Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

Naboth: Not for Sale -- Compromise or Conviction?

Pastor Robert McFarland · July 13, 2019

1 Kings 21

sharonrpc.org/sermons/naboth-not-for-sale

Summary

Naboth refuses Ahab's offer because the vineyard is a covenant inheritance governed by God's law, not merely a possession available at the right price.
Compromise often begins with apparently minor concessions and grows when people believe the promise that disobedience will yield something better.
Ahab and Jezebel illustrate the character of the compromiser: covetous desire, manipulation, misuse of authority, false witness, and contempt for faithful resistance.
Naboth's conviction costs him reputation and life, warning believers that faithfulness may bring severe temporal consequences rather than immediate deliverance.
Ahab gains the vineyard but meets God's prophet and judgment; the apparent wages of compromise become guilt, hostility toward God's word, and destruction.
The sermon calls adults to stand firm not only for themselves but for those who follow them, because the compromises of one generation train the next generation to wander.

Why was Naboth's refusal a matter of obedience to God rather than personal preference?
What apparently minor concession could train me to accept more serious compromise later?
Which promise of a "better vineyard" makes disobedience appear attractive to me?
How can I recognize manipulation, flattery, or pressure from someone inviting me to compromise?
Am I prepared for faithfulness to cost reputation, opportunity, comfort, or approval?
Why does gaining the object of desire not free Ahab from accountability before God?
Do I treat biblical correction as the voice of an enemy when it confronts something I want?
What example of conviction am I placing before children and younger believers?

Covenant inheritance: The family land Naboth had received under God's covenant law and therefore could not treat as a mere commodity at the king's request.
Compromise: Surrendering obedience to God's truth in order to gain acceptance, convenience, security, pleasure, or some promised advantage.
Conviction: A settled commitment to obey God's revealed will even when that faithfulness carries social, economic, legal, or physical cost.
Covetousness: A disordered desire for what belongs to another, displayed when Ahab will not accept Naboth's lawful refusal.
False witness: A lying accusation used by Jezebel's agents to destroy Naboth's reputation and secure his death.
Situation ethics: The approach criticized in the sermon that lets desired outcomes or social pressure displace fixed obedience to God's commands.
Judgment: God's righteous sentence against Ahab's theft and murder, announced by Elijah and later carried out.