1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,018 Good morning. 2 00:00:02,732 --> 00:00:08,098 It's good to have all of you with us, especially good to have our visitors with us this morning and we appreciate your presence. 3 00:00:08,098 --> 00:00:12,312 We're grateful for you taking the time to come and be with us. 4 00:00:12,312 --> 00:00:20,030 We hope you'll stay for lunch and enjoy a meal with us and get to know us a little bit better and us get the opportunity to know you a little bit better. 5 00:00:21,132 --> 00:00:25,726 This morning we're going to take some lessons from an Old Testament king. 6 00:00:26,792 --> 00:00:39,375 And it may be a king that if you haven't spent much time in the Old Testament you may not have even heard of before, though his name is actually used multiple times in the text and 7 00:00:39,375 --> 00:00:43,296 uh there are multiple lineages within this name. 8 00:00:43,296 --> 00:00:50,178 So we're going to see the name of a king who uh if you're in one text you may be reading of his father. 9 00:00:50,178 --> 00:00:53,629 If you're in another text you may be reading of one of his descendants. 10 00:00:54,283 --> 00:01:02,109 We're going take our Bibles, if you will, and open them to 1 Kings chapter 20 and notice the foolishness of a king. 11 00:01:02,770 --> 00:01:14,509 Now, here in this text, to give you a little bit of time period background, if you're familiar with some of the Old Testament, uh David would come to the throne in the region 12 00:01:14,509 --> 00:01:23,836 of Judah, and David would reign over the throne in Israel for forty years, then his son Solomon would come to the throne and he would reign for forty years. 13 00:01:24,154 --> 00:01:31,560 After Solomon died, Rehoboam will come to the throne, but the nation of Israel and Judah will be split. 14 00:01:31,701 --> 00:01:45,014 And Jeroboam will come to power in the northern kingdom of Israel, and ten tribes will be ripped away from uh Solomon's descendant, Rehoboam, by a result of the fact that Solomon 15 00:01:45,014 --> 00:01:47,636 had been unfaithful to the Lord. 16 00:01:48,117 --> 00:01:48,957 So, 17 00:01:49,007 --> 00:01:54,979 Rehoboam is going to reign and then Rehoboam is going to pass away and he is going to die. 18 00:01:54,979 --> 00:01:59,420 Abijah his son will reign but he will only reign for about three years. 19 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:04,922 And then after Abijah's reign, Asa will come to the throne. 20 00:02:05,422 --> 00:02:07,662 And Asa will begin to reign. 21 00:02:07,903 --> 00:02:16,457 And in the northern kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam comes to the throne and then Nadab comes to the throne for a very short period of time. 22 00:02:16,457 --> 00:02:17,737 Baisha comes to the throne. 23 00:02:17,737 --> 00:02:24,377 Baisha is going to reign for about 24 years, and this is going to begin to overlap in the time period of Asa. 24 00:02:24,797 --> 00:02:28,417 Then there are going to be a number of others who come to the throne very quickly. 25 00:02:28,417 --> 00:02:30,877 Elah is going to come to the throne and reign for two years. 26 00:02:30,877 --> 00:02:34,237 Zimri is going to come to the throne and reign for a short period of time. 27 00:02:34,237 --> 00:02:37,137 By short, mean seven days. 28 00:02:37,897 --> 00:02:40,597 That's when you know you had an unsuccessful term. 29 00:02:40,597 --> 00:02:45,377 You lived seven days after you got to the throne, and then he died. 30 00:02:46,051 --> 00:02:54,932 Timri and, or Timni and Omri are going to reign somewhat correspondingly as disruption happens within the nation. 31 00:02:54,932 --> 00:03:00,492 And then out of that, Omri will have a son and his name is Ahab and Ahab will come to the throne. 32 00:03:00,492 --> 00:03:08,412 Many people are familiar with Ahab because he was married to a very well-known wife, Jezebel. 33 00:03:10,372 --> 00:03:13,172 But it is going to be during 34 00:03:13,637 --> 00:03:21,672 the time period of these kings, that there's going to be a king in Syria named Ben-Hadad. 35 00:03:22,413 --> 00:03:34,220 In the earlier days, there's going to be Ben-Hadad I, and there will be some confrontations between Ben-Hadad I and the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom of 36 00:03:34,220 --> 00:03:35,301 Israel. 37 00:03:35,942 --> 00:03:38,773 And then Ben-Hadad II is going to come to the throne. 38 00:03:39,739 --> 00:03:51,049 And when Ben-Hadad II comes to the throne, he is in a situation where his father had at one time been allied with the northern kingdom of Israel. 39 00:03:51,250 --> 00:04:02,931 And when there was peace between the northern kingdom of Israel and between Syria, Ben-Hadad reigning in Damascus, while there was peace between them, the northern kingdom 40 00:04:02,931 --> 00:04:05,187 of Israel didn't really have any threats. 41 00:04:05,187 --> 00:04:12,931 And so they focused their attention during the reign of Baisha on the southern kingdom of Judah and they began to build Rhema. 42 00:04:12,931 --> 00:04:23,345 Rhema was a city that was intended to be a fortified city so that when it was built there could be no commerce, no traffic, nothing could happen between the southern kingdom of 43 00:04:23,345 --> 00:04:26,937 Judah and the nations north of it. 44 00:04:27,137 --> 00:04:32,269 So it was a cutting off of their commerce and of their industry. 45 00:04:32,919 --> 00:04:43,456 As a result of this, God is going to provide deliverance, but the king is going to actually seek for that deliverance, Asa, is going to seek for that deliverance through a 46 00:04:43,456 --> 00:04:46,808 treaty with Ben-Hadad, Ben-Hadad the first. 47 00:04:47,369 --> 00:04:59,127 And Asa is going to take all the treasures from the house of the Lord, which David had placed there, and Solomon had placed there, and some Rehoboam had placed there, though 48 00:04:59,127 --> 00:05:01,719 Rehoboam quickly departed from the Lord. 49 00:05:02,533 --> 00:05:09,787 and he's gonna take all the treasures that were in the house of the Lord and treasures that were in the house of the king and he's going to send them via his servants to 50 00:05:09,787 --> 00:05:18,671 Ben-Hadad the first and say, you will go make war with the king of Israel, Baisha, then all these things will be yours. 51 00:05:19,692 --> 00:05:28,777 And so he essentially plunders the house of the Lord in order to get the king of Syria to go make war with the king of Israel. 52 00:05:29,498 --> 00:05:32,459 Now that the king of Israel is distracted, 53 00:05:32,488 --> 00:05:43,157 and he has someone attacking his northern border, he stops building Ramah on the southern border and the kingdom of Judah comes and all the people are called by the king, King Asa, 54 00:05:43,157 --> 00:05:47,700 to go take and plunder all the supplies with which the city was being built. 55 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:54,785 And so they literally strip Ramah, take it, and they go build two cities in Judah out of the plunder from the city of Ramah. 56 00:05:55,088 --> 00:05:58,408 All right, that's what we have recorded about Ben-Hadad the first. 57 00:05:58,689 --> 00:06:02,111 Except that God is going to tell Asa, 58 00:06:02,413 --> 00:06:14,731 through a prophet that Asa had not done what was right because Asa had made a treaty with Ben-Hadad instead of trusting the Lord. 59 00:06:15,753 --> 00:06:22,797 And God is going to accuse Asa who otherwise was a good king and followed the Lord in this matter. 60 00:06:23,758 --> 00:06:25,379 Time transpires. 61 00:06:25,740 --> 00:06:30,613 And now Ben-Hadad II is on the throne in Damascus. 62 00:06:30,965 --> 00:06:42,289 And in 1 Kings chapter 20, Ben-Hadad is going to come down to fight against and to bring under thumb the king of Israel who is now Ahab. 63 00:06:42,289 --> 00:06:54,182 Now there are not many times in scripture where Ahab, king of Israel, is ever spoken of in a good light or ever did anything that the Lord wanted him to do. 64 00:06:54,182 --> 00:06:57,213 This is the one rare exception to that. 65 00:06:59,469 --> 00:07:08,221 But in chapter 20 we read in verse 1, Now Ben-Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his forces together. 66 00:07:08,221 --> 00:07:17,224 Thirty-two kings were with him, with horses and chariots, and he went up and besieged Samaria and made war against it. 67 00:07:17,764 --> 00:07:28,267 Then he sent messengers into the city of Ahab, king of Israel, and said to him, thus says Ben-Hadad, your silver and your gold are mine, 68 00:07:28,289 --> 00:07:39,308 Your loveliest wives and children are mine." Now, in this text we're not really told exactly how big this army is yet. 69 00:07:39,308 --> 00:07:42,910 We're going to get a picture of it later on in the chapter. 70 00:07:43,671 --> 00:07:54,239 But it is sufficient that they make their way through the borders, through the fortified cities, all the way to Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. 71 00:07:54,815 --> 00:08:05,205 and as they besiege the capital the message comes from Ben-Hadad to Ahab, King of Israel, everything that's precious to you you're gonna give to me. 72 00:08:08,327 --> 00:08:16,945 If Ahab had any recourse in his own hands to do anything about this army that was besieging his city, he would have done it. 73 00:08:16,945 --> 00:08:20,468 But notice what his reply is. 74 00:08:20,728 --> 00:08:27,954 The king of Israel answered and said, My Lord, O King, just as you say, I and all that I have are yours. 75 00:08:29,276 --> 00:08:34,010 We were to put it in modern terms, Ahab rolls over, shows his belly, and says, Whatever you want. 76 00:08:36,326 --> 00:08:39,964 Ahab knows he cannot defeat Ben Hedat. 77 00:08:40,749 --> 00:08:43,474 And so he says, I have is yours. 78 00:08:43,817 --> 00:08:45,500 Take what you're going to take. 79 00:08:47,232 --> 00:08:52,334 We're going to begin seeing here the first lesson on the foolishness of a king. 80 00:08:52,555 --> 00:08:59,658 For we find the fool who gives in to greed is never satisfied. 81 00:09:00,779 --> 00:09:03,469 Ben-Hadad has besieged the city. 82 00:09:03,469 --> 00:09:05,411 He is essentially in control. 83 00:09:05,411 --> 00:09:11,564 He has Ahab under his thumb and Ahab has told him everything in my house is yours. 84 00:09:14,740 --> 00:09:25,009 You know, sometimes when you go and visit people, if you stay in their homes, especially people who aren't your family, ah you know, when you stay in your family's house, you kind 85 00:09:25,009 --> 00:09:26,930 of know how things are going to go. 86 00:09:26,930 --> 00:09:33,455 Sometimes if you go somewhere and you stay in the home of someone else, you're not quite sure before you get there how this is going to turn out. 87 00:09:34,236 --> 00:09:43,580 We had an occasion when we were younger that uh we stayed with some friends in the Nashville area because of a medical procedure that was being done. 88 00:09:43,580 --> 00:09:53,866 And so we were there for a number of days and the very first time we're ever there, very first night that we're there, we walk into the house, we're greeting them, just having 89 00:09:53,866 --> 00:09:54,917 casual conversations. 90 00:09:54,917 --> 00:10:03,282 They show us to the room and they did something that honestly kind of flabbergasted us just because of the homes we lived in. 91 00:10:05,012 --> 00:10:08,107 They said, now here's the thermostat for the whole house. 92 00:10:08,107 --> 00:10:10,276 You set it on whatever temperature you want. 93 00:10:13,096 --> 00:10:19,024 My wife especially grew up in a household where there's pretty much one person in the household who gets to touch the thermostat. 94 00:10:20,754 --> 00:10:26,623 And so for someone to tell a guest, you just set it at whatever temperature you want. 95 00:10:26,623 --> 00:10:28,668 Now that was hospitality. 96 00:10:30,772 --> 00:10:35,708 I see a couple of people shaking their heads that are a little warm natured going, no, you ain't touching my thermostat. 97 00:10:37,830 --> 00:10:39,784 My house is your house. 98 00:10:39,784 --> 00:10:48,020 Well, Ahab not only says you can make it whatever temperature you want, you can have my wife, you can have my kids, anything you need, it's yours. 99 00:10:51,284 --> 00:10:53,466 But then Ben-Hadad goes too far. 100 00:10:54,607 --> 00:11:03,696 In the next verse we read, But I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall... 101 00:11:03,696 --> 00:11:04,997 Sorry, verse five. 102 00:11:04,997 --> 00:11:15,647 Then the messengers came back and said, Thus speaks Ben-Hadad, saying, Indeed I have sent to you, saying, You shall deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your 103 00:11:15,647 --> 00:11:16,404 children. 104 00:11:16,404 --> 00:11:23,400 But I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants. 105 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:30,036 And it shall be that whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they will put in their hands and take it." 106 00:11:31,888 --> 00:11:37,872 Ben-Hadad, after Ahab has said, agree to your terms, said, I'm changing the deal. 107 00:11:38,493 --> 00:11:45,788 Since you agreed to that, I'm going to send my servants and they're going to go through your house and they're going to take everything that pleases you, but they're also going 108 00:11:45,788 --> 00:11:48,019 to go into the houses of your servants. 109 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:53,703 And they're going to take everything that pleases you out of your servant's houses too. 110 00:11:54,864 --> 00:11:59,097 And while Ahab would not stand up for himself, 111 00:12:00,621 --> 00:12:06,555 One of the few times in the text where you ever see Ahab do something right, Ahab was willing to stand up for his servants. 112 00:12:07,155 --> 00:12:08,256 Notice the message. 113 00:12:08,256 --> 00:12:15,601 So the king of Israel, verse 7, called all the elders of the land and said, Notice, please, and see how this man seeks trouble. 114 00:12:15,601 --> 00:12:20,844 For he sent to me for my wives, my children, my silver and my gold, and I did not deny him. 115 00:12:20,844 --> 00:12:25,367 And all the elders and all the people said to him, Do not listen or consent. 116 00:12:25,488 --> 00:12:29,716 Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, Tell my lord the king, 117 00:12:29,716 --> 00:12:40,210 all that you sent forward to your servant the first time I will do, but this thing I cannot do." And the messengers departed and brought back word to him. 118 00:12:40,830 --> 00:12:52,694 Then Ben-Hadad sent to him and said, "'The gods do so to me, and more also, if enough dust is left of Samaria for a handful of for each of the people who follow me.'" 119 00:12:54,776 --> 00:13:00,868 The king of Israel sends back word after the elders of Israel tell him, listen, you can't consent to this. 120 00:13:01,448 --> 00:13:02,919 We're going to back you on this. 121 00:13:02,919 --> 00:13:04,549 You can't give in. 122 00:13:04,949 --> 00:13:09,830 And so he sends back the servants to Ben-Hadad empty handed and says, I can't do this. 123 00:13:10,131 --> 00:13:17,963 And Ben-Hadad comes back with a threat and says, there's not going to be anything left of this city when I'm done of it except dust. 124 00:13:17,963 --> 00:13:21,004 And we're going to carry the dust away in our pockets, as it were. 125 00:13:22,530 --> 00:13:26,346 You thought I was gonna take a lot before, now I'm gonna take everything. 126 00:13:28,858 --> 00:13:42,658 and it happened when Ben-Hadad, sorry, verse 11, so the king of Israel answered and said to him, tell him, let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it 127 00:13:42,658 --> 00:13:43,250 off. 128 00:13:45,114 --> 00:13:52,180 The king of Israel sends back a message and says, Ben, hey dad, put up or shut up. 129 00:13:53,401 --> 00:13:58,805 Don't be boasting as though you've won when you haven't even started the battle. 130 00:13:59,767 --> 00:14:02,429 The one who puts on his armor is getting ready for war. 131 00:14:02,429 --> 00:14:05,691 The one who takes off his armor came home victorious. 132 00:14:06,712 --> 00:14:13,748 And Ahab says, you don't have any business talking as though you've already won when you haven't even gotten started. 133 00:14:15,108 --> 00:14:17,199 So he sends back the message to Ben-Hadad. 134 00:14:17,199 --> 00:14:26,981 So the king of Israel answered and said, him the one who puts on his armor, tell him, let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off. 135 00:14:26,981 --> 00:14:36,594 And it happened when Beden-Hadad heard this message as he and the kings were drinking at the command post that he said to his servant, get ready, and they got ready to attack the 136 00:14:36,594 --> 00:14:37,504 city. 137 00:14:38,725 --> 00:14:43,866 You find here the second lesson from a foolish king. 138 00:14:44,204 --> 00:14:47,715 is the foolishness of drinking is self-defeating. 139 00:14:48,976 --> 00:15:00,871 Ben Haydad has been going through this communication process and the indication is he is well inebriated as he is negotiating this agreement. 140 00:15:02,488 --> 00:15:09,591 And as a result of his drunken state by the indication of the text, Ben Haydatt says, fine, let's go to war. 141 00:15:12,537 --> 00:15:13,524 And they will. 142 00:15:16,356 --> 00:15:18,480 But we read in verse 13. 143 00:15:20,436 --> 00:15:31,910 As Ben-Hadad prepares to attack the city, as suddenly a prophet approached Ahab, the king of Israel, saying, Thus says the LORD, Have you seen all this great multitude? 144 00:15:32,271 --> 00:15:39,163 Behold, I will deliver it into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 145 00:15:41,285 --> 00:15:54,608 As the city is besieged and surrounded by this great army made up of the armies of 32 kings, a messenger from the Lord shows up with Ahab and says, the Lord has something to 146 00:15:54,608 --> 00:15:55,419 tell you. 147 00:15:57,553 --> 00:15:59,614 You look around you. 148 00:15:59,895 --> 00:16:05,618 You look at the army that you're facing and I am going to deliver it into your hand. 149 00:16:06,879 --> 00:16:13,783 Now there's one point, one message that is to come from this deliverance. 150 00:16:14,904 --> 00:16:22,909 Ahab is supposed to learn and realize that Jehovah alone is the Lord. 151 00:16:24,341 --> 00:16:33,926 Now if you're familiar with Ahab and you're familiar with much of the rest of the text, you will find that Ahab in his time would worship Baal and Ashtaroth. 152 00:16:33,926 --> 00:16:39,069 He would marry from other nations that they had commanded not to intermarry with. 153 00:16:39,069 --> 00:16:46,453 His wives will worship other gods and all of these things will occur and over and over and over again. 154 00:16:48,485 --> 00:16:52,548 Ahab will be shown that Jehovah alone is the Lord. 155 00:16:54,133 --> 00:16:56,413 and he was very slow to learn. 156 00:16:57,553 --> 00:16:58,993 But Ahab will know the difference. 157 00:16:58,993 --> 00:17:09,793 As a matter of fact, there's a later occasion where one of the kings of the southern kingdom of Judah is there with Ahab and Ahab is trying to get him to go out to war. 158 00:17:10,573 --> 00:17:19,373 And as they're planning, Ahab brings prophet after prophet before this king of Judah and shows him these prophets say we're going to win. 159 00:17:21,107 --> 00:17:26,523 And the king from the southern kingdom of Judah says, there not a prophet of the Lord in this nation? 160 00:17:28,245 --> 00:17:34,170 And Ahab will say, yes, there is one, but he always prophesies evil about me. 161 00:17:35,051 --> 00:17:37,433 As a matter of fact, he had him in prison at the time. 162 00:17:39,977 --> 00:17:54,223 You see, uh Ahab knows who the Lord is and he knows who his prophets are because God is going to demonstrate just exactly who he is. 163 00:17:54,603 --> 00:17:58,264 We read in verse 14, so Ahab said, by whom? 164 00:17:59,285 --> 00:18:06,848 The prophet comes to Ahab and says, I'm going to deliver this great multitude, this great army into your hand. 165 00:18:06,848 --> 00:18:09,169 And Ahab says, by who? 166 00:18:11,241 --> 00:18:15,864 He's looking at the numbers and he's going, math ain't adding up, Lord. 167 00:18:16,186 --> 00:18:18,127 Just exactly how are you going to do this? 168 00:18:18,127 --> 00:18:24,793 What army are you bringing to supplement my army to make sure that this actually happens? 169 00:18:26,135 --> 00:18:31,419 And notice what we read, and he said, thus says the Lord, by the young leaders of the provinces. 170 00:18:32,481 --> 00:18:35,564 Then he said, who will set the battle in order? 171 00:18:35,564 --> 00:18:37,545 And he answered, you. 172 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:41,922 When Ahab says, how are you going to do this? 173 00:18:41,922 --> 00:18:44,004 What army are you going to do this with? 174 00:18:44,004 --> 00:18:47,437 By whom are you going to deliver this people into my hand? 175 00:18:47,437 --> 00:18:51,260 God says, I'm going to use the young princes of the provinces. 176 00:18:52,162 --> 00:18:55,444 Okay, who's leading the battle? 177 00:18:55,584 --> 00:18:57,636 Ahab, you are. 178 00:19:00,111 --> 00:19:02,770 Then he mustered the young leaders of the provinces. 179 00:19:02,853 --> 00:19:05,321 And there were 232. 180 00:19:07,985 --> 00:19:14,225 Great army surrounding the city, besieging the city, a great multitude every direction they turned. 181 00:19:14,225 --> 00:19:18,005 And what does God give Ahab as an army? 182 00:19:19,645 --> 00:19:23,325 232 young leaders of provinces. 183 00:19:24,125 --> 00:19:28,125 There's your army Ahab, have at it. 184 00:19:28,125 --> 00:19:29,883 Notice what we read. 185 00:19:29,883 --> 00:19:36,618 Then he mustered the young leaders of the provinces and there were 232 and after them he mustered all the people and all the children of Israel 7,000. 186 00:19:36,618 --> 00:19:45,224 Alright, so it's getting a little bigger but it's not going to compare when you finally see later on in the chapter how big the Syrian army is. 187 00:19:46,226 --> 00:19:53,531 So they went out at noon meanwhile Ben-Hadad and the 32 kings helping him were getting drunk at the command post. 188 00:19:54,812 --> 00:19:56,523 This guy's got a problem! 189 00:19:59,045 --> 00:20:10,177 So is everyone who utilizes alcohol to the degree that they no longer can tell the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, up or down. 190 00:20:11,619 --> 00:20:13,411 You want to demonstrate that you're a fool? 191 00:20:13,411 --> 00:20:15,823 Then buy alcohol. 192 00:20:16,244 --> 00:20:18,146 You'll demonstrate you're a fool. 193 00:20:19,508 --> 00:20:21,009 But notice... 194 00:20:21,249 --> 00:20:29,156 As they're coming out, young leaders of the provinces went out first and Ben Haddad sent out a patrol and they told him saying men are coming out of Samaria. 195 00:20:29,156 --> 00:20:32,359 So he said if they come out for peace, take them alive. 196 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:35,011 And if they come out for war, take them alive. 197 00:20:37,505 --> 00:20:40,214 I don't care what they do, take them alive. 198 00:20:42,905 --> 00:20:44,808 not exactly sound judgment. 199 00:20:45,552 --> 00:20:51,235 Then these young leaders of the provinces went out of the city with the army which followed them and each one killed his man. 200 00:20:52,945 --> 00:21:02,285 Essentially what happens is they come out one against another they send out the the young provinces there are the leaders of the young problem the young leaders of provinces I'll 201 00:21:02,285 --> 00:21:07,865 get my words out and Everyone is faced by his opponent and everyone wins 202 00:21:11,697 --> 00:21:15,240 And Ben-Hadad sent out a patrol and told them men are coming out of Samaria. 203 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:17,612 So he said, if they come out for peace, take them alive. 204 00:21:17,612 --> 00:21:19,564 And if they come out for war, take them alive. 205 00:21:19,564 --> 00:21:24,768 Then the young leaders of the provinces went out of the city with the army which followed them, and each one killed his man. 206 00:21:24,768 --> 00:21:27,240 So the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. 207 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:31,233 And Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, escaped on a horse with the cavalry. 208 00:21:31,233 --> 00:21:36,458 Then the king of Israel went out and attacked the horses and the chariots and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter. 209 00:21:36,458 --> 00:21:40,539 And the prophet came to the king and said, Go strengthen yourself. 210 00:21:40,539 --> 00:21:46,423 Take note and see what you should do, for in the spring of the year the king of Syria will come up against you. 211 00:21:48,545 --> 00:21:58,935 As they are victorious in the battle and as a great slaughter occurs against the Syrian army, Ben-Hadad gets on his horse, goes with his cavalry and flees back to Damascus. 212 00:21:59,596 --> 00:22:03,640 But the prophet tells the king of Israel, they're not going be gone long. 213 00:22:04,201 --> 00:22:08,995 They're going to come back in the spring and you better be prepared. 214 00:22:11,947 --> 00:22:21,536 We see in the coming text the third lesson from the foolish king and that is the foolishness of listening to ungodly advisors. 215 00:22:23,570 --> 00:22:25,610 is a challenge for us. 216 00:22:27,392 --> 00:22:39,507 to do things in this world, whether it be business, education, whether it be the things that we do in our daily lives, the things that we do in planning for the future, it is a 217 00:22:39,507 --> 00:22:49,621 challenge for us to realize that many of the people who will advise us, many of the people who will tell us how we should behave, many of the people who will show us how to do the 218 00:22:49,621 --> 00:22:56,094 things that we need to do in life will not do so from a frame of reference of being godly people. 219 00:22:59,112 --> 00:23:06,854 If you want some great advice mixed in with some horrible advice, visit the self-help section of the bookstore. 220 00:23:08,552 --> 00:23:17,099 and you'll find that there are people who will give you a little smattering of good advice surrounded by some of the worst advice ever. 221 00:23:19,156 --> 00:23:19,877 Why? 222 00:23:19,877 --> 00:23:29,283 Because they don't have a frame of reference for how to be obedient to God first before they start giving advice. 223 00:23:30,265 --> 00:23:40,312 And at any point where someone gives you advice that is in opposition to the Word of God, they are giving you bad advice. 224 00:23:43,048 --> 00:23:47,231 and Ben-Hadad has just such advisors. 225 00:23:48,032 --> 00:24:02,424 Notice as we look here at verse 23, Then the servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their gods are the gods of the hills, therefore they were stronger than we. 226 00:24:02,785 --> 00:24:07,388 But if we fight against them in the plains, surely we will be stronger than they." 227 00:24:10,172 --> 00:24:12,933 We've done an analysis of the battle. 228 00:24:12,933 --> 00:24:17,354 We've done our after action reports, as we would say in the military nowadays. 229 00:24:17,354 --> 00:24:23,816 We've looked at what happened and we've come to the conclusion that their gods are the gods of the hills. 230 00:24:24,336 --> 00:24:26,437 And we were fighting in the hills. 231 00:24:26,817 --> 00:24:28,657 And so we were defeated. 232 00:24:29,017 --> 00:24:31,898 But our gods are the gods of the plains. 233 00:24:31,898 --> 00:24:38,800 So if we can just get their army out into the plain, we'll be able to defeat them. 234 00:24:39,084 --> 00:24:41,767 because their gods won't stand a chance against us. 235 00:24:43,372 --> 00:24:49,792 And Ben-Hadad, as a fool, listens to advisors who are ungodly. 236 00:24:50,192 --> 00:24:56,912 Verse 24, so do this thing, dismiss the kings, each from his position, and put captains in their places. 237 00:24:56,912 --> 00:24:59,912 We need to rebuild the army, the kings aren't gonna do it. 238 00:24:59,912 --> 00:25:01,932 We're gonna, just get rid of those guys. 239 00:25:01,932 --> 00:25:06,252 Those 32 kings, we don't need them anymore, put captains over the people instead. 240 00:25:06,252 --> 00:25:12,632 We need a trained army, not 32 different factions all fighting for themselves. 241 00:25:13,028 --> 00:25:23,415 And so they give advice to Ben-Hadad, get rid of the kings, put captains in their places, and you shall muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, chariot 242 00:25:23,415 --> 00:25:26,297 for chariot, then we will fight against them in the plain. 243 00:25:26,297 --> 00:25:32,200 Surely we will be stronger than they." And he listened to their voice and did so. 244 00:25:32,841 --> 00:25:39,505 So it was in the spring of the year that Ben-Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Afek to fight against Israel. 245 00:25:39,506 --> 00:25:41,817 This time he doesn't go to Samaria. 246 00:25:41,817 --> 00:25:44,629 No, he goes to the plane, he listens to the advisors. 247 00:25:44,629 --> 00:25:47,862 The advisors have told him quite clearly, you can't go back into the hill country. 248 00:25:47,862 --> 00:25:50,735 No, no, no, you got to get their army to come out on the plane. 249 00:25:50,735 --> 00:25:53,196 Our gods can defeat them there. 250 00:25:53,937 --> 00:25:59,041 And after all, he's mustered an army that was as big as the first one. 251 00:25:59,642 --> 00:26:09,069 Now, in the beginning of the chapter, we weren't really told just exactly how big that army was, but the text says that he brought back an army horse for horse, man for man, 252 00:26:09,190 --> 00:26:10,821 like the first one was. 253 00:26:11,217 --> 00:26:13,729 We're going find out just exactly how big that army was. 254 00:26:13,729 --> 00:26:19,551 So it was in the spring of the year that Ben Haedad mustered the Syrians and went up to Afech to fight against Israel. 255 00:26:19,952 --> 00:26:24,575 And the children of Israel were mustered and given provisions and they went against them. 256 00:26:24,575 --> 00:26:32,419 Now the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats while the Syrians filled the countryside. 257 00:26:34,011 --> 00:26:36,063 The people of Israel gather for war. 258 00:26:36,063 --> 00:26:41,958 They're given their supplies, they muster out, they go get ready, and they go meet them out on the plain. 259 00:26:41,958 --> 00:26:52,007 And if you had been standing back, the text tells us, and had been overlooking the plain, you would have looked like there was a little flock of sheep over here. 260 00:26:54,233 --> 00:26:59,047 and the entire plane was covered by the Syrian army. 261 00:27:00,108 --> 00:27:06,393 In other words, you would have done an analysis and said, uh there's no way. 262 00:27:07,834 --> 00:27:18,222 There is not a chance that that army that is minuscule by comparison is going to defeat these Syrians. 263 00:27:19,584 --> 00:27:21,365 And you would have been wrong. 264 00:27:22,486 --> 00:27:23,707 Then a man 265 00:27:23,929 --> 00:27:30,063 of God came and spoke to the king of Israel and said, Thus says the LORD. 266 00:27:30,784 --> 00:27:42,903 Because the Syrians have said the LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall 267 00:27:42,903 --> 00:27:45,305 know that I am the LORD. 268 00:27:47,897 --> 00:27:58,255 When the prophet comes to Ahab, he doesn't tell Ahab, Ahab, because of your great faithfulness since this last encounter, I'm going to fight for you. 269 00:27:58,255 --> 00:28:00,277 No, that's not what he says. 270 00:28:00,617 --> 00:28:10,686 He doesn't come to Ahab and say, because you have repented and you have reformed your ways and you are now once again in a right relationship with me, I will def... 271 00:28:10,686 --> 00:28:13,017 No, that's not what God says. 272 00:28:14,629 --> 00:28:15,894 God says. 273 00:28:17,755 --> 00:28:20,140 because I'm a jealous God. 274 00:28:22,087 --> 00:28:23,508 What does the word jealous mean? 275 00:28:23,508 --> 00:28:29,691 It means one who holds on to that which rightfully belongs to him. 276 00:28:31,172 --> 00:28:37,136 And God is going to demonstrate to Ben Hey Dad that there is exactly one God. 277 00:28:37,136 --> 00:28:42,949 He's not the God of the hills, he's not the God of the valleys, he is God of all. 278 00:28:44,770 --> 00:28:55,125 And so the prophet comes to Ahab and says, because I am going to defend my name, I'm going to deliver you. 279 00:28:56,446 --> 00:29:01,509 And essentially is going to tell Ahab, and you better learn the lesson this time. 280 00:29:02,870 --> 00:29:08,612 Because Ahab, you are to know that I am the Lord. 281 00:29:09,500 --> 00:29:13,515 And they encamped opposite each other for seven days. 282 00:29:14,167 --> 00:29:25,835 So it was that on the seventh day the battle was joined and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand foot soldiers of the Syrians in one day. 283 00:29:30,179 --> 00:29:46,553 Can you imagine being in the camp of the Israelites for those seven days and the army that's surrounding you is a hundred thousand plus and you're sitting there and thinking, 284 00:29:46,553 --> 00:29:48,475 ah 285 00:29:52,759 --> 00:29:54,076 How's this gonna work out? 286 00:29:56,225 --> 00:30:00,233 and yet through the deliverance of the Lord. 287 00:30:02,435 --> 00:30:11,073 100,000 of the Syrians are killed by the army of Israel in a day. 288 00:30:12,951 --> 00:30:20,115 You think back to the Civil War in this country. 289 00:30:21,965 --> 00:30:28,415 There weren't 100,000 deaths in the entire Civil War in four and a half, five years. 290 00:30:32,163 --> 00:30:33,812 And that meant he died in a day. 291 00:30:35,779 --> 00:30:37,439 But we're not through. 292 00:30:38,039 --> 00:30:43,259 Notice, he says, but the rest fled to Aphek, into the city. 293 00:30:43,279 --> 00:30:48,439 Then a wall fell on 27,000 of the men who were left. 294 00:30:50,231 --> 00:31:00,543 They lose a hundred thousand in battle, they lose another third of that because they went into a city where the wall couldn't hold them. 295 00:31:03,651 --> 00:31:07,436 27,000 Syrians die in the city. 296 00:31:08,058 --> 00:31:11,903 Ben-Haydad fled and went into the city into an inner chamber. 297 00:31:13,495 --> 00:31:19,158 We've seen the foolishness of Ben-Hadad when he gives in to greed. 298 00:31:19,719 --> 00:31:22,900 We see the foolishness of drinking. 299 00:31:23,321 --> 00:31:26,412 We see the foolishness of listening to ungodly advisors. 300 00:31:26,412 --> 00:31:27,463 Think about that. 301 00:31:27,463 --> 00:31:35,381 The willingness to listen to ungodly advisors led to the death of 127,000 people. 302 00:31:39,821 --> 00:31:44,190 But then we see the folly of an alliance with a fool. 303 00:31:47,137 --> 00:31:53,999 because God has demonstrated to Ahab, am the Lord. 304 00:31:55,103 --> 00:31:59,901 And God has demonstrated Ahab again, I am the Lord. 305 00:32:01,953 --> 00:32:06,353 And then Ahab goes and starts thinking he's in charge. 306 00:32:09,043 --> 00:32:18,505 Verse 31, then his servant said to him, Look now, we have heard that the king of the house of Israel are merciful kings. 307 00:32:18,825 --> 00:32:26,267 Please let us put sackcloth on our waists and robes around our heads and go out to the king of Israel, perhaps he will spare your life. 308 00:32:26,647 --> 00:32:35,319 So they wore sackcloth around their waists and put robes around their heads and came to the king of Israel and said, Your servant Ben-Hadad says, Please let me live. 309 00:32:35,319 --> 00:32:37,950 And he said, Is he still alive? 310 00:32:38,268 --> 00:32:49,555 He is my brother." Now the men were watching closely to see whether any sign of mercy would come from him and they quickly grasped at this word and said, your brother 311 00:32:49,555 --> 00:32:50,946 Ben-Hadad. 312 00:32:50,986 --> 00:32:52,888 So he said, go bring him. 313 00:32:52,888 --> 00:32:57,911 Then Ben-Hadad came out to him and he had him come up into the chariot. 314 00:32:57,911 --> 00:33:03,176 So Ben-Hadad said to him, the cities which my father took, that's Ben-Hadad the first, 315 00:33:03,176 --> 00:33:05,448 took from your father, will restore. 316 00:33:05,448 --> 00:33:11,735 And you may set up marketplaces for yourselves in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria. 317 00:33:11,735 --> 00:33:18,942 Then Ahab said, I will send you away with this treaty." So he made a treaty with him and sent him away. 318 00:33:20,722 --> 00:33:28,970 Ben Haydab says, um let's renegotiate that negotiation from the beginning of this whole ordeal. 319 00:33:29,491 --> 00:33:40,221 And why don't you bring your merchants and bring your people to Damascus and we'll set up a marketplace for them and we'll have commerce and we'll have money and we'll all be rich. 320 00:33:41,623 --> 00:33:45,336 And now you're talking Ahab's time to motivation right there. 321 00:33:47,258 --> 00:33:53,546 And Ahab says, you're my brother, come up in my chariot and go home with peace. 322 00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:03,524 Now a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor, by the word of the Lord, strike me please. 323 00:34:04,007 --> 00:34:06,040 And the man refused to strike him. 324 00:34:08,126 --> 00:34:19,996 The prophet comes to someone who is in Israel and says, by the command of God, strike me. 325 00:34:21,662 --> 00:34:22,966 And the man won't do it. 326 00:34:25,746 --> 00:34:27,376 We are challenged. 327 00:34:29,246 --> 00:34:41,694 to realize over and over in the text that it is not for us to decide whether or not God's commands make sense. 328 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:49,585 whether or not we would do things the way God has chosen to do things. 329 00:34:52,218 --> 00:34:59,862 And this individual finds out very quickly that he should have just listened to the word of the Lord. 330 00:35:01,164 --> 00:35:04,005 The prophet tells him, strike me. 331 00:35:04,766 --> 00:35:06,947 And the man refused to strike him. 332 00:35:07,147 --> 00:35:14,972 Then he said to him, because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, surely as soon as you depart from me, a lion shall kill you. 333 00:35:14,972 --> 00:35:18,134 And as soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him. 334 00:35:20,144 --> 00:35:22,319 You wait a minute, that's not fair. 335 00:35:22,319 --> 00:35:27,500 That's not just all he did was refuse to hurt someone who had done nothing wrong. 336 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:31,792 No, that's not what he did. 337 00:35:32,873 --> 00:35:36,056 He didn't refuse to hurt someone who had not done something that was wrong. 338 00:35:36,056 --> 00:35:41,271 He refused to obey a direct command from the Lord. 339 00:35:43,223 --> 00:35:44,796 and it cost him his life. 340 00:35:47,033 --> 00:35:53,113 The text then tells us, found another man, verse 37, and said, Strike me, please. 341 00:35:53,113 --> 00:35:55,773 So the man struck him, inflicting a wound. 342 00:35:56,253 --> 00:36:01,873 Then the prophet departed and waited for the king by the road, and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. 343 00:36:01,873 --> 00:36:08,617 Now as the king passed by, he cries out to the king and said, Your servant went out into the midst of the battle. 344 00:36:08,617 --> 00:36:19,718 And there a man came over and brought a man to me and said, Guard this man, if by any means he is missing, your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talon of 345 00:36:19,718 --> 00:36:20,629 silver. 346 00:36:22,743 --> 00:36:25,675 The prophet speaks as though he is a soldier. 347 00:36:25,696 --> 00:36:29,499 He's bandaged and appears as though he's been in a battle. 348 00:36:30,281 --> 00:36:38,839 And he cries out to the king and says, I was in the midst of the battle and a man came and brought someone to me and said, told me to guard him. 349 00:36:40,459 --> 00:36:48,413 and said, I let that guy loose, if I let that prisoner go, my life was going to be forfeit. 350 00:36:51,479 --> 00:36:55,996 while your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. 351 00:36:57,847 --> 00:37:00,693 He says, I was just going through the daily routine. 352 00:37:00,693 --> 00:37:02,577 I was just taking care of the things that needed to happen. 353 00:37:02,577 --> 00:37:05,494 mean, there was a battle that had happened and there were things that needed to be done. 354 00:37:05,494 --> 00:37:07,276 And I turned around and looked. 355 00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:09,511 Prisoners gone. 356 00:37:13,369 --> 00:37:17,461 The king of Israel said to him, so shall your judgment be. 357 00:37:17,865 --> 00:37:19,709 You yourself have decided. 358 00:37:22,742 --> 00:37:31,029 king, as the one in charge, as judge, he looks at it says, well, you've already described your own punishment. 359 00:37:31,690 --> 00:37:39,818 That man placed someone into your authority, into your hand, you were supposed to guard him, you were make sure he didn't escape, and you didn't pay attention. 360 00:37:40,479 --> 00:37:47,415 And now your life will be forfeit because you didn't follow the instructions. 361 00:37:51,457 --> 00:37:58,641 and he hastened to take the bandage away from his eyes and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 362 00:37:59,241 --> 00:38:10,567 Then he said to him, thus says the Lord, because you have let slip out of your hand a man whom I appointed to other utter destruction. 363 00:38:11,068 --> 00:38:17,091 Therefore your life shall go for his life and your people for his people. 364 00:38:17,972 --> 00:38:21,067 So the king of Israel went to his house, Solon, 365 00:38:21,067 --> 00:38:23,999 and displeased and came to Samaria. 366 00:38:25,591 --> 00:38:27,743 He's just had a great victory. 367 00:38:28,805 --> 00:38:31,367 He's just conquered a great army. 368 00:38:32,829 --> 00:38:36,523 He's just signed a great economic peace treaty. 369 00:38:39,353 --> 00:38:43,633 And God says you failed utterly. 370 00:38:45,501 --> 00:38:46,561 Why? 371 00:38:47,662 --> 00:38:49,423 Because he was a fool. 372 00:38:50,024 --> 00:38:52,124 Because he didn't learn the lesson. 373 00:38:52,665 --> 00:39:03,410 Because time and time and time again God showed Ahab who he was and Ahab refused to listen. 374 00:39:04,411 --> 00:39:08,013 Ahab still imagined that Ahab was in charge. 375 00:39:10,675 --> 00:39:13,690 Lessons from a foolish king 376 00:39:15,913 --> 00:39:17,633 Ben-Hadad was a fool. 377 00:39:18,414 --> 00:39:21,074 God had appointed him for destruction. 378 00:39:22,415 --> 00:39:27,757 But unfortunately for Israel Ahab was a greater fool. 379 00:39:28,477 --> 00:39:32,458 For he had prophets surrounding him who would tell him the truth. 380 00:39:33,118 --> 00:39:39,760 He had demonstrations over and over and over again that God alone was the Lord. 381 00:39:40,301 --> 00:39:41,851 And he refused to change. 382 00:39:42,645 --> 00:39:52,487 If you're here this morning and you're outside the body of Christ, God has demonstrated His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. 383 00:39:54,217 --> 00:39:59,880 He died for us that we might have redemption and salvation and the hope of eternal life. 384 00:40:00,721 --> 00:40:07,004 He's demonstrated clearly His love for you and that He is the Lord. 385 00:40:08,005 --> 00:40:11,367 The question is, will you be obedient to His commands? 386 00:40:12,268 --> 00:40:14,049 You say, how am I going to be saved? 387 00:40:14,049 --> 00:40:19,091 Well, Jesus said, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. 388 00:40:20,192 --> 00:40:22,063 He that believeth not shall be damned. 389 00:40:23,217 --> 00:40:32,640 Jesus sent word through His apostles to go in all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 390 00:40:33,340 --> 00:40:35,961 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. 391 00:40:35,961 --> 00:40:38,182 And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. 392 00:40:38,182 --> 00:40:40,702 God said, here's how you do it. 393 00:40:42,023 --> 00:40:44,514 Someone may come along and say, well, I don't agree with that. 394 00:40:44,514 --> 00:40:46,405 That's not how I think it should be done. 395 00:40:46,405 --> 00:40:48,455 I don't think that's necessary. 396 00:40:51,945 --> 00:40:56,697 There was a man who met a prophet, and the prophet said, strike. 397 00:40:58,451 --> 00:41:00,085 and the man wouldn't do it. 398 00:41:00,811 --> 00:41:02,096 I don't think that's necessary. 399 00:41:02,096 --> 00:41:03,761 That doesn't sound like good idea. 400 00:41:05,372 --> 00:41:14,890 And the prophet emphasized quite clearly to this man who was a fool the danger of not obeying the word of the Lord. 401 00:41:15,952 --> 00:41:23,538 If you're here this morning, we beg you, do not be a fool, but obey the word of the Lord. 402 00:41:23,599 --> 00:41:28,502 If you have need of the invitation, why not come forward now as we stand and as we sing.