God's Power

(00:00:01):Welcome to the Stop It or Think podcast.(00:00:03):I'm your host, Will Dole.(00:00:04):Thank you for listening.(00:00:05):And if you enjoy the show, you can rate and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.(00:00:12):What I'm going to do on the show today is something a little bit different from(00:00:14):what I've done in the past.(00:00:17):One of the things that happens as I read my Bible or as I'm reading in the(00:00:20):afternoons or just walking around thinking is ideas pop into my head or strike me(00:00:26):as I'm reading something where I think that would be(00:00:30):a great newsletter post or at least an interesting newsletter post or maybe the(00:00:34):start of a sermon or one of the various other things I do with ideas.(00:00:39):But inevitably,(00:00:41):those things then require a substantial amount of time to work on if they're going(00:00:45):to be useful as a piece of written media.(00:00:51):I don't often have those large two to three hour chunks of time to craft and shape(00:00:57):things the way that they would need to be to be useful on the newsletter part of(00:01:01):this substack.(00:01:04):So...(00:01:05):What I'm going to try today is take one of these outlines that I sketched together(00:01:09):this morning and record it in audio form and hopefully use the transcript to turn(00:01:17):it into something decent and written at a later point.(00:01:21):But for now, it's just going to be an audio post.(00:01:25):And what I want to think about with you today is the fact that the Lord is powerful to save.(00:01:33):1 Kings chapter 20 and verse 27 says,(00:01:35):The people of Israel camped before them,(00:01:38):that is the Syrians,(00:01:39):like two little flocks of goats.(00:01:43):1 Samuel 14 and verse 6,(00:01:46):Jonathan,(00:01:47):as he's about to attack the Philistines,(00:01:49):says to his armor bearer,(00:01:51):Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.(00:01:56):Now to set the scene for 1 Kings chapter 20, which is where our attention is going to be focused,(00:02:03):Ben-Hadad, who is the king of Syria, is gathering his forces against Israel.(00:02:09):Verse 1 of 1 Kings chapter 20 in the ESV says,(00:02:11):Ben-Hadad,(00:02:12):the king of Syria,(00:02:13):gathered all his army together.(00:02:15):And it's not just his army.(00:02:16):It says 32 kings.(00:02:18):were with him and horses and chariots.(00:02:22):And he went up and closed in on Samaria and fought against it.(00:02:26):Ben-Hadad is the mighty man of the world at this point.(00:02:30):He is ruler of Syria, which is the big dog in the region.(00:02:35):And they have come to bully and bowl over the kingdom of Israel, headquartered in Samaria.(00:02:42):And king in Israel at that point is Ahab.(00:02:45):And Ahab is a notoriously wicked king.(00:02:47):His wife is Jezebel.(00:02:48):Ahab is the great persecutor of the prophet Elijah.(00:02:53):And yet, while he is wicked, he is still king over God's people.(00:02:58):The ten northern tribes of Israel have Ahab as their king.(00:03:03):And what we see in 1 Kings chapter 20 in the first 21 verses is a victory that God(00:03:11):gives to Ahab and the people of Israel.(00:03:14):Ahab, or rather Ben-Hadad and the 32 kings come up and essentially claim Israel for themselves.(00:03:20):Ben-Hadad basically tells Ahab that, hey, this place is mine now.(00:03:28):Verse 2 says,(00:03:29):He sent messengers into the city to Ahab,(00:03:32):king of Israel,(00:03:33):and said to him,(00:03:34):Thus says Ben-Hadad,(00:03:35):Your silver and your gold are mine,(00:03:38):and your best wives and children also are mine.(00:03:42):And shockingly, or maybe not so shockingly, given it's Ahab, Ahab folds like a wet paper towel.(00:03:49):He doesn't have any backbone, doesn't have any spine.(00:03:52):He basically just says to Ben-Hadad, You know what?(00:03:56):You're right.(00:03:57):You know, anything you want,(00:03:59):You can have it.(00:04:01):It's all yours.(00:04:02):And he sends these messengers back to Ben-Hadad saying, you can take what you want.(00:04:09):But of course, Ben-Hadad actually wants the stuff.(00:04:14):He just doesn't want words from Ahab.(00:04:19):He doesn't want just verbal complicity with his rule.(00:04:23):He wants the stuff.(00:04:26):The king of Israel answered, verse 4, as you say, my lord, oh king, I am yours and all that I have.(00:04:32):And the messengers came again,(00:04:33):verse 5,(00:04:34):thus says Ben-Hadad,(00:04:35):I sent to you saying,(00:04:37):deliver to me your silver and your gold,(00:04:39):your wives and your children.(00:04:41):Nevertheless,(00:04:42):I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time and they shall search your house,(00:04:47):the houses of your servants and lay hands on whatever pleases you and take it away.(00:04:52):At this point,(00:04:53):Ahab calls together the leaders in his land,(00:04:57):the elders of the land,(00:04:58):and says,(00:04:59):hey,(00:05:00):you see,(00:05:00):this guy's kind of looking for trouble.(00:05:03):I told him that he could have these things, and now he actually wants them.(00:05:07):And the elders say, verse 8, do not listen or consent.(00:05:13):So...(00:05:14):Ahab,(00:05:15):blown about by the wind as he is,(00:05:17):first saying to Ben-Hadad,(00:05:18):yep,(00:05:19):you can have what you want,(00:05:20):but now following the lead of his own elders of his country,(00:05:25):he says,(00:05:26):tell my lord the king,(00:05:28):verse 9,(00:05:28):all that you first demanded of your servant I will do,(00:05:31):but this thing I cannot do.(00:05:33):I can't actually give you what you want.(00:05:35):And the messengers take this back to Ben-Hadad, and Ben-Hadad is not particularly pleased.(00:05:44):He is not happy with the response that he received from the king of Israel.(00:05:51):And Ben-Hadad receives this message while he's trying to drink himself drunk.(00:05:58):Verse 12,(00:05:58):Ben-Hadad heard this message as he was drinking wine with the kings in the booths,(00:06:04):in the tents that they had set up.(00:06:05):And he said to his men, take your positions.(00:06:09):He's drinking while in the war room.(00:06:12):He's so confident about the power of his army and the weakness of Israel that he's(00:06:20):not actually taking seriously the military part of this operation anymore.(00:06:23):He's just there having a good time drinking with his companions.(00:06:27):But given the fact that he is drunk, he is not, again, receiving well this message.(00:06:36):Verse 10,(00:06:37):Ben-Hadad sent to him and said,(00:06:39):The gods do so to me and more also,(00:06:41):if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me.(00:06:49):He's saying, I've got an enormous army with me.(00:06:53):How do you think you're going to stop me?(00:06:55):And Ahab responds in this way that in worldly terms probably isn't real wise, but I love his response.(00:07:04):Verse 11,(00:07:05):Ahab says,(00:07:07):tell Ben-Hadad,(00:07:09):let not him who straps on his armor boast himself as he who takes it off.(00:07:15):Don't count your eggs before they're hatched, Ben-Hadad.(00:07:19):Do you really think you can take Samaria, Ben-Hadad?(00:07:23):Do you really think you are just going to walk in here and waltz all over us?(00:07:26):Well, in human terms, of course, Ben-Hadad thinks he's going to come in and waltz all over you, Ahab.(00:07:31):You are terrified that he's going to come in and waltz all over you.(00:07:35):I'm not sure why you're boasting.(00:07:38):But Ben-Hadad keeps up his drinking.(00:07:42):While he's in his war room, he's waiting to send his forces into battle.(00:07:47):Verse 16, he's drinking himself drunk with the 32 kings who helped him.(00:07:52):That's what verse 16 tells us.(00:07:54):And in verses 13 and 14, a prophet comes to Ahab and tells Ahab that he is to initiate the battle.(00:08:02):Ahab, who has these 262 elders of the land, governors of the district,(00:08:11):and 7,000 men.(00:08:11):7,000 men.(00:08:14):Now, I'm not great at math, so I had to pull out a calculator, and I divided 7,000 by 232.(00:08:20):It comes to about 30 men per governor.(00:08:25):So these governors, these rulers of cities or small regions, each of them has got about 30 men with him.(00:08:32):Altogether, they've got 7,000 soldiers, and they're about to attack mighty Samaria.(00:08:40):With thousands upon thousands upon thousands of soldiers, not Samaria rather, Syria.(00:08:47):The army, the might of Syria is arrayed at the door.(00:08:52):But then Ahab and his army fall upon them.(00:08:57):And the Syrians flee.(00:09:02):You see that in verse 17,(00:09:03):the servants of the governors of the districts went out first and Ben-Hadad sent(00:09:07):out scouts and they reported to him,(00:09:09):men are coming out from Samaria.(00:09:11):He said if they've come out for peace, take them alive.(00:09:13):Or if they've come out for war, take them alive.(00:09:15):His assumption is these guys are coming out and they're going to plead for peace.(00:09:20):And even if they don't, let's just capture them alive and then we can mock them.(00:09:24):We can do whatever we want with them.(00:09:26):Just take them alive.(00:09:27):Well,(00:09:28):as these men come out of the city,(00:09:30):the servants of the governors of the districts and the army that followed them,(00:09:33):verse 20,(00:09:34):each struck down his man and the Syrians fled and Israel pursued them.(00:09:39):Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, escaped on a horse with horsemen.(00:09:43):The king of Israel went out and struck the horses and the chariots and struck the(00:09:46):Syrians with a great blow.(00:09:48):So these people who are great and mighty are overwhelmed by this tiny army of Israel.(00:09:56):God works great salvation for the people of Israel that day.(00:10:03):It's shocking as you read it to think that this mighty army of the Syrians is(00:10:08):overwhelmed by this tiny force from the people of Israel.(00:10:13):Now, anytime the little guy sneaks a punch in there,(00:10:18):And knocks the big guy down.(00:10:20):What you have to be ready for is that the big guy is at some point going to stand back up.(00:10:25):He's not going to just take this lying down.(00:10:27):And so verse 22, a prophet comes near to the king of Israel.(00:10:31):Same prophet who likely earlier had told him that God was going to give the army of Syria into his hand.(00:10:39):Verse 13 says,(00:10:41):Now he says, consider, verse 22, strengthen yourself and consider well that what you will have to do.(00:10:49):For in the spring, the king of Syria will come up against you.(00:10:54):When it's wartime again, Syria is going to come and Ben-Hadad is not going to mess around.(00:11:01):So you have that instruction given to Ahab.(00:11:03):Gather your strength.(00:11:04):Strengthen yourself.(00:11:06):Consider well what is about to happen and be ready for it.(00:11:10):Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, also receives counsel.(00:11:14):And this is what his men tell him.(00:11:16):Well, their gods are gods of the hills, that is the Israelites.(00:11:20):And so they were stronger there than we.(00:11:22):So as they came up towards Samaria,(00:11:24):they're in the hill country,(00:11:26):and oh,(00:11:26):sure,(00:11:26):they've got gods of the hills,(00:11:28):and they were able to defeat us there.(00:11:30):But if you pull together an army that's just as big and just as strong,(00:11:34):and we meet them out in the plain,(00:11:36):we will destroy them.(00:11:39):So verse 26 and following, we see that the Ben-Hadad does gather his forces again.(00:11:45):He does muster his army and they come out to meet Israel in the plain.(00:11:50):And verse 27 says the people of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went against them.(00:11:57):And the people of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats,(00:12:03):but the Syrians filled the country.(00:12:05):So imagine(00:12:08):this army that is as vast as the sea in front of you.(00:12:15):That's the army of Syria.(00:12:17):And out there in front of this great wide expanse,(00:12:21):you have two little flocks of goats and that's the army,(00:12:28):the army of the people of God.(00:12:32):And, and in,(00:12:34):Any normal circumstance,(00:12:35):you would look at that and you would say,(00:12:37):the odds are stacked and not only are they stacked,(00:12:39):they are overwhelmingly,(00:12:41):impossibly in the favor of the people of Syria.(00:12:45):And Ben-Hadad has every reason,(00:12:47):humanly speaking,(00:12:48):to assume there won't even be meaningful resistance to his power and to his might.(00:12:57):Then verse 28 says, A man of God came near and said to the king of Israel,(00:13:03):Thus says the Lord,(00:13:06):because the Syrians have said,(00:13:07):the Lord is a God of the hills,(00:13:10):but he is not a God of the valleys.(00:13:13):Therefore, I will give all this great multitude into your hand and you shall know that I am the Lord.(00:13:18):Well, seven days pass between the word of the Lord given through this prophet and when battle is joined.(00:13:29):And for seven days,(00:13:32):You can hear in your mind,(00:13:34):at least I can hear in my mind,(00:13:36):the responses of the people of Israel murmuring and wondering what's going to happen.(00:13:41):And is God there for us?(00:13:43):And is God going to save us?(00:13:44):And how will anything good come from this overwhelmingly bad set of circumstances?(00:13:53):But then, verse 29, on the seventh day, the battle was joined.(00:13:58):And the people of Israel struck down of the Syrians 100,000 foot soldiers in one day.(00:14:05):And the rest fled into the city of Aphek.(00:14:08):And the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were left.(00:14:14):And Ben-Hadad takes off.(00:14:16):He's running for his life.(00:14:17):He's eventually caught.(00:14:18):And they realize, hey, maybe we should plead for mercy.(00:14:22):Maybe we should recognize the fact that the kings of Israel are merciful.(00:14:27):But the point of this passage here, to this point, is that the Syrians had every earthly advantage.(00:14:36):They had all the power.(00:14:37):They had all of the superior weaponry.(00:14:40):They had what it took to destroy the people of Israel.(00:14:47):And yet,(00:14:48):because they had mocked the God of Israel,(00:14:52):the only true God,(00:14:53):the God of Abraham,(00:14:54):Isaac,(00:14:54):and Jacob,(00:14:55):Yahweh,(00:14:57):God said, oh, they think I'm not God down here in the valley?(00:15:01):I will show them who is God in the valley.(00:15:03):These two little flocks of goats are going to demolish 127,000 men of Syria.(00:15:15):So the point that we should gain from this, what we should understand from this passage is,(00:15:23):is that it does not matter what is arrayed against you in terms of circumstances.(00:15:29):It does not matter who is arrayed against you in terms of who are your enemies,(00:15:33):who are the people who stand against you as you seek to stand for the Lord.(00:15:39):It does not matter.(00:15:41):Do not be afraid.(00:15:43):Do not quake in your boots.(00:15:47):Do not fear those who can kill the body only, but cannot kill the soul.(00:15:51):Fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell, namely God.(00:15:57):And if God be for us, who can be against us?(00:16:03):Now,(00:16:04):the chapter goes on,(00:16:05):and it does not end so well as it had started,(00:16:10):because Ahab is still a wicked king.(00:16:13):Ahab spares Ben-Hadad.(00:16:17):He's still thinking in human terms,(00:16:19):like this is a powerful man,(00:16:21):and if I show him mercy,(00:16:22):it will be good for me in the long run.(00:16:24):That's how Ahab is thinking.(00:16:26):Instead of crushing the enemies of God, as the deliverers of Israel are supposed to do, instead...(00:16:36):He shows mercy to those who are not to be shown mercy,(00:16:39):those who have been delivered over to destruction by the word of the Lord.(00:16:43):Ahab is saying, nah, I'm going to let it slide.(00:16:46):I'm going to let him go.(00:16:49):And so you have this strange prophetic action in verses 35 and following.(00:16:57):A certain man of the sons of the prophet said to his fellow at the command of the Lord,(00:17:02):strike me,(00:17:02):please.(00:17:03):But the man refused to strike him.(00:17:05):Then he said to him,(00:17:06):because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord,(00:17:08):behold,(00:17:08):as soon as you have gone from me,(00:17:10):a lion will strike you down.(00:17:12):And as soon as he departed from him, a lion met him and struck him down.(00:17:17):In verse 37, he found another man and said, strike me, please.(00:17:19):And the man struck him, struck him and wounded him.(00:17:24):So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, disguising himself with a(00:17:32):Ahab is that you have spared the one whom God has told you to kill.(00:17:42):And now God is going to visit judgment on you for that.(00:17:46):Verse 42,(00:17:47):thus says the Lord,(00:17:48):because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction,(00:17:52):therefore your life shall be for your life and your people for his people.(00:17:57):And notice again, this is the wickedness of Ahab on display.(00:18:00):He doesn't repent.(00:18:01):He doesn't say the Lord is right and I was wrong.(00:18:04):Rather, verse 43, the king of Israel went to his house vexed and sullen and came to Samaria.(00:18:11):So the other thing that we can learn from this passage is that God will use wicked(00:18:18):instruments to accomplish his purposes.(00:18:21):God wanted to display his power over the people of Syria.(00:18:26):And so he used Ahab and his army to destroy Israel.(00:18:31):the army of Syria.(00:18:34):And at the same time, Ahab was still a self-willed, rebellious king.(00:18:38):He was not serving the Lord, and so God promises judgment upon him as well.(00:18:47):And this is a sober warning for each of us,(00:18:49):because we should,(00:18:51):when we hear these kind of rebukes from God,(00:18:53):each of us deserves rebuke from God.(00:18:57):Hebrews 12 says that he brings chastisement upon every son whom he loves.(00:19:02):But we should not treat that lightly.(00:19:04):Rather, we should receive it as his loving correction.(00:19:08):We should not, as Ahab does here, pout away vexed and sullen.(00:19:13):I have this conversation with my kids all the time, especially my boys.(00:19:16):Do not pout over being corrected.(00:19:19):Do not whine when you are told you are wrong.(00:19:23):Repent and grow.(00:19:25):Repent, receive forgiveness for your sins, and do not return to them.(00:19:33):Ahab refused that, and God visited judgment on his house.(00:19:37):So may we,(00:19:38):as we think about passages like 1 Kings 20,(00:19:41):trust in the Lord and in the power of his might,(00:19:44):and also receive his correction with humble hearts.(00:19:52):This has been the Stopping to Think podcast.(00:19:54):I'm your host, Will Dole.(00:19:55):Thank you for listening. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.substack.com/subscribe