First Kings 20:12

The Bible says in First Kings 20:12-22, “And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it in to thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.[14] And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, Thou.[15] Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.[16] And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.[17] And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.[18] And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive.[19] So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them.[20] And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen.[21] And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.[22] And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thy self, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.” Ahab was a wicked king, but God still worked in his heart and life. God gave Ahab a victory over Ahab’s enemies. And verse twelve says that God did it in order to show that God is the Lord. God is constantly proving Himself and showing Himself to all the people of the world. How many will turn to the Lord Jesus and start worshipping Him?

The Bible says in First Kings 20:23-28, “And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.[24] And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms:[25] And number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.[26] And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.[27] And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.[28] And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.” The Syrians made a big mistake: they spoke against the power of God. God is the Almighty. God can do anything. And because of their words of disrespect, God decided to teach them a lesson, and to cause the Syrians to lose again.

The Bible says in First Kings 20:29-43, “And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day.[30] But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.[31] And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.[32] So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.[33] Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother Ben-hadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Ben-hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.[34] And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.[35] And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.[36] Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.[37] Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him.[38] So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.[39] And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.[40] And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.[41] And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets.[42] And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.[43] And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.” The great sin of Ahab in all of this was the fact that he did not finish off the evil king of Syria when Ahab had the chance. God delivered Behadad into Ahab’s hand so that Ahab would destroy him. But Ahab made a league with the devil. If you are a believer, you had better learn how to apply the Biblical principle of separation from non-believers. For example, it says in Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” Love them and pray for them, but be careful of too close of an alliance with them. Do not let them lead you astray.

The Bible says in First Kings 21:1-10, “And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.[2] And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.[3] And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.[4] And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.[5] But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?[6] And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard.[7] And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.[8] So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth.[9] And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:[10] And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.” These verses show us once again the great wickedness of Jezebel. She was a liar, a deceiver, a murderer, and she hated God’s prophets. This definitely sets the stage for what will eventually happen to her. The wheels of God’s justice may turn slowly, but they turn ever so finely. “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. I will repay.”

The Bible says in First Kings 21:11-24, “And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.[12] They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.[13] And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.[14] Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.[15] And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.[16] And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.[17] And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,[18] Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it.[19] And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.[20] And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.[21] Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,[22] And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.[23] And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.[24] Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.” Finally, God had enough. He has a lot of patience but the end will eventually come for everyone. Now was the time for judgment for Ahab and Jezebel. In order to give proper symbolism to their terrible lives, they would not be buried. Their slaughtered bodies would be eaten by animals.

The Bible says in First Kings 21:25-29, “But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.[26] And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.[27] And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.[28] And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,[29] Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.” Ahab humbled himself, and God noticed. And so part of Ahab’s judgment was alleviated. If I were you, I would repent of my sins and find the tender mercy of God. Jesus is always there, waiting for anyone willing to repent.

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