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1 Kings 21:1-4, 7
Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. And after this Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.” But Naboth said to Ahab, “The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food. …[Therefore,] Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
1 Peter 1:3-7
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith— more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire— may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Cogitations—
It was a seemingly innocuous request. A simple business proposition. King Ahab makes an offer to Naboth the Jezreelite: “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house…” Understand, Ahab wasn’t executing the art of the steal here. He made generous terms. He’d pay its worth or make relocation an even better deal. A win-win for Naboth.
Au contraire! Lurking behind the superficial sales job, there is darkness in this encounter. The king says he wants to convert Naboth’s vinery into a “vegetable garden.” It seems a mundane request, until you realize the only other occurrence of a vegetable garden in the Old Testament is found in Deuteronomy 11:10, where it serves as a metaphor for Egyptian abundance.
I like how Peter Leithart unpacks the freight of Naboth’s vineyard. Leithart is a theologian who has a gift for reading God’s Word for all its theological connectiveness and import. His take here deserves an extended reference. He writes:
“Israel is a vineyard (Ps. 80; Isa. 5), and Naboth, the owner of the vineyard next to Ahab’s palace, is the paradigmatic Israelite, the tender of Israel’s vine, an Israelite who clings to the Lord’s gift. When the king wants to purchase his vineyard, he objects that the land is an inheritance and, according to the Levitical regulations, inalienable (Lev.25). Naboth’s objection is theological: it would be ‘profanation to Yahweh’ (1 Kings 21:3) if he were to sell his vineyard for mere convenience. According to the laws of Leviticus 25, since the land belongs to Yahweh, Israelites may lease it for a period of time but return it to the original owner’ family in the year of Jubilee. Naboth has the right to give up his property, but the presumption of the Jubilee legislation is that Israelites would part with the land only if they were too poor to do anything else. [More significantly] the phrase ‘vegetable garden’ …referring to the land of Egypt [symbolically signaled] Ahab’s intention to turn the vineyard of Israel into an Egyptian vegetable patch, [continuing] his policy of the ‘re-Canaanization’ of Israel. Ahab wants to ‘drive out’ Naboth and ‘take possession’ (1 Kings 21:19, 26), as Israel once did to the Canaanites.” (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible: 1&2 Kings, Brazos, 2006, pp.154-55)
Naboth, a faithful Israelite, knows the land is a gift from God, to be stewarded with great care. On the other side of this “Let’s Make a Deal” drama, Ahab is oblivious to faithfulness and has no conscience barrier to satisfying his own selfish ends in poaching another man’s sacred inheritance— of course, through the natural machinations of his Canaanite queen, Jezebel. There are echoes here of an indulgent King David having an order carried out to secure the death of Uriah the Hittite to greedily possess Bathsheba. Naboth and his sons (cf. 2 Kings 9:26) are falsely accused and executed. However, that’s as far as the resemblance between David and Ahab extends. David was, after all, a man after God’s own heart, whose repentance was more than mere pragmatic political theater (cf. 1 Kings 21:25-29).
Indeed, the parenthetical summary of Ahab’s career at the close of this chapter fits well (21:25-26): “There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the people of Israel.”
All things considered in this Nabothian tragedy, we must confess that Christians too, have been given an “inheritance” to guard and cherish. The passage above from First Peter speaks of a bequeathed spiritual legacy, “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us.” (1 Pet. 1:4). Come various and sundry challenges, (and they do and will come!) the exhortation of the Gospel witness is to never sell out this precious gift. Why? “So that the tested genuineness of your faith— more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire— may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet. 1:7). In Ephesians 1:13-23, the apostle Paul waxes eloquent in the same direction.
When those incessant enticements of the world come calling – or tempting – or threatening— are we as unflinchingly tenacious as Naboth to hold on to our “inheritance” as treasure from the Lord?
Art: “Naboth in his Vineyard” by James Smetham (1856) “Ahab, King of Samaria, is seen in the top left-hand corner, looking down enviously on Naboth's vineyard, which neighbors his land. In this productive vineyard, Naboth is reclining, and thoroughly enjoying the inheritance that has come to him from his father — he is admiring and tasting the grapes, with his own little child cuddled up beside him. The emphasis is on Naboth’s complete, sensuous delight in his inheritance, and the promise of being able to pass it on to his own children. What makes the painting most dramatic and appealing is the expressiveness of the three faces, and the precious sense of Naboth's happiness — fleeting as it is — before the coming of disaster. Lust as he might, Ahab will never be able to experience that.”
