This sermon on 1 Kings 20 was given on a Zoom call at Kew Baptist Church, London.
‘God works in mysterious ways’. It is a common saying that you sometimes hear people use when they are perplexed or surprised by what God is doing. It is likely the saying originated from the opening line of a hymn written by William Cowper back in 1773. ‘God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. He plants His footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.’ In the 250 years since those lines were penned, Cowper’s words have comforted many who find themselves wondering what God is doing. However, while Cowper should of course get credit for putting the truth so poetically, the true source of the saying is likely Isaiah 55:8-9: ‘my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ It seems that wondering what God is doing is nothing new. God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts. His ways are mysterious to man. His plan often perplexes us.
We have already seen this was the case in the book of 1 Kings. A few months ago, we watched Elijah ascend to the heights of his success on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18, only to be plunged into the depths of despair in 1 Kings 19. Despite fire falling from heaven, the nation and its leaders refused to repent and return to God. The prophet is so unsettled by this outcome, so affected by a feeling of personal failure, that in 19:4 he wanders into the wilderness and asks God to take away his life. Rather than granting such a rash request, God responds in his compassion and patience, coming to his prophet and revealing his mysterious ways, explaining his perplexing plan. After the wind, earthquake and fire on the mountain, a still small voice comes whispering to Elijah, explaining in 19:15-18, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.’ Here Elijah is essentially told, ‘Don’t despair, I have a plan. You may be perplexed by it now, but here is how it is going to work out.’ It is this plan, these three promises of the appointment and actions of three new characters, that shapes the rest of the story. Our passage today picks up from this point. The text can be broken into three couples: it is a story of Two Kings (20:1-12), Two Conflicts (20:13-30) and Two Condemnations (20:31-43).
1. TWO KINGS (20:1-12) – The complexity of God’s plan
That our story starts with two kings, is not perplexing at all. This is exactly what we should expect. At the end of 1 Kings 19, the author tells us how, after hearing God’s plan, Elijah immediately goes to call a new prophet, Elisha. Therefore, with that part of God’s plan fulfilled, we expect the author to turn to the remaining two parts, the appointment of new kings in Syria and Israel. Therefore, it is unsurprising when you read in 20:1, ‘Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together. Thirty-two kings were with him, and horses and chariots. And he went up and closed in on Samaria and fought against it. And he sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel…’. God promised two new kings, one in Syria and the other in Israel. And here the current monarchs are introduced. Nothing that perplexing so far.
These two kings are clearly contrasted with each other. The Syrian King is shown to be powerful. He is not only a king, but a king of kings. In 20:1 we are told that he has 32 kings with him, that is 32 rulers who have sworn allegiance to him. They were vassal kings ruling over subjected states and cities, likely making regular tribute payments to King Ben-hadad and remaining at his command should he decide to go to war as he does here. The fact that King Ben-hadad is over such a large number of them demonstrates that he is the head honcho, the main man at this time. He is like the school bully to whom all the kids in the playground offer up their lunch money. King Ahab’s description could not be further from this. Ahab is as pathetic as Ben-hadad is powerful. It seems that Ben-hadad’s demand in 20:3 is for Ahab to become the 33rd king under him, to surrender up everything to this Syrian. Ahab response to this demand is completely spineless, in 20:4 he says ‘As you say, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all that I have.’ Ahab is effectively grovelling before this giant show of force. He immediately gives into Ben-hadad’s demands, calling him ‘my lord’ and ‘king’. Perhaps sensing the opportunity to get more from this grovelling monarch, or maybe just looking for a bit of a fight, Ben-hadad pushes his demand even further in 20:6. No longer content with theoretical ownership, he decides to send servants to take actual possession of Ahab’s stuff. The bully effectively tells Ahab that he is coming to inspect his lunchbox and is going to take anything that catches his fancy. Even this threat fails to provoke a reaction from King Ahab, who runs off to consult his people about what to do. When he comes back, instead of telling Ben-hadad where to go, in 20:9 he essentially begs for Ben-hadad to go back to the first offer of total subjection, ‘All that you first demanded of your servant I will do, but this thing I cannot do.’ It is not that he will not do it, but rather, he cannot (probably because his people will not let him). Ahab is like the kid who tells the bully that his mummy won’t let him hand over his lunchbox. The way the interaction ends is also something you might hear in a playground, with Ben-hadad essentially saying that he will beat Ahab up so bad he is going to turn back into dust. All Ahab can do is effectively mutter ‘O yea, well we’ll see’. Ahab’s response, a kind of don’t count your chickens before they hatch, might come across as brave, but this is baseless bravado. We have seen nothing to suggest Ahab stands a chance of surviving an attack from such a powerful enemy. In 20:12, as Ben-hadad’s army takes up their positions, we are left feeling like Ahab’s response will be nothing more than famous last words. Israel is surely going to be crushed, it seems certain that Samaria will be returned to dust.
As so the scene is set for an almighty battle. In light of the plan God has revealed to us in 1 Kings 19, where we are told that Ahab will be replaced by Jehu and Ben-hadad with Hazael, we can’t help thinking that at least one of these transitions is going to take place here. Certainly, we can’t see how Ahab escapes from this encounter. Perhaps Ben-hadad will perish as well and so God will kill two birds with one stone, raising up King Jehu and King Hazael in their place just like he said. Friends, the fact that neither of these outcomes occur in this chapter is a powerful lesson to us: God’s plan may be dependable, but it is not predictable. God may have promised that we will arrive at a certain destination, but often he will perplex us by the route he takes to get there. When God promises something, he can absolutely bring it about immediately. We see that is the appointment of Elisha. However, the remaining two parts of God’s plan take a lot longer to come to pass. In fact, it isn’t until 2 Kings 8 that Ben-hadad is finally overthrown by Hazael. And as for Ahab, he may die in a few chapters, but even then, God doesn’t replace him with Jehu. For it isn’t until 2 Kings 10 that God’s promise to put Jehu on the throne is fulfilled. Just because God’s plan is sure, doesn’t mean it won’t surprise us. God isn’t in a hurry; he has no shortage of time. Like somebody in a shop who walks to the counter the long way, up and down various aisles so that they can pick up certain products, here we see that God has a few stops to make before he brings the reigns of Ben-hadad and Ahab to an end. There is still much that God wants to accomplish through them. The complexity of God’s plan.
2. TWO CONFLICTS (20:13-30) – The consistency of God’s purpose
I think we are given a glimpse of what God is seeking to accomplish with these two kings in the next part of the story, where we have two conflicts. Though the narrative has so far revolved around two kings, it is at this point that a third king, the real king, appears on the stage. This story isn’t about two kings, it is actually about one king. Yes, Ben-hadad may be king of 32 other kings. He may be lord to many lords. However, we soon see that there is only one King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Before the God of Israel, Ben-hadad is nothing but a playground bully. An overgrown child throwing his weight around and stealing little boy’s lunch money. When God appears, the illusion of Ben-hadad’s power dissapears.
We learn at least three things about God in these verses: first of all, we see God’s grace. In 20:1-12 there is not a mention of Ahab appealing to the Lord for assistance. It is God that approaches Ahab. Is the powerful King of heaven that sends a messenger to this pathetic king on earth. The author captures the shock of such a step in 20:13 well, when he writes ‘And behold, a prophet came near…’. That is, unexpectedly, a prophet approaches Ahab. Given all that we have been told about how Ahab and Jezebel have treated the prophets of the LORD in the preceding chapters, putting them to the sword and persecuting them into hiding, at first we might think that this is a prophet of Baal or Asherah. But no, for his opening words are ‘Thus says the LORD…’. However, as if that isn’t surprising enough, the message of this prophet has is even more astounding. What is it that God has to say to this King who has led Israel to a new level of idolatry? Who refused to repent after Mount Carmel? Who allowed his wife Jezebel to drive Elijah from the land? Here Ahab stands on the eve of battle, facing complete annihilation, and what does God say to him in 20:13? ‘Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day…’. Not only does God give him the assurance of victory, but he provides the strategy for victory. God says who should go to battle, and when they should attack. After the first conflict, he not only sends the prophet back in 20:22 to suggest that Ahab prepare for another the next year, but the following year the prophet appears before the battle once again in 20:28-29 to provide him with the promise of victory. This is wave after wave of God’s grace, lavished upon the most wicked king in Israel’s history! It is the kind of grace that as Christians, we see in the gospel. This morning we have already heard those words of Christ in John 15:13: ‘Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friend.’ How great then is God’s love and grace towards us when Christ lays down his life for his enemies? For Paul makes clear in Romans 5:10 that it was ‘while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son…’. The kind of grace we get a glimpse of here with King Ahab is the same kind of grace that caused Charles Wesley to write those words: ‘And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Saviour’s blood! Died He for me, who caused His pain. For me, who Him to death pursued?’ Friends, when we think about being perplexed by God’s plan, surely there is nothing more perplexing than God’s grace to us? That instead of reacting with righteous judgement, he reconciles his enemies to himself. He delivers evil kings like Ahab from destruction. He saves sinners like me and you. We shouldn’t be surprised that God is sometimes slow to save us, we should be surprised that he saves us at all! That is the true wonder he performs! That is the most mysterious thing about his ways!
Not only do we get a glimpse of God’s grace, we also get a chance to see God’s greatness. Up until the appearance of the prophet in 20:12, Ben-hadad is clearly top dog. He is at the head of a great army, commands the obedience of 32 kings. However, almost as soon as the Lord intervenes in the story, it is as if this great king is transformed into a bumbling buffoon! When Israel attacks in the middle of the day, at noon, Ben-hadad is apparently already drunk in his tent. He is in fact so drunk, that the order he gives for his troops in 20:18 makes absolutely no sense: ‘If they have come out for peace, take them alive. Or if they have come out for war, take them alive.’ He almost certainly meant that if they have come out for war, they should fight and kill them. However, he is so drunk that he can’t even give the most basic orders! God’s greatness is further highlighted by this great victory being achieved through the unlikeliest of armies. Who is it that God chooses to begin and fight at the front of the battle? We see in 20:14 that is is by the servants of the governors of the districts. That word ‘servant’ is the same as for an adolescent, that is a young boy. And it is not like these particular adolescents are physically commanding, they belong to the governors of the districts, the administrators of the kingdom. These are essentially a small bunch of trainee civil servants! And yet God uses them to achieve his victory. God’s greatness is seen through their weakness. He is so great, he can overcome even the largest of armies with a bunch of boys! This is only emphasised further during the second battle. Again, in 20:27 the author draws our attention to the size of the two forces: ‘The people of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country.’
Perhaps the best glimpse of God’s greatness however is seen through the giant mistake the Syrians make. So shocked by the scale of their defeat the previous spring, they correctly conclude that there is no way that Ahab orchestrated this on his own. In 20:23 they rightly realise that it was due to the divine intervention of Israel’s God that they were defeated. However, while they get that right, they go on to make a huge mistake. They reason, ‘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.’ They seem to think that the God of Israel is in some way limited. That he is restricted to exercising his authority in the hills. That he has no power on the plains. That he cannot give victory in the valleys. They think that by changing the territory, choosing a better battleground, will they secure victory. They do not understand that the LORD is King of all creation. That our God is so great you can neither overwhelm him with numbers or outmanoeuvre him on a battfield. Choose whatever battlefield you want. Gather whatever force you can. Action whatever strategy you can come up with. It doesn’t matter. It will make no difference. As the psalmist writes, ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.’ (Psalm 2:1–4) Friends, our God is greater than even the greatest kings.
Finally, we get a glimpse not only of his grace and his greatness, but also of God’s glory. What is the rational for all of this? Why is it that God comes in grace to Ahab’s assistance? Why does God display his greatness in Ben-hadad’s defeat? Ultimately, it is for his glory. You see that this is the reason given on both occasions when the prophet appears. In 20:13, ‘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.’ And again in 20:28, ‘I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’ This is of course the great goal behind everything that God does. That he might be known. That he might reiceve the glory he is due. The honour he deserves. That the whole earth, all creation, might know that he is the LORD. That every knee would bow and tongue confess, that every earthly king and lord would submit to his rightful reign. In giving a glimpse of his grace to King Ahab and greatness over King Ben-hadad, God was making himself known. He was gaining the glory. Friends, ultimately this is the purpose behind all of God’s plans. The reason that his promises are not fulfilled instantly is that he gets greater glory from doing otherwise. The Bible is basically one long story of how God gets glory from keeping his promises. The first promise is given in Genesis 3 and does not receive its full and final fulfilment until Revelation 22. Why does it take so long for God to save humanity from sin? For him to right all wrongs? For him to redeem all creation? It is because through showing his grace and greatness to generation after generation God is made known, God gets the glory he deserves. God may have declared the replacement of Ahab and Ben-hadad in 1 Kings 19. He has promised it, therefore it will come to pass. That is the final destination, but the way God chooses to get there is through giving us a glimpse of his grace and greatness in the lives of Ahab and Ben-hadad. God has not finished making himself known to them and thorough them yet. Brothers and sisters, when God’s plan seems perplexing to you, when you wonder why he has allowed something to happen, why he seems slow to keep his promises, why he has not answered prayer, remember what his overarching purpose is. That God does all things for his own glory. In the complexity of God’s plan, do not miss the consistency of God’s purpose. Know that, take heart, for what seems to us like setbacks and delays are only further opportunities he has brought about in order to make himself known to us.
3. TWO CONDEMNATIONS (20:31-43) – The culpability of God’s people
How then should we live? How are we to act when we are perplexed by God’s plan? What are we to do when we don’t understand what God is doing? Well in short, we are not to do what Ahab did. It should have been clear to Ahab what his responsibility was: the Moasic law stated that enemies like this were to be devoted to destruction (Deutonomy 20:16). And as if that wasn’t clear enough, he had examples of past Israelite Kings like Saul being condemned for failing to execute such justice. What caused him to condradict this clear command? Well it seems that Ahab smelt an opportunity to improve on God’s plan. When Ben-hadad’s servants come grovelling before Ahab, in the same way that he had been grovelling at the start of the chapter, Ahab sees the possibility of gaining a position at the side of this great Syrian king. The opportunity to become his equal. They would be like brothers, both exercising great power and influence over the entire region. And to sweeten the deal, Ahab manages to acquire territories previously taken by Syria and add trading opportunities in Damascus. Peace, prosperity and a position alongside a great King. It sounds like a good deal, and so Ahab signs on the bottom line. O yes, God’s plan was a good starting point, but with a bit of saavy strategy and last minute negotiation, Ahab has managed to improve the outcome, increase the profit, bring about and even better resolution. Surely a friendly king was better than a dead one?
In case we fail to see Ahab’s conduct for exactly what it is, outright disobedience, God arranges for another prophetic intervention. This time the prophet’s appearance is not so positive. Here we see God can not only come in grace, but also in judgement. The first condemnation takes place in 20:35-36. There the prophet who refused to strike his companion at the command of the LORD, is struck by a lion as a judgement for his disobedience. In this way the author pictures to us exactly what Ahab has done: he had failed to obey the LORD, and therefore he will be struck down. This conclusion is then confirmed in the second condemnation in 20:37-41, where the prophet tricks Ahab into pronouncing judgement on himself, before declaring in 20:42, ‘Thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.’’ Instead of becoming the instrument that God would use to judge Ben-hadad, Ahab will now face judgement himself. By failing to sign Ben-hadad’s death warrant, he had effectively signed his own. Because of his disobedience, he was now doomed to the destruction Ben-hadad deserved.
Brothers and sisters, do you see here what our responsibility is? What God requires of us? Our job is not to strategise or analyse how we can improve God’s plan. Our only option is to obey. When we are perplexed by what God is doing, we don’t need to try and work it all out. It isn’t our job to fix the universe, to correct the course God has decided to take. Unless we obey, we will only get in his way. Simple obedience is better than clever disobedience. We are to obey, even when we think that we know best. We are to be faithful to what he was told us to do, even when we feel like we could improve the outcome by doing otherwise. Ahab had just witnessed a bunch of boys overcome the might of the Syrian army. What made him think that God needed him to do anything? That God was relying on him to improve the result? In 1 Samuel 15:22, the prophet Samuel told King Saul, after he did exactly what King Ahab does here, ‘Behold, to obey is better than to sacrifice…’. Here we might say, that to obey is better than to strategise. We don’t need to understand the outcome, we only need to obey God’s voice.
‘God moves in a mysterious way’, the hymn by William Cowper, is only known to us because his good friend, John Newton, included it in the hymnbook he was producing of own hymns. One of John Newton’s hymns in that collection reflects on an Israelite king who could not strike a greater contrast with King Ahab. In 2 Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat was also faced with a great multitude coming against him. However, there we read that when he learns of this he falls to his knees in prayer and cries out, ‘We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.’ In response to that cry, God also issues him with commands for the battle and in obedience to these, King Jehoshaphat leads his army to victory. In his hymn partly inspired by this story, Newton writes these words, which I have found to be of immense comfort throughout this year: ‘Tho' dark be my way, since he is my guide, 'Tis mine to obey, 'Tis his to provide.’
Friends, when you are perplexed by God’s plan, when you struggle to see what God is doing, where all this is going, remind yourself of these things: (1) God’s plan is complex: just because God’s promises are dependable does not mean his plan is predictable. (2) God’s purpose is consistent: whatever happens, he is working all things for not only our good, but his glory, that he might be known as the LORD. (3) Our part is clear: obedience. Simple obedience is better than clever disobedience. We don’t need to understand the outcome, we only need to obey God’s voice.
ALEXANDER ARRELL