1 Kings 20:10

Ben Hadad's reply was coarse and arrogant. It seems the arrogance of Ben Hadad gave Ahab the courage to reply, "Let not him who straps on his armor boast himself as he who takes it off." Of course these were fighting words, just as those of Ben Hadad were. Ben Hadad received the message while he and his companions were drinking in the command post — the place that called for sober, sound wisdom.

A wicked man is never really anything but a weak man. Only "the righteous" is, as the proverb says, "bold as a lion." When Ahab does refuse the demand of the king of Syria — a demand no soldier should have accepted — he says it almost as an apology: "This thing I cannot do."

God was a stranger to him, and he acted as though He did not even exist. So he accepts the humiliation the pagan king forces on him: "My lord, O king, according to your word, I am yours, and all that I have" (v. 4). What could he do against Ben-Hadad, who led all his forces and had thirty-two kings with him? So those who do not know God reason things out... Ahab replies with spirit: "Let not him who straps on his armor boast himself as he who takes it off" (v. 11), but he still does not take God into account.

No human being will boast in the presence of God. Human pride may boast outside that presence. It may put forward its claims, glory in its resources, and be proud of what it takes on, as long as God is not thought of. But bring Him in, and all the bragging, the boasting, the empty glory, the grand claims, the self-satisfaction and the self-conceit will wither away in a moment.

But God's time had come to humble insolent Ben-hadad: "And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, 'Thus says the LORD, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the LORD.'"... God would humble Ben-hadad, but not by any show of strength — not by the seven thousand soldiers Ahab had left. He would do it by the servants of the princes of the provinces, who numbered two hundred and thirty-two.

What was the Lord's reason for speaking this way? The condition of Ahab's heart? We have just seen its callousness. But Israel in the presence of Elijah's miracle had acknowledged the true God. Would He not show His grace at the least sign of His people's returning to Himself? As for Ahab, God tells him: "You shall know that I am the LORD." If God's judgments had not taught him this already, perhaps this miraculous deliverance would touch his heart and restore him. What touching patience on the part of God, even toward the most profane, the most indifferent, the most hardened.