The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 517

forth to meet Ahab so soon as he begins to tnrn to Him. That sorrow, sho.llow though it was, God ho.d mo.rked and accepted. " Seest thou how Ahab? 11 &o. God is not a stern, relentless Judge. Fathe1Js heart has never yearned over ohild as God's o-rer us.-U. Ver. 20.-Naboth's Vineyard. The robbery and murder of Naboth form one of the darkest episodes in the story of Ahab's life. We see that idolatry and perse- cution were not the only crimes into which Jezebel seduced him. Indeed, such iniquities neY('r stand alone. They would naturally be the parents of many more. He_ w_as probably guilty of many such ?.cts of cruel wrong during his wicked career. Tins 1s related to show how completely he had "sold himself to work evil in the sight of the Lord. 11 Let us think of (1) his sin, (2) his punishment, (3) his remorse. I. Hrs SL'/. It had many elements of moral wrong in it, and is not to be characterized by any one particular designation. 1. .Avarice. Large and rich as his royal domain was, he envied Na both the possession of his little vineyard. 2. Oppression. It was a wicked abuse of powe,r. "Might II to him was "right." 3. Impiety. Ahab must have known that he was tempting Naboth to the violation of an express Divine command (Num. xxxvi. 7). 4 . .Abject moral weakness. This is seen in his childish petulance (ver. 4) and in his mean subserviency to the imperious will of Jezebel. 5. Base hypocrisy, in subjecting the injured man to the decision of a mock tribunal Crimes like this generally present various phases of eYil thought and feeling; and when _they attempt to cover themselves with a false veil of rectitude, it only tends to deepen immeasurably our sense of their iniquity. II. Hrs PUNISHMENT. The prophet was assuming his true function in pronouncing this swift judgment on the cruel wrong that had been committed. His calling was to proclain1 and enforce the laws of eternal righteousness, to vindicate the oppressed, to rebuke injustice, and that not least, but rather most of all, when it sat enthroned on ihe seats of authority and power. Note respecting this punishment. 1. Its certa·inty. Ahab could not really be surprised that his '' enemy had found'' him, for that "enemy" was but the instrument of a God to whom " all things are naked and opened.'' " The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good," and the transgressor can never escape His righteous judgment. "Be sure your sin will .find you out" (Num. xxxii. 23). 2. Its correspondence with the crime. "In the place where the dogs licked the blood of No.both," &c. (ver. 19). The principle involved in this has often been a marked feature of the Divine retri- butions. "Whatsoever a man soweth," &c. (Gal. vi. 7, 8). 11 They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind'' (Hosea viii. 7). 3. Its delay. The sen- tence was fully executed only in the person of his son J oram (2 Kings ix. 25, 26) ; but this in no way alters the character or lessens the terribleness of it as a punish- ment upon him. Especially when we remember what an instalment of the full penalty was given in the violence of his own death (eh. xxii 34-37). 11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil" (Eccles. viii. 11). But when, space being thus given them for repentance, they abuse it, they do but " treo.sure up wrath for themselves against the day of wro.th," and, foiling under the righteous vengeance of God, they do not escape "till they have paid the uttermost farthing." Thus did Ahab inherit the woe pronounced on him who thinks to secure any good for himself by iniquity and blood (Hab. ii 12). ill-gotten go.in always brings with it a curse. III. H.rs REMORSE (ver. 27). It can scarcely be called repento.nce. It may have been sincere enough so faro.sit went, and for this reason God delayed the threatened punishment; but it was wanting in the elements of a true repentance. It was the compunction of a guilty conscience, but not the sacred agony of a renewed heart. It sprang from sudden alarm at the inevitable consequences of his sin, but not from a true hatred of the sin itself. It soon paased awo.y, and left him still more a slave to the evil to which he had" sold himself'' than he was before. "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death" (2 Cor. vii. 10).-W. OB. XXU. 1-53.] THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 631