#487 Shots All Around

And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it.

2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad,

3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.

4 And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have.

5 And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Benhadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;

6 Yet I will send my servants unto thee to morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away.

7 Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.

8 And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent.

9 Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Benhadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again.

10 And Benhadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.

11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.

12 And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.

13 And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.

14 And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, Thou.

15 Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.

16 And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.

17 And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Benhadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.

18 And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive.

19 So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them.

20 And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen.

21 And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.

22 And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.

23 And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

24 And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms:

25 And number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.

26 And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.

27 And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.

28 And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

29 And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day.

30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.

31 And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.

32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.

33 Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother Benhadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.

34 And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.

35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the Lord, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.

36 Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.

37 Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him.

38 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.

39 And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.

40 And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.

41 And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets.

42 And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.

43 And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria. 1 Kings 20 KJV

I have put behind me the God of Abraham, followed the gods of men rather than the God that brought us here. Another king, who is by numbers and might, greater than my present ability, stands outside my door. I cannot hope in Baal again, I cannot call out to the only true God that I know of, for I am an idolater. Take my wives and my children then if it will save my skin, here is my silver and my gold. When you stand down this easy, some men may say it is to the greater good, that this is peace which will avoid war. But careful of that yoke you will place upon your own people to avoid the rope that may find your neck. It is your job as the government to defend the freedom and good will of your people. You have live off of Israel, led them to chase idols, taken of their best, mocked and traded their heritage for that of evil doers, and here is your one chance to perform your duty to that of the public good, and you instantly fold. Now thankfully, a thief will know a thief, neither being great shepherds will trust the other, but now Benhadad is showing himself even more brazened. I mean, if the great king Ahab shall give up this much, shall bow down so quickly, then I shall ask for more. Ok, now Ahab sees an issue, now maybe I should seek counsel, I don't think I trust this guy, not so much what he will do to the kingdom, but probably what he may do to me, I sense mischief. He is advised not to surrender. His answer back to the Syrians is a metaphor; don't speak from the position of the fighter whose hand is being raised, when you have not yet stepped in the cage. Benhadad has already won in his mind and as the immature and those posing as the shepherd will do, he is already drunk and celebrating with his princes. Now he will make demands from a drunken and arrogant state, full of himself and what he senses can be within a short reach, grasping at those things that can easily belong to the greater force. 

Now a prophet comes, and he walks the great king through what must be done, and who shall order the battle. Whether they come for peace or war, take them alive, maybe you shouldn't get so drunk in times like these, when you come to threaten people with slavery or to take what does not belong to you. It is a small defending force, and the Syrians continue at their drink, like they have come to be entertained. What they don't know is that the battle is the Lord's and He has given it to Ahab, wow, if Elijah was confused before, he would really be shocked at this. How many times does a man get the chance to repent and be saved, what could Ahab possibly have to claim after this? They destroy the Syrian onslaught, but the prophet warns him to make himself ready, because they will be back. 

The Syrians have some time to reflect and they don't come to the right answer, only another way. We had the numbers, we had the weapons, we almost walked in without a battle, so what happened? I know, it was because we were in the hills, and their gods are the gods of the hills. Remember Moses went up on the mount, that cute story about Elijah and the mountain, the rumbling, the fire, the wind and the rocks. David looked to the hills, so if we brought them down to the valley, away from their hill gods, then we can take them. We laugh now, but so many still put so much together this way, and here it angers God. He will not defend Ahab for his righteousness, because there is none, but that He is understood not for Who He is, and limited to the hills, He will defend the truth. Ahab will benefit because God will let it be known Who He is, the Lord of everything, over every king, hill and valley. It doesn't matter how you see Him, what you think He has jurisdiction over, all that matters is Who He is. Ahab wipes them out, and the king that would own Ahab and all of Israel, is now dressing himself down, he is making an emotional appeal to Ahab's pride and position. Ahab of course has more respect unto position so he protects that in this man, never correcting him of his sin against God. He does not hold up God's name, but takes the worthless and simple honors of having streets named after him, calling this enemy of God, brother. He identifies more with this man, and would be more gracious than God himself, showing mercy where God has not, hoping for it where it cannot be. God's grace also changes us. He makes no mention of it here, and when the prophet ask to be struck, it is what the Syrian king had also begged with his actions, never mind his empty lip service now. If I break into your house uninvited, make myself a threat to your life, then my life is on my own head, if you withhold justice, the defense of yourself and your family, are you really holding to a higher moral standard? Ahab didn't have what it takes to win either time, so he should give God the glory.

When you choose to reject the Son of God, then you choose to stand on your own merit. The law will remain no matter what we think. If we think little of it then we will get to test that in the end, if we think much of our own greatness, our crowns, then we judge that we don't believe what God says, or that He is Who He says. "There is no God," so like the king said, "so shall thy judgement be; thyself has decided it."

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self,[f] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4: 17-24