150,000 Versus 7,232

 (I Kings 20:1-34)

We can only imagine the cruel ways in which wars were fought in those ancient days….the way men’s bodies were torn apart during battle…the way that entire armies were mercilessly tortured and slaughtered…entire nations obliterated by the edge of the sword!   But…it appears that the kings of Israel had gained a name for being more merciful to their enemies. I don’t know of any battle in Scripture where this was particularly the case…most of the time Israel was rather ruthless themselves, but it may have been that Israel wasn’t AS ferocious as other nations were. Ancient records (kept on giant slabs of rock) record tortures so horrible that your stomachs would churn if I told you about them, but they were very common rituals which the Assyrians and the Babylonians did when they conquered their enemies. But it seems that the kings of Israel didn’t go to the lengths that the other heathen nations did in order to strike fear in their neighboring nations.

And this leads me to see that where there is even the smallest amount of true worshipers of God…it doesn’t necessarily make people what they should be, but a nation does better itself when righteous people are around (no matter how small of a group).   The kings of this generation of Israel were all idolaters…they all worshipped other gods, but there was a little salt left in Israel…there were a few godly people left in the land…and those godly people had an effect on the whole community of Israel. Those few godly people probably influenced the manners and customs of the nation, so that, “the kings of the house of Israel were merciful kings.” If a king is accustomed to seeing mercy given in Israel, among your own people, then that would be a trait that he would begin to see in everything else (including war).  Perhaps those few, who didn’t bow the knee to Baal, softened the ruthlessness of war.

In this country, we don’t see very much morality anymore, but the morality that is there is due to the true worshippers of God that we have in this country. Just a few years ago, there were hundreds of businesses that would never think about opening their doors on Sunday because of the influence of those who feared the Lord. Their shops would close, not necessarily because they took any interest in religion or because they feared God, but out of respect for those who did.  Listen, brethren, as bad as the world may be…as bad as politics and business may be…without the purifying power of those who do serve God, they would be infinitely worse. The whole fabric of commerce, politics and even war, is affected (for the better) by those who are righteous.  Having even a few righteous souls is a blessing to our country. And while other nations are always fighting within their own borders, and killing their own countrymen…the gospel of the Lord has made this nation blessed, even though the majority of it has forgotten what it was founded upon.

With this introduction aside…I hope to notice three things tonight:  1). The Mercy. 2). The Resolution. 3). The Reception.

I. THE MERCY

Just imagine ol’ King Benhadad down there in his dark inner room in the city of Aphek. There is this king, hiding in this dark, inner chamber, shut out from the light of day.  Here is a king that had come up from Syria with a 150,000 soldiers at his command, and now he’s huddling in the corner of an inner room in a strange city, with just a handful of his men left. He had sworn, in all his pompous pride, that he would take away Samaria by handfuls…and that he would bring an army so immense that if each soldier took away just one handful of dirt…the whole city of Samaria would be taken away.  Ben-hadad in essence said, “I’ll take away your whole city!  I’m so strong that there will be nothing left to even look for!  We’re going to cast you to the wind like dust, and there will be no one left!”

See, Ben-hadad had already encompassed all the land.  He sends word to King Ahab, of Israel, and says to him, “Why don’t you just go ahead and send me your silver and gold, and your most beautiful women, and even your children…I’ll send some of my servants over there and they’ll look at see what you have and if they like it…they’ll take it.”  To make a long story short…King Ahab talked to the elders of Israel for a while, and they all came to the conclusion: “Don’t listen to this guy…He’s nothing but trouble.” So, Ahab, the king of Israel, simply replied the Ben-hadad’s threat, “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch Ben-hahdad.” 

Now, Ben-hadad was enjoying the spoils of his conquering and having a drink with the 32 other kings that he brought with him…and when he heard what Ahab said…he commanded that every go to their battle stations.  Just imagine 150,000 man army surrounding the borders of your land…awaiting the order to raise your city to the ground. 

But a prophet approaches King Ahab and asks him, “Have you happen to see all that great multitude out there?”  No, I haven’t…just now noticed them, thanks.  But the prophet continued to say that that great multitude would be delivered into Ahab’s hands by the power of the God of Israel.  “WELL…WHO IN THE WORLD IN GONNA FIGHT THEM?” (King Ahab asks).  The prophet replies, “The Lord told me that you are going to take the  young men and rulers of the various provinces, and YOU are going to lead them into battle.”   But when Ahab gathered all the rulers of the provinces together, and all the young men…he only had 7,232 men.  7,232 men against 150,000!  That means that each of these guys had to kill about 20 men a piece.  And, by the power of the Lord, they did.  They sent the armies of Ben-hadad runnin!

BUT they weren’t done yet.  The prophet told Ahab that another army would return to fight with them next year.  “GREAT….that’s good news!  So, what do we do?”  The prophet told Ahab to strengthen his forces.  The same king Ben-hadad built up another army of Arameans, and is coming to conquer Israel.  But this time…they were bragging about the wrong thing.  The Arameans were bragging, “Hey, the God of Israel is just the God of the mountain, not the God of the valley. If we get the Israelites out into the plain, they’ll be ours for the taking!”  Bad thing to say!  So, when the 100,000 strong army came to fight against Israel…the sons of Israel killed 100,000 foot soldiers in one day.  In one day!  Ben-hahdad was defeated for the second time, and he tucked tail and ran to the city of Aphek.    

   After all is said and done…there is Ben-Hadad…who used to have 32 kings surrounding him…who used to have two armies surrounding him…His spirit has been broken…he is humble and he is low.  He was once a man that bragged about a great victory he would have over the Israelites, but now he’s a pitiful display of a leader…crouching in a hole waiting to die.   His servants (who are no doubt fearful for their lives as well) say to Ben-Hadad, “The kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings.” This is good news for Ben-Hadad’s to hear. The once boastful king, who never dreamed of showing mercy to others during war…is now glad to have half a chance to get it.  Mercy is all that’s on this ruthless king’s mind.

And this brings us to our first point: There is mercy…there is mercy for you and for me.  It is one of God’s blessed attributes…He is a merciful God. As long God is God…mercy will be one of His greatest traits. His mercy is never drained or exhausted…it is an eternally flowing river which brings life to us all.  There is mercy to found in God.

For those of you who have heavy hearts…for those of you who are guilty of sin…for those of you who are hurting…for those hearts that are wounded…God has tender mercy for you.  For every sinner here the tender mercy of God is for you.  God binds up the broken hearted and heals all their wounds. Like a mother comforts her children, so the Lord comforts His people. Like a father has mercy on His children, so the Lord has mercy on them that fear Him.

And this mercy is so great and massive! There is nothing little about God. His mercy is like Himself…it’s infinite. No one can measure God’s mercy. We can imagine the largest thing in our imagination, but it would never even come close to His mercy. “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are His thoughts above your thoughts and His ways above your ways.” Our sinfulness is something that we can’t measure…but there is also no measure for God’s Grace. His mercy is so great that He forgives the greatest of sins.

In God there is mercy enough for every sinner….for the drunk, for the thief, for the adulterer and such like. God’s mercy covers the highest mountain of our sins. His blood cleanses every stain. The Great Physician died to heal the foulest disease…He died to save those who will come to Him. 

The mercy of the Lord is a rich mercy. Every drop of the mercy of God is worth an entire Heaven within itself. Just one drop of this mercy is enough to save any soul. It is that rich…richer than any Banana pudding we’ve ever had at any potluck out in the benevolent building.  It is the salve that cleanses our wounds…His mercy binds up our bleeding hearts and makes them beat again.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to God’s mercy. There is, in God, according to the Scriptures, manifold mercies. Now, that’s a word that not many people use except for mechanics, but this is an awesome word! Many-fold mercy! I open one fold of God’s mercy (like I open the fold of a book) and I find forgiveness for the sins of my past. I open another fold and I find pardon for sins to come. I open the next fold and I find mercies that will lead me to the shores of heaven. There are more folds of mercy than we can count because the mercy of God is MANY fold.  As one author said, “All the flowers in God’s garden are doubles. There are no single mercies.” 

And this is good news for all of us.  If there are many folds of God’s mercy then there is a fold for you. And if you think that your sins are too many, and that you have many sins and sorrows….God’s mercy will cover them! He will give mercy to you. The farther we go down the stream of mercy, the deeper it becomes and the broader it grows. God’s mercy, instead of being exhausted….grows more and more every day.  If your sins are multiplied over and over again….God’s mercy has done the same.  There is nothing that you can do that cannot be forgiven and blotted out!  Let this well known promise be yours: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”  The mercy of Christ is yours forever!   Mercy will be with you in temptation to keep you from falling…it will be with you in troubles to prevent you from being overcome by them. Mercy will be with you in your life, and mercy will be with you in death. “He that trusts in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.” “His mercy endures forever.”

II. THE RESOLUTION

Let’s revisit that inner room that Ben-Hadad is hiding in for a minute.  Where are his legions of soldiers now? Where are his colorful banners of war?! Where is his pride and arrogance?  He has been broken into pieces like a ship that crashes against the rocks…shattered by the power of God.  Where is Ben-hadad now?  He is saying “I have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful. I need to get to the king of Israel for mercy!” 

Notice that Ben-Hadad saw the necessity of direct and immediate action. Look at the misery in Ben-hadad’s eyes.  He is a miserable wretch of a man.  He has been beaten down and conquered…and so have we.  I’m not gonna sugar coat it for you…if you’re guilty of sin, and you sit there and do nothing about it…you will die. You are like the prodigal son right now…your money is spent. You’ve wasted all your substance in riotous living. You have fed the swine and you have tried to eat the husks that they eat, but you can’t fill your stomach with the world’s trash. If you stay among the swine, you will die—you will die of hunger.

It is time for you to say, “I will arise. I will arise.” Maybe that deadly sleep has fallen on some of you! Maybe you’re in sin and you know it, but you take no action about it. The trembling of the jailer when he said, “What must I do to be saved?” has left your vocabulary. If you knew how near you are to judgment…you would do something about the way you are living your life! The sun has gone down and it may never rise on you again. The Lord, in His mercy, can save you!  He can lift you out of the depths of sin and set you on mountains of glory…but you must come to Him.

Learn from Ben-hadad.  Let’s see what he does.  He takes off his royal garments…he doesn’t look like a king anymore.  He takes a rope and wraps it around his neck.  He covers himself with an old sack, and then he scatters ashes on himself. The once proud, arrogant soul of Ben-hadad is now covered in penitence.  And there is a lesson for us to learn here. 

If you want to come to the Lord…you have to change your clothes.  You have to change your way of life.  The words of Isaiah 3 have a spiritual meaning for us: “In that day the Lord will take away the finery: The jingling anklets, the scarves, and the crescents. The pendants,

the bracelets, and the veils. The headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands; The perfume boxes, the charms, and the rings; The nose jewels, the festal apparel, and the mantles. The outer garments, the purses, and the mirrors.The fine linen, the turbans, and the robes. And so it shall be: Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench. Instead of a sash, a rope. Instead of well-set hair, baldness. Instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth. And branding instead of

beauty.”

All the things of our old life are gone…not one garment is spared. That’s the way we come to the Lord! Our proper attire is the sackcloth of repentance…we have to wear the rope of acknowledgment that we deserve to die. Confess that we are sinners, and that we deserve NO MERCY!  There are no beautiful garments that we wear when we come to the Lord. I know there are some of you here that have been to Church twice every Sunday for your entire lives, but don’t trust in that to save you.  I know that some of your families have attended this congregation ever since it was built, and listened to the word of God for years. Don’t trust in that…you have to take off that garment. Maybe you have raised your kids well…maybe you never swear or drink or do anything like that, but that doesn’t change the fact that in order to come to Christ we have to put on the garments of repentance.

You may say to yourself, “I don’t deserve to be condemned!” If you think that, then you’ll never be saved.  Unless you are willing to confess that God has every right to send you to everlasting destruction, then God will never save you. But, if by God’s grace and mercy, you know that you’re not worthy…that you’re never worthy of the blessings of Christ…and that it’s the greatest mercy of all to even be able to come into the presence of God, then come to the Lord because you have the right clothes on. 

If a beggar came to your door wearing the finest Versace suit, and the shiniest black shoes...would you want to give him any money? NO WAY!  Who are you going to help? Those who are the lowliest and the most in need!  So, we are to come to the Lord in our sins! Come with our doubts! Come with our hardness of heart! Come clothed with all our transgression with a rope around our necks and sackcloth on our souls, and say, “HAVE MERCY ON ME!”

We follow Ben-Hadad as has come before the king of Israel, and he has something to say. What is it that he has to say to the king of Israel? “Your servant Ben-Hadad says, I pray you, let me live.” That is every soul’s prayer to God: “I pray You, let me live.” How does your son or daughter first come to you when they wants anything? Does Canaan open a big book and begin reading, “My dear, esteemed and respected parent. In the greatness of your parental goodness, can you give me to eat”? No!.  A child comes and says, “Can I have something to eat.” That’s the way to pray, right straight from the heart, and right straight to God’s heart. There is more eloquence in, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” than in all the religious books in print right now.   “Your servant Ben-Hadad says, I pray you, let me live.” This is how we need to pray to God. 

III. THE RECEPTION

We have been with Ben-Hadad in the dark, inner room of Aphek, and now we go with him as he enters the palace of Ahab. He walks along, mournful and regretful. And what are the first words that come out of Ahab’s mouth? “Is he alive?”

Are you alive?  The soul that has heard sermons over and over again and has still not come to the Lord…are you coming to life?  A heart that for years never had a good thought, is there a tear in your eye tonight? Are you still alive?  Those who have, for so long, turned away from the Lord…are you still alive?  Those who have had procedures or surgeries done, and now you realize how frail life is….are you still alive?   This a is a very kind question to a very unkind man, and Jesus looks over this crowd of people tonight, and He cries out to His people, as He did in Hosea 11:8: “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I deliver you, Israel? How shall I set you as Admah? How shall I make you as Zeboim? My heart is moved, my repentings are kindled together. I will not destroy him, for I am God and not man.”  I ask you the question: Are you still alive?  Are you still a part of Christ?

But not only did Ahab ask about Ben-hadad’s life, but he said, “He is my brother.” Those worried servants who crouched in that dark room in Ben-hadad probably had smiles on their faces.  Ahab had every right to kill them, and in fact he should have, but the way he answered was music to the ears of the servants of Ben-hadad.  He said, “My brother…” My brother Ben-Hadad?  That vile king that had threatened Ahab and Israel with all kinds of trouble?  He deserved to die!  He deserved to be torn into pieces like all the countless victims that he had killed.  A year ago he demanded Israel’s wives and children and all they had, and when Ahab wouldn’t immediately do that, Ben-Hadad said:“The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.” He insulted the king and the God if Israel? And yet here is this king of Israel now saying: “He is my brother.”

Now, I don’t admire Ahab’s choice to spare Ben-hadad, but I do admire that trait in our Lord and Savior.  The Lord turns to the vilest sinner (that’s covered by His blood) and says, “They are my Bretrhen. They are children of God.” This is good news for sinners…this is good news for us.  Jesus Christ is our Brother? We have come from the depths of sin into His presence where He has saved us by His blood. 

But notice what the king of Israel did next.  He took Ben-Hadad into his own chariot. Ahab lets his bragging adversary ride with him in his royal chariot. And he made a covenant with him. God makes a covenant with sinners…and that covenant comes about through Christ. He gave His own Son to seal the covenant between Him and His people. And he wants to make a covenant with you right now.  The Lord wants you to be saved, but you have to come to God through His Son. You have confess Him, and put on His righteousness (Gal. 3:27).  Then, He will take you into His royal chariot and carry you to Paradise.  Come to the Lord with your sins…and he will forgive them.  His mercy should compel you to come…