Now a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor by the word of the LORD, “Strike me, please.” And the man refused to strike him. Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, surely, as soon as you depart from me, a lion shall kill you.” And as soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him. And he found another man, and said, “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him, inflicting a wound. Then the prophet departed and waited for the king by the road, and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. Now as the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and there, a man came over and brought a man to me, and said, ‘Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’ While your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” Then the king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it. ” And he hastened to take the bandage away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. Then he said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Because you have let slip out of your hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.’ ” So the king of Israel went to his house sullen and displeased, and came to Samaria.

I Kings 20:35-43 NKJV

This past Sunday evening we sang these lines from the hymn, “Lord with Glowing Heart I’d Praise Thee”:

Praise the grace whose threats alarmed thee,

Roused thee from thy fatal ease;

Praise the grace whose promise warmed thee,

Praise the grace that whispered peace

Have you thought recently about the alarming warnings of the Lord against our fatal disobedience to the Word of the Lord? Have you considered God’s grace to warn us from sin?

In the closing verses of I Kings 20, a prophet was sent to rebuke Ahab for allowing the enemy of God to remain alive. The rebuke is quite strong. Ben-Hadad was appointed by God for destruction and Ahab sinned against God by allowing him to live. The implication is that Ahab knew his job with Ben-Hadad and sinned against God by allowing him to live. He added to his mockery of God by calling Ben-Hadad his brother.

The prophet used a story and his own wound to demonstrate God’s just anger towards Ahab who with his own mouth acknowledged the sin of his ways. For his sin, God told Ahab, “your life shall go for his life” (vs. 42). I am reminded of the prophet Nathan’s story to David, which was similar except that David repented at the prophet’s words, while Ahab’s heart was hard and he went back to Samaria displeased after his great victory.

Before all of these events took place, however, a very interesting account is given of the prophet and another man that requires our attention. The prophet spoke to his neighbor by the Word of the Lord with instruction, “Strike me, please.” This was not an ordinary request, but it came from the Lord Himself. It was a great test for this other man like the tests of the Lord to Abraham to offer his only son Isaac or Noah to build an ark. The man was called by God to wound the prophet so that the prophet could teach King Ahab of his great sin.

“And the man refused to strike him” (vs. 35). God had given this man an extraordinary call, to strike the prophet. The man knew it was the Word of the Lord that called him to do it. And this man knowingly sinned against the Word of God. The result was the immediate discipline and judgment of the Lord, for a lion met him shortly after he departed from the prophet and killed him.

This account should rouse our senses and stir us from our easy going approach to the Scripture and commandments of the Lord. We should recognize the concern the Lord has for obedience to His Word. Disobeying God’s Word is disobeying God Himself and worthy of death.

For his sin, God required Ahab’s life to be forfeited. What about your sin? Consider the cross of Christ. There we see our Savior bled and died for nothing He had done but for all the sins that we had done. Because Ahab let Ben-Hadad go, the Lord required Ahab’s life in the place of Ben-Hadad’s life. Because of the great love that God had for His own people, He sent His own Son, even our Lord Jesus Christ to suffer and die in our place so that we might go free. What wondrous love is this?

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (II Cor. 5:21).

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