{"id":35232,"date":"2025-03-23T22:00:16","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T05:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=35232"},"modified":"2025-03-18T22:08:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T05:08:04","slug":"1-kings-21_1-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1-kings-21_1-14\/","title":{"rendered":"God Will Make Sure Justice Is Served"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 Kings\u00a0 21:1-14\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 1 Kings 21:1-14.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

1 Kings 21:1-14 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.”
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But Naboth replied, “The\u00a0LORD\u00a0forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?”
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.'”
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city with him.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In those letters she wrote: “Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them testify that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.”
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-14:\u00a0 In these verses we see Ahab\u2019s selfishness and Jezebel\u2019s cunning in full bloom. Ahab wants to take the vineyard of another man, Naboth.\u00a0 This vineyard was a precious family property that Naboth\u2019s parents had given to him.\u00a0 It was likely Naboth\u2019s main source of income, whereas Ahab merely wanted to use it for a vegetable garden.\u00a0 When Naboth refuses to sell the vineyard to Ahab, Ahab sulks. Ahab\u2019s wife Jezebel devises an evil and elaborate plan to call a fast (using religion as a means to do evil) and have two scoundrels falsely accuse Naboth of cursing God and the king.\u00a0 The plan is executed and Naboth is stoned for treason which he did not commit.\u00a0 Presumably there is no one left in Naboth\u2019s family to inherit Naboth\u2019s vineyard.\u00a0 (Or, if Naboth had heirs, Ahab and Jezebel find a way to bypass them.)\u00a0 Ahab is then able to take possession of Naboth\u2019s vineyard.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Similar to Naboth\u2019s time, we live in a period in history where at times it seems evil runs rampant and unchecked.\u00a0 But God is not finished writing His story.\u00a0\u00a0Centuries after Ahab and Jezebel murdered Naboth, another innocent man would be placed between two scoundrels.<\/strong>\u00a0He would be falsely accused, convicted of crimes he did not commit, and killed.\u00a0 His name is Jesus.<\/p>\n

If Christ\u2019s death on the cross were seen in isolation with no consideration of what would happen after, Christ\u2019s death on the cross, similar to Naboth\u2019s murder, would seem like nothing more than a gross injustice.\u00a0 We would be inclined to ask, \u201cHow could God allow such an evil thing to happen?\u201d\u00a0 Even Satan our enemy thought that Christ\u2019s death would allow him to take control of \u201cthe vineyard\u201d, that is, the world God created. But, as in Naboth\u2019s case as well as Jesus\u2019 case, God would see to it that in the end justice is served and that the rightful owner of the vineyard is vindicated.<\/p>\n

By the way when you read Jesus\u2019 parable about the vineyard in Luke 20:9-19, you can tell Jesus understood that he would be unjustly killed but that His Father would vindicate Him.\u00a0 A huge reason Jesus was able to endure and persevere through such gross injustice was because He trusted that His Father had a greater plan.<\/p>\n

Similarly,\u00a0when you see something horribly evil take place in our world, don\u2019t view that event in isolation.\u00a0 Remember that God is not finished writing His story.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>God is sovereign.\u00a0 He will make sure that in the end justice is served, that scoundrels are punished, that the innocent are avenged and that God\u2019s people are vindicated.<\/p>\n

Father, thank You that You are not finished writing Your story.\u00a0 Thank You that when it comes to horrible and evil events that take place in this world, You still have the last word, and You will see to it that justice is served and that Your people are vindicated. In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 1 Kings 21:1-14.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!\u00a0<\/p>\n

1 Kings 21:1-14 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.”<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-14:\u00a0 In these verses we see Ahab\u2019s selfishness and Jezebel\u2019s cunning in full bloom. Ahab wants to take the vineyard of another man, Naboth.\u00a0 This vineyard was a precious family property that Naboth\u2019s parents had given to him.\u00a0 It was likely Naboth\u2019s main source of income, whereas Ahab merely wanted to use it for a vegetable garden.\u00a0 When Naboth refuses to sell the vineyard to Ahab, Ahab sulks. Ahab\u2019s wife Jezebel devises an evil and elaborate plan to call a fast (using religion as a means to do evil) and have two scoundrels falsely accuse Naboth of cursing God and the king.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35232"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35235,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35232\/revisions\/35235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}