We learn furthermore from the reply of Naboth the great importance
of decision of character
or as it is directed towards a right purpose.
3. Naboth openly avowed his belief in God and His laws before Ahab
and a nation given up to idolatry. And thus we are taught not to be ashamed of
confessing our faith in Christ. (W. D. Horwood.)
Verse 4
And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased.
Temper-a deadly sin
In other and less dignified words
Ahab
when he could not
get his own way
went to bed in a sulk. I take it that all those who have tried
even to be close students of human nature are agreed that life as a rule
suffers most
not from the heroic sin or from the deep passion
but from little
mean and contemptible sins. These sins are like the grit in the eye--they
incense and inflame until it happens that a great and noble faculty can be used
no more. And I am going to suggest to this audience that the harmony of life
whether it be of the family life or of the social life of any people
suffers
most from two classes of people--the cross-grained man and the shrew. These
people are ready
as you know
to take umbrage at the faintest slight
even of
a fancied kind
to indulge ill-humour over something that was never intended to
be even a contradiction of their views; and when not venting their venom and
their spite publicly
they are commonly to be found grumbling in a corner; and
if not openly growling
then they are secretly sulking and nourishing their
temper. Now
will you bear with me while I say a word about the description
itself
because there is a lesson which I think we might learn even from the
word. The word “temper
” as you know
is one of the English words which have
gradually come to have a bad sense. It meant in its original “to moderate or to
modify what was unduly harsh or violent
” and in that sense
of course
the
word has been frequently used. I found
for instance
a quotation out of one of
the early English poets
in which he said that the function of the woman was to
temper man--that is
not to put him into a temper
but to modify his naturally
harsh
sour
and severe disposition--a function that everybody here will agree
woman
as a rule
discharges. The word temper
indeed
is used very commonly
for either of two purposes; either to describe a calm
serene
and gracious
nature
or else to describe a hasty
fiery
and ill-conditioned nature. But
when my dictionary was consulted it told me this: that the good use of the word
has
in process of years
become obsolete
and that if the word temper is now
used by itself
it can always be trusted to have the bad significance. So that
I call you to witness it comes to this: that if you want to speak of good
temper you must call it good; but if you want to speak of bad temper you can
simply describe it as temper
and everybody will know what you mean. I want to
ask you that you will distinguish it from what we call passion. Passion
it is
quite true
is often guilty of great and terrible crimes
crimes which arise
from the fact that a great quality has become the master instead of being the
servant of man. But in bad temper there is nothing so great or dignified or strong
as passion. Temper thrives on trivialities. There is no detail so silly; no
pretext so trumpery
but it will give the reins to the man of temper. Passion
is the sublime; temper is really ridiculous save only for this
that the things
it does and the misery it causes would turn all our laughter into tears. To
take--for I am anxious that you should continue your analysis--another
distinction that will occur to you between the two. Passion is always
occasional
it is volcanic
it is soon over. It is like the thunderstorm. It
bursts and breaks; then the sky clears blue and genial and warm. But it is
always the tendency of temper to be chronic and normal
and it corresponds to
what we constantly describe as a certain cross-grained and ill-conditioned nature.
Yes
passion is volcanic
but passion knows how to forgive and to forget. But
temper is not like that. It keeps all its bitterness within. It nourishes its
grudges
it cherishes its slights
it broods over its fancied wrongs. I was
wondering how I could best illustrate this part of what I am trying to say
and
a comparison occurred to me between two kings of your English history--the one
whom I always think of as one of the greatest kings who ever wore the British
crown
the first Edward
a man of passion
deeply beloved
and even adored by
his people; the man of the passionate pilgrimage
which was to be the evidence
of his grief for his wife
to whom Charing Cross is the monument even
to-night--a man of volcanic humour
with floods of tears for the evil deeds his
passion wrought
and of whom Mr. J. R. Green tells the thrilling and touching
story
how he summoned his subjects to Westminster Hall
and when he faced them
could not speak to them
but simply buried his face in his hands and burst into
tears before them all
and then asked forgiveness for wrongs that he had done.
That was the passionate man. I contrast with him the king of temper
John
who
never rose to a single great thought or a single great deed
but who after all
won the loathing and contempt of his subjects
because Dante’s hazy smoke was
always in his heart--morbid
sullen
spiteful
malicious. And now that brings
me very naturally to the discussion of the text which I have taken
and the
narrative to which it refers
a quotation that is familiar to you all. You know
that it introduces us to one of the most cold-blooded and gruesome crimes of
which history contains any record. The real instigator of that crime
and the
executor of the deed was Jezebel. But terrible as Jezebel’s temper is represented
here
I venture to say that to every self-respecting mind the character of Ahab
is more loathsome and more contemptible. Jezebel did the thing. Ahab was only
the weak confederate of his unscrupulous and bold wife
with her heart of
marble. And yet think of it
analyse the scene. Does it not remain
as I say
that Jezebel with all her crimes and her blood-stained hands could even extort
the measure of admiration when you consider her spirit
her intrepidity
and
her initiative
and realise that if these qualities had been devoted to
something worthy of them
she would have been a great woman. But about Ahab
there is nothing great; there is everything that is contemptible--nothing more
heroic than a fit of temper. I have no doubt that his servants went away and
said it was an attack of the liver
and that he would shortly be all right. But
Jezebel knew him better. She knew that it was black venom
and spite
and
malice
and that if he was to get better and recover these must have their
vent. And so she did what he wanted to do
but hadn’t the courage to do. That
is your whole story in a nutshell. “And what is its moral?” you say. “It is so
horrible it has no moral for us.” I am not so sure of that. Its moral is this
I take it
that to a man thus evilly conditioned
the natural disposition is to
every
sorry and cruel suggestion that may come to him from any quarter. For
there he is naturally disposed to think the worst of people and to do them ill.
Ah
yes; and if it had not ended except in evil word it had been bad enough
for if I may in an aside I would say this: temper has always found its readiest
weapon in the tongue
and who in this building can estimate the evil and the
injury that has been done when the tongue has lain at the disposition of temper.
Ah
but is it not true to say that it is possible for you and me
while we
analyse the temper and desire that God’s love will soften and sweeten the
heart--is it not possible
for us to feel some genuine sorrow for them? For
after all
remember that nobody else is made quite so unhappy and so miserable
as they make themselves. There they are; they are unwelcome guests at every
festival
and I fancy that at last they come to know that people anticipate
their advent with apprehension and look upon their backs with relief. They are
the frost on every budding happiness
the skeleton that sits at every feast.
The cross-grained man and the common scold or shrew isolate themselves from
humanity
cut themselves off from the genial and generous debt of life. Their
heart becomes like the North Pole--absolutely locked in impenetrable ice. “And
is there no cure?”
Oh yes
there is something. The mind that was in Christ Jesus
can it be
communicated
or can it not? Is Christianity true when it says: “He will give
you His Spirit
He will make you like Himself”? Is it true or is it not? Some
of you here to-night
are you doomed and destined to bear to your grave this
burden of which I have been speaking
or is there One whose hands can unloose
the thongs and set you free? I know that I am right in what I say. Why
there
are friends known to you
and to dwell in their company is gradually to feel
dissolve and decay within you your bitter thoughts
and your heart come
cordially into sympathy with their genial and generous spirit. That is a great
thing; but
oh
men and women
to company with Jesus Christ
to live in His
presence
beneath His redeeming touch and influence
that is
indeed
to say
good-bye to the bitterness of the heart
that is to receive His sweetness into
this bitter-thoughted mind and soul
that is to be mellowed for His harvesting
made ripe and gracious fruit for His hands to gather. That is my gospel Jesus
Christ can cure. (C. S. Home
M. A.)
Verse 5
Why is thy spirit so sad
that thou eatest no bread?
A cure for the dumps
The witty Sydney Smith once said
“Never give way to melancholy
for if you do
it will encroach upon you like an overflowing river and
overwhelm you.” He added he had given twenty-four precautions to a lady of
melancholy disposition to keep her from being sad. One of the things he
recommended was to keep a bright fire in her room. Another of Sydney Smith’s
remedies for low spirits was to think over all the pleasant things you can
remember. A third receipt was
always to keep a box of sugar-plums on the
mantelpiece. Some of you would object to a sugar-plum when you go to a friend’s
house
but at any rate
it would please the giver for you to accept it
and for
myself I may say that it would give me pleasure to receive it. Another remedy
for despondency prescribed by the humorous Canon was
to always have the kettle
simmering on the hob. These of course are little things
but they have their
influence. These fits of sadness and melancholy make good things appear bad
and they so disturb the balance of our reason as to cause us to imagine that
even loving friends dislike us. Shakespeare puts into the mouth of the
masterpiece of his creative genius
Hamlet
this excellent description of the
feelings of people
who are in the dumps:--“This goodly frame
the earth
seems
to me a barren promontory; while that most excellent canopy
the air
look you;
that great overhanging sky
that majestic roof
fretted with golden fire
--why!
it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of
vapours.” When the “lumbermen” are floating great logs of wood down the river
St. Lawrence
past the city of Quebec
from the interior of Canada--those great
logs which are brought to Liverpool and along our canals and railways to be cut
up in the saw-mills--it sometimes happens that one of these great logs from
being in the river for more than one season
gets its millions of pores filled
with water
when it becomes what is called “water-logged.” The log then sinks
through the water having got into its heart. Likewise
there are men and women
who
while they are being carried along the stream of life
get so saturated
with its cares and troubles that they sink; they are “trouble-logged
” and sometimes they die of
what is called a broken heart. I think it is in our power to prevent people
getting “trouble-logged “ and sinking helplessly in the Slough of Despond.
Cervantes
the finest writer of humour that Spain has produced
whose works
raised a smile on people’s faces when they read or heard about them
was one of
the saddest of men
his features having the marks of perpetual gloom upon them.
Moliere
the greatest master of humorous writing in France
looked as if his face had been
made ugly with disappointment and grief; while Foote
one of our most comic
English writers and actors died of a broken heart. We all get at times into
this hypochondriac way--We all get into the dumps at times
feeling as if there
were no God. The victims of this mental disease of “low spirits” go through the
world as if they were forsaken orphans
without a penny or a friend. There is
the instance of Ahab
who had everything that a despotic king could desire
but
he was not satisfied. In many cases our troubles and disappointments arise from
our own fault. This seems to have been the case with Jacob. Few Scripture
characters had more trouble or were oftener sad than Jacob
who said that all
the days of his life had been evil
and that his children would bring down his
grey hairs in sorrow to the grave. In modern times
few men have excited more
morbid and undeserved sympathy than the poet
Lord Byron
who was often in the
dumps. He inherited a passionate and proud nature
but his greatest trouble
seems to have been his unfortunate club.foot
which he could neither hide nor
put out of remembrance. This and his dissipation made his nature gloomy. Hear
his words--
Melancholy
Sits
on me as a cloud along the sky
Which
will not let the sunbeams through
nor yet
Descend
in rain and end; but spreads itself
‘Twixt
heaven and earth
like envy between man
And
man--and is an everlasting mist.
Why should we punish ourselves because we cannot have what others
have
and which instead of being a blessing might prove a curse? Why should we
torment ourselves because somebody else has obtained what we wanted? Addison
has beautifully
described in an allegory the foolish way in which people are disappointed
because their life is one of obscurity. He says
“There was one day a drop of
rain fell from a cloud into the ocean
and the drop of water bitterly
complained and was sad of heart because it thought it was annihilated in the
mighty expanse of the sea. But it dropped down into the open mouth of an
oyster
where
in process of time
it was transformed and became a pearl
which
at the present day is the ornament of the crown of the Persian monarch.” This
little fable teaches us not to repine at our lot. Though you may be feeble and
humble as compared with other people
though you may not be beautiful or
wealthy
and think yours is a disappointed lot
yet
like that drop of water
our God is preparing you to be an adornment of heaven. Do not therefore be cast
down
or let your heart be grieved by any discouragement of birth or fortune in
this life. (W. Birch.)
Nemesis of a selfish life-
A man who lives entirely for himself becomes at last
obnoxious to himself. I believe it is the very law of God that
self-centeredness ends in self-nauseousness. There is no weariness like the
weariness of a man who is wearied of himself
and that is the awful Nemesis
which follows the selfish life. (J. H. Jowett.)
The tyranny of self
There can be no real happiness in the heart
where self is
enthroned. If you would have peace
you must seize
bind
and never again let
loose
for self is the cruellest tyrant
the deepest shadow
and the blackest
blot that darkens life. To be rid of the despot
you must begin by placing
others first in all your thoughts and actions; at this the coward drops his
head; he hates another to be first. Next
give him no thought or consideration
at all
and though at this neglect he cry out piteously
heed him not
for now
is the time to bind him hard and fast with the cords of forgetfulness; then
cast him far behind
and be careful to allow neither the call of pain nor
pleasure to entice you into loosening one jot or tittle of his bonds
or
once
set free
the monster will rise again
hydra-headed
and
towering above all
else
enfold and crush you within his clutches
until you are no more free
but
a slave
bound hand and foot
in the deadly meshes of over-mastering self. (Great
Thoughts.)
Verse 7
I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth.
Wifely ambition
good and bad
How important that every wife have her ambition an elevated
righteous
and divinely approved ambition! And here let me say that what I am
most anxious for is that woman
not waiting for the rights denied her or postponed
should promptly and decisively employ the rights she already has in possession.
Some say she will be in a fair way to get all her rights when she gets the
right to the ballot-box. I do not know that it would change anything for the
better. But let every wife
not waiting for the vote she may never get
or
getting it
find it outbalanced by some other vote not fit to be cast
arise
now in the might of the Eternal God and wield the power of a sanctified wifely
ambition for a good approximating the infinite. No one can so inspire a man to
noble purposes as a noble woman
and no one so thoroughly degrade a man as a
wife of unworthy tendencies. While in my text we have illustration of wifely
ambition employed in the wrong direction
in society and history are instances
of wifely ambition triumphant in right directions. All that was worth
admiration in the character of Henry VI. was a reflection of the heroics of his
wife Margaret. William
Prince of Orange
was restored to the right path by the
grand qualities of his wife Mary. Justinian
the Roman Emperor confesses that
his wise laws were the suggestion of his wife Theodora. Andrew Jackson
the
warrior and President
had his mightiest
reinforcement in his plain wife
whose inartistic attire was the amusement of
the elegant circles in which she was invited. Washington
who broke the chain
that held America in foreign vassalage
wore for forty years a chain around his
own neck
that chain holding the miniature likeness of her who had been his
greatest inspiration
whether among the snows at Valley Forge or the honours of
the Presidential chair. Pliny’s pen was driven through all its poetic and
historical dominions by his wife
Calpurnia
who sang his stanzas to the sound
of flute
and sat among audiences enraptured at her husband’s genius
herself
the most enraptured. Pericles said he got all his eloquence and statesmanship
from his wife. When the wife of Grotius rescued him from long imprisonment at
Lovestein by means of a bookcase that went in and out
carrying his books to
and fro
in which he was one day transported
hidden amid the folios; and the
women of besieged Wurzburg
getting permission from the victorious army to take
with them so much of their valuables as they could carry
under cover of the promise
shouldered and took with them
as the most important valuables
their
husbands--both achievements in a literal way illustrated what thousands of
times has been done in a figurative way
namely
that wifely ambition has been
the salvation of men. De Tocqueville
whose writings will be potential and
quoted while the world lasts
ascribes his successes to his wife
and says: “Of
all the blessings which God has given to me
the greatest of all in my eyes is
to have lighted on Maria Motley.” Martin Luther says of his wife
“I would not
exchange my poverty with her for all the riches of Croesus without her.”
Isabella of Spain
by her superior faith in Columbus
put into the hand of
Ferdinand
her husband
America. John Adams
President of the United States
said
of his wife: “She never by word or look discouraged me from running all hazards
for the salvation of my country’s liberties.” A whole cemetery of monumental
inscriptions will not do a wife so much good after she has quit the world as
one plain sentence like that which Tom Hood wrote to his living wife when he
said: “I never was anything till I knew you.” O woman
what is your wifely
ambition
noble or ignoble? Is it high social position? That will then probably
direct your husband
and he will climb and scramble and slip and fall and rise
and tumble
and on what level
or in what depth
or on what height he will
after a while
be found
I cannot even guess. The contest for social position
is the most unsatisfactory contest in all the world
because it is so uncertain about your
getting it
and so insecure a possession after you have obtained it
and so
unsatisfactory even if you keep it. The whisk of a lady’s fan may blow it out.
The growl of one “bear
” or the bellowing of one “bull” on Wall Street
may
scatter it. Some of us could tell of what influence upon us has been a wifely
ambition consecrated to righteousness. A man is no better than his wife will
let him be. O wives
swing your sceptres of wifely influence for God and good
homes! Do not urge your husbands to annex Naboth’s vineyard to your palace of
success
whether right or wrong
lest the dogs that come out to destroy Naboth
come out also to devour you. Righteousness will pay best in life
will pay best
in death
will pay best in judgment
will pay best through all eternity. In our
effort to have the mother of every household appreciate her influence over her
children
we are apt to forget the wife’s influence over the husband. In many
households the influence upon the husband is the only home influence. In a
great multitude of the best and most important and most talented families of
the earth there have been no descendants. Multitudes of the finest families of
the earth are extinct. As though they had done enough for the world by their
genius or wit or patriotism or invention or consecration
God withdrew them. In
multitudes of cases all woman’s opportunity for usefulness is with her
contemporaries. How important that it be an improved opportunity! While the
French warriors on their way to Rheims had about concluded to give up attacking
the castle at Troyes
because it was so heavily garrisoned
Joan of Are entered
the room and told them they would be inside the castle in three days. “We would
willingly wait six days
” said one of the leaders. “Six!” she cried out
“you
shall be in it to-morrow
” and
under her leadership
on the morrow they
entered. On a smaller scale
every man has garrisons to subdue and obstacles to
level
and every wife may be an inspired Joan of Are to her husband. What a noble
wifely ambition
the determination
God helping
to accompany her companion
across the stormy sea of this life and together gain the wharf of the Celestial
City! Coax him along with you! You cannot drive him there You cannot nag him
there; but you can coax him there. That is God’s plan. He coaxes us all the
way--coaxes us out of our sins
coaxes us to accept pardon
coaxes us to
heaven. If we reach that blessed place
it will be through a prolonged and
Divine coaxing. (T. De Witt Talmage
D. D.)
Wives who mar their husbands
By the fate of Ahab
whose wife induced him to steal; by the fate
of Macbeth
whose wife pushed him into massacre; by the fate of James Ferguson
the philosopher
whose wife entered the room while he was lecturing and
wilfully upset his astronomical apparatus
so that he turned to the audience
and said: “Ladies and gentlemen
I have the misfortune to be married to this
woman”; by the fate of Bulwer
the novelist
whose wife’s temper was so
incompatible that he furnished her a beautiful house near London
and withdrew
from her company; by the fate of John Milton
who married a termagant after he
was blind
and when somebody called her a rose
the poet said
“I am no judge
of colours
but I may be so
for I feel the thorns daily”--by all these scenes
of disquietude and domestic calamity
we implore you to be cautious and
prayerful before you enter upon the connubial state
which decides whether a
man shall have two heavens or two hells
a heaven here and a heaven there
or a
hell now and a hell hereafter. (T. De Witt Talmage
D. D.)
Verses 17-19
And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite.
Elijah’s mission of judgment
We bend our attention exclusively on the part played by Elijah
amid these terrible transactions.
I. He was called
back to service. How many years had elapsed since last the word of the Lord had
come to Elijah
we do not know. Perhaps five or six. All this while he must have
waited wistfully for the well-known accents of that voice
longing to hear it
once again. Hours
and even years
of silence are full of golden opportunities
for the servants of God. In such cases
our conscience does not condemn us or
accuse us with any sufficient reason arising from ourselves. Our simple duty
then
is to keep clean
and filled
and ready; standing on the shelf
meet for
the Master’s use; sure that we serve if we only stand and wait; and knowing
that He will accept
and reward
the willingness for the deed. “Nevertheless
thou didst well
in that it was in thine heart.”
II. Elijah was not
disobedient. Once before
when his presence was urgently required
he had
arisen to flee for his life. But there was no vacillation
no cowardice now. His
old heroic faith had revived in him again. His spirit had regained its wonted
posture in the presence of Jehovah. His nature had returned to its equipose in
the will of God.
III. He was acting
as an incarnate conscience. Naboth was out of the way; and Ahab may have
solaced himself
as weak people do still
with the idea that he was not his
murderer. How could he be? He had been perfectly quiescent. He had simply put
his face to the wall and done nothing. Often a man
who dares not do a
disgraceful act himself
calls a subordinate to his side
and says: “Such a
thing needs doing; I wish you would see to it. Use any of my appliances you
will; only do not trouble me further about it--and of course you had better not
do anything wrong.” In God’s sight that man is held responsible for whatever
evil is done by his tool in the execution of his commission. The blame is laid
on the shoulders of the Principal; and it will be more tolerable for the
subordinate than for him in the day of judgment. Further than that
but on the
line of the same principle
if an employer of labour
by paying an inadequate
and unjust wage
tempts his employes to supplement their scanty pittance by
dishonest or unholy methods
he is held responsible
in the sight of Heaven
for the evil which he might have prevented
if he had not been wilfully and
criminally indifferent. It is sometimes the duty of a servant of God fearlessly
to rebuke sinners who think their high position a licence to evil-doing
and a
screen from rebuke. And let all such remember that acts of high-handed sin
often seem at first to prosper.
IV. He was hated
for the truth’s sake. “And Ahab said to Elijah
Hast thou found me
O mine
enemy?” Though the king knew it not
Elijah was his best friend; Jezebel his
direst foe. But sin distorts everything. It is like the grey dawn which so
obscures the most familiar objects that men mistake friends for foes
and foes
for friends: as in the old story
the frenzied King of Wales slew the faithful
hound that had saved his child from death. Many a time have men repeated the
error of the disciples
who mistook Jesus for an evil spirit
and cried out for
fear.
V. He was a true
prophet. Each of the woes which Elijah foretold came true. Ahab postponed their
fulfilment
by a partial repentance
for some three years but
at the end of
that time
he went back to his evil ways
and every item was literally
fulfilled. But as we close this tragic episode in his career
we rejoice to
learn that he was reinstated in the favour of God; and stamped again with the
Divine imprimatur of trustworthiness and truth. (F. B. Meyer
B. A.)
Verse 20
Hast thou found me
O mine enemy?
Ahab and Elijah
The keynote of Elijah’s character is force--the force of
righteousness. The New Testament
you remember
talks about the “power of
Elias.” The outward appearance of the man corresponds to his function and his
character. The whole of his career is marked by this one thing--the strength of
a righteous man. And then
on the other hand
this Ahab; the keynote of his
character is the weakness of wickedness
and the wickedness of weakness. And so
the deed is done: Naboth safe stoned out of the way; and Ahab goes down to take
possession! The lesson of that is
my friend--Weak dallying with forbidden
desires is sure to end in wicked clutching at them: But my business now is
rather with the consequences of this apparently successful sin
than with what
went before it. The king gets the crime done
shuffles it off himself on to the
shoulders of his ready tools in the little village
goes down to get his toy
and gets it--but he gets Elijah along with it
which was more than he reckoned
on.
I. Pleasure won by
sin is peace lost. Action and reaction
as the mechanicians tell us
are equal
and contrary. The more violent the blow with which we strike upon the forbidden
pleasure
the further back the rebound after the stroke. When sin tempts--when
there hangs glittering before a man the golden fruit that he knows he ought not
to touch-then
amidst the noise of passion or the sophistry of desire
conscience is silenced for a little while. Conscience and consequence are alike
lost sight of. Like a mad bull
the man that is tempted lowers his head and shuts
his eyes
and rushes right on. The moment that the sin is done
that moment the
passion or desire which tempted to it is satiated
and ceases to exist for the
time. It is gone as a motive. Like some savage beast
being fed full
it lies
down to sleep. There is a vacuum left in the heart
the noise is stilled
and
then--and then--conscience begins to speak. Now
you will say that all that is
true in regard to the grossest forms of transgression
but that it is not true
in regard to the less vulgar and sensual kinds of crime. Of course it is most
markedly observable with regard to the coarsest kind of sins; but it is as
true
though perhaps not in the same degree-not in the same prominent
manifest
way at any rate--in regard to every sin that a man does. There is never an evil
thing which--knowing it to be evil--we commit
which does not rise up to
testify against us. As surely as to-night’s debauch is followed by to-morrow’s
headache; so surely--each after its kind
and each in its own region--every sin
lodges in the human heart the seed of a quickspringing punishment
yea
is its
own punishment. When we come to grasp the sweet thing that we have been tempted
to seize
there is a serpent that starts up amongst all the flowers. When the
evil act is done--opposite of the prophet’s roll--it is sweet in the lips
but
oh! it is bitter afterwards. “At the last it biteth like a serpent
and
stingeth like an adder!” The silence of a seared conscience is not peace. For
peace you want something more than that a conscience shall be dumb. For peace
you want something more than that you shall be able to live without the daily
sense and sting of sin. You want not only the negative absence of pain
but the
positive presence of a tranquillising guest in your heart--that conscience of
yours testifying with you
blessing you in its witness
and shedding abroad
rest and comfort.
II. Sin is blind to
its true friends and its real foes. “Hast thou found me
O mine enemy?” Elijah
was the best friend he had in his kingdom. And that Jezebel there
the wife of
his bosom
whom he loved and thanked for this thing
she was the worst foe that
hell could have sent him. Ay
and so it is always. The faithful rebuker
the
merciful inflictor of pain
is the truest friend of the wrong doer. The worst
enemy of the sinful heart is the voice that either tempts it into sin
or lulls
it into self-complacency
III. The sin which
mistakes the friendly appeal for an enemy
lays up for itself a terrible
retribution. Elijah comes here and prophesies the fall of Ahab. The next peal
the next flash
fulfil the prediction. There
where he did the wrong
he died.
In Jezreel
Ahab died. In Jezreel
Jezebel died. That plain was the battlefield
for the subsequent discomfiture of Israel. (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
Success that fails
Ahab went out to take possession of a garden of herbs
and there
he stands face to face with righteousness
face to face with honour
face to
face with judgment. Now take the vineyard! He cannot! An hour since the sun
shone upon it
and now it is black as if it were part of the midnight which has
gathered in judgment. There is a success which is failure. We cannot take some
prizes. Elijah will not allow us! When we see him we would that a way might
open under our feet that we might flee and escape the judgment of his silent
look. If any man is about to take unholy prizes
let him remember that he will
be met on the road by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of
righteousness. If any man is attempting to scheme for some little addition to
his position or fortune
in the heart of which scheme there is injustice
untruthfulness
covetousness
or a wrong spirit
let him know that he may even
kill Naboth
but cannot enter into Naboth’s vineyard. (J. Parker
D. D.)
The tragedy of Jezreel
When a man gives way to lust and coveting
does not struggle
against them
a tempter is sure to be at hand to put him on gratifying them one
way or another.
1. “Be sure
” said Moses to the Reubenites
“Your sin will find you
out.” (Numbers 32:23). What an exemplification
here! how literally was Elijah’s denunciation fulfilled! Yes
and history and
human experience are ever bearing witness to this
that sin finds out the
sinner; and that
not simply in punishment following sin
but in the sin
becoming its own means of detection and punishment--in a certain correlation of
sin and its penalty. “Thine own wickedness” etc (Jeremiah 2:19). “Be not deceived
God is
not mocked
” etc. (Galatians 6:7). “Whoso breaketh a hedge
”
etc. (Ecclesiastes 10:8).
2. Success in wrongdoing the sinner’s loss. Better indeed had it been
for Ahab if Jezebel’s scheme had failed. Men often fret and fume if thwarted in
attaining some coveted object
yet may it have been their mercy to be so
thwarted. It is Divine goodness which again and again hedges up our way
and
providentially coerces us. To be given up to the devices and desires of our own
hearts is the sorest of judgments.
3. The fatal mistake of resenting righteous rebuke. Terrible was
Ahab’s mistake in calling Elijah his enemy. That uncompromising rebuker
his
truest friend
would he only have listened to him instead of yielding to the
siren seductions of Jezebel. (A. R. Symonds
M. A.)
Blind to one’s own guilt
1. That which first of all blinded Ahab more or less to the true
character and extent of his responsibility for the death of Naboth was the
force of desire. A single desire long dwelt upon
cherished
and indulged
has
a blinding power which cannot easily be exaggerated. Ahab had long looked
wistfully from his villa across the moat of Jezreel at the vineyard of Naboth.
There it lay
beautiful in itself
most desirable as an appendage to the royal
property. Without it the summer villa was obviously incomplete
and each visit
to Jezreel would have strengthened the king’s wish to possess it. It was not
that he enjoyed to baulk a great man’s wishes in the spirit of that rough and
surly independence which is sometimes fostered by the near neighbourhood of a
Court; it was not that he was governed by a natural sentiment common in all
ages and civilisations against parting with an old family property; it was that
the sacred law did not permit the exchange or the sale. With a view to
maintaining the original distribution of landed property among the tribes
and
of preventing the accumulation of large landed estates in a few hands
the
Mosaic law forbade the alienation of lands or families holding them; and
especially it forbade the transfer from one tribe to another. And this is the
meaning of Naboth’s exclamation
“The Lord forbid it me that I should give the
inheritance of my fathers unto thee.” Desire is not always wrong in its early
stages
and so long as it is under control of principle it is a motive
a
useful motive power in human life. But when it finds itself in conflict with
the rights of other men
and
above all
in conflict with the laws and with the
rights of God
it must be suppressed unless it is to lead to crime. When Naboth
declined to sell or to exchange his vineyard
Ahab ought to have ceased to desire
it. Ahab went back to his palace baulked of his desire by the conscientious
resistance of Naboth. The impulsive force in life is not thought
nor will
but
desire. Thought sees its object; will gives orders with a view to attain it;
but without desire thought is powerless
and will
in the operative sense
does
not exist. Desire is to the human soul what gravitation is to the heavenly
bodies. Ascertain the object of a man’s desire
and you know the direction in
which his soul is moving; ascertain the strength of a man’s desire
and you
know the rapidity of the soul’s movement. In St. Augustine’s memorable words
“Whithersoever I am carried forward it is desire that carries me.” Quocumque
feror amore feror. If the supreme object of desire is God
then desire
becomes the grace of charity
and carries the soul onwards and upwards to the
true source of its existence. If the supreme object of desire be something
earthly
some person
some possession
then desire becomes what Scripture calls
concupiscence
and carries the soul downwards--downwards to those regions in
which the soul is buried and stifled by matter and sense. Concupiscence is
desire diverted from its true object--God--and centred upon some created object
which perverts and degrades it; and concupiscence grows by self-indulgence; it
may very easily pass a point at which it can be no longer controlled
it may
absorb as into a practically resistless current all the other interests and
movements of the soul; it may concentrate with an all-increasing importunity
the whole body and stock of feeling and passion upon some trifling object upon
which
for the moment
it is bent
and which
by absorbing it
blinds
it--blinds it utterly to the true proportions and value of things into the true
meaning and import of action. So it was with Pharaoh when he set out in the
pursuit of Israel; so it was with the vain and miserable Haman when he set his
heart on exterminating the Jews; so it was with Ahab.
2. And a second cause
which could have blinded Ahab to the true character
of his responsibility for the murder of Naboth
was the ascendant influence and
prominent agency of his queen
Jezebel. Ahab could not have enjoyed the results
of Jezebel’s achievement
and decline to accept responsibility for it; yet
no
doubt
he was more than willing to do this
more than willing to believe that
matters had drifted somehow into other hands than his
and that the upshot
regrettable
no doubt
in one sense
but in another not altogether unwelcome
was beyond his control. It is to-day
as of old
that false conscience
constantly endeavours to divest itself of responsibility for what has been done
through others
or for what others had been allowed by us to do. This is the origin of that saying
“Corporations have no conscience.” The fact is that every individual member of
a corporation gets too easily into the habit of thinking that all
or some of
the other members are really answerable for the acts of tim whole
and that
each merely acquiesces in what the others decide or do. But then
if everybody
thinks this
where
meanwhile
does the real responsibility reside?--it must be
somewhere
it cannot evaporate altogether. In very large bodies of men acting
together
the responsibility is divided into very small portions of unequal magnitude;
this is the case with nations and with churches
but responsibility is not
destroyed by being thus distributed; while
on the other hand- the smaller the
corporation the greater the responsibility of each one of its members. Thus the
responsibility of each member of the British legislature for the well-being of
the country is vastly greater than that of each Englishman who possesses a
vote
and that of each member of the Cabinet is vastly greater than that of
each member of Parliament. Ahab and Jezebel were at this time
practically
speaking
the governing corporation in Israel
but Ahab could not shift his
responsibility on Jezebel.
3. And the third screen which would have blinded Ahab to the real
state of the case was the perfection of the legal form which had characterised
the proceedings. When Jezebel wrote to the magistrates of Jezreel she had been
very careful indeed about legal propriety. She wrote in the “king’s name;” she
signed the letter with the king’s seal
which would have borne the king’s
signature
and this
when stamped on the writing
made the actual signature
unnecessary. Thus the letter had nothing less than the character of a royal
command
and was addressed to the persons at Jezreel with whom the
administration of justice properly lay--the elders and notables
the local
magistracy. Law is a great and sacred thing. It is nothing less than a shadow
upon earth of the justice of God. The forms which surround it
the rules which
give it the dignity and honour which belong to its representatives
are the
outworks of a thing itself entitled to our reverence. But when the machinery of
law is tampered with
as was
no doubt
the case by Jezebel
when a false
witness or a biased judge contributes to a result which
if legal
is not also
moral
then law is like an engine off the rails--its remaining force is the
exact measure of its capacity for mischief and for wrong
then
indeed
if
ever
Summum jus
summa injuria. Naboth’s trial and execution was
in
truth
one of the earliest recorded samples in the world’s history of that
dreadful outrage against God and man--a judicial murder. When the sword of justice
smites down innocence and becomes the instrument of crime
the whole spirit and
drift of law is abandoned
its language and its usages survive
and
as in
Ahab’s case
they form a screen between a guilty conscience and the stern
reality. Of the authors and abettors of such deeds as this
it was said in an
earlier age
“They will not be learned nor understand
but walk on still in
darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.” The foundations
are out of course! Yes
that is the effect bad law makes in many a case where
consciences
the deepest and most precious things in the moral and social life
of man
are ruined. Propriety of outward form in the condemnation of Naboth is
the measure of the miserable self-deceit of Ahab.
1. Let us carry away two lessons
if no more. The first to keep all
forms of desire well under control--under the control of conscience illuminated
by principle
illuminated by faith. Some measure of desire is necessary for
exertion; but the fewer wants we have the freer men we are
and the freer we are the happier we
are. The one direction in which desire may be safely unchecked is heavenward.
Safety lies in taking and keeping it well in hand
and in doing this betimes.
2. And
secondly
for us Christians the event or the man who
discovers us to ourselves should be held to be not our enemy
but our friend. (Canon
Liddon
D. D.)
Verse 25
But there was none like unto Ahab
which did sell himself to work
wickedness in the sight of the Lord.
Ahab
I. An illustration
of the depths of human depravity.
1. Ahab’s pre-eminence in sin (1 Kings 16:30). There had been many
instances of wickedness decked with the robes of royalty; but there was none
like Ahab.
2. Ahab’s bargain with hell. He stands before us as a self-sold slave
of the devil. Ahab sold himself! What a bargain!
3. The daring character of Ahab’s wickedness. “In the sight of the
Lord.” Most strive to work wickedness under the covert of darkness--under the
shades of night
or wearing
the hypocrite’s mask. Not so Ahab.
II. An evidence of
the unmanly servility of evil. “Whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.” This Syrian
princess
whom Ahab had married
was a woman of the most consummate subtlety
duplicity
and cruelty.
III. A proof of the
magnitude of the divine mercy. Great was the long-suffering of God in
permitting Ahab to reign so long (2 Peter 3:9). Great
too
was His
mercy in regarding the humiliation of this guilty man (1 Kings 21:29)
i.e. the
destruction of his posterity (Psalms 86:15). “God gives no repulse”
(says Bengel)
“when He gives good things: He neither upbraids us with our past
folly and unworthiness
nor with future abuse of His goodness.”
IV. The evanescent
nature of merely selfish penitence. Ahab appeared by his fasting and
humiliation to return to God; but his goodness proved “like the morning cloud.”
He soon cast off the yoke of the Divine authority
and “returned to his
wallowing in the mire.” In this he is the type of multitudes
who in their
affliction say
“Come
and let us return unto the Lord”; but bring forth no “fruits
meet for repentance.” (Patrick Morrison.)
Verse 27
And it came to pass
when Ahab heard those words
that he rent his
clothes.
Ahab’s repentance
I. How Ahab’s repentance
was called forth. A threefold crime is here laid to the charge of the King of
Israel: that he had provoked God to anger--that he had made Israel to sin--and
that he had sold himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord. It was
for this cause that the sword of the Almighty had been whetted for the
destruction of himself and his house. It is a common proverb that “Every man
has his price”; that there is something for which every one will be found
willing to sell himself. These are words of very awful import
and yet they are
but too true concerning every natural man. The children of this world
proud as
they are of themselves
may always be bought with one temptation or another:
honours
profits
pleasures of one class or another
will induce them to debase
themselves more and more. The idol to which Ahab sacrificed was his affection
for Jezebel. His own will
his honour
his peace of conscience
the salvation
of his soul
the favour of God--all that he had or hoped for
was laid at this
idol’s feet. Would that he were singular in such infatuation; or only one of a
few! But alas
it is common in every age. Let any one ask himself
why he is an
unbeliever; why he despises the people of God; why he serves the world and the
devil
and endeavours to stifle every good conviction. What an accursed
alliance
though it be under the sacred name of friendship itself
must that
be
which is connected with enmity against God!
II. What kind of
repentance it was. This mourning of the King of Samaria was real as far as it
went. The wretched outward dress in which he appeared was a true expression of
his inward temper and state of mind. Still
much was wanting in his repentance
to render it a repentance unto life and salvation. It was not a mourning like that of the woman
that was a sinner at the feet of Jesus
like that of the thief on the cross
or
that of the poor publican. Ahab’s repentance was utterly destitute of love; and
it is love which hallows all our acts and deeds
and give them a real value.
Now
when a sinner has
with heartfelt seriousness
pronounced sentence against
himself before the throne of God
he has begun to die to the law. For here is
an end of his supposed self-righteousness
and of his own supposed ability. But
that true repentance
which the Scripture calls a godly sorrow
and a
repentance which needeth not to be repented of
does not
as yet necessarily exist.
This is but
as it were
dying before the Divine holiness; as we see was the
case of St. Paul
in Romans 7:1-25
: “When the commandment
came
sin revived
and I died. And the commandment
which was ordained to life
I found to be
unto death.” Now
this glorious and happy death comes by “the law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:2). And this law is no other
than the Gospel; whereby alone it is that true
divine
and saving repentance
is called forth.
III. What were its
consequences. Here was a delay of execution; but no revocation of the sentence.
The curse still rested upon Ahab and his house. Yet even this respect shown to
a repentance which had so little intrinsic worth
this exemption of Ahab from
personally experiencing those storms which impended over his house
was an instance of great
condescension and favour. But why
it may be asked
if Ahab’s humiliation was
so little worth
was any Divine regard shown towards it? This
we answer
was
to show by a living example that self-condemnation and abasement before God is
the way to escape His anger
and obtain His favour. Just as a novice in any art
or trade may be cheered by words of encouragement at the first favourable
attempt which he makes
however important it may be; so the exemption which the
Lord made in Ahab’s favour on repenting
was calculated to encourage him to aim
at something better. Self-condemnation
self-abasement
and giving God the
glory
are the first steps from spiritual death to spiritual life. (F.
W. Krummacher
D. D.)
Repentance of Ahab
I. A person whose
heart is unchanged
and who is totally destitute of real piety
may perform
many outward religious duties
and have inward sentiments and affections
somewhat resembling the Christian graces.
II. How powerful is
the word of God
which can humble the haughtiest oppressors
and make the most
hardened of mortals tremble.
III. Sin is always
succeeded by sorrow and remorse. (H. Kollock
D. D.)
Ahab
In the context we have three subjects worthy of attention.
1. A fiendishly greedy soul
2. A truly heroic soul.
3. A morally alarmed soul. In this incident we discover three things.
I. The
worthlessness of a partial reformation.
II. The mighty
force of Divine truth.
III. The
self-frustrating power of sin. (Homilist.)
Ahab’s sin and repentance
There is much in this old chronicle of sin and doom which it may
profit us to ponder. Let me try to bring out of it some present-day lessons of warning and
admonition.
I. Happiness
consists
not in having
but in being. How many even to-day are letting their
lives be darkened because some Naboth denies them a vineyard
or some Mordecai
will not salute them! They forget that
even if they had the things which they
so long for
happiness would be as far from them as ever
and some new object
would take the place of their old grievance. They do lack one thing. But that
one thing is not external to them
but within them. They lack a new heart
and
until they get that they can have no abiding satisfaction. “Whosoever drinketh
of this water shall thirst again.”
II. The evil of
unhallowed alliances. Dazzled with the glitter of a fortune
or the glare of an
exalted position
a young person enters into the sacred alliance of matrimony
with one who has no moral stability or Christian excellence
and the issue is
certain misery
with the probable addition of crime and disaster.
III. The perversion
which an evil heart makes of religious knowledge. The Spaniards have a proverb
somewhat to this effect
“When the serpent straightens himself
it is that he
may go into his hole.” So when the unscrupulous suddenly manifest some
punctilious regard for legal forms or for religious observances
you may be
sure that they are after mischief. Some of the blackest crimes that have ever
been committed have been perpetrated through the forms of law
or under the
colour of religion. Is it not true that “the heart is deceitful above all
things
and desperately wicked”? and are we forcibly impressed with the fact
that no one is so daringly defiant in wickedness as he who knows the truth and
disregards it? Mere knowledge never yet saved any one from ruin; for
if the
heart be perverted
everything that enters the head is only made subservient to
its iniquity. Your educated villains are all the more dangerous because of their
education; and among godless men they are the most to be dreaded who have an
intelligent acquaintance with the Word of God.
IV. The price which
we have to pay for sin. What weighty words are these of Elijah to Ahab
“Thou
hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord”! The great German poet
has elaborated this thought into that weird production wherein he represents
his hero as selling his soul to the mocking Mephistopheles. And it were well
that every evil-doer laid to heart the moral of his tragic tale. That which the
sinner gives for his unhallowed pleasure or dishonest gain is himself. Consider
it well.
V. The curse which
attends ill-gotten gains. The gains of ungodliness are weighted with the curse
of God; and
sooner or later
that will be made apparent. For the moral
government of God to-day is administered on the same principles as those which
we find underlying this narrative. True
the dishonest man now pursuing his
purposes in secret may have no Elijah sent to him
with the special mission to
declare to him the sort of punishment which shall overtake him; but Elijah’s
God is living yet
and one has only to open his eyes
and mark the progress of
events from year to year
to be convinced that “sorrow tracketh wrong
as echo
follows song--on
on
on.”
VI. The tenderness
of God toward the penitent. Ahab was filled with bitter regret at what had been
done
and God
who will not break the bruised reed or quench the smoking flax
said that the evil should not come in his day. If God were so considerate of
Ahab
the idolater
the murderer
the thief
will He not regard thee
O thou
tearful one! who art bemoaning the number and aggravation of thy sins? Go
then
to Him; and let this be thine encouragement. (W. M. Taylor
D. D.)
Ahab’s repentance
and punishment deferred
I. The repentance
of Ahab was awakened by the fearful prediction of coming vengeance
which
Elijah delivered at the moment when he had taken possession of Naboth’s
vineyard. Mark the power of the Divine word. Is it not “like as a fire
saith
the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces”? In the moment of
Ahab’s humiliation
his remorse was sincere; i.e.
his conscience was
roused
his fears excited
his sense of God’s justice real
and his desire for
pardon unfeigned.
II. Ahab’s
punishment was suspended in his own days. “Because he humbleth himself before
Me
I will not bring the evil in his days.” How can this be? It is possible
that the God of mercy should show mercy; and that His mercy should rejoice
against judgment. The history of our own lives
still spared and still
prolonged
notwithstanding our manifold transgressions
is an evidence of this
certain truth. And what is the practical result
arising from this combined
view of God’s mercy and truth? Assuredly
it will cause the contrite to hope
and the careless to fear. The one will recognise
in the sorest visitations
that befall him
the hand of a gracious Father who chastens that He may bless;
and whose afflictions are strewed upon the path of life
like the arrows of
Jonathan before David
not for destruction
but for warning. The other will as
surely perceive
that God’s word shall not return unto him void; and
that
if
it work not his conversion
it must be his condemnation. The threatenings which
are revealed
that the sinner may repent
will remain
if he do not repent
to
proclaim his fall.
III. The threatened
evil
which was suspended in the days of Ahab
should
in his son’s days
be
brought upon his house. And here we cannot but call to mind the fact
that
whatever be the difficulties
connected with the view which is here presented
to us
of God’s moral government
or however weakly we may succeed in
explaining them; it is
still
the government of God
of Him who is righteous
in all His ways
and holy in all His works. The matter of fact
in the history
before us
came to pass
as it is here predicted. Evil was brought upon Ahab’s
house
in his son’s days Ahaziah
his first successor
soon perished. The next
Jehoram
fell by the arm of Jehu
in the very portion of Naboth’s field. The
seventy sons in Jezreel
were also slain
in obedience to the commands of Jehu
which he sent to the elders of that city; and
last of all
the same anointed
captain
“slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel
and all his
great men
and all his kinsfolk
and his priests
until he left him none
remaining.” Now
if we examine the sacred narrative which relates these events
we shall find that all these descendants of Ahab walked in his evil ways
and
wrought evil in the sight of the Lord. It was not the innocent
then
suffering
for the guilty; but the guilty reaping the harvest of his own guilt. And since
“known unto God are all his works before the beginning of the world
” the whole
of this train of wickedness was known likewise
--itself
its causes
and its
consequences
--that long process stretching out
from year to year
and from
generation to generation
--whose separate and disjointed portions
only
can be
discerned by moral intellect
--but the whole of which was
alike
and at the
same moment
present to the Eternal Mind. It is difficult for us
in forming
our estimate of actions
to preserve this distinction between the occasion
which leads to an event
and its immediate effective cause; but a distinction
there is
and must be remembered. When a criminal is convicted at the tribunal
of an earthly judge
the law
and they who administer it
are the instrumental
causes of inflicting the sentence; but the crime committed is the immediate
cause which deserves it. We do not confound these things
in our estimate of
the dealings between man and man: let us not confound them
therefore
when we
are contemplating the revealed dispensations of God to man. But may we not be
permitted
in some degree
to trace the course of the Divine counsels
in the
present instance? The punishment of Ahab’s descendants
we know to have been
inflicted under a theocracy
which employed temporal rewards
and temporal
punishments
as the instruments of its government. Now
what instrument could
be more powerful
in such a case
than the prospect of misery
about to fall
upon the children of the sinner
as well as upon himself? His own licentious
and hardened passions might make a man insensible to the fear of temporal evil
befalling himself; but
when he was assured
as he could not fail to be
by the
moral law of Moses
that Divine wrath would visit his iniquity
upon his
“children
unto the third and fourth generation
” every instinctive feeling of
parental kindness and affection would be enlisted on the side of duty
and act as a restraint upon
the unruly will. (J. S. M. Anderson
M. A.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》