Fighting for the Underdog
O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. Psalm 10:17-18
The story of Ahab, King of Israel, and Naboth, the owner of a nice piece of land close to the castle, is a really difficult one for most of us to understand. Ahab is a wicked King married to an even more wicked wife. She was raised by a pagan King in a pagan country and married off to Ahab to strengthen or form a political alliance.
Naboth had inherited his land from his father and land was precious to the Israelite. It was a gift to a tribe and family when God finally brought them out of wandering in the wilderness to settle in the Promised Land.
King Ahab thought that Naboth’s property would make a nice, convenient, garden for the royal family and so he asked for it. He even offered to pay or trade for it. Being a solid Israelite Naboth could not give up or trade off the land God had given his family. It was his to leave to his children. Ahab went home “vexed and sullen” and laid down on his bed “turned his face away and he would not eat.” (1 Kings 21:4).
His wife, Jezebel comes in and finds him this way. She asks what is wrong and proceeds to assure him that the King of Israel has the ability to have anything he wants and she will take care of it. She sends letters with the King’s seal and calls for a fast. In this planning , she includes orders for their servants to hire a couple of sleazy characters who will come in and say that Naboth has cursed God. They do and Jezebel sees to it that he is stoned to death, per the biblical mandate. 2 Kings 9:26 indicates that the stoning included his sons so that no one would be left to claim the land Ahab wanted.
Naboth and his sons are ruthlessly killed for a crime they didn’t commit and Ahab gets the land he wanted! How many things can we find wrong with this? Too many to count, especially when they backed up the stoning with God’s law! God is displeased, too and He passes judgment on Ahab. He sent Elijah to speak to Ahab for Him. 1 Kings 21:20-23 Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD. Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel the LORD also said, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel.’
This is pretty awful judgment but it is just. Ahab and Jezebel had done many things wrong and this was it. God would take no more from them.
I have been reading a commentary called, “1 Kings, The Wisdom and the Folly” by Dale Ralph Davis. In the book he talks about an article he read by a man named Dr. Chris Wright. Dr. Wright had been speaking at a conference in India and a man came up to tell him how pleased he was that he was going to be teaching from the Old Testament. The man had been given a Bible when he first went to college and the first thing he read was the story of Naboth, Ahab, and Jezebel in 1 Kings 21. He was amazed to read about the greed for land and the abuse of power and corruption of the courts as well as the violence against the lower class Naboth.
This man had grown up with similar oppression in India. He had lived in a system where he was exploited, treated with contempt, and had even suffered violence because of where he lived. What was so surprising and wonderful to this man was a God who took Naboth’s side. He didn’t just accuse Jezebel and Ahab of the sin they had committed but He had also taken vengeance. He was seeing a God of justice, a God who identified with the oppressed. The king’s title, power, and wealth were not going to sway the One True God.
This man is a believer today but what struck me about this is that we do not have his perspective. He understood oppression and how absolutely wonderful it would be to have a just and righteous God to take vengeance when vengeance was needed. Mr. Wright quotes him as saying, “I never knew such a God existed!”
Many times I have heard people say that they don’t like to study the Old Testament. They think it is too hard to read of the judgment God passes over sinful people. I would much rather be the one reading and saying, “Wow, a God who takes the side of the oppressed and takes action against their enemies!” I fear that Christians in America are going to experience more and more oppression and persecution because of our faith. Like this man, I rejoice that I can trust God to take the enemies of Christ and mete out judgment and vengeance as He will.
Naboth died. It doesn’t seem right. In fact, it wasn’t right – God said so. But, Naboth went to heaven to spend eternity with the LORD. Ahab and Jezebel experienced horrible deaths here and their eternity will be hot, with a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth. I don’t want to celebrate that, God wants none to perish, but in this case it is just judgment! That, we can appreciate and look forward to, if we need it. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Praise the LORD!