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.

1 Kings 20 · chapter mention

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 want to 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 at 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 Baal ISM. 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 judgement, 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 3

year drought. Here's what's going to be

interesting about First Kings chapter 20.

1 Kings 20 · chapter mention

You're not going to find Elijah or Jezebel mentioned once.

It's just going to 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 ex 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 doesn't have relevance to the whole story,

doesn't seem to connect with the overall theme.

But you and I are going to conclude otherwise as we study

this chapter, that it very much is place 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 going to treat it

lightly. And one way we're not going to

treat it lightly is there is no way we're going to cover all of

this in one session. So here we are on a Friday

night. Hopefully we'll cover the 1st 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 Haddad, the king of Syria,

gathered all his army together, 32 kings were with them 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, OK, here it

is everything that God has done. Have you still stiffen your

neck? Judgement has arrived at your

front door. But that's not the case.

Judgement isn't coming by means of foreign forces.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. What the Lord has prepared to do

is He is 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

1 Kings 20:13

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 and grasping the grace of God, it will never the

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's not now tending to a

servant who's 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 chose 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 amazing.

God's grace is meant to do that to you.

And we're going to 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 has been Haddad, 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, O king, I

am yours and all that I have. So Ben Haddad 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

disabilitating 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, O

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 hesitated 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's 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, in 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 Bennett had verse

three. Your silver and your gold are

mine. All right, you want to 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 want to 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 and Dad will

make. When he realizes that there was

no resistance from Ahab, he goes even further and notice this in

verse five and six, the messengers came again and said,

Thus says Ben Haddad, I sent to you saying, delivered 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. under score that. And it wasn't until that nerve

was touched does Ahab get off his throne, stand to his feet,

and is willing not to defend himself.

The money, the wives, the children, shore.

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 them. Would cost them his relationship

with his spouse and the well-being of his children.

You know you have a lot of people who want to 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 set 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 are the Apostle Paul saying quoting Jesus?

Interestingly in Acts 20, will 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 Haddad's perspective.

So again, look back at verse five and six.

Benedad sent messengers, they came again and said, Thus says

Benedette, 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 going to 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 going to 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 asking 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 an 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.

Yeah, 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 can tell you this for certain.

To harbor harbor a covetous heart 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 that in our study.

It's in Philippians, not chapter one like how we open the

service, but in chapter four, he said something that I think will

help us, 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, OK, 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

brought low. 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 ABC's 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 the 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 going to

know real contentment. You're just going to be stirred

for the time that the preacher talks about, 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, it's just going

to 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. No Christ, no 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 Benedad

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 want to, I want to talk to you about two things concerning

spiritual warfare in this real scenario of war.

One is personal, one is for the corporate church.

Benedad 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 want to 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 can't, I can't try to make a deal with this.

I'm cutting it off completely. I'm going to give it no oxygen.

It's not going to 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'll tell you one reason why.

Because they don't realize how deadly this thing is.

So Benedette says, I want to take your gold, your silver.

I want to 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 Haddad'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

budget 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 want to 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 going to be happy with some.

It wants to conquer all, everything.

So yeah, 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 given in that place. I'll tell you something.

Whenever a church or denomination gives over 1 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 Benedad does here. And sometimes it's delivered in

the package of a threat or reward, and in this case it was

a threat. Let's read on a verse 7.

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

Benedad, 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 Benedad is being reckless. This is arrogance on full

display. Ahab calls for the elders around

him, and he seeks their wisdom in 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

men. 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 Bail because just two

chapters ago, Bail bailed on him.

See what happened there? Building a deliver.

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

say, Oh God, please, I 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 Haab'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

Acts 10 · chapter mention

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 aren't 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 wrestle with 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 116.

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 116. 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 were to

believe in him for eternal life. Do you realize how profound this

is? Paul is saying, and it was

revealed to him surely by Christ.

Timothy, I want to 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. Open 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 and 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 them

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 had dad where Ahab says look I'll I'll agree to the first

contract, not the second one and notice what happens at 1st 10.

Ben had dad sent to him, and said, The gods do so to me, and

more also if 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 Haddad heard this

message as he was drinking with the kings in the boots, he said

to his men, Take your positions. And they took the positions

against the city. So Benedad could not fathom the

thought that somebody would reject his request, no matter

how Atlantic it is. This is this is pride at its

fullest. So he says, listen, I'm going to

crush you to such fine powder that we're going to 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 boasts

himself as he who takes it off. In other words, here's a

translation. I encourage you, Ben Haddad, 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.

You're 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, in 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

tomorrow's. 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 4:15 If the Lord wills, that's not license for you and I

James 4:15

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 want to enhance in your worship to the Lord as a

living sacrifice, you're going to 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 caught and to

train yourself to think. No matter what I plan, even if

it's 24 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 Christian things. And that's what Ahab is

essentially telling to Ben Haddad.

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 had that do in

movie like fashion? You can imagine the scene the

news comes from in verse 12. He takes a sip of his drink,

puts it on his table and he says to your man, his men take your

positions and they're about to go to war.

Hang tight. We're going to 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 a 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 going to give you more

evidence. Ahab.

Is it just me that's stirred by this?

Ahab Yes. I'm going to 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 you have? Some people are making the case

that this is Elijah. And if not Elijah, it's Elijah.

One of them are in disguise because he's anonymous.

I just want to 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 what 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 7000 who have not bowed their knee or

kissed bail. And earlier before that, you had

Obadiah informing us that there are at least 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 Elijah 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 to speak this message. What's your responsibility?

That 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 bail 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 want to 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 going to 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 as 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 want to 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 masters use.

So if you want to be worldly, go ahead, 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 want to be used of God and if

he's at any time ready to call somebody, I want to 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, whatever knowledge

that they're gaining. But people who have their lives

ordained by the scriptures and know the the scriptures richly,

I want to hear from them because I know what well they're going

to draw from. I know what kind of thing I'm

going to 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. 7000 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 going to

do this, you're going to 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 going to 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 transistors would say, the

young men, those are the guys that you're going to 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 doesn't.

He goes, all right, 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 going to do this again in

such a manner. How did he do it on Mount

Carmel? He asked Elijah to drench his

sacrifice and water over and over again so that no fabricated

flame can be excused. It would have to be an act of

God and hear 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 them 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. 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 want to let you know in advance that this is

going to be short lived. And why is it 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 and their unwillingness to

surrender. I think it's one of the greatest

things this cycle that only in dire circumstances does God get

the best of us. If you're going to 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 Pearl 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 going to learn when he obeys the prophet?

Let's read the last five verses together.

And they went out at noon while Ben Haddad 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 going to lead to his downfall.

So 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 want to

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 judgement so that we can

reflect his glory the better. Ben Haddad is going to show us

that alcohol is going to be a contributor to his destruction

and alcohol in many cases has done and created havoc and 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 Haddad sent

out scouts and they reported to him men are coming out from

Samaria. Verse 18 and it you're going to

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 pursue them.

But Ben Haddad, 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. Or 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 going to see him go back to the Ahab that we were

accustomed to and what we have for the rest of this chapter, or

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, O God, that we would be good Bereans, 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 story at this

point that you are relentless, that you give so many chances

before you judge. And we thank you, O 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 the 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've 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 unto the Lord. Shall we give him thanks for his

word?