1 Kings 20:35-43 – Obedience matters to God

1 Kings 20:35-43 – Absolute obedience

There is a proverb that urges one to strike while the iron is hot. It is a call to seize a given opportunity when it presents itself. Evidently, Ahab did not. He should have known better. Because he did not capitalize on his God-given opportunity to destroy Ben-hadad and the Syrians once and for all, this troublesome enemy would come back and bring untold sorrow to Israel.  

1 Kings 20:33-43 describe a dramatized prophecy acted out to inform Ahab concerning what his future would look like for failing to finish off Ben-hadad. Two scenes addressing Ahab were played out by an unnamed prophet. The first scene detailed the prophet ordering a fellow prophet to strike him. Because the latter refused to listen to the LORD’s word given through him, he was told by the former that a lion would kill him on his way out. And it happened as he was told. This was by way of a saying that it is needful to obey the word of God or face the consequence. In the second scene, another prophet was seen to oblige and strike the prophet, wounding him. The injured prophet then went out and disguised himself as a wounded soldier with a bandage over his eye. This was a dramatized message for King Ahab.

On meeting Ahab, verse 39 said that he cried to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and behold, a man turned aside and brought a man to me and said, ‘Guard this man; if for any reason he is missing, then your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’” He added by saying that in his busyness, he had allowed the prisoner to escape. Not knowing that the message was about him, he told the prophet that he deserved the judgment for being careless. The way Ahab reacted was like how David had reacted when told of his adultery by the prophet Nathan. He virtually prescribed his own judgment.

With what Ahab said, the prophet then removed his bandage and the king immediately recognized him as one of the prophets. Unapologetically, the prophet then went on to pronounce what would happen to Ahab for his failure in letting Ben-hadad go. Upon hearing the pronouncement, Ahab returned to Samaria sulking and confounded and agitated.

The whole dramatized message was to let Ahab know how he had failed in his role as the king of Israel. He was insensitive to the LORD, thus failing to take advantage of the God-granted opportunity to get rid of their troublesome enemy of Israel. He sidestepped the will of God because it was something that was unpleasant or inconvenient to do. Hence, he had to pay dearly for not doing what he should have done. This is something that can also happen to us. We must take care to do what God wants us to do. It is better to be obedient to God and avoid His displeasure than save our own skin and incur His displeasure. Don’t let the fear of men prevent us from being obedient to Him. Disobedience brings disastrous consequences!