THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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COMMENTS FROM MANY SOURCES Keith L. Brooks (Gen. 3:6.). It was the first sin on entering the promised l a n d (J o s h . 7:21), and the first sin to mar the early church (Acts 5:1-3) .^Garry. v. 3. 'The Lord forbid. Naboth, in refusing to sell to so great a one as the king, was not acting in disloyalty to ward him but in loyalty to the Word of God (Lev. 25:23-28). He was stand ing for a “ Thus saith the Lord.” -—■ Haldeman. When moral courage feels that it is in the right, there is no per sonal daring of which it is incapable.— Hunt. v. 4. Heavy and displeased. How ever despairing may be the tone of any one, the Lord leaves him no excuse for fretting, for there is enough in God’s promise to overbalance all natural dif ficulties. In the measure in which the Christian enjoys his privileges and finds his satisfaction in God, he will be able to say with Paul, “ None of these things move me.” -—Tyng. Turned away his face. A sensible man would have ac cepted the inevitable and found a gar den elsewhere, but Ahab, who could not bear to be thwarted, like an overgrown boy, flung himself on his divan, turned his face to the wall and would not eat. -—Exp. Bible. v. 7. Jezebel said. Ahab knew that Jezebel could not give him the prop erty of another except by foul means. By his silence he was an accomplice, and divine justice penetrates all such specious excuses. God holds us respon sible for wrongs which we do not arrest though we have the power.—Meyer. There are always tempters for weak people.— Sel. I will give thee. Some people are very generous of other peo ple’s property.—Davis. There is much of that sort of generosity in the world today. Men make large gifts to col leges, churches, hospitals and libraries from what properly belongs to other people.— Torrey. v. 8. Sealed with his seal. There is a law of neutralization which hinders bodies from sinking beyond a certain depth in the sea, but in the ocean of baseness, the deeper we get the easier the sinking.||-Lowell. By allowing her the use of his signet ring Ahab pas v. 2. Give me thy vineyard. Covet ousness may be the father of robbery and the mother of murder.— Cook. The first recorded sin was covetousness
sively consented to Jezebel’s proceeding. — J. F. & B. v. 9. Proclaim a fast. Many who have no regard for God make religion a cloak for their selfish schemes.— Gurney. If the world despises hypo crites, what must be the estimate of them in heaven!— Roland. When you see a person with a great deal of re ligion displayed in their shop window, you may depend upon it they keep a very small stock within.— Spurgeon. v. 11. They did it. It is never pru dent to do wrong. Better be a dead Naboth and say “ No.”—Bennett. No one is more despicable than the man or woman who by word or look damages the character of another. A good name is supreme capital (Prov. 22:1).— Haldeman. v. 12. Set him on high. Perhaps equivalent to placing him at the bar of justice, but Josephus takes it to mean that he was given a position of honor as being of illustrious family.—Dumme- low. v. 13. Two men. Worthless men who had been bribed to swear to a falsehood. The law required two wit nesses in capital offenses (Deut. 17:6; 19:15; Matt. 26:60).— Jamieson. Pres ence of the people. There are persons always standing ready to believe a scan dal.— Sel. v. 15. Take possession. • One may possess what it is not God’s will for him to have, but will always get a curse with it.— Pike. He thought he had gained the vineyard but in reality he had lost a throne.— Johnson. Ill- gotten wealth is never stable;S^-Euripi- des. Dishonesty is forsaking permanent for temporal advantages.— Bovee. v. 18. Go meet Ahab. God’s ser vants are often called to unpleasant tasks.-—Hunter. v. 19. Thus saith the Lord. For every evil event there is a judgment of God.— Schiller. Heaven never defaults The wicked are sure of their wages sooner or later.— Chapin. In the place where dogs licked the blood. The pre diction was accomplished not in Jezreel but in Samaria and not on Ahab per sonally, in consequence of his repent ance (v. 29), but on his son (2 Kings 9:z5). The words “ in the place where” may be rendered “ in like manner as.” — J. F. & B. v. 20. Hast thou found me? The king’s joy was short lived., Elijah had come to Ahab the incarnation of his
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