1 Kings 20:31-43
Ahab’s Treaty with Ben-Hadad
31 Then his servants said to him, “Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please, let us put sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare your life.” 32 So they wore sackcloth around their waists and put ropes around their heads, and came to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’”
And he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”
33 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-Hadad.”
So he said, “Go, bring him.” Then Ben-Hadad came out to him; and he had him come up into the chariot.
34 So Ben-Hadad said to him, “The cities which my father took from your father I will restore; and you may set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.”
Then Ahab said, “I will send you away with this treaty.” So he made a treaty with him and sent him away.
Ahab Condemned
35 Now a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor by the word of the LORD, “Strike me, please.” And the man refused to strike him. 36 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.” And as soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him.
37 And he found another man, and said, “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him, inflicting a wound. 38 Then the prophet departed and waited for the king by the road, and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. 39 Now as the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said, “Your servant went out into 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, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’ 40 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.”
41 And he hastened to take the bandage away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 42 Then he said to him, “Thus says the LORD: Because you have let slip out of your hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.’”
43 So the king of Israel went to his house sullen and displeased, and came to Samaria.
Ahab displayed misplaced mercy to the enemy of God and His people, Ben-Hadad the king of Syria. This enemy had attacked Israel, taken cities, and defied the armies of the living God. The LORD had appointed Ahab for utter destruction, a word used for a dedicated object that was doomed, this one for its idolatry and opposition to God. Ahab had misplaced his loyalty for God on this enemy of the state and of his own God, treating him as a friend when God had ordered him to be destroyed (1 Kings 20:13, 28) just as He did for all the idolatrous and immoral peoples when Israel entered the promised land of Canaan. Ahab trusted friendship with the world more than the command of God who raises kings (Daniel 2:21) and brings them down, using leaders like Ahab as instruments of His will. Ahab chose his own affections instead and it was revealed to him by a prophet along the road in disguise who told a parable as if he had been wounded in battle, entrusted to guard a prisoner, and let him get away while he was busy elsewhere. He then revealed himself as God’s messenger and confronted Ahab with letting Ben-Hadad free with a treaty when he was given charge by the LORD for his complete destruction as judgment for the sins of Syria against His people. Ahab and Israel were therefore to pay the price that Ahab and his were owed, death and defeat. We must learn who is opposed to the gospel and not befriend them, ending up supporting their enmity against us and the Lord like the one Paul encountered (1 Timothy 1:19-20, 2 Timothy 4:14-15, Acts 13:8, 9-10) in his ministry. Discernment is now needed, however, lest we stand against other sincere believers as enemies who are not joined with us (Mark 9:38, 39-40) but still proclaiming the truth of the gospel and who are our true friends and brothers in Christ fighting on the same side of the Lord for His Kingdom and people. We need mercy with discernment to test all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21), not misplaced spiritually naive mercy to allow the enemy to infiltrate and make treaties and share in the sins of those proclaiming another gospel based on a human rather than divine Christ, as many imitation religions do while posing as true denominations.
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