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1 Kings 20:38 - Who was that masked man? - Day 290

Good morning brothers and sisters,

Today's passage is another example in how God uses prophets for the correction of kings.  In ancient Israel, the highest political authority is subject to correction by an unnamed prophet.  The point is that the king is not "personally autonomous".  He is subject to the Lord in all things.  The king's authority is derived.  In our day "personal autonomy" has trickled all the way down to individual citizens.  However, it wasn't true of kings and it not true of us.

Blessings,

Jeff

God uses an unnamed prophet to pronounce judgment on Ahab for letting Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, go free after routing the Syrian army.

I think this is an example of what Jesus later taught in the Sermon on the Mount. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Matthew 7:3-5

Ahab condemns the prophet based on the story he tells of allowing a prisoner to escape.  Ahab even uses the "you yourself have decided it" logic.  Ahab  condemns the prophet without thinking about what he himself had just done.  After the army kills 100,000 Syrians and a wall collapses and kills another 27,000, why would Ahab think releasing their king is a good idea.  Ahab sees the fault in another that he does not see in himself.

Of course, Jesus teaching is a warning to believers in how they deal with others.  Ahab was not a believer and his folly in letting Ben-hadad go free is the real issue.  

I have found it to often be the case that when I get upset with other's faults, those are the things in my life that God is working on.   

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