SERIES M --- PROPHESIES AND MIRACLES --- LESSON 5

NABOTH’S VINEYARD

THE MURDER OF NABOTH

From 1 Kings 21

A man by the name of Naboth owned a vineyard beside Ahab’s palace walls at Jezreel. Ahab wanted this vineyard, so he went to talk to Naboth about buying it. [Your vineyard is just what I need for a vegetable garden, for it is next to my palace,] said Ahab. [I will buy it from you for whatever it is worth or if you prefer, I will give you a better vineyard for it.] [But I can’t sell this vineyard,] Naboth protested. [It has been in our family for many generations and was my inheritance from my father.] Ahab returned to the palace angry and sulking. He lay on his bed without eating and turned his face away so that he would not look at anyone. [Why are you so upset that you will not eat?] his wife Jezebel asked. [Because I offered to buy Naboth’s vineyard or trade him a better vineyard for it, but he refused,] said the king. [Don’t you rule over all Israel?] Jezebel asked. [Now get up, eat something and cheer up. I’ll see that you get Naboth’s vineyard.] Jezebel quickly wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his official seal and sent one to each of the leaders of Jezreel. [Proclaim a fast and assemble the people,] the message commanded. [Put Naboth on trial and have two worthless men accuse him of cursing YHVH and the king. Find him guilty and stone him to death.] The leaders of the city hurried to obey the king’s orders. They proclaimed the fast, assembled the people and put Naboth on trial for cursing YHVH and the king. They brought two worthless men as witnesses who accused Naboth of doing this as they sat opposite him. After the city leaders took Naboth outside the city and stoned him to death; they sent a message to Jezebel. [Naboth has been stoned to death,] they said. [Naboth is dead,] said Jezebel to Ahab. [Now you can go and claim the vineyard he wouldn’t sell to you.] Ahab immediately went down to claim Naboth’s vineyard. But while he was on his way, Adonai Commanded Elijah to meet him there. [Go to King Ahab at Naboth’s vineyard, for he is on his way there to take possession of it,] Adonai Commanded. [Tell him that it is bad enough to murder, but it is worse to steal from the man he has murdered. Tell him that Adonai says, ‘dogs will lick up your blood in the same place where they have licked up the blood of Naboth.’] When Elijah arrived at Jezreel, there was Ahab, ready to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard. [Have you found me, O my enemy?] asked Ahab when he saw Elijah. [Yes, I have found you,] Elijah answered. [You have sold yourself to do things that displease Adonai. But Adonai has some very bad news for you. He will destroy your entire family as He did the family of King Jeroboam and King Baasha. Not one male descendant of yours shall escape. Furthermore, Adonai says the dogs of Jezreel will tear Jezebel’s body to pieces within the city. Any of your family members who die in the city shall be eaten by dogs and any who die in the country shall be eaten by birds.] No one had sold himself to do evil as much as Ahab, for his wife Jezebel had lured him into almost every kind of sin. He did great evil in worshiping idols, the very thing the Amorites had done, which caused Adonai to force them from the land so the Israelites could live there. When Ahab heard Elijah’s message he tore his clothing, put on sackcloth and slept in it to show his repentance; he fasted and walked about with great humility. Then Adonai spoke to Elijah again. [See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me,] He said. [Because of this, I will not bring the punishment I promised during his lifetime, but I will cause these things to happen to his sons.]

COMMENTARY

THE BATTLE OF QARQAR

In the ninth century B.C. the kingdom of Assyria began pushing westward, intent on expanding the Empire until it included the kingdoms along the Mediterranean Sea. At first the rulers of these areas seemed unaware of the growing threat. Israel, Syria and Judah were concerned with their own disputes with each other. No one stopped the Assyrian king, Ashurnasirpal II, when he entered northern Phoenicia and demanded tribute from the wealthy coastal cities. Years later, in 853 B.C., his son attempted to expand Assyrian control even further. Shalmaneser III marched from his capital at Nineveh, conquering cities all the way to Qarqar. But this time the kings of the western kingdoms were prepared. They had united in one of the most remarkable alliances of ancient history. King Ahab of Israel and King Ben-hadad of Syria put aside their feuds and, joined by King Arhuleni of Hamath, formed a league of kings against the Assyrians. Nine other kings from both ends of the Mediterranean joined them. They came from as far north as Kue, as far south as Arabia and Egypt. The combined forces of the twelve rulers included almost four thousand chariots and seventy thousand soldiers. They fought the Assyrian army outside Qarqar, a city on the Orontes River. Shalmaneser’s records boast that the corpses of his enemies were scattered like raindrops in a storm. He claimed that the valleys flowed with the blood of the slain and that he crossed the Orontes on a bridge formed by the bodies clogging the river. In truth, his victory was less than complete; historians think the battle was won by neither side. Assyrian losses must have been great, for they did not return to the western kingdoms for four years. The Bible does not discuss the battle and no records have been found of the league’s opinion. But their actions indicate that the immediate threat was reduced. The league broke up and Syria and Israel returned to their old conflicts.