Ahab and Jezebel will go down in history as the two most evil leaders in Israel’s ancient history.
The queen finds her name as a symbol for wickedness in Jesus’ letter to Thyatira.
But I have this against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet and is teaching and beguiling my servants to engage in sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality (Revelation 2:20-21).
The evil of influential leaders stretched beyond their private actions. People like Jezebel not only corrupt the people near to them, but they beguile others to follow their behavior. In Jezebel’s case, this involved sexual immorality and adherence to idols.
Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, and the Jezebel in Thyatira refused to repent. A firm refusal to repent is typical of people who choose money, sex, power, privilege, and more instead of faithfulness to God.
Acquisitiveness and Evil
Acquisitiveness is defined as “having or showing a strong desire to acquire and possess more, especially material possessions or wealth; grasping or greedy in accumulating goods or resources.”
Ahab wanted to acquire a vineyard that was owned by Naboth. He basically said, “Name your price and I will pay it.”
Naboth knew that the land belongs to God and the Lord had given it to his family to steward. The land was God’s and not his to sell.
But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance” (1 Kings 21:3).
Paul wrote, For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10).
Ahab’s lust for Naboth’s property was the root of the evil perpetrated on an innocent man. He went home depressed, because Naboth wouldn’t give him what he wanted.
Jezebel was not willing for her husband, the king, to be denied what he wanted. She believed, like many powerful people, that the Naboths of the world exist to cater to the desires of the rich.
His wife Jezebel said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite” (1 Kings 21:7).
The Plot for a Vineyard
Like evil leaders throughout the ages, Jezebel used a perversion of the legal system to acquire Naboth’s property. In doing so, she broke the last three of the Ten Commandments.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female slave, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:15-17).
Ahab coveted Naboth’s vineyard. Jezebel arranged for two men to “bear false witness” against Naboth in a public trial. They claimed that innocent Naboth had cursed God and the king.
The punishment for the crime of cursing God and the king was stoning. The two false witnesses were responsible to throw the first stones, but the entire community had to take up a stone against him.
Jezebel’s actions allowed her husband to steal Naboth’s vineyard.
A False Witness
For years, I believed that the ninth commandment to “not bear false witness against your neighbor” was essentially a requirement to tell the truth. Telling the truth is part of that commandment, but there is more.
The ninth commandment is primarily aimed at using dishonest court proceedings to achieve an outcome that is not just.
What Jezebel arranged is a flagrant example of using the law to acquire property at the cost of a human life.
Jezebel is not the only person to twist the law to achieve greedy desires through the court system.
If America is to be a nation that honors the Ten Commandments, we need to use the legal system to achieve just purposes and not manipulate the law to obtain decisions that feed our acquisitive desires.
The other night, I listened to the comedian Josh Johnson provide insight on what is taking place in Minneapolis. He made an excellent God-honoring observation when he talked about the difference between legality and morality.
Below is a two minute except of Johnson’s thoughts. I think he captures the need for judicial proceedings to be moral, not just technically legal.
If you read further in the story of Ahab and Jezebel, you will find that God is the ultimate judge. The court of law may not have condemned Naboth, but God pronounced judgment on the evil leaders of Israel.
The same is true for people in 2026. We all will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and answer for our actions. Let’s all strive to hear the Lord’s “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 