December 14, 2021
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in 1 Kings? Here’s today’s reading:
1 Kings 21 (NIV)
Naboth’s Vineyard
1 Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.”
3 But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors.”
4 So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat........Continue Reading
Wow, I am so amazed that after all this, the Lord still forgives Ahab (21:27-29) because he truly humbled himself, tearing his clothes, putting on sackcloth and fasting.
I don’t understand why the Lord would punish his son for his father’s sin. Unless, I guess, his son asked for forgiveness on behalf of his father’s sin, which I suppose could be done by each successive grandson and then postponed/paid for by Jesus so that none of his lineage would need to suffer the consequences of Ahab and Jezebel’s sins.
1 Kings 21
1 Kings 21
Ahab and Jezebel are quite the dynamic duo of evil deeds! The fact that Ahab sought no correction of Jezebel after she plotted and ultimately had Naboth killed instead he capitalized on it and went to take his land.
He does seek forgiveness at the end but only in response to hearing the fate that lie ahead of him and Jezebel as a result of their evil and yet God is still willing to forgive him!
God is more forgiving than I am. For my sake, that is a good thing! We seek justice and are relieved when it is met; it is hard to see justice in forgiveness. Maybe that is why it is hard for us to forgive. The Lord says that if we don’t forgive others, neither will He forgive us….humility is what gives us the ability to forgive. God is gracious and compassionate and merciful. We trust him for justice.
The next Awana scripture (I am probably memorizing more verses than the kids are :/ ) is Deuteronomy 32:4:
He is the Rock.
His work is perfect.
For all his ways are justice.
A God of truth without injustice.
Righteous and upright is he.
Ahab is a coward and Jezebel is a snake and together they have lead Israel astray and here their evil plays out to effect an individual. Ahab makes Naboth an offer which makes sense but then sulks like a child when he doesn’t get his way. Possession takes on far greater value than it should when we are apart form God. Jezebel sees this and develops a plan reflective of her evil heart. And in it she makes others complicit in her evil. But that’s what evil does, it destroys and brings others along in it’s wake. So Naboth is stoned and Ahab goes to take the property. But it is there that Elijah finds him and confronts him on his sin. He also pronounces judgement that is fitting on both Ahab and Jezebel. It is also interesting in this context that there is a parenthetical comment about just how evil Ahab and Jezebel have been, affirming the appropriateness of the judgement God has declared through Elijah. And yet in spite of that, once Ahab confesses and humbles himself before God, God decides to withhold His judgement on Ahab. How merciful and forgiving is our God. And what a great picture there is here about how extensive that forgiveness is.
The fact that God will bring Ahab’s judgement on his son is because his son will follow an evil path as well, but justice has to be answered and that is better left in the hands of God.