1 Kings 20 (Part 1) Bible Study (Ahab's Wars with Syria/Defeats Ben-hadad) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Meet me in first Kings chapter 20 in your bibles, please. I know brother Brian prayed so beautifully. I I would like for us to pray again because I'm aware, of my neediness at this time, and I wanna be of service to you by the help of the Holy Spirit. Father, I I genuinely posture my heart with my brothers and sisters before you and ask that you would be gracious to us by using this time for us to know Christ in a greater level through the empowering work of the Holy Spirit. So, Lord, please, may we have a real, genuine, unforgettable moment with you through your word, imprint these things so deeply in our hearts, and may we leave here genuinely transformed by the things that you've prepared in this chapter the moment you authored them.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I believe it is appropriate to give a brief recap since there was a small pause last week as pastor Mark spoke through and, from the book of Jonah. God almighty, at this point in Israel's history, sanctioned a three year drought. And it was during those three years that God was seeking to get the attention of an apostate nation.

And after three years, God would do so by using Elijah the prophet as his main instrument to absolutely humiliate the prophets of Baal and Baalism by positioning the nation to witness a man who prayed to the true and living God to send fire down from heaven, to consume a sacrifice, prove that he is the true God, and more than that, to follow that act of judgment though not directly towards the people with an act of absolute grace and mercy in providing rain from the same heavens. The nation of Israel confessed that the Lord is God. Ahab and Jezebel remained unrepentant. And Elijah shortly after, with a withering faith, ran into the wilderness at the threat of Jezebel. And God in the chapter that we studied prior to this gently restored him and brought him to a new work.

And so that is where we ended in our study of first Kings. And we are ready now to open this up realizing that Elijah is now rejuvenated. Ahab and Jezebel are still unrepentant and the nation as a whole is recovering from a crippling three year drought. Here's what's gonna be interesting about first Kings chapter 20. You're not gonna find Elijah or Jezebel mentioned once.

It's just gonna be Ahab. Now to some, that may give them the impression that this chapter may not be as significant as the neighboring ones, and that would be a great mistake. When you come to this chapter, you have to have the same expectation as the one surrounding that is jam packed with action and obvious truths that were in those chapters. It is no different with this one. Some may dismiss it because they feel as though it doesn't have relevance to the whole story.

It doesn't seem to connect with the overall theme. But you and I are gonna conclude otherwise as we study this chapter that it very much is placed where it is for good reason and it does seamlessly flow with what we have been doing together on a weekly basis. And so we're ready to read this. We're not gonna treat it lightly. And one way we're not gonna treat it lightly is there is no way we're gonna cover all of this in one session.

So here we are on a Friday night. Hopefully, we'll cover the first 21 verses together. But I want us to just read verse one with the recap brought to our minds and pause right from verse one to ask some questions. Ben Hadad, the king of Syria, gathered all his army together. 32 kings were with him and horses and chariots, and he went up and closed in on Samaria and fought against it.

Right there, I want us to stop. Because my question is, in light of what we studied in the previous weeks, what do we make of this? And you have to consider what we've gathered so far. And the main thing that we must gather as Ahab is the focus of this chapter is Ahab is still unchanged. Though God showed his discipline with that famine, unchanged.

Though God showed his great mercy through providing rain, unchanged. He's still the same Ahab. Despite all that the Lord has done, he is remaining in a place of what? Deadening his conscience. And what we read here seems to be random, but it's not.

It's a divinely orchestrated attempt for God to awaken this man's heart. It's another plan orchestrated by providence for Ahab to realize something of his neediness of God, of how God is the true God, of how he needs to return to him. So when you read this, you might get the impression, okay, here it is. Everything that God has done, Ahab, you still stiffen your neck, judgment has arrived at your front door. But that's not the case.

Judgment isn't coming by means of foreign forces. No. No. No. No.

No. No. No. What the Lord has prepared to do is he's setting the stage to provide Ahab deliverance. Deliverance instead of defeat.

Mercy instead of destruction. And this might seem strange to us, maybe hard to believe, but let me let me squash any doubt without any delay. When you go down to verse 13, you'll see what I mean. Look at first Kings 20 verse 13. And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, thus says the Lord, have you seen all this great multitude?

Behold, I will give it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the Lord. So a prophet will enter into the scene in in a few verses, and he's here to give Ahab God's mind behind this whole circumstance. God is ready to bring victory to you, Ahab, and he wants you to see further evidence that he is a true god. You might have difficulty accepting that, but no matter how much challenge you are experiencing in grasping the grace of god, it will never be it'll never erase the reality of it. That's exactly what you see here.

You see yet another example of God giving to the most undeserving of himself and it is exemplified by his promise to actually save Ahab and not destroy Ahab. And you think, this is a familiar truth, and it is a familiar truth. And notice how it is beautifully bridged with what you and I studied about Elijah. What was chapter 19 all about mainly? A dejected, disillusioned, confused prophet who doubted God's goodness, doubted God's wisdom, doubted God's power.

And what did the Lord do? He personally attended to him and patiently restored him to where he needed to be. And as heart moving as it was to see the Lord coming as the angel of the Lord and being somewhat of a personal butler, we see God's compassion extending even further. Because now in chapter 20, he he is not now tending to a servant who is just wounded and broken. Not a prophet, not a man of God, No.

One who has consistently resisted and despised the Lord Almighty. That's what the Lord is doing here. So your breath was taken away by seeing Elijah being taken care of by God. Now try to catch your breath again as you see the Lord doing it with the most unlikely Ahab. It seems scandalous And that's perhaps the reason why behold shows up in verse 13.

You read it with me. Right? Twice, it says, and behold in the beginning of the verse, and then later, behold, I will give into your hand this day. It appears twice as though the prophet's gracious appearance and this unthinkable promise is meant to amaze you. It is meant to amaze you.

God's grace is meant to do that to you. And we're gonna explore this further in a moment, but I want us to see what happens in verse two. So Ahab is surrounded by not just one king, a coalition of kings, 33 in total. And verse two we read, and he sent messengers into the city of Ahab, king of Israel, and said to him, thus says Ben Hadad, your silver and your gold are mine. Your best wives and children are also mine also are mine.

Verse four, and the king of Israel answered, as you say, my lord, oh king, I am yours and all that I have. So Ben Hadad is very bold here because he realizes that he has a clear military advantage. Not only does he have the partnership of these neighboring kings, he understands that Ahab and his people have just crossed and are just trying to gather themselves from a a three year, debilitating kind of experience economically in a military standpoint. They're they're trying to recover from a drought, so this is the right time to come and to siege these people. And he comes with this claim that everything that Ahab owns, at least most of it, is now his.

So I'm just letting you know, I'm not asking you. I'm telling you what you own, even your family, belongs to me. And you know what Ahab does? He rolls over. No objection, no question, no defense.

He just says, it's yours. Take it. Now if Ahab had the eyes of faith, then he would realize that his victory and his ability to overcome this would not would not depend on any of his resources, no matter how great or small. But he doesn't have the eyes of faith. He doesn't know the true and living God.

And so this is not surprising. He's yielding. He gives into this. And this heartless request of the Syrian king is easily surrendered to. And when you meditate on Ahab's response, you get even more insight about about some principles that apply to you and I.

Look at verse four again. He says, as you say, my lord, oh king, I am yours and all that I have. What comes to mind when you read his response to the orders of this menacing ruler? Can I tell you what comes to mind? I was absolutely infuriated that Ahab was so willing to quickly surrender to this king but not God.

Listen to the words again. All that I am. I am yours and all that I have. Why why wouldn't you give yourself in that way to the Lord? Why give yourself slavishly to this man?

Why so easily surrender to a cruel king, and yet you have hesitate to give yourself to the merciful king? And you read this and you might be moved, with disgust. But can I tell you that millions today imitate the condemnable kind of surrender that Ahab presents here? Is it a strange thing that there are so many in life and throughout human history that have given themselves over whether through fear or faulty persuasions to inferior masters. You might be a person here today who is dedicated to something more than God.

And I'm afraid that Ahab's attitude here is replicated in different ways. Sure. Different kind of master. Sure. But in the same truth, and that what belongs to God is often given to something or someone else.

And this is something that moves me. But again, there's still more to learn about Ahab through this. Consider his self centeredness. What did the king ask of him? I understand the first part.

It says here in verse two, thus says Benin had, verse three, your silver and your gold are mine. Alright. You wanna take my money? If this is about money, take the money. But he doesn't say that.

He says your best wives and your children are also mine. Any good father, any reasonable husband would absolutely reject such a disgusting claim because you're wired to defend and give your life if you have to to those whom have been entrusted to you, namely your spouse and your children. And yet this guy just gives it over like it's nothing. Now jokingly, maybe one reason why he was willing to do is because who's this guy's wife? We're taking your best wife.

Take her. I don't want her. She's caused me a lot of trouble. But I don't wanna see it that way. What you see instead is a man here is so self absorbed to the degree that even when the closest people to him were threatened, as long as he wasn't touched, he didn't mind.

If you have difficulty believing that this is Ahab's mindset, scroll down to verse five and six because this is not the only request that Ben Hadad will make. When he realizes that there was no resistance from Ahab, he goes even further. Notice this in verse five and six. The messengers came again and said, thus says Ben Hadad, I sent to you saying, deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children. Nevertheless, I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants and lay hands on whatever pleases you and take it away.

So notice the king of Syria, he highlights that he is now coming to seize what pleases Ahab. Underscore that. And it wasn't until that nerve was touched, does Ahab get off his throne, stand to his feet, and is willing now to defend himself. The money, the wives, the children, sure. But coming in to place your fingertips on what pleases me, no, no, no, no.

You got another thing coming. This is messed up. This is ugly. Yes. It's a unique situation, but the principle lives on.

Selfishness is hideous. It's despicable. And not only is it ugly, it is relationally deadly. Relationally deadly. In this case, Ahab's self focused way of life cost him, would cost him his relationship with his spouse and the well-being of his children.

You know, you have a lot of people who wanna get married. That's wonderful. Let me tell you something heads up. If you're a selfish person, stay away from marriage. Stay away from having a family.

You have no idea what you're signing up for. Because with all the joys of companionship and responsibility even, there is a high call of dying to self in a way that you never knew when you're walking this world alone. And if you are a person who hasn't already disciplined themselves in the context that you find yourself in or in this time of life, to to say, Lord, help me have I said on others more than myself, then you are in for a great surprise. Ahab's a sad example to remind you and I that when you try to when you make your life about protecting what you want in your little world, it will always cost you more. That pursuit will always cause you to give up more than whatever you think you're gaining.

What did the apostle Paul say in quoting Jesus? Interestingly, in Acts 20, you never find these words in the gospel where Paul tells the elders in the church of Ephesus that it is more blessed to give than it is to receive. And there's a whole reason why I think Paul quoted Jesus, though you can't find it in the four gospels. It's the way Christ lived. It's it was the motto of his earthly existence.

Giving, giving, giving, and there's greater blessing in that. And there's a similar truth that we can identify in this story from an unlikely vantage point, not from Ahab, but when you actually look at it from Ben Hadad's perspective. So again, look back at verse five and six. Ben Adad sent messengers. They came again and said, thus says Ben Adad, I sent to you saying, delivered me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children.

Nevertheless, I will send my service to you tomorrow about this time and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants, and lay hands on whatever pleases you, and take it away. So when the the king of Syria realized that was easy, all we had to do is ask the guy and he said, here you go. I'm coming for more. And so Ahab, heads up. I'm actually gonna take more than I had originally planned.

Whatever I want previously, I'm coming to to acquire more than I had planned. And what's so interesting here is that, yeah, he's taking advantage of a weak minded individual but let's be clear here. The the request of the king of Syria is reprehensible. It's evil. But I want you to see again the principal truth here.

He had already gained in his first request something, but as he asked for more, that's actually gonna lead to his downfall. In other words, if Ben Haddad had just been content with what he had originally won, he he probably would have escaped this whole situation. But because he reached out, it would actually lead to his demise. You know what you read here? You read something about covetousness.

What is covetousness? Very simply put, it's desiring something or someone that doesn't belong to you. You know, I heard somebody speak about a priest who throughout decades of hearing people confess in, you know, one of those booths. And he has heard so many people confess a large and wide spectrum of sins, horrific sins, secret sins, unthinkable sins. But somebody interviewed him and asked me about his experience as a priest hearing these things, and the priest said something quite insightful.

He said, out of all the things that I've heard over the decades, I've never heard one person confess the sin of coveting. It's not a sin that we consider to be sin. It's what some would deem as a respectable sin, and it doesn't necessarily materialize. Maybe that's why we don't see it as heinous as it is. It can just live in the heart.

It can manifest in action, but ultimately it's there. It's something that's unchallenged and harbors, you wanting and craving something that God has not prescribed for your life. And this is a wonderful illustration of a man who went beyond the means, and that would actually be his death sentence. Yet selfishness is relationally lethal, no doubt, and equally dangerous are the crushing effects of covetousness. Know this, when you allow your heart to pump a covetous thought or patterns of thoughts and meditations and fantasies, It will murder joy.

It will slaughter peace. It will kidnap personal gratitude unto God. And let it live there long enough, and I promise you, it will birth ugly children. Their names are envy, jealousy, slander, and even strife. I could tell you this for certain, to harbor harbor a covetous hearts heart is to entertain spiritual suicide.

You will. You will know a a death in the inner man. And listen, it can even reach a point where you will cause physical harm, various degrees of it. Paul said something so fascinating about this subject. I would encourage you to turn there in our study.

It's in Philippians, not chapter one, like how we open the service, but in chapter four, he says something that I think will help us. It'll encourage us, and it will sober us. In the Philippians four, look at verse 11. He says, not that I am speaking of being in need for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. Notice those few words there in verse 11.

For I have learned. What does that imply? Somebody tell me what that implies. For Paul, the apostle, the mighty spiritual giant to say, I have learned to be content. What does that imply about human nature?

Is it your disposition and mine to be content? It's not your disposition. It's actually your disposition and mine to be discontent in every situation you're in. That's your wiring, you son and daughter of Adam. That's your wiring and mine to be discontent, to be complaining, to be void of worship in every situation you find yourself, no matter how good it is.

And yet Paul can say, I have learned to be content, which also tells me that it might take a few classes in the class of contentment to finally get it. I have learned. And then he goes on with this language in verse 12, I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound in any and every circumstance. I have again, I have learned. I have learned the secret.

Oh, okay. So that's what that's what Paul learned. There's a secret to contentment. So it's not this drawn out curriculum necessarily. It's just you being convinced of one simple thing.

And notice the way Paul describes his experience with contentment. It's not theoretical. It's not theological merely. It's experiential. He's saying, look, I know I know what it's like to be bralole.

I know what it's like to abound. And then he goes on to cover all bases and saying, in every circumstance, no matter what you name, I have learned the secret. So there's a secret that you have to unlock if you can even know the ABCs of contentment. And here's the secret. I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance, and need.

You know what the secret is? Verse 13. One of the most taken out of context verses in modern Christianity. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. I can do all things.

This is why honoring the context, makes singular truths or verses more impactful. What is he speaking about in context? He's not speaking about bench pressing. He's not speaking about beating a world record for a track meet. He's not speaking about that.

He's speaking about being content in all ways and in all things. What's the secret of being content with your lot in life, with this season of life? Christ strengthening you. So you can't know this perpetual uninterrupted contentment apart from Christ. And if if Paul's experience of contentment was experiential, may I say this?

So should and must your experience of Christ. If Christ is just a mere theological point in your thinking, you're never gonna know real contentment. You're You're just gonna be stirred for the time that the preacher talks about it and it'll dissipate before you get to your driver's seat. But until you know what it's like to actually have Christ do a work in your soul, where you know him to the degree where it's like, I'm the richest person on this planet is just gonna be an idea. And I feel bad for so many professing Christians because they are wandering in a proverbial wilderness looking for something.

They can't settle. They can't settle. The thought of remaining in one place without change is haunting to them. And I'm trying to tell you, you can know a stabilizing grace from heaven if you tap into your realization that only Christ in me, his strength through my relationship with him is the secret for me knowing contentment. Know Christ, know contentment.

You have Christ, you don't need anything else to be content. Too good to be true? One of the greatest treasures of the gospel. So if you park yourself in any corner of the earth with a palace on the beach, whatever your ideal is, if you don't have Christ, you'll be a miserable creature. Stick me in an igloo with Christ, and I'll be the happiest.

This is Paul either exaggerating or being poetic or it is an invitation to a life which Jesus called an abundant life. So here we have Benedetto reaching, and when he reaches, he's actually going to be signing his own death sentence. So his aggressive military strategy has more to teach us, believe it or not, primarily about spiritual warfare. So we're back here. We're still in verse five and six.

I wanna I wanna talk to you about two things concerning spiritual warfare in this real scenario of war. One is personal and one is for the corporate church. Ben Hadad is a wonderful, wonderful illustration of how sin operates in our lives. Sin doesn't want just some of you, it wants to dominate you. Sin is not happy with, robbing a part of your life, it wants to destroy your life.

And I need you to please, you and I together, to remember that we can never negotiate with temptation. Never. When an opportunity arises for you to entertain something that is contrary to the will of God, to try to make a deal with that is a dangerous game to play. It never works out in the end. Because sin is deceptively merciless and it will never settle for affecting only part of your existence.

You have to realize always that temptation is like that bait dangling before your face, but the mature the spiritually mature will realize there's a hook behind that thing that seems to be so tasty and beneficial at this time. And even if I nibble on it, it has the potential of hooking to my jaw and pulling me in a direction with a level of pain that I did not expect. So, again, if you wanna know a life where you don't experience scars from sin, I believe this is one of the things that you need to do. You need to be mindful of the fact that I I can't I can't try to make a deal with this. I'm cutting it off completely.

I'm gonna give it no oxygen. It's not gonna have a chance to even breathe one breath in my presence. See, that sounds a little intense. Yeah. That's war.

That's war. And you wonder why so many are stumbling and fumbling. I I'll tell you one reason why, because they don't realize how deadly this thing is. So Benedet says, I wanna take your gold, your silver. I wanna take your wives and your children.

Yeah. Sure. Take it. I'm actually here to collect more. Sin will do the same.

Sin will do the same. But let's talk about it from a corporate perspective. Ben Hadad's conquering scheme here is a wonderful example of how Satan operates within the church. Yes, in many ways, but in the way I'm thinking is particularly with doctrine. You and I are hearing the buzzing and are seeing the constant reels of new and strengthening agendas that fly in the face of what you and I believe in this book.

And I'll tell you one of the strategies of the evil one in the world that he rules, that he is constantly through these different masks knocking on the front door of the church and saying, why don't you just budge here? Why don't you just tolerate this? Why don't you just accept this? It's not necessarily tied to the gospel. You can still be a Christian and believe here.

You can let loose here and still be called evangelical, whatever you wanna call it. And many have already given into that not realizing that the way the world works is when you give it some, it's not gonna be happy with some. It wants to conquer all. Everything. So, yeah, it it might be one truth.

And I'm not talking about gray matter. I'm talking about black and white, it's obvious. And you give in in that place, I'll tell you something. Whenever a church or denomination gives over one clear truth in the word of God, it's the beginning of many other compromises. Guaranteed.

Guaranteed. So it's the duty of the church to be able to say, we're not giving you any space in what we believe. We're not compromising in any area. Because the way this thing works is it starts with one, then it's two, and then you become unrecognizable. So guard everything and make no room for negotiation.

Unfortunately, Ahab was too late. The movements of our time echo what Benidah does here, and sometimes it's delivered in the package of a threat or a reward. And in this case, it was a threat. Let's read on in verse seven. Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, mark now and see how this man is seeking trouble for he sent to me for my wives and my children and for my silver and my gold, and I did not refuse him.

And all the elders and all the people said to him, do not listen or consent. So he said to the messengers of Benadah, tell my lord the king all that you first demanded of your servant I will do, but this thing I cannot do. And the messengers departed and brought him word again. So Ben Hadad is being reckless. This is arrogance on full display.

Ahab calls for the elders around him, and he seeks their wisdom and the plurality of of men in his life. And surprisingly, listen, their words are actually noble. They're they're commendable. This is this is the right thing. He's like, don't listen.

Don't consent. Stand your ground. And you can applaud Ahab for this, but there's something that makes you wonder if it's from the place of complete humility. I don't know if it is. I think what we're seeing here is what desperation can do to man.

Desperation has a way of bending us. And so Ahab really doesn't have a choice. And though he seeks the counsel of these men, there is an omission. There's something that he doesn't do that you should be well aware of and familiar with as a people who know how and who to ask of in times of need. Who did he fail to ask?

I'm not surprised he doesn't go to Baal because just two chapters ago, Baal bailed on him. See what happened there? Bailed and then delivered. So at least at this point, he doesn't call out to his false god. But what about the true god?

Where is him humbling himself before the lord almighty and saying, oh, god, please, I've seen you bring fire down from heaven. I've seen you defeat your enemies. Come to my aid. Come to the rescue of your people. No sign of that.

So there's no hint of him coming before the Lord, the one who answered by fire and provided rain. And the reason why I'm bringing this up is because when you read on, you realize that despite the lack of faith on Ahab's part, God does something in response to it. Ahab following this never never takes a step towards the Lord. What does the lord do instead? Look at verse 13 once again.

He sends a prophet to him. Ahab doesn't go to a prophet. Ahab doesn't go anywhere near God. And you know what God does? He comes and meets Ahab.

So we read and behold, the prophet came near to Ahab. Look at that wonderful language. Came near to Ahab and said. So listen very carefully. There are times where there are men like Cornelius in Acts chapter 10, who though they do not have a complete or even accurate understanding of God, with what revelation they've been given, will seek the Lord, and God will honor that man and manifest himself to him.

And then there are other times when the Lord makes himself known in a special way to those who are in estimation don't deserve it. Because they showed no interest in him to begin with and they show it through their rebellious lives, and yet the Lord still will make himself known to them. To which some might say that sounds unfair. Have you ever wondered that? Have you ever heard testimonies and thought to yourself, why did the Lord show himself in such power and might to that individual and not his neighbor?

Why that celebrity and not that celebrity? Why that politician not that politician? Why that Muslim group and not this other Muslim group? Have you ever wondered that? And perhaps you've wrestled it to the point you thought, Lord, can you give us a little bit of an insight into the way you think here?

Can you show yourself evenly to everybody and give them all the same chance? And I believe there are many answers to this. I know it can get very philosophical, but it's it's not too philosophical. It's it's actually you have evidence in the word of God. And I believe one of the strongest cases to answer that question is found in the apostle Paul's own testimony.

I want you to see this with your own eyes in first Timothy one sixteen. Notice what he says as he's encouraging Timothy, who's very timid and doubtful of his call as a pastor of one of the largest churches of their time. And Paul says something in first Timothy one sixteen. He says, but I received mercy for this reason, that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who are to believe in him for eternal life. Do you realize how profound this is?

Paul is saying, and and it was revealed to him surely by Christ, Timothy, I wanna let you know the reason why me, a terrorist, a murderer, one who vehemently attacked the Christian faith, the reason why the Lord appeared to me, though yes, he loved me and gave himself for me, he says that in Galatians, was not only for me. This was not purely individualistic. The Lord made himself known to me on that road to Damascus, opened my eyes so that others can see who God is and what he's like. So that in saving me and providing the world a radical testimony of grace, those whom the Lord might not have shown himself in such a way would now begin to pursue the same God that I experienced. So sometimes the Lord will do a work in one person's life and what he has in mind, yes, is that individual because he loves us individually.

But he also has a grander plan. That through this one on one exchange, there are others who will witness it, understand the character of God and then make their way towards him. So even when you read about Ahab, you're like, come on. Out of all people, you're persistently pursuing this king? And I hear Paul's words even in this for you and I to realize, what kind of God is this?

And to understand that this God, though he is uniquely maneuvering in this man's life, his heart is the same for me. And so I will gladly surrender myself to him. I hope that makes sense. The Lord chooses sometimes to do spectacular work in one person's life, but not just for that one person. It's for others to learn the character of him and to encourage them to approach him for themselves.

So a prophet comes. But let's go back. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. The messengers were sent back to Ben Hadad where Ahab says, look, I'll I'll agree to the first contract, not the second one. And notice what happens in verse 10.

Ben Hadad sent to him and said, the gods do so to me and more also of the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me. And the king of Israel answered, tell him, let him who straps on his armor boast himself as he who takes it off. When Ben Hadad heard this message as he was drinking with the kings in the booths, he said to his men, take your positions, and they took their positions against the city. So Ben Hadad could not fathom the thought that somebody would reject his request. No matter how outlandish it it is.

This is this is pride at its fullest. So he says, listen. I'm gonna crush you to such fine powder that we're gonna carry you like sand back to our own place. And this is crazy. This seems so out of character of Ahab.

Like, Ahab Ahab was king, but he wasn't really the king. It was his wife, and he always cowers, and he's always afraid. But notice what he says here in verse 11. He says, tell him, let not him who straps on his armor boast himself as he who takes it off. In other words, here's a translation.

I encourage you, Ben Hadad, not to, boast as though you have the victory before you've achieved it. I'm surprised that we're actually going to say this, but I like what Ahab said. And it would do us good as Christians to learn what he is saying here in principle. Because even Christians can face the temptation of boasting, of boasting in many things, even in things that have not yet taken place. James highlights that.

Right? James tells us in terms of our business relationships and our business endeavors, he goes, don't get ahead of yourself and say, we will. James is so specific. He's not against you and I planning and being strategic. He's saying, don't develop the mindset where you can make these definite declarations about your tomorrows.

So he says, instead of saying we will, you tell me what does James encourage us to do by the spirit. If the Lord wills, we will do this and we will do that, James four fifteen. If the Lord wills. That's not license for you and I to tag everything that we say with, if God wills. This is not empty, you know, sayings that James is promoting.

What he's saying is, as a believer, if you wanna enhance in your worship to the Lord as a living sacrifice, you're gonna do this. You are going to constantly in your planning, in your dreaming, in your desires, acknowledge the sovereignty of God. And gladly proclaim to yourself and to others your dependency on him. And then he follows that by saying, because all such boasting, it's actually evil. What does he mean by that?

He's not saying that you being confident in certain things is wrong necessarily. What he's saying is to be absent minded of God's permission in your life. God's power and his leading in your life. That kind of way of thinking and talking is abhorrent before the Lord. So me on the altar of a as a living sacrifice, one of the things that will be fragrance unto him is to be and to train yourself to think, no matter what I plan, even if it's twenty four hours from now, it can only happen by God's grace and permission.

And even if I get there, I can't do it successfully unless he helps me. That's how a Christian thinks. And that's what Ahab is essentially telling to Ben Hadad. He's like, look, you're putting the armor off, but you're boasting as though you're taking it off in terms of being victorious. Don't boast until you take it off.

So what is, Ben Hadad do? In movie like fashion, you can imagine the scene. The news comes to him in verse 12. He takes a sip of his drink, puts it on his table, and he says to your men his men, take your positions. And they're about to go to war.

Hang tight. We're gonna go through these verses quite quickly. Verse 13. We touched on this a couple times already, but can I tell you something? Even in this one verse, there's still nectar for you to suck from.

There's amazing sweetness even in this one verse. And behold, the prophet came near to Ahab, king of Israel, and said, thus says the Lord, have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day and you shall know that I am the Lord. In other words, you've seen Mount Carmel, you've seen the rain, and you're still not persuaded, God's gonna give you more evidence. Ahab.

Is it just me that's stirred by this? Ahab? Yes. I'm gonna do something for you to see even more that I am the Lord. Who who's saying this?

The Lord. Yes. But who's the prophet? Yes. Some people are making the case that this is Elijah.

And if not Elijah, it's Elisha. One of them are in disguise because he's anonymous. I just wanna take it at face value and believe it's neither. This is not Elijah nor is it his successor, so who can he be? Tell me, who can it be?

Any idea with the previous studies? I'm not looking for a specific name, by the way, or an identity. But what stock is this guy coming from? Thank you. So you have the Lord telling Elijah, there's a remnant of 7,000 who have not bowed their knee or kissed Baal.

And earlier before that you had Obadiah informing us that there are at least a 100 prophets stuffed into two caves that were being protected under his supervision. So I'm under the impression this is one of the prophets from the, remnant. Though unnamed, this is one of the guys that God commissioned to fulfill this task, and that blesses me tremendously. Let me tell you why. Because you have one person here doing a very wonderful work and he's unknown.

You would think that this kind of job would be somebody for somebody like Elijah, but the Lord commissions this man out of obscurity. And what it's supposed to inform you and I is whether you are known or not known, God has a work for you. God has a ministry for you. God has a job for you. Elijah and Elisha are not in the scene.

You have this unnamed man coming before us. And what moves me here is that the Lord surely called him and directed him to stand before the king and to speak this message. What's your responsibility then? Because God can raise any one of us up in a moment's time. It's to be like this prophet in this way, to be yielded to him and ready at all times.

He is one of those who have not bound his knee to Baal or kissed him. And because of his steadfastness, though perhaps he was one of those that were hiding in a hole, at the right time the Lord says, I need you. Come. You wanna know one motivation to be consecrated? My ultimate motivation is to please the heart of my master.

Whether he uses me or not, my ultimate desire is because here's the whole thing. I'm gonna stand before him and have a conversation with him about my life, and so will you. So my ultimate ambition is to please my savior. But if there's any sub reason to be motivated in holiness, It's that holiness positions you to be used of the master at any at any time. So I'm not I'm not looking for how I can tread that line between sin and being right.

I don't wanna play that game. I'm not interested in playing that game. Because second Timothy tells us, and he motivates Timothy by saying that the Lord wants clean vessels ready for the master's use. So if you wanna be worldly, go ahead and be worldly. You might just be missing on a call.

I'm not looking. I'm not even the thought of that is just daunting. I wanna be use of God. And if he's, at any time, ready to call somebody, I wanna be at least considered on that roster. This prophet arrives on the scene, and he speaks this message.

I love this for another reason. Can I tell you why? You don't have a choice. I'll tell you why. Because Ahab looks for counsel from these elders, and they gave good advice.

They said, don't consent. But that's all they can offer him. It wasn't until a prophet arrived with a word from the Lord where Ahab would find what he needed to know true deliverance. No matter what kind of wisdom you acquire from brilliant men, successful men, prestigious men, if what they have to say doesn't ultimately come from the word of God, it will always be limited in its promises and its effectiveness. That's why when I look for counsel, I look for people who are drenched in the Bible, personally.

But not just people who know the Bible, people who live the Bible and can testify that the Bible works because of their own obedience. I know a lot of people who stuff the Bible in their heads, and I would be very careful asking for their advice. Because by the way they're living, I don't think they're taking their own advice and whatever knowledge that they're gaining. But people who have their lives ordained by the scriptures and know the the scriptures richly, I wanna hear from them. Because I know what well they're gonna draw from.

I know what kind of thing I'm gonna be sipping on in my thirst for answers, for predicaments in my own life. So what those men had to say took Ahab one step closer to where he needed to be, but when this prophet came, it swung open the door to true freedom and true deliverance. Verse 14. And Ahab said ready to be surprised further? And Ahab said, by whom?

He said, thus says the Lord, by the servants of the governors of the districts. Then he said, who shall begin the battle? He answered, you. Then he mustered the servants of the governors of the districts and they were 232. And after them, he mustered all the people of Israel 7,000.

Summarize what Ahab's doing here in response to the word of the Lord. Anybody? What is what is Ahab doing here? Well, Let me ask you this way. Is it good or is it bad?

Bad. Why is it bad? How is it bad? The prophet said, you're gonna do this. You're gonna do this.

He seeks clarification. And what does he do? He does it. It's very simple. Maybe because it's so shocking because it's Ahab.

Ahab obeys. Ahab listens to the prophet. I know it's striking, but people have their moments. So not only does he obey, he obeys when the instructions seem to be very strange. What do I mean by that?

So he says, who's gonna actually engage in this war because we don't really have much going on here. And what does the prophet say? He says, by the servants of the governors of the districts. I take that to mean that he's saying, the actual ones who assist these governors in these different regions in Israel, In other words, inexperienced men. Some translators say, the young men.

Those are the guys that you're gonna put on the front line. And he gathers 232 of them. So in the way that you and I know God, we have yet another testimony of the Lord intentionally stacking all the odds against himself. See, I want you to actually make this more difficult than what it needs to be. I'm not asking you to find war, war like men or experienced fighters.

Get the get the servants of the governors to lead the charge. And Ahab doesn't peep with a hesitation, a denial. He does it. He goes, alright. Let's do it.

I'm willing to do it. And if you find that providence makes a trial or a challenge more difficult than it needs to be, consider this aspect of God's character. Why does God do this? Again, back at verse 13, so that he would know that the Lord is God. I'm gonna do this again in such a manner.

How did he do it on Mount Carmel? He asked Elijah to drench his sacrifice in water over and over again so that no fabricated flame can be excused. It would have to be an act of God. And here the Lord in chapter 20 is doing it in a different way. Put those kind of men on the front lines.

Really? Yes. Why? Back to verse 13, because I want you to be absolutely persuaded that this is an act of God. And if I find myself there where it's like no matter how much I'm praying about it, no matter how much I'm doing what I need to do in God's way for it to be done with God like results and it seems to only be getting darker and closing in and more impossible, here's what the Lord is trying to do.

He wants to make it more difficult so that the praise and the glory would be stronger on the other side. That's why I get excited when things try to suffocate the situation even more. Because the Lord just wants to maximize the opportunity. So he asks, what do I need to do? He tells him exactly what to do.

And if you think this is where the story ends, it doesn't. And if it did, you might be convinced Ahab's changed. This is a different guy. He's asking the prophet, and the prophet gives him more instruction, and he actually submits it. Wow.

All it took is a little time for Ahab to change. And I would say not so fast. Realize that there's still more to this chapter, and there's a chapter 21. And so I just wanna let you know in advance that this is gonna be short lived. And why is this short lived?

Because it models what men do today. They tend to find obedience to divine ordinances more attractive when their troubles seem more inescapable. I think it's one of the greatest stains on humanity's testimony, in their disobedience to the Lord, in their unwillingness to surrender to the cup. I think it's one of the greatest stains this cycle that only in dire circumstances does God get the best of us. If you're gonna be a true worshiper, can I encourage you to do something?

Sing with the strength and the vigor and the devotion. Serve with that same intensity when all things are well. I don't want my prayer life to look better when I need something from the Lord. I don't want my, devotion and my consecration to shine brighter when this body is afflicted with a disease or when I need money. But Ahab, unfortunately, reminds us that men tend to fall in that trap far too often.

What is Ahab gonna learn when he obeys the prophet? Let's read the last five verses together. And they went out at noon while Ben Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the booths. He and the 32 kings who helped them pause. This is the second time we're told of Ben Haddad's drinking.

That's not by accident. It's meant for you to connect that his pattern, his personal patterns and shortcomings will produce the consequences that you see here. And we already saw it. He was drinking earlier, and he makes these questionable judgments and requests. And now you see him drinking yet again, and it's gonna lead to his downfall.

So I I hope I don't have to spend too much time in a bible study to remind you that our God champions sobriety. And I think in some bible studies, that needs to be emphasized because you have a lot of Christians who wanna justify intoxication of different kinds. God understands how your faculties work, how your mind works, and he calls us to be people who take care of our our discernment and our judgments so that we can reflect his glory, the better. Ben Haddad is gonna show us that alcohol is gonna be a contributor to his destruction. And alcohol, in many cases, has done and created havoc in so many spheres of society when it is not taken in moderation, at least.

So 17, the servants of the governors of the districts went out first and Ben Hadad sent out scouts and they reported to him, men are coming out from Samaria. Verse 18. And it you're gonna read this and it makes you think if this is the alcohol talking or Ben Haddad talking. See if you see what I I'm saying. He said, if they have come out for peace, take them alive.

Or if they have come out for war, take them alive. Brilliant. I don't know what kind of general this is, but I wonder if verse 16 sheds light on verse 18. I'm just saying. So these went out of the city, the servants of the governors of the districts and the army that followed them and each struck down his man.

The Syrians fled and Israel pursued them, but Ben Hadad king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen. And the king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots and struck the Syrians with a great blow. Oh, would you know it, Ahab, when you obeyed, there was victory. When you trusted, there was blessing. When you submitted, there was reward.

And too bad that Ahab would only ride that wave for such a short period of time because for the rest of this chapter, you're gonna see him go back to the Ahab that we were accustomed to. And what we have for the rest of this chapter are other threads of gold awaiting to be woven on our hearts. But until then, let's pray and thank God for this banquet tonight. We thank you, god almighty, that on this Friday night, we are confident to be in the company of those who have burning hearts when they hear the scriptures. And we pray, oh God, that we would be good Barayans, noble men who know how to test everything with the word of God as our ultimate authority and standard.

We ask Lord that even this portion of sacred scripture would play a role in influencing something of our lives. If there's a sin that's been flirting with us these past few days or weeks, and our guard has been down, and we think to ourselves that we can tolerate it, entertain it, or enjoy it without consequence, Lord, may this be a sharp reminder that sin is to be put to death. That is the only response of the Christian. Lord, if we have trouble understanding your grace for ourselves or for others, help us remember Ahab's story at this point. That you are relentless.

That you give so many chances before you judge. And we thank you, oh Lord, that if you're willing to treat the wicked in such a way, how much more your children. So I pray for the believer who struggles with the understanding that you actually forgive them. Lord, may they be washed over by the truth of your love tonight. And Lord, as we consider in the Hebrew scriptures your constant attempts to get man's attention, to repent and turn to you, help us never forget your ultimate attempt, your ultimate mission, your ultimate expression of love in the person of Jesus Christ.

Lord, in Ahab's case, you sent a prophet, but at one point, at the perfect time, you sent your son. And we are the benefactors of it. Lord, we choose to worship you and to pray to you and to hear you and to obey you, not because we need something from you, but because you already given us everything in Christ. So teach us contentment. Practical, real, raw, experiential, testimonial contentment.

Help us learn that. Help us experience that. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's stand.

Sing a song. Amen. Hang out a little bit maybe, and get some sleep for our mission tomorrow morning. Praise team, thank you for leading us tonight. Thank you for your service.

Let's sing loudly onto the Lord, shall we? Give him thanks for his word.