Elijah and Elisha for Today
Dispossession or Naboth’
s VineyardProfessor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony
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Genre: Sermon Series
Lesson: 9 of 16
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[Rushdoony] “And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. And Ahab 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. And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. 5 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, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed 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 Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. 11 And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. 12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. 13 And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial 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. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.”
This chapter precedes the culminating episode in the life of Ahab, the judgment upon him and his death. Ahab was guilty of murder. We commit murder when we commission others to do it, as well as when we do it ourselves and we are guilty of murder if we bear false witness in a situation and it leads to the execution of a man. But here God’s especial wrath is upon all involved. Ahab senses it. When the word of the Lord came to Elijah telling him, verse 18, “And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.
20 And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord.” But the judgment is not only Ahab, verse 23 “And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.”
We have a particularly intense and vehement judgment from God against Israel, against Ahab, Jezebel, and every member of the family of Ahab. Why? God’s penalty against murder is death, but here God applies it with a particular strength and intensity. We cannot understand this chapter unless we know Biblical law, unless we understand how fully Biblical law is followed to work iniquity. First of all according to scripture as in Leviticus 25:23-28 and Numbers 36:1-13 and elsewhere, the sale of farmland in God’s throne land was not permitted. When some of the Dannites moved out of the promised land into areas north of the northern boundary they were exempt apparently from this requirement. But anywhere in the originally designed areas it was God’s throne area and there was to be no sale of lands. It was to be passed down generation by generation. City land? Yes, that could be sold, farm land never.
Second, we know as Ezekiel in particular in 46:18 makes clear, not even a prince or a ruler could disposes a man of his land. Furthermore as scripture makes abudandtly clear the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. The Bible does not believe in Communistic ownership of property or state ownership or private ownership. The Bible affirms God’s ownership of the earth and of us, and of all that we have so that while God gives property to the family rather than the individual it is to be a stewardship unto the Lord. Thus as Naboth makes clear that land was not his to sell, it had been given to him by his fathers and he was a trustee of all that he had to pass it on to the generations to come. And property of any kind, wealth of any kind in scripture is something that is a trusteeship that is to be given to the Godly seed and the ungodly child must be disinherited. It is God’s people, God’s kingdom, that must be enriched.
But furthermore the trial in terms of the laws of blasphemy also. In Leviticus 24:14-16 and Deuteronomy 13:11 and 17:5 we have the laws of blasphemy and these were the laws invoked in this trial. We have also the law requiring two witnesses in Deuteronomy 17:16 and 19:15 & then we have, oh they were pious, the fast called for a national calamity and we meet with such fasts often in scripture. We meet it in Judges and Samuel and Chronicles and Joel and elsewhere. They followed the law, and note Jezebel knew the law. She sent letters under Ahab’s seal and name to the elders and nobles of Jezreel asking them to do everything according to God’s law.
Doing evil in the name of the Lord, now that’s Phariseeism and that’s hypocrisy, and it is also blasphemy. Jezebel knew Israel. She knew that they had the form of godliness but none of the power thereof. She knew that their consciousness would be salved over if everything were done according to the book, according to the form but not the spirit.
There is a church out West where the pastor irritated all those who were involved because his preaching was too consistently faithful to scripture and too outspokenly sovereign grace preaching & they didn’t like it, they could not deny that he preached the word of God faithfully and ably, so they sent him packing. And when they were criticized “We did it according to the book, there wasn’t anything illegal about the way we dismissed the pastor.” But how dare they, or anyone, send packing a faithful servant of the Lord for any offense that is not in the book? But it is done and it is done with the same sense of “let all things be done decently and in order.” That text is one of the most abused in scripture, used by hypocrites all through the generations. It was used by the Presbyterian Church USA when they kicked out J. Gresham Machen, “all things” they said “were done decently and in order.” The ministers who preach the word of God faithfully are regularly sent packing by men who do all things decently and in order.
And so Jezebel knew the hypocrites she had to deal with. She knew that Israel pretended to the faith so the trial was conducted according to scripture, the charges were in terms of scripture, the execution was in terms of scripture and it was all meticulously, carefully planned to set forth the fact that Jezreel and Israel lived by the book but it was murder, murder. And not only was it murder but it was blasphemy and scripture makes clear how seriously God takes blasphemy and if we use the word of God to further evil as Jezreel and Jezebel and Ahab did we are guilty of blasphemy. And if we use the church to further our likes and dislikes and we say we will not have this man to preach to us when he preaches the word of God faithfully, we are guilty of blasphemy. We have said that it is our will that must rule, and it is more than a pastor that is then sent packing, it is the Lord and he doesn’t take kindly to that. And what he says of Ahab and Jezebel and Israel applies to those churches. There is a day of reckoning, and they will face their judge.
And the judgment was first pronounced on Ahab. Why Ahab didn’t know a thing about it until it was done, did he? Oh yes he did. Ahab had too much dignity to go out and order a murder himself. Now Ahab knew that Jezebel loved him and was concerned about him and he knew his wife and he knew that all he had to do was to go into a sulk and turn his face to the wall and carry on and Jezebel would be upset. He knew that when he started doing that Jezebel would be in very soon and say “What’s the matter with you dear?” And that’s exactly what happened, and she did it for him exactly as he knew, and Ahab preserved his dignity. And so he used his wife as a tool.
The people of Jezreel, the town elders, were willing sanctimonious tools. They went along with the farce, they did it all according to scripture. After all orders were orders, this is what we were told to do, it’s the responsibility of Ahab and Jezebel. We’re sorry for Naboth and for his sons, but putting our life on the line isn’t going to change anything. But the Lord exacts vengeance for every violation of his law.
The Lord has total recall. Sins that you and I forget the Lord remembers and when men reach a certain point in their sins they are beyond recall and God faces Himself then beyond their hearing as he told Samuel in I Samuel 8:18. He said “And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.” There are times when we are not even to pray for people according to scripture; and times when God’s makes clear that people are now outside his mercy and therefore to be beyond ours. All Israel was guilty of blasphemy. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord Thy God in vain, for the Lord will not Him guiltless that taketh His name in vain. They murdered Naboth, they committed blasphemy against the Lord because they committed that murder using God’s law.
Israel you see trembled before Ahab, but not before the Lord. This is the problem in the churches today, men have no fear of God. They will take the word fear and re-interpret it to mean reverential law. And somehow or other it ends up as some kind of beautiful attitude towards the Lord, but fear is fear in scripture. Have you ever been afraid of men? Well I have, I’ve had people who felt somebody should shoot me. And I was witness in a case once where somebody was murdered because they talked. But we must be even more afraid of God and today it is the fear of man that prevails in the churches, not the fear of the Lord.
Now the scripture tells us nothing about Naboth, nor his character. He may have been a very Godly man, and he may have been just an ordinary man who was trying to protect his property. The point of the whole story is the character of Israel and the fact that whatever Naboth personally was, in this case his was innocent blood that was shed. What was the character of Israel? Israel was silent at Mount Caramel. Elijah called them to that mountain to be witnesses; “how long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God follow Him, but if Baal be God then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.” Beautiful attitude if you want to play it safe. After all who is to know who is going to come out on top in that test? And they didn’t want to make any enemies. Israel was silent again a little later when Jezebel, knowing the character of the people, drove Elijah out of the land. No one protested. Israel was silent at Naboth’s death when Naboth and his sons innocent blood were killed. And so now God pronounces the judgment, blood for blood; for Naboth’s blood, Ahab’s blood, his family’s blood, Israel’s blood. Sin means dispossession, sin means dispossession and the nation that stays unrepentant, that sins before the Lord will sooner or later be dispossessed.
The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 37:11 “The meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Our Lord reminds us of the truth of that in the Sermon on the Mount when He says “blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Who are the blessed meek? A great many people have the opinion that to be meek is to be mousy. I don’t find anything mousy about Moses, not the kind of man you’d like to have angry with you. The work “meek” comes from an ancient root which means, in essence, “caned” and had reference to horses that were broken to saddle and to harness. The blessed meek are those who are broken to the harness of God’s word and God’s service, who can be used of God, who can pull the load, carry the burden. And of the mousy they are the strong, the useful, the effective. And God says it is His blessed meek, those who are under the harness of His word and of His Spirit that shall inherit the earth, and He shall disposes the ungodly, the blasphemers.
Now this judgment was a shock to Ahab, and it did something for his spirit. We are told that it came to pass that when Ahab heard those words that he rent his clothes and put sackcloth upon his flesh and fasted and law in sackcloth and went softly. Now that “went softly” can also be translated “went about muttering softly” muttering under his breath. In other words he was almost out of his mind with fear; fear of God, at last. In other words Ahab advanced to the level of the devil’s in hell because we are told by James in James 2:19 that the very devil’s in hell believe that God is and that they tremble, but they stay what they are. Every man believes in God without exception, in that sense Paul tells us that all men have an inescapable knowledge of God. They hold the truth of God which means the things visible and invisible, but they hold it down, they suppress it in unrighteousness. It’s an unconscious knowledge that they will not acknowledge, but it’s very conscious in Ahab now. He’s going to die, they dogs are going to lick up his blood, he goes around muttering.
And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite saying ‘seest thou how Ahab humbles himself before me? Because he humblest himself before me I will not bring the evil in his day, but in his sons days will I bring the evil upon his house.’ So Ahab gets a small favor, his judgment will come. That of his family will come, but he will not see the dog feed his wife, or his children come, it’ll be after his time.
Now Israel was judged by the Lord, and the judgment came before judgment fell upon Assyria and judgment came later upon Judea before it fell upon Rome, and of course when Babylon was judged Judah had already been judged, and all this is according to scripture, the judgment begins at the house of God. The greater the privilege Leviticus 4 makes clear, the tables, the sacrifices, the great the responsibility and the greater the culpability so that the sin of the priests is the greatest sin of all in sight of God, and then the sin of the prince is next, his civil magistrate, and then the sin of the people. The greater the responsibility, the greater the judgment; and therefore judgment begins at the house of God.
Now earlier we saw that [audio cut out] best to believe in Jehovah, but they added to it Baal worship, calf worship, anything they found that appealed to their taste. They had a syncretism of faith and a concern in the name of the Lord they were worshipping other gods, and in the name of the Lord they were concerned about things other than the Lord. In other words they had the wrong priorities and yet sanctimoniously they called themselves the people of the Lord. Now Ahab is a good example of that. What’s took priority in his life according to this chapter at this time in his life? An herb garden. For an herb garden he murdered, he blasphemed, and he took a death penalty and the dogs licked his blood. And what are your priorities? And what are the priorities of the churches today as they call a pastor and as they listen to him? And as they go out of the church into their homes and into their professions and callings, what are their priorities? Do not all too many say that the chief end of God is to glorify man and to enjoy man forever? When the catechism tells us that the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Does not the law of tithing tells us emphatically that before we touch anything that we have, first we give to the Lord to set forth His priority. And was not the widow required by Elijah when she had one meal left before starvation for herself and her son, to feed Elijah first? And when she did she was blessed. But Ahab’s priority was an herb garden.
Well we know the story of Ahab so we know how small that makes him to be. That a man would destroy his life and his kingdom and his everlasting perdition brought upon himself by so absurd a priority. But what are our priorities? What it is it that comes first in our lives, in our families, in our marriages, in our pocket book, and in our thinking? If it is not the Lord’s then like Ahab we may not be murderers, but we are blasphemers, we take the name of the Lord our God in vain. What are your priorities? Let us pray.
Almighty God our heavenly Father we come to Thee mindful that in faithfulness to Thy covenant Thou didst give Thine only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us. We confess oh Lord with shame that too often we come in Thy presence with misplaced priorities, without gratitude or thanksgiving, seeking more from Thee and giving less and less. Lord have mercy upon us, create in us a clean heart and renew Thy Spirit within us that with our whole heart, mind, and being, we may serve and magnify Thee and glorify in Thy holy name. Give us grace oh Lord to know that indeed Thou art God, that we are Thy property bought with a price, that we are not our own, that neither our families, our possessions, our income, nor our talents are to be used for our sake but only for Thy sake. Bless us that the living of our lives by Thy word and by Thy Spirit so that in all things Thou art the Lord. Grant us this we beseech Thee in Jesus name, amen.
[Moderator] We’ll have a brief time of questions and answers tonight and then again on Friday night but not tomorrow night because we’ll have two speakers. So for those of you who have been saving your questions you really only have two nights, tonight and then on Friday night. Let me just simply tell you before we take any questions, I could not help but thinking when Rushdoony preached, scripture says “What does man prophet if he gains the whole world and lose his own soul?” And yet most people are not even desirous of the whole worth of their own destruction, just a simple herb garden. How little we value our own souls. Alright are there any questions tonight not only on what he’s preached, but on any area?
[Audience Member] {?} But there is one subject that I wish that you would expand upon and that’s the {?} law {?} We do want the law of God to be supreme and how far do the dietary laws {?} to our lives? Sure they don’t have anything to do with our salvation, {?} But as a Christian what is my obligation to them? If I am not particularly eat kosher food all the time does that make me a poor Christian {?} Should I repent? Actually, never mind that. [lots of laughter] I have to admit I like them [more laughter]
[Moderator] Rush, you normally answer these questions but I’ll answer this one. [more laughter.]
[Same audience member] If on that basis if I’m missing the blessings of God or even grieving the Holy Spirit {?}[more laughter]
[Rushdoony] Yes. The question as you no doubt all heard was with respect to the dietary laws of scripture. Now our Lord makes clear in Mark that it is not that which comes from without that pollutes a man, and he was speaking of foods, but that which comes from the heart. We are told in the story of creation that God created all things good. Paul tells us further that to the pure all things are pure. So that we must say there is nothing intrinsically evil about anything that can be considered food, whether it be rattlesnakes or frog legs or pork or anything else because those things are good in terms of God’s created purpose. Now that purpose may not include our eating.
Now, second. When we examine the attitude Israel had taken we can understand what our Lord was speaking about and what a problem this had become. Because they had made the externals the criterion of moral character so that it was the fringes, and it was the strict regulations of the kosher rules and other like things that marked righteousness. So that things that were for their good and for their welfare but not moral issues became the heart of morality for them.
Now let me illustrate that because it still marks Orthodox Judaism today. Early this year I was reading an account by a very liberal non-believing Jew of his journey to Jerusalem. On the plan he had a fellow passenger who was an Hassidic Jew, strictly orthodox, a very poor man only about four years in this country and working in some sweatshop in New Jersey. When the man saw this liberal Jew eating the airline food, which did not happen to be pork, but it was non-Kosher in its inspection and preparation, he was horrified and he felt the man’s salvation was at stake and he told the man, he said, I will give you $15 dollars a week for life if you promise never to eat non-Kosher food again. And the man was touched but made it clear he didn’t have any interest in complying and asked him why he was ready to do that given his very impoverished status. And this Hassidic Jew said “because I am concerned about your salvation.” And yet at that same trip on one of the stops along the way when they stayed for about a day the same Hassidic Jew went to a gentile prostitute and saw nothing wrong in that. Now that gives you a very clear picture of what these rules, these laws, could become in Judiasm. All the real moral concerns were made into nothing and something that the Lord had given them for their welfare, physical health, were made into moral concern, so there was a perversion of these things.
Now, we do know that when God gave those rules of diet he gave rules that very clearly are for the welfare of man because it has been demonstrated repeatedly as a result of tests and surveys that the people who follow them have a longer life expectancy with better health. Strict Adventist’s and orthodox Jews have the least amount of illnesses and the greatest life expectancy, for example, of any element in the population. And wherever you have a faithfulness to those rules of diet you have that result. Obviously God when He gave that word to His people was saying “you’re my children, I’m thinking of your welfare, and this is why I have given you these rules.” They’re very clearly, very obviously, valid rules. As I told your pastor a couple, well about a month ago now, I spoke at a convention of surgeons and as I was leaving to go to the airport this one man stopped me just as I was getting on the elevator and he said “I want to thank you for writing to me.” I’d had a correspondence with him about the laws of diet. And he said “I’ve been looking into them” and he said “I’m beginning to find something that I should of known, I’ve never looked at it, never thought [audio cut off]