1 Ki. 20: Ahab's Deadly Treaty

1 Kings 20:23 "Meanwhile, the officials of the king of Aram advised him, "Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they."

There is war between the evil king Ahab and Ben-Hadad of Aram (Syria). There is a lot going on in this chapter. There is great disrespect from Ben-Hadad toward Ahab, as he claims that Israel's silver and gold, women and children now belong to him, and he's going to go get it tomorrow. As the verbal taunts escalate, culminating in Ahab's bon mot, Ben-Hadad issues a drunken order to attack.

Meanwhile, a prophet tells Ahab that the LORD would deliver this battle into his hands. This prophet bore enough good news to be spared, I surmise. And what do you know, with God on his side, Ahab and the Israelites devastate the Aramean army.

Ben-Hadad's misconception of who Israel's God was cost him. He figured Israel was protected by multiple gods in multiple jurisdictions. The plains gods. The hills gods. The primitive radio gods. He had no proper imagination of who God was, and how different it was to have one God over all.

At the end of the chapter is a rather difficult bit at the first read. A prophet of the LORD tells someone to wound him. Which is odd. The first man refuses to harm this prophet, and is condemned to be devoured by a frigging lion. The next guy struck him...either with a punch, or the sword, or something...anyway wounding him. In disguise, he calls out to Ahab as he passes by, telling him that he was in charge of a guy who escaped, and would pay with his life. Ahab basically says, "Serves you right." Then the prophet revealed himself to Ahab's horror and anger. This referred to the treaty Ahab made with Ben-Hadad. God gave him this victory presumably to eradicate Ben-Hadad, who attacked Israel for no apparent reason other than greed. Ahab had the chance to kill him, but let him go. I suppose this will cost Ahab his life.