1 Kings 21
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. 2 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." 3 But Naboth replied, "The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers." 4 So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, "I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers." He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.
5 His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, "Why are you so sullen? Why won't you eat?"
6 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.' "
7 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."
8 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. 9 In those letters she wrote:
"Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 10 But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them testify that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death."
11 So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth's city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them. 12 They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 13 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. 14 Then they sent word to Jezebel: "Naboth has been stoned and is dead."
15 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." 16 When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth's vineyard.
17 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite: 18 "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. 19 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!' "
20 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. 21 'I am going to bring disaster on you. I will consume your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free. 22 I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have caused Israel to sin.'
23 "And also concerning Jezebel the LORD says: 'Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of [a] Jezreel.'
24 "Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country."
25 (There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife. 26 He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the LORD drove out before Israel.)
27 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly.
28 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite: 29 "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."
Introduction: Almost a month ago now, we read a story about Elijah the prophet . Today, we will be continuing with another installment of what we could call the “Elijah Chronicles”. Elijah will once again confront his main nemesis, none other than the king of Israel, King Ahab. One would expect that the king would get along with a man of God but think about this for just a second: how many of our modern day politicians would get along with ministers who kept publicly pointing out the sin in their lives? That politician would always be a little jumpy everytime he saw someone in a clerical collar. That’s just the way it was for Ahab. He wants to do the right thing. He wants to follow God’s word, but it just never seems to work out. Today, I want you to ask yourself: if a prophet came to you with a message from God, what would the message be?
Once a man went ice fishing and he chopped a hole in the ice and dropped his line and a voice spoke to him from above. “There are no fish here”. So he moved a little ways away, chopped another hole in the ice, dropped his line and again the voice spoke, a little angry this time, “There are no fish here”. So again the man moved, chopped a hole in the ice, dropped his line in, and the voice spoke again, real angry this time, “There are no fish here. This is an ice rink.”
Sermon:
Have any of you ever had a direct word from God? I know you have, You just wouldn’t put it in exactly those terms. Have you ever been in church and you feel like the sermon was just for you? Have you ever stood in a dark field in the middle of the night and looked at stars, knowing that God is speaking to you? Have you ever cried during a song because God touched your heart with the music? We could go on and on with ways that God speaks to us, couldn’t we and maybe someday we should. But what would you do if a person came up to you, you personally and said, “God has a message for you.” I would say that you are far more likely to believe in that feeling you had when you were looking at the stars than the statement made by a human prophet that God has a message for you. But let’s just say for the sake of argument that thought actually might be a prophet sent from God, came to you, and said, “I have a message for you.” Would you really want to hear the next words? The question in today’s sermon is very simple. If a prophet were to come to you today with a message from God, what would that message be? What do you need to hear from God, today?
In our text, Elijah has a message for King Ahab and its not a good one. You see Ahab can’t decide if he wants to be a good king or a bad king. So he ends up being a bad king. Ahab seems to have some motivation to follow God’s word but he doesn’t really want to and we can see how he responds to God’s word when it is thrust upon him. He gets all whiney and he goes into his room, lies on his bed, and sulks. This guy is a piece of work. But is he so different from us. How do you respond when God’s word is inconvenient? How do you respond when what you want, might not be what God wants? Or like Ahab, how do you respond when what you want, might actually be a sin?
So, how did he get into this position? He’s the king for crying out loud! Well , here it is. He’s in the palace, probably hanging out on the roof, and he sees this nice piece of land right next to the palace and he wants it. Now, you’re thinking, he’s the king, he can have whatever he wants. That’s not true! Not in Israel! The king has to follow the laws of God just like everyone else. You see, Land is sacred in Israel. When the Israelites first moved into the country, each family was given a piece of land. Naboth’s family received a plot of land as their heritage. Given to them by the law God established with the Israelites. That was around 1200 B.C. At the time of this story, it is around 860 B.C. Do the math. That land has been in Naboth’s family for 440 years. This was the land his ancestors had lived on for over 10 generations. Can you imagine that? Almost two times as long as the United States has been in existence. We’re surprised if two or three generations successively live in the same house. But ten generations on the same land. The bottom line on this though is that The king cannot legally take Naboth’s land if Naboth doesn’t want to sell and he won’t. End result, a whiney king, having a tantrum on his bed. His wife, Jezebel hears about what has happened and says, “Don’t worry honey. I’ll take care of it.” And she concocts a plan to accuse Naboth of a crime and have him executed. And that’s exactly what happens. Ahab gets the land he wants but then he also gets a visit from Elijah, a real, honest to goodness prophet. In fact, God sends Elijah to Ahab with a message.
In verse 20, Ahab says to Elijah, “So, you have found me, my enemy.” Ahab know who Elijah is and he knows what the message is.
If a prophet found you and he was carrying a message from God, just for you, what would the message be? Would it be a message of warning? Would it be a message that you are headed down a slippery slope, the wrong path, the wrong direction? That you’d better change the way you are doing things, or the way you’re thinking and feeling? Often that is the prophet’s message: You’re not following my commands. You’re not doing the things you know should and you’re doing the things you know you shouldn’t. Would the prophet’s message to you be a message of warning?
If a prophet found you today, would that prophet bring you a word of encouragement. Would he tell you how much God loves you and how much God wants you to just hang in there? That God will give you the exact amount of faith and strength you need to make it through whatever it is you’re going through. Would that prophet tell you that God will never leave you alone. Would that prophet tell you how much Jesus loves you, that he is in fact crazy about you. And that God’s grace is bigger and more beautiful than anything you could possibly face today.
If a prophet found you today, would that prophet bring a message of judgment. In all seriousness, sometimes that is what we need. Sometimes we really do need to hear that we have brought down judgment upon ourselves. That our actions have so caught God’s attention that there are consequences. Like a child who has misbehaved to the point that his parents must intervene, so is God’s judgment. It is not out of anger or spite. God’s judgment comes to us out of love. Can you imagine if there were no negative consequences to any of your actions? God’s judgment is not punishment. It is discipline. It is meant to help us become the people, God wants us to be. Would God’s word to you today, be a word of judgment? Are you in need of discipline?
Or perhaps if a prophet found you today, your message would be a message of hope. It could be that your life has reached a point where there is no hope. Is life so discouraging, so out of your control that you feel like there’s nothing left for you. You need a message of hope. You need to be reminded that our god is indeed a God of hope. You need to be reminded that Jesus paid the highest price he could possibly pay, so that we will always have hope. Scripture tells us that our faith is in things hoped for, faith is not in the things that we have. You may need to hear again how much God loves you. You may need to be reminded that our hope is built on the grace offered us in Jesus. Sometimes we need to be reminded that in the midst of the worst, we need to trust in God and hope in Jesus, just a little bit more.
Maybe the message would be an invitation, an invitation to walk closer with God, to trust Him more, to love Him more. Maybe your message would be a request: maybe god wants your faith to have more action to it and he has something special he wants you to do. Maybe the message is, I want people to see more of me in you.
So where are you in your walk with God? Is there a prophet in your life? And if there is, what message would the prophet bring, if the prophet found you?
