History of the Old Testament Volume 7, Part 10
AHAB, and NABOTH.
NAboth had a faire vineyard; It had beene better for him to hauehave had none; His vineyard yeelded him the bitter Grapes of death. Many a one hath bin ſold to death by his lands and goods; wealth hath beene a ſnare, as to the ſoule, ſo to the life; Why doe we call thoſe goods, which are many times the bane of the owner? Naboths vineyard lay neere to the Court of Iezebel; it had beene better for him, it had beene planted in the wilderneſſe; Doubtleſſe, this vicinitie made it more commodious to the poſſeſſor; but more enuious and vnſafe: It was now the perpetuall obiect of an euill eye, and ſtirred thoſe deſires, which could neither be well denyed, nor ſatisfied: Eminency is ſtill ioyned with perill, obſcuritie with peace: There can be no worſe annoyance to any inheritance, than the greatneſſe of an euill neighbourhood: Naboths vines ſtood too neere the ſmoake of Iezebels chimneys: too much within the proſpect of Ahabs window; Now lately had the King of Iſrael beene twice victorious ouer the Syrians; no ſooner is he returned home than he is ouercome with euill deſires; The foyle he gaue was not worſe than that he tooke: There is more true glorie in the conqueſt of our luſts, than in all bloudy Trophees; In vaine ſhall Ahab boaſt of ſubduing a forraine enemy, whiles he is ſubdued by a domeſticke enemy within his owne breaſt; Opportunitie and Conuenience is guiltie of many a theft: Had not this ground lien ſo faire, Ahab had not beene tempted: His eye lets in this euill gueſt into the ſoule, which now dares come forth at the mouth; GiueGive me thy vineyard, that I may hauehave it for a garden of herbes, becauſe it is neere to my houſe, and I will giuegive thee a better vineyard for it, or if it ſeeme good to thee, I will giuegive thee the worth of it in money; Yet had Ahab ſo much ciuilitie, and iuſtice, that he would not wring Naboths patrimony out of his hand by force, but requires it vponupon a faire compoſition, whether of price, or of exchange: His gouernment was vicious, not tyrannicall; Proprietie of goods was inuiolably maintained by him; No leſſe was Naboth allowed to claime a right in his vineyard, than Ahab in his palace; This wee owe to lawfull Soueraigntie to call ought our owne; and well worthy is this priuiledge to be repaid with all humble and loyall reſpects. The motion of Ahab (had it beene to any other than an Iſraelite) had beene as iuſt, equall, reaſonable, as the repulſe had beene rude, churliſh, inhumane. It is fit that Princes ſhould receiue due ſatisfaction in the iuſt demands, not onelyonly of their neceſſities, but conuenience, and pleaſure; well may they challenge this retribution to the benefit of our common peace and protection; If there bee any ſweetneſſe in our vineyards, any ſtrength in our fields, we may thanke their ſcepters; Iuſtly may they expect from vsus the commoditie, the delight of their habitation; and if we gladly yeeld not to their full elbow-roome, both of ſite, and prouiſion, we can be no other than ingratefull; Yet dares not Naboth giuegive any other anſwer to ſo plauſible a motion, than, The Lord forbid it me, that I ſhould giuegive thee the inheritance of my Fathers: The honeſt Iſraelite ſaw violence in this ingenuitie; There are no ſtronger commands, than the requeſts of the great; It is well that Ahab will not wreſt away this patrimony, it is not well that he deſired it; The land was not ſo much ſtood vponupon, as the law; One earth might be as good as another; and mony equiualent to either; The Lord had forbidden to alien their inheritance: Naboth did not feare loſſe, but ſinne; What Naboth might not lawfully doe, Ahab might not lawfully require; It pleaſed God to be very punctuall, & cautelous, both in the diſtinction, and preſeruation of the intireneſſe of theſe Iewiſh inheritances; Nothing but extreme neceſſitie might warrant a fale of land, and that, but for a time; if not ſooner, yet at the Iubile, it muſt reuert to the firſt owner: It was not without a comfortable ſignification, that whoſoeuer had once his part in the land of Promiſe, could neuer loſe it; Certainly Ahab could not but know this diuine reſtriction, yet doubts not to ſay, GiueGive me thy vineyard; The vnconſcionable will know no other law but their profit, their pleaſure; A lawleſſe greatneſſe hates all limitations, and abides not to heare men ſhould need any other warrant but will.
Naboth dares not be thus tractable; How gladly would hee be quit of his inheritance, if God would acquit him from the ſinne? Not out of wilfulneſſe, but obedience, doth this faithfull Iſraelite hold off from this demand of his Soueraigne; not daring to pleaſe an earthly King with offending the heauenly: When Princes command lawfull things, God commands by them; when vnlawfull, they command againſt God; paſſiue obedience wee muſt giuegive, actiue wee may not; wee follow then as ſubordinate, not as oppoſite to the higheſt.
Who cannot but ſee and pittie the ſtraits of honeſt Naboth; Ahab requires what God forbids; hee muſt fal out either with his God, or his King: Conſcience carries him againſt policy; and he reſolues not to ſinne, that he might be gracious. For a world hee may not giuegive his vineyard: Thoſe who are themſelues godleſſe, thinke the holy care of others but idly ſcrupulous: The King of Iſrael could not chuſe but ſee that onelyonly Gods prohibition lay in the way of his deſignes, not the ſtomacke of a froward ſubiect; yet he goes away into his houſe heauy and diſpleaſed; and caſts himſelfe downe vponupon his bed, and turnes away his face, and refuſes his meat; Hee hath taken a ſurfet of Naboths grapes which marres his appetite, and threats his life: How ill can great hearts endure to be croſſed, though vponupon the moſt reaſonable & iuſt grounds? Ahabs place call'd him to the guardianſhip of Gods Law; and now his heart is ready to breake that this parcell of that Law may not be broken: No maruell if hee made not dainty to tranſgreſſe a locall ſtatute of God, who did ſo ſhamefully violate the eternall Law of both Tables.
I know not whether the ſplene, or the gall of Ahab bee more affected; Whether more of anger, or griefe, I cannot ſay; but ſicke hee is, and keepes his bed, and balkes his meat, as if hee ſhould die of no other death, than the ſalads that hee would hauehave had: O the impotent paſſions, and inſatiable deſires of Couetouſneſſe! Ahab is Lord and King of all the territories of Iſrael; Naboth is the owner of one poore Vineyard; Ahab cannot inioy Iſrael, if Naboth inioy his Vineyard; Beſides Samaria, Ahab was the great Lord Paramount of Damaſcus and all Syria, the victor of him that was attended with two and thirty Kings; Naboth was a plaine townſman of Iezreel, the good husband of a little Vineyard; Whether is the wealthier? I doe not heare Naboth wiſh for any thing of Ahabs, I heare Ahab wiſhing (not without indignatiō of a repulſe) for ſomewhat of Naboths: Riches and pouerty is more in the heart, than in the hand; He is wealthy that is contented; hee is poore that wanteth more: Oh rich Naboth, that careſt not for all the large poſſeſſions of Ahab, ſo thou maiſt be the Lord of thine owne Vineyard; Oh miſerable Ahab, that careſt not for thine owne poſſeſſions whiles thou maieſt not be the Lord of Naboths Vineyard.
He that cauſed the diſeaſe, ſends him a Phyſitian; Satan knew of old how to make vſe of ſuch helpers; Iezebel comes to Ahabs bedſide; and caſts cold water in his face, and puts into him ſpirits of her owne extracting; Doſt thou now gouerne the Kingdome of Iſrael? Ariſe, eat bread, and let thine heart be merry; I will giuegive thee the Vineyard of Naboth. Ahab wanted neither wit, nor wickedneſſe; Yet is hee in both, a very nouice to this Zidonian dame. There needs no other Deuill, than Iezebel, whether to proiect euill, or to worke it: Shee chides the puſillanimity of her deiected husband, and perſwades him his rule cannot be free, vnleſſe it belicentious; that there ſhould be no bounds for ſoueraignty, but wil; Already hath ſhee contriued to hauehave by fraud and force, what was denied to intreaty; Nothing needs but the name, but the ſeale of Ahab; let her alone with the reſt; How preſent are the wits of the weaker ſex for the deuiſing of wickednes: She frames a letter in Ahabs name, to the Senatours of Iezreel, wherein ſhe requires them to proclaime a faſt, to ſuborne two falſe witneſſes againſt Naboth, to charge him with blaſphemy againſt God and the King, to ſtone him to death; A ready payment for a rich Vineyard: Whoſe indignation riſeth not to heare Iezebel name a faſt? The great contemners of the moſt important Lawes of God, yet can be content to make vſe of ſome diuine, both ſtatutes, and cuſtoms, for their owne aduantage: Shee knew the Iſraelites had ſo much remainder of grace, as to hold blaſphemy worthy of death; Shee knew their manner was to expiate thoſe crying ſinnes with pulike humiliation; She knew that two witneſſes at leaſt muſt caſt the offender; all theſe ſhee vrges to her owne purpoſe. There is no miſchiefe ſo deuilliſh, as that which is cloked with piety: Simulation of holineſſe doubleth a villany; This murder had not beene halfe ſo foule, if it had not beene thus maſked with a religious obſeruation; Beſides deuotion, what a faire pretence of legality is heere? Blaſphemy againſt God and his anointed may not paſſe vnreuenged; The offender is conuented before the ſad and ſeuere bench of Magiſtracie; the iuſtice of Iſrael allowes not to condemne an abſent, an vnheard malefactor; Witneſſes come forth, and agree in the intentation of the crime; the Iudges rend their garments, and ſtrike their breaſts, as grieued, not more for the ſin than the puniſhment; their very countenance muſt ſay, Naboth ſhould not die, if his offence did not force our iuſtice; and now, he is no good ſubiect, no true Iſraelite, that hath not a ſtone for Naboth.
Iezebel knew well to whom ſhe wrote; Had not thoſe letters fallen vponupon the times of a wofull degeneration of Iſrael, they had receiued no leſſe ſtrong denials from the Elders, than Ahab had from Naboth; God forbid that the Senate of Iezreel ſhould forge a periurie, belye truth, condemne innocency, broke corruption: Command iuſt things, we are readie to dye in the zeale of our obedience, we dare not embrue our hands in the bloud of an innocent.
But ſhe knew whom ſhee had engaged; whom ſhe had marred by making conſcious. It were ſtrange if they who can countenance euill with greatneſſe, ſhould want factors for the vniuſteſt deſignes. Miſerable is that people whoſe Rulers (in ſtead of puniſhing) plot, and incourage wickedneſſe; when a diſtillation of euill fals from the head, vponupon the lungs of any State, there muſt needs follow a deadly conſumption.
Yet, perhaps there wanted not ſome colour of pretence for this proceeding; They could not but heare, that ſome words had paſſed betwixt the King and Naboth; Haply it was ſuggeſted, that Naboth had ſecretly ouer-laſhed into ſaucie and contemptuous termes to his Soueraigne, ſuch as neither might be well borne, nor yet (by reaſon of their priuacy) legally conuinced; the bench of Iezreel ſhould but ſupply a forme to the iuſt matter, & deſert of condemnation; What was it for them to giuegive their hand to this obſcure midwifery of Iuſtice? It is enough that their King is an accuſer and witneſſe of that wrong, which onelyonly their ſentence can formally reuenge. All this cannot waſh their hands from the guilt of bloud; If iuſtice be blinde, in reſpect of partialitie, ſhe may not be blinde in reſpect of the grounds of execution; Had Naboth beene a blaſphemer, or a traitor, yet theſe men were no better than murtherers; What difference is there betwixt the ſtroke of Magiſtracie, and of man-ſlaughter, but due conuiction?
Wickedneſſe neuer ſpake out of a throne, and complained of the defect of inſtruments; Naboth was (it ſeemes) ſtrictly conſcionable, his fellow Citizens looſe, and lawleſſe; they are glad to hauehave gotten ſuch an opportunitie of his diſpatch: No clauſe of Ahabs letter is not obſerued; A faſt is warned, the Citie is aſſembled, Naboth is conuented, accuſed, confronted, ſentenced, ſtoned. His vineyard is eſcheated to the Crowne; Ahab takes ſpeedy and quiet poſſeſſion: How ſtill doth God ſit in heauen, and looke vponupon the complots of treachery, and villanies, as if they did not concerne him: The ſucceſſe ſo anſwers their deſires, as if both heauen and earth were their friends. It is the plague, which ſeemes the felicitie of ſinners, to ſpeed well in their lewd enterpriſes; No reckoning is brought in the midſt of the meale, the end payes for all; Whiles Ahab is reioycing in his new garden-plot, and promiſing himſelfe contentment in this commodious enlargement, in comes Elijah, ſent from God with an errand of vengeance. Me thinkes, I ſee how the Kings countenance changed; with what agaſt eyes, and pale cheekes, he lookt vponupon that vnwelcome Prophet; Little pleaſure tooke he in his proſpect, whiles it was clogged with ſuch a gueſt: yet his tongue begins firſt; Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? Great is the power of conſcience: vponupon the laſt meeting (for ought wee know) Ahab and Elijah parted friends: The Prophet had lacquaied his coach, and tooke a peaceable leaue at this Townes end; now Ahabs heart told him (neither needed any other meſſenger) that God, and his Prophet were falne out with him; His continuing Idolatry, now ſeconded with bloud, bids him looke for nothing but frownes from heauen: A guiltie heart can neuer be at peace; Had not Ahab knowne how ill he had deſerued of God, he had neuer ſaluted his Prophet by the name of an enemy: Hee had neuer beene troubled to bee found by Elijah, if his owne breaſt had not found him out for an enemy to God; Much good may thy vineyard doe thee, O thou King of Iſrael, many faire flowers, and ſauoury herbes may thy new Garden yeeld thee; pleaſe thy ſelfe with thy Iezebel, in the triumph ouer the carkaſſe of a ſcrupulous ſubiect; let me rather die with Naboth, than reioyce with thee: His turne is ouer, thine is to come; The ſtones that ouerwhelmed innocent Naboth, were nothing to thoſe that ſmite thee; Hoſt thou killed, and alſo taken poſſeſsion? Thus ſaith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the bloud of Naboth, ſhall dogs licke thy bloud, euen thine. What meaneſt thou, O Elijah, to charge this murther vponupon Ahab? He kept his Chamber; Iezebel wrote, the Elders condemned, the people ſtoned; yet thou ſaieſt, Hast thou killed? Well did Ahab know, that Iezebel could not giuegive this vineyard with dry hands; yet was he content to winke at what ſhe would doe; He but ſits ſtill whiles Iezebel workes; OnelyOnly his Signet is ſuffered to walke for the ſealing of this vnknowne purchaſe; Thoſe that are truſted with authoritie, may offend no leſſe in conniuencie, or neglect, than others in act, in participation: Not onelyonly command, conſent, countenance, but verie permiſſion feoffes publike perſons in thoſe ſinnes, which they might, and will not preuent. God loues to puniſh by retaliation; Naboth and Ahab ſhall both bleed; Naboth by the ſtones of the Iezreelites; Ahab by the ſhafts of the Aramites; The dogs ſhall taſte of the bloud of both; What Ahab hath done in crueltie, he ſhall ſuffer in iuſtice; The cauſe and the end make the difference happy on Naboths ſide, on Ahabs wofull; Naboth bleeds as a Martyr; Ahab as a murtherer: What euer is Ahabs condition, Naboth changes a vineyard on earth, for a Kingdome in heauen. Neuer any wicked man gained by the perſecution of an innocent; Neuer any innocent man was a loſer by ſuffering from the wicked.
Neither was this iudgement perſonall, but hereditarie; I will take away thy poſteritie; and will make thine houſe like the houſe of Ieroboam: Him that dieth of Ahab in the Citie, the Dogs ſhalleat; and him that dieth in the field, ſhall the Fowles of the ayre eat; Ahab ſhall not need to take thought for the traducing of this ill gotten inheritance; God hath taken order for his heires; whom his ſinne hath made no leſſe the heires of his curſe, than of his body; Their fathers cruelty to Naboth hath made them, together with their mother Iezebel, dogs-meat. The reuenge of God doth at laſt make amends for the delay; Whether now is Naboths vineyard paid for?
The man that had ſold himſelfe to worke wickedneſſe, yet rues the bargaine. I doe not heare Ahab (as bad as he was) reuile or threaten the Prophet, but he rends his clothes, and weares, and lyes in ſack-cloth, and faſts, and walkes ſoftly: Who that had ſeene Ahab would not hauehave deemed him a true penitent? All this was the viſor of ſorrow, not the face; or if the face, not the heart; or if the ſorrow of the heart, yet not the repentance: A ſorrow for the iudgement, not a repentance for the ſin: The very deuils howle to be tormented; Griefe is not euer a ſigne of grace; Ahab rends his clothes, he did not rend his heart; he puts on ſack-cloth, not amendment; he lies in ſack-cloth, but he lies in his Idolatry; he walkes ſoftly, he walkes not ſincerely; Worldly ſorrow cauſeth death; Happy is that griefe for which the ſoule is the holier.
Yet, what is this I ſee? This very ſhadow of penitence carries away mercy; It is no ſmall mercy to deferre an euill; Euen Ahabs humiliation ſhal prorogue the iudgement; ſuch as the penitence was, ſuch ſhal bee the reward; a temporary reward of a temporary penitence: As Ahab might be thus ſorrowfull, and neuer the better; ſo, he may be thus fauoured, and neuer the happier; Oh God, how graciouſly art thou ready to reward a ſound, and holy repentance, who art thus indulgent to a carnall and ſeruile deiection!