In spite of the way the Lord had manifested Himself in such power as the true God, Ahab did not really turn to Him. God therefore allowed him to feel the power of the enemy, the king of Syria, before displaying His grace in a touching way. If Elijah could not enter into this grace of God toward His erring people (and as servants how slow we are to do this at times), then the Lord would manifest Himself in this character. Surely this ought to have touched the hearts of His people. May we too know how to minister it “as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” 1 Peter 4:10. God used an unusual circumstance to bring this out here, for it is our extremity that often causes us to turn to the Lord, and casts us upon Him where we prove His unchanging character in grace.
Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, gathered his mighty host together, along with thirty-two kings, and went up against Samaria to war. He sent a message to Ahab the king, saying, “Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.” Poor Ahab did not turn to the Lord, as he should have done at this time. Alas, when we have given up the fear of God we are soon overcome by the fear of man. Ahab who had not owned the Lord’s claims, submitted to the claims of Ben-hadad, saying, “My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have.” The messengers returned with this message to Ben-hadad, but still he was not satisfied. He therefore sent messengers again to Ahab, saying that they would search his house for the things they wanted and that Ahab must give them up. This was too much for Ahab, and he sent Ben-hadad’s messengers back saying that he would not consent to such a demand.
Ahab’s reply made Ben-hadad very angry, and he ordered his men to set the battle in array against Israel. Though Ahab had failed to turn to the Lord in this matter, yet the Lord would not allow Ben-hadad to boast against His people. He was patient toward them and, as we have remarked before, He would manifest His grace and goodness toward them in spite of their failure. The Lord therefore sent a prophet to Ahab saying, “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.” Ahab believed the message, and with only seven thousand in his army he went out against the Syrians in obedience to the word of the Lord. Ben-hadad and the thirty-two kings that were with him, were drinking themselves drunk in their pavilions at noon, when the army of Israel came out against them; they were unprepared for the attack. The men of Israel, encouraged by the Word of the Lord and the king, advanced against them and put them to flight. There was a great slaughter among the Syrians and they were utterly defeated.
The prophet then came to Ahab warning him to strengthen himself for the future. We can never continue in the path of faith on the strength of past victories — though we sometimes try to do so! We forget that it is only through the Lord that we can overcome in any circumstance, though often, as we look back on such experiences, we are prone to feel it was our own strength, and are confident of what we can do. If the Lord has used us in any way, as He used Ahab here, let us remember it is all His grace — nothing of ourselves.
ML 07/01/1956