The Lord then sent one of the sons of the prophets to tell Ahab of the folly of what he had dope in making a covenant with this ungodly king. Before going, the prophet found a man and asked him to smite him, but the man refused. The prophet therefore told him that because he had refused to smite him, he would be killed by a lion. As soon therefore as he was gone, a lion met him and killed him. The prophet then met another man and asked him to smite him. The man did so and wounded him.
The prophet then disguised himself, put ashes on his head and went out to meet Ahab. When Ahab came along the prophet called to him and 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. And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” The king then replied, “So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.” The prophet then took away the ashes with which he had disguised himself and told king Ahab that because he had let Ben-hadad go, instead of putting him to death as the Lord had appointed, “therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.” Ahab went to his house heavy and displeased.
I believe there is an important lesson here for us. We are never to become friends with the world, for the Scripture says, “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” James 4:44Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. (James 4:4). No matter how nicely the world speaks, or the fair promises unsaved men like Ben-hadad may make, their hearts are at enmity with God. They hate Christ. They may turn to God in trouble, or to escape trouble, as Ben-hadad counted upon the mercy of the king of Israel, but let us never forget that the world is guilty of the rejection and crucifixion of the Son of God, and its true character is stamped upon it by that act. The man who refused to smite the prophet and was slain by a lion, is typical of one coming under Satan’s power. Satan is compared to a roaring lion in 1 Peter 5:88Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Peter 5:8). If we do not take sides with God apart from, and even in open opposition to, the world, incurring its disfavor and hatred by our testony, we are liable to come under Satan’s power. The world lies in the arms of the wicked one, and we must overcome it, or be overcome by it. We cannot take an easy path through this world. “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil.” Ephesians 4:26, 2726Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27Neither give place to the devil. (Ephesians 4:26‑27). This is our scene of conflict and we need the whole armor of God to be able to overcome the enemy. We are to resist the devil with the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. The man who refused to take the offensive here was slain, while the one who did so, was delivered. We can never lay down our armor or give up the struggle till we get home to glory. May the Lord give us grace to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ, willing to eure hardness for Him.
“Then with what joy reviewing
Past conflicts, dangers, fears,
Thy hand our foes subduing,
And drying all our tears,
Our hearts with rapture burning,
The path we shall retrace,
Where now our souls are learning
The riches of Thy grace.”
ML 07/15/1956