The State as Idol: Ahab, Naboth, and the Lust for Dirt Text: 1 Kings 21:1-16
Introduction: Two Kinds of Government
We are living in an age that has forgotten what government is for. We have forgotten that God has established various governments among men, and that each has its own distinct sphere and its own God-given limitations. God has ordained the government of the family, the government of the church, and the government of the civil magistrate. When these governments stay in their lanes, there is liberty and peace. But when one of them, particularly the civil magistrate, begins to think of itself as god, then tyranny and sorrow are the inevitable result. The state becomes a ravenous idol, demanding sacrifices that it has no right to claim.
This is precisely what we see in our text today. The story of Naboth's vineyard is not a quaint little morality tale about a greedy king. It is a foundational lesson in political theology. It is a clash of two worldviews, two religions, two conceptions of law and authority. On one side, you have Naboth, a faithful Israelite. His worldview is covenantal. He understands that the land he owns is not ultimately his; it is an inheritance, a stewardship given to his family by Yahweh Himself. His property rights are not granted by the king, but by God, and are therefore sacred. On the other side, you have Ahab and Jezebel. Their worldview is pagan and statist. They believe that the king's desire is the ultimate law. What the king wants, the king gets. For them, law is not a transcendent standard to which the king must bow; it is a tool for the king to use to get what he wants.
This is the central conflict of our time. Does law come from God, limiting the power of the state and protecting the liberties of the people? Or does law come from the state, granting temporary privileges that can be revoked whenever the ruling class desires? Is the state under God, or is the state god? The story of Naboth's vineyard shows us in stark, bloody detail what happens when a nation chooses the latter. It is a story about covetousness, which is idolatry. It is a story about the failure of masculinity and the destructive nature of manipulative femininity. And ultimately, it is a story that shows us that when the state attempts to usurp the place of God, it becomes a murderous beast.
The Text
Now it happened after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden because it is close beside my house, and I will give you a better vineyard than it in its place; if it is good in your sight, I will give you the price of it in money.” But Naboth said to Ahab, “Yahweh forbid me that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” So Ahab came into his house sullen and enraged because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and ate no food. But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “How is it that your spirit is so sullen that you are not eating food?” So he said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you a vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ” And Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now exercise kingship over Israel? Arise, eat bread, and let your heart be merry; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and sent letters to the elders and to the nobles who were living with Naboth in his city. And she wrote in the letters, saying, “Call for a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people; and seat two vile men before him, and let them testify against him, saying, ‘You cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him so that he will die.” So 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 which she had sent them. They called for a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the people. Then the two vile men came in and sat before him; and the vile men testified against him, against Naboth, before the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones and he died. Then they sent word to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.” Now it happened that when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” Now it happened that when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
(1 Kings 21:1-16 LSB)
The Covetous King and the Covenant Man (vv. 1-4)
We begin with the setup. Ahab, the king, wants something he does not have.
"And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, 'Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden because it is close beside my house, and I will give you a better vineyard than it in its place; if it is good in your sight, I will give you the price of it in money.'" (1 Kings 21:2)
On the surface, Ahab's offer seems perfectly reasonable, even generous. He offers a fair trade or a cash purchase. He is not, at this point, using the force of the state. He is engaging in what appears to be a simple real estate transaction. But the problem is not with the terms of the offer; the problem is in the heart of the king. Ahab is driven by covetousness. The apostle Paul tells us that covetousness is idolatry (Col. 3:5). Ahab sees a piece of land, and his desire for it becomes the central, driving force of his emotional world. He wants it for a "vegetable garden," something mundane and trivial, because it is convenient, "close beside my house." The great king of Israel is undone by a lust for a little patch of dirt to grow his cabbages.
Naboth's response is the theological core of the entire conflict.
"But Naboth said to Ahab, 'Yahweh forbid me that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.'" (1 Kings 21:3)
Naboth is not being stubborn or disrespectful. He is being faithful. He appeals to a higher law than the king's desire. He says, "Yahweh forbid me." He understands that the land is not a mere commodity to be bought and sold on the open market. It was apportioned to his family by God Himself during the conquest under Joshua (Lev. 25:23; Num. 36:7). To sell it, especially to the crown in perpetuity, would be to alienate his family's covenantal birthright. It would be an act of profound faithlessness, a betrayal of his ancestors and his descendants. Naboth is standing on the law of God, which was intended to prevent the amassing of vast estates by the powerful and to protect the economic independence of the common family. Naboth is a hero. He is a godly man who fears God more than he fears the king.
Ahab's reaction reveals his true character. He is not a man, but a spoiled child.
"So Ahab came into his house sullen and enraged... And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and ate no food." (1 Kings 21:4)
This is the king of Israel, a grown man, throwing a temper tantrum. He is not enraged because of an injustice done to him. He is enraged because he could not get his way. He is a textbook example of what happens when a man abdicates his masculine responsibility. He is passive, sulking, and emotionally incontinent. He does not lead; he pouts. This emotional vacuum he creates is what allows the evil of his wife, Jezebel, to rush in and take control. A weak man is a magnet for a wicked woman.
The Usurping Woman and the Abdicated Man (vv. 5-7)
Jezebel now enters the scene, and we see the satanic inversion of God's created order.
"But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, 'How is it that your spirit is so sullen that you are not eating food?'" (1 Kings 21:5)
Ahab recounts the story, and Jezebel's response is pure contempt. She despises his weakness, not because she desires him to be righteous, but because his weakness is an obstacle to her will.
"And Jezebel his wife said to him, 'Do you now exercise kingship over Israel? Arise, eat bread, and let your heart be merry; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.'" (1 Kings 21:7)
Her question, "Do you now exercise kingship over Israel?" is dripping with scorn. It is a taunt. For her, kingship is not about covenantal faithfulness and justice under God. It is about raw, absolute power. What is the point of being king if you cannot take what you want? She comes from Phoenicia, where this pagan, statist view was the norm. She cannot comprehend a king limited by God's law. So she takes charge. She says, "I will give you the vineyard." She usurps his authority, and he lets her. He remains passive on his bed while she orchestrates murder. This is the essence of the Jezebel spirit: a manipulative, controlling, and domineering woman who despises God's authority and fills the void left by a weak and passive man.
The Machinery of Wickedness (vv. 8-14)
What follows is a masterful display of calculated, legalistic evil. Jezebel does not simply send thugs to murder Naboth. She uses the forms of justice to commit the ultimate injustice.
"So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal... 'Call for a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people; and seat two vile men before him, and let them testify against him, saying, "You cursed God and the king." Then take him out and stone him so that he will die.'" (1 Kings 21:8-10)
This is wickedness wearing the robes of piety. She calls for a fast, a public display of religious devotion, to cover her murderous plot. She gives Naboth a place of honor, "at the head of the people," to make his downfall all the more dramatic and to give the proceedings an air of legitimacy. She follows the letter of the law, which required two witnesses for a capital crime (Deut. 17:6), but she hires "vile men," sons of Belial, to bear false witness. The charge itself, cursing God and the king, was a capital offense (Lev. 24:16; Ex. 22:28). She has twisted every element of God's law for justice into a weapon for murder.
And the leaders of the city, the elders and nobles, comply without protest. "The men of his city... did as Jezebel had sent word to them" (v. 11). This is what happens when a nation's leadership fears man more than God. They become cogs in the machine of tyranny. Their cowardice enables the state's crime. They are just as guilty as Jezebel. They carry out the sham trial, and an innocent man is murdered by the state, under the color of law. This is judicial murder, the worst kind of tyranny.
Taking Possession (v. 15-16)
The deed is done, and the news is sent back to the master manipulator.
"Now it happened that when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, 'Arise, take possession of the vineyard... for Naboth is not alive, but dead.'" (1 Kings 21:15)
Her words are chilling in their cold, pragmatic finality. The problem has been eliminated. The obstacle to the king's desire is gone. "Arise, take possession." And what does Ahab do? The man who was too "sullen" to eat now finds his appetite. The man who was too weak to lead now has the strength to go and claim his stolen prize.
"Now it happened that when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it." (1 Kings 21:16)
He asks no questions. He does not inquire how this vineyard suddenly became available. He knows. By his passive complicity and his active seizure of the land, he is as guilty as if he had thrown the stones himself. He wanted the vineyard, and now he has it. But he has purchased it with innocent blood, and the prophet Elijah is on his way to announce the terms of God's terrible judgment. Ahab has gained a vegetable garden, but he has lost his kingdom and his soul.
Conclusion: The State That Would Be God
This is more than just a story about one wicked king. It is a perpetual warning. Whenever the civil government rejects the supreme law of God, it will inevitably become a law unto itself. When the state believes it is the source of rights, it will also believe it can take those rights away. It will redefine justice to mean "whatever serves the state's interest." It will use the language of piety and public good to mask its ravenous greed. It will demand our children, our property, and our very lives, not as a servant of God for our good, but as a jealous god that tolerates no rivals.
We see this spirit today. We see it in governments that claim the right to redefine marriage, which God alone can define. We see it in states that claim the right to murder the unborn, seizing the prerogative of life and death that belongs to God. We see it in tax policies that are not about raising revenue for legitimate functions, but are about envy and the satanic quest for egalitarian outcomes. We see it in the use of eminent domain, not for true public necessities, but to seize property from one private citizen to give to a more politically connected one. It is the spirit of Ahab and Jezebel, and it is alive and well.
The only answer is the courage of Naboth. We must be a people who fear God more than we fear the state. We must know God's law and stand upon it. We must declare to the overreaching magistrate, "Yahweh forbid." Our rights, our families, and our property are not ours to give away, for they are an inheritance from our fathers, and ultimately, from our Father in Heaven. The state is not God. The state is not even the king. The state is a minister, a deacon, appointed by God to punish evil and praise good (Rom. 13:4). And when it reverses that role, when it punishes the good man like Naboth and rewards the wicked like Ahab, it has become a rebel government, and it is the duty of faithful Christians to resist its lawless decrees.
The story ends in judgment for the house of Ahab. But it points us to a greater story. There was another man who had a vineyard, and wicked tenants sought to steal his inheritance. That man was God the Father, the vineyard was Israel, and the wicked tenants were the corrupt rulers who murdered His Son (Matthew 21:33-41). They murdered the Son to seize the inheritance. But God raised Him from the dead, and He has now taken possession not just of a vineyard, but of the entire world. Jesus Christ is the true King, and all other kings are accountable to Him. And He will one day return to execute perfect justice, to cast down every proud ruler from his throne, and to give His faithful people an inheritance that can never be stolen, an inheritance undefiled and that does not fade away.