1 Kings 20:23-30
23 Then the servants of the king of Syria said to him, "Their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they. 24 So do this thing: Dismiss the kings, each from his position, and put captains in their places; 25 and you shall muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain; surely we will be stronger than they." And he listened to their voice and did so.
26 So it was, in the spring of the year, that Ben-Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. 27 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 little flocks of goats, while the Syrians filled the countryside.
28 Then a man of God came and spoke to the 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 great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.'" 29 And they encamped opposite each other for seven days. 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. 30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; then a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men who were left. And Ben-Hadad fled and went into the city, into an inner chamber.
The Syrians made the mistake of being enemies of Him by considering the LORD of all creation to be less in the open plain than on the tops of the hills. They made Him into just another idol in their estimation, and foolishly thought that they could defeat His people this way, not acknowledging or even realizing who He is. The king’s advisers therefore told Ben-Hadad to put army captains in place of the kings allied with him who were handsomely routed in the previous battle with this shortsighted strategy. The people of God were so outnumbered that they resembled two small flocks of goats against an overwhelming army camped all around, filling the area. Ah, but God sent a messenger to Ahab to demonstrate His power and will for His honor and glory, and for the good of His people. He was told the word of the LORD which was the enemy delivered assuredly into their hands in victorious battle because the Syrians mocked His majesty by limiting His power in the open field by their blasphemous taunting. After seven days of sitting opposite each other, the battle was begun and ended quickly with one hundred thousand of them killed in just one day. Twenty-seven thousand who ran away were crushed by a falling wall in the town they ran to hide in. Ben-Hadad himself hid inside the city in a hidden room to escape destruction. This recounting of God’s power and fighting for His glory while also for the good of His people demonstrates that nothing is too difficult for Him, that He will silence the blasphemous mockers who oppose Him with judgment and justice, and that He looks over His chosen ones in the battles against them. We know that the Lord is to be honored and glorified by we who know Him truly in Christ, and we therefore trust His goodness to us (Romans 8:28, 31, 37-39). We know the ultimate victory in in Christ alone and that He will bring justice in the final judgment to avenge His people as well as His glory and honor (Revelation 6:10). Therefore, let us fight the good fight of faith as we look to God’s word for His guiding promises and the eternal outcome as promised. His multitude of enemies who reject Him and His person will be defeated once more and forever against the few sheep of His flock who entered by the narrow gate (Acts 4:12, Matthew 7:13-14) which He has called as His own amidst the countryside filled with those running to the denial of destruction.
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