1 Kings 21:1-29

Today’s passage reminds me of the saying: “be sure your sins will find you out.”  We are often deceived into thinking that we can do some things in secret that will not be discovered; and from a human perspective that may be true.  However, from God’s perspective that is never true; He always knows everything that we do and all that happens in our lives.  We must be very careful not to let the desires of our hearts lead us down a path of destruction through disobedience to the Lord.  This passage is also surprising in that it also demonstrates that there is hope for those who disobey if they will truly repent.  We must constantly check our hearts to make sure that we have not been deceived into thinking that God is unaware of our deeds, but we must also search our hearts to make sure that we have truly repented of our sin.

AHAB’S GRIEF: Ahab had a neighbor named Naboth.  Naboth had a vineyard that was very beautiful and well kept.  Ahab wanted to purchase the vineyard in order to have a garden next to his house.  Up until this point there is nothing wrong with the story.  However, when Naboth refuses to sell the property that belongs to his family; Ahab begins to pout.  He is overcome by grief, goes to bed and seems to fall into a depression.  It is so easy for us to be disappointed by the things that we don’t have and forget about all of the blessings we do have.  Ahab is doing just that.  The reality is that Ahab has tons of land at his disposal and could have built a garden anywhere.  Instead of being grateful for all that he does have he is grieved over the one thing that he can’t have.  We would be wise to examine our own hearts for the same type of ingratitude.  Are we more focused on the many blessings that God has granted in our lives or the few desires we have that God has chosen to withhold?

JEZEBEL’S GREED: Jezebel is far more aggressive than Ahab and simply cannot understand why Ahab would accept Naboth’s refusal to sell and just lay down and pout.  Jezebel is drunk with power and her heart if full of greed so she simply sets up a means by which Naboth will be eliminated.  Ironically she does so by paying false witnesses to accuse him of blaspheming God.  She assumes that she can just do this without having any consequences in her own life.  Sin is often like that.  We can clearly and easily see the immediate benefits that sin will bring into our lives; pleasure, financial gain or some other comfort.  What we can rarely see are the eternal or even eventual consequences of our sin.  Greed is ultimately at the heart of our sin.  We want something that we don’t have and are willing to disobey God in order to get it.  We must train our heats to be satisfied and grateful with what God has given us.

ELIJAH’S GRADE: Elijah confronts Ahab as soon as he goes down to take possession of the vineyard.  God has revealed Ahab’s actions to Elijah and so Elijah goes and passes God’s judgment on the king.  Ahab’s actions bring about a failing grade from God’s evaluation and Elijah has the job of communicating this to Ahab.  The consequences of Ahab’s actions have earned him condemnation from God.  Like the evil kings before him; Ahab is condemned to a humiliating death and his entire family is cursed by God.  No vineyard could be worth this price.  In reality, no pleasure that sin affords is worth the consequences of that sin.  We must always be aware of the fact that one day each of us will stand before the Lord where He will grade us according to our deeds.  There will be rewards for obedience and faith but there will also be loss for disobedience and doubt.  God’s rewards are worth waiting for and the consequences of sin are worth avoiding.  We must constantly remind ourselves of this truth when we are tempted.

GOD’S GRACE: To his credit, when Ahab hears of the consequences of his actions; he repents.  He realizes how foolish and ungrateful he has been and tears his clothes as a sign of his repentance before the Lord.  We finally see Ahab respond to the Lord in humility and recognize the foolishness of his own sin.  This is the response that should happen in each of our hearts when we are confronted with our sin.  Ahab does not make excuses, blame Jezebel or threaten to kill Elijah for confronting him.  Ahab does the only thing that there is to do when we come to grips with our sin.  Ahab repents and throws himself down before the Lord.  God’s amazing grace is what Ahab finds when he casts himself at the feet of God.  There will still be consequences for Ahab’s sin but they were delayed because of Ahab’s humility.  We must all remember how futile it is to try to excuse or diminish our sin.  True humility and repentance is the only response that God is looking for when He confronts us.  He is faithful to respond to our repentance with grace, mercy and love.