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. Ahab 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.”
But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors.”
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.
His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?”
He answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’”
Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city with him. In those letters she wrote:
“Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.”
So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them. They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.”
As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.” When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard.
Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: “Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it. Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?’ Then say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”
Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have found me, my enemy!”
“I have found you,” he answered, “because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. He says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you. I will wipe out your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free. I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have aroused my anger and have caused Israel to sin.’
“And also concerning Jezebel the Lord says: ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’
“Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds will feed on those who die in the country.”
(There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.) (1 Kings 21:1-26 NIV)
“The blind will see and those who see will become blind” (John 9:39). Jesus said that. What was he talking about? According to Jesus, you can see and yet not see. And you can not see and yet actually see. Does that help? How about this: Your eyes can be open, and yet you can completely miss the truth. Or your eyes can be closed, and yet you can still see perfectly. This is important!
To help us understand, today we have one last story from the life of the prophet Elijah. But this story isn’t really about Elijah. It’s about King Ahab. We’ve heard a lot about Ahab already. He was a bad man. He worshiped Baal instead of the LORD. He married a wicked woman: Jezebel. But what we haven’t mentioned is this: Ahab was actually very successful. He’s mentioned outside the Bible as a powerful king. Why doesn’t the Bible say that? Because what God values is different than what people value. People judge a king based on how many battles he won. By how much prosperity he brought. God judges a king based on where his heart is with the LORD.
Today we have one sad example of where Ahab’s heart was. King Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard. Naboth’s vineyard happened to be right next to Ahab’s palace in Jezreel. He wanted the vineyard to make a vegetable garden. Sounds reasonable, right? Here’s one detail we need to add: Ahab’s main palace wasn’t in Jezreel. It was in his capital city. Do you know the capital of Israel? Samaria. Ahab’s main palace was in Samaria. So this whole account is about a second palace Ahab had. He’s adding on to his vacation home. Wouldn’t you like that? Ahab had it all!
But Naboth refused to sell his vineyard. It actually sounds like that was a bad business decision for Naboth. Ahab offered him a better vineyard in return. But for Naboth, it wasn’t about the money. It was about the LORD. When the Israelites had entered the promised land, God had divided up the land, and he had told the Israelites not to sell their individual sections of land. It was their inheritance from the LORD. Naboth didn’t care about bigger and better. He cared about the LORD. “The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors.”
So what did Ahab do? He pouted. He went home to his bed and sulked like a spoiled little child. Before we move on, who could see? Remember Jesus’ statement? So who could see? Wealthy, successful King Ahab? No, he was blind. Poor, common Naboth? Yes, he could see! Can you see the difference? True sight isn’t based on your outward wealth or power. True sight is based on a heart that sees the LORD and trusts in his plans. The man who seemed to have everything was blind, while the man who didn’t seem to have much at all could see perfectly. Understand?
Unfortunately, the story goes on. Have you heard the verse: “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10)? It’s true. If you love stuff, you will never have enough. If life is about money, you will be led to do all kinds of evil things. As Ahab pouted, his wife Jezebel came in. Now, if Jezebel were a believer in God, she could have said, “Ahab, you don’t need another vineyard. God has blessed us with so much already!” But Ahab hadn’t married a believer in God. He had married the daughter of the king of Sidon. She knew how worldly kings act. So she said, “Are you a king or are you a wimp? Go and take it! If you won’t, I’ll get it for you!”
Here was Jezebel’s plot: She wrote a letter to the nobles of Naboth’s city. “Proclaim a special fast. Put Naboth in a prominent place. Have two scoundrels accuse him of cursing God and the king. Then stone him to death.” How does that sound? Awful! Like this should never happen! This is the worst plan in the history of the world! So what happened? Everything Jezebel said. They proclaimed a fast. Whenever there was a public fast, people assumed something wrong had happened. So they seated Naboth in a prominent place. They had two scoundrels accuse him of cursing God and the king. Then they took Naboth outside the city and stoned him to death. How often isn’t that the lot of those who believe in God? Of those who humbly follow God’s Word?
And we ask, “How could this happen?” Because blindness wasn’t limited to the wicked king and queen. Blindness is a lot more common than we think. All the nobles of the city went along with the plan. Why? They cared more for their lives than for what’s right. They cared more for power than for the truth. They cared more for earthly success than for the LORD. That wouldn’t happen today, would it? People blindly following what those in power say? People blindly justifying the most shameful actions because it’s convenient for them? People willing to turn a blind eye to sin, because it helps their cause? Do you get what Jesus was talking about? You can see and not see!
So can you see? I think this hits home for us. You might be blind if you think stuff will make you happy. You might be blind if you pout and sulk whenever you don’t get your way. You might be blind if you come up with evil, sneaky plans that you know aren’t right. You might be blind if you justify sinful actions because in the end it helps you get what you want. You might be blind if you turn a blind eye to sin and lies, as long as that person is on your side and helps your cause. You might be blind if you care more for power than for the LORD. You might be blind if you think your position gives you the right to take advantage of other people. Can you truly see?
But does it even matter? I mean, Ahab got what he wanted! At the end of it all, he got the vineyard. And he didn’t have to pay for it! Doesn’t that make it all okay? The one man who did what was right was stoned to death, and all the people who did wrong got just what they wanted! That justifies it all, right? No! God saw. God is not blind. Not to anything that happens in this world. Ahab got what he wanted, but whatever joy that brought him was short-lived. Because who showed up? Elijah. Ahab moaned, “So you have found me, my enemy!” Like a pain that just wouldn’t go away, Elijah showed up again with the Word of the LORD who always sees.
God said, “You have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD…. I am going to bring disaster on you…. Dogs will lick up your blood…. Dogs will devour Jezebel….” God is not blind. God had seen all the evil that Ahab and Jezebel had done. And God wasn’t going to let them get away with it. Remember what Jesus said? “For judgment I have come into the world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind” (John 9:39). Today’s a good day to get our vision tested. Don’t look at your outward success. Is your heart right with the LORD? Don’t look at what you’ve accomplished. Is your life focused on the kingdom of God? If not, God sees.
That’s usually where the story stops. “Do not be like Ahab! Watch out for coveting. Open your eyes!” But the end of the story is more remarkable than all the rest of it. We need to hear the end.
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly.
Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.” (1 Kings 21:27-29 NIV)
Evil, blind King Ahab did something completely unexpected. He humbled himself. It’s so unexpected we struggle to know how to talk about it. This man who had sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, fasted, and went around meekly. He humbled himself before the LORD. What caused that? The Word of God. The Word of God works in the darkest places. The Word had power to pierce even Ahab’s heart. He humbled himself. At least for that day, he repented. His eyes opened to his blindness and saw the LORD.
But what good would that do? As we’re reading, we’re thinking, “Too little too late, buddy. After all that you’ve done? It’s not going to do any good.” Ahab didn’t deserve the slightest thing from God. Just being killed, and dogs licking up his blood. “Nice try, Ahab. But no way.”
Except, what did God do? He saw. He noticed. In fact, God was excited! God loves to see people repent. It’s like he elbows Elijah in the ribs and says, “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day.” This is the most amazing thing! After all the evil that Ahab had done, year after year, over and over again, when he humbled himself before the LORD, when he repented, what did God do? He had mercy on him. Even on King Ahab. It was totally undeserved. It was totally unexpected. Do you know what you call that? Grace. This is the grace of God for blind sinners who repent.
How could God have mercy on Ahab? Because there was another Naboth. There was another Man who did what was right even when no one else did. There was another innocent Man who was dragged in front of everyone. There was another innocent Man who was shamefully accused of all sorts of false things by a group of scoundrels. There was another Naboth who was taken outside the city and put to death for other people’s sins. Who was that other Naboth? Jesus Christ. Can you see the comparison? More importantly, can you see what Jesus did? He came into our world of blindness to suffer for our sins and open our eyes to the grace of God.
We said that Jezebel’s evil plot was the worst ever. Not quite. It wasn’t as bad as what we did to Jesus. He really was innocent in every way. Yet, he was accused, for our sins. He was beaten, for our sins. He was executed, for our sins. So that when you repent, God has mercy on you too. God has forgiven you too. We deserve to have our blood shed, but, instead, Jesus’ blood covers us. We deserve wretched deaths, but, instead, Jesus gives us eternal life through faith in him. So repent, every day. Humble yourself before the LORD. And trust in God’s mercy on sinners.
Jesus opens our eyes to the grace of God. After Jesus gave the blind man sight in our gospel lesson, Jesus asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man answered, “Who is he, sir? Tell me so that I may believe in him” (John 9:35-36). When you hear about Jesus, it doesn’t just mean that you now have something to do on Sunday mornings once in a while. Knowing Jesus is like a blind person receiving sight. Suddenly, you see the world in a different light. Why would I live for stuff, when I have eternal life? Why would I pout about my plans, when I can see that God’s plans are so much better? Why would I follow lies, when the truth of the God’s Word is what changes hearts? Why would I walk in darkness, when I have the light of life?
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned how I knew a woman who really was blind. I learned so much from her. Because she could really see. Her physical blindness allowed her to see Jesus and his grace so clearly. Her eyes were empty, but her heart was full. It was full of grace for other people. It was full of love for hearing God’s Word. It was full of trust in her Savior. “The blind will see and those who see will become blind.” May God in his grace give us that true sight.
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