You ever feel like just when things are going well that the Government comes along and wants everything you have? If it’s not property tax that the HRM wants, then it’s sales tax the province wants or income tax the federal government wants. Did I read somewhere that the average Canadian has to work until June just to pay their taxes? But all is not lost; we’ve been told that a part of the Budget Surplus from last year will go into an income tax break, which could result in a $50.00 a year savings. Be still my trembling heart. What will I do with all that extra cash?
On the other hand it could be worse. Put yourself in this guys shoes. One day you’re out working in your vineyard, tending the vines, killing the bugs, pulling out the weeds and whatever else you do when you’re tending a garden. Can’t tell I was a fisherman and not a farmer can you. And into your life arrives the King who makes you an offer you can’t refuse, but you do.
What happens is that the king tells you he wants your vineyard to plant a veggie garden in. And he offers to give you a better vineyard, or whatever else you want. Just imagine John Hamm arrives at your door and says “I love your house, and I will trade you for a much nicer home or give you however much you want for it.” The problem was that this vineyard had been in Naboth’s family for longer then long. This was in all probability the plot that was given to his family hundreds of years before the Israelites had first arrived into the Promised Land to sell his birthright was against the law of God. And so he didn’t even think about it he just told the king no.
So the King went home and climbed the miff tree, you know he went to snitsville, or whatever. Because regardless of what you call it the King began to sulk. Poor king. It wasn’t hard to notice that he hadn’t gotten his own way, he’d just gone in thrown himself on his bed and stared at the wall, wouldn’t come out not even for dinner. And so while he’s having fun at his own pity party his wife Jezebel comes along and wants to know what’s wrong. And so Ahab tells her, 1 Kings 21:6 “I asked Naboth to sell me his vineyard or to let me give him a better one, and he told me I couldn’t have it.” You can almost hear the whine in his voice. Now personally I love the response of the queen cause she says, “Aren’t you the King of Israel?” And then she tells him, “Get out of bed and eat something! Don’t worry, I’ll get Naboth’s vineyard for you.” Now is this a dysfunctional relationship or what?
Now if this were a movie, the music would change to a minor key to signify that something was about to happen, and indeed something did happen, and it wasn’t all that nice.
Jezebel borrowed the King’s seal and letterhead wrote letters to the officials of the town where Naboth lived, asked them to order the people in the town to begin a fast and to call for a town hall meeting with everyone in the community. Now this might seem a little strange to us, but to the people of Jezreel it could only mean one thing. I suppose I should tell you, right? It meant that somehow they had displeased God and the officials were going to make it right. Along with the call to a fast Jezebel added one other thing. She wanted the town leaders to find two false witnesses who would swear that they heard Naboth curse God and the King. And then there were to take Naboth out and execute him. Simple yet effective. And to the bottom of the letter she affixed her husbands seal and signature.
And that’s what happened, as a matter of fact not only was Naboth stoned to death, but later on we discover that his entire household was put to death. Conveniently leaving his estate including his vineyard without an heir.
Well what is a king supposed to do? The land now reverted to the crown because the previous owner had been found guilty of treason and blasphemy. I’m sure that Jezebel was thinking, “I love it when a plan comes together.”
Not a very nice story, but then again Ahab and Jezebel weren’t very nice people. So what can we learn from this story.
Naboth’s sin started when he wanted something that somebody else had. Naboth wasn’t alone here; the very essence of sin goes back to principle. If you were to take a trip back to the beginning you would find the original couple, Adam and Eve had everything they could possibly want, except for one thing, they could not eat from one tree. They could do anything they wanted to with the tree. They could look at it, they could touch it, they could climb it, they could chop it down and burn it, but God had told them very specifically in Genesis 2:16-17 But the LORD told him, “You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die before the day is over!”
Pretty plain, pretty clear, no ambiguity there, this is what you must not do. And when Satan came along to temp Adam and Eve, what ploy did he use. Sure in Genesis 3:4- 4 “No, you won’t!” the snake replied. “God understands what will happen on the day you eat fruit from that tree. You will see what you have done, and you will know the difference between right and wrong, just as God does.”
What was he saying? He was saying don’t you want what God has? If you just had what God had, then you’d be really happy. Right. Look across the Bible what is it that gets people in trouble? Wanting what somebody else has. And it’s not just a matter of wanting something like the one they have, it’s wanting what they have, so they can’t have it anymore because it’s yours.
We could go through example after example in the Bible, Jacob wanted Esau’s inheritance and he was willing to cheat and lie to get it. Joseph’s brothers wanted the love that their father bestowed upon Joseph and they were willing to kill him or sell him into slavery to get it. David wanted Uriah’s wife Bathsheba and he was willing to kill Uriah to get her. The religious leaders who had Jesus executed didn’t do it because of what he did, they did it because of what he had. He had the power of God, and he had the ears of the people, and if the high priest couldn’t have what Jesus had then he couldn’t have it either and so they killed him.
Think of any of the crimes and atrocities that have been committed throughout history, they happened because somebody wanted what somebody else had. There is a story told about Abraham Lincoln walking down the street with his two boys, both of who were howling to beat the band. A friend happened along and asked Lincoln, “Abe, what’s wrong with the boys?” “What’s wrong with the boys?” came his reply, “The same thing that is wrong with the world. I have three chestnuts and they both want two.”
Anybody seen the new TV Game show “Greed”? It is the very epitome of human nature. I started watching it the other night, a team of 5 people competing as a team to win the 2 million dollars on the tower of greed. What blew me away was when the terminator picked one of the team and he was offered the chance to challenge one of his teammates to a question. If he got the correct answer before his teammate then he got everything his teammate had won up to that point, and their share for the rest of the game. Not only that but the host handed the guy $10,000.00 in cash and said “this is yours to keep regardless of who wins” And he took it, tried to bump one of his friends, for money. And he lost, lost his friends money, and probably lost his friend, I wonder if he thinks the ten grand was worth it?” I shut the program off.
One of the Ten Commandments tells us Exodus 20:17 do not want anything that belongs to someone else. Don’t want anyone’s house, wife or husband, slaves, oxen, donkeys or anything else. It might seem harmless enough and yet that is the very beginning of our problems. God didn’t just put that commandment in because the Ten Commandments sounded better then the nine commandments; he put it in for a reason.
Donald Trump said the point is that you can’t be too greedy. And he was wrong, wrong, wrong. Isaiah 57:17 records the words of God, Your greed made me furious. That’s why I punished you and refused to be found, while you kept returning to your old sinful ways.
When Jesus was condemning the Pharisees listen to what he said about them Matthew 23:25 You Pharisees and teachers are show-offs, and you’re in for trouble! You wash the outside of your cups and dishes, while inside there is nothing but greed and selfishness.
And listen to the group that he clumps greed into in Mark 7:20-23 Then Jesus said: What comes from your heart is what makes you unclean. Out of your heart come evil thoughts, vulgar deeds, stealing, murder, unfaithfulness in marriage, greed, meanness, deceit, indecency, envy, insults, pride, and foolishness. All of these come from your heart, and they are what make you unfit to worship God.
I didn’t say all that to say that having stuff is wrong, after all it was Woody Allen who said Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons. but when it consumes you then it is wrong. And you don’t have to have money to fall into that trap. Listen to what Teddy Roosevelt said Probably the greatest harm done by vast wealth is the harm that we of moderate means do ourselves when we let the vices of envy and hatred enter deep into our own natures.
The bible calls it covetness, and the Bible says it’s a sin, and remember Sin will take you further then you want to go, keep you longer then you want to stay and cost you more then you want to pay.
He didn’t Care that it was wrong. Now Naboth didn’t turn down the King’s offer just be difficult. He wasn’t trying to put himself into a better bargaining position. He wasn’t even doing it because he disliked the king. He was doing it because it was the right thing to do, and he was doing it because that’s what God would have him to do. If we look into Leviticus 25:23 God laid down his rules for the land which he had given the children of Israel. No land may be permanently bought or sold. It all belongs to me—it isn’t your land, and you only live there for a little while.
Naboth knew that he would be in violation of God’s law if he sold his vineyard to the King, and do you know what? The King knew that it would be wrong as well, and part of why he was upset was that he knew that Naboth had more integrity then he did. And that is never a pleasant discovery. It’s been said that if you are trying to prove how crooked a stick is, the easiest way is not to debate it, or to argue about it the easiest way is to lay a straight stick next to it.
Most people don’t unwittingly commit sin. Most people know exactly what they are doing and do it anyways. They might justify their actions, they might rationalize what they are doing, they might even try to deny that they knew they shouldn’t do it. But the bottom line is most people sin willingly. Peter Marshall said “We are too Christian really to enjoy sinning, and too fond of sinning really to enjoy Christianity. Most of us know perfectly well what we ought to do; our trouble is that we do not want to do it.”
Not only was Ahab trying to get Naboth to break the God’s laws concerning his land but when he couldn’t get it that way he murdered the man to get it. Now I know that technically it was Jezebel who did the killing but Ahab had as much blood on his hands as the two guys who lied about Naboth. Why? Cause he knew what his wife was capable of. This was the same gal who in 1 Kings Chapter 11 had killed all the preachers in the country except for a hundred and fifty of them. Now regardless of your feelings about preachers that seemed a little excessive. This was woman who threatened to separated Elijah’s head from his shoulders. This wasn’t Shirley Temple we’re talking about, this wasn’t even Madonna. So when she told Ahab in 1 Kings 21:7 “Aren’t you the king of Israel? Get out of bed and eat something! Don’t worry, I’ll get Naboth’s vineyard for you.” What did Ahab think she was going to do, play Naboth a game of checkers for his vineyard, I think not. Ahab knew what his wife was capable of and knew exactly what she was going to do to Naboth and he did nothing at all to stop it.
Listen to what happens 1 Kings 21:15-16 As soon as Jezebel got their message, she told Ahab, “Now you can have the vineyard Naboth refused to sell. He’s dead.” Ahab got up and went to take over the vineyard. Now wouldn’t you have been the least bit curious about how Naboth died, was he sick? Was it an accident? No Naboth didn’t ask cause he already knew. When he whined to Jezebel Ahab signed Naboth’s death certificate.
And you know as well as I do that when we finally decide that we are going to do something that is against the will of God, we don’t care if it’s wrong or not.
He got caught If you don’t get anything else from this message please get this it is so important. It doesn’t matter how clever you think you are, you will get caught. Do you understand that? That’s why the word of God says in Numbers 32:23. . . and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.
Larry didn’t read the part about Ahab getting caught but it is just a couple of verses further along, this is what happened. 1 Kings 21:17-19 The LORD said to Elijah the prophet, “King Ahab of Israel is in Naboth’s vineyard right now, taking it over. Go tell him that I say, ‘Ahab, you murdered Naboth and took his property. And so, in the very spot where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, they will lick up your blood.’ ” You gotta love that.
What is there in your life right now that you don’t want people to know about. What actions, or thoughts, what are you watching, reading or listening to that you’d just as soon it remain between you and you? Cause you know that isn’t possible don’t you?
I may not arrive on your front steps to confront you, you spouse may never know, your kids may never find out but you will get caught. You may go to the grave thinking that you got away with it, but listen to what the Bible, the Word of God says in Psalm 11:4 The LORD is sitting in his sacred temple on his throne in heaven. He knows everything we do because he sees us all.
I mentioned the story of David and Bathsheba earlier in the message, how he lusted after his neighbors wife, slept with her, got her pregnant and murdered her husband and he thought he got away with it until he was confronted by the prophet Nathan. David was guilty as guilty can be and he knew that there was only one thing to do, he did it three thousand years ago and friends it is still the only thing that we can do. Listen to the words that David wrote Psalm 51:1-4 You are kind, God! Please have pity on me. You are always merciful! Please wipe away my sins. Wash me clean from all of my sin and guilt. I know about my sins, and I cannot forget my terrible guilt. You are really the one I have sinned against; I have disobeyed you and have done wrong. So it is right and fair for you to correct and punish me.
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