Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. And after this Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.” But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him.
I Kings 21:1-4
Months pass after Elijah calls Elisha. Elijah is doing what God called him to do, mentoring his replacement. This is done in silence. God records nothing of the experiences Elijah exposed Elisha to or the lessons that he taught him.
Much of what God does is out of sight of most people. Wickedness, however, does not take a holiday. While Elijah mentors King Ahab continues his downward slide into depravity. We all know the story. Ahab covets the land a man named Naboth owns. It is right by Ahab’s
palace and it would make an excellent vegetable garden. He offers a fair price for the land but is refused.
Ahab shows his immaturity as he sulks and whines over not getting what he desires. His queen, the wicked Jezebel, has had enough. She takes matters into her own hands and devises a scheme to remove Naboth from the picture so Ahab can have his land. Naboth is stunned as he receives an invitation as guest of honor at the king’s banquet. Little does he know that two “scoundrels” have been hired to sit by him and falsely accuse him of blaspheming God and the king. Two witnesses are enough to prove the allegation and Naboth is stoned and killed and Ahab gets his land he covets.
When that happens the anger of God in heaven is kindled and he summons Elijah to confront the evil king once again. Naboth is often overlooked but look at what God teaches us about him. He was a Jew living in Jezreel. He owned a vineyard and his name appears to be a derivation of the Hebrew word for “fruit”. We know of nothing else that Naboth owned – the little plat of land was his but that appears to be all. Remember that God had told Elijah that he had 7,000 faithful servants in Israel who had not bowed their knee to al. Naboth was one of those faithful servants.
What can we learn from Naboth?
First. Naboth would not sell the inheritance God had given him. Naboth knew God’s word. God had commanded “No inheritance in Israel is to pass from one tribe to another, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal inheritance of their ancestors” (Numbers 36:7). Naboth obeyed God even when the king of the land enticed him to disobey it. Like Daniel, he stands alone. Never give away to the world what what God has given you.
Second, we see that persecution comes to all who believe, small and great. Naboth likely never thought he, a poor vineyard owner, would be challenged by the government to disobey his God. To Naboth’s credit, when that challenge came he knew God’s word and he obeyed it despite the cost.
Third, we see that the Almighty God of the Universe sees all that happens to His children. There are none of His own who are too small, too insignificant for Him not to watch over. Some may say that Naboth died – God did not protect him. Yet we will learn that God used the evil that man intended to destroy Naboth for Naboth’s good and to bring great glory to God’s name. That is the joy of the believer.
We do not have to make things turn out right for our God is in control. From the perspective of this earth, Naboth lost everything. His land and his life were taken from him. From the perspective of heaven and for all of eternity Naboth would hear the greatest words a believer could ever imagine from his God, “Well done, good and
faithful servant”. That is Naboth’s message to us today.