Would you like to read James McNaught’s novel Sinking Sand”? click here: Sinking Sand
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
1 Kings 20:1–11, “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. And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have. And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Benhadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children; Yet I will send my servants unto thee to morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away. 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. Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Benhadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again. 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. And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.
Ahab was disobedient to the Lord and had led Israel astray therefore Israel’s enemies came in against Israel to bring them back to their knees in repentance before the Lord. The Syrian king, Benhadad came came with a coalition of thirty two other kings to do battle with Israel. Benhadad boasted to Ahab that he would take everything that belonged to him in battle. However, Benhadad overstepped the mark. He told Ahab that he was going to send his servants into Samaria and they would walk around the city and take whatever they wanted to take. This was too much for Ahab so he called his advisors together and told them what Benhadad wanted to do in Samaria. They all agreed with Ahab and sent the messengers back to Benhadad telling him that he was asking too much. Benhadad was very angry and told Ahab that he would come and completely destroy Samaria so that there was nothing left of the city but dust. Ahab told Benhadad that it wasn’t good to boast before a battle, it was better to boast after the battle rather than before it. We live in a day when people don’t understand the wisdom of this advice when many people boast about what they are going to do. However, we may plan to do this or that but in the end the Lord’s plans come to pass. (see Prov 16:9, “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.”)
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