Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
And Ben-Hadad fled to the city and hid in an inner room.
His officials said to him, "Look, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful. Let us go to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life."
Wearing sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, they went to the king of Israel and said, "Your servant Ben-Hadad says: 'Please let me live.' " The king answered, "Is he still alive? He is my brother."
The men took this as a good sign and were quick to pick up his word. "Yes, your brother Ben-Hadad!" they said. "Go and get him," the king said. When Ben-Hadad came out, Ahab had him come up into his chariot.
"I will return the cities my father took from your father," Ben-Hadad offered. "You may set up your own market areas in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." Ahab said, "On the basis of a treaty I will set you free." So he made a treaty with him, and let him go.
By the word of the Lord one of the sons of the prophets said to his companion, "Strike me with your weapon," but the man refused. So the prophet said, "Because you have not obeyed the Lord, as soon as you leave me a lion will kill you." And after the man went away, a lion found him and killed him.
The prophet found another man and said, "Strike me, please." So the man struck him and wounded him. Then the prophet went and stood by the road waiting for the king. He disguised himself with his headband down over his eyes. As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him, "Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and someone came to me with a captive and said, 'Guard this man. If he is missing, it will be your life for his life, or you must pay a talent of silver.' While your servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared." "That is your sentence," the king of Israel said. "You have pronounced it yourself."
Then the prophet quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. He said to the king, "This is what the Lord says: 'You have set free a man I had determined should die. Therefore it is your life for his life, your people for his people.' "
Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went to his palace in Samaria.
1 Kings 20:30b-43
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
What happens when we fail to consult God about circumstances in our lives? We tend to lean on our own will and not His…and this typically leads to bad things.
This is the lesson underscored in today’s scripture as we find the surviving Aramean king, Ben-Hadad, seeking mercy after his army had been soundly defeated by Israel.
In fact, as our scripture passage opens, we find Ben-Hadad hiding “in an inner room”, afraid to go out for fear that he would be killed as his army had been…a victory that had been sealed through the word of the Lord issued to King Ahab, Israel’s king, through a prophet.
While in hiding, we read where Ben-Hadad’s officials went to him saying, “Look, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful. Let us go to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life." And so this is what they did as they went to Ahab “wearing sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads”.
As they came to Ahab, the officials said to him, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says: 'Please let me live.' "
Ok…now Ahab was at an important juncture. The Lord had been providing him guidance through the prophet which had not led him wrong yet. So as Ahab was faced with the king who had threatened him so vehemently before, he could have…and should have…turned to the Lord for guidance. He could have sought God’s will for the moment.
But he didn’t.
Instead, we read where Ahab answered the officials, “Is he still alive? He is my brother." These were hardly words that would bring alarm. And Ben-Hadad’s men realized it, seeing Ahab’s words as a “good sign” so they responded, “Yes, your brother Ben-Hadad!" So Ahab asked for the officials to go and get their king and invited him into his chariot.
Ben-Hadad immediately assumed a conciliatory posture telling Ahab he would “return the cities my father took from your father” while allowing Ahab to “set up your own market areas in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria."
Again, another important juncture.
Ben-Hadad was before him. The Lord had ordained victory twice over the Aramean king…once because the king foolishly thought the Israelites worshiped gods who were “gods of the hills” and not “gods of the valleys”. And we know how God felt about being mentioned with any other god. He didn’t approve. And yet, Ahab still didn’t turn to God to ensure the judgment he passed was in accordance with God’s will. No…instead, Ahab followed his own will.
For we read where Ahab says to Ben-Hadad, “On the basis of a treaty I will set you free." And that’s exactly what Ahab did…”made a treaty” with Ben-Hadad and then “let him go”. As we are about to see, he is going to regret that decision.
Meanwhile, the scripture shifts to a scene where we see “one of the sons of the prophets” saying to his companion “by the word of the Lord”, “Strike me with your weapon"…a command that the companion refused…again, a bad decision made by someone who decided to make their own mind up about what they were going to do vice ask the Lord what they should do.
So what happened? The son of the prophet told his companion, “Because you have not obeyed the Lord, as soon as you leave me a lion will kill you." And that’s exactly what happened. The companion’s decision to turn from the Lord was fatal.
Next, the son of the prophet “found another man” and asked him to "Strike me, please”…a request that the man complied with as he wounded the prophet and thus prepared him for his encounter with King Ahab.
We read where the prophet “disguised himself with his headband down over his eyes” and as King Ahab passed, the prophet called out to him saying, "Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and someone came to me with a captive and said, 'Guard this man. If he is missing, it will be your life for his life, or you must pay a talent of silver.' While your servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared." Not knowing he was addressing the prophet, Ahab quickly imposed his own judgment saying, “That is your sentence…You have pronounced it yourself." The once merciful Ahab…the Ahab who had made a treaty and set free an enemy king…now had no hesitation for endorsing the execution of a servant who had done the same thing.
And again…we find where Ahab did not even try to seek the Lord’s counsel on the matter.
Well…immediately after Ahab passed his judgment, we see where the “prophet quickly removed the headband from his eyes” revealing his real identity to Ahab before proclaiming, “This is what the Lord says: 'You have set free a man I had determined should die. Therefore it is your life for his life, your people for his people.' "
True judgment…God’s judgment…and His will had been imposed anyhow…whether Ahab sought it or not. And we can’t but help think the outcome would have been much better if Ahab had only consulted the Lord when he first had the opportunity.
So what about us?
Can you hear the Lord speaking loud and clear in this passage?
For He is reminding us that we should never rely on our own understanding or allow our will to supersede His in our lives.
He alone is Lord.
He alone is King.
He alone is our Master.
So why wouldn’t we allow Him to rule over every part of our lives?
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com
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