Only a Vineyard
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First Kings Twenty-One tells us of a vineyard owned by Naboth the Jezreelite. Israelite King Ahab coveted the vineyard; though, because it was an inheritance, Naboth declined to sell or trade it to the king. After a plot was successfully executed to have Naboth killed, Ahab took possession of the vineyard. As a result, God sent the prophet Elijah to convict Ahab of his unspeakable sin, and to inform him that both he and his posterity would die. The dogs, the prophet said, would eat Jezebel, the king’s wife, by the wall of Jezreel and would lick the king’s blood in the place where they licked that of Naboth. Because Ahab humbled himself after hearing those words, the fulfillment of the prophecy was delayed. Yet, the whole scenario is a fit illustration of what the Savior asked us to consider: “What is a man profited if he should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” It is also to be considered whether it was worth life and soul to gain only a vineyard.
Written and voiced by David Hayes Prophater