صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

add it to the gardens that already belonged to the palace. He spoke, therefore, to Naboth about it, and begged him to give it him, promising to give him in exchange either the value of it in money, or a better vineyard than that in some other place. I dare say Ahab could easily have given Naboth a larger and better vineyard of his own; but Naboth loved the spot, because it had belonged to his fathers before him, and had most likely been in his family for many, many years; perhaps even from the time when the land of Canaan was first divided among the people of God.

But not only was Naboth too much attached to the vineyard to wish to part with it; he really could not give it away without doing wrong, for the law of God forbade an Israelite to exchange or part with the land which belonged to his family, unless he was very poor: even then he could only sell it for a certain number of years; after which, it was to return to him again.

Ahab must have known of this law; and it was not at all right of him to ask any of his own subjects to break this or any of the laws, when, as king, he ought to have taken care that they were all obeyed.

E. Did Naboth at last give up his vineyard to the king?

M, No; he thought it would be wrong to do so; and he said to the king, “ the Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee."

E. What did the king say then, mamma?

M. Instead of feeling that he ought not to have asked such a' thing, and that Naboth was quite right to refuse him, he went into his house heavy and dis

pleased, and laid himself down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.

E. Oh! mamma, what a foolish man he was !

M. Yes; and not only unwise, but ungrateful too. Had he not been just saved from a most terrible enemy, who would have taken from him every thing that he had ? Was he not king of a great people, surrounded with comforts and blessings ? and yet he refuses to enjoy any of them, because he cannot have the vineyard of Naboth. This was a dangerous temper to give way to. Ahab ought to have struggled against it the moment he felt it; he ought to have tried to turn away his thoughts from the subject; no doubt if he had done so, the vineyard of Naboth would soon have been forgotten, and Ahab would have been happy without it.

But who shall say, when we give way to one sin, where that sin will end ? We must guard against the first beginnings of evil. We must take care how we allow any wrong feeling or temper to rise in our breasts; or at least, if it should rise, that we do not suffer it to dwell there, and make our heart its home.

Whilst Ahab lay sullenly on his bed, indulging his covetous desires, and fretting because he could not have what he wished for, Jezebel, his wife, came to see him, and said, “ Why is thy spirit so sad that thou eatest no bread ?” He told her how Naboth had refused to give him his vineyard. Then this wicked woman asked him how he, who was king of all Israel, could allow himself to be so treated, or to have any of his wishes contradicted ? and she said to him, “ Arise and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry; I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth."

E. Could she do so, mamma?

M. She could not do it openly and by force, as she knew, and therefore she determined to commit a dreadful crime, even to take away the life of Naboth. So she wrote letters to the nobles and elders of the city, who were probably wicked people whom she had made rich and great, and desired them to get two men who should charge Naboth, before all the people, with having spoken against God and the king. To blaspheme God, or to speak evil of God, was a sin, that by the law of Moses was always punished with death : and to blaspheme or speak evil of the king was a graye offence, and in those days a person who did so was always doomed to die.

Charged with such crimes as these, the innocent Naboth had no chance of escape; but was immediately carried out of the city, and stoned with stones till he died.

As soon as Jezebel heard that he was dead, she went to Ahab and said, “ Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” And Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth.

E. Oh! mamma, what dreadful wickedness! But I do not think Ahab could have found any pleasure in adding that spot of ground to his gardens. I do not think God would allow him to be at all the happier for it.

M. You are quite right, my love'; there can be no happiness in possessions which are gained by sin. Ahab was not permitted to enjoy the vineyard of Naboth even for an hour. He had scarcely entered it, when Elijah stood before him. His conscience

instantly told him, that Elijah must be come to find fault with him for what he had done; and the first words he said to him were, "Hast thou found me, O my enemy?" And Elijah answered, "I have found thee; because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed and also taken possession? therefore in the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. And of Jezebel saith the Lord, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel."

Such, Edward, was a part of the dreadful punishment which Ahab brought upon himself by his enormous sins; but it was not all: his children, even his whole family, were to be cut off out of the land of the living; and not only so, but not one of them were to die like other people, nor to have any respect shewn to their remains; but those who died in the city, were to be eaten by the dogs; and those who died in the field, were to be eaten by the fowls of the air. Because there was none like unto Ahab in wickedness, who was stirred up by his wife to do very abominably in the sight of the Lord.

E. Did God bring these punishments upon Ahab directly, mamma?

M. Not all of them, my love; because he humbled himself before the Lord, and shewed signs of great sorrow: therefore the evil that had been spoken against his family was not brought in his life time; but he died himself very soon after in a most miserable manner, being killed in a battle with the Syrians, with whom he went to fight against the positive commands of the Lord. His death was caused by a

wound from an arrow, but it did not kill him immediately: he had time to feel all the bitterness of death, for he lay in his chariot many hours before he died.

E. And did the dogs lick his blood, mamma, as the prophet Elijah had said ?

M. Yes, my child; the awful prophecy was fulfilled. He was brought up in his chariot to Samaria; and as his chariot was being washed in the pool of Samaria, the dogs came and licked up the blood of Ahab, with which his chariot was covered.

So fearfully was Ahab punished for coveting his neighbour's property, and using his kingly power to rob a poor man of the inheritance of his fathers.

TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY EVENING.

ELIJAH TAKEN UP INTO HEAVEN.

M. LAST Sunday, Edward, I gave you an account of the miserable death of Ahab. To-night, I am happy to say, I have a much more pleasing subject to talk about; for we are now come to the history of the prophet Elijah's blessed departure from a world, which to him had been full of trouble. You have already heard, my love, how much this holy prophet had suffered whilst engaged in doing his heavenly Master's will; how he was driven away from his country by a cruel king and a wicked people; how he was obliged to wander from place to place, even

« السابقةمتابعة »