Lies Do Not Become Us

All right, let's pray and we'll get into it then since you guys are all such dutiful and ready students

Let's pray Lord Jesus We are opening up your word to study the commandment that says to not bear false witness against our neighbors

We ask Lord that you would help us to understand what your word reveals in this regard That we would repent of any ways in which we have not kept this commandment and bear fruit in keeping with repentance

In love towards you in our neighbor and protecting his reputation. We ask all this in the name of Jesus.

Amen All right fun topic the topic of The eighth commandment you will not bear false witness against your neighbor

We're gonna note as we walk through this that there's misapplication misunderstanding and a lot of committing of this sin even more than people would think and I find it fascinating in our day and age breaking.

The Eighth Commandment is a Big deal. Let me give you an example that may be a little bit politically charged.

It's not intended to be politically charged however, if you haven't noticed the political discourse in our country today is

Toxic have any of you notice this or is this just me now terrible tragedy

Occurred week and a half almost two weeks ago now with the shooting in the school shooting in in Florida and One of the things

I've been very discouraged in watching is that there is political rhetoric

That is literally placing the blame for the school shooting on the

NRA Now I'm not a member of the NRA Not but I can tell you this it is an absolute fact that there has never been a mass shooting in the

United States conducted by a member of the NRA and The NRA is not responsible for what happened

You can sit there and say that kid who? Fired that weapon and killed those 17 kids.

He's responsible And you can say that the government in several different ways has let those student down students down You could talk about the

Broward County Sheriff's Who didn't respond in a timely manner you can talk about the

FBI? Who received? Explicit calls saying this kid was unhinged and was getting ready to blow and did nothing but the one group you cannot blame is the

NRA and So what I find fascinating in our society There is a lot of the breaking of the

Eighth Commandment that goes on and oftentimes it is justified If it will forward a particular political agenda now at this particular example

That we just named this happens to be the American left is the one engaging in this rhetoric and it's sinful and it's wrong

But that does not exonerate the political right in the United States because the political right has also been guilty of Breaking the

Eighth Commandment in its rhetoric and I find that breaking the Eighth Commandment Never helps

Solve a problem Never creates unity within our country nor does it lead to saner minds sitting down and hashing out and working on a problem

It doesn't So I'm gonna just kind of say that up front That's just one example of breaking of the

Eighth Commandment that we can discuss But as we look at the scriptures on this we have to consider the seriousness of this particular sin many people

When they say that they have lied they will excuse it and say it was just a white lie

I Didn't know lies came in colors white lie Okay, pink lie not so good black lie.

Oh, that's a bad one No, this is not how this works There's no such thing as a white

Lie and This is a very very serious sin Consider then in this kind of broader context since we're looking at the second table of the law

Second table of the law has to do with our relationships with each other. You shall not murder Teaches us that our we are our brothers keepers and that our brothers physical health is our

Problem it's our responsibility. We are to protect our neighbor in their physical being

Thou shalt not steal Tells us that we are further our brothers keeper by making sure to protect our neighbor in his

Possessions and the things that he needs in order to care for his bodily needs

But I want you to consider This next one as still connected to that in this sense

How many people could operate in a small community like this if They were known and their reputation that they were a nefarious underhanded

Sleazeball, how well would they do? There's some of them, but overall they wouldn't do so.

Well, they don't Now imagine if you had to live in this community and operate and work in this community and there was a

Slanderous report about you that was circling about you circulating through the community. That was totally false totally false

How easy would that be? Be very difficult You see God does not will for your reputation

Your good name to be taken from you without at least some sense of due process and So we're going to note that When we talk about the

Eighth Commandment, there is a process by which somebody can have their name taken from them at least their name besmirched and You can white rightly warn people kind of two instances one within the church regarding private sins that we commit against each other and public sins that are committed within the pulpit or Within the context of teaching within the church and I'll point this out that within the church

Scripture gives us example after example of false teachers who are named rebuked

Warned against so if somebody is publicly teaching false doctrine in the church that we must

Pastors especially have this task Warn people of their false doctrine and warn people who are teaching that false doctrine

This is one of the clear and explicit duties of the pastoral office. No pastor gets exempted from this and As Christians we get to participate in this as well

I would note a passage in particular first Timothy chapter 1 And I want you to listen to what the

Apostle Paul does here Paul talking to young pastor Timothy in this pastoral epistle says

This charge I entrust to you Timothy my child in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you that by them

You may wage the good warfare Pastors are to wage the good warfare fight the good fight of faith

Holding faith and a good conscience and by rejecting this some have made shipwreck of their faith among whom are listen to this

Hymenaeus and Alexander whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme

To blaspheme is to break the second commandment to take God's name in vain to attribute to things attribute false teaching or false practices to God and Paul names them and Says he's handed them over to Satan and furthermore.

This is in the context of young pastor Timothy being encouraged to wage the good warfare to fight the good fight of faith

So part of this we have to understand is that when it comes to false teachers twisting

God's Word They must be warned against and scripture makes it very clear that we are to judge those within the household of faith

Within the church there to be judged Now follow up to this text then would be

Titus chapter 1 Which is not a popular text among many today Titus chapter 1 talking about the duties of a pastor says this to Titus This is why

I left you in Crete so that you might put what remained in order This is verse 5 appoint elders in every town.

These are pastors as I directed you here the qualifications if anyone is above reproach husband of one wife his children are believers and are not open to the charge of debauchery or Insubordination for an overseer as God's steward must be above reproach

He must not be arrogant quick -tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain but hospitable a lover of good self -controlled upright holy and disciplined now this first part of the list

Everybody goes. Yeah. Well, duh, you know if you had a pastor who's moonlighting as a bank robber and Was getting drunk every

Friday night You everybody would say yeah that guy's not qualified to be a pastor the text continues

He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to The word is rebuke rebuke those who contradict it

That's the job of a pastor I Always say it kind of tongue -in -cheek when we walk through this text that if Kongsvinger were to give me an annual evaluation

I would expect that the pastoral duties as outlined in Scripture would be listed and The Deacons and the

Church Council would be asking the question Who've you been rebuking you're respected to I'd like to know who you've been rebuking now.

It's not very Norwegian But it's biblical you get the idea So then it goes on and here's the reason why there are many who are insubordinate empty talkers deceivers

Especially those of the circumcision party. These are the Judaizers and They must be silenced since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful game what they ought not to teach one of the

Cretans of profit of their own set Cretans are always lies liars evil beasts and lazy gluttons.

That's right. Paul engages in name -calling So this testimony is true Rebuke them sharply so that they may be sound in the faith

Not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth So you're gonna know when it comes to the false teacher

The expectation is you name names you rebuke you warn for the purpose of Fulfilling the will of God and God's will is that false teachers are

Silenced that's the job that we have. So you're gonna note then That in talking about the

Eighth Commandment I put this out here because we have to kind of keep our category straight because a lot of people nowadays they are get they get really squirrely and uncomfortable when you name a false teacher by name and you lay out their false teaching and Then they will misapply a particular text

Matthew 18 say no. No, no, you can't you can't say this guy's a heretic and he's teaching false doctrine

You can't say that publicly. Have you followed the steps in Matthew 18? Does anyone see the problem?

Matthew 18 is not about dealing with a false teacher Matthew 18 is the next process.

What do you do when somebody? Privately sins against you When somebody sins against you

Matthew 18 is now in play step one Get on Facebook and Twitter and let everybody know how they sinned against you

And snapchat, I guess that's the whole that's a thing too. That's what step one is, right? No So you're gonna note step one if you read

Matthew 18 is you go to the person privately The purpose is their repentance and you being reconciled to that person step two

You involve other people if they still will not listen to you and other people then and Only then do you bring it up to the church?

It becomes a public matter. So there's a process When there are charges brought against a pastor scripture requires that those charges be established by how many witnesses?

To two or more two or more witnesses But I'm gonna tell you as somebody who's been in the pastoral office for a while I can guarantee this is not how this works

What ends up happening is somebody gets an idea in their head The pastor is not doing this that or the other thing or he's doing this that or the other thing wrong

First thing they do pick up the phone and share that with other people and gossip and spread rumors That's a sin.

It's got stopped It's flat -out it's a breaking of the Eighth Commandment if there's a true charge that your pastor or another pastor is committed there's a process for addressing it and Your pastor should never have his name and reputation stolen from him through the breaking of the

Eighth Commandment If he has truly done something that requires His repentance and removal from the office or repentance.

There's a process that that is taken care of and it's taken care of Privately because God wills that his reputation is guarded as well

Somehow we think that pastors are exempt from the Eighth Commandment and we can just lie about them all we want. No, you can't

It's a sin So third thing then is in the civil realm

Civil realm and you're gonna note in the United States of America When you are brought up on charges of committing a crime

You are presumed innocent until proven guilty

So you're going to note this that every newspaper in the United States When somebody is arrested and charged with a crime they will always speak about them as being charged with it or Presumed that they have done it

But they will never speak about that person in a way that says with defended with definitiveness

They actually did it unless they are convicted Yeah, they are alleged to have done this and I would say this

The mainstream media is more careful in keeping the Eighth Commandment than many

Christians are because they know that if they couldn't didn't put that little word in there alleged and It turns out that person didn't commit the crime next order of business that paper or that news outlet is going to get sued for slander and they're gonna lose their shirts and That person who they hated so much that they refused to actually abide by the law

They're gonna end up paying millions to that fellow or gal So somebody's reputation is a big deal and even pagans recognize it

When you're doing your slander and spreading your name, it is false. It is not a church law.

How do you deal with that? I mean, what you're saying is wonderful. It all has to do with the church.

It has to do with the Bible. But what about the people that aren't? Okay, this is going to be in so the question it has to do with all right

So you've talked about how we deal with each other You've talked about how the world handles crimes

Now the question is what about in our dealings with the pagan world and somebody who is not a believer is

Slandering you or doing something against you Okay, well if they're a member of a church oftentimes you can get their pastor involved

Yeah, so you're gonna have you had you do have some options sometimes the best option is to just contact that person and Say listen, you know,

I I'm not I'm not sure what brought this on but can we talk about this?

Is there a way that we can be reconciled and see if they if you can bring a mediator to bring into the into the situation?

there you may be able to solve it because we are to be at peace as much as it is on us with everybody and It just might be that the only option that you are going to have which is a terrible one

In order to get them to stop doing what they're doing would be to actually Involve the courts that is an option to us, but that's going to be an option of last resort

You know, our goal is to reconcile even with our pagan believers unbelievers and neighbors.

That's the idea Yeah You know

You know, that's a good question there's several there's a lot of debate on this and You're gonna have to make some careful distinctions

So the question that's going to come in first of all is when did the person become a believer? you know if a person if a fellow becomes a believer in his 30s and His kids were already in high school and raised in paganism and they weren't brought to Christianity That's one thing and so there are there are some commentators who will say in a situation like that That wouldn't apply because they were raised as unbelievers.

They're still unbelievers. That's yeah, that's not right What this is really getting at then is the idea that somebody who has been a

Christian fathered raised their children to be Christians and They are unbelievers

That's a problem That's a real problem Yeah now the

NC that's that's now the second distinction. Okay at what point is the child? You know the the child

Displaying these problems if all growing up their believers They get into college get in with a wild crowd and then in their mid 20s and 30s.

They're completely living a debaucherous life They're doing so once they got out from under their father and in a situation like that There are commentators who would say yeah, that's you know in a situation like that.

That's understandable That's on the adult child because they're not children So the the context then is how is the pastor managing his household?

I'll be blunt, you know my kids You know, I don't have household control over them, you know that that left when they they became 18

But up to that point, you know, you know that there's a different thing altogether

You know, we just used to crack the whip and keep them in the dungeon if they didn't behave so So did

I answer your question, okay Yeah, no if she was a rebellious child while living in his house then then the point is is is mad at I see a pastor

Okay Yeah, I didn't think he was I it's been a while since he'd been a pastor then

There might be some it depends on which denomination there might be some who would take issue with Matt if he wanted to be in The pastoral office today, but you know, he's he's a public teacher within the church as an apologist

So, you know and I would say if his daughter after 18 Rebelled against all of this.

That's a different story altogether all right, let's take a look at some text then as We consider this commandment the 8th commandment.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor small catechism What does this mean and it means that we should fear and love

God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor betray him Slander him or hurt his reputation

Instead we are to defend him speak well of him and explain everything in the kindest way.

Oh if only that were Uh -huh.

Uh -huh. And here's the thing we because of our sinful nature we I think have a default mode where We want to think the worst of our neighbors the very worst not the best

The very worst that's kind of the thing I'll give you an example from scripture, which I think is a fascinating one

If you want to look at Mark chapter 14, and here's an interesting story Jesus is in the house of Simon the leper

I like to think that although the text doesn't say so that a better name for this fellow by this time would be

Simon the man formerly known as a leper because Jesus is eating at his house So it says while he was at Bethany this is

Christ in the house of Simon the leper as he was reclining at the table a

Woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard Nard it by the way, very expensive something from India.

You'd have to get it from the Bedouin camel traders who would make trips to the Orient and bring it back with them very expensive ointment and she broke the flask poured it over Jesus's head and Watch this there were some who said to themselves indignantly

Why was the ointment wasted like that? That question is assuming this woman has done something evil

Wrong that she cares nothing about nope What is going on here this ointment could have been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor

We learned from the cross reference by the way Who was the one who made the complaint about it could have been sold and given to the poor does anyone know who's

Judas It was Judas the one who betrayed Christ who made this complaint So notice what

Judas does This woman cares nothing about the poor How dare she anoint

Jesus like this this woman is horrible. She's awful. Totally took her reputation and Smashed it on the ground

Did she care nothing about the poor Did the poor have anything to do with what was going on here?

So this is an example of straight -up Flander Breaking of the eighth commandment and watch what

Jesus does Jesus said leave her alone Why do you trouble her?

She has done a beautiful thing to me You always have the poor with you and whenever you want you can do good for them

But you will not always have me She has done what she could she has anointed my body beforehand for burial and truly

I say to you wherever the gospel is proclaimed In the whole world what she has done will be told in memory of her

Jesus not only stands up for her against the slanderous

Accusation he blesses her by saying what she's done is going to be told to everybody.

I would argue that The year 2018 in rural, Oslo, Minnesota after a snow day is about as far removed as you can get from Judea when this occurred 2 ,000 years ago and yet we know this woman did this because Christ stood up for her and he wanted this story told and But the first move was an absolute tearing down of this woman's character by Judas and it was wrong breaking of the

Eighth Commandment so God commands us to speak truthfully and Charitably about our neighbors so that others view them in the best and here's important word the best possible light

Sometimes the best possible light is pretty dark Sometimes it is

However as Christians we are to seek that best possible light where possible So as Christians and we seek to improve and protect the reputation of others

So that people will think well of them So here's a question

Who in your lives or in this community? needs you

To speak well of them Who needs you to speak well of them?

Yeah, we all do. Yeah Now a little bit of a note historical recent history

I Forget the name of the the doctor in Michigan who was

It was his last name Kevork the one with the the gymnast that dude

Yeah, dr. Dude The guy who molested all those those girls

Nisan Yeah, dr. Nisan now. I want you to consider this. I want you to consider this

The one of the gals who's primarily responsible for that legal action

She as a young gal was an athlete. She was abused by him and She sought justice

For what had happened to her and here's kind of the tragedy in all this she actually tried to go through the right channels initially and Even spoke to people in her own church about what happened to her and They shot her down One of the people she went to was one of the was a president of the

University there in Michigan and This woman was like literally like intimidated to do nothing and Then she eventually

Found the right legal channel to do this through but in so doing realized

That she would have to sacrifice some of her own privacy So that the story could be told but here's the thing it got told to the right people

She didn't take to the internet and say this guy is an evil monster she took to the government and in so doing

She was able to get justice not only for herself, but for all of these other were women and girls who were abused by this fellow and So now he's convicted

He's convicted and is in prison and we know what he's done but the reason we know what he's done is because it was done properly and it cost her to do it and It took a long time for there to be justice

But she eventually was able to confront the man who abused her and Given that opportunity in court, you know what she did

She preached the gospel to him Fascinating Fascinating.

So now this guy has had his reputation taken from him properly The best construction that you can put on his reputation is that he is a monstrous sexual predator

And we pray We pray that The last thing that will be said of him is that he is a forgiven penitent sexual predator

So that the one who brought suit against him her desire for him is that he's forgiven

What happened? I? Think her story is fascinating because it shows both law and gospel being channeled properly

Law so that this man would be convicted of his crimes and that there would be justice and in the midst of it

She preaches the gospel to him so that ultimately he can have forgiveness with Christ But all done orderly and properly and not done

Slanderously through the rumor mill social media and gossip What she did was not only brave Probably the most

Christian way of handling being a victim of that kind of crime that I have ever witnessed and to her, you know,

I just had praise the Lord that she understands the gospel and God's law well enough to have been able to persevere and Bring this thing to where it came where it got to so again hadn't handled properly

Why is a good reputation important we've hinted at this already a good reputation is important so that each of us may enjoy the trust and the respect of others

Proverbs 22 1 says a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches and Favor is better than silver or gold

Ecclesiastes 7 1 says a good name is better than precious ointment It truly is

I Don't care if you're rich. I don't care if you're poor. I don't care if you're powerful

I don't care if you literally Struggle to put food on the table

If you have a good reputation and a good name You are truly blessed and are able to serve your neighbors

Well, but if you are wealthy or poor and you have a bad name a bad reputation

Then it's very difficult to do anything So, how do we then fear and love God by keeping the eighth commandment we fear and love

God by not Speaking about others in ways that would harm them or their reputation

Harmful speech includes and I wish this was just common sense, but it clearly is not Telling lies about our neighbors in everyday life or even in the court of law

This is the thing that's shocking to me is how many people who publicly claim to be Christians who are flat -out slanderers and liars and even lie under oath

It's actually quite shocking consider the irony of this situation if you would turn with me to Matthew chapter 26

This is the account of Jesus being on trial We're gonna start at verse 59 and I just want you to consider the sheer irony of this situation

Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking

False testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death What a strange sentence let me back up in the context just a little bit those who had seized

Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest where the scribes and the elders had gathered and Peter was following him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest and going inside He sat with the guards to see the end a little bit of a archaeological note

If you pay attention to archaeological news coming out of Israel, it's been a few years now But a few years back they actually found the home of Caiaphas.

We know Exactly where this took place You know, we know this you can go to it today

They could show you the outline of the courts of Caiaphas and you can say with absolute certainty Jesus stood on these stones

This is where he was put on trial strange place to be put on trial middle of the night

But then the verse we just read the chief priests the whole council.

What were they seeking? false testimony Against Jesus so that they might put him to death

The guy who is the head of The church if you would in the

Old Testament the high priest the most religious of religious dudes who's tasked with the religious duties of Israel the chief priest himself

Has no conscience He has no fear of God and the thing he is openly looking for is anybody can anybody put me in touch with anybody who'd be willing to come forward and Lie about Jesus so we can kill him.

Yeah That's the thing. Jesus never did anything wrong.

Technically. So how do we kill this fellow? I know let's lie about him Right, they feared losing power more than they feared

God that's a misplaced fear Because I think it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry

God so The whole premise of Jesus's trial is we need false witnesses

So the chief priests in the whole council they were seeking false testimony But they found none though many false witnesses came forward at last two came forward because in order for his charge to be

Established you need two witnesses At last two came forward and said this man said

I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days That's not what

Jesus said By the way, this is our gospel text next Sunday. We'll pay attention to the details

Jesus did not say tear down the temple of God and I will build it again in three days Jesus said tear down this temple and I'll raise it again in three days

So at this point the theatrics kick in the high priest stood up said Have you no answer to me?

What are these men testifying against you? And then he tears his clothes again, the irony here that the guy in charge of All of the religious duties of Israel is actively seeking to break the

Eighth Commandment in order to put Jesus to death The irony should not be lost on any of us.

Let's take a look at Colossians chapter 3 and a reminder that Colossians chapter 3

I know this seems basic comes after Colossians chapter 1 and 2 in Colossians chapter 1 and 2 we are explicitly told that we are saved by grace through faith

And we are assured that because of what Christ has done For us on the cross at the record of debt that stood against us has been cancelled and nailed to the cross

The reason why we as Christians do good works is because we is saved not in order to be saved

If you get the order wrong You're into the sin of self -righteousness and you risk your own salvation

So because we are saved Paul says in Colossians 3 5 put to death

Therefore what is earthly in you and this list seems pretty basic What's earthly in us would include sexual immorality?

impurity passions evil desires Covetousness, which is idolatry on account of these the wrath of God is coming in these you too

Once walked again noting the word walk is a Hebraism for how you conduct your life

You used to conduct your life like this when you were living in them But now you

Christians because you are saved you must put them all away anger wrath malice a

Little bit of a note here a little bit. No apparently because I have

Our I enjoy being a little bit of a public figure because a pirate Christian radio

If somebody were to slander or libel me in order for me to Protect myself in the court of law.

I Have to meet a higher standard in defending myself. I would have to prove that they were motivated by malice in order to win my case

Malice what is that? What is malice? Well, it's an intention

Yeah, it's it's a willful hatred it's a willful hatred against somebody that you want to destroy them and I would note that murder and Slander come off of that same root malice if you really truly hate someone's guts and you want to destroy them if you're really brazen you'll kill them physically if You're cowardly you'll try to murder them by destroying their reputation

Both of them come from the same root though malice So we as Christians are put that away

Malice slander obscene talk from your mouth

Do not lie to one another Seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self

Which is being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator So malice slander and lying are all out that includes white lies

The text doesn't say put away black lies white lies are okay No lying

No slandering. No malice. This is contrary to Scripture another text about false testimony

Which really leads it's a terrible story if you think about it, it's found in first Kings chapter 21 a little bit of the history here

We're teleporting into the point in time in Israel's history where Ahab is king and his wife

Jezebel is the princess queen Jezebel in Hebrew means the princess of Baal This woman is

An adult idolatry through and through we're gonna learn something about Ahab in the midst of this too.

And it's the story of Naboth first Kings chapter 21 Naboth the

Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel Beside the palace of Ahab the king of Samaria after this

Ahab said to Naboth give me your vineyard that I might have it for a vegetable garden because it is near my

House and I will give you a vineyard for it or if it seems good to you

I will give you its value in money Kind of a note here.

This is the story of the Emperor's new groove that Disney movie It's kind of the same kind of a boom, baby.

Anyway, so That's really kind of what's going on So Neha Naboth said to Ahab Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my father's

So Ahab went into his house. Listen to this description vexed and sullen because of what

Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him or he had said I will not give you the inheritance of my

Father so he lay down on his bed turned his face and would eat no food

Uh -huh. We all know what that is. That's a full -blown temper tantrum and You can just see him in his bed probably crying

He's having a full -blown temper tantrum enter Jezebel or Jezebel but Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him

Why is your spirit vexed so that you eat no food you tell she's a little It's like would you just man up?

So he said to her Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite you said give me your vineyard for money or else

I'll please give you another vineyard. He said he's blubbering right and he answered. I'm not giving you my vineyard

So Jezebel his wife said to him Do you not now govern

Israel? Arise eat bread. Let your heart be cheerful. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the

Jezreelite That's scary That's this whole thing is thick

Yeah, I'm sorry, but Game of Thrones has nothing on the Bible So she wrote letters in Ahab's name sealed them with his seal she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in a city and She wrote in the letters proclaim a fast that Naboth at the head of the people set two worthless men opposite him and let them

Bring a charge against him saying you have cursed God and the king and then take him out and stone him to death so the men of the city and the elders of the leaders who lived in the city did as Jezebel had sent word to them as It was written on letters that she had sent to them.

They proclaimed a fast Set Naboth at the head of the people and the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him and The worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people saying

Naboth cursed God and the king So they took him outside the city Stoned him to death with stones and then they sent to Jezebel saying

Naboth has been stoned. He is Dead However, there is a

God As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead Jezebel said to hate

Ahab rise Take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give

For to you for money for Naboth is not alive. He's dead. So you can just see a have going So Ahab heard that Naboth was dead a have rose and go down to the vineyard of Naboth the

Jezreelite to take possession of it no conscience at all

So then the word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite saying arise go down to meet Ahab King of Israel who's in Samaria behold

He's in the vineyard of Naboth where he's gone to take possession and you shall say to him thus is Yahweh Have you killed and also taken possession?

And you shall say to him thus is Yahweh in the place where dogs lift up the blood of Naboth shall dogs look up your own blood

I Wouldn't argue that the murder began when the worthless fellows spoke the lies about Naboth That was the first move

And like I said, there are plenty of people today who act in malice They don't want to go to prison for actually murdering somebody

But they desire something and in order to get what they want

Somebody's got to die And that maybe not physically but we're going to destroy that person's reputation it's a form of murder

Oh, yeah murder begins in the heart, but well she was smooth wasn't she she was really smooth

No, no wife Yeah, she was her father was a priest of Baal and she

Comes from a family of idolaters from their Phoenician area just as wicked as they get

How she related to who Native Naboth just happened to be the fellow who owned a vineyard that well was close enough to the palace that Ahab wanted it for a vegetable garden.

He had he had all worked out. I'm gonna have the cucumbers here. I'm gonna have you know

Carrots over there. It's just gonna be glorious and Naboth said no Yeah, this is

Yeah, well Yeah, you're gonna know that human nature in its corruption seeks power fame money sex

You know, these are powerful Motivations Okay, so In all of this,

I mean from her point of view this little fellow How dare he stand in the way of what

Ahab wants? He is the king and As king he has power and since Nate since Ahab wasn't flexing his power.

She went ahead and just did it for him Uh -huh, and now then consider the impact that something like this would have on the rest of Samaria You know, did you you don't oppose

Ahab because if you oppose Ahab You're gonna be Killed there's a mafia tactic

You can do it.

Yeah, the imminent domain in that sense didn't exist and the Mosaic Covenant Strictly speaks against that you shall not steal

Absolutely implies that private property is a thing and that God demands you respect it and so Yeah, yeah

And so and here's the thing is is that somebody giving up the inheritance that they have and so Naboth he had that vineyard

Because his father had that vineyard Grandfather had it going all the way back to the children of Israel taking possession of the promised land when

Joshua was alive So he wasn't willing to give up his inheritance by the way, which is a smart move

Because your livelihood is tied to the land he hit me up, but he didn't want to give up What was and that was his right?

Yeah, nobody has the right to force you to sell a piece of property unless of course you're in debt

But if you own it outright Nobody can say you have to sell this to me You can make an offer somebody can make an offer and you can say nope.

I'm not gonna do that and That's your right Let's end there for today we will continue our study of the