1 Kings 20:22

1 Kings 20:22 says, And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.  God's prophet went to Ahab again and told him to prepare for the king of Syrian to return to battle him again.  Ahab was evidently feeling secure and not looking ahead.  When we are victorious over sin and evil in the world today, we cannot afford to start feeling that the war is over.  We must always be diligent in our commitment to seeking God's guidance and relying on His power at all times.  Verse twenty-three adds, And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.  The servants of the king of Syria said to him that the God of Israel was the God of the hills, so they would fight them on the plains.  They thought gods were localized, and some people today believe in gods of different areas or things, like the god of the trees or fire and wind.  There is but one God, and He is not confined by time or space.  They said the king should fight them on the plains instead and that they would be stronger than the people of Israel and their God.  We never have to worry about where we are at when we are standing for God, because He will always be with us and stronger than any evil we face.  Verse twenty-four continues, And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms:  They told the king to take away all the other kings and put captains in their place.  The kings were rulers by birth and the captains were rulers by merit.  Benhadad was basically told to let those who were best qualified lead the fight.  What we as followers of Christ can be certain about is that there will never be anyone powerful enough by birth or merit to defeat us as long as we continue to be faithful to God, because through Jesus Christ, we have the everlasting victory.  Verse twenty-five concludes, And number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.  Benhadad was told to rebuild his army, including horses and chariots, and then they would fight the Israelites on the plains, and surely, they would be stronger than them.  Numbers of people and strength of equipment are never going to defeat God's people spiritually, even if we do suffer defeat in battles today, as long as we never give up.  The everlasting victory is already assured, and Satan and his forces have already lost.  Verse twenty-six states, And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.  After a year, Benhadad was ready to fight the people of Israel again.  We are never going to permanently defeat those who oppose God in this lifetime, even if we have defeated them before.  Verse twenty-seven adds, And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.  The people of Israel stood before the Syrians and looked like little flocks against the great number in the army of the Syrians.  We as Christians are likely to be outnumbered when we stand for God today.  Verse twenty-eight continues, And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.  The prophet of God told Ahab that since the Syrians believed that He was only the God of the hills that He was going to give them a great victory over them in the plains.  God is not limited to one place, but He is the God of the universe and all that there is.  Verse twenty-nine says, And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day.  For seven days, the two armies just faced off against each other, but on the seventh day the battle started.  I wonder how the people of Israel felt seeing the great host arrayed against them for a week.  Still, they stood firm.  If we look around and feel overpowered today, we just need to remember Who our God is and put our faith in Him.  The people of Israel remained true to God, or at least He remained true to them, and they killed a hundred thousand Syrians on the plain the first day.  As long as we remain faithful to God, our victory is already assured, and once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, God we are a part of God's kingdom forever.  Verse thirty adds, But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.  Benhadad once again fled from the Israelites and went to Aphek, where a wall fell on the twenty-seven remaining soldiers of Syria.  God is not only the God of the high places and plains, but He is the God of walled cities as well.  There is no place that anyone can run to or hide that is a safe place to avoid God's judgment.  Benhadad was hiding in an inner chamber, but God still knew where he was.  Verse thirty-one continues, And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.  Those left around Benhadad told him that they had heard that the people of Israel were a merciful people and said that they should humble themselves and go and ask them to spare their lives.  What people need to realize is that God is a God of mercy, and He expects us to be merciful to others, even those that might be our enemies, and we also need to acknowledge that God will show mercy on anyone who humbles themself and comes to Him for forgiveness by putting their faith in Jesus Christ, even those who have been His greatest enemies.  Verse thirty-two states, So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.  The people humbled themselves and came to the people of Israel asking that their lives be spared.  Ahab asked if Benhadad was still alive and called him his brother, even though Benhadad had done his best to humiliate and even kill Ahab.  Matthew Henry says Ahab was thrilled to courted by someone who had been so powerful.  Ahab was still putting more importance on himself than on God.  If we are in a battle against evil today, we cannot start to be friends with it once the battle is going our way.  Verse thirty-three adds, Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother Benhadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.  The people of Syria were looking to see if they had gained acceptance from Ahab, and when they saw that they had, they quickly took advantage of Ahab's acceptance of them and pronounced Benhadad to be Ahab's brother.  We cannot be brothers and sisters spiritually with people of the world as Christians.  Verse thirty-four continues, And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.  Benhadad told Ahab that he would restore the cities that his father had taken away from Israel and make it safe for Ahab in Damascus.  Of course, Benhadad wasn't really in any position of power, but Ahab made a covenant with him anyway.  We do not find any evidence that Ahab had started worshipping God alone and sought His guidance in this decision.  We must always look to God before we attempt to make people of the world our brothers and sisters, because until they accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, they never will be.