Bible Lesson: Parables Of The Old
Testament: The Parable Of The Escaped Prisoner.
Spoken By: The Stricken Prophet
Location: Near Samaria
Bible Text:
I Kings 20:25-43 NLT
(Ben-Hadad’s Second Attack) (See
Ben-Hadad's 1st defeat, verses 1-22.)
23 After their defeat, Ben-hadad’s
officers said to him, “The Israelite gods are gods of the hills;
that is why they won. But we can beat them easily on the plains.
24 Only this time replace the kings
with field commanders!
25 Recruit another army like the one
you lost. Give us the same number of horses, chariots, and men, and
we will fight against them on the plains. There’s no doubt that we
will beat them.” So King Ben-hadad did as they suggested.
26 The following spring he called up
the Aramean army and marched out against Israel, this time at Aphek.
27 Israel then mustered its army,
set up supply lines, and marched out for battle. But the Israelite
army looked like two little flocks of goats in comparison to the vast
Aramean forces that filled the countryside!
28 Then the man of God went to the
king of Israel and said, “This is what The Lord says: The Arameans
have said, ‘The Lord is a god of the hills and not of the plains.’
So I will defeat this vast army for you. Then you will know that I am
The Lord.”
29 The two armies camped opposite
each other for seven days, and on the seventh day the battle began.
The Israelites killed 100,000 Aramean foot soldiers in one day.
30 The rest fled into the town of
Aphek, but the wall fell on them and killed another 27,000. Ben-hadad
fled into the town and hid in a secret room.
31 Ben-Hadad’s officers said to
him, “Sir, we have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful. So
let’s humble ourselves by wearing burlap around our waists and
putting ropes on our heads, and surrender to the king of Israel. Then
perhaps he will let you live.”
32 So they put on burlap and ropes,
and they went to the king of Israel and begged, “Your servant
Ben-Hadad says, ‘Please let me live!’” The king of Israel
responded, “Is he still alive? He is my brother!”
33 The men took this as a good sign
and quickly picked up on his words. “Yes,” they said, “your
brother Ben-Hadad!” “Go and get him,” the king of Israel told
them. And when Ben-Hadad arrived, Ahab invited him up into his
chariot.
34 Ben-hadad told him, “I will
give back the towns my father took from your father, and you may
establish places of trade in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.”
Then Ahab said, “I will release you under these conditions.” So
they made a new treaty, and Ben-Hadad was set free.
(A Prophet
Condemns Ahab)
35 Meanwhile, The Lord instructed
one of the group of prophets to say to another man, “Hit me!” But
the man refused to hit the prophet.
36 Then the prophet told him,
“Because you have not obeyed The Voice Of The Lord, a lion will
kill you as soon as you leave me.” And when he had gone, a lion did
attack and kill him.
37 Then the prophet turned to
another man and said, “Hit me!” So he struck the prophet and
wounded him.
38 The prophet placed a bandage over
his eyes to disguise himself and then waited beside the road for the
king.
39 As the king passed by, the
prophet called out to him, “Sir, I was in the thick of battle,
and suddenly a man brought me a prisoner. He said, ‘Guard this man;
if for any reason he gets away, you will either die or pay a fine of
seventy-five pounds of silver!’
40 But while I was busy doing
something else, the prisoner disappeared!” “Well, it’s your
own fault,” the king replied. “You have brought the judgment on
yourself.”
41 Then the prophet quickly pulled
the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as
one of the prophets.
42 The prophet said to him, “This
is what The Lord says: Because you have spared the man I said must be
destroyed, now you must die in his place, and your people will die
instead of his people.”
43 So the king of Israel went home
to Samaria angry and sullen.
Ben-Hadad:
Syrian King. (II Kings 8:)
Ahab:
Northern 10 Tribes, Israels King. (I Kings 22 describes his death in
battle, the dogs, or pigs licked up his blood.)
The Prophet, put
before King Ahab this parable:
39 “Sir, I was in the thick of
battle, and suddenly a man brought me a prisoner. He said, ‘Guard
this man; if for any reason he gets away, you will either die or pay
a fine of seventy-five pounds of silver!’
40 But while I was busy doing
something else, the prisoner disappeared!”
40 “Well, it’s your own fault,”
the king replied. “You have brought the judgment on yourself.”
41 Then the prophet quickly pulled
the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as
one of the prophets.
In...
I Kings 20:28
NLT
Then the man of God went to the king
of Israel and said, “This is what The Lord says: The Arameans have
said, ‘The Lord is a God of the hills and not of the plains.’ So
I will defeat this vast army for you. Then you will know that I am
The Lord.”
The Lord told King
Ahab, this enemy must be defeated, and that He would be the force
behind their demise.
And if God would
defeat the vast armies of Ben-Hadad, what business was it of King
Ahab to let their evil king, Israels enemy, being given absolution,
to escape God's judgment?
42 The prophet said to him, “This
is what The Lord says: Because you have spared the man
(Let
him, the enemy of Israel, get
away) I said must be destroyed, now you must
die in his place, and your people will die instead of his people.”
43 So the king of Israel went home
to Samaria angry and sullen.
Obedience:
Deuteronomy
26:16 KJV
This day The Lord thy God hath
commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt
therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy
soul.
Joshua 1:8 KJV
This book of the law shall not
depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and
night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is
written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and
then thou shalt have good success.
I Samuel
15:22,23 KJV
22 And Samuel said, Hath The Lord as
great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying
The Voice Of The Lord? Behold, to
obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of
witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry..."
Matthew 7:21 KJV
Not every one that saith unto Me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth
the will of My Father which is in heaven.
Matthew 12:50
KJV
For whosoever shall do the will of
My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and
mother.
John 14:23 KJV
Jesus answered and said unto him, If
a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him,
and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
John 15:10 KJV
If ye keep My commandments, ye shall
abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and
abide in His love.
Acts 5:29 KJV
Then Peter and the other apostles
answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
James 1:25 KJV
But whoso looketh into the perfect
law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful
hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his
deed.
Revelation 22:14
KJV
Blessed are they that do His
commandments, that they may have right to the tree of Life, and may
enter in through the gates into the city.
