1 Kings 21                                                               Book of Kings  

1 Kings 21:1 And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

 

2 And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

• God gave them this land, and you couldn't sell your own vineyards
• Once Israel came into the promise land, God gave them this land.
• He was breaking the commandments
• Levites 25:23 The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.
  24 And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.
• Number 36:7 So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
  8 And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers.
  9 Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance.
• This is a fulfillment of what God told them would happen to them if they had a man king of the earth over them.
• 1 Samuel 8:14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.
• Your inheritance today is the Lord, for He owns everything
• Don't be like Esau, he sold his inheritance
• Esau despised his birthright, He didn't care about his birthright, He sold it
• Joshua 13:33 But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not any inheritance: the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance, as he said unto them.

3 And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.

 

4 And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.

• He didn't want to talk or see anyone.
• He acting like a child

5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?

 

6 And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard.

 

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.

• Jezebel said, your the king of Israel
• She thinks it's her land

8 So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth.

• Jezebel wrote the letter, not the king
• Sealing was done by rubbing ink on the seal, moistening the paper, and pressing the seal thereon.

9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:

• On high = in a conspicuous place; or, perhaps, before the bar of justice.
  

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.

• Belial = OT:1100 = evil, naughty, ungodly (men), wicked
• Deut 13:13 Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;
• 1 Samuel 2:12 Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord.
  13 And the priests' custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a flesh hook of three teeth in his hand;
• Belial, before him, to bear witness against him
• Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.
• Deut 17:6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
• Blaspheme = The current Hebrew text reads "bless". It is one of the emendations of the Sopherim, and is correctly rendered "blaspheme".

11 And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.

• These men didn't stand up to Jezebel
• This is how bad things had got to be
• Just like today, you hear freedom of religion, but who's religion?
• The people vote laws in, but the courts change them, now the media and government thinks it's okay.
• What happen to "we the people"
• Brainwashing has grown vastly, due to the fact that the mass media is involved.
  

12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.

 

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.

• Jezebel had Naboth and his sons killed, to take their land
• The men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth
• Cain killed his brother Abel, just as Abel blood crying from the ground
• Genesis 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
  9 And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
  10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
  11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
  12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
• 2 Kings 9:26 Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the Lord; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the Lord. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the Lord.

14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.

• Notice they didn't go to the King, they went to Jezebel

15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.

• Jezebel thinks everything oaky
• Arise = This form of the imperative is only found in connection with God, and always with reference to the promised land. And the lengthened form is found only in Moses" mouth.
• Numbers 10:35 And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee.
  36 And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel.

16 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

• Ahab is just as guilty as Jezebel

17 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

 

18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it.

 

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.

• 1 Kings 22:37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.
  38 And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armour; according unto the word of the Lord which he spake.
  39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
• 2 Kings 9:36 Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel:
• Killed = murdered

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.

• Thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD

21 Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,

• Will take away thy posterity = his seed = his children

22 And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.

• Jeroboam the son of Nebat, = first king over the ten tribes
•  Baasha the son of Ahijah = third king over the ten tribes

23 And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.

• Jezreel = Not Samaria the capital, but Jezreel where Naboth had been murdered.

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.

• Deut 28:24 The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
  25 The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
  26 And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.

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.

• Out of the twenty none was like kings Ahab he was the worse king over the ten tribes
• Jezebel wasn't of the tribes of Israel. her father was a baal priest

26 And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

• King Ahab was worser than baal gods
• Idols = filthy idols

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.

• Rent his clothes = His repentance
• Went softly = humbly

28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

• These words came from God to Elijah

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.

• To their children that sin and hate God
• Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
  5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
• 1 Kings 11:12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
  13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.

• Exactly 2520 years from the exile of Benjamin, Iceland became an independent nation.

 

•  The first tribe to be conquered by the Assyrians was Manasseh, in 745 B.C. Exactly 2520 years later America became a nation on July 4, 1776.

 

• Study the book: Abrahamic Covenant, (A study outline of the identity of God's people) By E. Raymond Capt - page 25