So what happens with this plan that has been set in motion
by Jezebel? As directed, “The men of the city, the leaders and the nobles
who lived there, followed the written orders Jezebel had sent them” (1 Kings 21:11), unaware
of the source of the orders, and believing that they had come from the
king. With this belief in mind as the story is read, one can surmise that
it is doubtful that the original communication that was presumed to have come
from Ahab used the term “villains” (at least, not in the way that some tend to
think of villains---in reality, they were the unwitting dupes of an
oppressor).
Ultimately, the men who carried out these orders would have
believed that they were simply acting in accordance with the demands of
justice. As far as they knew, and regardless of his honor standing in the
community, one would suppose that there would be little reason for them to
think otherwise, Naboth had actually done that of which he was accused. Accordingly, they would be predisposed to believe
that he was indeed deserving of the rightful judgment that they knew would take
place. Jezebel took advantage of this situation. So “They observed
a time of fasting and put Naboth in front of the people. The two villains
arrived and sat opposite him. Then the villains testified against Naboth
right before the people” (21:12-13a), as this would have been a gathering of
the entire community, “saying ‘Naboth cursed God and the king.’” (21:13b)
Just as the community leaders
were not necessarily complicit in this act of injustice, neither were those who
testified against Naboth. Again, as far as they knew, this information
and directive came from the king himself. Predictably, “they dragged him
outside the city and stoned him to death” (21:13c).
It would seem that this horrible achievement of Naboth’s
death was predicated on honor and the meal table. The two “villains” that
were set opposite Naboth would be seated to his right and left, in what would likely
have been the positions of greatest honor at a meal or any community gathering. These persons that were seated immediately to
the right and to the left of the chief seat could also have been presumed to be
possessive of even greater honor than the one seated in the host position, and
these two men would not have been unknown to the community. If there were unknown, or known to be men of
lesser honor, their testimony would not have been acted upon so seriously.
Accordingly then, when these two men, who were undoubtedly
well-respected men of the community and not simple villains whose words would
carry no weight with the community, offered these words of testimony about
Naboth, their testimony would have been presumed to be truthful and would have
carried a tremendous amount of weight. Thus the resulting fate of
Naboth.
Clearly
then, when the opportunity is taken to move past a merely superficial reading
of the story of Ahab, Jezebel, Naboth, and the vineyard, one can conclude that
the story is less about Jezebel (who is undoubtedly cast as a villain) and
Ahab, and much more about the abuse of power, corruption, and injustice that so
often accompanies unnecessary acquisitiveness (desire to continually acquire
things). It is not primarily (or even necessarily) a story about a
rebellious wife usurping her husband’s authority and lording over him, or the
story of a weak man and husband, as it is so often portrayed. It is a
story of oppression and murder that is brought about by a perverted use of the
very provisions of justice that were put in place by the Creator God so as to
enable His image-bearers to reflect His glory.
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