Today's Daily Lesson comes from 1 Kings chapter 21 verses 1 through 14:
Later the following events took place: Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. 2 And Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, so that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house; I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.” 3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance.” 4 Ahab went home resentful and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him; for he had said, “I will not give you my ancestral inheritance.” He lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat.
5 His wife Jezebel came to him and said, “Why are you so depressed that you will not eat?” 6 He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it’; but he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” 7 His wife Jezebel said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal; she sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived with Naboth in his city. 9 She wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth at the head of the assembly; 10 seat two scoundrels opposite him, and have them bring a charge against him, saying, ‘You have cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out, and stone him to death.” 11 The men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. Just as it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, 12 they proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the assembly. 13 The two scoundrels came in and sat opposite him; and the scoundrels brought a charge against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city, and stoned him to death. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.”
What we see in today's Lesson is raw abuse of power and conspiracy ending in murder.
Ahab as king has all he needs but he wants more. But Naboth refuses to give up his family's property -- for the land was everything in those days (it still is) and Israel had never put to practice the ancestral land reclamation it was supposed to through the property of Jubilee. So Naboth knows once the property is gone, he and his family will never get it back. And first having been asked to give it away, be assured the price he was offered would not have been fair market.
So, stung by Naboth's reproach Ahab goes home to stew and soon his wicked wife Jezebel concocts a plan to frame Ahab and have him killed. And the charge: "Say he curses God and King," she says. In other words, the old tried and true tactic of impugning a person's patriotism and religion.
Think about that. How often have we seen that strategy of calling into question a political opponent's personal faith or fidelity to country? How often have we seen people say, "They aren't Christian and they don't love America."
It's an old, old tactic. And an effective one. And when we see it we ought to remember Ahab, and Jezebel, and Naboth and his vineyard.
NOTE: We are reading the Bible through this year. Tomorrow's Lesson comes from 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 18.
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