This is an interesting insight into the worldview of that day. The year before, the king of Syria, Ben-Hadad, had brought 32 kings together against God’s people, but God Almighty had given His people a great victory over them. Now Ben-Hadad was back and his advisors convinced him that Israel had won the previous battle because it was fought on a mountainside. They believed different gods had power over different locations, and that their gods were the gods of the valley. They believed if they could get Israel into a battle in the valley, they would be victorious. Israel was so out numbered, they looked like 2 small herds of sheep, while Ben-Hadad\u2019s armies covered the whole valley. Fear gripped the hearts of the army of Israel and despair filled their minds. But God gave them the victory again and corrected their enemy’s theology by removing the idea that His presence was limited to a location.<\/p>\n
God desires to reveal Himself to all the world through His people. He blesses our lives with peace, not because we deserve it, but because He wants the world to see what it means to walk with Him. Just as God again gave Israel victory to show the Syrians that He was God over all the earth, so He will do for us today. Are you in a valley? God is the God of the valley of difficulties as well as the God of the mountaintop. Regardless of our circumstance or situation, He is still God and will meet us wherever we find our walk with Him taking us.<\/p>\n
“LORD, please be God of our lives in all areas today, we ask in Jesus’ name.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Kings 20 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and\u00a0there were\u00a0<\/em>thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it.\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad,\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0Thy silver and thy gold\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>mine; thy wives also and thy children,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>the goodliest,\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>mine.\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I\u00a0am\u00a0<\/em>thine, and all that I have.\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Ben-hadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0Yet I will send my servants unto thee to morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be,\u00a0that<\/em>whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>in their hand, and take\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>away.\u00a0\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this\u00a0man\u00a0<\/em>seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.\u00a0\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not\u00a0unto him\u00a0<\/em>, nor consent.\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Ben-hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again.\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and 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.\u00a0\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell\u00a0him\u00a0<\/em>, Let not him that girdeth on\u00a0his harness\u00a0<\/em>boast himself as he that putteth it off. 12<\/sup>\u00a0And it came to pass, when\u00a0Ben-hadad\u00a0<\/em>heard this message, as he\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set\u00a0yourselves in array\u00a0<\/em>. And they set\u00a0themselves in array\u00a0<\/em>against the city.\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the\u00a0LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I\u00a0am\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0LORD.\u00a0\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the\u00a0LORD,\u00a0Even\u00a0<\/em>by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, Thou.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a015<\/sup>Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the people,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>all the children of Israel,\u00a0being\u00a0<\/em>seven thousand.\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive.\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them.\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen.\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter. 22<\/sup>\u00a0And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.\u00a023<\/sup>\u00a0And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.\u00a024<\/sup>\u00a0And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms:\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0And number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.\u00a026<\/sup>\u00a0And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.\u00a0\u00a027<\/sup>\u00a0And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.\u00a028<\/sup> And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the\u00a0LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The\u00a0LORD\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>God of the hills, but he\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I\u00a0am\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0LORD.\u00a029<\/sup>\u00a0And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And\u00a0so\u00a0<\/em>it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day.\u00a030<\/sup>\u00a0But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and\u00a0there\u00a0<\/em>a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men\u00a0that were\u00a0<\/em>left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.\u00a031<\/sup> And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.\u00a032<\/sup>\u00a0So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and\u00a0put\u00a0<\/em>ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said,\u00a0Is\u00a0<\/em>he yet alive? he\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>my brother.\u00a033<\/sup>\u00a0Now the men did diligently observe whether\u00a0any thing would come\u00a0<\/em>from him, and did hastily catch\u00a0it:\u00a0<\/em>and they said, Thy brother Ben-hadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Ben-hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.\u00a034<\/sup>\u00a0And\u00a0Ben-hadad\u00a0<\/em>said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then\u00a0said Ahab\u00a0<\/em>, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.\u00a035<\/sup> And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the\u00a0LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.\u00a036<\/sup>\u00a0Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the\u00a0LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.\u00a037<\/sup>\u00a0Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded\u00a0him\u00a0<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a038<\/sup>\u00a0So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.\u00a039<\/sup>\u00a0And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.\u00a040<\/sup>\u00a0And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So\u00a0shall\u00a0<\/em>thy judgment\u00a0be;\u00a0<\/em>thyself hast decided\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a041<\/sup>\u00a0And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>of the prophets.\u00a042<\/sup>\u00a0And he said unto him, Thus saith the\u00a0LORD, Because thou hast let go out of\u00a0thy<\/em>hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.\u00a043<\/sup>\u00a0And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is an interesting insight into the worldview of that day. The year before, the king of Syria, Ben-Hadad, had brought 32 kings together against God’s people, but God Almighty had given His people a great victory over them. 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