1 Kings 20-21

Ben-Hadad, king of Aram went up and besieged Samaria! Oh no! Then he sent a message to bargain with King Ahab. He said, "Your sliver and gold are mine, and the best of your wives and children are mine." King Ahab readily agreed to the terms. Either Ben-Hadad was surprised that he agreed so quickly and thought maybe he hadn't charged enough, or he thought that Ahab was a sucker:P So he said, "I sent to demand your silver and gold, your wives and your children. But about this time tomorrow I am going to send my officials to search your palace and the houses of your officials. They will seize everything you value and carry it away."

So Ahab talked with the elders. They said, "Don't listen to him or agree to his demands." So Ahab refused Ben-Hadad. The king was then very angry and said, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if enough dust remains in Samaria to give each of my men a handful."

Ahab replied, "One who puts on his armor should not boast like one who takes it off." Heehee! He was basically saying don't count your chickens before they hatch!!! So Ben-Hadad prepared his men to attack. But God told Ahab that he would deliver Israel - then he would know that the LORD is God. The Israelites routed the Arameans the first time. They said to each other, "Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they." Well! Problem solved!! Heehee that cracks me up!!! But God is a God of the plains as well, and the vast army was delivered into Israel's hand.

Some time later, Ahab got a real hankering to plant a vegetable garden. He just had to have some fresh tomatoes. So he went to a man named Naboth, who had land nearby that was just perfect to grow some cucumbers. When he asked to buy the land, Naboth said he wouldn't sell it, because it was the inheritance of his fathers. Ahab couldn't believe it. He sulked home and sucked his thumb and threw himself a pity party. His devil woman Jezebel said, "Oh, it's ok sweetie. I'll get you that land." She proclaimed a day of fasting (probably to "find out who had sinned against the LORD" sort of like they did with Achan.) and she told some scoundrels to say that Naboth cursed God and the king. They did so, and Naboth was stoned. Ahab giggled and got up to plant the seeds for those tomatoes. This whole situation sounds a lot like what David did with Bathsheeba - get rid of the opposition and get what you want. Who showed up in the David story next? Nathan. Who shows up this time? Elijah. He said to Ahab, "Have you not murdered a man and seized his property? This is what the LORD says: 'In the place where dogs licked up Naboth's blood, dogs will lick up your blood - yes, yours!' " God also said that he would make his house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat (remember that sentence?) and that dogs would devour Jezebel. Then it said that "There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the LORD drove out before Israel." But when Ahab heard the prophecy, he put on sackcloth and fasted. Then God said to Elijah, "Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son." What? After all the bad things Ahab did? And God is sparing him? Elijah was probably a tad disappointed. It seems like Ahab did too many bad things to just get cleared like that. It just goes to show that God is merciful beyond all we could ever imagine!!!