Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 228
216
IMMERSE
•
KINGDOMS
1K
| 20:4-19
“All right, my lord the king,” Israel’s king replied. “All that I have is yours!”
Soon Ben-hadad’s messengers returned again and said, “This is what
Ben-hadad says: ‘I have already demanded that you give me your silver,
gold, wives, and children. But about this time tomorrow I will send my
officials to search your palace and the homes of your officials. They will
take away everything you consider valuable!’”
Then Ahab summoned all the elders of the land and said to them, “Look
how this man is stirring up trouble! I already agreed with his demand that
I give him my wives and children and silver and gold.”
“Don’t give in to any more demands,” all the elders and the people
advised.
So Ahab told the messengers from Ben-hadad, “Say this to my lord the
king: ‘I will give you everything you asked for the first time, but I cannot
accept this last demand of yours.’” So the messengers returned to Ben-
hadad with that response.
Then B
en-hadad sent this message to Ahab: “May the gods strike me
and even kill me if there remains enough dust from Samaria to provide
even a handful for each of my soldiers.”
The king of Israel sent back this answer: “A warrior putting on his sword
for battle should not boast like a warrior who has already won.”
Ahab’s reply reached Ben-hadad and the other kings as they were drinking in their tents. “Prepare to attack!” B
en-hadad commanded his officers.
So they prepared to attack the city.
Then a certain prophet came to see King Ahab of Israel and told him, “This
is what the Lord says: Do you see all these enemy forces? Today I will
hand them all over to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
Ahab asked, “How will he do it?”
And the prophet replied, “This is what the Lord says: The troops of the
provincial commanders will do it.”
“Should we attack first?” Ahab asked.
“Yes,” the prophet answered.
So Ahab mustered the troops of the 232 provincial commanders. Then
he called out the rest of the army of Israel, some 7,000 men. About noontime, as B
en-hadad and the t hirty-two allied kings were still in their tents
drinking themselves into a stupor, the troops of the provincial commanders marched out of the city as the first contingent.
As they approached, Ben-hadad’s scouts reported to him, “Some troops
are coming from Samaria.”
“Take them alive,” Ben-hadad commanded, “whether they have come
for peace or for war.”
But Ahab’s provincial commanders and the entire army had now come