"I am thine." "Wisely doth Ahab, as a reed in a tempest, stoop to this violent charge." "It is not for the overpowered to capitulate." Besides, who knew what the "soft answer" might effect? If smooth words could do no good, rough ones would certainly do much harm. The meek always have the best of it, and so inherit the earth.
1 Kings 20:9
"This thing I may not do." "Better die than live in disgrace," says the Greek proverb. The king of Samaria was in a similar strait to those four logical lepers who, a few years later, in another siege, lay at the gate of the city (2 Kings 7:4). He could but die in any case, and he might perchance live if he stood on his defence. Even a worm will turn when trod upon. We should think scorn of Ahab, had he not made a stand for his life and wife and children.
1 Kings 20:10
"The gods do so to me,".etc. How often has the swearer to eat his words. The hero does; he never talks of what he will do. "Victory is to be achieved, not to be sworn." This vulgar fashion of calling upon God to do oneself some hurt thus appears to be of great antiquity. But it always proceeds from those who have very little belief in God at all. The profane swearer is practically an infidel, so far as the gods he invokes are concerned. An Italian workman was once reproved in a Roman studio for the oaths which he swore by the sacred name of Gesu. "Oh," said he boldly, "I'm not afraid of Him at all." Then, lowering his voice to a whisper, he added, "I'll tell you what I'm afraid of: it is His blessed mother" He never swore by the Deity he believed in.
1 Kings 20:12
"Set yourselves in array" (Heb. שִימוּ). The command was prompt and decided enough. But observe, he himself went on drinking (1 Kings 20:16). This helps to explain his defeat. He was a man of words only. The successful generals—it is a trite saying—are those who say "Come," not "Go."
1 Kings 20:18
"There came a prophet" O altitudo! For years past the prophets have been proscribed, hunted, harried to death. Yet in his darkest hour, when other refuge fails him, Ahab finds a prophet at his side. God bears no grudges. It is sufficient to give us a claim upon His help that we are helpless (Psalms 68:5; Hosea 14:8). He "comforteth" (i.e; strengtheneth, con fortis) "those that are cast down (2 Corinthians 7:6). "Who can wonder enough at this unweariable mercy of God? After the fire and rain, fetched miraculously from heaven, Ahab had promised much, performed nothing, yet God will again bless and solicit him with victory; one of those prophets whom he persecuted shall comfort his dejection with the news of deliverance and triumph." This act of grace should have proved that the Lord was God, and that the prophet was His messenger. It is not in man to act thus. "Thou shalt know that I am the Lord." "Not for thy righteousness or the uprightness of thine heart dost thou go in to possess their land, but for the wickedness of these nations," etc. (Deuteronomy 9:4, Deuteronomy 9:5). The drought, the fire, the great rain, none of these had convinced the king and queen. Will deliverance from the jaws of death move them? Will they believe in a God of battles? Will they recognize HIS finger in a superhuman victory?
1 Kings 20:15
"The young men … were two hundred and thirty-two." "Not by might nor by power (Zechariah 15:6). God's host is ever a little flock (cf. 7:2-7; 2 Chronicles 20:12; 1 Corinthians 1:27-29). The "weak things" were chosen then, as subsequently, "that no flesh should glory in his presence." God never departs from that rule. The "carpenter's son," the "fishermen," the "unlearned and ignorant men"—it is the same principle underlies His choice in every case.
1 Kings 20:16
"Drinking himself drunk … he and the kings." Of strong drink it may justly be said, "Many strong men have been slain by her" (Proverbs 7:20). "It is not for kings to drink wine" (Proverbs 31:4). Nor is it for warriors. Alexander, conqueror of the world, was conquered by wine. Our great generals of modern times have been abstainers. The march to Coomassie, to Candahar was effected without the aid of intoxicants. The Russian soldiers in the Crimea were drugged with vodka, but it did not prevent their defeat.
1 Kings 20:18
"Take them alive." "Security is the certain usher of destruction. We have never so much cause to fear as when we fear nothing" (cf. Daniel 5:1, 80; Luke 17:27; 1 Thessalonians 5:3).
1 Kings 20:20
"They slew every one his man." It is thus the world must be won for Christ. Mohammed had two fixed ideas: first, to make converts; second, to make his converts soldiers. And every Christian is a soldier of the Cross, enlisted at his baptism into the Church militant. By personal, individual effort are Churches built up and believers added to the Lord. So it was in the first days. "Andrew findeth his own brother Simon." "Philip findeth Nathanael" (John 1:41-45).
1 Kings 20:23
"Their gods are gods of the hills." It is no uncommon thing to find men laying the blame of their misfortune on God. We smile at those poor pagans who beat their wooden gods with sticks, or those Italian villagers who, s few weeks ago, threw the image of their patron saint into a well, and set upon their parish priest, because their prayers for rain remained unanswered; but the same thing, slightly varied in shape, is often done amongst ourselves. "Bad luck" is held responsible for many of the failures for which we have only ourselves to thank. That "everybody is against him" is often the cry of the man who has no enemy but himself. The idle scoundrel who has wife and children generally accuses them of being the causes of his misfortunes; if he has no such scapegoats, he will lay the blame on God's providence. He never remembers that he himself was "drinking himself drunk" at the hour for action.
1 Kings 20:22
Go strengthen thyself." Though God had delivered him once and would deliver him again (1 Kings 20:28), yet Ahab must consult for his own safety. While trusting in God, he must keep his powder dry. The same prophet who has announced deliverance by a band of youths, wholly inadequate to cope with the Syrians, now bids him look well to the defences of the country. Aide-toi et Dieu t'aidera; this is the purport of his message.
1 Kings 20:29
"Seven days." Compare the "seven thousand" of 1 Kings 20:15, and Joshua 6:4, Joshua 6:15, Joshua 6:16. He hath commanded His covenant forever (Psalm 3:9; cf. 1 Chronicles 16:15; Psalms 89:28, 84). By this act, Israel
1 Kings 20:30
"A wall fell," etc. (Cf. Acts 28:4; Habakkuk 2:11). "A dead wall in Aphek shall revenge God on the rest that remained." Where they sought shelter and thought themselves secure, they found death (cf. Amos 5:19; Amos 9:3; Psalms 139:7-10; Luke 19:40).
1 Kings 20:31
"The kings of Israel are merciful kings." How true is that of the true King of Israel. He is the very fount of mercy (Exodus 34:7; Numbers 14:18; Psalms 25:10; Psalms 100:5; Psalms 102:17; Psalms 130:7). We often picture Him as "less merciful than His image in a man." But let us do Him this dishonour no more. It is "His property always to have mercy." Is He less clement than an Ahab? Is His heart less tender to penitent rebels? "Behold now, we know that the King of Heaven, the God of Israel, is a merciful God; let us put sackcloth upon our loins, and strew ashes upon our heads, and go meet the Lord God of Israel, that he may save our souls."
1 Kings 20:34
"I will send thee away," etc. On another occasion such conduct as this was commanded (2 Kings 6:22, 2 Kings 6:23). Why, then, was it sinful now? Precisely because it was not commanded; because God intended the opposite (1 Kings 20:42). It was not clemency, it was culpable weakness to send this overbearing despot, who had already cost Israel so dear, to send him to his home, there to renew his plots against the people of God. As well might the magistrate compassionate the burglar, or the garotter, and instead of shutting him up in prison, send him into the streets, to be the plague of society. The king, like the magistrate, is trustee for the commonwealth. He has no right to gratify his benevolent instincts at the expense of the community. Still less right had the theocratic king, the representative of Heaven, to liberate, ex mero arbitrio, a tyrant whom God had manifestly given into his hands. "Charity cannot excuse disobedience." He had proved Ben-hadad twice, yet he asks for no material guarantees. He neither consults nor remembers his deliverer.
1 Kings 20:40
"Thyself hast decided it." So shall our judgment be. "Out of thine own mouth," etc. (Luke 19:22). How many will stand self condemned, condemned by their own precepts, condemned by the sentences they have passed upon others, by the measure they have exacted from others, etc.
1 Kings 20:43
"Heavy and displeased." Cf. Psalms 16:4; Psalms 32:10. "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." Life out of God brings only disappointment. The most magnificent of kings found it vanity and vexation of spirit. The things of earth cannot satisfy the soul of man, the soul made for God. History has preserved for us a striking testimony to this truth in the confession of Abdalrahman, caliph of Spain. "I have now reigned," he wrote, "fifty years in victory or peace; beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies. Riches and honours, power and pleasures, have waited on my call, nor does any earthly blessing appear to have been wanting to my felicity. In this situation I have numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: they amount to fourteen! O man, place not thy confidence in this present world."
HOMILIES BY J.A. MACDONALD
1 Kings 20:1-11
The Spirit of War.
In human histories so much is made of brilliant uniforms, scientific discipline, skilful manoeuvres, exploits, surprises, and successes, that readers are carried away with "the pomp and circumstance" of so-called "glorious war." In the text we have the other side; and we are reminded of the appeal of James: "From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your own lusts that war in your members?" (James 4:1.) Conspicuous amongst these is—
I. THE SPIRIT OF WAR, We see this—
1. In Ben-hadad's message (verse 3).
(1) We do not understand this to be a demand from Ahab for the actual surrender to Ben-hadad of his "silver" and "gold," "wives" and "children." Else it would be difficult to see any material difference between this first message and that which followed (verse 6).
2. In his confident boasting.
II. THE SPIRIT OF INJUSTICE. This we see—
1. In Ben-hadad's requisitions.
2. In his principles of appeal.
III. THE SPIRIT OF CRUELTY. This appears—
1. In the provocations.
2. In the struggles.
(3) Survey the battlefield after the strife. Men and animals dead and dying, mingled; gaping wounds; mangled limbs, sickening horrors I What pictures of cruelty are here!
1 Kings 20:12-21
The hand of God.
The notable answer of the king of Israel to the insolent king of Syria, "Let not him that girdeth on the harness boast himself as he that putteth it off," came to Ben-hadad when he was drinking wine with the thirty and two kings that followed him. He at once gave orders to his servants to set themselves in battle array. While the enormous host which "filled the country" (see 1 Kings 20:25, 1 Kings 20:27) disposed itself to attack the city, the men of Israel, who were but a handful, naturally trembled for the issue, at this juncture God interposed in the manner related here, and thereby asserted the general truths, viz.—
I. THAT GOD RULES IN THE DESTINIES OF MEN.
1. Here He showed His hand.
2. By so showing His hand He evinced that He is ever working.
II. THAT HE RULES IN RIGHTEOUSNESS AND MERCY.
1. He humbles the proud is righteousness.
2. He shows long-suffering in mercy.
1 Kings 20:22-30
Wisdom in Counsel.
No man is so wise that it may not be to his advantage to consider advice; but in listening to advice we may be led astray. There are two classes of advisers, viz; those who are influenced by the "wisdom of this world," and those who are influenced by the "wisdom from above." Of both we have examples in the text.
I. THE WISDOM OF THIS WORLD IS A WISDOM OF EXPEDIENCY.
1. It is not destitute of sagacity.
(a) Ben-hadad's counsellors would not have him underrate his enemy. The army they advise him to raise for the invasion of Israel must not be inferior to that which had been lately vanquished (1 Kings 20:25). Let us not underrate our spiritual foes.
(b) Neither would they have him underrate the quality of his soldiers. They do not admit that his army was fairly beaten, but speak of "the army that thou hast lost," or "that fell from thee." In this also they were right, for if God had not helped Israel the Syrians would not have been routed. In all our spiritual conflicts let us fight under the banner of Jehovah.
(a) Ben-hadad's counsellors lay emphasis here—"And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place." Why remove the kings? Because in the last war they were "drinking themselves drunk" when they should have been at their posts, and the army, without officers, became confused and demoralized. Trust not the kings again (see Psalms 118:9; Psalms 146:8).
(b) "Put captains in their rooms." Let the army be commanded by men of ability and experience. Pageants are of no use in times of exigency.
2. But its sagacity is mingled with folly.
(a) In his former war Ben-hadad's impulse was pride. The insolence of his demands evidenced this (1 Kings 20:3, 1 Kings 20:6). But what wisdom is there in pride?
(b) Though mortified by defeat, that pride remained, and was now moved by the spirit of revenge: "Surely we shall be stronger than they." But what wisdom is there in resentment?
(c) Beyond these base feelings the desire for plunder seems to have moved the Syrian. But where is the wisdom in a king becoming a common robber?
(a) The Syrians formed an unworthy idea of the Elohim of Israel when they localized and limited Him to the hills. Palestine is a hilly country, and its cities and high places were generally on hills; and probably in the hill country of Samaria the cavalry and chariots of Syria were of little service. (See Psalms 15:1; Psalms 24:3; Psalms 87:1; Psalms 121:1.)
(b) In the proposal to give Israel battle in the plains the Syrians now set Jehovah at defiance.
II. THE WISDOM FROM ABOVE IS THE WISDOM OF TRUTH.
1. It is far reaching.
2. It is prudent.
3. It is unerring.
4. It is profitable.
Let us faithfully pursue the policy of right. Let us never permit the expediency of a moment to swerve us from this. Truth abides.—J.A.M.
1 Kings 20:30-43
False Mercy.
The first army with which Ben-hadad invaded Israel was defeated with "great slaughter," and the king saved himself by flight. The defeat of the second was even more complete, when 127,000 men were destroyed and the king had to surrender at discretion. But Ahab, for his false mercy in sparing the life of Ben-hadad, brought judgment upon himself and upon his people.
I. MERCY IS FALSE WHEN IT OPPOSES THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD.
1. That righteousness dooms the incorrigible to death.
2. Ben-hadad was obnoxious to that doom.
3. But Ahab opposed his mercy to the righteousness of God.
II. THOSE WHO SHOW SUCH MERCY ENCOUNTER THE JUDGMENT OF GOD.
1. Because thereby they encourage evil.
2. Hence Ahab was held to be an accomplice with Ben-hadad.
3. Ahab in consequence was doomed to die.
HOMILIES BY J. URQUHART
1 Kings 20:1-21
Veiled Mercies.
I. AHAB'S EXTREMITY (1 Kings 20:1-11). God's goodness to the froward is shown by His bringing them into circumstances where they may prove and know Him. The clouds they "so much dread are big with mercy."
1. The land is overrun and the capital besieged. The fruit of sin is difficulty and disaster. The land and the life which will not acknowledge God will know at last what it is to be bereft of His protecting care and the ministrations of His goodness. These are the eternal portion only of those whom they raise and bless.
2. His degradation (1 Kings 20:2-4). In his own city he has to listen and assent to the terms that rob him at one stroke of all that is dearest and best. The foe has no mercy, and Ahab neither strength nor dignity. Those who forsake God, and shut themselves out from the experience of His truth and mercy, will prove the vanity of every other trust.
3. His helplessness (1 Kings 20:5-11).
II. GOD'S HELP (1 Kings 20:12-21).
1. Its compassionateness. The help came unsought, and when, indeed, there was no thought of seeking it. How often has He thus prevented us with the blessings of His goodness!
2. Its timeliness. The final attack was about to be made (1 Kings 20:12). The progress of the siege had no doubt alarmed Ahab, and led to negotiation. Now it needed but one more effort and the Syrian hosts would be surging through the streets of Samaria. Within the city there was only a terrible fear, or dull, defiant despair. But now, as the blow is about to fail, the shield of God sweeps in between. The Lord knows]:[is time to help, and, by helping, to reveal Himself and bind us to Him.
3. Its fulness.
1 Kings 20:22-43
Resisted Mercy.
I. GOD MULTIPLIES HIS BENEFITS TO THE SINFUL (1 Kings 20:22-30). Ahab makes no public acknowledgment of God's mercy, nor, so far as appears, has it been suffered to change in any way his attitude towards Jehovah; yet God crowns him with loving-kindnesses.
1. Delivered from one danger, he is warned of another. "Go, strengthen thyself, and see what thou doer," etc. The enemy, baffled for the time, will return again. The intimation was a call not only to prepare his hosts and strengthen his cities, but, beyond all else, to seek His face who had delivered him already, and was able to deliver him again. We are warned of dangers that we may strengthen ourselves in God. There is love in the warning, and vaster love in the offered strength.
2. When the danger comes he is assured of success (1 Kings 20:28). The most needful preparation had been neglected; Ahab had not sought God. But God again seeks him. Mark the unwearied, all-forgiving love of God.
3. The Lord fights for him. In vain did the Syrians change their ground and remodel their army. In vain did they surround with their myriads the two small bands of Israel. They are given as stubble to the swords of Israel, and the very walls of the city into which they flee for safety become their destruction. God's hand is so marked in His deliverances, that the sinful cannot fail to see the wondrous love that is behind them. They bring us face to face with "the depths of the riches" of His mercy.
4. The purpose of the mercy. "Ye shall know that I am the Lord." It is the revelation of God, and is meant to. be the birth hour of the soul. The goodness of God may be mentioned with seeming gratitude, but it. has been barren of result unless it has brought us into the presence of the King. The Divine Love has blessed us in vain unless it has become the light of the Lord's face.
II. HOW THE MERCY WAS MADE OF NO EFFECT. TO Ahab the mercy brought only deeper condemnation. It will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for Chorazin and Bethsaida, which saw the goodness of God in Christ, and yet repented not.
1. The mercy was frustrated by prayerlessness. Though warned of the danger, he does not with lowly confession of sin and unworthiness implore God's direction and help. There is no breaking up of the fallow ground that it may receive the blessing as the seed of joy and life in God.
2. By thanklessness. When the blessing came it might still have saved him. The benefits with which God had loaded him might have bowed him in lowly acknowledgment of his multiplied iniquities and long impious rebellion. The goodness of God leads us to repentance only as we pass in before the Lord through the gates of praise.
3. By blindness to the indications of God's will. The multitude slain in the battle, the falling of the wall upon those who escaped, the overthrowing of every defence till the king, the head and centre of the whole evil, was reached, might have shown that God purposed to make an end for the time of the Syrian power, and give a full deliverance to Israel. The fruit of the victory was blighted by Ahab's blindness and folly. To cooperate with God in working out our own salvation, we must read and faithfully fulfil His purpose.
4. By vanity and worldly policy. He enjoys for a brief moment the Bower which God has given, becomes the benefactor and brother of the man whom the Lord had doomed, and makes a covenant with him. The trust which God had desired should wholly rest upon Himself he reposes in his foe. The hour of prosperity, which should be our covenant time with God, is too often made the occasion for worldly alliances, which lead us to forget Him and all we owe to Him.
III. MERCY FRUSTRATED BEARS FRUIT IN JUDGMENT (verses 35-43).
1. The message came through swift and stern judgment. Disobedience meant death (verses 35, 36). The Divine threatenings come to us through terrible judgments.
2. Ahab was self condemned. The voice of conscience is on God's side. "If our heart condemn us," etc.
3. His own life should answer for the life he spared. Letting go God's enemy, and keeping back his hand from God's righteous though terrible work, he destroyed himself. No cross, no crown. The awful price which a soul must pay for present ease and pleasure: "He that loveth his life shall lose it."
4. The shadow of God's wrath swallows up the worldling's peace (verse 43); and it falls ever deeper till the end come.—U.
HOMILIES BY A. ROWLAND
1 Kings 20:40
The Neglected Opportunity.
Ben-hadad II. was seeking his revenge for a defeat inflicted on him the preceding year by the Israelitish army, led by a band of 232 young noblemen. He had disciplined his army, and reofficered it, no longer allowing money or family influence to supersede military skill. Everything that organization could accomplish or superstition dictate (1 Kings 20:23) had been done, but all proved in vain; for the contest was not simply between Ben-hadad and Ahab, but between the heathen and the living God who had been blasphemously challenged. Describe Ben-hadad's successful appeal to Ahab after the defeat. Why was it not commendable (as it was, for example, after the siege of Calais) to spare the vanquished? Because the motive was not pity, but policy; and the criminal allowed to escape had avowedly fought as Jehovah s foe. It is sometimes "expedient that one man should die for the people." Ben-hadad's death would have been the salvation of Ahab, who in the next war fell mortally wounded; it would have ensured a lasting peace, as this was the campaign of the Syrian king, rather than of the Syrian]people; and it would hare seriously shaken the confidence of the heathen in their gods. The king let his prisoner go to his own undoing. It was this sin which was now rebuked. Picture Ahab returning from the field flushed with victory. He is accosted by a man who has been sitting wounded and dusty beside the road. He is a disguised prophet, probably Micaiah, acting a parable. Says he, in effect: "I have come from the battle. In the hour of victory, the captain, whom I acknowledge I was bound to obey, gave me in charge a prisoner of note, saying that if he escaped my life should answer for it. I admit that I failed, though not designedly; but while thy servant was busy here and there he was gone. Ought I to suffer for that slight negligence?" And when Ahab answered, "Yes," the disguise was flung off, and the daring prophet appeared, saying, "In pronouncing my doom, thou hast pronounced thine own." [Read 1 Kings 20:42 and 1 Kings 20:43.] The prophet set before the king a picture of his neglect of opportunity which is worthy of our study. We observe—
I. THAT OPPORTUNITY IS GIVEN OF GOD. "There is a time forevery purpose under heaven." Examples:
II. THAT OPPORTUNITY IS GRANTED TO ALL. If you would discover this,
III. THAT OPPORTUNITY IS NEGLECTED BY MANY. TWO causes of this may be suggested:
CONCLUSION.—
1. Apply to Christians who are neglecting work for God.
2. Apply to the careless who are neglecting decision for God.—A.R.
1 Kings
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