And turn, please, for our New Testament reading to the book of 1 Corinthians, Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth. And we’ll read from chapter 15, the final eight verses. 1 Corinthians 15, verses 51 through 58. Listen to this. This is the very word of God. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment. In the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable. and we shall be changed.
For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. And the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. And for our Old Testament reading, and the text for this evening’s sermon, we go to the book of First Kings as we’ve been progressing through it and are rapidly approaching the conclusion of this book. First Kings chapter 20. And our reading will be verses one through 21.
Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, gathered all his army together. 32 kings were with him, and horses and chariots. And he went up, closed in on Samaria, and fought against it. And he sent messengers into the city to Ahab, king of Israel, and said to him, thus says Ben-Hadad, your silver and your gold are mine.
Your best wives and children are also mine. And the king of Israel answered, as you say, my Lord, O king, I am yours and all that I have. The messengers came again and said, thus says Ben-Hadad, I sent to you saying, deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children. Nevertheless, I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants and lay hands on whatever pleases you and take it away.
Then the king of Israel called the elders of the land and said, mark now and see how this man is seeking trouble. For he sent to me from my wives and my children and from my silver and my gold, and I did not refuse him. And all the elders and all the people said to him, do not listen or consent. So he said to the messengers of Ben Hadad, tell my lord, the king, all that you first demanded of your servant, I will do, but this thing I cannot do. And the messengers departed and brought him word again.
Ben-Hadad sent to him and said, the gods do so to me and more also if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me. And the king of Israel answered, tell him, let not him who straps on his armor boast himself as he who takes it off. When Ben-Hadad heard this message, as he was drinking with the kings in the booths, he said to his men, take your positions. And they took their positions against the city.
And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab, the 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. 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.
Then he mustered the servants of the governors of the districts, and they were 232. After them, he mustered all the people of Israel, even 7,000. And they went out at noon while Ben-Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the booths, he and the 32 kings who helped him.
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. He said, if they have come out for peace, take them alive. Or if they have come out for war, take them alive. So these went out of the city. the servants of the governors of the districts of the army and the army that followed them.
And each struck down his man. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. But Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, escaped on a horse with horsemen. And the king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots and struck the Syrians with a great blow.”
And that is the reading of God’s word. Let’s pray now that he’ll bless our consideration of it together tonight. Father in heaven, we recall that your word even speaks of itself, saying that it’s living, it’s active, it’s sharper than any two edged sword. And that it was written for our instruction. And so by faith, we come to even this passage and pray that you will instruct our hearts tonight. We pray that Christ Jesus, our Savior, will be exalted before the eyes of our faith, and in our hearts, and in this place, and that you’ll make the word effectual unto our sanctification, even unto our salvation, we pray. We ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.
I don’t remember when it was exactly, but I noticed some time ago an interesting contrast between 1 Samuel 11 and 2 Samuel 11. And the contrast that kind of stuck out to me when I noticed this was that 1 Samuel chapter 11 shows King Saul at his best. 2 Samuel chapter 11 shows King David at his worst. I just thought that connection between the numbers was interesting and helpful because you know Saul was the first king of Israel.
And ultimately, he was a failure as a king. He was a wicked king. He ultimately turned away from the Lord and died in battle because of his turning from God and his failure to listen to the words of the Lord. But he had a shining moment or two. There are a few bright spots in Saul’s reign as king, and that particular bright spot was in 1 Samuel 11, when Saul rose up and courageously led the people of Israel into battle, and they attained the victory.
And then he showed the grace of God because people began to speak against the ones who had said, we don’t want this man to reign over us and said that they should be put to death. And Saul interceded for them and said, no one’s going to be put to death today. So you see this nobility, this noble grace in Saul at that point, plus his leadership and his courage and his doing the very thing that the Israelites said they wanted a king to do for them. Give us a king, they said to Samuel.
Give us a king who will fight our battles for us, and Saul did that, and we see that in 1 Samuel 11. A bad king, an evil king ultimately, a wicked king, but that was his day in the sun, that was his bright spot, that was Saul at his best. And of course you know the corresponding event in David’s life in 2 Samuel 11. David, the good king, kind of the quintessential king of Israel throughout their years, the one to whom everyone looked, the one whose son they were awaiting to be their Messiah, the one by whom all subsequent kings were compared, or to whom they were all compared. And yet, He committed that great sin that’s recorded for us in 2 Samuel 11.
Well, our last exposure as we’ve been going through 1 Kings, our last exposure to Ahab was when he had this triumphal entry back to his summer palace in Jezreel. with Elijah running before him as a herald of sorts. And that was after that glorious victory that Elijah had on Mount Carmel against all those wicked prophets of Baal. And after that triumphal entry of Ahab returning to Jezreel, shortly after that Jezebel threatened Elijah’s life and sent Elijah fleeing into the wilderness. And that’s where he had the encounter with God Mount Horeb, God graciously spoke to him, encouraged him, recommissioned him, gave him an assignment to go and do. And part of that assignment was to anoint Elisha to be prophet in his stead. So after all of that, we considered last time, the narrative returns to Ahab. And now he’s back in the capital of Samaria. and he’s not at peace.
In fact, we find him under attack from a foreign invader. And what’s sort of interesting about this juncture in the Book of Kings is that up until this point, most of the conflicts that Judah and Israel have experienced, have been with each other. They’ve been fighting against each other. Now Israel, the northern kingdom, is going to begin to experience increasing aggression from neighboring countries. And so as we come to consider this, this is really what the passage teaches us as we see Ahab, maybe at his best, Just like Saul was at his best in 1 Samuel 11, here in just a portion, not even the whole chapter, but just a portion of 1 Kings 20, Ahab is at his best.
And sadly, it’s not very good, but… It’s the high point, perhaps, of his reign. And the passage teaches us that God’s kindness towards ungrateful, evil people is meant to lead them to repentance. God’s kindness to ungrateful, evil people is meant to lead them to repentance. And we’ll look at three points tonight, and if you’d like them in advance, here they are. First of all, we see a rebellious nation in crisis. Secondly, a merciless enemy at the gates, and third, a compassionate God of grace. So let’s reflect, first of all, on a rebellious nation in crisis.
Back in that showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal, and after God answered from heaven with fire and the prophets of The veil got no response from their God, who is no God. All the people fell to their faces. And the whole assembly of Israel there present on the mountain declared, the Lord is God. The Lord, Yahweh, He is God. But that confession of Israel was short-lived, it seems. They didn’t remain faithful. They didn’t continue to follow the Lord.
God had powerfully answered by fire from heaven. He’d powerfully defeated Baal with these great signs. Not only the fact that he answered and his fire came down and consumed the sacrifice that Elijah had offered, and consumed even the water and the altar itself. But after that, he sent rain upon the earth after three and a half years of drought.
So these mighty things that God had done hadn’t kept the rebellious hearts of the people of Israel in check, hadn’t kept them in submission to him, in faithful service to him. So I say their confession was short-lived. There was There was a faithful remnant in Israel, as there always was and always will be. But most of the people of Israel relapsed back into their idolatry, back to serving Baal.
And really, from the time that the kingdom divided, all the way back in the days immediately following Solomon, from the time that the kingdom split and that once united nation of Israel split into the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom known as Israel, that northern kingdom, Israel, walked in rebellion against God. And over the years, they just went from bad to worse, sliding into ever-deepening idolatry. Any remnants, any traces of the worship of the living and true God faded further and further into obscurity. And from one king to the next, they grew further and further away from the living and true God. And that’s because if we zoom out for a minute and think about this book of 1 Kings and 2 Kings as well, one of the things that’s at the heart of the narrative of both of these books, these histories, is the basic failure of the kings of Israel. And that failure of king after king after king points to their and our enduring need for a good king. In fact, our need for the perfect King. Our need. For the King Jesus. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
No, Israel was God’s covenant people. But as you know. God’s covenant included blessings. And curses. We forget that sometimes and. Some of our friends in different sectors of the Church of the Lord Jesus, they insist upon these irrevocable promises and blessings that God had pronounced, but they forget about the fact that God also said, if you turn from me, I’ll do these things. If you disobey and if you break covenant with me, I’ll bring curses upon you, just as I promised to bless you if you keep covenant with me. God’s covenant included blessings and curses.
And when his people sin, God chastises them. And one of the chastisements that he promised he would bring, that he prophesied that he would bring upon them if they turn away from him and serve other gods, was that he would bring foreign enemies against them. He would harass them with surrounding nations.
And you see loads of evidence of that very thing throughout the book of Judges. And that’s what the whole book of Judges is all about. The people turned away from God, and he raised up oppressors. The people were oppressed for X number of years, and then God raised up a judge who delivered the people, and then the people served the Lord again, but only temporarily. They served the Lord again only for the duration of the life of the judge, and when the judge died, the people lapsed back into idolatry, and then another nation comes against them to oppress them, to harass them. And so here we have Ben-Hadad of Syria invading Israel and he besieges Samaria. Samaria is the capital city now. of the Northern Kingdom.
The text says he has with him not only his own large army, but 32 what it calls kings. And if you hear the word kings and you think like king of a nation, like king of France or the king of England or something like that, don’t think in those terms, especially when you think of the number 32 of these. These 32 kings were probably heads of city-states, and maybe the region around a city-state, or heads of tribal groups. So when the term king is used there, that’s in most cases what it’s probably referring to.
It’s not that there are 32 other nations that were joining with Ben-Hadad and invading Israel. And these 32 kings were, to some extent or other, in subjection already to Ben-Hadad. They had become his vassals So this large expositionary force comes into the covenant land, comes against the covenant people. And his message to Ahab, king of Israel, is found in verses two and three.
Thus says Ben-Hadad, your silver and your gold are mine. Your best wives and your children are also mine. Now, this might seem a little bit perplexing to us as we read, and we might wonder, what’s really at work here? What exactly is he demanding? And the basic gist of it is that Ahab understood the demand in those two verses as a demand for submission. In other words, Ben-Hadad was, he had invaded the land of Israel and he said, essentially, you now will serve me, you’ll be a vassal to me, you’ll pay tribute to me as vassal states normally would. That’s essentially, whether or not it’s what Ben-Hadad actually meant, that seems to be how Ahab interpreted it. So therefore he responds in verse four, all that you say, my Lord, O King, As you say, my Lord, O King, I am yours and all that I have. I’ll be your servant. He wasn’t expecting what came next, probably.
If it had ended right there, and Israel, the people of the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob are now in subjection to a foreign nation, that would have been humiliation enough. Because Early on in our study, in our time here in First Kings, remember under the reign of Solomon, Israel’s glory days, when there’s so much wealth in Israel that silver wasn’t even considered valuable. All the surrounding nations were at peace with Israel.
They served Solomon. They’re all in some measure other vassals to him. And now the tables are completely turned. How the gold has become dim. They once paid tribute to Israel. Now Israel is powerless against this aggressive neighbor invading from the north.
So you have a rebellious nation, a nation that deserves everything that it was getting and more, and they’re in crisis because there’s a foreign army at the very gates of their capital. So then we learn a little bit more about this foreign enemy, and that brings us to our second point, a merciless enemy at the gates.
You see how Ben Hadad replied. After Ahab sent his message and says, as you say, oh Lord, my king, I’m yours and all that I have. Then the response is this, thus says Ben-Hadad, I sent to you saying, deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children. Nevertheless, I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants and lay hands on whatever pleases you.
Take it away. Now, there’s really no way of knowing if that was his original intent. That’s what he’s really actually asking in the first place, or whether he is boldened by Ahab’s easy concession and his seeming spinelessness. But whatever the case might be, Ben Hadad makes this audacious demand. Essentially, let my servants in to loot your entire household.
So at that point, Ahab seeks counsel from the elders, as we see in verse seven, calls them to see how this man seeking trouble. I didn’t refuse him. In other words, Ahab comes to see that he’s he’s not just looking for submission, he aims to plunder Israel.
He asks their counsel and their counsel is stand your ground. And verse nine, As Ahab then sends his reply, shows that he understood the two different messages quite differently. Tell my lord the king, and you see how he’s using that language of submission even now. Tell my lord the king, Ben-Hadad, all that you first demanded of your servant I will do, but this thing I cannot do. In other words, Ahab was willing to place Israel in subjection to Syria.
And sadly, there’s no evidence that he sought the Lord. He sought counsel from the elders, but there’s no evidence that he sought counsel from God. There’s no evidence that he cried out to God for help. But nevertheless, Ben-Hadad’s humiliating demand. That’s where Ahab draws the line. I’m not gonna go there, he says. And the elders of Israel affirm him. And yet even they apparently make no appeal to the Lord of hosts. Then we see Ahab in the answer that he sends to Ben-Hadad in verse 10.
Well, Ben-Hadad’s answer is basically a threat that he’s going to destroy. Samaria. God’s do so to me and more also if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me.” That might be language that’s a little bit difficult for us to decipher, but basically what he’s saying is I’m going to level Samaria and there won’t be enough left of Samaria after I’m done with you for the people that are with me to pick up and fill their hands with.
And Ahab responds to him. Kind of the way Rocky responded to Clubber Lang. You know, you’ve got a really big mouth. Verse 11, he says, tell him, let not him who straps on his armor boast himself as he who takes it off. Now, where Ahab got this sudden courage, how he acquired a spine, it’s unclear. But he speaks wisely. You shouldn’t speak of victory before it’s in hand. And in that one verse, Ahab is being kingly.
In America, we speak, if our chief executive ever does or says something unseemly, we say sometimes that that wasn’t very presidential. Well, this response of Ahab in verse 11, that was presidential, that was kingly. and he speaks wisdom. This is what Matthew Henry had to say about it and he provides a little bit of application for us too. Matthew Henry wrote, it is impolitic, impolitic to despise an enemy and to be too sure of victory. To be too sure of victory is the way to be beaten. Apply it to our spiritual conflicts.
Peter fell by his confidence. While we are here, we are but girding on armor, and therefore we must never boast as though we had put it off. Remember, Peter said, even if they all forsake you, I never will forsake you. Oh, Lord, I will die with you. He was so confident. And that was the very night that he fell so grievously. We should take this example and apply this to our own spiritual lives and remember He who thinks he stands must take heed lest he fall.”
We see how brutal and how merciless Ben-Hadad was. And that’s the merciless enemy at the gates. And that brings us to our God, what this passage shows us about our God. And even in the reign of a king as wicked and as backward and as obstinate, As Ahab, we find in this passage a compassionate God of grace. Did you did you see what happened in verse 13?
A prophet. A prophet of the Lord God of the true and living God shows up and speaks to Ahab. Ahab never called for a prophet of Yahweh. But Yahweh sent one. With this encouraging message, 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 Yahweh.
That was God’s concern right there. He’s going to bring a great deliverance. He’s going to deliver that mighty army, that multitude into Israel’s hand. And the whole purpose of doing it was so that Ahab would know that God is the Lord. That was supposed to have been the lesson of Mount Carmel. And it was a lesson the people seemed to have learned temporarily.
The Lord, He is God. But do you see how this passage shows us in this one event in history, a lesson, a gospel lesson that God continues to open his doors to the ungrateful and to the evil. The God of grace continues to open his doors even to Israel and all of their rebellion and all of their turning away. And there’s no other explanation as to why he would do such a thing, except that he’s a God of extravagant patience, a God of extravagant grace.
And so the Lord gave the victory. Israel put Syria to flight. struck them down, the text tells us. And Ben-Hadad, after that haughty boast that he made, after those cruel, merciless demands that he issued, he rode away in defeat. He escaped on a horse. We haven’t seen the last of him yet. In the next passage, he’ll show up again.
But at this point, it’s fitting that we just consider what a gracious God we have. We couldn’t legitimately say that Ahab was on the Lord’s side, but the Lord seemed to be on his side. God is faithful to his covenant people. And we see his faithfulness most fully and most beautifully in Jesus Christ, who came to his own and was rejected by them. We were not for him, but he was so completely for us. He died for us, he rose again for us, and he calls all people to repentance and faith in him.
God’s kindness toward ungrateful evil people is meant to lead them to repentance. Here we’ve seen Ahab at his best, which is really sad, because even his best wasn’t very good. Yet the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was kind to him. And being kind to Ahab, he was beckoning him to repentance.
As we reflect on this passage and we ask the question, well, how can we apply that to our lives? How can we apply this to our own daily situation? We can apply it in a couple of ways. Here’s one. Whether or not anyone acknowledges him, the Lord God is in complete control of regional and global politics. Our God, the one we serve, He’s the one that sets up kings. He’s the one that puts down kings. As the scripture says, horses are prepared for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord. And it doesn’t matter whether people acknowledge God or not, He is in control.
Israel is now at war with Iran. We’re assisting them. And the fact that most in Israel don’t acknowledge the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and aren’t faithful followers of Him doesn’t change the fact that God is in control of it all. This was true when Syria invaded Israel in the days of Ahab, and it’s just as true in this day, in our day.
Another point of application is we serve The God Who Speaks. Francis Schaeffer, one of his great works was titled, The God Who Is There. And then he wrote a follow up volume titled, He Is There And He Is Not Silent. Testifying to the fact that God speaks, he speaks through his word. He speaks through his son. And because God speaks, we must listen and obey.
Ahab showed little tendency to listen or to obey. But he went out against Ben-Hadad and God gave him the victory. Does it surprise us, does it surprise you that the Lord is so kind to such a rebellious king? I know this isn’t the first time you’ve heard this passage. Well, either tonight or on some other occasion, perhaps. Did you ever wonder why God shows such mercy to Ahab?
It’s because he’s that kind of God. He’s gracious. He’s compassionate. He’s patient. Even toward ungrateful, evil people. And even when they know better. and even when he has been gracious and compassionate many times before, and they haven’t turned from their evil and ingratitude. His kindness is designed to motivate sinners to repentance.
As you heard what I’ve described as the main point or the big object lesson, the big lesson of this passage, God’s kindness toward ungrateful people is meant to lead them to repentance. You probably picked up on the fact that that’s borrowed language. I lifted it right out of the book of Romans. Do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
That’s why God is kind to sinners. That’s why he causes his son to rise on the just and the unjust. That’s why he causes rain to fall on the sinner and the righteous. Because he’s a good God. He’s a compassionate God. He’s a kind God and his kindness is meant to lead us to repentance.
The Syrian invasion of Israel in the days of Ahab was a form of reproof. It was a form of chastisement from God of his people. The three and a half years of drought that we read about earlier was a form of reproof. God sent rain and ended the drought, and when He gave Israel victory over Syria those were kindnesses from God. God uses kindness to lead us to repentance. He uses reproof to drive us to repentance. But either way He wants all people to repent.
But listen to the warning we find in Proverbs 29 verse 1, He who is often reproved yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing. Refusing to repent is a very dangerous thing. Because you never know when it will be too late. You never know when you’ll have crossed the point of no return. There will come a time of being broken beyond healing. This is a game that no one should play.
So if you’re living in unrepentance, I beg of you as Christ’s minister to repent, to respond to the kindness, the lavish kindness that the Lord God has shown to you. The Lord has been kind to all of us. His kindness is meant to lead us to repentance and His kindness is finally and fully shown forth in Christ our Savior who came to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance. Our merciless enemy, sin, was at the gates demanding more and more of us. taking and taking and taking, but Christ came to deliver us from an enemy that was too strong for us. Thanks be to God for our prophet, priest, and king. He saved us, not on the basis of deeds we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, what a kind God you are.
We praise you for your kindness to us, and you lavish good things upon us day in and day out. We do suffer in this life. We do experience hardships. We experience sorrows. But they’re mingled with so much kindness, so many blessings. And for this, we thank you. We pray you’d make our hearts tender and responsive to your kindness. And may we daily live lives of repentance and glorify you by following after Christ. We pray in his name. Amen.