“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
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