God and mammon "," because, if we will set our affections on the riches, the honours, the follies of this vain world, we cannot possibly be in love with the heavenly treasures, and therefore most assuredly never shall obtain them.

As, therefore, we value our eternal, or even our temporal interests, let us set our affections on things above, which are the only things worth coveting, and which never can be coveted too much. This is advice at all times seasonable. But that which has brought this subject to my mind at present, is the consideration of the history of Ahab and Naboth. It was recorded for our instruction; and much instruction may be derived from it, especially as a lively comment on the tenth commandment.

In my present discourse, I will-I. first set the history before you, making some observations upon it as I go along;

II. And then show you in what manner it serves to enforce God's most holy law.

I. Ahab, whose history we are going to consider, was the son of Omri; whom the army of Israel had made king in opposition to Zimri, after Zimri had conspired against his master Elah, the son of Baasha, and slain him at a feast in the city of Tirzah. We read of Omri that he was a very bad man. But of Ahab, his son, the sacred historian gives us a still worse account: insomuch, that he is said to have done "more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him "." The first act of his that we are informed of, is his taking to wife, in express contradiction to God's law, an idolatrous princess, namely, Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians. Immediately after his connexion with this infamous woman, we find him entirely given up to idolatry, and become a furious persecutor of the Church of God.

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God, however, did not immediately abandon him;

3 Matt. vi. 24.

4

1 Kings xvi. 33.

but mercifully employed various methods to bring him to Himself. He commissioned his prophet Elijah to warn him of the consequences of his sins. He sent a dearth upon the land to chastise him for his disobedience. He condescended to give him an experimental proof of the vanity of those idols in which he trusted; and, at the same time, to convince him, by a miracle, of his own power to save, and of his willingness to be reconciled to a repentant people. But neither the terrors nor the mercies of the Lord could work upon this wicked prince, so that at last God gave him over to a reprobate mind to fill up the measure of his iniquities, which he speedily did by that complicated act of wickedness which I am going to relate.

A certain man named Naboth had a vineyard, which lay contiguous to Ahab's palace. This vineyard Ahab became desirous to possess. Accordingly, he offers to contract with Naboth for the purchase of it. In this, at first sight, there seems to be nothing unreasonable. And had it been lawful for Naboth to have complied with the king's request, it is likely he would have done it. But this, as Ahab himself well knew, was not lawful. For God, who had bestowed the land of Canaan upon the Israelites, had, for wise reasons, expressly forbidden them to sell their portions; or, if this were permitted, as it was in some cases of extreme necessity, yet the land was to return. to its first owner or his heirs, at the year of Jubilee, that is, within fifty years at the furthest; as you will find set forth at large in the Book of Leviticus 3. Naboth, therefore, who feared God more than man, refused the king's request without hesitation. "The Lord forbid it me," saith he, "that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee."

Upon this Ahab returned to his house heavy and displeased. Here, however, Satan soon sent him a wicked counsellor. For Jezebel, his wife, seeing him

5 Lev. xxv.

thus dejected, inquires the reason of it; and, upon being informed, she instantly sets herself to ridicule any scruples of conscience, which, she thinks, might prevent him from making use of his kingly power to oppress Naboth and get possession of his property. What, says she, "Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel?" that is, hast thou the power to gratify thy desires, and wilt thou be so foolish as not to use it? "arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal." It is likely Ahab did not care to inquire, or she to tell him, what the exact purport of these letters might be. But still he must have known well enough, that some plot was in agitation for dispossessing Naboth of his property in an unlawful manner. And it is plain, from his eagerness to seize upon the spoil of this iniquity after the contrivance had succeeded, that he was not displeased with it. However, had he been left to himself, he would not have entered into so abominable a project; and therefore we may here see exemplified the truth of that saying of Solomon, "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools," that is, of the wicked, "shall be destroyed "." Had Ahab moderated his desires, instead of seeking to gratify them by any unlawful act, he had been indeed a rich and happy man; for contentment is the greatest wealth; and better is he "that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city"." But the wisdom of Jezebel was of a different sort from this. She instantly contrives a plan for accomplishing her husband's unlawful wishes; and he is so intent upon the end, that he cares little about the means; but gives her his name and his seal to use as she thinks fit.

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Let us see in what manner she employs them. She writes letters to the elders of the city in which Naboth

• Prov. xiii. 20.

7 Prov. xvi. 32.

dwelt, saying, "Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: and set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die."

Naboth was to be accused of blaspheming the king, probably because, if this could be proved, his estates, instead of descending to his heirs, would, by law, be forfeited to the crown, and thus the vineyard would come into Ahab's possession without farther trouble. So that this part of the charge was most necessary to be made good. But in order the more effectually to excite the indignation of the people against Naboth, Jezebel took care to have him accused also of blas

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pheming God. Naboth," say the witnesses, "did blaspheme God and the king." Observe how ready the enemies of religion are to make use of the cloak of piety to compass their wicked ends. Jezebel cared not who blasphemed the Lord; but when a show of reverence to his holy name could assist her even in the perpetration of a murder, she scruples not to assume all the semblance of a godly zeal. But here, much as she hated the professors of the true religion, she is obliged to pay them an unwilling compliment. Two unprincipled wretches are to be employed to swear away the life of an innocent man: and where does Jezebel direct the elders of Jezreel to seek them? not among the servants of the Lord, but among the sons of Belial. "Set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him." These sons of Belial are soon found the nobles to whom Jezebel wrote, have no scruples to prevent their entering into her designs; so that all goes on prosperously: the plot succeeds, and a messenger soon brings the tidings, "Naboth is stoned, and is dead." Jezebel informs her husband; he is at no pains to inquire into circumstances, but instantly goes down in person to Jezreel, and takes possession of the vineyard.

Hitherto we have heard nothing of the Lord God of Israel in this transaction. We are not, however, to

suppose that He beheld it with indifference. The righteous Naboth indeed is stoned, and is dead, and thus hath it happened unto the just according to the work of the wicked. And so it often is in this world. But then God's servants "walk by faith, and not by sight," and "endure as seeing Him that is invisible." 66 They have an anchor of the soul sure and stedfast," for they "know that their Redeemer liveth," and are assured that "these light afflictions, which are but for a moment, shall work out for them (if their faith fail them not) a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Wherefore they know how to glory in tribulations also;"" though their outward man perish, their inward man is renewed day by day," and they look forward with humble but firm reliance to the time when God" will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts"." This could not but be the case with so scrupulously just a man as Naboth; and having this hope in him, he doubtless went to his death with far greater joy of heart than wicked Ahab felt, when he set forth in such haste to seize the reward of his iniquity.

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But supposing even that Ahab might receive something like satisfaction from the success of his impious contrivances, yet we find, that, such as it was, it was but momentary. He had now filled up the measure of his sins, and therefore the irreversible sentence of God's wrath is instantly denounced against him. “The word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto Ahab, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? . . . In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. . . . Behold I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, . . . and will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation

...

& See Eccles. viii. 14.

9 1 Cor. iv. 5.