King Ahab had an enemy named Ben-hadad, who ruled over Syria, the country just north of Israel. Now this ruler was a very bitter enemy indeed. He hated the people of Israel and wished to take them for his slaves.
Ben-hadad and thirty-two of his friends, who also were kings, decided to make war against Ahab. They brought their armies together and came down into the land of Israel, to make their camp near Ahab’s capital city, Samaria. While they were making their plans to capture the city and take Ahab away for a prisoner, God sent a prophet to tell Ahab that he Would give him the victory over his enemies in the battle.
Ahab had only a very small army compared with the great host that had come from Syria; but he believed God would help him, and his few men went out bravely to make an attack upon Ben-hadad and his men. They found him and the kings drinking wine, and they soon put the whole army, with its drunken leaders, to flight. They killed many of the Syrians, and only a few of the entire host of the armies of the foreign kings ever reached their homes alive.
After this victory, God sent the prophet again to speak to Ahab, and to tell him that the Syrians would come back the next year to renew the fight. So Ahab prepared his army for another attack. And at the end of the year the Syrian army came again, in numbers as great as before. This time they did not pitch their tents near the city of Samaria, but on the plains in the north country of Israel. They believed that the cause of their defeat in the other battle was due to the fact that the God of Israel was’ a God of the hills, and Samaria was built upon a hill. Now they planned to fight in the valley, and they believed their gods would give them the victory.
Ahab gathered his soldiers in battle-line and started out to meet his enemy again. Now his soldiers looked like only a handful compared with the Syrian host. But Ahab was not afraid of the great host; for God’s prophet had told him that because the Syrians believed Israel’s God was only a god of the hills, now they should be defeated again to prove to them that Israel’s God was able to help his people fight on the plains as well as on the hills.
When the battle began the men of Israel fought bravely and killed many of the Syrians. The other Syrians with their King, Ben-hadad, ran into a city near by, called Aphek. They thought they could protect themselves from the men of Israel when once they were inside the city walls. But they did not know that it was God whom they were fighting against instead of only a few men. And no one can run away from God. When they came into the city the wall fell down upon them and killed many thousands.
Ben-hadad was not hurt, for he had hidden in a place where the crumbling walls could not reach him. But he was afraid to come out of his hiding-place lest the King of Israel find him and punish him severely—just as severely as he had intended to punish the King of Israel. After a while some of his servants came to him and urged him to come out of his hiding-place and meet Ahab. They told him to act humbly, and perhaps Ahab would treat him kindly.
Then some of those servants dressed themselves in sackcloth and tied ropes around their heads and came bowing down before Ahab just as if they were most willing to become his servants. They told him that their King, Ben-hadad, had sent them to ask that his own life might be spared.
Ahab seemed glad to hear that Ben-hadad was yet alive, and he spoke kindly to the men. He told them to bring their King from his hiding-place, and they hurried back to tell Ben-hadad about his words. Then they brought their King before Ahab, and Ben-hadad acted very humbly indeed. He did not seem at all like the proud King who had tried so hard to overthrow the kingdom of Israel. Ahab felt sorry for him and took him up into his own chariot to talk with him. Then he allowed Ben-hadad to return again to Syria.
But God was not pleased with Ahab for permitting this wicked King to escape with no punishment. He sent a prophet to speak with Ahab to tell him that he had done wrong. The prophet dressed himself like one who had been in the battle, and covered his face with ashes. Then he stood by the roadside and waited for Ahab to pass by with his chariot.
When the King’s chariot came along the prophet cried out, and Ahab stopped to see what the poor man wanted. “During the battle a man brought a prisoner to me and told me to watch him closely,’” began the prophet. “He said that if the prisoner should escape I should have to give my own life for his. But while I was very busy attending to other duties the man got away, and I can not find him. Now what shall I do?” he asked tha King.
“You must pay for his life with your own,” answered Ahab. Then the prophet took the ashes off his face and Ahab saw who he was. And the prophet said, “Because you allowed Ben-hadad to escape without punishment when God gave him into your hand, now God will punish you instead, and you must pay your life for his life.” Ahab listened sadly to these words, for he knew they had come from God. He saw when too late that he had made a great mistake by letting his enemy have freedom, and he rode back to his palace in Samaria with a heavy heart.