Pay day someday

1 Kings 21: 1-16

And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near, next to my house; and for it I will give you a vineyard better than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money.”

3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”

4 So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food. 5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?”

6 He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”

7 Then Jezebel his wife said to him, “You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

8 And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. 9 She wrote in the letters, saying,

Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth [a]with high honor among the people; 10 and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, “You have blasphemed God and the king.” Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.

11 So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. 12 They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. 13 And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”

Pray:

I do not think that there is a minister on the planet who has ever read the story of Naboth and his vineyard without thinking of the great man of God whose name is synonymous with this passage. The well-known one-time pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee for 33 years. He first preached a message based on this passage in 1919 and went to be with the Lord in 1978. During his ministry he preached the sermon entitled “pay day someday” over 1,000 times. When I first surrendered to preach, I remember asking my pastor about this passage. And he was quick to tell me that few if any ministers could preach this passage like Dr Robert G Lee. I don’t have to tell any of you who have heard me preach that I am not a man who is given to eloquent words. But I very much enjoy the way that Dr Lee presented this passage. And would like to present my interpretation of this passage using a similar method. Meaning, I’d like to teach this passage by introducing the characters in the story and by doing my best to act it out for you all here this morning.

First you have Naboth. And the scripture tells us that Naboth was a good man. He hated evil and loved God. This kind man had a vineyard close to the palace. He loved his land and worked it with the kind of passion that only a Godly man possesses.

Then you have Ahab. Ahab was the King. And he was a spoiled rotten brat. A child. An immature, selfish, narcissist. Dr Lee refers to him as a toad who had command of the nation but had no command of his wicked appetites.

Next you have Jezebel. Jezebel was a Phoenician. During this time period Israel was doing a great deal of trade with Phoenicia. They were on the Northwest coast of Israel. And I believe that God used the Phoenicians to spread Jacob/Israel throughout the world. Now Jezebel was an Edomite. Some of the evidence of that was her worship of Baal and her connection to Carthage as a Princess. She worshipped Baal or Satan and hated everything that was good.

Next you have Elijah. Elijah was Gods prophet. I believe that Elijah wasn’t terribly popular. He likely had few if any friends.As is usually the case with Gods man. When people were throwing a party, Elijah would be the one who nobody would want there. Oh, they would say here comes that, Debbie Downer. That guy who goes around thus saith the Lord. And why can’t that Elijah guy be more positive like the prophets down at the First Baptist Church of Baal. They are always so nice and positive. Dr Lee describes him as a tall strong uncompromising cedar. And a prophet of the living God.

In the first scene Ahab comes to Naboth and offers to buy his vineyard. There is nothing wrong with his offer. He offers him what we would call today fair market value. Either the monetary value or a vineyard that is worth even more. Today we might think why not give the King what he wants? He is, after all, the King? And his offer was fair. But Naboth was a Hebrew man. And when choosing between obedience to God and obedience to government Hebrew law was very clear. Hebrews looked at God as the owner of the land. So, Naboth could not sale his inheritance to the King without dishonoring the commandments of God. Today there are many preachers who preach and teach that Romans 13 means obey the government. Even some bibles are translated to say just that. But that is a gross misinterpretation of scripture. Paul the apostle who penned the very words of Romans 13 did NOT obey the government of his day. Paul spent a great deal of his ministry in prison. Simply because he refused to obey the government. What the bible teaches and certainly one of the lessons of this passage is, that when the government commands you to do something that goes against the commandments of God then we are to obey God rather than man. No government, not even the United States Government has any authority over you in matters of conscience or our God given rights. Naboth here had to do what was right in the eyes of God. And did so in accordance with Gods law. This land was a gift from God. And Naboth loved the Lord and the very land that God had gifted him with.

No doubt his mother and his father had worked that land in their time. And Naboth grew up working that land. Dr Lee says, “Naboth was tied to the land by the ties of family pride, sentiment and religion.” For Naboth to say no to King Ahab must have required a great deal of courage. The kind of courage that only a righteous man can possess. And so Naboth said to King Ahab, no, you cannot have my inheritance.

Now in the second scene we find King Ahab back at his palace. Ahab is crying and pouting. Sulking like a baby. The bible says that he went to bed in the daytime. That he turned his face to the wall, and he would not eat. Look again at verse 4 And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food. Can you imagine a man who is King. One that owns at least two palaces. Crying and sobbing like a child over something as inconsequential as a vineyard. Can you see him there? Crying and sobbing like a child with his lips sticking out and his eyes red and swollen. Throwing a fit over Naboth’s vineyard.

Matthew Henry writes of these opening versus.

Naboth, perhaps, had been pleased that he had a vineyard situated so near the palace, but the situation proved fatal to him; many a man’s possessions have been his snare, and his neighbourhood to greatness, of bad consequence. Discontent is a sin that is its own punishment, and makes men torment themselves. It is a sin that is its own parent; it arises not from the condition, but from the mind: as we find Paul contented in a prison, so Ahab was discontented in a palace. He had all the delights of Canaan, that pleasant land, at command; the wealth of a kingdom, the pleasures of a court, and the honours and powers of a throne; yet all avails him nothing without Naboth’s vineyard. Wrong desires expose men to continual vexations, and those that are disposed to fret, however well off, may always find something or other to fret at.

Know anyone like that? No matter how much God blesses them. They can always find some reason to be unhappy. That was the case with King Ahab. He was an ingrate, a malcontent. And in this story the source of his discontentment was his covetousness nature. The bible tells us, that shalt not covet. But Ahab had no respect for the laws of a Holy God.

I love what Dr Lee says. “Listen to this old bear growl over being denied just a little bit of honey. Listen to this old lion roar over the cheese in a mousetrap.”

Now onto the third scene. The ungodly woman. Proverbs 27:15 says.

Proverbs 27:15 - A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.

Jezebel comes into the Kings room to find him crying and pouting over Naboth’s vineyard. And she asks him in verse 5. Why are you so sad? Today it would be “why you haven’t even touched your dinner” But here it tells us that she says you haven’t even eaten your bread.

And so, King Ahab reports to her. Naboth won’t sell me his vineyard. I wanted that vineyard for a spice garden. But that old meanie Naboth refused to sell it to me. I offered him a fair price. But still he refused me.

I think we all know someone like this. Someone who will not stop until they get whatever it is they want. And even when you try to placate them, you are still in danger of having to endure a temper tantrum. I very much know someone just like this. And they always seem to be married to a woman just like Jezebel. Fowl mouthed, unhappy, contentious meaning always looking for drama. A woman so miserable that she insists that those around her be just as miserable.

A Godly woman would have said. Stop your crying and be man. You have all you could ever want. Be happy with what you have and stop obsessing over what you don’t have. But Jezebel was not such a woman. She was a worshiper of Baal, in other words the devil. She was a contentious woman. She thrived on drama and fighting. I have known pastor’s wives like this. They cannot hide their contentious nature, try as thy might.

Why that church isn’t paying you enough to put up with this. You need to stop spoiling them. Don’t you use your cell phone to call church members every night? Well, then the church needs to be paying your phone bill. And didn’t you buy some tic-tacs on your way to church this morning to have fresh breath? That’s a church expense. Stop enabling those wicked church members. They are taking advantage of you!!!! I’m going to tell that deacon that he better refund you the money for those tick tacks or he can start looking for another pastor!!! Jezebel hasn’t really changed, has she? She is contentious and cannot be placated. The more you give her, the more she wants. The reason she can never be happy is because she doesn’t really know Jesus. The idea of serving is foreign to her. And so that Jezebel said to Ahab. Aren’t you the King? Hey Ahab, aren’t you the pastor? Says the modern day, Jezebel.

Why if you were any kind of man at all you would know how to deal with this Naboth. I bet she berated that man every chance she got. Nagging at him day and night. And in verse 7 she says. Eat your dinner, stop crying. I’ll get you Naboth’s vineyard. Again, I have to quote Dr. Lee. Because frankly few if any can preach this passage better than he did. Quoting Dr Robert G Lee here:

“Who can so degrade a man as a woman of unworthy tendencies. And who can so elevate a man as a woman of high and noble purposes. “Young men, who you marry is the most important decision you will ever make. Young women, who you marry is the most important decision you will ever make.

“The spiritual life of any nation or church never rises any higher than the spiritual life of its women.” America is certainly in need of Godly mothers and wives. Not this bunch of twerking foul mouthed luciferian self indulgent trash we have in America today.

And so Jezebel begins her plan. Verse 8

8 And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. 9 She wrote in the letters, saying,

Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth [a]with high honor among the people; and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, “You have blasphemed God and the king.” Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.

11 So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”

Matthew Henry writes.

When, instead of a help meet, a man has an agent for Satan, in the form of an artful, unprincipled, yet beloved wife, fatal effects may be expected. Never were more wicked orders given by any prince, than those Jezebel sent to the rulers of Jezreel. Naboth must be murdered under colour of religion. There is no wickedness so vile, so horrid, but religion has sometimes been made a cover for it. Also, it must be done under colour of justice, and with the formalities of legal process. Let us, from this sad story, be amazed at the wickedness of the wicked, and the power of Satan in the children of disobedience. Let us commit the keeping of our lives and comforts to God, for innocence will not always be our security; and let us rejoice in the knowledge that all will be set to rights in the great day.

JEZEBEL had ordered sons of Belial that word Belial means wicked, destruction. In other words, they were almost certainly godless Edomites. Blindly carrying out the orders of a wicked, evil couple who bowed before Baal.

As Christians we know that vengeance belongs to God..Today we have Social Justice warriors destroying towns, Rioting, looting, and carrying signs protesting what they believe to be an injustice. Burning down the businesses of the innocent in protest. One of the biggest symptoms of a godless society is the belief that we can make things right. No doubt many people reading this passage might wonder. Where is God in all this? Why is God allowing this innocent man and his family to perish at the hands of this wicked King and his wicked consort. The advantage of being a Christian nation, which we were at one time. Is the realization that pay day comes in Gods time not ours. We don’t need a nation of social justice warriors. We need a nation of prayer warriors. We don’t need to concern ourselves with making things right. That’s Gods job. And if you continue to read this story you will see that God knows what He’s doing. But first let me ask this:

How many of you have been wronged by someone and thought it was your responsibility to get payback for that injustice? I know I have. There have been plenty of times in my life where someone has wronged me, and I just couldn’t be happy or rest knowing that they hadn’t been punished for their wrongdoing. Folks that is a sin. The bible says, “vengeance is mine saith the Lord, I will repay.” Folks God doesn’t want us swimming in that sewer. God doesn’t want or need social justice warriors. Our job is to trust and obey.

I can tell you that there was someone in my past who did me about as wrong as you can do a person. And for years I was angry. Thinking that person has no conscience. That person just lies to and uses and steals and they are so dead inside that they just don’t care. I remember being mad with God and thinking why you allow this person to prosper while doing all the evil things they do. We don’t see the world the way God does. In my mind this person was living it up without a care. No conscience always getting away with everything. But the truth is that person was being eaten up with guilt. And that guilt was like a cancer eating away at this person. And one day this person called me confessing and apologizing and saying to me, I’m dying. You see, God didn’t have to do anything. I didn’t have to do anything.

My eyes were full of tears while on that phone. I had long forgiven and forgotten all the wrongs that person had done. And my anger had been replaced with compassion. Pay day comes in many forms. And we don’t always see it and we don’t always understand it. So, I said to this person. You know who forgives? Sure, I forgive you. But I know someone who can do far more for you than I can. His name is Jesus. And one of the most beautiful things about giving your life to Christ is the gift of casting our cares upon him. Jesus said in Matthew 11: 28

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

So many people listening to this message this morning carrying around a burden. Oh I wish God would get back at my x. I wish God would get back at my boss and so on..Listen caste that care upon Jesus. Oh, I wish God would get back at that business partner who did me wrong. Listen, caste that care upon Jesus. People carry all kinds of guilt for all kinds of reasons. I have heard people say. “I never got to tell him or her how I really felt before God took them.” Or they had a fight with someone before they passed and never got to say something. And they carry that guilt with them through the years and it becomes like cancer eating them away on the inside. Why?

Even Christians do this. When Jezebel and Ahab did this horrible thing to Naboth and his family you know that the guilt had to be eating away at them. As Christians we have the amazing advantage of giving our guilt to Jesus.

But at this point in our story pay day has yet to come. After having murdered Naboth the evil men who did her bidding wrote to her. It is done. Naboth is dead. And Jezebel comes to Ahab and tells him that Naboth’s vineyard is now his. So, without delay the King puts on his best clothes and calls upon Jehu to bring forth the Chariots in order to deliver him to Naboth’s vineyard.

While we are wondering about Gods justice, God is summoning his prophet, Elijah. It says in verse 17 that the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tish bite 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.

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.

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,

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Now Ahab is begging God not to punish him. But he knew that payday was still on its way. God said in verse 29 that he would stay his vengeance until the days of his sons.

Ecclesiastes 10:8

King James Version

8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it;

Gods’ laws apply to us all. And pay day is coming for Ahab and Jezebel just as it is coming for us all.

Three years passed without war between Israel and Syria. I imagine that Jezebel spent many nights mocking the words of Elijah. Saying I thought God was going to get you. Here have some fruit from the garden of Naboth. But I like what Dr Lee said about this. He said I bet every time old Ahab heard a dog bark that shivers went down his spine.

But one day the King of Judah came to Ahab. And asked him to join him in battle for the territory of Ramnath Gilead. And Ahab and Jehosophat decided to fight together against Syria. But before the battle the King of Syria determined that he wanted Ahab and told his soldiers to get Ahab the King of Israel. Don’t worry about anyone but Ahab. And before the battle Ahab decided to dress in the clothes of a soldier, so as to disguise himself. And King Jehosophat was dressed up in the garb of royalty. When the Syrian army laid hands upon Jehosaphat he cried out that he was the King of Judah and so they released him. And about that time Ahab was on the battlefield. Let’s begin reading in chapter 22 and verse 29.

29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramothgilead

30 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.

31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.

32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out.

33 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.

34 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.

35 And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.

36 And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country.

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.

So, an unnamed bowman and what would appear to us as a lucky shot. A certain man drew his bow at a venture. Lucky shot? Or an arrow guided by the hand of God? And just as the man of God, Elijah promised. The dogs came and licked his blood. Pay day some day came to Ahab.

Now you may be saying but what about Jezebel? Some 20 years had passed. No doubt she spent that time praying for her god Baal to protect her from Elijah’s God. Yahweh. When one day Elijah’s successor Elisha called a prophet to his side and sent him to Ramnath Gilead. And when you get there call out Jehu and anoint him King of Israel. And Jehu rose the freshly anointed King of Israel and was commanded to blot out the household of Ahab. And he and his army galloped to Jezreel where Jezebel and her son Jorum the King awaited. And as he continued the companies of Jezebels army fell in with Jehu. The watchman called out inquiring if this army had come in peace. And Jehu declared, “How can there be peace as long as thy mother lives and her whoredoms and witchcrafts exist.”

Then Jehu picked up a bow and arrow and shot Jorum the son of Ahab and Jezebel and tossed it into the vineyard of Naboth and his blood stained the soil. And watching from the palace Jezebel saw her son slaughtered. And reading from 2 Kings 9: 30-37

30 When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out the window.

31 As Jehu entered the gate, she said, “Is it well, Zimri, your master’s murderer?”

32 Then he lifted up his face to the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three officials looked down at him.

33 He said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down, and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses, and he trampled her under foot.

34 When he came in, he ate and drank; and he said, “See now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king’s daughter.”

35 They went to bury her, but they found nothing more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands.

36 Therefore they returned and told him. And he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘In the property of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel;

37 and the corpse of Jezebel will be as dung on the face of the field in the property of Jezreel, so they cannot say, “This is Jezebel.” ’ ”

Pay day came for Ahab and Jezebel. His posterity now gone. And the dogs licked his blood. Those in our government today who are persecuting modern day Naboth’s and stealing their land and running their good names through the mud. They will answer to God.

By the way. Roughly two years ago Netflix released a movie called “White Noise” and in this movie the people of East Palestine Ohio suffered terribly due to a train exploding and poisoning the entire town. Now that area of Ohio is some of the richest farmland in the world. The Ukraine being the richest farmland in the world. Coincidence? No. Our wicked government wants total control of the worlds food supply.Like Ahab in his day our leaders are in the hands of the Baal worshiping Edomites. The Amish in that area aren’t willing to go along with this plan. And are a threat to our governments plan for world domination. By polluting the land, the government can now use the guise of clean up operations to steal this land from individuals. Some of us are old enough to remember when the farmers in the 80’s were loosing their lands to banks. They were told their land was worth 4 times more than what they were and encouraged them to take out loans to purchase these quarter of a million dollar tractors and modernize their farms. Then within just a few years the banks came to those same families and said, turns out your land is only worth about half that. You owe the balance. And they began taking land from family farmers. Many of the farmers tried to organize and stand up to the banks. The media immediately started labeling these farmers as Nazi’s as anti-American and so forth. As we know now the banks squashed the American farmers and farming is now a huge corporate entity which poisons the people every single day with food that isn’t food, just for the sake of profit. Ahab and Jezebel haven’t changed much have they? This morning I want you to know that being a good person isn’t enough. You can be a good person and the evil that runs this world can still destroy you, and destroy your good name. But don’t worry. God will avenge you. What’s important is are you with Christ? Or are you with Jezebel? If you are in Christ there is nothing that any government can do to you. Sure they can destroy your name, sure they can destroy your body. But your soul is in the hands of God.

Government knows that when you control a nations food supply you control that nation. The Communist Edomites who took over Russia in 1917 told the Ukrainians that they were not allowed to eat of their own crops. They had record crops that year. But Stalin murdered any Ukrainian who ate or smuggled any of the very food they grew and sold those crops to other nations for profit and forced the Christians of the Ukraine to starve to death. Millions of Christian farmers starved to death by the Edomites .That is what communism does. It is the eternal enemy of Christianity. And that is where things are going. Jesus warned us about disease and famine in the last days. You must be aware that we are heading in that direction.

But pay day is coming for the enemies of Christ. Sure it seems like the evil people of this world are getting away with it. But take it from me. Pay day always comes.

alter call

Are you in with Christ this morning? No, it is not a guarantee that you will survive persecution. But it is a guarantee that you soul will be saved. We become so concerned with personal safety and well being. That we often forget that our soul is the one thing worth keeping. Don’t sacrifice your soul for the well being of your body. Stay true to God in the face of tyranny.