1Ki 20:16 | KingComments | STEP | Then a prophet appears on stage. Possibly the prophet is one of the 7,000, or one of the 100 hidden by Obadiah. It is God’s concern that Ahab will know that He is the LORD. This will happen because He executes the judgment. The prophet gives some indications on behalf of God how Ahab can win the battle. Miraculously Ahab listens to this, perhaps because he sees no other possibility. God comes to his aid in pure grace. Once again He wants to show that He is there. He is going to help Ahab in spite of everything, for the sake of the faithful in the people. Ahab’s indifferent attitude does not prevent God from His intention to save his people despite this unwilling king. Ahab is interested in this deliverance and informs how it will go. The prophet tells him that this will be done by a selection of young men. God uses the suitability of the persons, while it is clear that He Himself gives the victory, for there are few. We also see this with Gideon and his 300 men ( ). When asked by Ahab who should take the initiative to fight, the prophet answers that he should take the initiative. Ben-hadad is so overconfident, that he allows himself to drink himself drunk in the middle of the day. He has no eye for the danger that threatens. Diffused by the drink, he thinks he can ward off this danger. His men have only to capture the men of Ahab. It runs differently. The men of Ahab defeat every man they meet. They are inviolable to the men of Ben-hadad. That is only because of the LORD. When Israel was God’s people, the people always won through Him. Never did the people gain a victory because they were the superior.

‏ 1 Kings 20:16

A Prophet Promises Ahab Victory

Then a prophet appears on stage. Possibly the prophet is one of the 7,000, or one of the 100 hidden by Obadiah. It is God’s concern that Ahab will know that He is the LORD. This will happen because He executes the judgment.

The prophet gives some indications on behalf of God how Ahab can win the battle. Miraculously Ahab listens to this, perhaps because he sees no other possibility. God comes to his aid in pure grace. Once again He wants to show that He is there. He is going to help Ahab in spite of everything, for the sake of the faithful in the people. Ahab’s indifferent attitude does not prevent God from His intention to save his people despite this unwilling king.

Ahab is interested in this deliverance and informs how it will go. The prophet tells him that this will be done by a selection of young men. God uses the suitability of the persons, while it is clear that He Himself gives the victory, for there are few. We also see this with Gideon and his 300 men (Jdg 7:2 ; 21). When asked by Ahab who should take the initiative to fight, the prophet answers that he should take the initiative.

Ben-hadad is so overconfident, that he allows himself to drink himself drunk in the middle of the day. He has no eye for the danger that threatens. Diffused by the drink, he thinks he can ward off this danger. His men have only to capture the men of Ahab.

It runs differently. The men of Ahab defeat every man they meet. They are inviolable to the men of Ben-hadad. That is only because of the LORD. When Israel was God’s people, the people always won through Him. Never did the people gain a victory because they were the superior.