Good morning. Would you pray with me?
Well, today we are going to take a look at another crime scene from the Bible. Thus far we have seen Cain kill Abel, David defeat and kill Goliath, David have an affair with Bathsheba and then kill her husband Uriah, and today, we take a look at a man and woman who are equally guilty of murder.
Do you ever think that you just don’t get the breaks in life that you deserve? Maybe you feel like things are always going against you. Well if so, just keep in mind that it could be worse.
Put yourself in this guys shoes. One day you’re out working in your vineyard, tending the vines, killing the bugs, pulling out the weeds, and whatever else you do when you’re tending a garden. And into your life arrives the King who makes you an offer that you just can’t refuse. But, you refuse it anyway.
What happens is that the king tells you he wants your vineyard to plant a vegetable garden in. And he offers to give you a better garden, or whatever else it is that you want. Just imagine, Bill Gates, possibly the richest man on earth, arrives at your door and says “I love your house, and I will trade you for a much nicer home, or I will give you however much money you want for it.”
Now, that sounds great doesn’t it? But the problem was that this vineyard had been in Naboth’s family for longer then long. This was in all probability the plot that was given to his family hundreds of years before when the Israelites had first arrived into the Promised Land. To sell his birthright was against the law of God. And so he didn’t even think about it, he just told the king no.
Well, the King goes home and climbs into bed and begins to cry like a little baby. Poor king. It wasn’t hard to notice that he didn’t get his way. He threw such a fit, that the Bible says that he wouldn’t even come out for super.
So while he’s in bed crying like a baby, his wife Jezebel comes along and wants to know what’s wrong. And so Ahab tells her. Listen to how it all plays out. In I Kings 21:5-6 it says, “His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?” He answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, “Sell me your vineyard, or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.” But he said, “I will not give you my vineyard.””
Now personally, I love the response of the Queen because she says, “Is this how you act as King of Israel?” And then she tells him, “Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
Now if this were a movie, the music would change keys to signify that something was about to happen, and something did happen, this is where we find our crime scene today.
Jezebel borrowed the King’s seal and letterhead and she wrote letters to the officials of the town where Naboth lived, asked them to order the people in the town to begin a fast, and to call for a town meeting with everyone in the community. Now this might seem a little strange to us, but to the people of Jezreel it could only mean one thing.
I suppose I should tell you, right? It meant that somehow they had displeased God and the officials were going to make it right. Along with the call to a fast, Jezebel added one other thing. She wanted the town leaders to find 2 false witnesses who would swear that they heard Naboth curse God and the King. And then they were to take Naboth out and execute him. Simple, yet effective. And to the bottom of the letter she affixed her husband’s seal and signature.
And that’s what happened, as a matter of fact not only was Naboth stoned to death, but later on we discover that his entire household was put to death. Conveniently leaving his estate including his vineyard without an heir. Which means the King can just take it now.
So what is a king supposed to do? The land now reverted to the crown because the previous owner had been found guilty of treason and blasphemy. I’m sure that Jezebel was thinking like all of our other criminals that we have looked at in this CSI series. She thought to herself, “I love it when a plan comes together.”
Not a very nice story, but then again Ahab and Jezebel weren’t very nice people. So, what can we learn from this crime scene in the Bible?
First Off, Ahab’s Sin Started When He Wanted What Wasn’t His:
Ahab wasn’t alone here; the very essence of sin goes back to this principle. If you were to take a trip back to the beginning you would find the original couple, Adam and Eve had everything they could possibly want, except for one thing, they could not eat from one tree. They could do anything they wanted to with the tree. They could look at it, they could touch it, they could climb it, but God had told them very specifically in Genesis 2:16-17 that, “You are free to from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
Pretty plain, pretty clear, no grey area here. God says, “This is what you must not do.” And when Satan came along to tempt Adam and Eve, what ploy did he use? In Genesis 3:4-5 the serpent says, “You will not surely die! For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So what was it that he was saying? He was saying don’t you want what God has? If you just had what God had, then you’d be really happy. Right?
You can look clear through the Bible, and in almost every situation, it is the same thing that gets people in trouble. Wanting what somebody else has.
We could go through example after example in the Bible, Jacob wanted Esau’s inheritance and he was willing to cheat and lie to get it. Joseph’s brothers wanted the love that their father bestowed upon Joseph and they were willing to kill him or sell him into slavery to get it. Last week we looked at how David wanted Uriah’s wife Bathsheba and he was willing to kill Uriah to get her. The religious leaders who had Jesus executed didn’t do it because of what Jesus did, they did it because of what He had. He had the power of God, and He had the ears of the people, and if the high priest couldn’t have what Jesus had then He couldn’t have it either. And so they killed Him.
Think of any of the crimes that have been committed throughout history, they happened because somebody wanted what somebody else had.
One of the Ten Commandments tells us in Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
It might seem harmless enough and yet that is the very beginning of most of our problems. God didn’t just put that commandment in because the Ten Commandments sounded better then the 9 commandments. He put it in for a reason.
Donald Trump once said, “The point is that you can’t be too greedy.” But when he said that, he was wrong. Isaiah 57:17 records the words of God, and in that verse, God says, “I was enraged by his sinful greed, I punished him, and hid my face in anger, yet he kept on in his willful ways.”
When Jesus was condemning the Pharisees listen to what He said about them. In Matthew 23:25 Jesus says, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”
And listen to the group that He clumps greed into. In Mark 7:20-23 it says, “And then He added, “It is the thought-life that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you and make you unacceptable to God.”
Now, I didn’t say all that to say that having stuff is wrong. But when it consumes you then it is wrong. And you don’t have to have money to fall into that trap. Listen to what Teddy Roosevelt said, “Probably the greatest harm done by vast wealth is the harm that we of moderate means do ourselves when we let the vices of envy and hatred enter deep into our own natures.”
The Bible calls it covetness, and the Bible says it’s a sin. And keep in mind what I said last week. Sin will take you further then you want to go, keep you longer then you want to stay, and cost you more then you want to pay. So, the King’s problems all began when he wanted what wasn’t his.
Secondly, He Didn’t Care That It Was Wrong:
Now Naboth didn’t turn down the King’s offer just to be difficult. He wasn’t trying to put himself into a better bargaining position. He wasn’t even doing it because he disliked the king. He was doing it because it was the right thing to do, and he was doing it because that’s what God would have him to do. If we look into Leviticus 25:23 God laid down His rules for the land which He had given the children of Israel. In that passage, it says, “The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.”
So Naboth knew that he would be in violation of God’s law if he sold his vineyard to the King. So he said no! There was no price of trade that would cause Naboth to even consider going against what the Lord had commanded.
It’s always tough to discover what our price is. In 1990 James Patterson and Peter Kim wrote a book based on extensive surveys of the American public, the book was called, “The Day That America Told The Truth.” Questions were asked concerning a wide range of topics from morality to work to family life. The results are surprising.
One of the questions asked was, “What would you be willing to do for 10 million dollars?” A follow up survey was done asking about 5, 4, 3 and 2 million dollars and the results remained fairly consistent. Out of the questions asked, 2/3 of those surveyed agreed they would be willing to do at least one, and some several of the deeds in order to inherit the money. So, what were they asked to do for the money? Well here are a few things:
- Would abandon their entire family - 25%
- Would abandon their Church - 25%
- Would become prostitutes for a week or more - 23%
- Would give up their American citizenship - 16%
- Would leave their spouse - 16%
- Would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free - 10%
- Would kill a stranger - 7%
- Would put their children up for adoption - 3%
It’s been said that if you are trying to prove how crooked a stick is, the easiest way is not to debate it, or to argue about it, the easiest way is to lay a straight stick next to it. Most people don’t unwittingly commit sin. Most people know exactly what they are doing and do it anyways. They might justify their actions, they might rationalize what they are doing, they might even try to deny that they knew they shouldn’t do it to begin with. But the bottom line is that most people sin willingly.
Peter Marshall once said, “We are too Christian really to enjoy sinning, and too fond of sinning really to enjoy Christianity. Most of us know perfectly well what we ought to do; our trouble is that we do not want to do it.”
Not only was Ahab trying to get Naboth to break God’s laws concerning his land, but when he couldn’t get it that way he allowed him to be murdered in order to get it. Now I know that technically it was Jezebel who did the killing, but Ahab had as much blood on his hands as the 2 guys who lied about Naboth. Why? Because he knew what his wife was capable of.
This was the same woman, who in I Kings Chapter 18 we are told that she killed all the prophets in the country except for a couple small groups that had been hidden. Ahab knew exactly what she was capable of, and he allowed it to happen.
This was the same woman who threatened to separate Elijah’s head from his shoulders. This wasn’t a nice old lady we’re talking about, this wasn’t even a kind woman. So when she told Ahab in I Kings 21:7 “Is this how you act as King of Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” what did Ahab think she was going to do? Play Naboth a game of checkers for his vineyard, I think not. Ahab knew what his wife was capable of and he knew exactly what she was going to do to Naboth and he did nothing at all to stop it.
Listen to how this crime ends up playing out. In I Kings 21:8-16 says, “1”
So Ahab immediately went down to the vineyard to claim it. Now wouldn’t you have been the least bit curious about how Naboth died? Was he sick? Was it an accident? No, Naboth didn’t ask cause he already knew. When he whined to Jezebel Ahab signed Naboth’s death certificate. So, we learn that Ahab didn’t care that what was happening was wrong.
And Finally, He got Caught:
Again, if you don’t get anything else from this CSI series, please get this, it is so important. All of our other criminals in the Bible, and in real life today, think they are going to get away with things. They think that their plan has worked, and that they were too sneaky and too careful to get caught.
This could be the last point to every one of these messages in the CSI series. It doesn’t matter how clever you think you are, you will get caught. Do you understand that? That’s why the word of God says in Numbers 32:23 that, “You may be sure that your sin will find you out.”
In our crime scene story this morning, just a few verses later, we read about Ahab getting caught. I Kings 21:17-20, and verse 23 says, “2”
So, they got caught, and they paid the price for their sin. Now let me ask you, what is there in your life right now that you don’t want people to know about? What actions, or thoughts?
What are you watching, reading, or listening to that you’d just as soon it remain between you and you? I may not arrive on your front door steps to confront you, your spouse may never know, your kids may never find out, but you will get caught. You may go to the grave thinking that you got away with it, but the Bible says that on the day of judgment, every man will have to give an account for the deeds that he has done, and even the ones that went undone.
We looked at the story of David and Bathsheba last week. David lusted after his neighbor’s wife, slept with her, got her pregnant, murdered her husband, and he thought he got away with it until he was confronted by the prophet Nathan. David was guilty as guilty can be and he knew that there was only one thing to do.
He did it over 3 thousand years ago, and it is still the only thing that we can do today. Listen to the words that David wrote Psalm 51:1-4. He wrote, “3”
In other words, David was saying that he recognized his shameful deeds. He understood that he had sinned. He knew what he had done was wrong, and he was ready to own up to it and ask for God’s forgiveness.
And that is the only thing that we can do today. We need to come to an understanding that the sin we are caught in, or the sin that we commit is wrong and that we need to own up to it and seek God’s forgiveness. And then we can lean on the promise that God will forgive us and wash us clean. If you need to do that, then I invite you to do it today.
Let’s Pray!
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