First, he sent an enemy king.
I Kings 20:1- And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it.
This enemy king of Syria told King Ahab that he wanted all his treasures and his family. King Ahab told him that he would give it. He didn't want a war, and he was willing to give up all his possessions to keep from going to battle.
But, the king of Syria wanted a war. He replied that he was going to take everything that Ahab had and then he was going to let his soldiers go through Samaria and take whatever they wanted. Ahab decided to gather his advisers.
I Kings 20:7-8- Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not. And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent.
The advisers didn't want to let the enemy soldiers take whatever they wanted so they advised King Ahab to tell the enemy king "no".
I Kings 20:10- And Benhadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.
This is what the enemy king wanted. This gave him an excuse to go to battle with Israel. But, God was in control of the situation, and He was trying to teach Ahab something.
I Kings 20:13-14- And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD. And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, Thou.
God sent a prophet to tell Ahab that He was going to help Israel win the battle. He told Ahab that he would lead the charge, and which soldiers should do the fighting.
I Kings 20:15-16- Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand. And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.
Ahab had 232 princes who got ready for the battle, and these princes ordered 7,000 Israelite soldiers to prepare themselves for war. But the enemy king and the other 32 kings that went to war with him were feasting and drinking. None of the enemy leaders were getting ready for a battle.
I Kings 20:17-21- And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Benhadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria. And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive. So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them. And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen. And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
The enemy king ordered his men to capture, but not kill, the Israelite army. The Israelite army's orders were to kill. This allowed the Israelites to destroy their enemies soldiers without harm to themselves. They were winning the battle. Once the enemy king of Syria realized his mistake, he ran for his life.
I KIngs 20:22- And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.
The prophet told King Ahab that this enemy king would come back in a year. Ahab had one whole year to get ready for another battle.
The enemy king thought that his defeat was because he battled in the hills. He said that his false god was the god of the plains and that they would win if they took the battle there. What this enemy king didn't realize was that the Lord God Almighty, the God of the Jewish people, was the only God and He ruled everywhere.
I Kings 20:26, 28- And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
God promised King Ahab that the battle would again be won by Israel.
I Kings 20:29-32, 34- And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day. But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber. And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life. So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother. And Benhadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.
The Israelite army was winning just like the Lord God Almighty had said. The enemy king went into a city and hid himself. His servants said that if he surrendered then King Ahab would be merciful and not kill him. So, he followed their advice and went out to surrender.
King Ahab quickly accepted the surrender calling the enemy king his brother. They made agreements to a peace accord and then Ahab sent the enemy king away.
But, this did not please the Lord. God had wanted the enemy king to die, and now King Ahab would have to be punished.
I Kings 20:35-38- And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him. Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him. So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.
God told a prophet to disguise himself and go tell Ahab a tale.
I KIngs 20:39-40- And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.
The prophet said that he was given charge of an enemy. The person who put the enemy under his guard had told him that if the enemy man escaped then the guard would be punished. But, the prophet said that he had gotten busy and the enemy slipped off.
The king listened and then told the man that his punishment would be what was said. He was suppose to keep the prisoner until the time of his death. Since the prisoner escaped the guard would be killed in his place.
I Kings 20:41-42- And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.
As soon as the king confirmed the sentence of death for the crime committed, the prophet revealed who he was. He told Ahab that God was the One who had given the enemy man into Ahab's possession. The enemy man was the evil Syrian King who should have been killed by Ahab in the battle. Since Ahab let the enemy king go, he would now be killed in his place.
Ahab didn't like this.
I Kings 20:43- And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.
