20:1ff With two evil and two good kings up to this point, the southern kingdom, Judah, wavered between godly and ungodly living. But the northern kingdom, Israel, had eight evil kings in succession. To punish both kingdoms for living their own way instead of following God, God allowed other nations to gain strength and become their enemies. Three main enemies threatened Israel and Judah during the next two centuries—Syria, Assyria, and Babylon. Syria, the first to rise to power, presented an immediate threat to Ahab and Israel.
20:13 God defeated the Syrian army for Ahab so that Ahab would know that God alone is the Lord. Despite this great victory and the one to follow on the plains (20:28, 29), Ahab continued to live without God. Evidence of God’s greatness surrounds us, but, like Ahab, we can choose to ignore it and go our own way. But when we do, as with this evil king of Israel, disaster will strike. Open your eyes to the evidence—the victories that God is winning for you. Then rededicate yourself to him.
20:23 Since the days of Joshua, Israel’s soldiers had the reputation of being superior fighters in the hills but ineffective in the open plains and valleys because they did not use chariots in battle. Horse-drawn chariots, useless in hilly terrain and dense forests, could easily run down great numbers of foot soldiers on the plains. What Ben-hadad’s officers did not understand was that God, not chariots, made the difference in battle.
20:31 Sackcloth was coarse cloth usually made of goats’ hair and was worn as a symbol of mourning for the dead or for natural disaster. Wearing ropes on the head may have been a symbol of putting oneself at another’s disposal. In other words, Ahab could have hung them if he wished. Wearing ropes around the head, therefore, showed submission.
20:35, 36 The prophet needed a wound so he would look like an injured soldier and could effectively deliver his prophecy to Ahab. The first man was killed by a lion because he refused to obey the Lord’s instructions through the prophet.
20:41, 42 It is difficult to explain why Ahab let Ben-hadad go, especially after all the trouble Ben-hadad had caused him. God helped Ahab destroy the Syrian army to prove to Ahab and to Syria that he alone was God. But Ahab failed to destroy the king, his greatest enemy. Ben-hadad was under God’s judgment to die, and Ahab had no authority to let him live. For this, God told Ahab that he must now die instead. This prophet’s message soon came true when Ahab was killed on the battlefield (22:35).