1Ki 20:40 | KingComments | STEP | This history may have ended for Ahab, but for God it is not. Ahab has made it clear that he does not acknowledge God, even after God has so graciously given outcome in his hopeless situation. He abuses grace as a reason for fulfilling his own desires. We become witnesses of the preparation of a message for Ahab. A son of the prophets, a pupil-prophet, must go and bring Ahab the message from God that God will punish his failure. The pupil-prophet must make use of a similarity that he must play himself. For this it is necessary that another pupil-prophet beats him in such a way that he is wounded and must be connected. What the prophet has to do shows the seriousness of what Ahab has done. It is no small matter. The prophet must look like a soldier who comes out of battle wounded. If the pupil-prophet to whom he asks to strike him refuses to do so, that refusal is punished with death. This shows the seriousness that the word of the prophet must be taken as the word of God. The man who refuses to strike the pupil-prophet is killed because he has not listened to the voice of the LORD. The prophet must have been known as such. We must remember that this is not about two ordinary people, but about a prophet who tells another prophet to strike him. It must be known that the prophet who refuses, knows that it is a word of the LORD, but that he will not strike the other, against the word of the LORD. He chooses not to harm his fellow prophet, but with this he is disobedient to the LORD. This must be punished, given the seriousness of the situation. We see something similar with the man of God from Judah in 1 Kings 13. His disobedience is also punished with being killed by a lion ( ). We must not only fulfill our tasks that we understand and agree with, but we must also fulfill a task, simply because it is asked of us. We need to teach our children to obey, even if they do not understand or see the point in it. We should not always explain in detail to our children why we want them to do something. It is not about negotiations, but about teaching them obedience. The whole of society is a society of negotiation and only then doing. We must make sure that this spirit does not take hold of our families. Then he asks another pupil-prophet to strike him, this one does. The other man strikes him so hard that he injures him. This may be to indicate that the prophet identifies with the pain God feels about the infidelity of the leader of His people. The prophet dresses his wound in a way that makes him unrecognizable. In this way he “waited for the king by the way”. When the king arrives, he speaks to him. He asks the king for mercy because he has done something that costs him his life or a large sum of money. He tells what happened. He was “busy here and there” when the man he had to guard escaped. Being busy here and there is a bad thing for a soldier who must always be attentive. When the prophet has spoken, Ahab passes judgment. With this he judges himself. This is also the case with David after his sin with Bathsheba, who, after a parable, passes judgment and is told: “You are the man! ( ). Ahab should have struck Ben-hadad and will now be struck himself, just as the prophet who refused to strike the man of God was struck himself. He has been busy here and there, so he has been negligent in doing what he had to do. The lesson for us is to remove the evil from the midst of the church ( ), not only in view of the honor of God, but also in view of our own salvation. If we don’t stop the evil, it will grow and affect everything. Ahab let Ben-hadad go and will now die by Ben-hadad. God has never been merciful to evil. We see this in the judgment of His Son. Ben-hadad himself has also come to an end. He is murdered by Hazael according to the word of the LORD to Elijah. Hazael suffocates him in a blanket ( ). The reaction of a man so graciously treated by God to the message he receives is terrible. God always bothers him. But he does not understand that it is to his own salvation. His reaction is a total rejection of all God’s proofs of grace. If we react grumpily to God’s actions with us we are in a bad mood. Then it turns out that we only think of our own pleasures and find God troublesome, Someone Who does not grant us our pleasures. We may stand before the Lord and ask, “Lord, what is there of Ahab in my heart? Am I willing to give up all kinds of things, as long as they don’t come up with things that I consider important? Do I recognize the proofs of Your help in the fight against the enemy, that I may honor You for the victory? Or did I make an alliance with the enemy somewhere?” We can pray: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way” ( ).

‏ 1 Kings 20:40

Ahab’s Covenant Judged

This history may have ended for Ahab, but for God it is not. Ahab has made it clear that he does not acknowledge God, even after God has so graciously given outcome in his hopeless situation. He abuses grace as a reason for fulfilling his own desires.

We become witnesses of the preparation of a message for Ahab. A son of the prophets, a pupil-prophet, must go and bring Ahab the message from God that God will punish his failure. The pupil-prophet must make use of a similarity that he must play himself. For this it is necessary that another pupil-prophet beats him in such a way that he is wounded and must be connected. What the prophet has to do shows the seriousness of what Ahab has done. It is no small matter. The prophet must look like a soldier who comes out of battle wounded.

If the pupil-prophet to whom he asks to strike him refuses to do so, that refusal is punished with death. This shows the seriousness that the word of the prophet must be taken as the word of God. The man who refuses to strike the pupil-prophet is killed because he has not listened to the voice of the LORD. The prophet must have been known as such.

We must remember that this is not about two ordinary people, but about a prophet who tells another prophet to strike him. It must be known that the prophet who refuses, knows that it is a word of the LORD, but that he will not strike the other, against the word of the LORD. He chooses not to harm his fellow prophet, but with this he is disobedient to the LORD. This must be punished, given the seriousness of the situation. We see something similar with the man of God from Judah in 1 Kings 13. His disobedience is also punished with being killed by a lion (1Kgs 13:20-24 ; 26).

We must not only fulfill our tasks that we understand and agree with, but we must also fulfill a task, simply because it is asked of us. We need to teach our children to obey, even if they do not understand or see the point in it. We should not always explain in detail to our children why we want them to do something. It is not about negotiations, but about teaching them obedience. The whole of society is a society of negotiation and only then doing. We must make sure that this spirit does not take hold of our families.

Then he asks another pupil-prophet to strike him, this one does. The other man strikes him so hard that he injures him. This may be to indicate that the prophet identifies with the pain God feels about the infidelity of the leader of His people. The prophet dresses his wound in a way that makes him unrecognizable. In this way he “waited for the king by the way”.

When the king arrives, he speaks to him. He asks the king for mercy because he has done something that costs him his life or a large sum of money. He tells what happened. He was “busy here and there” when the man he had to guard escaped. Being busy here and there is a bad thing for a soldier who must always be attentive.

When the prophet has spoken, Ahab passes judgment. With this he judges himself. This is also the case with David after his sin with Bathsheba, who, after a parable, passes judgment and is told: “You are the man! (2Sam 12:7a). Ahab should have struck Ben-hadad and will now be struck himself, just as the prophet who refused to strike the man of God was struck himself. He has been busy here and there, so he has been negligent in doing what he had to do.

The lesson for us is to remove the evil from the midst of the church (1Cor 5:13b), not only in view of the honor of God, but also in view of our own salvation. If we don’t stop the evil, it will grow and affect everything. Ahab let Ben-hadad go and will now die by Ben-hadad. God has never been merciful to evil. We see this in the judgment of His Son.

Ben-hadad himself has also come to an end. He is murdered by Hazael according to the word of the LORD to Elijah. Hazael suffocates him in a blanket (2Kgs 8:15).

The reaction of a man so graciously treated by God to the message he receives is terrible. God always bothers him. But he does not understand that it is to his own salvation. His reaction is a total rejection of all God’s proofs of grace. If we react grumpily to God’s actions with us we are in a bad mood. Then it turns out that we only think of our own pleasures and find God troublesome, Someone Who does not grant us our pleasures.

We may stand before the Lord and ask, “Lord, what is there of Ahab in my heart? Am I willing to give up all kinds of things, as long as they don’t come up with things that I consider important? Do I recognize the proofs of Your help in the fight against the enemy, that I may honor You for the victory? Or did I make an alliance with the enemy somewhere?” We can pray: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way” (Psa 139:23-24).