While King Ahab is equipping and training his army, the Syrians (referred to as Arameans in the Bible and in other ancient texts) are devising a strategy based on their pagan religious beliefs. The officials of the king of Aram advise him how to attack Israel: "Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they. Do this: remove all the kings from their commands and replace them with other officers. You must also raise an army like the one you lost---horse for horse and chariot for chariot---so we can fight Israel on the plains. Then surely we will be stronger than they.' He agreed with them and acted accordingly." (1 Kings 20:23-25)
Samaria was located on high ground, which made it more easily defensible, though not immune to the effects of a long siege. The Arameans believe the reason the Israelites were successful in the battle of Samaria was because their "gods" were gods of the high country. So the next time they propose to attack a region of Israel in the low country, believing the "gods" won't protect the Israelites there.
But Israel's God---the only God---is God in the mountains, in the valleys, in the plains, in the rivers, in the oceans, in the skies above, in the ground below, and in the highest of heavens. There is no place where He is not God!
"The next spring Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. When the Israelites were also mustered and given provisions, they marched out to meet them. The Israelites camped opposite them like two small flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside. The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, 'This is what the Lord says: Because the Arameans think the Lord is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord.'" (1 Kings 20:28) The Lord is proving Himself to Israel. King Ahab is serving the false god Baal, as are many other people of the nation. By achieving victory for them even though they are pitiful in number compared to the enemy army, the Lord is testifying to the fact that He is the only God and that He fights for His people. If the people will accept this in their hearts and turn back to Him, no one will ever be able to defeat them, for He promised if they remained faithful to Him, "No one will be able to stand up against you; you will destroy them." (Deuteronomy 7:24)
"For seven days they camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle was joined. The Israelites inflicted a hundred thousand casualties on the Aramean foot soldiers in one day. The rest of them escaped to the city of Aphek, where the wall collapsed on twenty-seven thousand of them. And Ben-Hadad fled to the city and hid in an inner room." (1 Kings 20:29-30) These two verses are where scholars get their estimate of 130,000 for the size of Ben-Hadad's army. 100,000 are killed in battle and 27,000 are killed by the falling wall. But there were more than 127,000 in all because the Bible doesn't say the wall collapsed on all the remaining soldiers. Ben-Hadad and his officials are still alive, plus possibly quite a few of the army soldiers and perhaps Ben-Hadad's own personal retinue of royal guards. We'll find his officials advising him what to do next.
"His officials said to him, 'Look, we have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful. Let us go to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.' Wearing sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, they went to the king of Israel and said, 'Your servant Ben-Hadad says: Please let me live.'" (1 Kings 20:31-32a) The sackcloth and ropes are symbols of humility and submission.
The king of Israel is awfully quick to accept Ben-Hadad's apology. "The king answered, 'Is he still alive? He is my brother.'" (1 Kings 20:32b) Of course Ben-Hadad is not literally his brother but King Ahab's words reveal his intense desire to put an end to the conflict between Israel and Syria. He wants a peace treaty with this heathen king. Ahab has become a heathen himself and thinks nothing of violating the Lord's command not to make alliances with idolatrous nations.
"The men took this as a good sign and were quick to pick up his word. 'Yes, your brother Ben-Hadad!' they said. 'Go and get him,' the king said. When Ben-Hadad came out, Ahab had him come up into his chariot. 'I will return the cities my father took from your father,' Ben-Hadad offered. 'You may set up your own market areas in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.' Ahab said, 'On the basis of a treaty I will set you free.' So he made a treaty with him, and let him go." (1 Kings 20:33-34) Ahab fears man more than he fears God. The Lord promised him through a prophet that Israel would defeat the enemy nation and I don't believe the Lord was speaking only of the two battles Israel won here in Chapter 20. Ben-Hadad is now in Ahab's hands and he could have put him to death. He could have continued pressing the attack against the Syrians until he had made their entire nation subject to Israel. But he puts more faith in a peace treaty (with a man as wicked as himself) than in the living God. The Syrians are not people the Israelites can trust.
The Lord wants to give us full victory over the enemy, not partial victory! If only Ahab had trusted the Lord to give him full victory over Syria, Israel would have been forever ridden of this powerful enemy. I don't know about you, but I'm aware of incidences in my own life where I could have had full victory over this or that problem, only I allowed myself to become too overwhelmed by fear or doubt or discouragement. Instead I "made peace" with the problem, so to speak, and lived in an uneasy alliance with it for far too long.
The Lord doesn't do anything halfway. When we achieve only a partial victory over the enemy, it's because we've only trusted the Lord halfway. I'm as guilty of that as anybody---and more guilty than some, I'm sure. We're about to enter a new year, and although I believe we can make resolutions at any time of year, the best way we can greet this new year is with the determination that we are going to take the Lord at His word. I'm going to try to do that myself because I'm tired of seeing partial victories. I'm tired of living in a season of discouragement and fear. It was never the Lord's intention for His children to live in a spirit of defeat. The God of all power wants to see us living victorious lives!
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