1 Reis 20
Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 Reis 20
Spurgeon - Girding on the Harness (full sermon) 1 Kings 20:11 The devil whispers, ‘Ah, now we are somebody.’ We have commenced to teach in the Sunday school and feel pleased to think we are to be teachers of the young: is it not a noble work? Nobody will be able to say now that we are mere babes in grace. Why, we are getting to be quite defenders of the faith and bold servants of Christ; surely we may be allowed a little self-respect! If we have begun to preach and have been praised by many of our hearers, it is probable that we scarcely know whether we are in the body or out of it; we think we are Whitefields already and apostles in embryo. What preachers we are going to be and what wonders we shall certainly accomplish! Satan has patted us with his black paw and told us that we have done amazingly well and deserve great credit, and we fully believe him. It is well known that even in natural things Jack in office is bound to be proud, and the like thing will occur even to good young men when they are put a little forward. They can scarcely be trusted even to open the door of the Lord’s house or to sweep a crossing in the streets of the New Jerusalem, but straightway they become important. It is much easier to be puffed up than to be built up, much easier to grow in self-conceit than in vital godliness; a little advancement turns many brains. Baruch was employed by the prophet Jeremiah to write the roll, and straightway he had high ideas of what Baruch must be and needed the message, ‘seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not’. We are always up in the air unless God in his infinite mercy chains us down to the rock and keeps us there, for pride is like the eagle and delights to soar on high. 1 Kings 20:12 When Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking with the kings in the temporary shelters, he said to his servants, “Station yourselves.” So they stationed themselves against the city. drinking: 1Ki 20:16 16:9 1Sa 25:36 2Sa 13:28 Pr 31:4,5 Da 5:2,30 Lu 21:34 Eph 5:18 Shelters: Jer 43:10 1 Kings 20 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries ESV Study Bible page 638 PREPARATION TO ATTACK SAMARIA When Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking with the kings in the temporary shelters, he said to his servants, “Station yourselves.” So they stationed themselves against the city - Likely inebriated, Ben-Hadad tells his men prepare to storm the city. So as in the case of Belshazzar (Da 5:1-30+), so here, drunkenness was predecessor of defeat. Drunkenness often creates a false sense of assurance or over-confidence! 1 Kings 20:13 Now behold, a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver them into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’” Have you seen all this great 2Ki 6:8-12 7:1 13:23 Isa 7:1-9 Eze 20:14,22 you shall know : 1Ki 20:28 1Ki 18:37 Ex 14:18 16:12 Ps 83:18 Isa 37:20 Eze 6:7 Joe 3:17 1 Kings 20 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: 1 Kings 20:28+ Then a man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel and said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because the Arameans have said, “The LORD is a god of the mountains, but He is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’” 1 Kings 18:37+ (ELIJAH'S PRAYER WAS FOR GOD'S GLORY) “Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.” A PROPHET SPEAKS TO AHAB Now behold, a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Have you seen all this great multitude (Lit horde)? - With the statement this great multitude this nameless prophet (either one of the 100 Obadiah had rescued and/or one of 7000 who have not bowed their knee to Baal) emphasizes the chances of defeat are great. God is magnified even more when the situation seems humanly impossible. Brian Bell - Though Elijah wasn’t going to speak to him anymore, an unknown prophet comes. If someone wont listen to the trumpet, maybe the flute? Grace. God’s Loving Kindness follows us into the far country of undisciplined living. -- Brian Bell Behold, I will deliver them into your hand today, and you shall know (yada; Lxx - ginosko = know intimately, experientially) that I am the LORD - This is a surprising promise not based on Ahab's loyalty but on God's love for His chosen people. This verse recalls Paul's words in Eph 2:4+ "God, being (present tense - continually) rich in mercy." Two prophetic promises are given, one for victory (deliver...into...hand = into your power) and the second that this humanly implausible victory would motivate Ahab to come to truly know (yada; Lxx - ginosko = know intimately, experientially) Yahweh. God is the God of the second chance so here we see chance number 2 for Ahab who had seen Yahweh's victory over Baal at Mount Carmel. We can see the lovingkindness of God and His gracious provision to this man who had continually rejected Him in exchange for that which is no god. THOUGHT - This shows the power of idolatry to deceive and ensnare. Little wonder Paul commands "Therefore, my beloved, flee (present imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) from idolatry." (1Cor 10:14+) And John adds "Little children, guard (aorist imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) yourselves from idols." (1Jn 5:21+). I am reminded of Romans 2:4+ "Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?" Yahweh was seeking to lead Ahab and Israel to repentance. John MacArthur on I will deliver them into your hand today - These were the words of assurance given before battles when the Lord was about to fight on Israel's side (Jos 6:2, 16; Josh 8:1, 18; Jdg 7:2; 18:10; 1Sa 23:4; 24:4, 2Ch 13:16, 2Ch 16:8). Further, the victory would show Ahab that the Lord was in every respect the mighty God He claimed to be. Though the people and king of Israel had dishonored God, He would not utterly cast them off (vv. 14, 15). (See MacArthur Study Bible) Bob
1 Reis 20
Spurgeon - The art of god-making is very common among men. Instead of going to revelation to see what God is, and humbly believing in Him as He reveals Himself, men sit down and consider what sort of God He ought to be, and in so doing they are no wiser than the man who makes a god of mud or wood or stone”.... ( Spurgeon applies their illogical reasoning writing) Will God aid a Whitfield and not help a poor local preacher holding forth upon the green? Will he assist the earnest minister who addresses thousands, and desert the simple girl who teaches a dozen little children the old, old story of the cross? Is this after the fashion of God, to patronise the eminent and neglect the lowly? Does Jesus despise the day of small things?” 1 Kings 20:24 “Do this thing: remove the kings, each from his place, and put captains in their place, NET 1 Kings 20:24 So do this: Dismiss the kings from their command, and replace them with military commanders. CSB 1 Kings 20:24 Also do this: remove each king from his position and appoint captains in their place. ESV 1 Kings 20:24 And do this: remove the kings, each from his post, and put commanders in their places, NIV 1 Kings 20:24 Do this: Remove all the kings from their commands and replace them with other officers. NLT 1 Kings 20:24 Only this time replace the kings with field commanders! remove the kings: 1Ki 20:1,16 22:31 Pr 21:30 1 Kings 20 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries BEN-HADAD'S SERVANT'S STRATEGY FOR BATTLE Do this thing: remove the kings, each from his place, and put captains in their place - NLT picks up the sense of this instruction "Only this time replace the kings with field commanders!" Why remove the kings? Either they no longer supporter Ben-Hadad or they were seen as unhelpful to the cause.
1 Reis 20
Spurgeon - God of the Hills and God of the Valleys (full sermon) 1 Kings 20:28 There is no trial or temptation, though it be low, degrading, base, in which the Lord cannot as much assist you, when labouring under it, as in the sublimer struggles of the most noble life. Commit yourself to God and entertain no fears as to his all-sufficiency and faithfulness. But you say, ‘I would not entertain any of those fears if I were like eminent saints, but I am far inferior to the godly men of whom I read and hear. I am obscure and insignificant; I have little talent and even less grace. I am a nobody.’ But is our God the ‘God of the hills’ and not the ‘God of the valleys’? Will God help Oliver Cromwell and not a private soldier who trusts in God and keeps his powder dry? Will God aid a Whitefield and not help a poor local preacher holding forth upon the green? Will he assist the earnest minister who addresses thousands, and desert the simple girl who teaches a dozen little children the old, old story of the cross? Is this after the fashion of God, to patronise the eminent and neglect the lowly? Does Jesus despise ‘the day of small things’? Surely you have misread the Scriptures if you think so, for the Christ of the gospels took note of a widow’s small coins, and was pleased with the hosannas of boys and girls. He rejoiced that his Father revealed his great things not to the wise and prudent, but to babes, and he called to his work not the high priests and philosophers, but the fishermen and tax-collectors. So, because you see a difference between yourself and others, and a change in the circumstances of your trial, do not begin to think that the Heavenly Father will desert you, or I shall again have to tell you that he is God of the valleys as well as the hills. Spurgeon Study Bible - 20:28 “Because the Arameans have said: The LORD is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys, I will hand over all this whole huge army to you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.” Because of this blasphemy of the Syrians, God was pleased to deliver his people Israel. It is not the only time, but one of many, in which the blasphemies of the adversary have worked good for the people of God. We might have supposed that God would have said, “It does not matter what these ignorant heathen say. Who cares for their slanderous falsehoods?” But our God is jealous; he is ever represented in Scripture as being tender of his own glory and, therefore, though Israel was guilty, and Ahab, their king, was detestable, yet God determines that Ahab and Israel will strike Ben-hadad and Syria because of what Syria had said. But as the Syrians fell into a great and blasphemous sin by thinking God was a local God, a God of the hills and not of the valleys, we may fall into much evil by the same thought process. We must beware imitating the Syrians by limiting the Holy One of Israel under any circumstances whatever. For example, the temptation is at times heavy on us to think that the gospel cannot conquer the world, that the truth of Jesus cannot spread in the midst of the thick darkness which surrounds us, that the good old cause is falling into a desperate condition, and that perhaps the victory we have looked for will not come after all. May the Lord increase our faith, and let us never dream that Jehovah, the God of the hills, is not the God of the valleys. THE GOD OF THE VALLEYS "the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys 1 Kings 20:28 The king of Syria, Ben-hadad, together with his great army, had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Israel. Since Palestine is rather mountainous, the king erroneously concluded that the Israelites had been successful because their deity was a God of the hills. If he could but engage them again in the valley, he was sure that he could easily overcome them. However, the prophet of the Lord spoke to King Ahab assuring him that to vindicate the Lord's honor, and to show He was God of all places and circumstances, Israel would again defeat the Syrian hosts. When the battle came, God's people won an even more impressive victory. They were thus reassured that the Lord was always at their side - even in the valley of deepest testing! Many people today still think God is with them when they enjoy prosperity, yet mistakenly feel He has forsaken them when they are called to suffer affliction. A merchant was informed by his confidential secretary that his company was in serious financial difficulty. "It's been a bad year, sir," said the employee; "there have been vast losses and few gains." The merchant saw that bankruptcy was imminent. When at last he spoke, his voice was low and steady. " No, John, it has been a good year in spite of everything. Every one of those figures `in the red' represent hours of agonizing prayer on my part - experiences that have made me so spiritually rich that I cannot despair over any earthly losses. The future is bright, for the Lord has promised, 'No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.' " The secretary looked at him for a moment, and then said, "I want to tell you it was your steadiness under the testings of the past year that has made me long to know Christ as you do; and so the other night I received Him as my Savior. I agree, sir; it has indeed been a good year!" Both men had come to realize in a wonderful way that the Lord is also "the God of the valleys!" God's "green pastures" are often found in the lowlands of trial! - H. G. Bosch Vance Havner - GOD OF THE VALLEYS 1 Kings 20:28. We are inclined to think of our God as the God of the hills, the lofty and exalted experiences of life. But He is also the God of the valleys, the dark and trying days, when the sun does not shine and the journey is long and painful. We shall surely be overcome by the enemy if we are hill children without the faith that will not shrink though pressed by many a foe in the lowlands of sorrow. Where there are mountains, there must be valleys. But there never was a winter that was not followed by spring. The Christian life is up and down, heights of fellowship with God and lofty vision but also the valleys, even of the shadow of death. But we need fear no evil for the God of the hills is with us when we travel the valleys below. Vance Havner - God of the Valleys (See 1 Kings 20:23, 28.) There is a precious lesson hidden in this account. As Christians we are inclined to worship only the God of the hills. We think of Him only in terms of the high and exalted experiences of life, the mountain peaks and heights of glory bright. But He is also the God of life's valleys, dark and trying days when the sun does not shine, when the journey is lonely and painful. Some of life's greatest victories are won in the valleys and not on the mountain tops. If we are hill Christians all the time, trying to live on spiritual excitements, flitting from one thrill to another, building tabernacles on the peaks as Peter wanted to do on the Mount of Transfiguration, we shall certainly be overcome by the enemy. We must know the God of the valleys as well as the God of the peaks. Where there are mountains there must be valleys and we had better be prepared for both. The Christian life is up and down, visions and valleys. Paul dropped all the way from third heaven to the thorn in the flesh to learn that God's grace is sufficient for depth as well as height. Satan's strategy is to defeat us in the lowlands. Job was a righteous man, faithful in his religious observances, while prosperity smiled upon him in the hills of success, but when he sat in desolation—family gone, possessions gone, health gone and a wife saying, "Curse God and die"—it was then that he took a postgraduate course getting acquainted with the God of the valleys. John the Baptist could stand on Jordan and shout his bold faith in Jesus Christ but John the Baptist in jail fell so low that he inquired, "... Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" (Matthew 11:3). One grows a little suspicious of these souls who say they never doubt or fear, who walk in triumph without ever a defeat, who look with condescending scorn on less radiant saints playing in a minor key. Somehow it is often the very people who boast of highest exaltation and loftiest ecstasies who go down quickly in ignominious defeat. They are not geared for low elevations and need a faith that will not shrink when pressed by many a foe. Doctor Torrey used to say that those who think they have attained some sublime height of faith and trust, because they never know any agony of conflict or of prayer, have surely gotten beyond their Lord and the mightiest victors for God. There is a fight of faith as well as a rest of faith, and your knowledge of God is inadequate for life's storm and stress if you know only the God of the hills. He is the same God as the God of the valleys. Blessed is the man who has found that neither hill nor valley, neither height nor depth, can separate us from His love. 1 Kings 20:29 So they camped one over against the other seven days. And on the seventh day the battle was joined, and the sons of Israel killed of the Arameans 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. NET 1 Kings 20:29 The armies were deployed opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day the battle began, and the Israelites killed 100,000 Syrian foot soldiers in one day. CSB 1 Kings 20:29 They camped opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day, the battle took place, and the Israelites struck down the Arameans-- 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. ESV 1 Kings 20:29 And they encamped opposite one another seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle was joined. And the people of Israel struck down of the Syrians 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. NIV 1 Kings 20:29 For seven days they camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle was joined. The Israelites inflicted a hundred thousand casualties on the Aramean foot soldiers in one day. NLT 1 Kings 20:29 The two armies camped opposite each other for seven days, and on the seventh day the battle began. The Israelites killed 100,000 Aramean foot soldiers in one day. seven days: Jos 6:15 1Sa 17:16 Ps 10:16 100,000 foot soldiers: 2Sa 10:18 2Ch 13:17 20:23-25 28:6 Isa 37:36 1 Kings 20 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Joshua 6:15+ Then on the seventh day they rose early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same manner seven times; only on that day they marched around the city seven times. YAHWEH WINS ISRAEL A MASSIVE VICTORY So they camped one over against the other seven days - The reason for the delay of 7 days is not clear. However, one is reminded of Joshua's victory over Jericho after marching around the city for seven days, God's number of completion or perfection. See the other parallel with Jericho in the next verse where the wall fell (cf Joshua 6:20+). And on the seventh day the battle was joined (the battle began), and the sons of Israel killed of the Arameans 100,000 foot soldiers in one day - For the small force of Israelis to achieve this number of enemy casualties, is nothing short of supernatural. Clearly this is a manifestation of the hand of the LORD on the Israeli forces! They fought, but He enabled. Some writers propose this was too large a number but the Septuagint supports it and the Aramean army was obviously very large THOUGHT - What is even more amazing is Yahweh's kindness and grace to supernaturally enable these Baal worshiping Israelites (one surmises that most were not Yahwists) to defeat the Arameans. Indeed this clearly demonstrates that an excellent descriptive definition of God's grace is that it gives undeserved favor. Are we too not daily recipients of His undeserved favor? (Rhetorical!) Thank you LORD! 1 Kings 20:30 But the rest fled to Aphek into the city, and the wall fell on 27,000 men who were left. And Ben-hadad fled and came into the city into an inner chamber. NET 1 Kings 20:30 The remaining 27,000 ran to Aphek and went into the city, but the wall fell on them. Now Ben Hadad ran into the city and hid in an inner room. CSB 1 Kings 20:30 The ones who remained fled into the city of Aphek, and the wall fell on those 27,000 remaining men. Ben-hadad also fled and went into an inner room in the city. ESV 1 Kings 20:30 And the rest fled into the city of Aphek, and the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were left. Ben-hadad also fled and entered an inner chamber in the city. NIV 1 Kings 20:30 The rest of them escaped to the city of Aphek, where the wall collapsed on twenty-seven thousand of them. And Ben-Hadad fled to the city and hid in an inner room. NLT 1 Kings 20:30 The rest fled into the town of Aphek, but the wall fell on them and killed another 27,000. Ben-hadad fled into the town and hid in a secret room. the rest: Ps 18:25 wall: Isa 24:18 Jer 48:44 Am 2:14,15 5:19 9:3 Lu 13:4 Ben-hadad fled: 1Ki 20:10,20 Da 4:37 came into the city into an inner chamber. Heb. into a chamber within a chamber. 1Ki 22:25 2Ch 18:24 1 Kings 20 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries GOD MOVES WALLS TO DESTROY ARAMEANS But the rest fled to Aphek into the city, and the wall fell on 27,000 men who were left - God continued to move in supernatural ways to assist Israel in the victory, the wall falling just as it did in Jericho (Joshua 6:20+). Sadly the Arameans did not see the supernatural intervention as an opportunity to come to a knowledge of the truth about their idols and the One True God. THOUGHT- This reminds me of the old 1993 Promise Keeper's song - Let the Walls Fall - it rocks a little but the message is still apropos today. And Ben-hadad fled and came into the city into an inner chamber - The head of the snake was still alive and like a snake was hiding in a burrow! James Smith - BEN-HADAD’S FALL AND RESTORATION 1 Kings 20:30–34 “Jesus, who to Thy Father prayed For those who all Thy love repaid With this dread cup of woes, Teach me to conquer, Lord, like Thee, By patience and benignity, The thwarting of my foes.” —FABER. The cause of the defeat of the great host of Syrians was a denial of God. They did not believe that the God of Israel had any power in the valleys (v. 28). An imperfect and false idea of God has been, and is still, the source of ruin to many. “They that know their God shall be strong” (Dan. 11:32). To the believer God is the God of every hill and valley of their daily life. We do not attempt here an exposition of the above Scripture, but wish to use it only as an illustration or historical picture of the great salvation. Notice then a— I. Fearful Condition. “Ben-hadad fled into an inner chamber” (1Ki 20:30). The marginal reading of the Revised Version is “from chamber to chamber,” as one convicted of danger and seeking safety, but finding no place to rest. How like this is to an awakened sinner, running as it were from place to place, from sin to sin, and from pleasure to pleasure, seeking rest and relief to his troubled soul, but never getting any assurance of salvation. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done.” II. Hopeful Proclamation. “We have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings” (1Ki 20:31). These servants who had heard this good news did not hide the tidings from the anxious Ben-hadad, but carried them at once to him. Have we not heard that the King of Heaven is merciful, and that He “delighteth in mercy,” and is “ready to pardon?” Are we hiding the good news, like the lepers of Samaria, from those timid and fearful souls who, like Ben-hadad, have been crushed and defeated in the battles of life, and who run to and fro secretly seeking a place of rest? III. Self-humbling Intercession. “They put sackcloth on their loins, and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and prayed for him” (1Ki 20:32). In praying for Ben-hadad they were praying for one who had forfeited his life through open rebellion. These intercessors identified themselves with the guilty one for whom they prayed. The sackcloth and the ropes spoke of repentance and a readiness to die for his sake. The way to pray for others is to put ourselves in their position and circumstances. Did our Lord Jesus Christ not do this? Where is our sackcloth and ropes when we make intercession for transgressors before our merciful King? Is our sympathy manifested? IV. Heartening Revelation. “He is my brother” (1Ki 20:32). When the king of Israel deighed to call him, who had been his enemy, his “brother,” it was the throwing open of the door of grace and mercy to the petitioners. They were quick to catch it, and take advantage of it, by saying, “Thy brother.” What an encouragement we have in praying for others when we know that He loves His enemies and is prepared to receive them and treat them as brothers! V. Peaceful Reconciliation. “He caused him to come up into the chariot” (1Ki 20:33). A little while ago he was fighting against the king of Israel, now he is reconciled to him, and having fellowship with him in his own chariot. Once we were enemies to the Son of God by our wicked works, but now, through grace and a mighty intercession, we have been brought nigh, and lifted up, and made to sit with Him in heavenly places. Our fellowship is now with the Son in the chariot of His salvation. VI. Voluntary Restitution. “Ben-hadad said, The cities which my father took from thy father I will restore” (1Ki 20:34). Now that he had been “saved by grace” he was prepared to yield up to him all that beforetime had been taken from him. Should not the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ constrain us to yield up to Him that life which was beforetime taken from His service and spent in opposition to His will? (Rom. 12:1). “Thou hast loosed my bonds.… What shall I render unto the Lord?” (Psa. 116:12, 16, 17). VII. Blessed Consummation. “So he made a covenant with him” (1Ki 20:34). They made a mutual agreement to seek one another’s welfare in time to come. Surely all self-seeking should end when we have been forgiven and reconciled unto God through the death of His Son. Is there not also a mutual understanding between the saved sinner and the Son of God, that while He looks after our interests in Heaven we should look after His interests on earth? As He has brought us into sonship shall we not agree to be His bond-slaves? “I determined not to know nothing among men save Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). So said Paul, whose whole soul had been captivated by the covenanting grace of God. 1 Kings 20:31 His servants said to him, “Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings, please let us put sackcloth on our loins and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will save your life.” NET 1 Kings 20:31 His advisers said to him, "Look, we have heard that the kings of the Israelite dynasty are kind. Allow us to put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads and surrender to the king of Israel. Maybe he will spare our lives." CSB 1 Kings 20:31 His servants said to him, "Consider this: we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. So let's put sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads, and let's go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life." ESV 1 Kings 20:31 And his servants said to him, "Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Let us put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life." NIV 1 Kings 20:31 His officials said to him, "Look, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful. Let us go to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life." NLT 1 Kings 20:31 Ben-hadad's officers said to him, "Sir, we have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful. So let's humble ourselves by wearing burlap around our waists and putting ropes on our heads, and surrender to the king of Israel. Then perhaps he will let you live." His servants: 1Ki 20:23 2Ki 5:13 merciful kings: Pr 20:28 Isa 16:5 Eph 1:7,8 put sackcloth: 1Ki 21:27-29 Ge 37:34 2Sa 3:31 14:2 2Ki 19:1,2 Es 4:1-3 Isa 22:12 Isa 37:1 Jon 3:5,6 Rev 11:3 perhaps he will save your life: 2Ki 7:4 Es 4:16 Job 2:4 Mt 10:28 1 Kings 20 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Lamentations 3:22-24 The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. 24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.” APPEAL TO AHAB FOR MERCY His servants said to him, “Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings, please let us put sackcloth on our loins and ropes on our heads - NIV = "sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads" in some way would symbolize surrender and submission. In ancient times, wearing ropes around the head or neck was a sign of captivity and submission. It indicated that they were at the mercy of the victor, essentially saying, “We are your prisoners and surrender completely.” These actions were comparable to raising a white flag on the battlefield or throwing in the towel in a boxing match. Bob
1 Reis 20
Spurgeon - Gone. Gone For Ever (full sermon) 1 Kings 20:40 Is it not a sad thing to have neglected that which is evidently the main business of life? If I am God’s creature, I must have been meant to serve God, and if I have not served him, even as a creature, I have not done what I was meant for; but if I profess to be a Christian, then the thing assumes a more solemn form. Have I professed to be bought with Jesus’ blood, and have I lived as if I were my own? I profess to be filled with the Spirit of God by being regenerated—have I lived like one who has been born again? If I have been baptized upon a profession of my faith, I gave myself up to be buried in the water professing that I was dead to the world—have I been dead to the world? I said that I was going to live in newness of life as one risen from the dead—have I so lived? Professing Christians, have you been true to your professions, or have those professions been only lies? Conscience, answer me, I charge you! O Spirit of God, quicken conscience in every one here present, so that none may ‘be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin’. To serve God is the only thing worth living for; when we lie upon the sick bed and begin to look into the future, we judge it to be so. It makes a good man greedy to serve God when he thinks that his life will soon be over. He condemns himself for every wasted hour and laments that his every faculty has not been spurred to the uttermost in the service of him who bought him with his blood. I never yet heard regrets from dying men that they had done too much for Christ, or lived too earnestly for him, or won too many souls, or given too much of their substance to the cause of God: but the regrets all lie the other way. God save us from them for his mercy’s sake. G Campbell
1 Reis 20
Spurgeon - My Sermon Notes - 1 Kings 20:40—“And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the King of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.” A man must be hard run indeed when lie cannot forge an excuse. This is a very common one for the loss of the soul,—“I was very busy, and had no time to attend to religion.” They say, “a bad excuse is better than none:” this is very questionable. Here is an excuse which condemned the man who made it. The man in the prophet’s story was ordered to keep a prisoner, and it became his first duty to do so; but he preferred to follow out his own wishes, and attend to his private concerns, and so the prisoner “was gone.” It is clear that he had power to have attended to the king’s business, for he attended to his own. His excuse was a confession that he was wilfully disobedient. I. IT IS AN EXCUSE WHICH SOME CANNOT USE. 1. They have but little to occupy them. They are noblemen, or ladies with no occupation, or persons of large leisure, or invalids who can do nothing for a livelihood, and therefore have ample time for reflection and reading. 2. They have done all their hard work, and are retired upon their savings, and find it hard to pass their time. 3. They are never busy, for they are idlers whom nothing could provoke to industry. They kill time. II. IT IS AN EXCUSE WHICH IS NOT VALID. 1. There was no absolute need to be so busy. Many people make slaves of themselves with a view to gain, when they could earn enough for their needs, and yet have abundant leisure to care for their souls. 2. To have believed in the Lord would have lessened the needful care of life, and so the pressure of business would have been lightened. The fact is that no man can afford to neglect his soul, for thus he hinders his own life-work. 3. You find time for other necessaries,—to eat, drink, dress, converse, and sleep. And have you no time to feed your soul, to drink the living water, to put on the robe of righteousness, to talk with God, and to find rest in Christ? 4. You have time for diversion. Think of the many hours wasted in idle chat, unprofitable reading, or worse. If offered a holiday, or an evening’s entertainment, you make time if you cannot find it. You have, then, time for weightier matters. 5. You find time for judging others, questioning great truths, spying out difficulties, and quibbling over trifles. Have you no time for self-examination, study of the Word, and seeking the Lord? Of course you have; where is it? III. IT IS AN EXCUSE WHICH ACCUSES THE PERSON WHO MAKES IT. 1. You have enjoyed many mercies in your daily work, for you have been able to attend to your business; should not these have won your gratitude? 2. You have seen many trials while busy here and there; why did they not lead you to God? 3. You have abilities for business; and these should have been used for God. Did he not give them to you? Why expend them on your own selfish money-getting? IV. IT IS AN EXCUSE WHICH WILL WOUND THE MEMORY OF SOME. To have worked hard for nothing: to live hard, and lie hard, and yet to fail, and die poor at last, will be sad. To have to leave all when you have succeeded in accumulating wealth will be wretched work. Yet so it must be. V. IT IS AN EXCUSE WHICH CANNOT RESTORE THE LOSS. If you have lost the time, you certainly had it entrusted to you, and you will be called to account for it: but you cannot regain it, nor make up for its loss. How wretched to have spent a life in idly travelling, collecting shells, reading novels, &c., and to have therefore left no space for serving God, and knowing the Redeemer! Men do worse than this: they sin, they lead others to sin, they invent ways of killing time, and then say they have no time. They give their minds to sceptical thought, to propagating atheism, undermining Scripture, or arguing against the gospel, and yet have no time to believe and live! Call to the young to use time while time is theirs. Call to the aged to spend the remnant of their days well. Call to Christians to look well to their children’s souls, lest they slip from under their influence while they are busy here and there. Call to experienced believers to see to their own joy in the Lord, lest they lose it in the throng. In London, such is the hum of business, that the great clock of St. Paul’s may strike many times and not be heard. God speaks often, and men hear him not because other voices deafen them. A great earthquake happened when two armies were in the heat of battle, and none of the combatants knew of it. Preoccupation of mind will prevent the most solemn things from having due weight with us. Nero, when Rome was famishing, sent ships to Alexandria, not to bring corn for the starving people, but to fetch sand for the arena. He fiddled while Rome was burning. Are not many thus cruel to themselves? Are they not spending, on fleeting merriments, precious hours, which should be used in seeking after pleasures for evermore? Whatever negligence may creep into your studies, or into your pursuits of pleasure or of business, let there be one point, at least, on which you are always watchful, always alive: I mean, in the performance of your religious duties. Let nothing induce you, even for a day, to neglect the perusal of Scripture. You know the value of prayer; it is precious beyond all price. Never, never neglect it.—Buxton to his Son. King Henry the Fourth asked the Duke of Alva if he had observed the great eclipse of the sun which had lately happened. “No,” said the Duke, “I have so much to do on earth, that I have no leisure to look up to heaven.” Ah, that this were not true of professors in these days! It is sad to think how their hearts and time are so taken up with earthly things, that they have no leisure to look after Christ and the things that belong to their everlasting peace.—Thomas Brooks. A treatise on the excellence and dignity of the soul, by Claude, Bishop of Toul, ends thus: “I have but one soul, and I will value it” “Moments seize; Heaven’s on their wing: a moment we may wish, When worlds want wealth to buy.”—Young. Grotius, the historian, cried in death, “Ah, I have consumed my life in a laborious doing of nothing. I would give all my learning and honour for the plain integrity of John Urick” (a poor man of eminent piety). A dying nobleman exclaimed, “Good God, how have I employed myself! In what delirium has my life been passed! What have I been doing while the sun in its race, and the stars in their courses, have lent their beams, perhaps only to light me to perdition! I have pursued shadows, and entertained myself with dreams. I have been treasuring up dust, and sporting myself with the wind. I might have grazed with the beasts of the field, or sung with the birds of the woods, to much better purpose than any for which I have lived.” 1 Kings 20:41 Then he hastily took the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him that he was of the prophets. NET 1 Kings 20:41 The prophet quickly removed the bandage from his eyes and the king of Israel recognized he was one of the prophets. CSB 1 Kings 20:41 He quickly removed the bandage from his eyes. The king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets. ESV 1 Kings 20:41 Then he hurried to take the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. NIV 1 Kings 20:41 Then the prophet quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. NLT 1 Kings 20:41 Then the prophet quickly pulled the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. took the bandage away: 1Ki 20:38 2Sa 13:19 Job 2:8 Jer 6:26 1 Kings 20 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries PROPHET UNVEILED AS GOD'S MESSENGER IN DISGUISE Then he hastily took the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him that he was of the prophets - Ahab is about to get the point (pun because Ahab was killed by an arrow -1Ki 22:34) of the parable in action! David Guzik on The king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets: This showed why the prophet found it wise to disguise himself as a soldier recently returned from battle, and why the wound was necessary. Ahab consciously shielded himself from the prophets. 1 Kings 20:42 He said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.’” NET 1 Kings 20:42 The prophet then said to him, "This is what the LORD says, 'Because you released a man I had determined should die, you will pay with your life and your people will suffer instead of his people.'" CSB 1 Kings 20:42 The prophet said to him, "This is what the LORD says: 'Because you released from your hand the man I had set apart for destruction, it will be your life in place of his life and your people in place of his people.'" ESV 1 Kings 20:42 And he said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.'" NIV 1 Kings 20:42 He said to the king, "This is what the LORD says: 'You have set free a man I had determined should die. Therefore it is your life for his life, your people for his people.' " NLT 1 Kings 20:42 The prophet said to him, "This is what the LORD says: Because you have spared the man I said must be destroyed, now you must die in his place, and your people will die instead of his people." Because: 1Ki 20:34 22:31-37 1Sa 15:9-11 your life shall go for his life: 1Ki 22:31-37 2Ki 6:24 8:12 2Ch 18:33,34 1 Kings 20 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Leviticus 27:28+ ‘Nevertheless, anything which a man sets apart to the LORD out of all that he has, of man or animal or of the fields of his own property, shall not be sold or redeemed. Anything devoted to destruction is most holy to the LORD. Joshua 6:17+ “The city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the LORD; only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. Joshua 7:1+ But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel. Joshua 7:20-26+ (COST OF TAKING SOMETHING UNDER THE BAN) 20So Achan answered Joshua and said, “Truly, I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it.” 22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was concealed in his tent with the silver underneath it. 23 They took them from inside the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel, and they poured them out before the LORD. 24 Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the mantle, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent and all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor. 25 Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day.” And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. 26 They raised over him a great heap of stones that stands to this day, and the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the valley of Achor to this day. Exodus 21:23 “But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, THE MAIN POINT OF THE PARABLE! He (God's prophet) said to him (King Ahab) “Thus says the LORD - These opening words would have been deja vu to the ears of Ahab, for he had three times recently heard "Thus says the LORD" (1Ki 20:13,14, 1Ki 20:28), each time indicating prophecies that had all come to pass! So Ahab knows that whatever is about to follow will surely come to pass! Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction (herem), therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people - NLT = "Because you have spared the man I said must be destroyed." The action parable does not give Ahab an option to pay silver to barter for his life. Yahweh had devoted to destruction Ben-Hadad and the price would be Ahab's life for Ben-Hadad's life! And your people for his people - In other words, because Ahab let Aram’s king live, the people of Israel would later be attacked and oppressed by Aram. This prophecy was fulfilled when Aram (Syria) later attacked Israel and caused severe destruction (1 Kings 22:31-36; 2 Kings 8:12). This shows how one act of disobedience led to widespread suffering. When we ignore God’s commands, it can have serious consequences—not just for us, but for others as well. Dale Ralph Davis on devoted to destruction: Yahweh here labels Ben-hadad, literally, ‘the man of my destruction [ḥerem],’ Ahab had spared the man Yahweh meant to destroy; he had been ‘busy here and there’ (v. 40) preening his image as the moderate, temperate, reasonable victor, and had let Yahweh’s prisoner escape. Hence the destruction designed for Ben-hadad will fall upon Ahab and his people. This is the import of Yahweh’s word. Ahab begins by sparing his enemy (vv. 31–34) and will end by destroying his people (v. 42). John