I would like for you, if you
will, to open your Bibles today to 1 Kings chapter 21. 1 Kings chapter 21. Some of you will remember that
I brought a message to us a couple of weeks ago From God's question
to Elijah that is found in 1st Kings 19 and verse 9. God said, what doest thou hear,
Elijah? And I reminded us that God never
asked a question for information. He never asked to learn because
God knows all things. This is what we call his omniscience. In Psalms 139, the psalmist wrote,
O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Every one of us,
each one of us here this morning, we can say the same thing. O
Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my setting
down, mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. There's never a thought that
comes into your mind or mine that God does not know. Thou compassest my path and my
lying down. God is all around us. Because
you see, we live, we move, we have our being in Him. There's no place, no place where
God isn't. Thou compasseth my path and my
lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there's
not a word upon my tongue, but thou knowest it altogether. the omniscience of God. God knows all things. This truth
is a great comfort to God's children. It strikes fear into the heart
of unbelievers, no question about that, and it should. But for
God's children, God's omniscience is a great truth which comforts
us. When we are like Job in the midst
of affliction, We may say, He knoweth the way that I take. When he hath tried me, I shall
come forth as gold. He knoweth the way that I take. Whatever it is, whatever way
I'm in, whatever affliction, God knows. And when we are like
Peter and we've sinned, we may say with him, Lord thou knowest
all things, thou knowest that I love thee. May not look to
myself even that I do, but Lord thou knowest all things, thou
knowest that I love thee. But today I want to take the
words concerning King Ahab. If you look in verse 16, 1st
Kings chapter 21 in verse 16, And I'm only reading part of
the text, but we read here, Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard
of Naboth to take possession of it. And I want to ask this
morning the same question of King Ahab that God asked of his
prophet Elijah. What doest thou hear, King Ahab? And we'll look at five questions
as we consider these words. First, where was King Ahab? Well, our text tells us that
he was in the vineyard of Naboth. Who was Naboth? He was in the... What doest thou hear, King Ahab? Where was King Ahab? He was in
the vineyard of this man by the name of Naboth. But that begs
the question, who was Naboth? And I would just remind us of
this. When God asked Elijah, what doest thou hear? And then
God commanded him to go out of the cave. And God passed by,
you remember, with the wind and the fire and the hurricane, or
the tornado rather, and then the still small voice. And God
said again, what doest thou hear, Elijah? And when Elijah responded,
part of his answer was this, I, This is Elijah speaking, ìI
have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, because the
children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine
altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword.î Now listen,
ìAnd I, I only, am left.î That was Elijah's, part of Elijah's
response, part of his answer to God's question, what doest
thou hear, Elijah? I'm the only one left. And you remember God spoke and
told Elijah this, I have left me 7,000, 7,000 in Israel, all the knees which
have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth that hath not kissed
him. Now who was Naboth? Naboth was
one of the 7,000 who had not bowed his knee to Baal nor kissed
that idol. He was one of the 7,000 that
God said he had left, he had reserved unto himself. You know there is a teaching,
a doctrine throughout the Word of God that there is a remnant
always in this world at every time, at every age, there is
always a remnant according to the election of grace. I want
you to turn with me, keep your places here, but turn with me
to the book of Romans and see how the Apostle Paul uses this. Romans chapter 11. Elijah said, I, even I only,
am left. And God said, I have left me
7,000 in Israel. Now here in Romans chapter 11,
we read, I say then, hath God cast away his people? And notice
his people. Now, this question is in response. This question that Paul puts
forth here is in response to those who were natural Israel. In other words, they were the
descendants of Abraham. They were Jews. And at this time,
we know that most of the people that God was saving were Gentiles. Has God cast away His people? Now that's the question. His
people. Now they would understand that,
has God cast away national Israel? Paul says, has God cast away
His people? And then he answers, God forbid,
for I also am an Israelite. I'm a Jew, the seed of Abraham,
of the tribe of Benjamin. Now notice, God hath not cast
away His people, which He foreknew. God has a people in this world
which He foreknew, and that word means that He set His love upon. Has God cast away His people
which He foreknew? God forbid, whether they be Jew
or Gentile, what you not what the Scripture saith of Elias. Now this is Elijah, isn't it?
He has reference back to that text in I Kings. How he maketh,
that is, Elijah made intercession to God against Israel, saying,
Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and dig down thine altars, and
I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer
of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven
thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal,
Even so, now, even so, just like at that time, Paul says, even
so today, at this present time also, there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no
more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be
of works, then is it no more grace, otherwise work is no more
work. A remnant. A remnant according
to the election of grace. What does that word remnant mean? It is a part of a whole. That's about the best definition
I think I can give. A remnant is a part of the whole. All men, all men, you and I and
everyone else, everyone you'll ever meet, we all fail in our
father Adam. We all are part of that mass
of fallen men. And yet out of that whole, out
of that whole, all men, women, God has chosen a remnant, a part,
and it is a remnant according to the election of grace. Now
grace simply means God's unmerited favor. Everyone whom God chose
God didn't look down through time like these false prophets
want to tell people and say who would be more pliable, whose
heart would be more soft, who would respond. No, God didn't
base His election upon anything that He saw in us, because we
were, even as others, children of wrath. That is, if God gave
us what we deserve, what we merit, we'd all spend eternity in hell. But by the goodness of God and
the grace of God, God set His love upon a remnant, a remnant
according to the election of grace. Who was Naboth? He was one of those 7,000 in
Israel who had not bowed his knee to Baal. He was one of those
7,000 who were part of the election, the remnant according to the
election of grace, who Christ had redeemed. You say, well Christ
had not come yet. I know that, but remember this
about the Lord Jesus Christ. He was as a lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. In the purpose of God, He was
as a lamb slain. Now the actual slaying of Christ
took place in time. Understand that. But all of those
who were saved before Christ died on the cross were saved
in the same way. They were saved by His blood
and righteousness. Who was Naboth? Well, where was
King Ahab? He was in the vineyard of Naboth. And who was Naboth? He was one
of God's children. Here's the second question. Why
was King Ahab in Naboth's vineyard? Well our text here, if you look
back here in our text, 1st Kings chapter 21 and verse 16, it says
to take possession of it. That's why he was there. He was
in Naboth's vineyard to take possession of it. Now what we
read, if you look back to verse 1 of this chapter, chapter 21,
is that King Ahab had a palace. Now most kings Their palace is
pretty large. I mean, it's called a palace.
It's a little bit more than a hut, a little bit more than a house.
It's a palace. He had a palace worthy of a king
of Israel. But right next door to him, Naboth's
vineyard. I guess it just joined on the
palace grounds. Look in verse 1. It came to pass
after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard,
which was in Jezreel, hard next to the palace of Ahab king of
Samaria. Must have joined on to his ground.
No doubt he was there one day and he started looking around
and he thought, boy, it'd be nice if... He already had plenty.
He already had everything he could possibly use in a lifetime. But he looked over there and
he saw this vineyard, and he thought, boy, it would be nice
if I had that vineyard. I could make a herb garden out
of that, and that would really spice up my food. Be right here,
close, fresh, fresh. Notice verse two. And Ahab spake
unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard. Kings were not accustomed to
people not giving them or doing what they told them to do. I
mean, you took your life in your own hands when you told a king
no. These kings were despots. They
were rulers. They have spake unto Naboth,
saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden
of herbs. because it is near unto my house. And I will give thee for it a
better vineyard than it, or if it seem good to thee, I will
give thee the worth of it in money. Give me your vineyard,
Naboth, or sell it to me, whatever." Well, remember this, that Naboth
was one of those 7,000. He was one of those of God's
elect according to to grace, a remnant according to the election
of grace. He worshipped God, in other words. He worshipped God. He obeyed
God. I was reading Charles Spurgeon
said this to believers, to those who confess that we belong unto
the Lord Jesus Christ. You belong to Jesus, obey Him. Let His word be your law. Let His wish be your will. You belong to the Beloved? Then
love Him. Let your heart embrace Him. Let
your whole soul be filled with Him. You belong to the Son of
God? Then trust Him. Rest nowhere
but on Him. You belong to the King of Kings? Then be decided for Him. And Naboth was such a person
He believed, he obeyed, and he was decided for the Lord God
Almighty. Now, when you read this, you
might think, well, why didn't he just give the king? Why didn't
he just sell the king his land? Because the Word of God forbade
it. That's the reason he would not
deal with this king over his vineyard. He believed in God. He worshipped God. He obeyed
God. And God said, You shall not sell
the land. Let's look at that. Turn back
with me to Leviticus chapter 25. Leviticus chapter 25. We'll just
read a few verses here. But in verse 23, this is the
law that God gave through Moses to the Israelites. The land. That is the land that they were
going in to inherit. Verse 23, The land shall not
be sold forever, for the land is mine. You're just going to
live on it, but it's not yours to sell. The land is mine, for
you are strangers and sojourners with me. Don't you love that,
with me? It's one thing to be a pilgrim
in this world. It's one thing to be a sojourner.
And that's okay if we are with Him. A sojourner with Him. And God told the nation of Israel,
you go into this land, going to be divided up by lots. I'm
going to give it to you, but you don't sell it. You don't
sell it. And in all the land of your possession,
you shall grant a redemption for the land. Now there was a
provision that if a man waxed poor, he could sell his land. But in the year of Jubilee, which
was every 50 years, the land automatically came back to the
owner. Now no doubt Naboth knew Ahab
well enough to know. First of all, God's law forbade
him from selling that land. He wasn't poor. He didn't need
to sell it. And number two, he knew Ahab
well enough to know that in the year of Jubilee, he wouldn't
give it back because God's law meant nothing to him. When we think about the land
of Canaan, it is a picture in many ways of heaven. It was given. You know, it's called Immanuel's
land because the Lord Jesus Christ was born. and Canaan in Palestine. It was given to them like heaven
is given to us. We don't earn it. We don't deserve
it. It's a free grace gift given
to God's children. The Israelites went in. They
moved into houses that the Canaanites had already built, given to them. They drank water from wells that
the Canaanites had dug. The water was given unto them.
They ate fruit from vineyards and from orchards that the Canaanites
had planted. It was given unto them. Everything
about heaven, everything about eternal life is a gift from God. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Here's the third question. How
did King Ahab come to possess Naboth's vineyard? We've seen
that Naboth's vineyard was right next to the palace. Ahab wanted
to buy it or exchange it and Naboth wouldn't do that. But
now in our text we read that Ahab, King Ahab, has gone down
to take possession Take possession of Naboth's vineyard. How did
he come into possession of Naboth's vineyard? Well, look at verse 4. When he was
denied by Naboth that vineyard, he went home. Went home just
like a spoiled child. turned his face to the wall and
wouldn't eat, just sulked. That's what he did. Verse 4,
Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the
word that Naboth, the Jezreelite, had spoken to him, for he had
said, You know, we're all like this. God's given us so much,
but sometimes we'll see something we won't. Oh, we just want that. We don't need it, really, but
we want it. And if we can't have it, we suck. We're disappointed. We're discouraged. We're depressed. When God has
given us so much, given us everything, He's given us His Son. When God
has given us His Son, That's everything, isn't it?
That's everything. We can see the fault in Ahab,
but we all are guilty of this very same thing. He wanted that
vineyard, and the man who owned it said no. And so he acts like
a spoiled brat. Notice what he said, what it
says here. For he had said, that is Naboth had said, I will not
give thee the inheritance of my father's. And he laid him
down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat
no bread. But Ahab had a wicked wife, Jezebel. I've said this before, but let
me say it again. When you decide, make a decision
to marry, you young people here, In all likelihood, as far as
this world is concerned, that's the most important decision of
your life. Ahab was a weak man, but he married
a very strong woman. Nothing wrong with that, but
she was a wicked woman. And she knew how to manipulate
Ahab. Notice But Jezebel, his wife,
came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that
thou eatest no bread? And he said unto her, Because
I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy
vineyard for money, or else, if it please thee, I will give
thee another vineyard for it. And he answered, I will not give
thee my vineyard. And Jezebel, his wife, said unto
him, Now listen, listen to what she said. Dost thou now govern
the kingdom of Israel? Aren't you the king? Hasn't it
occurred to you, you are the king, and one of your subjects
tells you that he will not do what you asked him to do? How's
that possible? What right does that man have
to speak to the king? Dost thou now govern the kingdom
of Israel? Arise, and eat bread, and let
thine heart be merry. I, I will give thee the vineyard
of Naboth the Jezreelite. Well, how was she going to do
that? Was Naboth going to sell to Jezebel? He wouldn't sell
to the king. Was he going to sell to Jezebel?
When she told her husband Ahab, I will give you that vineyard,
Ahab knew right away in his heart, she'll get me that vineyard,
but it will not be in a legal way. It will not be in an honest
way. He knew that. From here on, the disposal, the
destruction of Naboth, it seems like it's all Jezebel's doing. But I want you to know Ahab,
he had as much responsibility, probably more in this than his
wife Naboth. She wrote letters in Ahab's name,
sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders
and to the nobles. Now we're in his city dwelling
with Naboth, and she wrote him the letter saying, Proclaim a
fast and set Naboth on high among the people, and set two men,
sons of the devil, Balaam, before him to bear witness against him,
saying, Thou didst blaspheme God in the king. Now here's a
man of God. Here's one of those seven, 7,000. of the election according to
grace, a believer, one who obeyed the Lord. And she said, you have
a feast, you set him there, and then you pay two men, sons of
the wicked one, to come in and testify against this man and
to testify of the very worst thing that he could possibly
be guilty of, blaspheming God. Can you imagine what that did
to this man when this took place? What he's charged with now? The
God that he loved, now he's being charged with blaspheming his
name? And the men of his city, even
the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants of his 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 Naboth on high among the people. And there came
in two men, children of Balaam, and sat before him. And the men
of Balaam 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 him with stones, 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, arise, take possession
of the vineyard of Naboth. That's how he came. What doest
thou hear, King Ahab? Where was he? He was in the vineyard
of Naboth. Who was Naboth? One of God's
children. What was he doing there? He was
there to take possession of it. And how did he get possession
of it? By having the owner, the rightful owner, murdered. Here's
my third question. Or fourth question, rather. How
long did King Ahab have to enjoy Naboth's Vineyard. Can't you
just see him that day when his wife told him, get out of bed,
put on your best clothes. It's yours now. He got in his
chariot. He rode out there to his Naboth's
Vineyard. I'm sure he's just walking around
thinking, I'll move this, and I'll change this, and I'll plant
some things here, have some things planted. He wouldn't do it. I'll
do this, I'll do that. How long do you think he had
to enjoy that vineyard? Well, I don't know for sure,
but it may well be that very, very same day that a messenger
came. He wasn't invited, but he was
sent. He was sent by God. Elijah. Elijah. Notice when Ahab saw Elijah. Verse 20, And Ahab said to Elijah,
Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? He knew. He recognized Elijah. He knew this man. Hast thou found
me, O mine enemy? Elijah was not his enemy. Elijah
was a prophet of God. Elijah told the truth. But you
know the scripture said, the Apostle Paul made this comment,
must I become your enemy because I tell you the truth. Don't get
mad at the messenger. God sends a message. The messenger,
don't get mad at him for just bringing the message. But Ahab
hated Elijah. Hast thou found me? And Elijah had a message for
Ahab. And it was a message that contains
three parts. I'll just give you these three
parts. First of all, King Ahab, where the dogs, now listen to
me, where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth. You had him
killed. His blood was shed when they
threw those stones at him, and the dogs licked the blood. In
that very same place, the dogs are going to lick your blood. Number two, Ahab, every one,
not most, but every one of your sons is going to be killed. You
are not going to have a posterity. Your lineage is going to be cut
off. And number three, King Ahab, your wife Jezebel, the dogs are
going to eat her body. Now here's my fifth and last
question. What are some lessons for us
from this history? Now I know that there are many,
but I only have three. First of all, no sin. Now listen. No sin goes unnoticed
or unpunished. Now you just write that down.
No sin. No sin goes unnoticed or unpunished. Ahab and Jezebel, they may have
thought their sin was hidden, but God saw it and God punished. Now the sins of God's elect,
Every one of the sins which I have committed, and every one of the
sins, if you are a child of God here today, every one of your
sins, God knows and God punishes. He has punished the substitute,
the surety, for the sins of His people. But every sin will be
punished, either in the sinner's substitute in Christ, or in hell. But every sin is noticed and
will be punished. The second lesson is, our God
is faithful to His Word. Those three things in that message,
those three things came to pass exactly what God, as God said. And one of the most amazing things
is what The message was to Ahab, remember the blood. Your blood
will be licked by the dogs. It was so amazing, so providential
how that came to pass. He went out to battle. And he
had his armor on, you know. Covered up every spot on his
body. And the Scripture says that a
soldier drew a bow at a venture. In other words, he just pulled
that arrow back. And God directed that arrow into wherever there
was a little opening into that armor. And Ahab died. And they carried his body back
to Samaria and washed the chariot out. And there the blood, the
dogs, licked up. God is faithful to his word. Isn't that comforting? Isn't
it comforting today to know that God is faithful to his word?
What he has promised, he will perform. He said, come unto me
all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. What he has promised, he's faithful
to his word. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. And here's the last lesson. God's ways and God's thoughts
are higher than our ways and our thoughts. And I say this
because surely someone has the question, could not the God who
answered by fire on Mount Carmel Could he not have saved Naboth
from stoning? And you know the answer, absolutely. He could have saved Naboth from
dying that cruel death that he died. Then someone says, well,
why didn't he? Let me just say this, that answer,
and there is an answer, is reserved for heaven. I think of what our Lord told
Peter, what I do now thou knowest not, but thou shall know hereafter. And there are many things that
God's children experience in this world that we cannot explain. We know that our God is sovereign.
We know that he could keep these things from taking place. But
in his wise purpose, he has allowed them to come to pass for the
good of his people, for we know that all things work together
for good to those who love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose, and for the glory of his great name. We walk by faith and not by sight. We don't understand many things
that we experience, but we know this, our God is faithful. He's faithful. I pray that the
Lord would bless this message to all of us here today.