Ahab's Rebuke

Intro

Good morning from New Baptist Church and I hope that you are well. My name is Shane Hufford and it’s been a while since I’ve been on the Radio Bible Class but it is good to be back with you this morning. God is so good to us here at New Baptist that we get to worship Him in our fellowship, in our singing, in our giving and in our listening to the Word. I’m glad that you have decided to join in with us.

Please join me in Prayer

Thank you Lord for your Word, which has come to us from the struggles and trials of saints throughout history. Thank you for your Spirit, by which we have help in understanding your truths. Thank you for a sunday where worshipers of Jesus from all over the world can seek to glorify you and to be in your presence. Please watch over our persecuted brothers and sisters as they worship you, may they be kept safe and whole today. Thank you for sending your Son to die on the cross in our place. In Jesus name I pray all these things, Amen.

Question

Think about a time when you had some difficult news to give to someone. Maybe it was a student or employee who was not meeting expectations, or even worse had become antithetical to the values of the organization. Or it may be a friend who has had a moral failing in need of rebuke. Quite possibly, you had to come to your boss and report something going on in the company that is difficult to take in. I would say many of us have been in this situation. Also, I would say that many have been in the situation where they had to be evaluated at work or school and received some tough criticism. Or they have heard something from their spouse or kids that made them realize that were hurting them.

We all have these difficult encounters and today we will look at one of these in Scipture.

Text

Our text today comes out of 1 Kings chapter 21 and I’ll highlight verses 17 to 29 but let’s start in verse 1 of chapter 21.

21 Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 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.” 3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” 4 And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said 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.

Naboth won’t sell his family land and Ahab is pouting about it.

5 But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?” 6 And 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 please you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ” 7 And Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city. 9 And she wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. 10 And set two worthless men opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, ‘You have cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.” 11 And the men of his city, the elders and the leaders who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. As it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, 12 they proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. 13 And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men 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 with stones. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.”

15 As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” 16 And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

Oh Boy........So Just to recap, Ahab is king and he really wants Naboth’s vinyard. Ahab is torn up over the desire and voices his complaint to his wife Jezebel. (he pouts about it) She comes up with a scheme on the basis of Ahab’s power. Her mentality is that “if the king wants it, he can just take it”. So she gets some “worthless men” to help her with her plan. Side note, her mentality toward people, being able to classify someone as worthless shows that she sees people as a tool in her hands. After everyone is good and hungry from a fast, the men have Naboth stoned on some trumped up charges. So now Naboth is out of the way, and Jezebel excitedly tells Ahab that he can have the field and instead of getting upset with her from the scheme, he just accepts it and goes to look at his new field!

This is just craziness, but it comes into perspective when we look at Ahab and Jezebel’s character from previous chapters. Ahab is introduced in 1 Kings 16 where it is said that he did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him. Wow, what a way to be described!

You know what, this is too good not to read. 1 Kings 16:29-34.

29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. 31 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, (which is idolatry) he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

So now that we know a bit about Ahab, we can focus on his relationship with Elijah the prophet. Elijah and Ahab are opposites when it comes to following God. Submission to God is the hallmark of Elijah while rebellion toward God is the hallmark of Ahab.

Let’s flip back to chapter 21 and look at verses 17-29 in detail now that we have the backdrop for the rebuke of Ahab. Starting with verses 17 to 19.

17 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. 19 And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Have you killed and also taken possession?” ’ And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.” ’ ”

God speaks to Elijah and tells him to go to his king, the guy who has no problem with people being killed just because he likes their stuff, and tells him to rebuke him. Not just rebuking but telling him that God said dogs will lick up his blood at the spot where they licked up Naboth’s blood!? Ahab’s wife Jezebel has been leading a campaign against the prophets of God. This is scary stuff for Elijah. Imagine having to walk up to a powerful leader (I’ll use another nation’s leader for the sake of radio), but imagine walking up to the leader of North Korea and saying that because he has been harsh with his people and weilded his power selfislhy, he is going to die a shameful death.

That is what is happening to Elijah. And this isn’t the first time this has happened. I won’t flip there but recall the encounter with Elijah and the prophets of Baal at Mt. Caramel where God brings fire to Elijah’s sacrifice while the fire to Baal is left unlit. This started with a severe drought in the land of Israel because of the idolatry of the people. Elijah confronts Ahab because of his idolatry and his lack of leadership to the people of God. The challenge at Mt. Caramel has Ahab on the side of the Prophets of Baal against Elijah. When God proved faithful and Baal proved a sham, Elijah had the prophets of Baal slaughtered at the Brook Kishron. Jezebel heard about the slaughter and started a manhunt for Elijah to have him killed.

I say all that to say this. God is not giving Elijah a simple, easy or safe mission. But look at the response of Elijah in verses 20-24.

20 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. 21 Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. 22 And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin. 23 And of Jezebel the Lord also said, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel.’ 24 Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat.”

Elijah shows up and pulls no punches for Ahab. I love how he says you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. The imagary here speaks to what has happened in Ahab’s heart. He has given his identity to Baal. Ahab and Jezebel, because of their influence, lead God’s people to Baal worship. He has sold his identity to Baal and used his power for selfish gain.

Because Ahab has done this, God is going to bring Ahab to destruction. He will lose his lineage in that all the male children will be cut off from Ahab. He and Jezebel and anyone in relation to Ahab will also die humiliating deaths in that their flesh will be eaten by animals. This means they will die with no one to care for them or love them. No one will be there for them to treat them honorably in their death. In an honor/shame society, the way in which you die is very important and this is about as shameful as it gets.

Look at verses 25 to 29.

25 (There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. 26 He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.)

25 and 26 remind the reader of the sins of Ahab, primarily his idolatry. Verse 27.

27 And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. 28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”

Surprisingly, Ahab showed remorse for his actions and showed repentance in a typical way for that time. Because of this, God tells Elijah that he will delay the destruction of the house of Ahab until after Ahab’s death. He will not have to witness the destruction he brought upon his family. Now, if we read on it is clear that Ahab continued in his idolatry, but God is still faithful to his promise to delay the destruction.

Application

So how is this applicable to us today? I think we should look at Elijah’s actions as a template. He was prompt in his obedience. The story reads as if Elijah encountered Ahab as he was evaluating his newly aquired vinyard. He had just heard news that Naboth was killed and had gotten out of his pouting fit to look at the field. Elijah must have been close by and had acted on God’s words immediately. We must be willing to act quickly upon God’s promptings. We also must act propetually upon his commands in Scripture.

Elijah trusted God for his protection in approaching Ahab in the same way that we need to trust in God’s protection and provision for our lives on mission. His protection and provision may be different than we had in mind, but God is always faithful, especially to those who live to proclaim him.

Also, Elijah did not shudder from hard truth. A prophet’s role was to be bearers of the truth of God no matter how difficult that truth is. Could you just imagine the backbone of this guy who tells the king off like this? When truth is difficult to give, give it anyways. We live in a culture today that says that truth is relative and that if it feels true to you than it is. Well that’s not the case and as Christians we cannot give into this mentality. Our truth is found in Scripture.

It is easy to want to identify with Elijah and apply his situation to our own, but my goodness we would be missing the whole point if we only saw ourselves in Elijah’s shoes. All of us are Ahab to some extent or another. Ahab here is displaying in a deep way the idolatry that all of us have. We can see many negatives but also a positive in this story.

I’ll start with the positive. He was quick to repent. Although, ultimately he did not have a change of heart, he was humble about the rebuke brought upon him. I was fully expecting Ahab to kill Elijah and it is surprising that he doesn’t. How dare Elijah rebuke the king?! But Ahab shows signs of remorse. We need to be quick to listen to rebuke and humble when it comes.

Ahab was vindictive. He made poor choices in a spouse. He led his country selfishly instead of using his power beneavolently. He sought his own glory. He did not stand firm on the foundation of his people.

All of this aside, his turning away from God is his cardinal offense. The deepest idolatry can be found in Ahab, and to be honest, none of us is without some idolatry. I could venture to say that not many people today are worshiping Baal, altough some worship gods of wood or stone, but we are still idoloters. We are forever worshipers of something. Some worship money, some fame, others will worship vices such as drugs or sex. But there are also less obvious idols that trap us and are also more acceptable to our culture. Family...... leisure..... that favorite sports team.....your spouse.......a career.....being popular at school. We are in a world that, if we are not careful, will suck us in to worship of something other than God.

But there is a way out of this and His name is Jesus. I don’t know your standing before God in this moment, but I pray that if you can hear my voice that you desire to serve the living King Jesus. He has made a way out of bondage to our sin. Just as Ahab had sold himself to what is evil in the sight of the Lord, many of us today have sold ourselves to the things of this world. But Jesus has bought you with his own blood. WIth his death on the cross your very soul is bought and paid for on behalf of our creator. Please get this, the idolatry that we have will whither away, but God will never leave us. If you get one thing, know that you are not bound to the things of this world.