Useful Bible Studies > 1 Kings Commentary > chapter 21
We see, in this chapter, two separate judgments. One was the judgment against Naboth, and the other was God’s judgment against Ahab.
The first of these judgments, against Naboth, was in the court at Jezreel. It was a completely wrong and evil judgment. Its purpose was to kill an innocent man and to steal his property. Here, the witnesses spoke lies and the judges had already made their decision. In fact, they did not even make the decision against Naboth – rather, they simply agreed with the evil decision that Ahab and Jezebel had already made.
The second judgment, against Ahab, was in God’s court in heaven. All of God’s judgments are completely right and good; God knows the truth about everything and everyone. God then sent his servant, the prophet (holy man) Elijah, to declare that judgment to Ahab. God gave Elijah clear instructions about where to find Ahab, and what to say. In fact, God even sent Elijah to the same piece of land that Ahab stole by his murder of Naboth. After the murder of Abel, God said that his blood was crying out from the ground for judgment (Genesis 4:10). Numbers 35:33 declares that only the blood of the murderer will make such land clean again. In other words, the proper punishment for a murderer was death in God’s law. That was the judgment against Ahab.
As we shall see, Ahab made himself humble in front of God, after this (21:27-29). For that reason, the judgment happened only partly against him (22:37-38) – but it happened completely against his son, Joram (2 Kings 9:24-26).
Next part: The end of the rule of Ahab's family (1 Kings 21:20-22)
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