1 Kings 20:31-34 The Victory Was The Lord’s!

 “Then his servants said to him, “Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please, let us put sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare your life.” So they wore sackcloth around their waists and put ropes around their heads, and came to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’ ” And he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.” Now the men were watching closely to see whether any sign of mercy would come from him; and they quickly grasped at this word and said, “Your brother Ben-Hadad.” So he said, “Go, bring him.” Then Ben-Hadad came out to him; and he had him come up into the chariot. So Ben-Hadad said to him, “The cities which my father took from your father I will restore; and you may set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” Then Ahab said, “I will send you away with this treaty.” So he made a treaty with him and sent him away.”

‭‭I Kings‬ ‭20‬:‭31‬-‭34‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Please, let us put sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: Not long before this, Ben-Hadad spoke severe threats against Ahab and the Kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 20:1-6). Now, he humbled himself as much as he could to win mercy and favor from the unexpectedly triumphant King of Israel.

i. “The rope around the head was a sign of supplication, the figure being that of the porter at the wheel of the victor’s chariot.” (Patterson and Austel)

ii. Sinners should come to God the King with the same manner as Ben-Hadad. They should come with sincerity, with humility, with surrender, with earnestness, and with close watching to see whether any sign of mercy would come to them.

b. Is he still alive? He is my brother: Ahab felt a kinship towards this pagan king with exceedingly pagan ideas of God. Perhaps Ahab wanted Ben-Hadad and Syria’s friendship as protection against the powerful and threatening Assyrian Empire. If so, he looked for friends in the wrong places.

i. “This was not courtesy, but foolery. Brother Ben-Hadad will ere long fight against Ahab with that life which he had given him (chapter 22:31).” (Trapp)

c. I will send you away with this treaty: Ahab had no business making this treaty. The victory was the LORD’s and did not belong to Ahab; he had no right to negotiate away the victory.

The Victory Was The Lord’s!

Like Ahab some of us believe that the victory was of our doing, but the victory was the Lord’s not anything of us!

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Our victory over death “is the gift of God”!

Have you accepted His gift?

Blessings 

1 Kings 20:29-30 Clearly a Miracle!

 “And they encamped opposite each other for seven days. So it was that on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand foot soldiers of the Syrians in one day. But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; then a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men who were left. And Ben-Hadad fled and went into the city, into an inner chamber.” I Kings‬ ‭20‬:‭29‬-‭30‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. The children of Israel killed one hundred thousand foot soldiers of the Syrians in one day: This was clearly a miracle, yet it was a miracle working through the existing Israeli army, not by another outside agency. God wanted to show that as unlikely as it seemed, He could work through this outwardly weak and ineffective instrument.

b. Then a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men who were left: After the great victory on the battlefield, God moved in other extraordinary ways to defeat the Syrians, who had defamed His character through their flawed understanding of Him.

i. “The 27,000 killed in Aphek would include everyone in the city when the walls fell.” (Wiseman) (Guzik)

Clearly a Miracle!

There have been times in my life that I look back and realize I am only here because of the grace of God! Clearly a miracle happened when I was felling a tree and it went wrong and it missed me by inches, but others would say it was just luck. 

Jesus had a similar problem when performing miracles!

“Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”” ‭‭

Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

What has God (the Father), God the Son (Jesus) or God (the Holy Spirit) done in your life that you can point to and say clearly a miracle, by the grace of God I am here today?

Blessings 

1 Kings 20:26-28 God’s Power is Every Where!

 “So it was, in the spring of the year, that Ben-Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. And the children of Israel were mustered and given provisions, and they went against them. Now the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, while the Syrians filled the countryside. Then a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The Lord is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ ”” I Kings‬ ‭20‬:‭26‬-‭28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Now the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, while the Syrians filled the countryside: When Ben-Hadad came to avenge their previous loss, he came with overwhelming force. Ben-Hadad didn’t want to risk another humiliation.

b. Because the Syrians have said, “The LORD is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand: God took the flawed theology of the Syrians as a personal insult. Our flawed and wrong ideas about God always take away from His glory and majesty, never adding to them.

i. “God resents their blasphemy, and is determined to punish it. They shall now be discomfited in such a way as to show that God’s power is every where, and that the multitude of a host is nothing against him.” (Clarke)

(Guzik)

God’s Power is Every Where!

When we examine our lives, the people around us and mother nature do you see the multitude of a host, that Gods power is every where?

I see it in the people He brought out of the depths of addiction. I see it in fellow Christians helping in countless ministries, helping the poor, distributing food, visiting people in hospitals. I see it in nature and in the heavens.

How can the foolish say there is no God?

“The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭14‬:‭1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

What does your heart tell you about God?

Blessings 

1 Kings 20:23-25 Put God in a Box?

 “Then the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they. So do this thing: Dismiss the kings, each from his position, and put captains in their places; and you shall muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain; surely we will be stronger than they.” And he listened to their voice and did so.”

‭‭I Kings‬ ‭20‬:‭23‬-‭25‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Their gods are gods of the hills: The idea of the localized deity was prominent in the ancient world. They felt that particular gods had authority over particular areas. Because the recent victory was won on hilly terrain, the servants of the king of Syria believed that the God of Israel was a localized deity with power over the hills, not the plains.

i. Here they imagined that God could be molded into an image that they wanted or could relate to. “The art of god-making is very common among men. Instead of going to revelation to see what God is, and humbly believing in him as he reveals himself, men sit down and consider what sort of God he ought to be, and in so doing they are no wiser than the man who makes a god of mud or wood or stone” (Spurgeon).

ii. Many today think that God is a God of hills but not of the plains. They think God is a God of the past but not of the present. They think God is a God of a few special favorites but not of all His people. They think that God is God of one kind of trial, but not of another kind. “Depend upon it, since Satan could not kill the church by roaring at her like a lion, he is now trying to crush her by hugging her like a bear. There is truth in this, but it is not all the truth. Do you really think, my brethren, that God cannot preserve his Church in the particular trial through which she is now passing? Is he the God of the hills of persecution, but not the God of the valleys of prosperity?” (Spurgeon).

iii. “Will God aid a Whitfield and not help a poor local preacher holding forth upon the green? Will he assist the earnest minister who addresses thousands, and desert the simple girl who teaches a dozen little children the old, old story of the cross? Is this after the fashion of God, to patronise the eminent and neglect the lowly? Does Jesus despise the day of small things?” (Spurgeon)

b. Then we will fight against them in the plain; surely we will be stronger than they: The action they recommended was logical, given their theology. Their theological belief directed their advice and action. (Guzik)

Put God in a box?

The servants of the king of Syria wrongly believed “Their gods are gods of the hills”! You can’t put God in a box and shape Him to fit your image of what you think God should be. He is the God that created the heavens and the earth! 

Do you only open the God box only on Sunday?

No my friends! He is either the God of everything or you are worshipping the wrong god! 

Recently we have been hanging a bird feeder with sunflower seeds and have been enjoying the seasonal birds that have been feeding on them. I thank God for their beauty and their wonderful singing! After a long hard winter it’s a blessing from God to witness the wonderful nature of spring!

Do you thank God for the simple things in life, like birds singing?

Blessings 

1 Kings 20:22 Preparation!

 “And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself; take note, and see what you should do, for in the spring of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.””

‭‭I Kings‬ ‭20‬:‭22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. The prophet came to the king of Israel: This nameless prophet again advised Ahab. The victory over Ben-Hadad did not end the conflict between Israel and Syria.

b. Go, strengthen yourself; take note, and see what you should do: The prophet directed Ahab to prepare for a Syrian attack in the coming spring. The prophet knew that God works through the careful preparation of His people.

(Guzik))

Preparation!

Just as the prophet advised Ahab, Paul advised us to prepare for spiritual warfare, for he wrote:

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6‬:‭11‬-‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Which is why I write this devotional because it helps me put on the armor of God and stay grounded in the word.

Do you prepare daily by putting on the armor of God?

Blessings 

1 Kings 20:13-15 By Whom?

 “Suddenly a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ ” So Ahab said, “By whom?” And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘By the young leaders of the provinces.’ ” Then he said, “Who will set the battle in order?” And he answered, “You.” Then he mustered the young leaders of the provinces, and there were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he mustered all the people, all the children of Israel—seven thousand.”

‭‭I Kings‬ ‭20‬:‭13‬-‭15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. A prophet approached Ahab king of Israel: This nameless prophet does not seem to be either Elijah or Elisha. He was one of the 7,000 in Israel that were quietly faithful to Yahweh.

i. Adam Clarke had an interesting (though unlikely) idea: “It is strange that on such an occasion we hear nothing of Elijah or Elisha. Is it not possible that this was one of them disguised?”

b. Behold, I will deliver it into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the LORD: This was a generous promise of God towards Ahab and Israel. Their hardened idolatry and rejection of God deserved divine abandonment. God had every right to just leave them alone and let them perish without His help. Yet God is rich in mercy, and He showed that mercy to Ahab and Israel.

i. There is a small irony in the statement, “and you shall know that I am the LORD.” Ahab saw the victory of Yahweh over the pagan god Baal on Mount Carmel – yet he was not completely convinced. Graciously, God would give him even moreevidence.

c. So Ahab said, “By whom”: Ahab looked around at his army and military leaders and naturally wondered how God could bring a victory against a mighty enemy with them. Ahab wondered who would lead the battle and God told him, “You.” God wanted to win this victory by working through the unlikely people Ahab already had.

i. Whenever a work for God is to be done, we often ask Ahab’s question: “By whom?”When many Christian leaders ask God that question, they expect God will answer by bringing someone new to them, a leader or champion that can do the work or at least help with it. However, God’s normal way of working is to use the people already with the Christian leader, even if they seem to be a very unlikely army.

ii. God would do this work against Syria and Ben-Hadad with an army of only seven thousand. Undoubtedly, these were not the same seven thousand that stayed faithful to God in Israel, but there was a correspondence between their numbers to show that God could and would work through each group. (Guzik)

By Whom?

We need to remind ourselves that God uses the weak to confound the wise!

“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;” ‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭27‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

When God chooses you to do something and you think you are unqualified, remember He chose you for a reason and He will give you the skill and fortitude to carry it out! Remember he chose a shepherd boy to take down a giant, he chose a stutterer to free the slaves and he chose you for __________? Fill in the blank!

Blessings 

1 Kings 20:10-12 Boasting!

 “Then Ben-Hadad sent to him and said, “The gods do so to me, and more also, if enough dust is left of Samaria for a handful for each of the people who follow me.” So the king of Israel answered and said, “Tell him, ‘Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.’ ” And it happened when Ben-Hadad heard this message, as he and the kings were drinking at the command post, that he said to his servants, “Get ready.” And they got ready to attack the city.” ‭‭I Kings‬ ‭20‬:‭10‬-‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. The gods do so to me, and more also: Jezebel swore a similar oath of vengeance against Elijah (1 Kings 19:2).

b. Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off: Though it was uncharacteristically bold speech from Ahab, it was also a wonderful piece of wisdom. The idea is that you should do your boasting after the battle, not before.

c. They got ready to attack the city: Syria and its allies readied, and the city of Samaria braced for a furious attack. (Guzik)

Boasting!

We’ve all been there, patting ourselves on the back about this or that but since being born again I prefer to boast about Jesus and what He has done for me! I recognize that I am a wretched sinner and without His grace and mercy of the cross I would be doomed to hell. As I age in my sunset years I know my life expectancy is not very long but I also know that the earth is not my home and look forward to my home in heaven! 

I love this quote from Charles Spurgeon, “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.”

We routinely pray for family members that are un-saved, praying that God puts the draw on them to His Son Jesus. I also love this quote from Charles Spurgeon on prayer, “Prayer pulls the rope below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly. Others give but an occasional pluck at the rope. But he who wins with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously, with all his might.”

How do you grasp the prayer rope?

Blessings