Tuesday
Read 1 Kings 21:1-10
Near King Ahab’s palace in Jezreel there
was a vineyard owned by a man named Naboth. 2One day Ahab said to
Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard; it is close to my palace, and I want to use
the land for a vegetable garden. I will give you a better vineyard for it, or,
if you prefer, I will pay you a fair price.” 3“I inherited this
vineyard from my ancestors,” Naboth replied. “The Lord forbid that I should let you have it!”
4 Ahab went home, depressed and
angry over what Naboth had said to him. He lay down on his bed, facing the
wall, and would not eat. 5His wife Jezebel went to him and asked,
“Why are you so depressed? Why won’t you eat?”
6 He answered, “Because of what
Naboth said to me. I offered to buy his vineyard, or, if he preferred, to give
him another one for it, but he told me that I couldn’t have it!”
7 “Well, are you the king or aren’t
you?” Jezebel replied. “Get out of bed, cheer up and eat. I will get you
Naboth’s vineyard!”
8 Then she wrote some letters,
signed them with Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the
officials and leading citizens of Jezreel. 9The letters said:
“Proclaim a day of fasting, call the people together, and give Naboth the place
of honour. 10Get a couple of scoundrels to accuse him to his face of
cursing God and the king. Then take him out of the city and stone him to
death.”
[
11 The officials and leading
citizens of Jezreel did what Jezebel had commanded. 12They
proclaimed a day of fasting, called the people together, and gave Naboth the
place of honour. 13The two scoundrels publicly accused him of
cursing God and the king, and so he was taken outside the city and stoned to
death. 14The message was sent to Jezebel: “Naboth has been put to
death.”
]
15 As soon as Jezebel received the
message, she said to Ahab, “Naboth is dead. Now go and take possession of the
vineyard which he refused to sell to you.” 16At once Ahab went to
the vineyard to take possession of it.
17 Then the Lord said to Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe, 18“Go
to King Ahab of Samaria. You will find him in Naboth’s vineyard, about to take
possession of it. 19Tell him that I, the Lord, say to him, ‘After murdering the man, are you taking
over his property as well?’ Tell him that this is what I say: ‘In the very
place that the dogs licked up Naboth’s blood they will lick up your blood!’ ”
20 When Ahab saw Elijah, he said,
“Have you caught up with me, my enemy?”
“Yes, I have,” Elijah answered. “You have
devoted yourself completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord’s sight. 21So the Lord says to you, ‘I will bring disaster
on you. I will do away with you and get rid of every male in your family, young
and old alike.
Think
The worship of Baal - rather than Yahweh is not just a matter of religion;
it leads to a certain way of thinking and living. Baal worship plants the seed of covetousness
in Ahab. Inspired by Baal and Jezebel
Ahab has Naboth killed.
Pray
Help me not to surrender my soul to idols.
Let me trust in you. And when I
trust in you; help me to do what is right in your eyes.
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