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.
Now Ben-Hadad king of Aram mustered his entire army. Accompanied by thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots, he went up and besieged Samaria and attacked it. He sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, saying, "This is what Ben-Hadad says: 'Your silver and gold are mine, and the best of your wives and children are mine.' "
The king of Israel answered, "Just as you say, my lord the king. I and all I have are yours."
The messengers came again and said, "This is what Ben-Hadad says: 'I sent to demand your silver and gold, your wives and your children. But about this time tomorrow I am going to send my officials to search your palace and the houses of your officials. They will seize everything you value and carry it away.' "
1 Kings 20:1-6
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As Chapter 19 closed, we saw Elijah finding Elisha as commanded by God with the two of them setting out for an unknown destination together.
Chapter 20 opens in a new scene. In it, we find Ahab, king of Israel, and the land of Samaria under siege by Ben Hadad, king of Aram who had assembled a formidable force, “accompanied by thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots”.
Now this wasn’t the first time the Arameans had caused Israel trouble. You’ll recall that David and his army commander, Joab, were engaged in conflict with them in 2nd Samuel, Chapters 8 and 10. But David was a man after God’s own heart…and Ahab was far from in God’s favor, having been described in scripture as having “did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him” (1 Kings 16:30).
So it would be interesting to see how God would deal with Ahab now that he faced the massive army assembled by Ben-Hadad.
And how would Ahab deal with God in his time of trouble?
We’ll look at that first in today’s lesson and look into the latter tomorrow.
For after Ben-Hadad attacked Samaria, he “sent messengers into the city to Ahab”, bringing the following message:
“This is what Ben-Hadad says: 'Your silver and gold are mine, and the best of your wives and children are mine.' "
Wow! Silver and gold. Maybe you might reluctantly part with these but the best of Ahab’s wives and children. Could Ahab so easily dispense of them?
Unfortunately, he could.
For as we see, Ahab doesn’t turn to the Lord and ask for rescue. He doesn’t come before God and ask for guidance. He doesn’t do any of that.
Instead, he buckles over and gives in to his attacker saying, “Just as you say, my lord the king. I and all I have are yours."
So you would think that this was it…right?
Ben-Hadad asked for silver, gold, wives and children and Ahab obliged his request.
But look at what happens next.
For Ben-Hadad sends his messengers back to Ahab with another message. This time they share this message:
“This is what Ben-Hadad says: 'I sent to demand your silver and gold, your wives and your children. But about this time tomorrow I am going to send my officials to search your palace and the houses of your officials. They will seize everything you value and carry it away.' "
Once Ahab gave an inch, Ben-Hadad came back to take a mile.
And so it is in our lives when we stop turning to God and start trying to deal with Satan and the sin in our life.
For Satan will start small and get us to surrender a little bit of ourselves to him as we are drawn toward the world’s ways and desires…the ways and desires that take us away from the Lord.
And as we begin to give an inch, failing to turn to God when Satan starts to attack and besiege us, then Satan comes back…just as Ben-Hadad did…and seek to take everything from us…to take us away from the Lord completely.
Know and trust that this is Satan’s sole goal. To destroy every good and perfect thing God has created and this includes you and I. We simply cannot allow ourselves to be drawn away from the protection and strength of our Lord…the One who Satan can never stand against…the One who has already gained the victory over him…the One who has promised eternal life to all who believe and trust in Him…Jesus who conquered the grave and paved the way for us to do likewise as we find our way to the Father through Him. His word tells us that’s the only way (John 14:6).
Friends, are you allowing Satan to have you…one inch at a time. If so, it’s time to turn away from him and run back into the arms of the Lord…like the returning prodigal son Jesus spoke of who allowed Satan to lead him into complete demise before he woke up.
The prodigal gave an inch…and Satan took a mile.
Let’s not repeat the mistakes of the past. God’s word is speaking to us and trying to prevent just that. And that’s why we love the Word so very much. 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
No comments:
Post a Comment