Lies Do Not Become Us

Alright, 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 going to note as we walk through this that there's misapplication misunderstanding and a lot of Committing of this thin 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 noticed 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 out 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 have 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 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 going to note 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 that 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 to stop. 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.

Yep.

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 that 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, 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 they're 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 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.

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 Matt a see a pastor.

Okay.

Yeah, I didn't think he was. 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 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 asks the question 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. Nassan. Yeah, dr. Nassan.

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 have praised 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 it's 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 canceled 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.

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 to 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 all is the princess queen. Jezebel all 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 in 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.