Womeninthechurch21

Women in the Bible

Lesson Twenty-one:

I debate whether to continue on with this next chapter in I Kings, but the more I look the more
I think it is appropriate to do so for it will set the stage for next week when Jezebel will go
about getting Naboth vineyard.

1 Kings 20:1-4 KJV
(1) 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.

A great army from Syria came to wage war and their leaders name was King Benhadad. Now
King Benhadad sent word to King Ahab. King Ahab being the wimp that he was seen this large
army coming and says sure you can have it all. I be honest King Ahab was not much of a king if
he was not willing to stand up and fight for what was his.

1 Kings 20:5-6 KJV
(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.

King Benhadad when he heard the news sent word back as if to say move over king, here I come
I am taking your possessions. Of course in the preceding verse Ahab said sure come on in. This
got Ahab to thinking. Maybe I should not of said you all can have the kingdom of Israel. So He
calls the elders of the land of Israel to him. And tells them all that has happened. They tell Ahab
do not give this bully anything. After all Israel had gone to battle many times over their land, so
what is knew, with God before the enemy has always been defeated. King Ahab then sends word
back disobeying the elders to ignore, telling King Benhadad that he would not give them
anything they desired. Ahab had changed his mind. He would go with the elders on this decision
not to give into Syria

1 Kings 20:7-9 KJV
(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.

King Benhadad of course was angry. He began to make threats. Then King Ahab warns King
Benhadad not to make threats and this makes King Benhadad mad. This almost sounds like to
little boys fighting over their G.I. Joe. Yet this is much more and much more dangerous to fight
over. King Benhadad then draws his men into battle lines against Israel.

1 Kings 20:10-12KJV
(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 Benhadad 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.

Now the prophet of the Lord comes to Ahab and tells him not to be afraid that he would win
the battle and he would know that the Lord reigns. Ahab reaction was whom would cause me to
win the battle? Who is going to order the battle? We must realize only a chapter ago Ahab had
seen fire fall on the altar that Elijah built when he challenges Baal prophets and slew them. Do
not remember what I am talking about go back a lesson and you will see. Ahab then prepares
his people for battle.

1 Kings 20:13-15 KJV
(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.

1 Kings 20:16-21 KJV
(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.

As the prophet had told Ahab they won the battle with ease. In fact when the battle began with
king Benhadad and the other leaders having a drunk party, not prepared for battle. King
Benhadad thought this was going to be a cinch to win. However, anyone that ever went against
Israel soon learned it would not be an easy task. Ahab did not trust God, but God was teaching
Ahab that he could depend on God if he chose too. Israel won that day, because God was in
charge.

1 Kings 20:22-26 KJV
(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.

Now the prophet came and told Ahab that Syria would come again. Syria thought that they lost
because Israel’s God was a god of the hills and so they decided to wage war in the plains. My
God is a God of all. Yet the King of Syria did not know this. And guess what Syria will loose
again. All this was showing Ahab who God is. Yet Ahab was not a king that feared God.

1 Kings 20:27-30 KJV
(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.

King Benhadad servants knew the kings of Israel were merciful. The servants went to see King
Ahab over the life of their king as well has their own welfare. A peace treaty between Syria is
negotiated.

1 Kings 20:31-34 KJV
(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 Benhadad 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.

Then a prophet son tells his neighbor to kill him. And the neighbor refuses and so the prophet
tells the neighbor because you refuse to obey what the Lord says you will be killed by a lion and
it happens.

1 Kings 20:35-36 KJV
(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.

Then the prophet goes to another man and tells him to kill him. The man does not but wounds
him. The prophet then put ash on his face to disguise himself from the king.

1 Kings 20:37-38 KJV
(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.

God was speaking through the prophet for a reason. Now the prophet address the king.

1 Kings 20:39-43 KJV
(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.

Now God is a merciful God and because of His mercy he would spare Ahab life, and allow him
to serve Him. Ahab was a wicked king. He had betrayed his people. He was going to sell out but
the Lord had told him he would win the battle. The man eaten by the lion was example of Ahab
defeating his enemy on the hill.

The second time the prophet asked a man to kill him, but the man only wounded, was example
of the second battle and the king showing King of Syria mercy. Yet Ahab showed mercy to
someone God had already set for destruction, because of the fact Benhadad had spoken against
God saying he was only a God of the hill. King Ahab life would be the same as the King
Benhadad.

Was God angry for the mercy Ahab shown the people, no. But was angry because he showed the
king mercy. Ahab did not repent for sin against God, neither did he seek God’s council in any
of his decision making. Instead God sent word to him through a prophet. Yet Ahab never once
said Lord what would you have me do.

How many times do we walk not in the will of God waiting on his direction, but instead listen to
those around us or just react to our own way of thinking. Ahab reacts to the King of Benhadad
without giving much thought to Israel. He then when realizes things are out of control and seeks
council. The council however proves only to cause Ahab to stir up more trouble. God however
shows who is in control and shows Ahab through a prophet that he would win the battle. Yet
instead of repenting, he walks away disturbed. Are you walking away disturbed from God? If
you are repent and stop resisting Him.