Among the kings of Israel, "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." (1 Kings 21:25)
God had commanded Israel that they should not make marriages with the people of heathen nations, because these would turn them away from following Him and beguile them into the worship of false gods, but: "Ahab did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him." (1 Kings 16:30-31)
It seemed a grievous sin, even in so depraved a nature as Ahab's, but it brought its own punishment. God had said that if Israel would join themselves to idolatrous nations and make marriages with them, "they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land." (Joshua 23:13)
A Present Danger
The same warning is given now. "Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion has light with darkness? And what concord has Christ with Belial? or what part has he that believes with an infidel?" (2 Corinthians 6:14-15)
It is true that Ahab was not himself faithfully serving God, but, for this reason, it was all the more dangerous for him to become allied with a woman whose influence would certainly tend to still further separate him from the Lord. Many who have not fully surrendered themselves to God, though knowing His will, excuse their intention of joining themselves to unbelievers by saying that these are as good as themselves. While this may be true the terrible danger of their course is none the less real.
In a little while the glamour of romance will have worn away, the novelty of a new experience will cease to excite the mind, for no human love can satisfy the soul's deep need. There will be an intense desire for the pure, sweet, lasting comfort that Christ alone can give. Then too late comes the bitter awakening to the fact that what was intended to be a temple for the living God has been surrendered to idols.
To be faithful to God means then a lifelong struggle against opposing, ever-present influences, and many give up in discouragement.
Evil Influences
Since the time dealt with in our last lesson, God had given Ahab two wonderful deliverances from the hand of Benhadad, king of Syria. The Syrian army, although greatly out-numbering Israel, had been totally destroyed and Benhadad forced to sue for his life, which Ahab had weakly spared.
There is evidence in Ahab's history that he was not altogether indifferent to the word of the Lord and that, at least once, he showed real contrition for his wrong-doing. Without Jezebel he might have left undone some of the crimes which have stained the record of his reign, but he was "stirred up" by the wicked ingenuity of his abandoned wife. He had heavily handicapped himself by his union with her, and he had to suffer the consequences.
Naboth's Integrity
Close by Ahab's palace in Jezreel was a garden of herbs owned by Naboth. Some plan of the king's for the improvement of his property made it seem desirable that this garden should be added to his grounds, and he approached Naboth with a proposition for its purchase or exchange. Naboth, unlike his corrupt neighbors, respected the commandment of the Lord, which had forbidden any man to permanently dispose of his inheritance, and firmly declined to entertain the king's suggestion.
Baulked in this pet project, Ahab went home like a spoiled, peevish child, and fretted because he could not have his own way. "And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread." (1 Kings 21:4)
Jezebel found him thus, giving rein to his ill-humour, and drew from him the story of his complaint. She laughed to scorn his dejection over the repulse of a rebellious subject and promised that she would give him the vineyard herself. Doubtless in Zidon, where she came from, they had a short way of dealing with men like Naboth, who presumed to set themselves against the wishes of a king.
Falsely Condemned
Her plans were soon executed, and found only too ready agents in the men of Naboth's city. These at her instigation brought false charges against him, and with deep-dyed hypocrisy condemned him to death on a charge of blaspheming God. "Then they carried him forth and stoned him with stones that he died." (1 Kings 21:13)
His sons also were slain. "Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, says the Lord." (2 Kings 9:26)
The report was carried to Jezebel that Naboth had been removed, and she in turn conveyed it to Ahab, bidding him "Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, which he refused to give you for money: for Naboth is not alive but dead." (1 Kings 21:15)
In the first blush of pleasure Ahab sets out to examine his new possession. He must have at least guessed that it had come to him by unjust means, but in the gratifying reflection that he could now carry out his plans unhindered, he gives himself no trouble as to how the transfer has been accomplished.
The Wages of Sin
But who is this menacing figure that stands before him in the garden? The sight of the man of God recalls.
• the long story of his past misdoing,
• the thirsty years of famine,
• the scene on Mount Carmel,
• the fire from heaven and the slaughter of the priests of Baal,
• his own hopeless struggle against the power of God,
• his recent crime, the very place in which he stands testifying to his guilt and crying, like the blood of Abel for vengeance on a murderer; all crowds upon his guilty conscience and fills him with a dire foreboding of well-earned retribution. Before Elijah has spoken, the cowering king confesses his self-condemnation in the words, "Have you found me, O my enemy!" (1 Kings 21:20)
Sharp and clear, like all Elijah's words, comes the sentence, "Thus says the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your blood. ... The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel." (1 Kings 21:19,23)
Here, on the scene of their latest crimes the punishment is to come. The vineyard of Naboth is not taken from Ahab. He may take what pleasure he will in it now.
Jezebel was a heathen who professed no allegiance to God, but this in no wise exonerated her from the duty of rendering obedience to His law, or exempted her from the penalty of transgressing it. Men think that God has no claims upon them except such as they choose to acknowledge, but "What things soever the law says, it says to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." (Romans 3:19)
Jezebel and Ahab thought to secure for themselves desired advantages by their sin, but in their case, as in all others, the only wages received for sin is death.
Reaping Corruption
Satan makes many things appear, in the eyes of men, of priceless value, if they be forbidden by the law of God, but when men have gained the thing desired, often at the cost of their own soul, they realize for how little they have sold themselves.
Like Cain, men become filled with a thirst for revenge that will not be satisfied without destroying the offending life, but when the desire is gratified, the cold, impassive face of the dead turns the short-lived triumph into an abiding curse, heavier than they can bear. Amnon so greatly desired Tamar that he became sick with longing, but when he had satisfied his lust, he "hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her." (2 Samuel 13:15)
The soul of Judas was consumed with a passion for gain, but when he received the thirty pieces of silver, which had outweighed in his estimation the sacred claims of friendship and honor, there was no sacrifice he would not have made to cancel the fatal bargain. It was not silver that he had won, but the unblessed end of a despairing suicide, the abhorrence of a universe.
Grace Abounding
The history of Ahab teaches that the way of the transgressor is hard, (Proverbs 13:15) that it may be made even harder by marriage with one who will confirm evil tendencies, that Satan's promises to those whom he deceives are never fulfilled, and we may also learn from Ahab's life that "the mercy of the Lord endures for ever," (Psalm 118:1) for even after Naboth's murder, because Ahab humbled himself before God, the threatened evil did not come in his days. Surely, "There is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared." (Psalm 130:4)--Present Truth, July 21, 1898--Notes on the International Sunday-School Lessons--1 Kings 21:4-16
E.J. Waggoner