Temper Tantrum

1 Kings 21:1-16

¹ Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

² And after this Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.”

³ But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”

⁴ And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food.

⁵ But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?”

⁶ And 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 please you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”

⁷ And Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

⁸ So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city.

⁹ And she wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people.

¹⁰ And set two worthless men opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, ‘You have cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”

¹¹ And the men of his city, the elders and the leaders who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. As it was written in the letters that she had sent to them,

¹² they proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people.

¹³ And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of 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 to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.”

¹⁵ As soon as 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.”

¹⁶ And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

Today we see the picture of a grown man, a king and a warrior, with his bottom lip stuck out, stomping his foot like a two-year old. It is rather a shocking depiction. With this story yet another piece of the puzzle that makes up Ahab’s character falls into place. Not only is he idolatrous and cruel, selfish and power-mad, he is immature and spoiled. His wife comes along and acts as his mommy, handing the two-year old what he wants in order to end the tantrum. You have to admit, it isn’t a pretty picture!

I’m not entirely sure what we take away from this tale except that we should perhaps keep an eye on our own emotional maturity level. An adult temper tantrum is not an attractive thing to see. And it certainly does not speak well about the development of our faith either. Perhaps what we’re seeing is just one more example of why God’s divine judgment is about to fall up on Ahab in a big way. Stay tuned next week for his demise!