1
KINGS 21:1-20 NRSV
1Later the following events took place: Naboth the Jezreelite had
a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. 2And
Ahab said to Naboth,
"Give me your
vineyard, so that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my
house; I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I
will give you its value in money."
3But Naboth said to Ahab, "The LORD forbid that I should
give you my ancestral inheritance."
4Ahab went
home resentful and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to
him; for he had said, "I will not give you my ancestral inheritance."
He lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat.
5His wife Jezebel came to him and said, "Why are you so depressed
that you will not eat?" 6He said to her, "Because I spoke
to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money; or
else, if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it'; but he answered,
'I will not give you my vineyard.'" 7His wife Jezebel said to
him, "Do you now govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I
will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."
8So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his
seal; she sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived with Naboth
in his city. 9She wrote in the letters, "Proclaim a fast, and
seat Naboth at the head of the assembly; 10seat two scoundrels
opposite him, and have them bring a charge against him, saying, 'You have
cursed God and the king.' Then take him out, and stone him to death." 11The
men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as
Jezebel had sent word to them. Just as it was written in the letters that she
had sent to them, 12they proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the
head of the assembly. 13The two scoundrels came in and sat opposite
him; and the scoundrels brought a charge against Naboth, in the presence of the
people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king." So they took him
outside the city, and stoned him to death. 14Then they sent to
Jezebel, saying, "Naboth has been stoned; he is dead."
15As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was
dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, "Go, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth
the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not
alive, but dead." 16As soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead,
Ahab set out to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take
possession of it.
17Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: 18Go
down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria; he is now in the
vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. 19You
shall say to him, "Thus says the LORD: Have you killed, and also taken
possession?" You shall say to him, "Thus says the LORD: In the place
where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also lick up your
blood."
20Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, O my enemy?"
He answered, "I have found you. Because you have sold yourself to do what
is evil in the sight of the LORD.
***
In first grade one has a tendency to
think, bigger is more. Bigger pieces of cake are fought over; bigger slides are
sought after; bigger toys are ogled at. I remember my teacher trying to help us
learn, that sometimes, less is more. She regretfully told us, that when she was
little, she would convince her younger brother to trade her his dimes for her
nickels. Each thought they were getting the better deal, the younger brother
got the bigger coin, and my teacher got the smaller coin which was worth more.
Sometimes less is more.
King Ahab is like my first grade
teacher as a child. King Ahab, like an older sibling, has power over Naboth, a
commoner. With the power King Ahab says to Naboth,
"Give me your vineyard, so that I may
have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house; I will give you a
better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value
in money."
I think King Ahab, like an older
sister, fully expected to get what he wanted. He thought he had purposed an
offer Naboth couldn’t refuse. Naboth would come away with his vineyard’s value
in money, or even a better, bigger vineyard. Who would’t trade something
smaller for something bigger? 3But Naboth said to Ahab, "The
LORD forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance."
I imagine all the work and time
Naboth and his ancestors had put into cultivating those grapes. I imagine all
the family memories at the vineyard. I imagine Naboth offering to the Lord the
first fruits of his labor. I imagine, unlike King Ahab, Naboth was one who knew
bigger was not always better. Naboth was one who knew the Lord was paramount. I
imagine Naboth, in a sort of matter tone, telling the king, "The LORD
forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance," Even if he said
it in a gentle tone, I doubt the King’s response would have differed, because
when a younger sibling says no, no matter the reason, it usually makes the
older sibling upset.
King
Ahab went back to his palace resentful and sullen because of what Naboth the
Jezreelite had said to him. In fact, Ahab misremembered the conversation, all
King Ahab remembered was hearing, “no,” rather than, “why.” Naboth had said,
"The LORD forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance,"
but King Ahab remembers Naboth’s answer as, “I will not give you my ancestral
inheritance." King Ahab’s greed caused him to fail to see the will of the
Lord. King Ahab’s greed caused him to fail to see rightly.
He lay down on his bed, turned away
his face, and would not eat. His wife Jezebel came to him and said, "Why
are you so depressed that you will not eat?" He said to her, "Because
I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for
money; or else, if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it'; but he
answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'" His wife Jezebel said to
him, "Do you now govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I
will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."
I wonder what would have happened if
Jezebel went to Naboth and heard the story first hand? Would she have heard the
part about the Lord? Would she have seen the, “why,” instead of the, “no?” But
she was so caught up in the same greed as King Ahab that the very thought of
someone telling King Ahab, “no” was unconscionable to her. “Do you now govern
all of Israel?” she said. In other words, “Aren’t you the older sister?” Your
bigger, your better, your should get what you want.
So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his
seal; she sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived with Naboth
in his city. She wrote in the letters, "Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth
at the head of the assembly; seat two scoundrels opposite him, and have them
bring a charge against him, saying, 'You have cursed God and the king.' Then
take him out, and stone him to death." The men of his city, the elders and
the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. There
are many things for which Jezebel could have blamed Naboth. Yet, of the ten
commandments, she chooses to blame him for cursing God, the one thing we know
he has not done. Instead all we know of Naboth is he has praised and honored
God. Jezebel doesn’t know this, she never asked, she could not see beyond her
greed.
As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was
dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, "Go, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth
the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not
alive, but dead." As soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab set out
to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
Can you imagine; a loved one has just died, and as soon as the
obit is printed someone is at your door ready to scoop up your deceased loved
ones land? The audacity and cruelty of King Ahab astounds me, but I think greed
can do this to best of us. Its an addiction of sorts, to keep up with the
Jones’, to not care that our clothes come from factory workers in deadly
conditions in Bangladesh, to not care that our oil comes from countries with
deadly oppressive regimes, to not care that our drugs come from deadly gang
wars in Latin America, to not care that our pesticides are killing off bird and
bee alike, to not care that our prisons have killed the innocent, the Naboth’s
among us, to not care that we are swindling our younger brothers for our own
wealth, a nickel for a dime. King Ahab has this kind of greed, and it has made
him deaf to the Lord. King Ahab was so deaf to the Lord, that the Lord sent his
prophet Elijah to meet King Ahab face to face. It is not the first time Elijah
and King Ahab have met. Elijah had warned King Ahab to honor the Lord, and when
King Ahab did not honor the Lord a drought came which Elijah had predicted.
This time, the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite,
saying: Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria; he is now in
the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. You shall say to
him, "Thus says the LORD: Have you killed, and also taken
possession?" You shall say to him, "Thus says the LORD: In the place
where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also lick up your
blood." Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, O my enemy?" He
answered, "I have found you. Because you have sold yourself to do what is
evil in the sight of the LORD.
It is important to notice the words Elijah used, “You have sold
yourself.” In all the wealth that King Ahab had amassed, in the many things he
bought and swindled, he sold himself. Moreover, with each property he gained,
he lost the part of himself where God was alive. King Ahab, “sold himself to do
what is evil in the sight of the Lord.” Sometimes, bigger is not better.
Sometimes, more is not more, Sometimes it is not worth trading a nickel for a
dime. Because sometimes what you loose in order to gain, is yourself and God.
Sometimes, less is more.
