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| 1 And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jizreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jizreel, by the side of the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. |
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| 2 And Ahab spoke to Naboth saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, for it is near, by the side of my house; and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; if it seem good to thee, I will give thee its value in money. |
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| 3 And Naboth said to Ahab, Jehovah forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to 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 sullen and vexed because of the word that Naboth the Jizreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and ate no bread. |
And Ahab – Type of the Roman empire. B256; R3408:3
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| 5 And Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, Why is thy spirit sullen, and 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 to her, Because I spoke to Naboth the Jizreelite and said to him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee a vineyard for it; and he said, 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 to him, Dost thou now exercise sovereignty over Israel? arise, eat bread, and let thy heart be glad: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jizreelite. |
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| 8 And she wrote a letter in Ahab's name, and sealed it with his seal, and sent the letter to 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 letter saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of 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, and they shall bear witness against him saying, Thou didst curse God and the king; and carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. |
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| 11 And the men of his city, the elders and the nobles that dwelt in his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letter that she had sent to 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 at the head of 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 the two men, sons of Belial, and sat before him; and the men of Belial witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth blasphemed God and the king. And 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 And 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 Jizreelite, 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 Jizreelite, 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 Jehovah 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, who is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to take possession of it. |
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| 19 And thou shalt speak unto him saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him saying, Thus saith Jehovah: In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall the 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, mine enemy? And he said, I have found thee; because thou hast sold thyself to do evil in the sight of Jehovah. |
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 every male, and him that is shut up and left in Israel; |
Thy posterity – Empires succeeding the Roman. R235:5
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| 22 and I will make thy 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 spoke Jehovah saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the moat of Jizreel. |
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 shall the dogs eat, and him that dieth in the field shall the fowl of the heavens eat. |
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| 25 (Surely there was none like to Ahab, who did sell himself to do evil in the sight of Jehovah, Jezebel his wife urging him on. |
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| 26 And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites did, whom Jehovah had dispossessed before the children of Israel.) |
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| 27 And it came to pass when Ahab heard these words, that he rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. |
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| 28 And the word of Jehovah 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: 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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