1 Kings 20:35 says, And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the Lord, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. A certain son of the prophets, though it doesn't really say that he was a prophet but his actions imply that he was, asked his neighbor to hit him. It seems he did this under the direction of God. This was a fellow prophet that he asked. We need to be open to the leadership of God even if it may bring us physical harm, and we must also be open to the requests of our fellow Christians when they ask us to do something under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, even if it doesn't make sense to us at the time. Of course, we do need to pray for God's guidance in the situation. Verse thirty-six adds, Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him. The prophet told the one who would not obey God that as soon as he left that he was going to be devoured by a lion, and when he left, he was. This would imply that he really didn't believe that the prophet who told him this was really acting under God's guidance, because I think if he had that he would have stayed in the house. We can warn people today of the danger of not accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, and they too often refuse to believe us and die without salvation and go away to everlasting punishment, which is worse than physical death will ever be. We might view the man's punishment as harsh, but he was supposedly as prophet of God who refused to obey God's directions, and we are speaking only of physical death and not spiritual death. Verse thirty-seven continues, Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him. This prophet found another man, whether another prophet or not, and asked him to hit him, and the man did and wounded the prophet. If the second man saw and heard what happened with the first one who refused to do what the prophet had asked, that could have motivated him to do so. If we could see the everlasting results of not accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we should be motivated to do so, but it is always better to come to God because of His love for us than out of fear of Him. Verse thirty-eight adds, So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face. After this, the prophet disguised himself and went to wait for Ahab. We may need to wait for those we are to witness to come to us, but we are even more so to go to them. We have to believe that the prophet was acting under God's guidance, and no matter what we do today, we must also act under God's guidance. Verse thirty-nine adds, And as the king passed by he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. The prophet told Ahab that in the battle that he had been charged with keeping another man safe and that if he didn't, he would be killed or pay a certain sum of silver. We are not going to be killed for not witnessing to others to keep them spiritually safe, but we may one day have to answer to God as to why we didn't. Verse forty continues, 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. The prophet told Ahab that he got busy and wasn't paying attention to the man that he was supposed to protect and that when he did look, the man was gone. Since the prophet had not protected the man, Ahab said he had pronounced his own sentence. When people today refuse to accept Jesus Christ and follow Him, they pronounce their own sentence. God does not send people to hell, but He allows them to choose to go there. Matthew Henry said this was done so that Ahab might recognize his failure to obey God in keeping the people of Israel safe. Verse forty-one declares, And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. The prophet removed the ashes from his face and Ahab recognized him as one of the prophets. We don't need to attempt to hide the fact that we are Christians, but need to always allow people to recognize us as one. Verse forty-two adds, And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people. The prophet told Ahab that God said that since Ahab had allowed Benhadad to live when God had appointed him to be utterly destroyed that his life would be lost to replace Benhadad's. I believe we can say that for us, if we allow Satan and the forces of evil to live and maybe even delight in them, then we cannot really be a follower of Christ. Jesus Christ died for us, and if we do not accept His gift of salvation, one day we will die for Satan. These are the only two choices. Verse forty-three continues, And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased and came to Samaria. Ahab did not repent and ask forgiveness but went away to his house heavy-hearted and displeased. Too many people are going to have the same reaction to the gospel today, and it will affect them not only in this life, but in the everlasting life to come.
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