For three years Syria and Israel continued without war.
After years of fighting, Israel and Syria go quiet for three years. The verse reads like a note on foreign policy. Two harder questions sit under it: where did this peace come from, and what did Ahab do with it?
Peace Bought by a Bad Bargain
The quiet did not fall from heaven. It was the return on a deal Ahab had made with the defeated Syrian king Ben-Hadad, whom he spared and set free.
H. L. RossierSet aside the question of God's judgment. This is what came out of Ahab's covenant with Ben-Hadad: a short breathing space of three years without war! Afterwards Ben-Hadad, only just set free, had not kept his promises (compare 1 Kings 20:34). He had not given back Ramoth-Gilead.
Judgment Suspended, Not Cancelled
Three peaceful years look like proof that all is well. Prosperity and God's verdict are two different things.
J. N. DarbyNotice the difference between the judgment of God and the way things look. God had pronounced His judgment against the king and against Israel (chapter 19). Yet prosperity and peace generally marked this reign, as we have seen. Syria is subdued, Moab pays tribute; and Judah, unusually prosperous, joins itself in league with Israel... Still, judgment was only put on hold, and only Elijah knew it.
Three Years, and Nothing Mended
Why did God let three years pass? Because God had taken note of a change in Ahab.
William KellyAhab humbled himself, and as a result the judgment lingers, and the word of the Lord meets his trembling heart as he humbled himself and walked softly. The blow was only to fall in the days of his sons.
But a delay is also a test. Three years show what a man's sorrow was worth.
Leslie M. GrantThree years later the show of repentance on Ahab's part had worn off. There had been no war between Israel and Syria. But Ahab would not leave matters as they were. He was anxious to regain Ramoth in Gilead from the Syrians.
What Ramoth-Gilead Was
The town Ahab wanted back was no village. And the moment a strong ally arrived, Ahab saw his chance.
C KnappIn the third year, Jehoshaphat king of Judah came down on a friendly visit to the Israelite capital. He was now tied to the house of Ahab by the marriage of his son and heir to Athaliah, Ahab's daughter. Ahab saw in the presence of so powerful an ally a splendid opportunity to use him to enlarge his kingdom... Ramoth-gilead was an important fortress. It lay due east of Samaria, about twenty miles back from the Jordan.
A Quarrel Settled Without God
Israel had a claim; Syria had possession. Neither side asked what God thought.
H. L. RossierGod is not taken into account in these claims between peoples. History is always the same. The Christian nations of our day are no better in this than the pagan nations. One side wants to expand; the other wants to resist that pressure. These two desires form the basis of politics. God does not engage in politics. He is a stranger to these quarrels, though He has the upper hand in everything and uses everything to carry out His purposes.
The Cost of the Friendship
In these peace years the godly king of Judah drew close to the worst king Israel ever had.
H. L. RossierThis alliance was a great evil, and the king of Judah had to feel its serious consequences. "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD?" Jehu the son of Hanani said to him later, when he saw this. The alliance had a disastrous result. The faithful king took up the interests of a king unmatched for wickedness in the land of Israel.
The damage runs one way only:
William KellyAnd what was the result? He becomes the servant of Israel's wicked purposes... You can never lift up or restore the unfaithful by allying yourself with what is unfaithful. The faithful man sinks to the level of the unfaithful, instead of lifting the unfaithful out of his unbelief.
Summary
- Borrowed peace. The three quiet years were the payout of Ahab's covenant with a spared enemy. That enemy never returned Ramoth-Gilead as promised.
- Suspended peace. God had already sentenced Ahab's house. The calm was a stay of execution, not a pardon, and only Elijah knew it.
- Wasted peace. Given three years, Ahab's show of repentance faded and he spent the calm planning his next war.
- Godless peace. Israel argued its claim over Ramoth on grounds of land. No one consulted God — the ordinary basis of politics, then and now.
- Costly peace. Peacetime produced the alliance with Judah. The faithful king sank to the level of the unfaithful one instead of raising him.