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1 Kings Chapter 20
Ahab's Wars with Syria
- 1Kings 20:1 And
Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and
there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and
chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred
against it.
- 2 And he sent
messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto
him, Thus saith Benhadad,
- 3 Thy silver and thy
gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the
goodliest, are mine.
- 4 And the king of
Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy
saying, I am thine, and all that I have.
I understand wars to defend one's
country against invasion and such but starting a war to take wives,
children, and valuables is hard to understand. God does allow this
when a nation becomes so wicked, they have to be stopped or evil
will continue as we saw in the book of Joshua.
Sometimes Israel was allowed to take
the goods but in some cases, they were not because the things
contained cursed things like idols and images. When Israel left
Egypt for instance, the people gave them spoils even without a war.
This made up for years of hard labor and slavery they didn't get
paid for. So whatever God allowed was justified. To plunder innocent
people and just steal though doesn't seem right. If a nation serves
God though, the real God, our creator, His hand of protection is
upon them and nothing could harm them, not even the greatest armies
of the world.
Ahab agreed to allow his wives, children
and goods to be taken.
- 1 Kings 20:5 And the
messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Benhadad, saying,
Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me
thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
- 6 Yet I will send my
servants unto thee to morrow about this time, and they shall
search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall
be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it
in their hand, and take it away.
- 7 Then the king of
Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray
you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me
for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my
gold; and I denied him not.
- 8 And all the elders
and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor
consent.
- 9 Wherefore he said
unto the messengers of Benhadad, Tell my lord the king, All that
thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do: but
this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and
brought him word again.
- 10 And Benhadad sent
unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if
the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the
people that follow me.
- 11 And the king of
Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on
his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.
- 12 And it came to
pass, when Benhadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he
and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants,
Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array
against the city.
Benhadad wasn't satisfied but it serves
to help Ahab instead of defeating him. Ahab consults the elders and
they told him not to give in to Benhadad's demands. Looks like God
is going to help Ahab at this time. He sends a prophet to Ahab.
Ahab Defeats Ben-hadad
- 1Kings 20:13 And,
behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying,
Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude?
behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou
shalt know that I am the LORD.
- 14 And Ahab said, By
whom? And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Even by the young men of
the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the
battle? And he answered, Thou.
- 15 Then he numbered
the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two
hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the
people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.
- 16 And they went out
at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the
pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that
helped him.
- 17 And the young men
of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Benhadad
sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of
Samaria.
- 18 And he said,
Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether
they be come out for war, take them alive.
- 19 So these young
men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and
the army which followed them.
- 20 And they slew
every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued
them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with
the horsemen.
- 21 And the king of
Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the
Syrians with a great slaughter.
- 22 And the prophet
came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen
thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of
the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.
- 23 And the servants
of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the
hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight
against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than
they.
- 24 And do this
thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put
captains in their rooms:
- 25 And number thee
an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and
chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the
plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he
hearkened unto their voice, and did so.
Perhaps this is why God is helping Ahab
here. The king of Syria is claiming his own gods are going to defeat
Israel. So when he was defeated the first time he thinks in himself
that the gods that Israel serves are gods of the hills so he plans
to defeat them in the plains or valleys. They were also drunk and
over confident fulfilling the saying, pride shall go before the
fall. No one can fight against God though. Ben-hadad's main problem
and his men, were that they were drunk.
Ahab Defeats Ben-hadad Again
- 1Kings 20:26 And it
came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbered
the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
- 27 And the children
of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against
them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two
little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.
- 28 And there came a
man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus
saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God
of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I
deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall
know that I am the LORD.
God hears what we say. He heard the
king of Syrian say Israel only had a god of the hills not the
valley. In God's mercy He sends a man of God to tell Ahab the
Syrians would be delivered into their hands. No great army of any
nation can defeat a nation God is protecting unless God Himself
allows it.
- 1Kings 20:29 And
they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it
was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the
children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand
footmen in one day.
- 30 But the rest fled
to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and
seven thousand of the men that were left. And Benhadad fled, and
came into the city, into an inner chamber.
- 31 And his servants
said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the
house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put
sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to
the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.
Even in their wickedness it was known
that Israel was more merciful and forgiving than other nations.
- 1Kings 20:32 So they
girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads,
and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Benhadad
saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive?
he is my brother.
- 33 Now the men did
diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and
did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother Benhadad. Then
he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to him; and
he caused him to come up into the chariot.
- 34 And Benhadad said
unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I
will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus,
as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee
away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and
sent him away.
Sometimes peace treaties are good but
sometimes they are not. Leaders of some countries do not always keep
the treaties. We hear from the book of Daniel that one is to arise
in the latter days, make a covenant with the nation of Israel but
breaks that covenant in the middle of the seven years. We call him
the antichrist. He is the man of sin that seeks to defeat Israel
just before Jesus returns a second time.
A Prophet Condemns Ben-hadad's Release
- 1Kings 20:35 And a
certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour
in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man
refused to smite him.
- 36 Then said he unto
him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold,
as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee.
And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and
slew him.
- 37 Then he found
another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote
him, so that in smiting he wounded him.
- 38 So the prophet
departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised
himself with ashes upon his face.
- 39 And as the king
passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant went
out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned
aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by
any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or
else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
- 40 And as thy
servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of
Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast
decided it.
- 41 And he hasted,
and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel
discerned him that he was of the prophets.
- 42 And he said unto
him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of thy
hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy
life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.
- 43 And the king of
Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to
Samaria.
Why this prophet did things this way is
puzzling unless it was the only way to get Ahab's attention. Ahab
was given victory by the Lord but by letting Benhadad go free, he
displeased the Lord. It's like allowing a convicted murderer or
rapist of children go free because he pretended to repent. DC
1 Kings Chapter 21
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