1 Kings 21:1-3 - Obedience under pressure

Scripture:

1 Kings 21:1-3
1 Now it came about after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
2 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 you like, I will give you the price of it in money."
3 But Naboth said to Ahab, "The Lord forbid me that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers."
NASU


Thoughts:

Naboth does what is right before God (verse 3b), despite pressure from a powerful person, King Ahab (verse 2).  In ancient Israel, land was the inheritance of a family, not to be taken from them, but to be passed down from generation to generation:

Numbers 36:7
7 "Thus no inheritance of the sons of Israel shall be transferred from tribe to tribe, for the sons of Israel shall each hold to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
NASU

 Naboth's obedience to God costs him his life as Queen Jezebel incites some false witnesses to testify against Naboth, for Ahab:

1 Kings 21:13-14
13 Then the two worthless men came in and sat before him; and the worthless men testified against him, even against Naboth, before the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king." So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones. 14 Then they sent word to Jezebel, saying, "Naboth has been stoned and is dead."
NASU

But God is not absent from even the tiniest act of obedience.  He knows what has happened to Naboth and why, and pronounces judgment against the king:

1 Kings 21:17-19
17 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 "Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth where he has gone down to take possession of it. 19 "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 the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth the dogs will lick up your blood, even yours."'"
NASU

Prayer:

Lord, I thank You that You are the unseen eye watching over every decision I make and action that I take.  The things I do for You, though no one else may respect or notice, You take note of.  I look forward in Christ, to the reward for my obedience to You, in heaven someday.

Today, I am encouraged to be like Naboth.  To stand for and do what's right before You, no matter who may be pressuring me to do otherwise.  Even though it may cost me dearly, I will walk in obedience to You, by the power of Your Spirit in my life.

Amen

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.