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| 1 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. |
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| 2 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. |
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| 3 And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. |
Give the inheritance – Jewish Law forbade the selling of family inheritances; but he could have given a lease for a time to the king's pleasement. R5770:6, R4741:3
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| 4 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. |
And Ahab – Type of the Roman empire. B256; R3408:3
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| 5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread? |
But Jezebel – Type of the apostate church of Rome and her false spirit in Protestant sects. R5629:1; B256
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| 6 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. |
Give me thy vineyard – The crime of covetousness is now not only general and common, but almost approved as proper. It seems to be generally practiced. R2340:1
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| 7 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. |
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| 8 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. |
With his seal – The emblem of authority. R360:4*
Unto the elders – Ahab's covetousness was of the most approved kind, in that it sought to act through others, and stoned Naboth by proxy. R2340:3
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| 9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: |
Proclaim a fast – To make a mockery of religion. R4741:5
Seemingly in honor of God's laws and his justice. R5771:2
Set Naboth on high – Religion has often been injured by being made the tool of hypocrisy and covetousness. R2340:4, R4741:6
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| 10 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. |
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| 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. |
Even the elders It is doubtful whether our disgust should be greater with the queen who instigated the evil, or with the elders who so supinely became the tool to accomplish it. R2339:6
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| 12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. |
Set Naboth on high – Covetousness sometimes strikes the dagger of scandal under professions of love and esteem, or of pity and sympathy. R2340:2
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| 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. |
Naboth did blaspheme – Sometimes covetousness has the hypocritical mask of duty, religion and fidelity to God. R2340:2
And stoned him – Jewish Law provided that any blasphemy against God's name should be punished by stoning. R5771:1, R4741:6
That he died – Wars of commercialism show a spirit of willingness to kill our neighbors in order to enlarge our own properties. R5853:2, R4741:6
Sharp, competitive business practices are covetousness of the same kind. R4741:6
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| 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead. |
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| 15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead. |
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| 16 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. |
To take possession – Thus he fully endorsed the conduct of Jezebel. R2340:3
As though he did not recognize that there is a God of justice to whom he must ultimately account. R4742:4
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| 17 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, |
Came to Elijah – Type of the true Church in the flesh. B256; R5629:1
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| 18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it. |
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| 19 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. |
Thou shalt speak – So it is our place to speak the word of God that the antitypical Ahab shall be slain. R235:5
Dogs lick thy blood – This prophecy was fulfilled to the letter very shortly after. R4742:4
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| 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. |
Ahab – The Roman empire. R235:5
Hast thou found me – Inclined to ignore the Lord and to think merely of the prophet. R4742:4
Sold thyself – If God denounced Ahab, what would the Lord's verdict be on some of the customs of our day? R4742:1
Covetousness is one of the most crying evils of our day. R4742:4
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| 21 Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, |
Thy posterity – Empires succeeding the Roman. R235:5
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| 22 And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin. |
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| 23 And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. |
The dogs – The degraded. R235:5
Eat Jezebel – The church and world united system shall be cast down and consumed. R235:5
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| 24 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. |
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| 25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. |
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| 26 And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. |
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| 27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. |
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| 28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, |
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| 29 Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house. |
Because he humbleth himself – On account of this degree of repentance. R2340:5
In his son's days – A mark of God's patience and forbearance. R2340:6
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