Hello. Okay.<inaudible> Good evening everybody. Our first song this evening will be number 700 at 16. Sing to me of heaven. Sing to me of heaven, singing To me a hair. Then seeing that along up. He’s from the ties that bind me. It will bring release, burdens will be lifted that are pressing. So showers of gray blessing on my heart.<inaudible> to me having led me funny dream of it’s golden glory.
It’s pro league<inaudible> Seeing to me when shadows up<inaudible> Oh seeing to me, I’ve haven’t Swedish a song, um,<inaudible> Sing to me of heaven as I walk. I’m dreaming of the comrades that song long. Um,<inaudible> And<inaudible> the wrong. They are happy.<inaudible> sweet. So Seeing to me led me funny. Dream of its golden glory of its<inaudible><inaudible> Seeing to me when shadows<inaudible> Ball seeing to me of heaven,
sweetest song, um,<inaudible> Seeing to me of heaven and the<inaudible> with the<inaudible>. When my heart is weary, when a day is long seeing to me, I haven’t seen sweet<inaudible> Seeing to me<inaudible> dream. Oh man, it’s gold and glory a bit. It’s really gleam seeing to me when shadows<inaudible> Awe seeing to me.<inaudible> um,
No. Please bow with me for our opening prayer, Our great and awesome father in heaven. How Holy you are. We humbly bow before you this evening and we thank you for this time that we have to study your word and sing songs of praise to you here in the building and online. And we thank you so much for the opportunity of technology that we have to be able to bring your word and fellowship to those that are unable to be here at this time.
Lord, in heaven, we thank you for all of your many blessings and your son’s name. Amen. Yeah. Our song before our class this evening will be number 744 God’s family, God’s family. We’re part of the family That’s Been born. Yay. Part of the family whose love knows no<inaudible> For Jesus has saved us and made us<inaudible>. No,
we were part of the fam. No, it’s on its way.<inaudible> And sometimes we laugh together. Sometimes we<inaudible>. Sometimes we share tear gas, the<inaudible>. Yes. Sometimes we dream together.<inaudible><inaudible> When we all get to, Uh huh. God’s fam. When a brother means<inaudible> We all it<inaudible> When he’s pastor the, uh,
the<inaudible><inaudible> ah,<inaudible><inaudible> Together and big tree through his precious<inaudible>. And um, times we laugh together. Uh, sometimes we<inaudible> Sometimes we share tear gas. Uh,<inaudible> Uh, Sometimes we dream together. Uh, uh, Oh man. Well<inaudible> Well, when we all get to, Uh huh. God’s family<inaudible> And those,
um, go beef<inaudible> Well, all me<inaudible> Just inside the<inaudible> as we enter<inaudible> There’ll be numb<inaudible> Oh, Jesus.<inaudible> So you go there for a day. God damn. And sometimes we laugh together.<inaudible> Sometimes we<inaudible> Sometimes we share the<inaudible><inaudible> Sometimes we dream to get the<inaudible><inaudible> When we all get to, Uh huh.
God’s fam.<inaudible> It’s good to have everyone who is present both online and in person. We appreciate your presence greatly. And we’re looking forward to this study of first Kings chapter 21st Kings. Chapter 20 is going to be our study. This, uh, this evening. Remember to turn my phone on silent. So we get started. Um, the questions for tonight study as,
uh, previously has been mentioned are in the front lobby if you want to come by and pick a set up later. Uh, but they are also on the front page of the website. Uh, if you’ll look, there’s a button there that says a lesson, one 82 questions and you can click on that and those will download. You can get them now or at a later time.
It’s, we’ve been going through this study and we’ve been noticing, uh, the Kings in the Northern kingdom predominantly during the last few lessons and their interactions with Alijah, we’ve been noticing the interactions of not just them with Elijah, but at times we, we read about other prophets and their interactions with the Kings as well. And this is going to be one of the fundamental aspects of the old Testament in this time period.
And that is the relationship of a King to God’s prophets. When a King listens to the profits of God, obeys the prophets of God, does what the prophets of God tell him to do, which is of course in line and in uh, conjunction with obeying the law, that King prospers that kingdom and that rain goes well. It doesn’t mean they never have problems.
It doesn’t mean that everything’s flawless. It means that by and large they are working in accordance with the will of God and God is blessing them for doing so. We’re introduced to Ahab back in chapter 16 the end of that chapter as a King who does more wickedness than all the Kings who came before him. We were introduced to his father Omri as a King who did more wickedness than all the Kings who had come before him.
Okay? A hub is going to be one of those Kings that will stand at the pinnacle of evil in the Northern kingdom of Israel, and yet even a Hab will be used by the Lord to achieve the will of God. This is one of those chapters, chapter 20, where we’re going to find God using an evil King to accomplish judgment upon a more evil people.
So that’s what we’re going to be introduced to here in chapter 20 you know, you remember in chapter 19, let’s, let’s kind of gather in the details from the end of the chapter. God tells Elijah when Elijah is in despair, when Elijah is asking God, just kill me, put me out of my misery. I’ve done all of these things and now the people are trying to kill me.
So God just end my life. God is a series of events will get, uh, Alijah to stop focusing on Elijah and start focusing on God. Then God will tell Elijah to get up and go back to work. He will do so by telling him you go to Syria and notice what he says beginning in verse 15 of chapter 19 the Lord said to him,
that is Elijah, go return your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, anoint hazy L as King over Syria. That command is the leading idea between behind what comes in chapter 20 God tells Alijah, I’m not just the God of Israel and I’m not just the God of Judah. I’m not just the God of the descendants of Abraham.
I’m Jehovah, and because I am I am sovereign over every nation. Daniel made this point to Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel made the point that God puts in power whoever he will Because ultimately Kings are not in charge. Presidents are not in charge. Rulers are not in charge. Tyrants are not in charge. Despots are not in charge. God is in charge And so God sends his prophet to Damascus,
to Syria to anoint the next King of Syria And notice what we read and you shall anoint J Hugh, the son of Nim, Shai as King over Israel. God is not just going to set forward the events that will bring about the destruction of Syria and, or at least the, the change of the King. But he’s also going to bring about the destruction of Ahab Because in everything that proceeded in everything that God did and demonstrated how he was the Lord,
a Hab, still a loud rebel to seek to take the life of Elijah, God is going to bring his judgment on a Hab for a Habs wickedness. And then notice also God tells him, and you shall anoint Alijah the son of Shay fat as a of Abel may Hola as and he shall or excuse me, you shall anoint him as prophet in your place.
So Elijah is going and he is doing these things. So chapter 20 begins now, Ben. Hey Dan, the King of Syria gathered all his forces together. 32 Kings were with him. Bear in mind This day in time, we’re still in a time period where sometimes there were Kings over individual cities. There were Kings over smaller regions than there were Kings over whole nations.
Uh, and so what mixture of Kings we have here among the Syrians, I don’t know, but he’s got 32 Kings that are subservient to him that come with him in battle. So Ben, Hey, dad comes with the Syrians. He gathered all of his forces together. 32 Kings were with him, with horses and chariots, and he went up and besieged some area and made war against it.
Then he sent messengers into the city to Ahab, King of Israel and said to him, thus says, Ben, Hey dad, your silver and your gold are mine. Your loveliest wives and children are mine. And the King of Israel answered and said, my Lord, Oh King. Just as you say, I and all that I have are yours.
Okay. So Ben, Hey, dad comes into Israel. He comes to Syria, He surrounds the city, besieged the city And sends an ultimatum. He says, everything that you have by way of gold, everything that you have by way of silver, all of your best wives, all of your best children, they belong to me. You’re going to hand them over to me and I’ll leave.
Then notice, uh, a rehab is going to say, as you say, we’ll, we’ll do exactly what you say. We will meet the terms of your offer. Then the messengers came back and said, thus speaks Ben. Hey, dad’s saying, indeed I have sent to you saying you shall deliver to me or silver and your gold, your wives and your children.
But I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants. And it shall be that whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they will put in their hands and take it. Ben, Hey, dad comes with this superior force. He surrounds some Marriott. He besieged as the city. And he says,
I’m not only gonna take your silver and your gold. I’m not only going to take your loveliest wives and your children. I’m going to send my servants in and they’re going to take whatever they want. I mean, these are just the, these are just the terms for me. Now I’m sending my servants and they’re going to take whatever they want on top of that.
So the King of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, notice please and see how this man seeks trouble for. He sent to me for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold. And I did not deny him. And all the elders and all the people said to him, do not listen or consent. Therefore,
he said to the messengers of Ben, Hey dad, tell my Lord the King, all that you send for 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. Then Ben Hayden sent to him and said, the gods do so to me. And more also if even,
or if enough dust is left of some area for a handful for each of the people who follow me. Hey Brings together the elders of Israel And he says, I was willing to do this to this limit, But now he has acted in bad faith. When he sent his first terms and we agreed to him, now he sent back a revised set of terms,
What am I supposed to do? He says, I can’t do this, that he asks and so they send back to Ben, Hey dad, and they let Ben, Hey dad, no. If you had stayed with the first offer, we would have done it, but this thing we cannot do, we cannot allow you to come in. You step back and think about what’s being stated here.
If it’s we’ll send it out to you. Then they still have their walls up. They still have their protection. They can maintain their security. They married. Even if a battle arises, they might even be able to remain standing and be victorious in some form or fashion, but if they led the man, the soldiers, the servants of Ben, Hey dad in,
they’ve lost all leverage. They’ve lost all possibility of maintaining their security because the force is overwhelming and so they will not allow them in. They would have sent the money, the gold, the things out, but they won’t allow them in, in, and Ben, Hey, dad says, if there’s enough dust for my men to come in and pick up off the ground of some area when I’m finished with it,
then if there’s, if there’s not that much desolation, then this is going to happen to me too. Ben, Hey, dad says you’ve sealed your fate. Men, Hey, daddy is going to make it clear that the city will be completely destroyed because he wasn’t agreed to. Side note, just a, just a lesson to throw in here. When you make an offer And you make a,
an arrangement, make the offer you want the first time because the reality is the first time it was accepted and I, you know, I’ve learned this lesson over the years. Uh, you make an offer and after you make the offer, you said that out and somebody says yes to it. You start thinking, well, maybe I didn’t ask for enough.
Maybe I should ask for a little bit more. He, he answered yes to quickly my mate. Maybe I could get a little bit more out of this. And, and so you make another offer and it’s worth a worse offer than the first one. And the other person goes, well, wait a minute. I agreed to the first one. Now you’re changing the deal,
Ben. Hey, dad changed the deal. Uh, and as a result, uh, the King of Israel, Ahab will tell him no. So the King, verse 11 answered and said, tell him, let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off. It’s an interesting analogy, interesting phrase. Let not the one who puts on the armor boast like the one who takes it off.
What’s, what’s that mean? What they have is saying is let the person who actually finishes what they go out to do be the one boasting, not the one who hasn’t even started to do what they claim they will do. He’s essentially telling Ben, Hey dad, you proved to me that you can bring about the destruction of some area. Don’t just talk like you’ve got the ability to destroy us.
Why don’t you go ahead and put on your armor. And when you take it off, then you can start boasting. You’re boasting a little too early. The battle hasn’t even started yet. Okay. So that’s, that’s the analogy that’s made here. And it happened when Ben hate adverse, well heard this message as he and the Kings were drinking at the command post that he said to his servants,
get ready and they got ready to attack the city. And suddenly a prophet approached Ahab, King of Israel saying, thus says the Lord. Have you seen all this great multitude? I love it when God asks questions that make people go, Uh, yeah, because that’s one of these questions. Here’s the messengers going back between the, the, the people besieging some area,
this great massive people, 32 Kings and all their armies and all their horses and all their chariots that are surrounding the city. And the city’s blocked off. And here comes a prophet who walks up to the King and says, have you noticed this multitude around your city? How have you noticed these people outside the wall? He says, thus says the Lord.
Have you seen all this great multitude, behold, I will deliver it into your hand today and you shall know that I am the Lord in Egypt. Time and time and time again, 10 times. As a matter of fact, God would make the point to Pharaoh because Pharaoh asked at the very beginning, who is the Lord that I should obey him?
And 10 times with 10 separate plagues, God makes it clear who he is, that he alone is the Lord, that he alone is God. And now God’s having to make the same point to Ahab. Now you would think since just a short time ago, there was a contest between Alijah and the prophets of bail and the prophets of bail cried out and cried out and cried out and cried out and cut themselves and bled and did everything they could to get bailed to send down fire from heaven.
And he never could. You would think that they have been present for that whole thing and then hearing Alijah say it’s going to rain and then getting back to his home just as the rain begins. You would think after three years of no rain and then God bringing the rain back then that they have would know who the Lord is. But guess what? Some of us learn very slowly.
And Ahab is one of those people. A house may have known who Jehovah was, a Hab may have known who the Lord was, but he certainly wasn’t acting like it. He certainly wasn’t behaving as if he knew who the Lord was because he wasn’t obeying him. And so God sends a prophet to a Hab and he says, do you see all this,
these, this multitude around your city? I’m going to defeat them. And then you’ll know that I’m the Lord. Verse third or verse 14 so Ahab said, by whom? Hey have, wants to know the terms and conditions of this agreement too. He wants to know who is it according to the prophet that’s going to accomplish this deed, this going out and destroying this great army.
Ahab wants to stay inside his walls by whom? And he said, thus says the Lord by the young leaders of the provinces. Then he said, who will set the battle in order? And he answered you. Hey, have wants to know who’s going out to do the fighting. The prophet says, the young princes are young leaders of the provinces and who’s in charge.
You are a hub. You are. And so then he mustered verse 15 the young leaders of the provinces and there were 232 and after them he mustered all the people, all the children of Israel, 7,000<inaudible>. How many people were there that God said hadn’t bowed the need to bail?<inaudible> Anybody want to guess? 7,000 front row right here. 7,000 There’s 232 of these young leaders of the provinces and Ahab gets them and then he gets 7,000 from among the nation of Israel and they go out to fight 32 Kings And all their men<inaudible> So they went out at noon.
Now you would think if you’re going to attack a force that’s superior to you, if you’re going to destroy and overcome a support of force that’s superior to you, you might want to use some tactics. You might want to make sure that you go in the dead of night. Uh, you think of, think of a, the examples from the book of judges,
maybe, maybe a tackle when they’re not ready. Nope. Broad daylight noon. Here comes this force of 7,000, 233 men and they’re going to come against this multitude of Syria. So they come at noon and uh, meanwhile Ben Hayden and the 32 Kings helping him, we’re getting drunk at the command post. The young leaders of the provinces went out first and Ben Haight ad set sent out a patrol and they told him saying,
men are coming out of some area. So he said if they have come out for peace, take them alive. And if they have come out for war, take them alive. Then these young leaders of the provinces went out of the city with the army, which followed them and each one killed his man. So the Syrians fled and the, and Israel pursued them.
And Ben, Hey dad, the King of Syria escaped on a horse with the Calvary. Then the King of Israel went out and attacked the horses and chariots and kill the Syrians with a great slaughter. I want you to notice the progression of events. Here come the 232 young leaders that God says they’re the ones who are going to do this. They come out of Samaria first.
It’s a small force. It’s so small that the King who’s at noon still are just starting to get drunk with all of his other Kings. They’re in the command post goes, it’s no big deal. Go send some people and if they’re there to be, to come in peace, not, not negotiate, getting peace, take them alive. They become captives.
If they’ve come out for a war, there’s such a small forest, no big deal. Take them alive anyway, But behind the 232 coming out of the Gates of some area are 7,000 okay. And when the 230 to meet the force and kill all the opposing men that come after them, and then the army comes out of Symeria and they kill all that,
come after them. Then the force of Ben hate at is routed, But you notice it’s then when the force is routed that the King leaves some area. A Hab is not coming out outside the city until the Syria or the Syrians are leaving. Yeah, so King of Israel went out and attacked the horses and chariots and killed the Syrians with a gray slaughter and the prophet came to the King and said to him,
go strengthen yourself. Take note and see what you should do. Four in the spring of the year, the King of Samaria will come up against. Okay. Prophet comes to the King, comes day Ahab after the battle is over and he says, don’t let your guard down. You go out among your nation and you strengthen it. You make preparations because Syria is not done.
Just because they fled this time doesn’t mean they’re not coming back. As a matter of fact, they’re going to come back and they’re going to come back in the spring. Okay, so Ahab’s been forewarned. Now, it may seem a little strange. Why in the world is God. In the previous chapter, anointing the replacement for a Hab and in this chapter,
saving a house. God’s making a point. God is doing what sometimes parents and leaders, bosses do. They know what’s going to happen when the person doesn’t Oh Bay, but they’re giving that person the choice to obey or not. God has already set in motion the replacement for a rehab, but he hasn’t said when it’s going to happen, But he’s giving a have the opportunity to repent.
He’s giving a have the opportunity to acknowledge who he is and to change by saving him instead of hurting him by helping him instead of punishing him. He’s giving him one last chance. You and I, as we go through life, we’re given chances. We’re given opportunities, opportunities to repent, opportunities to change, opportunities to do good opportunities to do what we ought to.
We need to learn from Ahab because he had not only a successful moment where God helped him, but he had the opportunity to acknowledge who the Lord was and to change his direction. Question is, did he do it? Let’s go back to the passage. Verse 23 then the Syrian are then the servants of the King of Sarah. Sirius said to him,
their gods are the gods of the Hills. Therefore they were stronger than we, but if we fight against them in the plane, surely we will be stronger than they. So do this thing, dismissed the Kings, each from his position and put captains in their places. The problem is You got the big wigs. The big wigs have come out and they don’t have any taste for battle.
You there these, these Kings, they don’t know what they’re doing. They’re inexperienced. You need captains. You need soldiers leading this army and their God in Israel, the God of Israel, he’s the God of the Hills. You see a King, we’ve got to fight him somewhere else. We went to the wrong spot. We did battle in the wrong place.
We don’t need to be up there in the Hills. We need to be down in the Plains because their God can help them there. This is the mentality of idols. This is the mentality of idolatrous people, that their God is the God of this or that, that the God of thunder or the God of lightning or the God of the sea or the,
this is idolatry. God’s made it clear, I’m Jehovah, I’m the Lord. I’m the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I’m the God of land and sea of mountain and Valley, And he’s going to make that abundantly clear. So then notice they said replace the Kings with captains, then we will fight against them in the plane. Surely we will be stronger than they.
And he listened to their voice and did so. So it was in the spring of the year that Ben, Hey dad mustered the Syrians and went up to APEC to fight against Israel, and the children of Israel were mustered and given provisions and they went against them. Now, the children of Israel encamped before them, like two flocks of goats, while the Syrians filled the countryside.
If you were to look at this battle from above, you’d see two little specks over here that were the army of Israel and you’d see a great swath of people over here. And that’s the army of the Syrians. So it was her, uh, verse 27, uh, is what we just read. Verse 28 then a man of God came and spoke to the King of Israel.
Now notice some differences. Number one, God already told him Syria was coming back. Number two, they met not being surrounded or besieged in the city, but they met out and they came out to do battle. They had provisions, they were ready for war, but they were abundantly outnumbered. So the prophet comes to a Hab King of Israel and said,
thus says the Lord, 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 multitude into your hand and you shall know that I am the Lord Ahab. You haven’t quite learned your lesson yet, but I’m not saving you because of you. Okay? I’m not delivering you because of who you are.
I’m delivering you and I am defeating this people because they need to learn the lesson. But I’m not the God of the Hills and I’m not the God of the valleys. I am the Lord. But Ahab, you need to learn the lesson that I am the Lord. And they encamped opposite each other for seven days. So it was on the seventh day,
the battle was joined and the children of Israel, uh, killed 100,000 foot soldiers of the Syrians in one day. Okay. But the rest fled to APEC into the city. Then a wall fell on 27,000 of the men who were left and Ben, Hey, dad fled and went into the city, into an inner chamber. Okay. Israel comes and they come in to this battle after seven days and they defeat the army of the Syrians and kill a hundred thousand foot soldiers in a day.
Just a massive slaughter. And then the Syrians go and escape to APEC and as they’re there, yeah. Oh, wall collapses probably what you have going on there, by the way, it’s not just like, Oh, Hey everybody, let’s stand under this wall and it’s not built real well and we’ll just just stand here and Oh look, 27,000 of us died.
The likelihood is these walls were walls that were intended to be stood upon to be gathered upon, to do battle upon, and so you had a large part of the army that has come into the city and gone up on to the wall. Some are below it, some are behind it, some are on top of it, and the falls. As a result,
27,000 men die. So now the King, because if the wall falls by the way, that means the walls breached, okay? Now that the walls breached, their protection from Israel is gone because the wall has fallen. The wall has been breached. Now Ben, Hey, dad goes into the inner sanctuary, okay, or the inner chamber, verse 31 then his servant said to him,
look, now we have heard that the King of the house of Israel are merciful Kings. Please let us put sack cloth around our waist and ropes around our heads and go out to the King of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life. So they wore sack cloth around their waist and put ropes around their heads and came to the King of Israel and said,
your servant Ben. Hey dad and says, please let me live. And he said, is he still alive? He is my brother who said that Hey Hab did They come out to Ahab And they say, let Ben, Hey dad live And a Hab accepts their offer. 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 Ben. Hey dad. So he said, go bring him. Then bed. Hey dad came out to him and he had him come up into the chariot. So Ben, Hey dad said to him, the city’s which my father took from your father, I will restore and you may set up a marketplaces for yourselves in Damascus as my father did in some area.
Then Ahab said, I will send you away with this treaty. So he made a treaty with him and sent him away. Seems like everything’s turned out pretty good, right? It seems like the, they were victorious as a result of being victorious. The treaty was reached. Ben, Hey down, realizes he needed to have peace with Israel instead of war.
And now two nations at peace Sounds pretty good. Unless of course that wasn’t what God wanted Ahab to do. What you don’t read here, Okay, Is where a Hab stopped to question the prophet. What does the Lord desire for me to do? And there’s two passages that come to mind. They both say similar things. One’s in Jeremiah, one’s in Proverbs.
The lay that seems right unto a man is the way of death. Okay? We need to be careful that we don’t just do what seems right, But do what is right. This sounded good. This seemed right. It wasn’t. Notice what we read. Verse 35 now a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor, by the word of the Lord,
strike me please. Now he’s being polite. He said, please. But before that he said by the word of the Lord, see, there’s something important here and that is when a prophet speaks and he is a prophet, when a prophet speaks and he speaks according to the word of the Lord, it doesn’t have to make sense. It doesn’t have to be what you want to do.
It doesn’t have to be what you think you should do. It is the word of the Lord and you’re supposed to do it. That’s what Israel was told. That’s what God had told him. That’s what God had said all the way along. Trust me and obey me. So here comes this prophet and he says, I’m telling you the word of the Lord.
Strike me, please.<inaudible> Then notice what happened. The man refused to strike him. Then he the prophet said to him, the man, because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, Shirley, as soon as you depart from me, Elian, she’ll kill you. You say, well, wait a minute. That’s a really harsh punishment.
I mean, here comes this prophet, he says, strike me. And the man refuses to strike another person, a prophet. I don’t, I don’t go around hitting profits.<inaudible> And yet as a result of it, he’s going to lose his life. Yes.<inaudible> Now how do we understand this? How do we make sense of what’s here?
When God tells you to do something, You don’t say, I politely refuse. I don’t think that’s the best idea. You do what God says. Do we not remember a, uh, Abraham when God told Abraham, you take that son of yours, your only begotten son and you take him up on that mountain and you sacrifice him to me. And what is Abraham do say?
God, I appreciate the offer. I thank you for all your consideration. And by the way, I really appreciate this son you’ve given me, but I just don’t think that’s the right choice. No. Abraham does exactly what he’s told And it’s God who stops Abraham’s hand. So the man, as soon as he left a lion found him and killed him and he found another man and said,
strike me, please. So the man struck him inflicting a wound. Then the prophet departed and waited for the King by the road and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. Now as the King passed by, he cried out to the King and said, your servant went out in the midst of the battle 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 and or else you shall pay a talent of silver while your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. Then the King of Israel said to him, so shall your judgment be you yourself have decided it. The man with the injury standing by the road waiting for the King to come by.
He tells him, he shouts out to him and he says, here’s what happened. Somebody came to me And he came to me and he gave me a prisoner to take care of and I was supposed to take care of him, but I had other duties. I had other things I had to do. I had things that were important to do, and so I was going here there and doing what I was supposed to be doing and then I looked and the prisoner was gone,
but when the man gave me the prisoner, he said to me, if you don’t keep this prisoner, your life is forfeit instead<inaudible> And as a seemingly regular King would do, he says, well, sounds to me like you for announced your own judgment. You’re going to get exactly what you said. You’re going to die because you didn’t guard the prisoner.
Someone was turned over into your hands and you let him go.<inaudible> Verse 41 and he, the prophet hastened to take the bandage away from his eyes and the King recognized him as one of the prophets. Then he said to him, thus says the Lord, because you have let slip out of your hand, a man whom I, that is the Lord appointed to utter destruction.
Therefore your life shall go for his life and your people for his people. So the King of Israel went to his house, Solon and displeased and came to Samaria. God sends his prophet to Ahab to make the point. You had one job, You had one responsibility, Ahab, you were supposed to exact my judgment, not yours. My judgment on summary on Syria and on its people and you didn’t do it.
You let them get away with a treaty. You let them leave A Hab. You were never in charge, But you didn’t do what I commanded. You didn’t do what I told you to. You didn’t seek my instructions, And as a result, your life is forfeit and your people’s lives will be forfeit. If you think forward to the end of the life of Ahab,
how does he die? He dies in battle As his people are defeated. They died Because he didn’t do his job. We also need to learn the lesson here that sometimes we get a little busy going here and there and as the profit illustrates focusing on everything but the most important thing And we lose what’s most important And sometimes we lose our own lives and the lives of those around us because we fail to do what’s most important instead of failing to do what’s most abundant.
Let’s go through the questions. Question number one, yes or no. Did the Syrian troops attack a Hab first? This is the first battle who came out and attacked first<inaudible> Israel did. Remember the 232 came out and when they were and serious man were told to take them alive. And what did the 232 do? They killed everyone. Their own man.
Okay. Israel attacked first. Yeah, Because God told them to. Uh, what were the Syrians doing in their temporary shelters when they have attack? They were drinking. Getting drunk, yes or no. Number three was Ben. Hey, Dan, King of Syria killed in battle with a Hab. No, Not in. Not in the first battle.
And not in the second battle. No, he was not. Why did question number four, why did this or why did I keep wanting to say us? Syrians. Why did the Syrians want to fight Israel on the plane rather than in the mountains?<inaudible> Not because the plane will be bigger. They thought that God was the God of what? The Hills.
God of the mountains. So they said, we’ll fight them in the plane because then their God can’t help them. They’re at number five. Question number five. At the turn of the year when the Syrians returned to Ahab for battle, who had the larger number of troops, the Syrians or the Israelites? The Syrians, Uh, question six, who guided a hub in his battles with the Syrians?<inaudible> Who guided Ahab?
God did All right. Question seven. First Kings chapter 20, verse 42, the prophet told Ahab that his punishment for letting the Syrian King escape would be His own life and The life of the people. Okay. Thank you for your attention. And we’re going to have another song. Oh my. Uh, I’m, I’m being reminded, uh, everyone who may or may not have seen the email,
uh, Sylvia is home. Um, she did end up having two strokes, one on Thursday and another one on Saturday. Uh, but Sylvia is home, uh, talk to her today and she said, I’m not doing anything other than sitting in this chair because my daughter said I’m not allowed to do anything other than sit in this chair. Uh,
so she did say if you wanted to call you, you would be welcome to call because she said, I’m not doing anything other than sitting in this chair. So, uh, keep Sylvia in your prayers. Um, hopefully she continues to do better and, uh, has no continuing issues and, um, be with all those who have been mentioned in previous weeks that are dealing with<inaudible>,
those who, um, uh, have been injured as well as those dealing with other, uh, longterm illnesses as well. So we’re going to have a closing song and a closing prayer. Thank you for your attention.<inaudible> Our closing song will be number 738. Take the name of Jesus with you. Take the name of Jesus with you. Take The name of Jesus with you.
Child of sorrow and<inaudible>. Well, joy and comfort gave you take it then where you<inaudible> Precious. Yay.<inaudible><inaudible> Uh, Precious<inaudible>, No house.<inaudible><inaudible> take the name of Jesus<inaudible> Uh, as a shim from every<inaudible> If temptations around you.<inaudible> Breed that Holy name and<inaudible> Precious. Yay. Oh, house<inaudible> Oh,<inaudible><inaudible> Precious A house.<inaudible> Oh<inaudible> Yeah.
Oh, the precious name. Huh?<inaudible> Us, uh, thrills our souls with<inaudible> When his loving arms reach<inaudible> Us and his sons aren’t tongues. Oh, sorry.<inaudible><inaudible> Oh<inaudible> Oh.<inaudible><inaudible> Yes.<inaudible> Oh, house<inaudible> Oh.<inaudible> Uh, Let us pray. A father in heaven, great and powerful is your name.
We are thankful for you and we were reminded each day of how you care for us. And you take a, and you love us and, and always bless us each day we pray that you be with those that we have mentioned and that are not feeling well and not doing well. I may have lost loved ones and pray that you bring, give them comfort.
We’re thankful that Sylvia’s home and pray that you’d be with her and, and she will get better soon. We thank you for your word that we can go to and to study, to look at examples like Ahab and learn from his mistakes that he made, the things that he chose to do. And we pray that we will strive to always trust you and what you say and to follow your word.
We thank you always for what you bless us with each day. Be with us as we go through the rest of this week. And Jesus. Amen.