Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said to them, "See how this man is looking for trouble! When he sent for my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, I did not refuse him."
The elders and the people all answered, "Don't listen to him or agree to his demands."
So he replied to Ben-Hadad's messengers, "Tell my lord the king, 'Your servant will do all you demanded the first time, but this demand I cannot meet.' " They left and took the answer back to Ben-Hadad.
Then Ben-Hadad sent another message to Ahab: "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if enough dust remains in Samaria to give each of my men a handful."
The king of Israel answered, "Tell him: 'One who puts on his armor should not boast like one who takes it off.' "
Ben-Hadad heard this message while he and the kings were drinking in their tents, and he ordered his men: "Prepare to attack." So they prepared to attack the city.
Meanwhile a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel and announced, "This is what the Lord says: 'Do you see this vast army? I will give it into your hand today, and then you will know that I am the Lord.' "
"But who will do this?" asked Ahab.
The prophet replied, "This is what the Lord says: 'The young officers of the provincial commanders will do it.' "
"And who will start the battle?" he asked.
The prophet answered, "You will."
So Ahab summoned the young officers of the provincial commanders, 232 men. Then he assembled the rest of the Israelites, 7,000 in all. They set out at noon while Ben-Hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk. The young officers of the provincial commanders went out first.
Now Ben-Hadad had dispatched scouts, who reported, "Men are advancing from Samaria."
He said, "If they have come out for peace, take them alive; if they have come out for war, take them alive."
The young officers of the provincial commanders marched out of the city with the army behind them and each one struck down his opponent. At that, the Arameans fled, with the Israelites in pursuit. But Ben-Hadad king of Aram escaped on horseback with some of his horsemen. The king of Israel advanced and overpowered the horses and chariots and inflicted heavy losses on the Arameans.
Afterward, the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, "Strengthen your position and see what must be done, because next spring the king of Aram will attack you again."
Meanwhile, the officials of the king of Aram advised him, "Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they. Do this: Remove all the kings from their commands and replace them with other officers. You must also raise an army like the one you lost—horse for horse and chariot for chariot—so we can fight Israel on the plains. Then surely we will be stronger than they." He agreed with them and acted accordingly.
The next spring Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. When the Israelites were also mustered and given provisions, they marched out to meet them. The Israelites camped opposite them like two small flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside.
The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, "This is what the Lord says: 'Because the Arameans think the Lord is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord.' "
For seven days they camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle was joined. The Israelites inflicted a hundred thousand casualties on the Aramean foot soldiers in one day. The rest of them escaped to the city of Aphek, where the wall collapsed on twenty-seven thousand of them. And Ben-Hadad fled to the city and hid in an inner room.
1 Kings 20:7-30
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As Chapter 20 opened, we saw Samaria and the people of Israel under siege by Ben-Hadad, king of Aram who had amassed a coalition of 32 kings and their associated horses, chariots and men. It was a formidable force which allowed Ben-Hadad to make demands of Ahab who found himself in a position to negotiate or face extinction.
You’ll recall how Ben-Hadad first asked for Israel’s silver and gold as well as Ahab’s finest wives and children. And after Ahab agreed to give Ben-Hadad what he wanted, the Aramean leader then demanded even more…threatening to send his “officials to search (Ahab’s) palace and the houses of (his) officials” after which Ben-Hadad’s men would “seize everything” that Ahab valued and “carry it away.' "
Ahab had given Ben-Hadad an inch and the Aramean was now wanting to take a mile.
Well…in today’s passage, we find a frustrated and angry Ahab summoning “all the elders of the land” before addressing them saying, “See how this man is looking for trouble! When he sent for my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, I did not refuse him." And the elders advised Ahab to not give in to Ben-Hadad’s further demands.
So Ahab gave the following reply to Ben-Hadad via his messengers”:
"Tell my lord the king, 'Your servant will do all you demanded the first time, but this demand I cannot meet.' "
The reply wasn’t very well received by the confident, arrogant attacking king of Aram as he sent yet another message to Ahab saying, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if enough dust remains in Samaria to give each of my men a handful." To which an undaunted King Ahab responded, “One who puts on his armor should not boast like one who takes it off" which was akin to a popular present day saying, “Don’t count your chickens until they’re hatched”.
And so the battle lines had been drawn. Ben-Hadad made demands and threats if his demands were not met. Ahab rejected Ben-Hadad’s requests, willing to fight instead of surrender everything.
And so Ben-Hadad, drinking with his kings, “ordered his men” to "Prepare to attack” which they did.
How would Ahab and his people be able to stand against the seemingly insurmountable might of Ben-Hadad…who was setting a plan of destruction and annihilation in motion?
As we’ll see, only God could intervene to save them with a plan of His own.
For as Ben-Hadad’s men prepared to attack, we read where “a prophet came to Ahab” and announced, "This is what the Lord says: 'Do you see this vast army? I will give it into your hand today, and then you will know that I am the Lord.' "
The words must have seemed amazing to Ahab. He immediately asked, "But who will do this?" In other words, Ahab was essentially asking, “What resource do I have that is anywhere close to being able to match up against my imposing enemy?”
The prophet had an answer that must have been as equally amazing as the assertion that Ahab could have victory over Ben-Hadad in battle. For the prophet told Ahab that the Lord had told him “the young officers of the provincial commanders will do it." The very existence of Israel would be in the hands of 232 young men after Ahab started the war as God desired.
Wow! 232 men against an enormous army. What would be the odds of victory in conventional wisdom? Not very good I’m afraid. But the Lord is far from conventional, is He? As we have seen in the scriptures…as we will continue to see in the scriptures…as we see every single day in our present day existence…there is nothing impossible with God.
Ahab believed it and we need to as well.
We know Ahab believed it because he “summoned the young officers of the provincial commanders”…all 232 men…before assembling “the rest of the Israelites” who numbered 7,000. The assembled Israelite army “set out at noon while Ben-Hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk” with the “young officers of the provincial commanders going out first.
Well…Ben-Hadad’s scouts witnessed Israel’s advance and reported, “Men are advancing from Samaria." To which Ben Hadad replied, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; if they have come out for war, take them alive." Israel had no such intention of sparing anyone for we read where “the young officers of the provincial commanders marched out of the city with the army behind them and each one struck down his opponent”…just as the Lord had predicted. And with that, “the Arameans fled…with the Israelites in pursuit”. The Aramean king, Ben-Hadad, “escaped on horseback with some of his horsemen” while Ahab and his men advanced, overpowering the “horses and chariots” while “inflicting heavy losses on the Arameans”.
God’s plan reigned supreme over any plan the earthly kings may have tried to put together.
But God wasn’t done in this passage. Because He knew well before anyone in Israel that Ben-Hadad and the Arameans would not give up so easily. They would be back in the spring to attack again so the prophet urged Ahab to “strengthen your position and see what must be done”. And Ahab obeyed the recommendation of the prophet.
Meanwhile, the prophecy was playing out in truth. Ben-Hadad’s officials offered him the following ill-advised counsel saying:
“Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they. Do this: Remove all the kings from their commands and replace them with other officers. You must also raise an army like the one you lost—horse for horse and chariot for chariot—so we can fight Israel on the plains. Then surely we will be stronger than they."
And so Ben-Hadad agreed with their advice and preparations began for a second attack.
You may have thought that God would have laughed at the absurdity of the officials’ words. First, there were no gods…just one Almighty, Infinitely Powerful God…just as there is today and will be forever more.
Secondly, the assertion that God would be weak in any area over another was simply ludicrous. God surely had to get a laugh out of their ignorance as surely they had no idea of who they were dealing with.
And so the next spring came around and we read where “Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel” who “also mustered” and “marched out to meet them”. Highlighting the huge advantage in sheer numbers that the Arameans had over the Israelites, we see where the Israelites were likened to “two small flocks of goats” who were up against an enemy army who “covered the countryside”.
Again, the odds didn’t look good but also again…God was with Israel as we see the prophet reenter with more news from the Lord. The prophet tells Ahab, “This is what the Lord says: 'Because the Arameans think the Lord is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord.' " The Lord had set the stage yet again for victory.
So “for seven days”, the two armies “camped opposite each other” before the battle began. And scripture tells us of further Israelite success, just as the Lord had promised. For “the Israelites inflicted a hundred thousand casualties on the Aramean foot soldiers in one day” and any Aramean survivors “escaped to the city of Aphek” where further death awaited when a “wall collapsed on twenty-seven thousand of them”.
And as for Ben-Hadad, he must have been at a point where he had seen enough. For we read where he “fled to the city and hid in an inner room”. The Lord had prevailed.
Friends, there is a powerful message to be drawn from today’s scripture lesson, especially in the times we live in today. The economy is terrible. Homes have been lost. Ditto for jobs. Foreclosures and unemployment seem to be rising in unison with one another. Yes…these are tough times…times which may put any of us in a position where the odds against us seem insurmountable…just as it must have seemed for the small Israelite contingent as they faced the Arameans and Ben-Hadad.
But insurmountable is not a word in God’s vocabulary. Because in the end, He and the plans He has for our lives will prevail…if we just take the time to trust in Him.
This Lord…the Lord of Israel…the Lord of all…assured us by His words that with Him, nothing is impossible. Israel believed it and it led to victory for them…not just once but twice. And He is ready to lead us to victory as well…all we need to do is seek Him and trust Him.
So where are you today? Are you going through difficulties that leave you feeling like there is no way you can win? Are you feeling hopeless…despaired…depressed…lost?
If so, know the Lord has never left your side. He promised He would never leave us nor forsake us. He has a perfect plan for each of His children…if His children would only exercise the patience and faith to allow that perfect plan to be carried out.
So trust in the Lord…believe He has a perfect plan for you…and know His plans always prevail…no matter how hard Satan might try to plot and scheme otherwise.
That was good news for Israel in the days of Ahab.
And it’s still good news for us today.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
No comments:
Post a Comment