1 Kings 20 (Part 2) Bible Study (A Prophet Condemns Ben-hadad's Release) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

First Kings chapter 20, please. Meet me in verse 22. And the king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots and struck the Syrians with a great blow. This summary of Ahab's miraculous and quite frankly undeserved victory over the Syrian invasion is located in first Kings chapter 20 verse 21, which was where we ended our study last week. Nevertheless, that narration of Ahab's victory is not the final thought of this chapter, nor is it the signal for the end of the conflict between Ahab, king of Israel, and Ben Hadad, the king of Syria.

When we come to verse 22 and read it, we will quickly learn that the spirit of God has provided for us a banquet of sanctifying truths that are still connected to the themes that you and I explored last week. Prepared for you and I are yet more glistening gems of the grace of God, sobering warnings of particular sins that we tend to of overlook, fascinating observations concerning what man is capable of in their sin, what man can achieve in their obedience to God, and who God is in our obedience or lack of obedience. And there are other fresh insights that await to be discovered. So I encourage you tonight, come with excitement as you and I continue to tour through this passage of scripture and trust that the Holy Spirit will guide us perfectly to glean from what I believe is not really touched on much, even in a a study for first Kings. So I want us to read 22 and pause right there at 22.

If you haven't been following us, we archive everything. Everything's on YouTube. You can you can track with us at another time, but, hopefully, where we're going to start off will make sense to you. Verse 22 reads, then the prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, come, strengthen yourself and consider well what you have to do, for in the spring, the king of Syria will come up against you. This prophet is very likely to be the same unnamed messenger that we were introduced to in verse 13 of this very same chapter where this man of god approached Ahab and assured him, gave him a promise and a plan of how they can know victory over the Syrian coalition.

And we concluded that the appearance of this prophet in verse 13 is nothing short of a wonderful demonstration of the grace of God. Since Ahab, who was a very wicked king, did not seek the Lord at all, did not inquire of a prophet, and there were thousands of prophets in the land of his time. He didn't do anything, and yet god granted heavenly wisdom nonetheless. And the shocking grace of god appears once more at this very moment. Here we see that this prophet came near to the king of Israel and warned him.

And why this is merciful on God's part is because there is a unique vulnerability that you and I enter into, especially after we ex experience a level of success, even spiritual success. I'm reading my devotions in the Psalms, and I read something in Psalm 30 verse six. You You don't have to turn there, but it's a confession that David made. David, a man after God's own heart, even admitted this. He said, as for me, I said, in my prosperity, I shall never be moved.

That's dangerous. That's dangerous. As for me, I said, in my prosper in my success, in my long lasting achievement, nothing will shake me. Nothing will move me. Nothing will tempt me.

And if you and I are not careful, the varying temptations on the other side of obedience will surprise you. And they have a tendency of overtaking even the strongest of men and women of God. And so you and I must always be alert and mindful of what? Check this out. Renewed attacks.

They are guaranteed. They will come. You might not know when. You might not know how, but as long as you have breath and you are serving the lord Jesus Christ with your life, attacks will arrive. Yes.

You overcame sin yesterday, but if you are not mindful of this aspect of spiritual warfare, you will be caught off guard. And this is precisely what the lord is trying to convey to Ahab. He is reminding him not to get too comfortable. He is informing him to be prepared because while he is enjoying, yes, even the grace of God, yes, a supernatural provision from God, The enemy is in the background planning and scheming for his next opportunity. And that is exactly what you and I are gonna read in a moment.

But I wanna tell you that the instructions of the prophet toward Ahab are totally applicable for you and I in the context of spiritual warfare. Because you and I are in spiritual warfare whether you are aware of it or not, whether you are engaged in it or not. It's always happening. That's just a paradigm that you signed up for when you said yes to the lord Jesus Christ. It's nothing to be afraid of because we are guaranteed wonderful victory as long as we discipline ourselves and apply certain truths.

So here's some things that we can take from this one verse. Come again to verse 22 with me and notice what the prophet says. He says, come, number one, strengthen yourself. Yes. And in like manner, you and I are constantly called to nurture, develop, and receive strength from the Lord because what we knew yesterday will not suffice for today or tomorrow.

The only way that we can arrive to the possibility of longevity in victory over sin, over the temptations of the flesh and the persuasions of this world is if you abide. If you abide only in abiding in Christ can you draw from his power that will flow through your veins. So he tells him, yes, you overcame this thing, but I'm calling you now to strengthen yourself further. You can't depend upon the power that you tapped into last week, Ahab. You need renewed grace today.

And so my connection to the Lord, my receiving from the Lord, my sitting at his feet is not optional if I want to know strength spiritually. But that's not the only thing. He says, come strengthen yourself and consider well what you have to do. So in other words, remain in the mindset of strategic warfare. Don't dismiss yourself.

Don't get distracted now. Consider well what you have to do. And if we are convinced, as I said earlier, that we are in this constant wrestling with this flesh, with this world, with an invisible force, then you and I are gonna be more likely to be disciplined and careful and aware and not caught by surprise. That's what he says lastly. For in the spring, the king of Syria will come up against you.

In other words, be mindful of upcoming battles, whether they are gonna be unforeseen persecutions or familiar temptations, they will surely come. As the Syrians were studying what to do next, Satan studies. Satan and his minions study. They've been studying human behavior since the beginning of time. And and they are so conniving, and they are so astute and so aware that people tend to mistaken the ability of the realm of darkness with God's ability, like omniscience and omnipotence.

It's not that they share in those qualities. It's because they have observed human behavior enough to realize that there are patterns where they have almost perfected their abilities to make others trip. But you know what? The Bible says, greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world. No matter what kind of plans that they've come up with, no matter what has worked throughout human history, it doesn't have to work for you and I if Christ dwells in your life, if he dwells in your heart.

So So here's what we see. As Ahab was receiving heavenly instruction from a prophet, Ben Hadad was receiving his own set of advice, but from a different store source. Look at verse 23. And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, him being Ben Hadad, their gods are the gods of the hills. And so they are they were stronger than we, but let us fight against them in the plain.

And surely, we shall be stronger than they. And do this, remove the kings each from his post and put commanders in their places, and muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot, then we will fight against them in the plain, and surely, we shall be stronger than they. And he listened to their voice and did so. So they're regathering, and they are thinking to themselves, alright. We lost that one, but we're not gonna give up.

How do we sharpen ourselves? How do we come up with a more effective plan? And here here's well, let me put it this way. You can take a lot from this passage, but let's let's make this one major observation, and and I wanna do it in this fashion. What do they believe about God here that stands out to you as being erroneous?

The God of Israel. What's that? He's limited. He's limited to geographical boundaries. Yes.

That's one. What else? Yeah. There's not just one God of Israel. Notice that they said here, their gods, plural.

Their gods are the gods of the hills. And they thought to themselves, well, because we fought in that kind of terrain, their gods assisted them. But if we if we make it to the plain, then, we will be at an advantage. Here's the big picture of this section of scripture. Though many things can be said, isn't it obvious how their theology is impacting their methodology?

That's what you're supposed to see here. In other words, what these Syrian servants believed about who God is and what he can or cannot do, determined how they interpreted events and how to respond to them. So you you have to see that when they look at this, it's actually determining their operations. And as our sister said, what they believed about the god of Israel was a common belief in ancient religion. In ancient religion, there was this idea that there were, a wide spectrum of gods, and these gods, supervised and were in charge of different facets of the world.

And so you had the god of rain. You have the god of the sun. You had the god of agriculture. You had the god of fertility. And so you had all these idols, and this explains in part why it was such a great temptation to adopt all these false deities into your system, into your nation, into your religious experience.

Because the more gods that you adopted, the more you covered your bases. And the more you were in an advantage because now you appease these gods, and they can help you economically. They can help you in military strategy. So this was a very real and constant appeal of having this plethora of different deities that apparently, supervise a variety of regions and aspects of the universe. But don't get too stuck on the cultural interpretation of this text.

Don't do that. See the application of it. Here's the application of it. Misconceptions about God are not harmless. They're not they're not harmless.

This idea your truth is your truth, my truth is my truth, that comes at a high price. Because this is a prime example that what you believe about God will determine how you behave, how you think, how you act, how you plan, what you invest in, what you do, what your convictions are. AW Tozer famously said, what comes to your mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you. And I agree with him wholeheartedly. What comes to your mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you.

And what these poor souls thought about God would lead them into great trouble. And listen, misconceptions or misunderstandings about the character of God are not limited to those who believe in false gods or have their own subjective portrait of who God is. It's possible for Christians. Christians who do not daily engage with the worldview shaping power of the word of God. And so in the same way that these Syrians believe that God, the God of Israel, at least was the God of the hills and not the God of the plains, you have some even within the church who believe God is relevant to some areas and not others.

I bumped into people who think that God is completely concerned and exclusively concerned with deeds of love and not faithful doctrine. I know other Christians who believe that God has the power to save their soul from hell, but not save them from the power of pornography. I know others who believe that God is to be sought for these particular predicaments, but he doesn't seem to offer much help in these kind of situations. That that God will show favor and blessing to those who have more public gifts, but not for me unnoticed and obscure churchgoer. So in the same way, you have people who think that God is applied here.

God has capabilities here, but not here and not there. And I would add to take Tozer's incredible commentary about the importance of what we think about God with this, that the most important thing to shape your thinking about God is God's word and God's word alone. You limit that to experience. You limit that to what you feel. My friend, you are signing up for a disastrous way of life.

Do you realize that these Syrians are planning their own suicide on the basis of them thinking that God is limited to the mountains. This is their own death sentence. And equally deadly is you finding the liberty to define God in a way that he does not define himself. And before you and I move on from this point, let me highlight to you yet another danger of skewed theology. Not only is it dangerous in the obvious sense, but it's dangerous because it offends a holy God.

Look at verse 26 with me. In the spring, Ben Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. And the people of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went against them. The people of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country. Verse 28, and a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, thus says the Lord, because the Syrians have said, the Lord is a God of the hills, but he is not a God of the valleys.

Therefore, in other words, because of that, I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord. So the Syrians thought that they were planning behind the scenes, and you know who was there in their meeting room? God. God hears everything. And that alone right here proves that he's not just the god of the hills.

He was the god in their board meeting as well. He's omnipresent. Listen, it's a dangerous game to play when men intentionally distorts who God is. At the same time, God is extremely patient with the unsaved who are warped in their thinking. And God is very much kind and long suffering toward his children who are developing in their understanding, though steadily in their knowledge of the truth.

But the Lord does not have long tolerance for those who, in their arrogance, attempt to make God something what he is not and inform others about what he will or will not do. And I'm reminded of a New Testament principle because the temptation of studying the Old Testament and seeing something like this is to say, well, the Old Testament was God in a bad mood and the New Testament is God in a good mood. And what I wanna tell people who think that and if you have conversations with people who believe that, who are maybe limited to the gospels and we rejoice in the gospel accounts, ask them if they finished the New Testament. Ask them if they read the last book. And I wanna show you one place where the lord Jesus Christ directly condemns one of the local assemblies in John's day.

It was a church in Pergamum. And I want you to see his language towards those who tolerated false teaching because this tolerance that I'm speaking about concerning the Lord and those who propagate falsehood is especially irksome to the Lord when it is being done within his church. Revelation chapter two, you can turn there. If you wanna know where Revelation is, it's after Genesis. Revelation chapter two.

And I want you to come here with me to verse 12. Revelation two twelve. And to the angel of the church in Pergamum, write the words of him who has the two the the sharp two edged sword rather. And verse 13 reads, I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed among you where Satan dwells. I can hardly get by this passage whenever I quote it without making this specific observation, one that I love making.

I just so give God glory that he informs us indirectly that wherever Pergamum was and whatever inhabited that place, in the physical realm at least, it made Satan so comfortable that at this time, he made his headquarters there. You're saying, why would you praise God for that? Because at the same time, God raised up a church in that very same region. A real genuine church, a local assembly of believers can even be known, raised up on the same street where Satan has his command center. And there are people who think, how how can you have a church in Chicago?

Well, I'm not sure where Satan's throne is today. I know Chicago is pretty bad, but even if Satan does have his headquarters here, evidently, a church can can exist. And so I rejoice in that. God can do a work anywhere. And he praises this church because they experience a great level of persecution, and there's this one individual named Antipas who some believe to be one of the elders of this church who was martyred.

And so he acknowledges that. But things quickly turn in verse 14. But I have a few things against you. Pause. I never want the Lord to be able to say that of me.

Never. I believe we are saved by grace and grace alone. I believe it's faith in what Christ has done that secures our salvation. But it's possible even in having faith in the sufficient work of Christ to disappoint the Lord. I'm not looking to live my life to just get a ticket into eternity while I break the heart of my master.

So when I read this and I read these seven churches, I often think to myself, lord, if you were to write a letter to Maranatha Bible Church, would you have commendation or condemnation or a mix of both? I want only commendation. But he tells this church, I have a few things against you. And here are the things. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.

Isn't it amazing how the Lord is using the Old Testament and the New Testament? How he's using an Old Testament reality and applying it in a new covenant sense? One more reason to be encouraged to know the Old Testament. But he tells this church, you have some who hold to the specific teaching. And whatever the essence of this teaching was, it was producing a way of life.

The sense of freedom to worship in other temples and to actually perform these gross sexual practices. And it's not just that. Look at verse 15. So also you have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. And that specific doctrine is not spelled out for us, but whatever it is, God hates it.

And then here's the warning in verse 16. Therefore, repent. Therefore, repent. If not, I will come to you soon. And this is the language here, war against them with the sword of my mouth.

So he tells the church that's tolerating this false teaching, there are some who may not be participating in it or even believe in it, but they know of others who do and they haven't confronted them. They've allowed them to remain. They've allowed false teachers to come in and to hold bible studies about things that are not right. And so the Lord has a warning for those who allowed it and for those who are sharing it. He says to those who are tolerating it, I'm gonna come to you soon.

So there is an urgency there, but there's also a time gap. I'm giving you time. I'm giving you time to repent. And if you don't repent, I will come to you. And then to those who are the instigators, the main instruments of this problem, he says, and war against them with the sword of my mouth.

This is not numbers. This is not Deuteronomy. This is revelation, post resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. And he tells a particular group of people who are poisoning a local church, I will go to war with you. I will personally go to war with you.

And the fact that he says the sword of my mouth, that speaks of severe judgment. If you look at the sword of my mouth in the context of Revelation, it's it's grave. It's heavy. And so he's telling this church, listen church in Pergamum, your job is not just to extend love, it's not just to endure steadfastly the persecution outside of your assembly, it's to make sure that my house is clean and pure. And if you don't deal with it, here's what the lord says, I'm gonna deal with it.

If the elders of the church will not fulfill their duty, then I myself will step in and do something about it. Why why is this so serious to the lord? Because it is detrimental to the testimony of the church, not just in their misrepresentation of the truth, but also what lies and fallacies lead to. Notice in verse 15 again. Look with me.

He says, so you also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. So he is he's upset of the fact that they are holding to false doctrine. But look back at Revelation two when he speaks to the church in Ephesus. And look what he says in verse six. Yet this you have he's speaking to another assembly.

Yet this you have, you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Notice with the church of Ephesus, he doesn't highlight the doctrine or the teaching of the Nicolaitans, but the works. When he comes to the church in Pergam, he underscores the teaching of the Nicolaitans. What are we supposed to make of that? I think one thing you're supposed to make is what we already discussed.

That what you teach and what you believe will determine how you live and what you do. The works of the Nicolaitans didn't come from the thin air, it came from a system of belief, an understanding of spirituality that is wrong, that is skewed, that is poison, that is dark. And so this is this is why the Lord steps in in the way that he does. We see it here in first Kings. We see it in Revelation.

You see it in so many other places. But let's come back to our main study tonight. Because the Syrians have said this, I'm gonna give these people into your hands. And for what purpose? Look at the last part of verse 28, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

So I'm just blown away by the mercy of God. He said the same thing back in verse 13. They overthrow the Syrians in a miraculous fashion, and yet there's not a peep of praise or acknowledgment from Ahab. And the prophet comes again and he says, look, they're coming back in the spring so get ready. He promises him victory and yet he gives the same purpose, the same desired goal from the mouth of the Lord.

Why am I gonna let them be defeated? That you will know that I am the Lord. He's still pursuing after Ahab's reluctance to acknowledge that the Lord is a true God. Don't tell me that God is not persistently patient and long suffering and yearning for sinners in the old testament to come to himself. He's still chasing after this guy.

He's still willing to demonstrate one miracle after another to prove to him that I am the truth. And they encamped, verse 29, opposite one another seven days. Then on the seventh day, the battle was joined, and the people of Israel struck down of the Syrians a 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. And the rest fled into the city of Aphec and the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were left. That could most likely mean that the wall was brought down and that made way for those who were hiding to be slain.

Why is this an astounding feat? Go back here to verse 27. And the people who were mustered and were provisioned and went against them, the people of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats. So if you had aerial view of this, you would see just, like, just two two bands of soldiers on the side of Israel, whereas the Syrians filled the country, and yet God comes through. He brings deliverance.

He does something that cannot be deemed natural. And this sounds like it would be a wonderful end to the story. You would think, okay. Now Ahab has seen way more than he needed to see. He bends his knee.

He acknowledges that the Lord is the true God. Happily ever after, Israel's transformed. There's renewal. There's revival at least during his monarchy, and, you might be disappointed. Because that's not where the chapter ends.

That's not where this section of thought ends. It takes an ugly turn. Verse 30 tells us, and the rest fled into the city of Aphek, and the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were left. Ben Hadad also fled and entered an inner chamber in the city. Verse 31.

And his servants said to him, behold now, we have heard the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Let us put sackcloth around our waist and ropes on our heads and go up to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life. So Ben Hadad's servants who gave him the previous strategy and failed now come up with another plan. This time, it's not to produce another skillful scheme.

It's to just surrender. Ben Hadad just we have nothing else to lose. Why don't we just make our way towards them in humility and hope that they will they will spare our lives? But I have a question here. Where did they get the idea that the kings of the house of Israel were merciful?

I mean, we can only speculate. I think one plausible way of explaining this is that in their comparative evaluation of the neighboring nations, because there was some intel, obviously, even at that time. They understood how things worked in different nations and different beliefs. But as they contrasted, perhaps the nation of Israel did develop a reputation of being merciful. History will testify of the brutality, like graphic unspeakable acts that some of these ancient rulers performed.

And honest historians who look at the scriptures, namely the Old Testament from an historical standpoint, would admit that though things like what we read in Leviticus and Deuteronomy might be foreign to our context, were countercultural in their day. Countercultural. And so it could be just that. It could be them realizing that in their distant observation and what they've heard, they've concluded that the people, namely the rulers, were merciful because their god is merciful. And there's a gospel ring to this.

Is there not? Here you have these Syrians who have rebelled against the people of God, who have resisted and challenged the God of Israel. And once they found themselves defeated, they were also comforted by the potential thought that God will extend mercy to them rather than wrath. And it's no different for the sinner today. That though they have lived all their lives fighting against God, the news of what Christ offers can provide the hope to change everything.

But here's here's where it's different. What Christ offers in his good news is better than whatever news they heard. Why? Because though they did think that there was a potential crumb of mercy available to them, it was not guaranteed. Look here how they say it at the end of verse 31.

Perhaps perhaps he will spare your life. Perhaps. It's not guaranteed. We can't be confident. We can only gamble.

That's not true with Christ. What does he say here in John six thirty seven? All that the father has given to me will come to me. And whoever comes to me, I will never cast away. I will never cast away from the lips of the king of kings himself.

See, the king of Israel this time, they didn't have the assurance. The true king, he gives you assurance. Notice that Jesus says, whoever, whoever, he qualifies and makes that availability possible for all. Whoever comes to me, and he says, I will never cast out. So no matter how dark your sins are, no matter how polluted your soul is, if you stumble into his presence, he promises to accept you.

He promises to wash you. He promises to change you. He promises to secure your eternity. He promises. And if your heart ever condemns you or tells you otherwise, first John tells us that God is greater than our hearts.

He's greater than our hearts. So they come up with this plan, and whatever was promising concerning Ahab will prove to be short lived in the next verse. Look at verse 32. So they tied sackcloth around their waist and put ropes on their heads and went to the king of Israel and said, your servant Ben Hadad says, please let me live. And he said, does he still live?

He is my brother. Come on. What is going on in here, Ahab, for you to identify yourself with this enemy as a brother? And one might object and say, well, Ben Hadad repented. Did he?

Is this repentance on Ben Hadad's part? Tell me why. It's not true repentance. Okay. Why though?

Why? It's a strategy to be able to Okay. So this is this is manipulation, and this isn't true penitence. This isn't a person who acknowledges that they've done wrong. There seems to be no evidence of crowning the Lord to be the true the true God.

There seems to be no brokenness. There's no even basic apology for the recent harassment. It's just this desperate shot in the dark saying, hey. Would you let me live? So there there's even an absence of sorrow.

It's just it's just this let's just see what happens. And this is in part why what Ahab does is wrong, but there's even more to that. And you would only know it if you actually read this chapter in advance and are familiar with this passage because what Ahab does in relieving and rescuing this man's life is in direct disobedience to God's command. Look at verse 42 of the same chapter and you'll see it. Another man of God will come shortly, and here's the proof that what Ahab did flied in the face of what God asked him.

And he said to him, thus says the Lord, because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I devoted to destruction, therefore, your life shall be for his life and your people for his people. So though it's not plainly written, it's disclosed to us that somewhere in the instructions given to Ahab, God had told him and given him a similar charge as he did to Saul with the Amalekites, eradicate them completely. Deal with them once and for all. And I know especially if you haven't been here regularly, this might be startling to you. But let me just make a brief comment on that.

Whenever the Lord, especially in the old covenant, gives such a charge for a people group to be eliminated, it is always because he knows something that we don't. And in great part, their continuing presence poses a major threat to the people of God. And you're gonna see that in this very same chapter or at least in this book. But it's true in every case. And what Ahab does here is what many people do when they face temptation.

They immediately recognize some rewards in disobedience. Look at verse 34. And Ben Hadad said to him, the cities that my father took from your father, I will restore and you may establish bazaars for yourself in Damascus as my father did in Samaria. And Ahab said, I will let you go on these terms. So he made a covenant with him and let him go.

So recap here. They said, why don't we just ask him to to spare your life and see if he does? They approach him. They said, hey. Your servant Ben Hadad asked, please let me live.

He goes, is he still alive? He's my brother. Like, that should shock you. You know why it should shock you? It shocked the messengers of Ben Hadad.

Look at verse 33. Look what they say. Now the men were watching for a sign and they quickly took it up from him and said, yes. Your brother Ben Hadad. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Your brother Ben Hadad. Yeah.

Then Ben Hadad came up to him and he caused him to come up into the chariot and they come up with a plan. He negotiates. He goes, look. I'll I'll give you the cities that we took from you, and I'll I'll even let you do some trade within the the territory of Damascus. So Ahab's there.

He knows what God told him, but he's thinking to myself, this will boost Israel's economy. This this this will be an alliance that might help us in future times where there will be greater threats perhaps from rising empires. And so he gives in. And listen, you know very well that this is just yet another example to store in our hearts among the many illustrations in the bible that you can never make a deal with sin and come out conquering, unscathed, and blessed. Never.

You can never. Whether your negotiation is the duration of that sin, the extent of that sin, You can never make a deal with temptation and not get robbed. How was Ahab robbed here? I mean, this seems pretty simple. Here the city's back, and you can bring some of your products into Damascus, and you can make a little bit more money.

It's not until you go to first Kings 22, but let's do it now just to make this point. Look at first Kings 22 and look at verse one. For three years, Syria and Israel continued without war. But in the third year, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel. And the king of Israel said to his servants, do you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us, and we keep quiet and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?

Do you guys catch it? So back in chapter 20, the king of Syria says, we're gonna give you back all these cities. Three years go by, and obviously, the king of Syria holds back one city, at least a very strategic one. He broke his promise. He broke his promise.

And this was now gonna instigate another war. Listen, sin disappoints always. Always, always, always. Listen, it will always fail you. I I know you think that that adulterous relationship will add some zest to your life, but it's gonna bite you back.

And I know you think that cheating and being dishonest might make your pocket a little fatter, but I guarantee you the consequences of that sin will cost way more than if you had just paid upfront. Whatever sin promises you, it will always lie to you. I've sat before Christians enough to know that sin is a terrible thing to negotiate with. Don't do it. Don't do it.

Especially when the thought whispers in your head or in your heart, God will forgive you. You'll be fine. It's gonna be okay. Just do it once. It's not gonna happen again.

Lies, lies, lies. So he makes a deal with sin and three years go by and would you know it? The king of Syria lied to him. And this is just yet another thing for you and I to embed in our hearts so that we would not forget in our opportunity to make a deal with that which breaks the heart of god. Let's see if we can finish this tonight, shall we?

Put your seat belts on. Verse 35 of first Kings 20. And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow at the command of the Lord, strike me, please. But the man refused to strike him. Then he said to him, because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you have gone from me, a line shall strike you down.

And as soon as he departed from him, a line met him and struck him down. It's a little intense. So let's make sense of this. Because for some, this might seem unreasonable. You have a certain man of the sons of the prophets.

The sons of the prophets are gonna appear more than once in this narrative of the kings. They were essentially a school of gifted messengers who heralded the word of God. And like any school, you had different tiers, you had teachers. And here we see that one of them from the sons of the prophet said to his fellow, implying that he is speaking and asking this of another son of the prophet. So he's saying to a companion, strike me, please.

And further evidence, I believe, that the person who is being asked to do this, as crazy it might seem, is a prophet is because of the consequence for disobedience. What was the consequence? He didn't strike him so a line would meet him and destroy him. Have we seen that before? We've seen that in first Kings 13 with another unnamed man who went to speak to a king.

He was supposed to go back a certain way, not stop, not eat bread. He refused. And what was the consequence? A lion met him on the road and destroyed him. So I would say that perhaps this is designed to bring to our minds the similarities to further confirm the prophetic identity of this person.

Why is that important? Because if you're a prophet at this time and you're being asked to do something like this, you you should already know that God asks of strange things sometimes. So this isn't so outlandish. Prophets did things to almost perform sermons in action. And so when this prophet tells another prophet, strike me, and he doesn't, you're a prophet.

You should know better. More than that though, why else is this a sin? It's pretty plain. Did this come from the prophet's idea? What does verse 35 say?

He said to his fellow at the command of the Lord. So there was a thus says the Lord behind this, and it came from a prophet, a reputable prophet, obviously, because Ahab is gonna recognize him at the end of this chapter. So he says, listen. The Lord is asking you to do this to me because I have to send another message, and it's gonna require a black eye. And he goes, I won't do it.

He goes, k. You didn't disobey me. You disobeyed God, and you're gonna pay a price for it. And you think, okay. Well, that's helpful, but how does this make sense for us?

I think it's very simple. When God's will is made known to you and I, it always demands obedience whether that demand is small or great. It doesn't matter. This is strategically woven into this part of the scripture, not by accident. Right?

We're dealing with Ahab's disobedience, and now you have this prophet who disobeys, and God doesn't show any favorites. If a prophet disobeys or a rebellious king, it will always displease him. And that's the point. Whether the command is to destroy an entire army or to punch somebody in the face, as strange as strange as that command might be, if God wills it, then we must comply with it. And whether we are gifted or whether we are in full time ministry or whether we are in the political sphere or we are in the business world, God's heart is the same for all of us.

He he desires our submission to him and our trust in his word. So what happens? One prophet became lunch for a lion. In verse 37, we read of another. Then he found another man and said, strike me, please.

And the man struck him struck him and wounded him. I wonder if this prophet heard what happened to the previous one. So when he really hit him, he hit him. I that's the feel I get of this text. Struck him, struck him, and wounded him.

So the prophet departed and waited for the king, by the way, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. And as the king passed, he cried to the king and said, your servant went out into the midst of the battle and behold a soldier turned and brought a man to me and said, guard this man. If by any means he is missing, your life shall be for his life or else you shall pay a talent of silver. And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. The king of Israel said to him, so shall your judgment be.

You yourself have decided it. Have we seen this playbook before? Where have we seen it before? David. And who's the prophet who did this to him?

Nathan. Nathan came with a story to disarm David. Nathan came with a parable to position David as a judge of this story, and he's doing the same thing with Ahab. He's separating Ahab from the very same sin that he is ready to condemn himself with. And he is going to make this declaration and indirectly, he's making it about himself.

The prophets were brilliant at finding ways for people to be convicted. And so Ahab, he hears this and he goes, look. You made a deal. You yourself have decided it, so this is gonna happen to you. And though that is the main point, I can't help but see something tucked into this.

This is a fabricated story. It's not a true story, but I just find it interesting here that you can even see a principle that applies to us. Namely in verse 40, when this prophet explains how he was supposed to supervise a captive, he he says, and as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. The king of Israel said to him, so shall your judge and be yourself have decided it. This man admits, again, though this isn't a true story, what he says, nonetheless, it's very, very, very true of so many.

He had a duty, and he failed to perform that duty because he got distracted. That's what he's saying. Right? He got busy here and there, and it cost him. And I would say here that you and I have to be careful if we find ourselves using busyness as an excuse to not perform what God has asked of us.

It's it's really common these days. And and I get it, but I also find it amazing with all these technological advancements and all these tools at our disposal. Does anybody else disagree that we feel busier than ever? And there is that temptation to take distractions in our lives to negate our responsibility as Christians. You know, there are some people who will not come to the house of God because they're busy here and there.

You have some people who do not use their gifts for God because they're busy here and there. Can I tell you something? Forgive me for being so simplistic. Just honor God and watch how he'll honor you. Honor him.

Put him first. Make worship your priority. Seek first the kingdom. Put yourself of making your existence about glorifying him in the way that he has fashioned you to glorify him, and watch how he'll take care of everything else. I could testify of this twelve after twelve years of walking with the Lord, that when I was a college student, single, with a full time schedule, in need of money, God took care of me.

And when I graduated school and also trying to save up money, God took care of me. And now that I'm married and still by God's grace wanting to serve the Lord, he's taking care of us. You do what God told you to do and watch how God will take care of you. And I'm not saying you negate responsibilities or you go overboard. We talked about Elijah, how he exhausted himself even in the place of serving God to his own harm.

I'm speaking about your heart posture being positioned to say, everything orbits around me honoring what the Lord asks of me. I'm not abandoning my post no matter what comes or goes. That tenacity, that that fight, that zeal is is is strangely missing in most of America, American Christianity. I'm I wasn't even planning to go here, but let's just do it since you're here and your seat belts are still on. Go to Titus three.

Titus three. Titus is with all the other letters that start with t. So Timothy, if you're there, you're close. If you're passing Thessalonians, equally close. Look at Titus.

Why did Jesus Christ die on the cross for our sins? Here's one reason. Look at verse 14 of chapter two. Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all law lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are what? Please say it to me.

Zealous for good works. Zealous. Zealous for good works. You're excited to serve God. You're preoccupied with serving God.

You have a passion to serve God. One of the outcomes of Jesus Christ dying on the cross and redeeming a people is that they would be zealous for good works. You you think it would end there, it doesn't end there. Look here at verse eight of chapter three. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.

So what is he saying? Pastor Titus, tell your people to be careful, implying that if you are not careful, you're gonna get careless. To be careful to devote themselves to good works. Well, we're the gospel of grace. Yeah.

That gospel of grace teaches you to be zealous for good works. Doesn't teach you to be idle. Doesn't teach you to sit on your hands. Doesn't teach you to be busy about absolutely everything except the things of God. How?

That's not the gospel. You think it ends there? It doesn't end there. Look at verse 14. And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works.

Like, he's not getting off of it. Jesus came for this. Be careful to do it, and let people learn to do what? Devote themselves to good works so as to help cases of urgent need and not be unfruitful. God's will for you is to be fruitful.

It's not to be the same person you were when you accepted Christ five years ago. It's for you to grow and increase and advance. And one of the things that you and I are called to grow and increase is in good works. Doesn't mean you're gonna serve god the same way that the next person does. Doesn't mean you're gonna serve god the same way the full time minister does.

But there is observable things. Can I ask you something? Like, what can you point to in your life and say, I do this for the lord? I do this for the Lord. You're saying, brother, I don't wanna hear that.

No. No. No. Tell Go back to the how God's grace was rescuing Ahab. Okay.

When God rescues you with his grace, you're supposed to do something. It's supposed to do something in your life. So the same people who want the gospel, who wanna protect the gospel, and I'm one of those people well, look what Titus says as he has proclaimed the truth of the gospel. There's consequence of the gospel. Glorious holy consequence.

Well, that wasn't planned in bible study. But let's finish our last few verses of this chapter together. First Kings chapter 20 verse 41. Then he hurried to take the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. And he said to him, thus says the Lord, because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall be for his life and your people for his people.

You know, Ahab Ahab had not responded to the splendid grace of God as he defended him, undeservingly protected him, and interceded or rather intervened for him. So now it's time for discipline. Listen, this is not coming randomly. This is coming with a backdrop of mercy being showered over this man. And you would think now, okay.

If you didn't catch on to God's goodness, maybe now this discipline, this warning is gonna awaken you. You would think, yes. Okay. Maybe now Ahab will fall to his knees and cry out to the Lord. Here's what you read in verse 43.

And the king of Israel went to his house vexed and sullen and came to Samaria. He was upset. He was upset. Sulking, dragging his feet, unchanged. Unchanged.

So what's the takeaway from this? It's a sad takeaway. That despite all that the lord has done for this man, he wouldn't give himself to him. That's what you and I are supposed to see at the end of this study. That man is capable of doing such heinous things, though this holy god does so much to reach us and to gather us to himself.

And that is why the greatest judgment is reserved for those who on the other side of the cross have despised and denied the Lord after he sent his son, Jesus Christ. It's no small thing to think small about what Christ has done. It may be small in your eyes, but it is not insignificant in the eyes of God the father. And there is a day of reckoning where those who have turned their back against God will have to explain it, and no explanation will do for why Jesus Christ was not received to forgive your sins. So if you're a person here who is unnecessarily delaying your acceptance of the gospel, why?

It's a message of love. It's a message of mercy. It's a message of tender compassion where you and I, who are enemies of God, are made righteous because of the initiation of God in reaching out to you and me. I pray that if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, that tonight, even on this Friday night, you would accept him and receive him by repenting of your sin and embracing him as the sole means of your salvation. Saint, may you be equipped for war.

May you be mindful that this is a lifelong battle with sin. May you also be encouraged to know that as long as you strengthen yourself with the supply of grace that God has given us and are mindful of this and you put on that armor, you will know victory. You don't have to be identified with a scandal like many people are. You don't have to be known as a person who did not have a glorious graduation throughout their existence on earth. You don't have to be numbered among those.

God has given us everything that we need to know wonderful testimonies in him if we but trust him, obey him, seek him, wait on him, love him, worship him, and serve him. Amen? Amen. Let's seek him together in closing. We do bless the name of the Lord.

We thank you, oh God, for your wonderful provision of truth in this chapter. And we ask, oh God, that you would be gracious to bind these things on our hearts and keep them in remembrance. Lord, we see your relentless love and grace in this chapter, and we pray that the Holy Spirit would make it real for us. Please, Lord, if all of this has been interpreted as simple lessons or moral maxims and proverbs, forgive us, Lord, we ask instead that our hearts would burn with love for the God of this word. Let that be the fruit of this bible study tonight.

Let our hearts be softer towards you. Let there be a genuine evaluation introspection that will cause us to grow closer to you. May your Holy Spirit do that, oh God. We've done all that we can in our own ability. Yes, depending on you.

But Lord, a changed life can only occur by your power. So we we ask that you would make it happen in all of us. And we ask these things in the living, matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen and amen. Let's stand.

Let's worship the Lord. Honor the Lord. Thank him. Thank him for this spiritual bread and spiritual drink.