August 25, 2025 • 37 mins
# 222 - Elijah: The Blood of Naboth - In this episode of The Chosen People with Yael Eckstein, When Naboth refuses to sell his vineyard, Jezebel weaves a deadly plot that leaves the soil soaked with innocent blood. In this chilling episode from 1 Kings 21, discover how silence enables injustice—and why God’s justice never forgets.
Episode 222 of The Chosen People with Yael Eckstein is inspired by the Book of Joshua.
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For more information about Yael Eckstein and IFCJ visit https://www.ifcj.org/
Today's opening prayer is inspired by Proverbs 3:31–32, “Do not envy the violent or choose any of their ways. For the Lord detests the perverse but takes the upright into his confidence.”
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Show Notes:
(00:59) Intro with Yael Eckstein
(02:18) Elijah: The Blood of Naboth
(29:15) Reflection with Yael Eckstein
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Previously on the Chosen People.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
We cannot win this fight.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Jezebel didn't look.
Speaker 4 (00:07):
At him, and you should pray that your God intervenes
if he still listens to cowards.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Jezebel leaned against the balcony and threw her head back.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
Elijah and the prophet of your way to crime me
and my prophets for our blood sacrifices. But I have
come to discover something. Your God is more bloodthirsty than mine.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
H Are you prophets always speaking riddles? What does it
matter why I fight? So long as I win, because
my King, the Lord sees the heart and yours is
running well.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
The places to.
Speaker 5 (00:55):
Her the soil drank his blood, and still they called
it justice. Shelloh, my friends, from here in the holy
Land of Israel, I'm l Extein with the International Fellowship
of Christians and Jews, and welcome to the Chosen People.
(01:17):
Let me ask you a question that may sound simple
at first, one that cuts like a knife if you
really think about it. What would you do if someone
whispered in your ear take it it's yours? And what
would you do if everyone around you stayed silent when
they saw what you were doing was wrong? Today. In
First Kings Chapter twenty one, we come to one of
(01:39):
the most chilling moments in the Chosen People's history. We've
seen King Ahab wage wars and build altars. We've seen
prophets rise and fall and fire descend from heaven. But
now we enter a quieter battlefield. There are no armies,
and there's no thunder from the skies. Only a man,
his vineyard, his name, and the machinery of power turning slowly,
(02:02):
terribly against him. This is where righteousness meets roone. This
is where silence enables injustice, and as always, God sees,
because God sees everything.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
The royal chambers were dimly lit, the air thick with
the scent of spiced wine and the faint, cloying remnants
of incense. It was an atmosphere designed for brooding, and
as it turns out, brooding was one of the few
things Ahab excelled at. He lay sprawled on his bed, limbs,
(02:44):
limp and useless, his face buried in the silk pillow
like a child sulking over a lost toy. And truly,
what greater burden was there than not getting what you want?
The King of Israel, God's anointed ruler of Samaria, conqueror
(03:05):
of nothing, lord of all except his own household, had
been outmaneuvered by a farmer. Ahab exhaled dramatically, shifting just
enough to free his mouth from the pillow so he
could lament to the only person.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Who might listen.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
It's not fair.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
A pause, no response. He lifted his head slightly, glancing
toward the heavy drapery that marked the entrance to his chamber.
Speaker 6 (03:37):
I said it's not fair.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Suddenly she was there, Jezebel. The firelight flickered against her
gold threaded garments, dancing shadows curling around her like loyal pets.
She took one look at her pitiful husband and let
the silence stretch, artist admiring a master piece of disappointment. Finally,
(04:05):
she sighed, sharp and unimpressed.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
Ah, is this any way for a king to act?
Speaker 1 (04:12):
They have groaned and flopped onto his back, staring at
the ceiling like it had personally offended him.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
You don't understand, Jezebel. I wanted it. Oh. I offered
him a better vineyard. I offered him money. I was generous,
but neighbors won't sell. He said it was his family's inheritance,
some nonsense about your way's law.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Jezebel's expression barely flickered, but something behind her eyes sharpened, calculating, Oh.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
So, let me make sure I understand this correctly. You,
the king of Israel, made a request of a commoner,
and he shoved your request right back at your face.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
He wasn't so so aggressive about it. It's more pleading
and sentimental.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
It was hideous, hideous, indeed, and instead of doing something
about it, you came here to sulk, to pout, to
starve yourself out of sheer melodrama.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Ahab had, in fact, refused to eat dinner, a bold protest. Indeed,
Jezebel exhaled through her nose, slow and measured. There were
many things she could tolerate, but weakness was not one
of them, and her husband, her king, was a spineless worm.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Get up, Ahab.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Didn't move, I said, get up.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
A Hab obeyed, albeit slowly. She stepped closer, trailing a
single finger along the edge of his bedpost, as though
considering whether to strangle him with his own sheets.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
You're the king, Ahab, act like it?
Speaker 2 (05:59):
What would you have me do? He won't sell it.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Then don't ask him just take it.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Who's to stop you? A have blinked?
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Slow, dull Jezebel suppressed the urge to strangle him out
of sheer annoyance.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Oh do you think other kings beg Do you think fair?
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (06:21):
Negotiates over land? Do you think akish? A Philistea grovels
for a plot of dirt like a sniveling child.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Ahab hesitated.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
She could see the gears turning in his feeble little mind,
the moral resistance sputtering out like a candle in the wind.
And then, in one fluid motion, Jezebel plucked a parchment
from the desk beside them, her fingers moving with precise,
practiced ease, she dipped a quill into ink, the black
(06:53):
liquid pooling against the page like an open wound, with
the flourish of someone who had done this for many,
many times before, she wrote a decree in the name
of the king, a death sentence wrapped in legality. She
pressed Ahab's royal seal against the wax, her fingers lingering
(07:16):
for just a breath longer than necessary, watching as it
hardened into permanence. Then she lifted the parchment, tilting it
so the firelight caught the words, illuminating the moment where
morality had finally drowned beneath ambition.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
There that's how a ruler behaves.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Ah Is it really that easy.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
For a ruler with his manhood intact? Yes, it is
that easy, Ahab.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Ahab watched Jezebel hand the sealed decree to an attendant.
He left with a nod. Ahab had the sneaking suspicion
that Jezebel had already planned this. She rarely did anything
without scheming first. The town square of Jezreel was sluggish
(08:08):
and lax, weighed down by heavy bellies and purses. The
elders sat in their designated places, their hands resting limply
in their laps, their mouths set in grim, knowing lines.
Jezebel had seem to their care, and they were loyal
to her for it. They had been medicated into an
(08:29):
apathetic and indifferent posture of power. Any time a king's
decree written with the queen's handwriting came, they didn't think twice.
These were not wicked men, not in the obvious way.
But apathy is its own kind of evil, and at
the center of the elders was Naboth, the owner of
(08:51):
the vineyard Ahab so desperately coveted the elders had called
him there to stand trial for what. Aboth hadn't the
slightest clue. He had spent a lifetime believing that truth mattered,
that Yahoe's law was still the highest authority in Israel,
and that justice had a meaning beyond the whims of
(09:14):
those in power. But people consumed with lust for power
loathe the truth. It's inconvenient, messy. Naboth watched as two
men approached the Dais to bear false witness against him.
Their faces were thin with hunger. They had clearly been
(09:34):
bribed with food. The first pointed, his nail, dirty, his
lips curling into the smile of a predator who enjoys
the suffering of smaller things.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
You.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Naboth's chest tightened, A part of him still clung to disbelief.
Surely not, surely they wouldn't.
Speaker 6 (09:56):
You have blasphemed God and the King.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
The words struck harder than any stone that would follow.
A murmur rippled through the crowd and eager shuffling, the
beginning of movement, the first breath of something dark and
ugly uncoiling. Naboth stood slowly, his eyes sweeping over the
gathered faces, looking for one, just one that might hold
(10:25):
his gaze. But they all averted their eyes. The elders
sat rigid, their hands gripping the edges of their robes,
as if afraid of what might happen if they let go.
Speaker 6 (10:38):
What Noah, No, this is false.
Speaker 7 (10:42):
I've done nothing of the sort.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Naboth took a step forward, directing his words to the elders,
the men he had respected, the men he had trusted
to uphold God's law rather than bow to the whims
of a palace that had forgotten him.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
You know this is false. You know who I am.
You have sat with me in the synagogue.
Speaker 6 (11:06):
You have heard me pray, You have heard me speak
yaways name.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
With reverence, and you have seen my offerings at the altar.
Speaker 7 (11:15):
Look at me.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
None of them did. They stared at the ground. A
few shifted uncomfortably, but none spoke. None would defend him,
none would risk themselves. And that was when he understood.
This had been decided long before he ever stepped into
this square. The elders had already signed their names, the
(11:41):
officials had already sent the orders. The stones had already
been gathered. The accusations were just a formality, a necessary
script to keep the illusion of righteousness intact. Jezebel had
written the lines, And these men, these good men, these
(12:02):
pious men, these men who should have known better, had
taken their paths without protest, because survival mattered more than truth,
because keeping their place at the table mattered more than justice.
Naboth's throat tightened, but he swallowed down the fear. He turned,
(12:24):
this time addressing the people, the merchants, the farmers, the
neighbors who had traded with him, who had borrowed from him,
who had laughed with him on quieter days.
Speaker 6 (12:35):
You know me, You know my house, my family, my
father before me. I have never spoken a word against
the Lord.
Speaker 7 (12:46):
I have never dishonored the King. Are you truly willing
to let this happen, to let these madness speak lies?
Speaker 6 (12:56):
You know our lives.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Naboth's eyes swept over the elders, but then, just for
a moment, they landed on three faces in the crowd,
faces he knew well, faces he had called friends. Jakim
sat with his hands folded in his lap, his bald
head holding an expression carved from stone. Once they had
(13:21):
studied the Law of Moses together, debating about justice and
righteousness in the late hours. Now Jaqim barely met his gaze.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Jakim, you know me, You have seen my life, my faithfulness.
Speaker 6 (13:38):
You of old people know that this is a lie.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
I tried to put in the good word for you.
But the king has the right to do as he
sees Fitnapboth.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
You must understand that.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
We all do Nayboth's stomach twisted. The words were precise, detached,
spoken with the efficiency of a man who had long
since decided which side was safer. He turned next to Eesa,
the man who had once laughed in his home, whose
children had played with his Eza would not meet his eyes.
(14:18):
He shifted in his seat, rubbing his temple, as if
the very act of engaging in this moment was too
much for him.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Hees, please speak, I can't nape hearth.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
It's already said in motion. I don't have the strength
for this fight.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
It was worse than Yakim's coldness. It was cowardice wrapped
in weary resignation. Nabos's throat tightened as he turned to
the last man, Gadiel Gadiel was already shaking his head,
as if preparing an apology. He would never say.
Speaker 6 (14:58):
Gadiel, OK, I'll admit it.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
You've been wronged, But come on now, you must have.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Known we weren't going to stick our necks out for you.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
The words hid harder than the first stone that would come.
Nay Both felt his breath leave him, not from the
weight of accusation, but from the weight of abandonment. No
one objected, no one.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Fought for him.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
The people shifted uneasy, but no one stood beside him.
The machine was already in motion, and it was easier,
so much easier to let it crush someone else than
to risk being caught in it themselves. Suddenly, the weight
of the accusation felt real, even though every soul present
(15:50):
had heard the lie for what it was. But it
didn't matter now. What mattered was that Jezebel's orders be
carried out. What mattered was that the king be given
what he wanted, and that the rest of them could
sleep soundly, knowing they had done what was necessary.
Speaker 7 (16:09):
Lord God strengthen me.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
The fur stone was thrown, and it struck Naboth's shoulder,
knocking him off balance. The second hit his ribs, knocking
the wind from his lungs. Then came the third, then
the fourth. The frenzy overtook them. They descended on him
in a storm of rock and fury, and Naboth fell
(16:33):
to the ground. The dust settled, his blood pooled into
the dirt. Then came the dogs. They slunk forward, thin
and hungry, drawn by the scent of death. They lapped
at the blood, indifferent to the weight of the moment,
indifferent to the crime that had been committed. Dogs do
(16:56):
not care for justice. Far away behind the walls of
the palace, Jezebel received the message.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
She barely looked.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Up from the goblet in her hand as she listened.
When the report was finished, she let a small, satisfied
smirk curl her lips. She turned to Ahab, who had
been waiting in the shadows, like a man who did
not want to know what price had been paid for
his desires.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
The vineyard is yours now.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Ahab swallowed, but said nothing. He did not ask how
it had been done. He did not ask what had
become of Naboth, or whether the accusations had been true.
He did not even ask if Yahue had been watching
He only stood slow and silent, and prepared himself to
(17:48):
ride out and claim his prize. Somewhere beneath the earth,
Naboth's blood seeped into the soil of the very land
he had refused to sell, and the Lord saw Ahab
stood in his vineyard, surveying his prize. Though the taste
(18:12):
of victory was already turning sour in his mouth. The
sun beat down, and the dust clung to his skin
like the guilt he refused to acknowledge. He ran a
hand over a vine, rolling a plump grape between his fingers,
imagining the fine wines he would command, the legacy he
(18:33):
would build. Jezebel had seen to everything she always did.
The dird had settled, the nuisance, erased. This was how
kings ruled, and why shouldn't he have it? He had
thought about it, justified it to himself a hundred different ways.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Why shouldn't I own this land? Who else in Israel
is more deserved? I'm the king, this vinyard, this whole
city exists because I allow it too. You think Naybos
wouldn't have had the luxury of tending those vines without me,
(19:15):
without my armies, my protection my leadership.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
His fingers traced the rough bark of the vine, his
mind spinning, grasping at whatever scraps of righteousness he could
weave together into a reason, any reason, that this wasn't theft.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Naboth was stubborn, That was his problem. Couldn't see past
his own little patch of dirt. I offered him a
better vineyard, gold, whatever he wanted, But no, he had
to be a zealot talking about God's laws. If I, I,
the anointed King of Israel, am not the one responsible
(19:58):
for upholding ya waist kingdom, I do more for this
landing neighbor.
Speaker 6 (20:05):
Ever did.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
The words came fast, now, tumbling over each other, desperate,
trying to fill the silence before it swallowed him whole.
Speaker 6 (20:19):
What was I supposed to just accept his?
Speaker 5 (20:22):
No?
Speaker 6 (20:23):
Let some self righteous farmer defy the king?
Speaker 2 (20:28):
What kind of ruler would that make me?
Speaker 3 (20:31):
No?
Speaker 2 (20:32):
No, this is justice, This is odd. The strong rule,
the weak obey. That's the way of the world.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
But even as he said it, he felt it, the gnawing,
the hollowness, the lie in his own voice. The sun
burned hotter, the air thickened, the vines seemed to twist
under his hands, curling away from him as if they knew.
And then the air shifted. The wind kicked up, dry
(21:07):
and sudden, rattling the leaves.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
The hair on Ahab's arms stood on end.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Her shadow flickered in the heat haze, a presence that
did not belong. And before he even turned, before he
even saw, he knew Elijah, that ragged lunatic, that living
thorn in his side, that wild eyed god haunted, insufferable
(21:34):
prophet who always showed up just when Ahab thought he
could finally enjoy something. And there he was, storming across
the field, his tattered cloak whipping behind him, dust curling.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
At his heels like the fury of God.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
His face was gaunt, all sharp angles and contempt, hair
and beard, wild and unwashed, eyes, burning with the kind
of righteous hatred that made Ahab's stomach titan. The man
never looked normal. He looked like a man who lived
on locusts and spite, and at this moment, all of
(22:15):
it was directed at Ahab. Ahab felt the blood drain
from his face. His fingers twitched toward the hilt of
his sword, not to use it, of course, but just
to hold something, anything, as if steel could protect him
from the judgment that walked toward him on sandaled feet.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
So you found me my enemy.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Elijah didn't even pause, didn't flinch, just kept walking like
a man who had already won the fight before it
even started.
Speaker 7 (22:51):
Found you a yeah, you looked sack of wine. Man
had to look your rake of guilt, the Lord pointed,
And there you were, sloshing through stolen dirt.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
And the over the peak.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
You are, mind your tongue, prophet.
Speaker 7 (23:15):
Or what you'll throw another tantrum. Run home to your
wife so she can kill the poor servant boy and
write me a nasty letter in his blood.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Ahab hated him, hated the way he spoke, hated the
way he moved, hated the way he never bowed, never
simpered like the spineless elders and priests. Most of all,
Ahab hated how his stomach curled inward at Elijah's words, because.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Deep down he knew they were true.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Elijah stopped just short of him, eyes flicking over the vineyard,
letting the silent stretch.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Then he laughed. Not a friend, they laugh, not even
a mocking one.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
It was worse than that. It was the laugh of
a man who had already seen the ending of the story,
who knew that all the power Ahab thought he had
was nothing but sand through his fingers.
Speaker 8 (24:17):
Ha ha ha.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
First, then what's next, they am, Will.
Speaker 7 (24:28):
You steal at cripple's clutch, snatch if we those last coin, maybe.
Speaker 6 (24:33):
Run second orphanage while you're at it.
Speaker 7 (24:36):
Enough, Look at you standing here like a or like
you think these plays belongs to you, like you work
the soil, like you shed sweat one of these vines.
Speaker 8 (24:50):
But we both know how you got, don't we. We
both know who glided for this land, And so the
the Lord.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
The wind howled, the sun darkened, and suddenly Ahab felt small.
Elijah took a step forward, his voice louder now, like
a crack of thunder splitting the heavens.
Speaker 7 (25:15):
That says the Lord, God of heaven and earth, the
god of the nation. You claim to rule in the
very spot with the dogs licked up neighbors blood, they
will lap the blood.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Yes, yours a haveb felt the weight of something far
bigger than himself breast down on his chest.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
But Elijah wasn't done.
Speaker 8 (25:38):
And your lovely wife, just don't think you always run, not.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
You know what's going.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Elijah leaned in close, lowering his voice, the words dripping
with the will fight for the last sclaps of the records.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
Ahab gasped.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
He took a step back before he could stop himself,
before he could remember that he was the king and
Elijah was just some half mad prophet who should have
been afraid of him.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
But he wasn't. He never was.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
The words settled into Ahab's bones, filling the cracks of
his conscience like rot. For a long, terrible moment, everything
was still, and then Ahab collapsed. He fell, knee slamming
into the dirt, hands gripping at his robe like he
could tear the guilt out of himself if he just
(26:46):
ripped hard enough. His crown slid off, forgotten, his shoulders shook.
He ripped his clothes, the fine fabric tearing like the
illusion of his invincibility. His lips cracked as he whispered words.
He barely understood, a plea of prayer, a curse upon himself.
(27:08):
He had not even noticed his servants watching, wide eyed,
uncertain if they should step forward or step back. Elijah
watched him, arms crossed. He was unmoved, but then something
unexpected happened for reasons that would never make sense to Elijah.
(27:28):
Ahab's utter desperation stirred the Lord's mercy ever so slightly.
The voice of yahoeh came not in the fire of judgment,
not in the roar of finality, but in the quiet,
unseen spaces between Ahab's whimpering breaths. The Lord saw, and
(27:52):
so the punishment was delayed, not erased, not forgotten, not undone,
only delayed. Elijah exhaled, shaking his head, almost annoyed at
Yahoe's mercy. He turned ready to leave, but cast one
final glance at the sniveling heap of a king at
(28:15):
his feet.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Enjoy the wine he had.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
It won't last. Ahab did not respond, he could not.
The prophet walked away, his cloak snapping behind him, his
silhouettes swallowed by the dust and heat. Ay Hab remained
in the dirt, his body trembling, his face streaked with
dust and tears. He had seen the end, and he
(28:43):
knew he would not escape. The sun dipped lower, the
vineyards stood empty, and on the wall, perched in the
growing shadows, a lone raven watched, waiting the wind and
carried the echoes of Elijah's words. Judgment always comes.
Speaker 5 (29:17):
What a harrowing tale. It rattles something in the soul,
doesn't it That a king could do wrong and somehow
make the world think that he was doing right. That
good men, elders, neighbors, friends could look away just long
enough to let the blood spill. It makes me think
of the weight of legacy. Na Vote wasn't just protecting
a plot of land. He was guarding the memory of
(29:39):
his ancestors, the covenant of our people, the very thread
that ties us to the land of Israel itself. And
it makes me ache for the God who watched and
did not look away. What do you do when the
law becomes a weapon? That's the question buried in the
dust of Navote's vineyard. I have wanted land, Jezebel wanted
(30:01):
to silence defiance, and so they took what was never theirs.
Not by sword but by scroll, not by war, but
by witnesses. Two that's all it takes. In Deuterodomy seventeen,
the Tora tells us on the testimony of two or
three witnesses, a person is to be put to death,
(30:21):
but no one has to be put to death on
the testimony of only one witness. You know, the Torah
was meant to protect life, and instead it became the
instrument of death. Today we saw righteousness turned against the righteous,
and then came the silence from the elders, from the crowd,
from the friends, from everyone who didn't speak up. We've
(30:43):
seen this pattern before, as we've studied the Bible together,
haven't we. In Exodus, Pharaoh didn't kill every male child
with his own hands. He whispered to the midwives, he
sent out decrees. But God doesn't forget blood in the soil.
That's Genesis four. Cain's hands, Abel's blood.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
What have you done?
Speaker 5 (31:06):
Your brother's blood cries out for me from the ground.
Do you remember that? Well? So it is in our
Bible story today.
Speaker 6 (31:15):
Today.
Speaker 5 (31:16):
It began with the evil of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.
Their evil knew no limits. Ahab liked his cousin Navut's vineyard,
and so he first tried to buy it from him.
But then when Navut protested because it was a family treasure,
Jezebel cooked up a scheme to falsely accuse Navot of
a capital crime and to have him executed, all to
(31:39):
gain a vineyard. But God took this incident very seriously,
and he commanded Elijah the prophet to confront Ahab with
the Hebrew words haw ratzahta vigam yar rashta, have you
murdered and also inherited? It reminds me of an English
phrase that we all know, adding in soul to injury,
(32:01):
And actually our sage has put it very dramatically. They asked,
is it possible that you could have killed Navote like
a mortal enemy and then inherited the vineyard from him
like a beloved relative. This sad story shows how low
a king of Israel could sink when he rejected God's
authority and turned himself and his people to idolatry and
(32:25):
made them turn away from God. At the end of
this chapter, after Elijah prophesies doom and destruction for Ahab
and all of his descendants, it seems that Ahab repents.
He fasts, he tears his clothing, he donned sackcloth, he
walks barefoot, all signs of mourning and repentance. But here's
(32:45):
something really interesting. When God takes note of Ahab's repentance,
he says, Ahab has humbled himself before me. But God
doesn't mention the fasting, the sacloth, the torn clothing, or
the walking barefoot. Jewish tradition teaches that true repentance is
actually of the heart, not in outward signs of repentance.
(33:08):
Those penitent actions may help the process, but they are
not repentance itself. Our sages emphasize this message for future
generations of the Chosen People. They taught that God cannot
be fooled by outward signs. God knows exactly what is
in our hearts. Outward displays may satisfy us humans, but
(33:31):
God he desires our heart. There's a sickness that creeps
in quietly. It doesn't shout, It rationalizes, It wears the
mask of order. It speaks in soft tones, It nods
solemnly in the pews of the church or synagogue. And
that's what we see here in One Kings twenty one.
Isn't it a sickness of compromise, of silence? Now, Votes'
(33:56):
story isn't just about land. It's about memory, It's about covenant.
It's about the unbearable cost of doing what's right in
a world that rewards whatever keeps the system stable. When
I think about good people watching as evil takes root.
I can't help but think back to Nazi Germany, and
I think often about something the German righteous, gentile pastor
(34:20):
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is believed to have said as he watched
his own society slide into that same sickness. Silence in
the face of evil is itself evil. God will not
hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak, not
to act is to act. That's where this story hits hardest,
(34:44):
not in the moment of stoning, but in the minutes before,
when people could have intervened, when someone could have stood.
Maybe you've been nevolte, faithful, unheard, left to bear the
cost of other people's cowardice. Or maybe you've been no votes, friend, friends,
quyat when you should have spoken up, prudent when you
should have risked it all. Or maybe, if you're honest,
(35:06):
you've been ah sulking because you didn't get your way,
then grateful when someone else did your dirty work. This
story doesn't leave us comfortable, it's not meant to, but
it does remind us that justice is not forgotten just
because it's delayed. Today's Bible story reminds us that God
listens to the blood in the soil, that his prophets
(35:29):
still speak even when kings want silence. So hold fast,
don't let go of your inheritance, your integrity, your name.
God sees, and in the end, that is both the
most terrifying and the most comforting truth that there is.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
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only made by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Gattina,
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(36:12):
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and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore. Music
(36:32):
by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Aaron Salvato, bre Rosalie
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Previously on the Chosen People.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
We cannot win this fight.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Jezebel didn't look.
Speaker 4 (00:07):
At him, and you should pray that your God intervenes
if he still listens to cowards.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Jezebel leaned against the balcony and threw her head back.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
Elijah and the prophet of your way to crime me
and my prophets for our blood sacrifices. But I have
come to discover something. Your God is more bloodthirsty than mine.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
H Are you prophets always speaking riddles? What does it
matter why I fight? So long as I win, because
my King, the Lord sees the heart and yours is
running well.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
The places to.
Speaker 5 (00:55):
Her the soil drank his blood, and still they called
it justice. Shelloh, my friends, from here in the holy
Land of Israel, I'm l Extein with the International Fellowship
of Christians and Jews, and welcome to the Chosen People.
(01:17):
Let me ask you a question that may sound simple
at first, one that cuts like a knife if you
really think about it. What would you do if someone
whispered in your ear take it it's yours? And what
would you do if everyone around you stayed silent when
they saw what you were doing was wrong? Today. In
First Kings Chapter twenty one, we come to one of
(01:39):
the most chilling moments in the Chosen People's history. We've
seen King Ahab wage wars and build altars. We've seen
prophets rise and fall and fire descend from heaven. But
now we enter a quieter battlefield. There are no armies,
and there's no thunder from the skies. Only a man,
his vineyard, his name, and the machinery of power turning slowly,
(02:02):
terribly against him. This is where righteousness meets roone. This
is where silence enables injustice, and as always, God sees,
because God sees everything.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
The royal chambers were dimly lit, the air thick with
the scent of spiced wine and the faint, cloying remnants
of incense. It was an atmosphere designed for brooding, and
as it turns out, brooding was one of the few
things Ahab excelled at. He lay sprawled on his bed, limbs,
(02:44):
limp and useless, his face buried in the silk pillow
like a child sulking over a lost toy. And truly,
what greater burden was there than not getting what you want?
The King of Israel, God's anointed ruler of Samaria, conqueror
(03:05):
of nothing, lord of all except his own household, had
been outmaneuvered by a farmer. Ahab exhaled dramatically, shifting just
enough to free his mouth from the pillow so he
could lament to the only person.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Who might listen.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
It's not fair.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
A pause, no response. He lifted his head slightly, glancing
toward the heavy drapery that marked the entrance to his chamber.
Speaker 6 (03:37):
I said it's not fair.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Suddenly she was there, Jezebel. The firelight flickered against her
gold threaded garments, dancing shadows curling around her like loyal pets.
She took one look at her pitiful husband and let
the silence stretch, artist admiring a master piece of disappointment. Finally,
(04:05):
she sighed, sharp and unimpressed.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
Ah, is this any way for a king to act?
Speaker 1 (04:12):
They have groaned and flopped onto his back, staring at
the ceiling like it had personally offended him.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
You don't understand, Jezebel. I wanted it. Oh. I offered
him a better vineyard. I offered him money. I was generous,
but neighbors won't sell. He said it was his family's inheritance,
some nonsense about your way's law.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Jezebel's expression barely flickered, but something behind her eyes sharpened, calculating, Oh.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
So, let me make sure I understand this correctly. You,
the king of Israel, made a request of a commoner,
and he shoved your request right back at your face.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
He wasn't so so aggressive about it. It's more pleading
and sentimental.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
It was hideous, hideous, indeed, and instead of doing something
about it, you came here to sulk, to pout, to
starve yourself out of sheer melodrama.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Ahab had, in fact, refused to eat dinner, a bold protest. Indeed,
Jezebel exhaled through her nose, slow and measured. There were
many things she could tolerate, but weakness was not one
of them, and her husband, her king, was a spineless worm.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Get up, Ahab.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Didn't move, I said, get up.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
A Hab obeyed, albeit slowly. She stepped closer, trailing a
single finger along the edge of his bedpost, as though
considering whether to strangle him with his own sheets.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
You're the king, Ahab, act like it?
Speaker 2 (05:59):
What would you have me do? He won't sell it.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Then don't ask him just take it.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Who's to stop you? A have blinked?
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Slow, dull Jezebel suppressed the urge to strangle him out
of sheer annoyance.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Oh do you think other kings beg Do you think fair?
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (06:21):
Negotiates over land? Do you think akish? A Philistea grovels
for a plot of dirt like a sniveling child.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Ahab hesitated.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
She could see the gears turning in his feeble little mind,
the moral resistance sputtering out like a candle in the wind.
And then, in one fluid motion, Jezebel plucked a parchment
from the desk beside them, her fingers moving with precise,
practiced ease, she dipped a quill into ink, the black
(06:53):
liquid pooling against the page like an open wound, with
the flourish of someone who had done this for many,
many times before, she wrote a decree in the name
of the king, a death sentence wrapped in legality. She
pressed Ahab's royal seal against the wax, her fingers lingering
(07:16):
for just a breath longer than necessary, watching as it
hardened into permanence. Then she lifted the parchment, tilting it
so the firelight caught the words, illuminating the moment where
morality had finally drowned beneath ambition.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
There that's how a ruler behaves.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Ah Is it really that easy.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
For a ruler with his manhood intact? Yes, it is
that easy, Ahab.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Ahab watched Jezebel hand the sealed decree to an attendant.
He left with a nod. Ahab had the sneaking suspicion
that Jezebel had already planned this. She rarely did anything
without scheming first. The town square of Jezreel was sluggish
(08:08):
and lax, weighed down by heavy bellies and purses. The
elders sat in their designated places, their hands resting limply
in their laps, their mouths set in grim, knowing lines.
Jezebel had seem to their care, and they were loyal
to her for it. They had been medicated into an
(08:29):
apathetic and indifferent posture of power. Any time a king's
decree written with the queen's handwriting came, they didn't think twice.
These were not wicked men, not in the obvious way.
But apathy is its own kind of evil, and at
the center of the elders was Naboth, the owner of
(08:51):
the vineyard Ahab so desperately coveted the elders had called
him there to stand trial for what. Aboth hadn't the
slightest clue. He had spent a lifetime believing that truth mattered,
that Yahoe's law was still the highest authority in Israel,
and that justice had a meaning beyond the whims of
(09:14):
those in power. But people consumed with lust for power
loathe the truth. It's inconvenient, messy. Naboth watched as two
men approached the Dais to bear false witness against him.
Their faces were thin with hunger. They had clearly been
(09:34):
bribed with food. The first pointed, his nail, dirty, his
lips curling into the smile of a predator who enjoys
the suffering of smaller things.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
You.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Naboth's chest tightened, A part of him still clung to disbelief.
Surely not, surely they wouldn't.
Speaker 6 (09:56):
You have blasphemed God and the King.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
The words struck harder than any stone that would follow.
A murmur rippled through the crowd and eager shuffling, the
beginning of movement, the first breath of something dark and
ugly uncoiling. Naboth stood slowly, his eyes sweeping over the
gathered faces, looking for one, just one that might hold
(10:25):
his gaze. But they all averted their eyes. The elders
sat rigid, their hands gripping the edges of their robes,
as if afraid of what might happen if they let go.
Speaker 6 (10:38):
What Noah, No, this is false.
Speaker 7 (10:42):
I've done nothing of the sort.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Naboth took a step forward, directing his words to the elders,
the men he had respected, the men he had trusted
to uphold God's law rather than bow to the whims
of a palace that had forgotten him.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
You know this is false. You know who I am.
You have sat with me in the synagogue.
Speaker 6 (11:06):
You have heard me pray, You have heard me speak
yaways name.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
With reverence, and you have seen my offerings at the altar.
Speaker 7 (11:15):
Look at me.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
None of them did. They stared at the ground. A
few shifted uncomfortably, but none spoke. None would defend him,
none would risk themselves. And that was when he understood.
This had been decided long before he ever stepped into
this square. The elders had already signed their names, the
(11:41):
officials had already sent the orders. The stones had already
been gathered. The accusations were just a formality, a necessary
script to keep the illusion of righteousness intact. Jezebel had
written the lines, And these men, these good men, these
(12:02):
pious men, these men who should have known better, had
taken their paths without protest, because survival mattered more than truth,
because keeping their place at the table mattered more than justice.
Naboth's throat tightened, but he swallowed down the fear. He turned,
(12:24):
this time addressing the people, the merchants, the farmers, the
neighbors who had traded with him, who had borrowed from him,
who had laughed with him on quieter days.
Speaker 6 (12:35):
You know me, You know my house, my family, my
father before me. I have never spoken a word against
the Lord.
Speaker 7 (12:46):
I have never dishonored the King. Are you truly willing
to let this happen, to let these madness speak lies?
Speaker 6 (12:56):
You know our lives.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Naboth's eyes swept over the elders, but then, just for
a moment, they landed on three faces in the crowd,
faces he knew well, faces he had called friends. Jakim
sat with his hands folded in his lap, his bald
head holding an expression carved from stone. Once they had
(13:21):
studied the Law of Moses together, debating about justice and
righteousness in the late hours. Now Jaqim barely met his gaze.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Jakim, you know me, You have seen my life, my faithfulness.
Speaker 6 (13:38):
You of old people know that this is a lie.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
I tried to put in the good word for you.
But the king has the right to do as he
sees Fitnapboth.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
You must understand that.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
We all do Nayboth's stomach twisted. The words were precise, detached,
spoken with the efficiency of a man who had long
since decided which side was safer. He turned next to Eesa,
the man who had once laughed in his home, whose
children had played with his Eza would not meet his eyes.
(14:18):
He shifted in his seat, rubbing his temple, as if
the very act of engaging in this moment was too
much for him.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Hees, please speak, I can't nape hearth.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
It's already said in motion. I don't have the strength
for this fight.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
It was worse than Yakim's coldness. It was cowardice wrapped
in weary resignation. Nabos's throat tightened as he turned to
the last man, Gadiel Gadiel was already shaking his head,
as if preparing an apology. He would never say.
Speaker 6 (14:58):
Gadiel, OK, I'll admit it.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
You've been wronged, But come on now, you must have.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Known we weren't going to stick our necks out for you.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
The words hid harder than the first stone that would come.
Nay Both felt his breath leave him, not from the
weight of accusation, but from the weight of abandonment. No
one objected, no one.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Fought for him.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
The people shifted uneasy, but no one stood beside him.
The machine was already in motion, and it was easier,
so much easier to let it crush someone else than
to risk being caught in it themselves. Suddenly, the weight
of the accusation felt real, even though every soul present
(15:50):
had heard the lie for what it was. But it
didn't matter now. What mattered was that Jezebel's orders be
carried out. What mattered was that the king be given
what he wanted, and that the rest of them could
sleep soundly, knowing they had done what was necessary.
Speaker 7 (16:09):
Lord God strengthen me.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
The fur stone was thrown, and it struck Naboth's shoulder,
knocking him off balance. The second hit his ribs, knocking
the wind from his lungs. Then came the third, then
the fourth. The frenzy overtook them. They descended on him
in a storm of rock and fury, and Naboth fell
(16:33):
to the ground. The dust settled, his blood pooled into
the dirt. Then came the dogs. They slunk forward, thin
and hungry, drawn by the scent of death. They lapped
at the blood, indifferent to the weight of the moment,
indifferent to the crime that had been committed. Dogs do
(16:56):
not care for justice. Far away behind the walls of
the palace, Jezebel received the message.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
She barely looked.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Up from the goblet in her hand as she listened.
When the report was finished, she let a small, satisfied
smirk curl her lips. She turned to Ahab, who had
been waiting in the shadows, like a man who did
not want to know what price had been paid for
his desires.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
The vineyard is yours now.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Ahab swallowed, but said nothing. He did not ask how
it had been done. He did not ask what had
become of Naboth, or whether the accusations had been true.
He did not even ask if Yahue had been watching
He only stood slow and silent, and prepared himself to
(17:48):
ride out and claim his prize. Somewhere beneath the earth,
Naboth's blood seeped into the soil of the very land
he had refused to sell, and the Lord saw Ahab
stood in his vineyard, surveying his prize. Though the taste
(18:12):
of victory was already turning sour in his mouth. The
sun beat down, and the dust clung to his skin
like the guilt he refused to acknowledge. He ran a
hand over a vine, rolling a plump grape between his fingers,
imagining the fine wines he would command, the legacy he
(18:33):
would build. Jezebel had seen to everything she always did.
The dird had settled, the nuisance, erased. This was how
kings ruled, and why shouldn't he have it? He had
thought about it, justified it to himself a hundred different ways.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Why shouldn't I own this land? Who else in Israel
is more deserved? I'm the king, this vinyard, this whole
city exists because I allow it too. You think Naybos
wouldn't have had the luxury of tending those vines without me,
(19:15):
without my armies, my protection my leadership.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
His fingers traced the rough bark of the vine, his
mind spinning, grasping at whatever scraps of righteousness he could
weave together into a reason, any reason, that this wasn't theft.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Naboth was stubborn, That was his problem. Couldn't see past
his own little patch of dirt. I offered him a
better vineyard, gold, whatever he wanted, But no, he had
to be a zealot talking about God's laws. If I, I,
the anointed King of Israel, am not the one responsible
(19:58):
for upholding ya waist kingdom, I do more for this
landing neighbor.
Speaker 6 (20:05):
Ever did.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
The words came fast, now, tumbling over each other, desperate,
trying to fill the silence before it swallowed him whole.
Speaker 6 (20:19):
What was I supposed to just accept his?
Speaker 5 (20:22):
No?
Speaker 6 (20:23):
Let some self righteous farmer defy the king?
Speaker 2 (20:28):
What kind of ruler would that make me?
Speaker 3 (20:31):
No?
Speaker 2 (20:32):
No, this is justice, This is odd. The strong rule,
the weak obey. That's the way of the world.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
But even as he said it, he felt it, the gnawing,
the hollowness, the lie in his own voice. The sun
burned hotter, the air thickened, the vines seemed to twist
under his hands, curling away from him as if they knew.
And then the air shifted. The wind kicked up, dry
(21:07):
and sudden, rattling the leaves.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
The hair on Ahab's arms stood on end.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Her shadow flickered in the heat haze, a presence that
did not belong. And before he even turned, before he
even saw, he knew Elijah, that ragged lunatic, that living
thorn in his side, that wild eyed god haunted, insufferable
(21:34):
prophet who always showed up just when Ahab thought he
could finally enjoy something. And there he was, storming across
the field, his tattered cloak whipping behind him, dust curling.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
At his heels like the fury of God.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
His face was gaunt, all sharp angles and contempt, hair
and beard, wild and unwashed, eyes, burning with the kind
of righteous hatred that made Ahab's stomach titan. The man
never looked normal. He looked like a man who lived
on locusts and spite, and at this moment, all of
(22:15):
it was directed at Ahab. Ahab felt the blood drain
from his face. His fingers twitched toward the hilt of
his sword, not to use it, of course, but just
to hold something, anything, as if steel could protect him
from the judgment that walked toward him on sandaled feet.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
So you found me my enemy.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Elijah didn't even pause, didn't flinch, just kept walking like
a man who had already won the fight before it
even started.
Speaker 7 (22:51):
Found you a yeah, you looked sack of wine. Man
had to look your rake of guilt, the Lord pointed,
And there you were, sloshing through stolen dirt.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
And the over the peak.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
You are, mind your tongue, prophet.
Speaker 7 (23:15):
Or what you'll throw another tantrum. Run home to your
wife so she can kill the poor servant boy and
write me a nasty letter in his blood.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Ahab hated him, hated the way he spoke, hated the
way he moved, hated the way he never bowed, never
simpered like the spineless elders and priests. Most of all,
Ahab hated how his stomach curled inward at Elijah's words, because.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Deep down he knew they were true.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Elijah stopped just short of him, eyes flicking over the vineyard,
letting the silent stretch.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Then he laughed. Not a friend, they laugh, not even
a mocking one.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
It was worse than that. It was the laugh of
a man who had already seen the ending of the story,
who knew that all the power Ahab thought he had
was nothing but sand through his fingers.
Speaker 8 (24:17):
Ha ha ha.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
First, then what's next, they am, Will.
Speaker 7 (24:28):
You steal at cripple's clutch, snatch if we those last coin, maybe.
Speaker 6 (24:33):
Run second orphanage while you're at it.
Speaker 7 (24:36):
Enough, Look at you standing here like a or like
you think these plays belongs to you, like you work
the soil, like you shed sweat one of these vines.
Speaker 8 (24:50):
But we both know how you got, don't we. We
both know who glided for this land, And so the
the Lord.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
The wind howled, the sun darkened, and suddenly Ahab felt small.
Elijah took a step forward, his voice louder now, like
a crack of thunder splitting the heavens.
Speaker 7 (25:15):
That says the Lord, God of heaven and earth, the
god of the nation. You claim to rule in the
very spot with the dogs licked up neighbors blood, they
will lap the blood.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Yes, yours a haveb felt the weight of something far
bigger than himself breast down on his chest.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
But Elijah wasn't done.
Speaker 8 (25:38):
And your lovely wife, just don't think you always run, not.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
You know what's going.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Elijah leaned in close, lowering his voice, the words dripping
with the will fight for the last sclaps of the records.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
Ahab gasped.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
He took a step back before he could stop himself,
before he could remember that he was the king and
Elijah was just some half mad prophet who should have
been afraid of him.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
But he wasn't. He never was.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
The words settled into Ahab's bones, filling the cracks of
his conscience like rot. For a long, terrible moment, everything
was still, and then Ahab collapsed. He fell, knee slamming
into the dirt, hands gripping at his robe like he
could tear the guilt out of himself if he just
(26:46):
ripped hard enough. His crown slid off, forgotten, his shoulders shook.
He ripped his clothes, the fine fabric tearing like the
illusion of his invincibility. His lips cracked as he whispered words.
He barely understood, a plea of prayer, a curse upon himself.
(27:08):
He had not even noticed his servants watching, wide eyed,
uncertain if they should step forward or step back. Elijah
watched him, arms crossed. He was unmoved, but then something
unexpected happened for reasons that would never make sense to Elijah.
(27:28):
Ahab's utter desperation stirred the Lord's mercy ever so slightly.
The voice of yahoeh came not in the fire of judgment,
not in the roar of finality, but in the quiet,
unseen spaces between Ahab's whimpering breaths. The Lord saw, and
(27:52):
so the punishment was delayed, not erased, not forgotten, not undone,
only delayed. Elijah exhaled, shaking his head, almost annoyed at
Yahoe's mercy. He turned ready to leave, but cast one
final glance at the sniveling heap of a king at
(28:15):
his feet.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Enjoy the wine he had.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
It won't last. Ahab did not respond, he could not.
The prophet walked away, his cloak snapping behind him, his
silhouettes swallowed by the dust and heat. Ay Hab remained
in the dirt, his body trembling, his face streaked with
dust and tears. He had seen the end, and he
(28:43):
knew he would not escape. The sun dipped lower, the
vineyards stood empty, and on the wall, perched in the
growing shadows, a lone raven watched, waiting the wind and
carried the echoes of Elijah's words. Judgment always comes.
Speaker 5 (29:17):
What a harrowing tale. It rattles something in the soul,
doesn't it That a king could do wrong and somehow
make the world think that he was doing right. That
good men, elders, neighbors, friends could look away just long
enough to let the blood spill. It makes me think
of the weight of legacy. Na Vote wasn't just protecting
a plot of land. He was guarding the memory of
(29:39):
his ancestors, the covenant of our people, the very thread
that ties us to the land of Israel itself. And
it makes me ache for the God who watched and
did not look away. What do you do when the
law becomes a weapon? That's the question buried in the
dust of Navote's vineyard. I have wanted land, Jezebel wanted
(30:01):
to silence defiance, and so they took what was never theirs.
Not by sword but by scroll, not by war, but
by witnesses. Two that's all it takes. In Deuterodomy seventeen,
the Tora tells us on the testimony of two or
three witnesses, a person is to be put to death,
(30:21):
but no one has to be put to death on
the testimony of only one witness. You know, the Torah
was meant to protect life, and instead it became the
instrument of death. Today we saw righteousness turned against the righteous,
and then came the silence from the elders, from the crowd,
from the friends, from everyone who didn't speak up. We've
(30:43):
seen this pattern before, as we've studied the Bible together,
haven't we. In Exodus, Pharaoh didn't kill every male child
with his own hands. He whispered to the midwives, he
sent out decrees. But God doesn't forget blood in the soil.
That's Genesis four. Cain's hands, Abel's blood.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
What have you done?
Speaker 5 (31:06):
Your brother's blood cries out for me from the ground.
Do you remember that? Well? So it is in our
Bible story today.
Speaker 6 (31:15):
Today.
Speaker 5 (31:16):
It began with the evil of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.
Their evil knew no limits. Ahab liked his cousin Navut's vineyard,
and so he first tried to buy it from him.
But then when Navut protested because it was a family treasure,
Jezebel cooked up a scheme to falsely accuse Navot of
a capital crime and to have him executed, all to
(31:39):
gain a vineyard. But God took this incident very seriously,
and he commanded Elijah the prophet to confront Ahab with
the Hebrew words haw ratzahta vigam yar rashta, have you
murdered and also inherited? It reminds me of an English
phrase that we all know, adding in soul to injury,
(32:01):
And actually our sage has put it very dramatically. They asked,
is it possible that you could have killed Navote like
a mortal enemy and then inherited the vineyard from him
like a beloved relative. This sad story shows how low
a king of Israel could sink when he rejected God's
authority and turned himself and his people to idolatry and
(32:25):
made them turn away from God. At the end of
this chapter, after Elijah prophesies doom and destruction for Ahab
and all of his descendants, it seems that Ahab repents.
He fasts, he tears his clothing, he donned sackcloth, he
walks barefoot, all signs of mourning and repentance. But here's
(32:45):
something really interesting. When God takes note of Ahab's repentance,
he says, Ahab has humbled himself before me. But God
doesn't mention the fasting, the sacloth, the torn clothing, or
the walking barefoot. Jewish tradition teaches that true repentance is
actually of the heart, not in outward signs of repentance.
(33:08):
Those penitent actions may help the process, but they are
not repentance itself. Our sages emphasize this message for future
generations of the Chosen People. They taught that God cannot
be fooled by outward signs. God knows exactly what is
in our hearts. Outward displays may satisfy us humans, but
(33:31):
God he desires our heart. There's a sickness that creeps
in quietly. It doesn't shout, It rationalizes, It wears the
mask of order. It speaks in soft tones, It nods
solemnly in the pews of the church or synagogue. And
that's what we see here in One Kings twenty one.
Isn't it a sickness of compromise, of silence? Now, Votes'
(33:56):
story isn't just about land. It's about memory, It's about covenant.
It's about the unbearable cost of doing what's right in
a world that rewards whatever keeps the system stable. When
I think about good people watching as evil takes root.
I can't help but think back to Nazi Germany, and
I think often about something the German righteous, gentile pastor
(34:20):
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is believed to have said as he watched
his own society slide into that same sickness. Silence in
the face of evil is itself evil. God will not
hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak, not
to act is to act. That's where this story hits hardest,
(34:44):
not in the moment of stoning, but in the minutes before,
when people could have intervened, when someone could have stood.
Maybe you've been nevolte, faithful, unheard, left to bear the
cost of other people's cowardice. Or maybe you've been no votes, friend, friends,
quyat when you should have spoken up, prudent when you
should have risked it all. Or maybe, if you're honest,
(35:06):
you've been ah sulking because you didn't get your way,
then grateful when someone else did your dirty work. This
story doesn't leave us comfortable, it's not meant to, but
it does remind us that justice is not forgotten just
because it's delayed. Today's Bible story reminds us that God
listens to the blood in the soil, that his prophets
(35:29):
still speak even when kings want silence. So hold fast,
don't let go of your inheritance, your integrity, your name.
God sees, and in the end, that is both the
most terrifying and the most comforting truth that there is.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
You can listen to The Chosen People with the Isle
Eckstein ad free by downloading and subscribing to the Prey
dot Com app today. This Prey dot Com production is
only made by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Gattina,
Max Bard, Zach Shellabarger and Ben Gammon are the executive
producers of The Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, edited by
(36:12):
Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by
Jonathan Cotten, Aaron Salvado, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold,
Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland, Junior, Rosanna Pilcher, and Mitch Leshinsky,
and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore. Music
(36:32):
by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Aaron Salvato, bre Rosalie
and Chris Baig. Special thanks to Bishop Paul Lanier, Robin
van Ettin, KAYLEB Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, Rabbi Edward Abramson, and
the team at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You
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(36:52):
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