Life is not fair. Somewhere in the world, even as I speak, wealthy developers or corrupt governments are treating those who have a right to their land the way that Ahab in our story treated Naboth. God is displeased, and God speaks out against all such injustice. But there is an injustice that God is especially angry about. That is when His people are oppressed and persecuted because of their faith in Jesus Christ. For, as we shall see, Naboth was a man of faith who trusted in God's Word. And the stand that he made cost him his life. Yet in the end, it was not he, but Ahab, who lost everything. Let's turn to our text, 1 Kings chapter 21, and verses one and two, which I've titled,

As we saw in previous sermons, Ahab was the worst king that Israel ever had, leading them into idolatry and false worship, and trying to silence the Lord's prophets.

Today we see another side of Ahab's ungodly character. In verse one and two, Ahab is man with plans and ambitions. Those plans and ambitions centre around himself and his pleasures. He has already built himself a magnificent palace in the beautiful valley of Jezreel. A winter palace - that is, built in a place he can go to when it gets too cold in the capital of Samaria.

But evidently he thought his diet was lacking, and he says to Naboth, in verse 2, ‘‘Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth."

Now Ahab's ambition sounds innocent enough, doesn't it? Just want a little vegie patch I do! And he offers Naboth a fair deal. He says, "In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth." What's wrong with that? And why is Naboth so uncooperative?

Well the problem was, it was against God's Planning Code. Believe it or not, God had Planning Laws for his people. Laws to protect the poor and ensure that the land was shared fairly among all. And Naboth knew God's Planning Code. So he answers Ahab, "‘‘The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers."

How could Naboth be so bold as to deny a king what he wanted?! This incident illustrates the justice and mercy of God to his ancient people. Naboth knew, and Ahab knew, that one of the fundamental principles of Israelite law was that the king was not above the law. In fact the king had an obligation under the law to be the kind of king God said he should.

Listen to Deuteronomy 17:18-20. "When [the king] takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law… 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel."

The king was to be no better than his subjects. He had to obey God's law just like them. Well what was God's law about property development? Listen to these verses.

First, from Leviticus 5:23-25

23 ‘The land… shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me. 24 ‘Thus for every piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land. 25 ‘If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his property, then his nearest kinsman is to come and buy back what his relative has sold.

The land was sacred, because it was part of the holy promises of God in the covenant he made on Mount Sinai. And each Israelite was promised his share in the Promised Land, a share that must remain in his family as long as that line endured.

Naboth calls his land, "the inheritance of my fathers."

This watch belonged to my great grandfather. It was given to him in the year that the Titanic sank. My father gave it to me. It is a family heirloom. Would I go out and hock it for cash, or trade it in on a Rolex?

For Naboth to treat the land handed down to him so lightly, by disposing of it permanently, would have shown great disrespect for his fathers who fought under Joshua to take it at God's command. But even more than that, it would have shown great disrespect for God. Numbers 36:7 says: "…no inheritance of the sons of Israel shall be transferred from tribe to tribe, for the sons of Israel shall each hold to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers."

God commanded this, because their portion of land was his gift to them. It was their share in God's salvation of Israel. It was their own little place in the sun, in God's Promised Land. Would you sell a precious gift given to your family by someone who loved you greatly? Especially if that Someone was the Everlasting God.

So, in the Old Covenant, God had just planning laws that ensured that every family, from the king down, had an equal opportunity to share in the Land. And his prophets were scathing of those, especially wealthy developers and rulers, who broke those laws. Isaiah said, "8 Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land. The LORD Almighty has declared in my hearing:

‘‘Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants. [Isa 5:8,9 NIV]

And Ezekiel said, "And the prince shall not take from the people’s inheritance, thrusting them out of their possession; he shall give his sons inheritance from his own possession so that My people shall not be scattered, anyone from his possession."’" Ezekiel 46:18 [NASB]

Now that was written after the time of Ahab, but God had always had this on his mind, because he knew how power corrupts the already corrupt human heart even further. Before Israel even got a king, Samuel warned them this kind of thing would happen, if they rejected the Lord as their only king and asked for an earthly king like the other nations. God told Samuel, okay, give 'em what they want, but warn them what will happen.

In 1 Samuel 8:10-22, Samuel gives them a whole list of things the king will do to rip them off and oppress them, and that list includes, in verse 14, "He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves"

God knew, and God warned them, what kings were like, but they wouldn't listen. ‘‘No!" they said. ‘‘We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."

That's why God in his mercy gave them laws to limit the power of their kings.

And Naboth knew those laws.

Naboth knows what is right and sticks to it. No amount of money, no inducement, no bribe, will make him go against what God has written, even if it is a king doing the offering. Naboth knows that there is really only one king, the King of Heaven.

Well, what is Ahab's response? Gee thanks for reminding me about the laws of inheritance, Naboth! Isn't it great that God has given us all a fair share in the land! Not!

Verse 4: 'So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, ‘‘I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers." He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.'

What a man! Is that how you act when you don't get your own way? I have to confess to having done that on occasions! It is the natural way our fallen nature operates. But it is not God's way.

Hear what the apostle James has to say on the matter: chapter 4 verse 2: "You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.'

King Solomon had right motives - you recall that God offered him anything he asked. And so Solomon asked for wisdom to rule justly. But this king is very different. He doesn't have because he doesn't ask God. Instead he sulks.

Well we have seen already from God's Word what God's idea of a king was. One who did not lord it over his people. But that was not Jezebel's idea of a king. When Ahab tells her why he's sulking, her immediate response is: ‘‘Is this how you act as king over Israel?" Jezebel knew how kings acted. She was a king's daughter. Her father was the king of Sidon. To her, a king was almost divine. Not one to be denied anything. Indeed to do so could have only one result - the death of the one who dared to go against his will. I think she despised her husband's weakness. Because whatever else he did wrong, Ahab must have retained at least some of what he'd been taught by the Law of God and Prophets like Elijah. He just naturally assumed there was nothing he could do about it - the Law of God was on Naboth's side and that was it - even the king had to obey God's Planning Code. But whilst he may have been too weak or afraid to break the law himself, he is also too weak to stand up to Jezebel, and he meekly goes along with her corrupt conspiracy.

Well in verses 11 to 16 we see the Wicked Triumph. Naboth is killed by a despicable and false use of the Law of God.

The crime of cursing the King is found in Exodus 22:28; and the worse crime of cursing God, which carries a mandatory death sentence, in Leviticus 24:16. According to the law [Deu 17:6; 19:15], two witnesses were needed to convict someone, so Jezebel corrupts the city officials and tells them to pay some local hoods to give false testimony against Naboth. Naboth is convicted and stoned.

And so Ahab takes possession of his ill-gotten gains. "When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard."

Was Ahab happy now? Or did his conscience bother him and keep him from fully enjoying what he had gained? We are not told. But he probably thought at least that he could sit back, do a bit of vegie gardening, and take life easy for a while. But you cannot ignore God and his Law, you cannot ignore your sin, like that, and get away with it.

The Word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite. That's where our reading left off today, in the middle of a sentence! I'm not going to tell you exactly what the Word of the Lord said to Elijah, you should go home and read the rest of the story yourself. But I will say this - God was not silent, and God was not pleased. He spoke a word of judgement on Ahab and Ahab's house. And in the following chapters we see justice done, and the blood of both Ahab and Jezebel is spilled like that of poor Naboth. Unlike Ahab, God is not weak willed. He will carry out what he says he will. And he promises to punish all rebellion, all sin, all oppression of others.

Let me conclude with a few words which tie this story in with our experience in the Kingdom of God today.

The Lord's plan in the Old Covenant was that all Israel would have an equal share in the Lord's inheritance. In the New Covenant, this is expressed in a different way. No longer is there a promise of a physical land with earthly blessings, despite what the prosperity gospel people say. But we share in a spiritual commonwealth, as the new nation that God has called into being out of all the nations. Like Naboth, we have an inheritance to cherish and protect. We are equal heirs of God's promise.

Col 1:12 says, "giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

You see, Naboth is a bit like Jesus. He is an innocent man, falsely accused, tried, convicted and executed. But in the end, God vindicated his cause. Jesus died in the same manner. But his death brought not just judgement, like Naboth's did, but forgiveness and salvation. By his death for our sins, we have an inheritance much better than Naboth's was under the Old Covenant.

1 Peter 1:3-4 says:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you…"

Gal 3:28-29 says this:

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Eph 2:19 adds, 'Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household…'

Do you treasure your inheritance in the kingdom? Or do you treat it lightly? Do you treat everyone in the kingdom of God as equal heirs with you of eternal life? Or do you still play favourites? In the Old Covenant, as we have seen, even the King was equally under Law with his subjects. In the New Covenant, everyone is equally under Grace. And therefore, there is to be no favouritism. Remember the words of the Apostle James.

James 2: verse 1, "My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism." And verse 5: "Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? …8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘‘Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers."

Remember what our Lord Jesus said: Luke 22 verse 25 ‘‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them... 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

King Jesus is very different from King Ahab. And he has left us a pattern to follow. In the church there is complete equality, because we servants of one another. You must respect the authority of rulers and leaders, whether it be church or civil authority. But in the church all leadership is service, not oppression. If you want to be a leader of God's people, it's not about being a boss or throwing your weight around.

My third point is that envy and greed can lead to great sin.

In this story we have heard today, Ahab's first sin was to break the tenth commandment.

‘‘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." Ahab coveted. That led him first to attempt to flout God's laws of inheritance, and then finally to breaking the sixth and the eighth commandments as well - you shall not murder and you shall not steal.

Now you may think, 'well I didn't get my wealth by murder and theft like Ahab.' But remember, no matter how you come by your wealth, God warns us many times of the dangers that desiring and possessing wealth brings in itself. Ahab finally relaxing with his new field reminds me of the parable in Luke 12 which Jesus told about the rich man who trusted in his wealth and built bigger barns so he could hoard it all for himself and not have to trust God for anything. The parable ends:

19 And I’ll say to myself, ‘‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."’

20 ‘‘But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21 ‘‘This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Or consider the Holy Spirit's words through the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 6.

Verse 6 …godliness with contentment is great gain… verse 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Finally, God will punish those who oppress his people and break his Laws.

The book of Revelation assures us that all who die for their faith in God's Word like Naboth did, will be vindicated in the End. James 5:1-6 talks about how rich oppressors will be judged by the Lord for their abuse of wealth and power.

Jesus is our inheritance by the grace and mercy of God. We enter into that inheritance by faith in him alone. Will you treasure your inheritance and refuse to give it up for anything? I hope so. Let me leave you with Paul's words to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:32

‘‘Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified."