If you'll please take your copy of the Scriptures and turn back once again to 1 Kings chapter 21, the book of 1 Kings, the 21st chapter. Earlier in the service we read the opening 16 verses. We'll pick up now at verse 17 of chapter 21 and read on to the end of the chapter. Verse 17. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. You shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the LORD, Have you murdered, and also taken possession? And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours. So Ahab said to Elijah, Have you found me, O my enemy? And he answered, I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD. Behold, I will bring calamity on you, I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger and made Israel sin." And concerning Jezebel, the Lord also spoke, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field. But there was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up. And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, See how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son, I will bring the calamity on his house." Pastor Dunkerton has been laboring this past week down in the country of Columbia in South America. And many of you may be aware that Colombia is regarded as one of the most violent nations in our world, especially in the eastern part of that country. There is a fairly prominent Marxist guerrilla group, the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia. that has become known for its assassinations and for its kidnappings. Just a few weeks ago, a pastor was met by a gang of these guerrillas right at his own home, and he was shot six times and killed right there within feet of his wife. and his children. Christians have been specially focused upon as a target of persecution by this guerrilla group because Christians, especially pastors, are viewed as a threat to the young people, the young men and the young women that they want to recruit into their Marxist force. That kind of gross act of injustice takes place every day, to some degree, throughout our world. That kind of oppression has plagued our world ever since the fall of man into sin. Every day, around the earth, people are oppressed, the righteous are persecuted, people are mistreated, oftentimes with great cruelty, and in many cases, The injustices seem to go unpunished, and in fact, they do go unpunished in many situations. Wicked people persist unhindered in their oppressive behavior. And the righteous can certainly sympathize with the psalmist of old who felt on one occasion that God had his hands, as it were, stuck in his pockets when they needed to be out striking down the wicked. Psalm 74, verse 11. The psalmist, entreating God, why do you withdraw your hand, even your right hand, take it out of your bosom and destroy them? God, what are you doing? Wickedness is taking place and you're not doing anything! Take action! Go after them! Destroy them! And the psalmist was perplexed. as to why God, as it were, seemed to be keeping the gloves off and His hand inside His bosom. Well, the passage that is before us this evening powerfully teaches that God is indeed just, and that God is not indifferent to the oppression And two, the gross acts and even the less severe acts of injustice that take place throughout the earth. God really notices all the evil that takes place in this world and especially the evil that befalls His own dear people. And He really does act in justice to bring retribution upon the wicked. He is the God. who will not leave the guilty to go unpunished. Consider with me please tonight from 1 Kings 21, the need for divine justice, the announcement of divine justice, and then briefly as we close, the postponement of divine justice. In the first place, and this is where we'll spend most of our time, the need for divine justice, and that need is seen in this true life story of wicked King Ahab of Israel, his wife Jezebel, and a neighbor named Naboth. The account revolves around two matters that will provide the outline for this section of the sermon. Ahab's covetous craving for his neighbor's property, and then Jezebel's murderous stealing of the property. Like many national leaders, Ahab had a second residence, a vacation home, as it were. And his second palace was located some 20 miles outside of the capital city of Samaria in a city called Jezreel. And the royal palace there in Jezreel was situated directly beside a very attractive, well-cultivated vineyard that was owned by a man named Naboth. Ahab really liked that property. he drooled over that property. And he goes to Naboth with a proposition that he wants that property and that if Naboth would give him that property that he would readily provide another property, even a better piece of property for Naboth. Or if Naboth would rather, he'll give him good money for the piece of real estate. And in itself, seeing an attractive piece of land and desiring to purchase it is fine and good if one has the wherewithal to do so. But there are two things that make it very clear in this passage that Ahab's desire for this property was unlawful, was a violation of the 10th commandment that requires people to not covet. In the first place, Ahab had no respect for the law of God that commanded the Israelites to keep their family property as an inheritance from the Lord. Ahab, in this situation, shows an utter disregard for the fact that there was something special about the real estate of that land that had been promised to Israel. when God drew his people out of Egypt with a mighty hand. He redeemed them so as to plant them in the land of promise, a land he had pledged to them. And that land was parceled out to the families of Israel as a covenant gift from their Redeemer God. And the land was parceled out to them with a view towards their living on that parcel of land as a steward and passing it on one generation to the next as land that had been given to them as their divine inheritance. It's in this light that Naboth responded to the king's request for a deal in the way that he did. Verse 3, but Naboth said to Ahab, the Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you. God forbid that I should even think of doing such a thing. Now he wasn't being a crotchety old guy. He wasn't being rude. He wasn't being selfish. He was expressing principled conviction. This is God's covenant gift to my family. This is God's land. It's not my own. I'm a steward of it. This land has been entrusted to me from my father, who had it entrusted to him from his father. This goes all the way back to our having settled this land by way of God's gracious provision. God forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my father's. Well, Ahab obviously had no regard for the fact that it was God's land, didn't care about the fact that that particular parcel of land belonged to Naboth and his family as an inheritance from the Lord. His lust for the property blinded him to every other consideration. Now, there's a second matter that clearly reveals that Ahab's desire for this property was a covetous desire, that it was an unlawful desire, and that is his response to Naboth's refusal. Naboth's refusal should have been a rebuke to the king. It should have humbled him. He should have recognized that he had spurned, as it were, the law of God, rather than revering the law of God. It should have humbled the man. At the very least, he should have said, well, okay, it's your land, and if that's what you think, so be it. I mean, after all, the guy had two palaces, and all of the niceties belonging to being king of Israel. It's not like he lived on Skid Row. But instead he's resentful. He's resentful that this neighbor Naboth, would not give him what he craves. Verse 4, Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him. For he had said, I will not give you the inheritance of my father's. And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food. A big two-year-old, just having a good pout, The same phrase is used here in verse 4 that is found at the very end of the preceding chapter. And if you were here for the exposition of chapter 20, you'll recall that the Word of God came to Ahab, indicting him for his having let go out of his hand the enemy of God that God had put into his hand, that Ahab might bear the sword in God's name against that enemy. And Ahab had just treated him as a friend, as a brother, and had let him go. And the rebuke of God had come upon him through the prophet of God. And at the end of chapter 20, we see the same phrase, that Ahab had been sullen and displeased. Rather than humble himself before God, rather than acknowledge his sin, he is angry, he is resentful, he is depressed, he is not getting what he wants, he broods in self-pity and pouts like a spoiled child. Well, while he is sullen and while he is depressed, it seems at least that he may not be ready to go any further with respect to getting the land. But Jezebel is a different story. Having heard what happened, she tells her husband immediately she'll get the vineyard for him. To her mind, if the king wanted the land, he gets the land. And if opposition rises, you just steamroll opposition. And with great confidence and assertiveness, she says, hun, go ahead and have lunch. I'll take care of it. And she proceeds to do so, using royal stationery and seal. In the name of the king, she sends instructions to local leadership. They are to proclaim a fast. Naboth is to be recognized as a man of honor, and then two lowlifes are to be brought in to bring false accusation against him, accusing him of having blasphemed God and having blasphemed the king. He is then, by way of these two witnesses, to be condemned as guilty of gross crime. He is to be led out of the city, and he is to be stoned to death. And that is exactly what happened. And the passage reports it in a very matter-of-fact type of way, almost in a cold type of way, because that's exactly the way the deed was done. It was just done so coldly, so matter-of-factly, as if these kind of things happen every day. Naboth was falsely accused. He was unjustly condemned. He was cruelly executed. The plan went off like clockwork. Not a single hitch. The elders and the nobles of the town complied, apparently, without the slightest objection. No difficulty finding two who were willing to make up complete lies about Naboth. The community follows the orders of the queen, even when it means murdering one of their own. In subsequent biblical history, Jumping ahead to 2 Kings 9, verse 26, reflecting back on this incident, tells us that Naboth's sons were murdered as well, no doubt in order to avoid the messiness of perhaps having people around who would make a protest against what had taken place. It all happened under the guise of religiosity and under the guise of legality. Jezebel, who certainly would have a claim to the most irreverent woman that has ever lived, she wants a fast to be proclaimed as if there's some crisis that has happened in the land, as if there's some special need that has arisen and we need to humble ourselves before God. We need to seek Him in a special way. She wants all this to happen in the context of a fast being proclaimed. And then she wants the crime that Naboth is accused of to be blasphemy against God, as if she's a woman who's greatly concerned that God be esteemed, that God be given His due regard. She wants there to be two witnesses, not just one, two witnesses that would give testimony to the fact that this Naboth had spoken in a wicked way against both King and against God. She wants to do it according to the book. The whole thing is just dripping with hypocrisy. It is entirely a fabrication, but it is a religious fabrication. It is a legal, quote-unquote, fabrication. She hears that Naboth has been stoned, is dead. She urges her husband to go take possession of the vineyard. Ahab, so characteristic, asks no questions, voices no objections, shows no remorse. He's happy to get what he craved. He hastens out to claim his new property. Well, what do we learn from the narrative thus far? Several things. We're reminded that covetousness is both wrong and harmful. Covetousness is wrong. It's a violation of the law of God. It's also harmful. Thou shalt not covet. The Shorter Catechism asks, what is required in the Tenth Commandment? Question 80. The answer is, the Tenth Commandment requires full contentment with our own condition, with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbor and all that is his. Matthew Henry, commenting on 1 Kings 21, on Ahab and his inordinate desire for this land, wrote as follows. Discontent is a sin that is its own punishment and makes men torment themselves. It makes the spirit sad, the body sick, and all the enjoyment sour. It is a sin that is its own parent. It arises not from the circumstance, but from within, from the mind. As we find Paul content in a prison, so Ahab is discontent in a palace. He had all the pleasures, the honors, the powers of a throne, and yet all this avails nothing. If he can't have Naboth's vineyard, Henry continues, inordinate desires expose men to continual vexations. And he closes with these words, those that are disposed to fret, fret with discontentedness, those that are disposed to fret will always find something or other to fret at. Covetousness is evil. It is also harmful. It brings harmful consequences. Are we learning through Christ who strengthens us in whatever circumstances we are in to be content? We learn, secondly, that it's predictable that God's people will suffer injustice. We learn from this passage, it is predictable. that God's people will suffer injustice. Naboth, it seems, was a righteous man. He had regard for the fact that his land was the inheritance of God, that it was something that God had entrusted as a covenant gift. He was not afraid to take a stand that he recognized, no doubt, might be offensive to the king. He seems to have been a principled man. He is run roughshod over. He is steamrolled as to his basic rights. Peter tells us in his first epistle, chapter 4, verse 12, Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you. Don't think this is abnormal, Christian. to be mistreated, to be oppressed, to be dealt with unjustly. It's not a strange thing. The history of God's people is one of having suffered unjustly. It goes all the way back to the first family, where a righteous man named Abel was killed by his own brother. And as you go through the Bible history, you see this pattern again and again. You see it in Joseph. You see it with Daniel. You see it with King David. You see it with Israel in Egypt. You see it again and again and again. Most emphatically, we see it in our Lord Jesus Christ and the way He was treated. We see it in the apostles. Church history gives us account after account of unjust persecution. And like Naboth, it may be precisely because of biblical conviction that injustice comes upon the people of God. We learn in the third place that God often does not stop injustice. God often does not stop injustice. Now there are wonderful exceptions to this lesson, and we love the exceptions, don't we? Remember Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, so unfair that they were thrown into the fiery furnace. And we love the fact that they were preserved from the fire. They came out unscathed. Daniel, so unjustly thrown into that den of lions. We love the fact that God protected him. He comes out without a hair having been touched apparently. Acts 12, we read of Peter having been put into prison, awaiting almost certain execution by way of the sword of Caesar coming down upon his head. The angel comes and marvelously delivers him. We see exceptions, but they are just that, they're exceptions. Because the rule in Bible history is that oftentimes injustice rolls and nothing seems to happen. Nothing seems to happen. We read just this morning from Matthew 2 of how Jesus was wonderfully protected from the jealous, murderous act of Herod. Remember what we read this morning of in the whole region of Bethlehem, every little boy, about two years old and younger, Herod wanted to make sure that there was no rival to his throne. And so, not knowing exactly which of those baby boys was Jesus, he just orders the entire... he orders genocide to take place. Every two-year-old boy in the environs of Bethlehem was to be slaughtered. Now, by way of a dream, Joseph was able to take Jesus and Mary and escape to Egypt. As far as we know, no one else escaped. Peter is wonderfully delivered from prison, but James wasn't. Right before Peter was delivered, James was beheaded. Abel did die at the hand of his brother. Joseph did lose more than 10 years of his life as a result of gross injustice. We could go on and we could go on. It's painful to reflect on such history. Many of whom the world was not worthy have been treated horribly, but we must humbly and realistically accept the fact that God often does not stop injustice. We're reminded in the fourth place, however, that the people of God have one that understands injustice. You reflect on 1 Kings 21, and in particular on Naboth, and what person comes to your mind? Jesus. This is exactly what happened to Jesus. The trumped-up charges that had no basis in reality. The condemnation that was the action of a kangaroo court. The cruel execution that was so unjustified, unwarranted, illegal, so wrong. And nothing happened to stop it. Angels did not intervene. The troops did not come riding in to the rescue. Injustice heaped upon injustice, and the Son of God is slain. There is no one who understands injustice the way Jesus does. There is no one who can relate to how unfair life can be in the way that Jesus can. That should comfort the child of God. You are not isolated in suffering unrighteous treatment. There is one who knows what you're going through, who empathizes. He's been there. He has good purposes to accomplish through injustice. Just as great purposes were accomplished through the injustice that was done to him. But we also learn here in the latter part of 1 Kings 21 that God will intervene to bring justice to his wrong people. And this brings us to the second half of the chapter, which begins with the announcement of justice, the announcement of justice. Now the Lord, as we've seen, did not choose to stop this outrage, but He was fully aware of what happened. The Bible tells us that the eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch over the evil and the good. The Bible tells us that everything is naked and laid bare before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. And the omniscient judge of heaven and earth summons his servant Elijah to go to Ahab, who was there in Naboth's vineyard, to pronounce divine indictment upon the wicked king and his wife. It may be, as we look at the narrative, it may be that before Elijah even got a word out of his mouth, that Ahab, in noticing Elijah, breaks out with these words, Have you found me, O my enemy? The king's resistance to the Word of God led him to regard Elijah as a foe rather than as one that he highly esteemed and treasured. He resented one that he should have highly respected. Elijah does not mince words, picking up at verse 19 and just quoting the words of Elijah to the king. Thus says the Lord, have you murdered and also taken possession? In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours. I have found you because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of Bathsheba, the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger and made Israel sin." Verse 23, And concerning Jezebel the Lord, the Lord also spoke, saying, The dog shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. The dog shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city. and the birds of the air shall weed whoever dies in the field." Now, here is a God of justice. Here is a God who is open-eyed about the oppressive acts that take place in this world. Here is a God who takes the part of the oppressed Here is a God who pursues justice and does so with a firm hand. The Lord announces through Elijah fierce retribution that will come upon the cruel tyrant and his even worse wife. God himself is going to take action against the evildoers and it will not be pretty. Elijah announces that calamity will come, not just upon Ahab and upon Jezebel, but upon their entire family. their entire male posterity in particular. Every male descendant would come to a violent end. His family would be infamous throughout Israelite history for what God did in bringing judgment upon him, even in death. Ahab and Jezebel would be treated with great dishonor and harshness. Wild dogs would consume the corpse of the wicked woman. Those same dogs, or the same kind of dogs, would lick the blood of the king, the blood resulting from his own violent death, just as wild dogs had licked up the blood flowing from Naboth's violent death. All this would come upon Ahab and his family, not only because of Naboth and this incident, but because of the way that the king had provoked Jehovah and had sinned against him so greatly, so resolutely. because of the idolatry that so marked Ahab's reign. The inspired narrator breaks into the narrative in verses 25 and 26 to comment upon the greatness of the iniquity of Ahab. There was no one like Ahab, he says, who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord. because Jezebel, his wife, stirred him up. And he behaved very abominably, and following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel." This passage, which so reflects the realism of the Bible, is a mirror of life itself. Things happen And we think God should just, bam, smash them now. And God does not do that. We don't understand the timing of God's justice. Why didn't God break in as the false witnesses were bringing the trumped up charges? Why didn't angels come while Naboth is being dragged out of the city and people are gathering stones? We're perplexed by God's timing. We bow before the mystery of God's way that so often he does allow injustice to unroll in this present world. So often he doesn't take quick and decisive action to keep it from happening. But while we cannot understand God's timing, We can live, we should live, we must live with the deepest conviction that God's justice will finally prevail. It will. It will. And Elijah's announcement of what is coming upon Ahab and the queen and their house is a powerful reminder that God sees, God knows, and God will act. God will have the final word. in every person's life. And in the ultimate sense of the word, no one will get away with anything. It's hard for us to meditate upon hell, isn't it? It's a difficult subject to talk about. It's a difficult subject to preach on. And there are aspects of hell that we cannot fully grasp. There is an incomprehensibility about the doctrine of hell. We believe without fully fathoming. But the teaching of the Bible that there is a hell, a place of wailing and gnashing of teeth that lasts forever and ever and ever and ever. We're 10 million years from now. The suffering, in a sense, has only just begun. The teaching of the Bible that there is a hell is a powerful testimony to the truth that the God who is is a God that is just and is determined that righteousness will be satisfied. Evil will be punished. There will be retribution. That is, at the heart of the justice of God, there will be retribution of evil. People will not get away with the oppression and the meanness and the swindling and the murdering and the assaults and the rapes and the horrible things that have taken place in this world ever since the fall of Adam and Eve. No one will get away. The New Testament emphasizes this truth of retribution in a passage addressing a severely persecuted church in Thessalonica. And I won't enlarge upon it, I'll just read the verses. 2 Thessalonians 1, verses 6 and following. The Apostle Paul, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, he tells this severely persecuted congregation, it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you. It is a right thing. In flaming fire, Jesus will take vengeance on those who do not know God, on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. We should be deeply attracted to the integrity of the God of the Bible. His virtue and how He responds to evil, we should find to be an aspect of His beauty. It is because He is so good that He is so against what is evil. This is a God who punishes the wicked, who fights for the oppressed. He is the advocate and the avenger of His people. And this is a God to be feared. And we should want to know Him as our friend before we meet Him as our judge. Well, in closing, let me briefly reflect upon the final verses of the chapter, the postponement of divine justice, the postponement of divine justice. Note verses 27 through 29, so it was when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, See how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son, I will bring the calamity on his house." We don't expect Ahab's response, but we really don't expect God's response, perhaps. That's what's most striking about the closing verses of this passage. It's not so much how Ahab responds as how God responds to Ahab's response. He tells perhaps the man that was his most intimate friend in the world at this stage of identity of history, Elijah, he says, Elijah, look, do you see how Ahab has responded to the words that you just spoke? He has humbled himself before me. Obviously, there was something sincere There was something genuine about Ahab's response, right? God's not taken in. God's not fooled. God himself draws attention to Ahab's response. There was something real going on. The next chapter indicates that the king's remorse did not last. It did not blossom into sustained, saving repentance. But for a time, Ahab was sincerely grieved, so much so that God himself noticed and determined to postpone his announced judgment. Now note, he does not cancel the judgment. He does not say, just forget about everything that I said a few moments ago. The judgment is not canceled out, but it is delayed. It is postponed. The following chapters will provide a vivid account that Elijah's dire prophecy was fulfilled to the letter. But judgment is stayed for a season. What can we learn from that? Well, we learn that God is incredibly merciful. God is ready to be responsive to genuine sorrow even if that sorrow proves to be a temporary thing. Even when that sorrow is not the expression of the Holy Spirit bringing about new birth. Even when that grief cannot be said to be an expression of genuine saving repentance. There was a sincere element In Ahab's grieving, at least over the consequences of what had happened, there was something about it that God found in a sense commendable, not in the sense that Ahab was justified by it, but in the sense that God responds in this way, giving him space for what? For real repentance, lasting repentance. I realize that our emotive response may be one of disappointment in God. God spoke Him. But honestly, where would we be if God acted like that? I mean, are we prepared to go before God and say, on the basis of how well I've repented, you should receive me into your heaven? God forbid. Isn't there a lot that is shabby about our own repentance oftentimes? God is ready to be merciful to an Ahab. He did not forget what Ahab had done. He did not just cancel out his sins. But he seems to show a delight almost in pointing out to Elijah Ahab's response of remorse God thinks it's noteworthy. You remember the church in Laodicea that's described in Revelation 3? You wonder, is this a church? They're lukewarm. And the risen Jesus Christ says, I am about ready to puke you out. It is sick, what I see, the coldness, the indifference, the haughtiness, the self-righteousness. I am about to get sick to my stomach. But that's not where the passage ends. The passage ends with Jesus Christ, not in a forlorn, desperate, oh, please give me a break, but in grace, saying, I am knocking. and I would come in and I would have restored fellowship with you. By all means, let Jesus in. He will judge, but it's not the work that he delights to do. He gets excited about showing mercy. And that should encourage us, y'all. This is a Savior who is approachable. This is a Savior who can help us. And if we've known something of an ongoing sorrow in our lives over the failures, morally and spiritually, that we have committed, isn't this passage a profound encouragement to us? God was merciful towards one whose sorrow was only for a little bit, Well, if we've known something of sorrow over our transgressions for years, isn't it encouraging to us how God would deal with us? Let's pray together. Our gracious God, as we have many times done, we thank you for the stories of the Bible. We thank you for the way that your truth lives through these events that took place so many centuries ago. We thank you, O God, that you are the God that was watching when Naboth was so cruelly stoned. You were the God that commissioned Elijah to bring this withering word of judgment. And you are the God still today who noticed Ahab's humbling himself before you and responded so graciously to him. Oh God, we pray that you would be merciful to us and that your mercy and your kindness would lead us into lives of lasting, saving repentance. We thank you that you are the judge of heaven and earth. We long for the day when you will come back and make all things right. We thank you that it's possible to know you as our Savior before we stand before you at the final tribunal. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.