Chapter 176. 1 Kings 20:1-301And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. 2And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad, 3Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. 4And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have. 5And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Ben-hadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children; 6Yet I will send my servants unto thee to morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away. 7Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not. 8And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent. 9Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Ben-hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again. 10And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me. 11And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off. 12And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city. 13And, 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 into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. 14And 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. 15Then 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. 16And 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. 17And 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. 18And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive. 19So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them. 20And 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. 21And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter. 22And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee. 23And 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. 24And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms: 25And 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. 26And 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. 27And 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. 28And 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. 29And 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. 30But 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. (1 Kings 20:1‑30). Ben-Hadad
DURING Ahab’s reign, Benhadad, a wicked man, was king of Syria. The Syrians were neighbors of the Israelites, and lived on the north and east of them. David had conquered them, and while he and Solomon, his son, reigned they were subject to the children of Israel, but as soon as they were strong enough they rebelled against their masters and gave them much trouble.
Success had made them very bold, and Ben-hadad, gathering all his army, determined to besiege Samaria. With him were thirty-two kings from the small kingdoms around, with men, horses and chariots in quantity. Messengers were sent into the city to Ahab, saying, “Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.”
Ahab was much frightened, and hastened to send reply, “My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have.” This did not satisfy Benhadad who sent the messengers once more with the word that the Syrians would come on the morrow and search the houses and take whatever they wished.
Hastily, Ahab sent for the elders of Israel, and all decided they could not allow this, and told Ben-hadad not to boast ahead of time. The Syrians prepared to attack the city.
Ahab, idolatrous and wicked as he was, had no thought of turning to the Lord for help, but God was looking down upon this disobedient king and his people, and through His goodness and patience sought to bring them back to Himself. A prophet came to Ahab and told him that all the multitude of the Syrians should be delivered into their hands, that all might know it was of God.
Ahab then counted his army and found he had only seven thousand, with two hundred and thirty-two princes to lead the men. At noon, while Ben-hadad sat eating and drinking with the thirty-two kings, his allies, the princes walked out of the city. They had left the soldiers behind to follow at a distance. The Syrian guards informed Ben-hadad that there were men come out of Samaria. “Take them alive,” said he, “whether they come for peace or for war.”
Confident that there was nothing to fear from such a small band, the Syrians came forward. But the army, behind the princes, had followed, and each singling out his man, they slew many of the Syrians. The others fled and Israel pursued after them.
Ben-hadad jumped on his horse and escaped. Ahab and his men pursued and utterly routed their enemies.
The Syrians, however, were not discouraged. They said, “The gods of Israel are the 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.” So Ben-hadad arranged his army in the valley of Aphek. It was a very great army indeed against which the Israelites looked like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the whole country. The Lord had heard what the Syrians had said, and He determined to give them into the hand of Israel that they might know that He is God, and there is none else. He sent a prophet to Ahab to tell him that He would deliver this great multitude into his hands that they might know who He was. Por seven days the two armies faced each other and on the seventh the Israelites slew one hundred thousand footmen and the rest fled, learning in this terrible way that there is but one God, that He reigns over all the earth. The hills and valleys are alike to Him; we cannot hide from His eyes, which are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
ML 04/08/1917