Naboth's vineyard illustrates the destructive path that begins with covetousness and leads to lies, murder, and divine retribution. King Ahab's desire for Naboth's ancestral land, fueled by his wife Jezebel, resulted in Naboth's unjust execution and Ahab's subsequent condemnation by Elijah. The sermon emphasizes that true contentment comes from appreciating one's God-given inheritance, whether material or spiritual, and warns against the fleeting nature of ill-gotten gains. Ultimately, the story serves as a stark reminder that sin, even when seemingly successful, carries severe consequences, though repentance can elicit God's mercy.
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Isabel his wife came to him and said unto him, Saysabel, his wife said unto him, Thou now govern the kingdom of Israel. Arise and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry. I will give thee the vineyard of, I will give thee the vineyard of Mabeth, the Jezelech. So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and shealed them. with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders, and to the nobles, that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people, and set two men, sons of Belil, or worklessness, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God in the king.
and then carry him out, and scorned the remedi. The men of the city, even the elders and the nobles, who were the inhabitants of the city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. They proclaimed a fast, and set Mabath on high among the people. There came in two men, children of Belil, and sat before him. men of the Leil witnessed against him, even against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city and stoned and was stoned that he died.
Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned and is dead. And it came to pass when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jesuit, which he refused to give thee for money. For Naboth is not alive but dead. It came to pass when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead. But Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth, the Jesuit, to take possession of it. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishvite saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel.
which is in Samaria. Behold, he is in the vineyard of Nabah, whither he has gone down to possesseth. Thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thou shalt the Lord, hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, say, Thou shalt sayeth the Lord. In the place where dogs lick the blood of Nabah, shall dogs lick thy blood even dine? Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? The answer I have found thee, because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord.
Behold, I will drink evil upon thee, and will take away thy profosperity, and will cut off from Ahab, all nails, and so set up and left, where I set up and left in Israel. And you'll make thine house like the house of Jeroboam. the son of Neba, and like the house of Bashar, the son of Ahijah, for the provocations wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, saying, The dog shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezeel. Him that dieth of Ahab's in the city the dog shall eat, and him that dieth in the field shall the powers of the air eat.
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. And he did very abominably in following idols according to all things, as did the Amorites whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. The background of our message tonight is very interesting. I'm sure you're all aware of the lineup of the books of the Bible. In Genesis you have the book of beginnings. Then you have the book of redemption in Exodus, redemption out of Egypt by blood.
Then you have the book of worship in Leviticus. When you come to numbers you have exactly what the word says, the numbering of the children of Israel into three groups, worshipers, warriors, and workers. Then you come to Deuteronomy, and that gives you the land of promise in perspective. God is telling them all about the land of promise and what it's like. But in Joshua, you had the possession of that inheritance. Under Joshua, the children of Israel went in, and they possessed their inheritance. God divided that nation. that piece of land, known as the Promised Land, up into twelve second sections.
Each tribe got his or her section, and it's very remarkable that God didn't leave it up to any human surveyor. God himself was the surveyor. And so all that land, the twelve tribes and their inheritance, the land was divided according to God's method. And God told exactly the directions and the distance, and each tribe had its portion. And then again, God divided that one portion, belonging to that one tribe, the tribe of Issachar, into family sections. And each family got his portion. And this man thereof was in the tribe of Issachar.
So his family got his inheritance. Now that went down in God's book. And that was precious to an Israelite. That was his inheritance from the Lord. And God says, you're not to sell it, and you're not to trade it. You keep it. And if under any circumstances you get poorer, and you have to sell it, after the year of Jubilee, that piece of land goes back to you, the original owner. It is for forever. And I'll tell you those Israelites say, held precious that peace of Christ. It was a peace of Emmanuel's land.
And the children of Israel, they loved that inheritance of the Lord. So we come to our passage here that we were speaking on part of it this morning. And Ahab has his big palace in Jezreel. Well, he wants Nabar's inheritance was near to the palace. And so they have went over to this man. And he said, I want your piece of property. I want your lovely garden. Evidently it was a lovely garden. Possibly because it was near to the palace. Naboth took great care of it and was very particular as to how it looked.
But Naboth, he had plenty of his old. But he coveted Naboth Digny. Covertism. What does the Lord Jesus say about covetousness? Take heed and beware of covetousness. Covetousness is a bad thing. Covetousness, and here you have a real illustration of what covetousness is. This portion illustrates the danger, the sin, the awful results of such a court. Covetousness. Covetous. My covetousness says, God is idolatry.
Idolatry. God hates anything that replaces him or his decision in another. And so here is Ahab, brought up with a Jewish background. He knew all about the inheritances of the children of Israel. But he said, I want him. I want him. He had plenty of his own. Why did he want labor? As king, he had plenty. As far as that's concerned, he could award in his army, and walk in, take over. But instead of that, he began to stout. Where Nabos said, no, as you'll notice what he said in verse four, I think it is. And Ahab came into his house, verse three.
And Nabos said to Ahab, the Lord permitted me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. And Ahab said, came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which lay off the desert light had spoken to him for he had said I will not give thee he had turned to my father and he laid him down upon his bed and turned away his face and would not teach but eat no bread something for a king to do he just went in and got in bed and like a spoiled child he turned his face to the wall and he saw this you have An illustration of a man who was coveted. In this solemn passage you have traced the steps in the path of pride.
And the way to avoid reaching the goal of the end of this path of pride that begins with covetousness is to walk in the ways of the Lord as you have in Psalm chapter one. Blessed is he that walked in the path of pride. all righteousness. Blessed is he that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. Who? This man walkedeth in the ways of the Lord, and God blesses him like the trees planted by the rivers of water. And here is Naboth. He's coveting what this other man Naboth has. Covetous. This is the first step. What are some of the other steps?
Possession leads to covetous. I want more. Ahab, you've got that. Well, I want more. I want what he's got. Oh, we can never satisfy the human heart. When we've made our first millions, should they be so successful, we've got the prize of the second. And when we make the second, we've got the prize of the third. Man is never satisfied. He's got coverage of them within his heart. And so when man has some position, He's not satisfied. He wants more, and that leads to discontent. Possession, covetousness, then discontent.
They're discontent. Discontent. This world is suffering with discontent. And yet man in this nation has never been so well off. Disaccluence aside, men have never made the wages that they've made today. Still, they're in a state of discontent. discontent leads to evil counsel, because Jezebel came in. And what did she say in verse five? But Jezebel, his wife came to him and said to him, Why is thy spirit so sad that thou eatest no dead? And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jesuit, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money.
Or else, if it pleased thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it. And he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard. And I noticed this conniving woman. Jezebel, his wife, said unto him, Does thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise and eat bread. Let thine heart be merry. I will give thee the vineyard. The Jezebel, the evil counsel, and this led the lie. She got through men to tell lies. and the result of those lies, murder and following murder, a dreadful retribution. That's the path.
There are the steps. They begin with covetousness. Then you have discontent. Then you have evil culture. Then you have lies. Then you have murder. And then the awful wages retribution. Very sad to read something like this, isn't it? Bour Jezebel. What a character she was. What a wicked woman. And she referred to as such in the night. But notice Naboth. Naboth stood up to the king. He said, I'm not going to give you an idea. It wasn't surlishness on his part or stubbornness.
Why wouldn't he give him this idea? Maybe Naboth offered him a bigger piece of land. Maybe of them ten times more and the peace of land was worked. No, there was a principle. And Nebuchadnezzar wouldn't go against that principle. God says, this is your peace of land forever. And Nebuchadnezzar said, I will not go against God's law. This is my peace of land. I will not sell it. I will not take it. This is my peace, and I will not sell it. I wonder if we are as proud over our inheritance. I wonder if we will fight for our inheritance.
What do we have? Wonderful inheritance. Our inheritance within Jesus Christ. We have an eternal inheritance. We have this blessed book. Oh, what a wonderful book we have. Oh, oh, what an heritage it is. Page after page of wonderful truth, just like being pastors. And you can go from one field to another. The other field, and get all that your little heart can take in, these wonderful truths. These wonderful principles in God's word. The principles that we seek to say as to a New Testament church. No, I'll not sell these principles.
God gave these principles to me. I'll not sell them. I'll not trade them. They're mine. And God forbid that I should give one inch of those principles away. One inch of my inheritance, all that I have in Christ. So Nehemiah said no, as we have them verse three. You know, one has to admire how Nehemiah could stand. that I say if I'd have been a temptation, we'd drop more land elsewhere, but also the price that Ahab was willing to pay. No, his God came first.
His God came first. I'm going to abide with and be satisfied with and be content with what God has done for me. I'm satisfied, I've never wanted from other places. I never wanted a larger place. God in his wisdom said that this was mine, but I'm satisfied with it. I don't want the other man's. I'm satisfied right here. God marked this patch out. This land is mine. God gave me the deep. It's mine forever. That's what we should do about the things God has given us. These are mine. They're mine forever.
Had... He'd given in to Ahab, he would have broken that divine law, that God had given relative to him in heaven. You'll notice how wicked Jezebel, when she saw her husband cast down and stulted, that you, the king of this nation, all these armies of your command and your commander-in-chief, and one man there standing up to you, right next to our palace garden, Why liquidate that stuff? She was more cunning than that. He said, all right, here, I'll be. I'll take care of this.
And what did she do? Well, she wrote letters in the king's name, and she got the king's seal. And he knew why she was asking, but I see it. After you notice that in verse eight, she wrote these letters with the king's seal. She proclaimed a past. Making it look something like religious. Making it look something solemn. There came a fast. She said, Exhaust, Naboth, set up on high. And she said, Put two sons of the lion, worthless nest, two liars in front of us. And when the past and the feast is at its peak, those two men are to swear that Naboth lasts being the Lord.
And they did exactly that. And then they blasphemed it, that Nehemiah blasphemed the Lord. They took Nehemiah. Without it tried, they took him out of school. That dirty deed was done. No trial, just fruitful murder. And so they sent word to Jezebel that Nehemiah was dead. And she went in, and she said to her husband, Arise, Nehemiah's dead. No longer alive. The vineyard's yours. And he didn't say, well, what did you do to get it? He wasn't concerned about how much you did to get it.
All he was satisfied with, I've got it. He gave off dead. He's out of the way. What part of his character you find in the word of glory. You'll notice in this situation you have five parties in this picture. You have Naboth, the innocent man. You have, in verses seven to fifteen, you have Ahab, the wicked king, asleep, sulking. You have Jezebel, the queen. You have the elders, and then you have the witnesses. Quite a trial to you. But I'll tell you, there's someone looking on in this situation, because they didn't seem to realize.
Ahab arose from his bed, and he went out. He walked in the garden. He looked it all over. My beloved God, I've been coveting these trees, these flowers for a long time. I looked down at them. I wish that were mine. And now he walks down the paths of that garden. And he smells the flowers. He looks at the trees and all this garden. Possibly there proves a script is worn. Ah, this is not. This is not.
With all of a sudden a well-known voice that hadn't been heard for five years speaks up. Who is it? Elijah. He hadn't heard of Elijah, possibly since Trump. And here is Elijah. And Elijah. appears upon the scene. It must have been wonderful enough for Elijah to have heard the word of the Lord coming unto him. In verse seventeen, and the word of the Lord came unto Elijah the fish by saying, Elijah might have thought, I thought I was on the set. I thought the Lord was free with me. I was away down there in the mountain in horror.
And God had said a thing to me for five or six years. And now he gives me a fresh command. Is this the same old Elijah? It either is. Where is old Elijah back in fellowship and communion with God again? He's afraid of none. Afraid of none. The king was selfish and weak, and poor queen, she was resourceful. The elders were nervous and corrupt, and the witnesses were liars and murder. Elijah... those that Ahab is coming into the garden. And he's not afraid now. There are two bodyguards given us in chapter nine of the second book of Kings.
Two ruthless bodyguards with their spirits. And Elijah knew they were going to be there with Ahab. And Jezebel wasn't far away. The palace was not very far off. But here's Elijah. He's in that garden. He has no fear in his heart. This is old Elijah again. And he brushes aside all things, and like a child will brush aside a cobweb in the garden again. And Elijah walks right up just from Ahab. It's just taken me in what he's going to do. And what a message Elijah had for that wicked man.
What does he say? He says in verse nineteen, Thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed and also taken possession? Ahab said, I didn't kill. I wiped him, desperate with your seal. Hast thou killed and taken possession, and thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, in the place where dogs lick the blood of David, all shall dogs lick thy blood, even thy. Ahab said unto Elijah, hast thou pounded, O my enemy.
He was a man that made Ahab the king freeze in his steps. Just he walked into that stolen treasure. Yes, stolen treasures. their very fleeting pleasures. Ahab stole this piece of property. He stole Nebuchadnezzar's home at his garden, and he didn't have long to enjoy it. Stolen treasures are but fleeting treasures. He met God's servant right in the midst of that night, and he said of Elijah, You have been found a husband, a leader of the enemy.
How do you know that Elijah was his best friend? If there had been any sign of repentance from the heart of the king Ahad, Elijah would have been the first to pray for him and told him of the God who forgives all who repent. For no down deep in Ahad's heart. The dagger was too deep. He couldn't pull it out. You're my enemy. Hast thou found me? Oh, my enemy. Elijah didn't back up. Yes, I found you. And this is what God has to say about you. You're going to die right on this spot of ground.
And the drugs will lick your blood. More than that, your whites will die here. This soil that you've covered it is going to be stained with your blood. the blood of Jezebel, your wife, and the blood of your son, and the blood of your grandson. This is the burial fates of all your dreams right here. Quite the sentence, one minute. Retribution. It all began with poverty. The sad, sad price to pay for giving what you want. The sad price. And as...
This man walked into the garden, feeling himself alone. He didn't realize that a holy God was looking down, observing the whole situation, watching the sea. And at the appropriate time, the moment said, All right, Elijah, go and speak. This is a different confrontation than the Mount Parnas. When Elijah destroyed... All the prophets had paid and commanded the heavens to give way. Ahab was free on that occasion to go back to his palace. But this is one time, Ahab, this is one time.
You will not go to rejoice in what you take. These are stolen, said the Lord. And there will be a big deal. Thou hast sold thy shalt thou work evil. in the sight of the Lord. How often that can be true of us. We sell ourselves and we're evil in the sight of the Lord. We can sell our joy. We can sell our fellowship. We can sell our usefulness. We can sell our fruitfulness. So we're evil in the sight of the Lord. Covetousness. Covetousness. Oh yeah. Many a man has coveted money.
He's got it. only to his own deprecation and shame. I could tell you a young man now, you're talking about this Bobby Bluth and the position he had and how he was over forty states. Another young fellow about that same capability, I'm interested in what he named one time before, he was saved up in North Carolina. He had a similar job, but he wasn't satisfied. He wanted high. Harvey Bruton gave up his job with all its money to serve the Lord and to go round among God's people and give these lectures that he wants to give to you in Albany.
Today the happy young man, the son of a young fellow, I think I mentioned I was in Atlanta about a year ago and I was taking a drink at the water fountain. I had another brother with me who was inside that huge new hotel just went through to take a look at it. And so I sat beside him looking around and I said, wait a minute, I've got to go and get some of the drinks. And I went over and got a drink of water. And while I was drinking, two men went by. I kind of looked up and one turned around and he came back. He said, you're in the school, man, so I said, well, I'll tell you, he has a minute. I haven't seen him for you. I said, now, what's your situation?
I said, short story. He said, I tell him, the whole thing is I wanted to be like you. I want to be like Brother McKay. And he said, I couldn't. And I lost talk. I was sure he said, I wouldn't go making money. I went to Charlotte. I had a big job. I had an offer to go higher. I went higher. And he said, I'm right here in this hotel with Vanager, the owner of our business. And I've got all the money I want. But he says, I'm not happy. I'm not happy.
He says, the other day, I went by in my daughter's room, and I heard her voice, and I got that sound like she's talking to anybody. The mother was out in the kitchen. I went over, and I heard her pray. She says she was praying for her daddy, Lord. don't let daddy. We're after more money. More. Restored, daddy. I said, will you confirm that now? He gripped my hand. He said, I haven't heard anyone. Here you have it. Oh, that covetousness. The love for money.
Coveting place. Coveting position. Coveting what another man has. Yes, it could be covering another man's wife. That's going to be fleeting pleasures by stolen treasure. It may be coveting another woman's husband. You want what belongs to another man, and you would dare to covet. That too is the way to sell yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord. God has bound them together. That's sacred. Don't you touch that inheritance. God will see to it that your coveted treasures will be pleading pleasures.
It will last. That's true of this man, Ahab. It didn't last. I wonder if we're going to learn these lessons tonight. Be sure your sin will bind you up. You can't get away with it. Ahab thought he was getting by with it, but I know, right in the very garden where he stood, his own blood was still. Right in that same flock, his white blood, his son's blood, his grand son's blood. Was it worth it, Ahab? No.
And we read in those last verses, I won't see more of that. It says, and verse twenty-six, And he did very abundantly and following idols, according to all things, as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. But here's something that amazes me. And it came to pass when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes and put sackcloth upon his plates, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and rent soft. And the word that the Lord came unto Elijah the fish might see. See, seeest thou how Ahab humblest and sent before me.
Because he humblest and sent before me, I will not bring the evil in his day, but in his Sunday will I bring the evil upon his house. When I read that yesterday, I got all the amazing places. this witness, ruthless, ungodliness, causing so much suffering to others, committing such probable sin, yet God puts such a high place on contrition, repentance, that God says, well, I'll pause the day of judgment, I'll extend the word.
In other words, when you change God, When you soften up, God will soften up. That's man's hope. How God, a God of mercy, a God of justice and righteousness could change so quickly as he did a little thing. It just makes you a mark at the gates of kindness and mercy. To allow a human being, a little old tiny maggot of a man who have defied the Almighty and given him another chance. That's how good I was.
That's how gracious I was. That's how wonderful he is. He's buried upon. Then you're ready to crack and you drink and your heart is vexed and broken and you see yourself the sinner, the sinner that you're about. God will see those tears, that trembling lip. God will say, I'll redeem. All this sin, return unto me. I have redeemed. Who has such a pardoning God like me? Who has grace or wits or so free? And I trust against this dark background that is.
There was no forgiveness for Jezebel. She was just too hot. She gloried in her death, as we know this smoke. But Ahab ever lived with his background, days in a shoot. But as a lad, he went to the synagogue, and he heard the word of God through the lips of the cross. Maybe some of those early days quoted back over the years. And Ahab realized there was a living thought after all that he had forgotten so many years. And he wrote, God said to Jer, Elijah, tell him, I'll spare him.
We owe you. That judging hand will not fall. Why, Ahab would have had a wonderful time, you'll really open his heart and give him the rest of his life. You'll live in God, but he didn't. He didn't take use of that little curious dilemma. He went back to his wicked ways. And just as we read, he was shot riding in the chariot out to war. He'd gone to battle, and the enemy soldier drew his arrow, and he struck him in the pot, which has left me to the house. And Ahab died in his chariot, and his blood ran out into the chariot floor.
And when they lifted him out of the chariot, they washed the blood out on the pot, and the dogs came and lifted him, just to fulfill the scripture. And yours is the first. They have Gerald and Jezebel and Father, your son and grandson. How great is God in? It is such a sinner, such a gentleman, after he had learned from little experience that stolen treasures are but bleak blessings. I bless you. You will all come to me. May we avoid coming. as a dead calamity, whether it may be, and resolution.
Many who are not Christians tonight, they urge you to come to the Savior. Oh, light's pleasures are so fleeting, and they are so few, that I've got a little place that doesn't take much to fill up my heart. And so Christ is the only one that cares. You can't put a heart in a round circle. You've got some empty places. You can't get this whole world into your heart. Your heart just can't take it all in. There'll be some vacancy. There's only one who's been filled the whole circle. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ that God so loved with you.
He loves all of you. Spirit, soul of God. And He wants you. And He's willing to pray that Christ for you tonight. And Christ. not at times. Oh, that you have trusted me. And trust them now. Save your soul. Save your life. Don't waste either one. There are two pleasures. You have only got one life. When so be passed. And only what's done is the test. For let's celebrate. Our Father in heaven, in the name of our Lord Jesus, we bring to thy presence we ask thy blessing upon thy grace. We thank thee for these truths.
Thou has left on the face of inspiration. Left for our warning. Left behind these warnings, there's a heart of love. Behind these dangerous signals, there's a God who cares. May we not brush aside the beam of the lighthouse that warns us of a rotten soul. May we not condemn the surgeon's lack when his child tried to better our health. May we not call the hounds of God that are on our track, as if they were to kill us, when there are but pounds of mustard wanting to bless us.
Oh, Father, we ask thee to bless thy word be one and all, as we bid thee our prayers. In the Lord Jesus Christ,