1 Kings 20:13-25--Ahab Defeats Ben-hadad

1 Kings 20:13-25
English Standard Version

Ahab Defeats Ben-hadad
13 And behold, a prophet came near 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.” 14 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.” 15 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, seven thousand.

16 And they went out at noon, while Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the booths, he and the thirty-two kings who helped him. 17 The servants of the governors of the districts went out first. And Ben-hadad sent out scouts, and they reported to him, “Men are coming out from Samaria.” 18 He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive. Or if they have come out for war, take them alive.”

19 So these went out of the city, the servants of the governors of the districts and the army that followed them. 20 And each struck down his man. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them, but Ben-hadad king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen. 21 And the king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots, and struck the Syrians with a great blow.

22 Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, “Come, strengthen yourself, and consider well what you have to do, for in the spring the king of Syria will come up against you.”

23 And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills, and so they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. 24 And do this: remove the kings, each from his post, and put commanders in their places, 25 and muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.” And he listened to their voice and did so.

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We are told that "a prophet" (meaning this is probably not Elijah or Elisha, as they have already been identified by name, and there would be no reason to hide their identity here) came to King Ahab with a word from the LORD, "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."  The LORD is going to deliver His people once again like He delivered them from the Egyptians, and from the armies of the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites during the time of Moses and Joshua, and like He had delivered them from all their other enemies so far during the times of the Judges and the Kings.

Ahab's response tells where his heart is when he asks, "By whom?" as Ahab can only imagine that the stronger and more numerous army could win the battle.  He thinks this could only happen of some larger and more powerful nation comes in, but the LORD tells him that He is going to use the Israelites to do this.  The governors of all the districts were to muster their servants and Ahab was to lead them into battle.  Even though he was an evil man, he was their king and this was his duty.  At first they mustered all the servants of the governors of the districts and they counted only 232 men were with them, but after mustering all the rest of the people of Israel they had 7,000 fighting men with them.  The odds are still against them from the world's perspective, but Ahab knows the LORD is on his side, and he is to lead the LORD's people into battle, and the battle belongs to the LORD.

Ben-hadad and the other thirty-two kings with him were so sure of their victory, they already started to throw a victory celebration and they were already drunk by midday.  Ben-Hadad's scouts reported that men were coming out from Samaria (that is the capital city of Israel, and it represented the whole nation here), and Ben-hadad said that no matter if they came for peace or for war, he wanted them to be taken alive.

The Israelites attacked as the servants of Ben-hadad approached them so that each Israelite killed a soldier from Ben-hadad's army and even though Ben-hadad had the larger army, he knew it was time to run for his life.  He had certainly heard of how the LORD had given Israel victory over large armies like this before and how the kings of these attacking armies were treated.  Ahab struck down the horses and the chariots that would be his biggest advantage--Ben-hadad had cavalry and mechanized infantry, and Israel only had foot soldiers.  With no horses and chariots, no one could make a quick getaway, and great blow was offered to the Syrian army and the thirty-two kings allied with the Syrians.  However, the Israelites did not have complete and total victory in a single battle.

The prophet that had commanded Ahab to start the battle now came back to Ahab and told him that he needed to rest, strengthen himself, and analyze what still needed to be done, for in the Spring--the time when the kings went to war with each other--Syria would return and attack again, and Israel was to be ready for them this time.

The Syrians look for some excuse why they couldn't win and they turn to their pagan mythologies to say that it must be because the gods of the Israelites (thinking of the Baals no doubt) were gods of the hills that were worshiped in high places.  They reasoned then that these gods would be less powerful in the plains away from their high places.  They did not understand that there was but one God in Israel and He is the LORD.  He is the maker of heaven and earth and all that is in them and there is no place that man can go to escape His power.

Syria also decided that it was too risky for the kings to go into battle themselves and that they needed to stay off the battlefront, but that each of the kings should put a commander in charge of his army in his place.  The Syrians then wanted to muster another army just as strong as the army they had lost in this first battle with the same number of foot soldiers, horses, and chariots.  They imagine certainly if they had an army of the same size but with better tactics (for they imagined the LORD would not deliver the Israelites in the plain), that they would have to be victorious this time.  This is the kind of folly that comes from the devil when he imagines that "this time will be different" when he continually rebels against the LORD and loses every single time.  Even in perceived victory such as Jesus' death on the cross, the devil lost because it was by this means that the LORD intended for His elect to be saved and for this to be the gospel message that would go out to the whole world.