“See that vast army?” the prophet informed King Ahab. “Today, God will deliver them into your hand, so that you will know that He is God.” When the Israelites attacked the Syrians, the Syrian army suffered heavy losses and withdrew. The prophet warned Ahab to prepare because King Ben-Hadad, leading the Syrians, would return in the Spring. Over the winter, Ben-Hadad’s advisors convinced him that the only reason the Israelites were successful was because their God was a “god of the hills” and if they met in the plains, the Syrians would be victorious.
In the Spring, the battle occurred in the plains and again the Israelites inflicted heavy casualties on the Syrians. Ben-Hadad came out of hiding and approached Ahab with an offer: “I will return the cities that my father took from your father; and you can set up markets in Damascus, like my father did in Samaria,” Ben-Hadad offered. “On the basis of a treaty.” Ahab responded, “I will set you free.”
The prophet told Ahab, “This is what the Lord said, ‘You have set free a man that I had determined to die. Therefore it is your life for his life.’” [Reflection based on the Bible Reference – 1 Kings 20:13-42]
