1 Kings 21:5-10 – Who is influencing you?

Like a spoiled child, the immature Ahab went to his room, lay on his bed, sulked, and refused to eat. All because Naboth valued his possession and refused to accede to his demand to have his vineyard. First Kings 21:5 indicates that before long, his despair was noticed by Jezebel his wife, who asked why he was so disheartened. Whiningly, like a pampered child, Ahab 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.’” 

The unscrupulous Jezebel was not going to stand watching her husband in that condition. Her anger was almost palpable by her sarcasm. So in 1 Kings 21:7 she insinuated that Ahab was a weakling. She asked Ahab “Do you now reign over Israel?” And then went on to order that he “Arise, eat bread, and let your heart be joyful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

Like the ruthless Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Jezebel took matters into her own hands. What Ahab lacked the courage to do, the unscrupulous Jezebel did. In 1 Kings 21:8-10, we are told she wrote a letter in Ahab’s name and affixed it with his seal, to all the elders and nobles living with Naboth in the city. The letter demanded that they proclaimed a fast and had Naboth seated at the head of the table, sandwiched between two false witnesses. They would then accuse Naboth of blaspheming against God and the king, and have him executed and stoned to death.

Ahab was a weakling who lacked resolve. What made it worst was his marriage to Jezebel. Through her, he became deeply entrenched in Baal worship. Slowly but surely, his morals were being chiseled off. Lacking a sound moral compass, he was quietly giving in to her wicked influence, and unwittingly was careening down the slope of disaster.  This account underscores the need to be alert to our influence in life. Ahab would be better served if he had taken heed to what God was saying to him through Elijah. So here is the lesson, be careful who influences us in life. We must surround ourselves with people who can make us better!