This is Spoken Gospel.

We’re dedicated to seeing
Jesus in all of scripture.

In each episode, we see what’s
happening in a Biblical text

and how it sheds light
on Jesus and his gospel.

Let’s jump in.

King Ahab is at war with
God, his prophets, and Syria.

God confronted, humiliated, and killed
Ahab’s false prophets on Mt. Carmel.

Elijah has withheld rain from
Israel’s drought-parched land.

And Syria, along with a coalition of 32
kings, have demanded Ahab’s surrender.

Rather than engage in a battle he’s
likely to lose, Ahab temporarily yields.

Overconfident in his victory, Syria’s king Ben-Hadad
changes the terms of surrender at the last moment.

But with nothing left to lose,
Ahab refuses Syria’s offer.

Both sides then prepare for war.

An unnamed prophet then tells Ahab that God will win
this battle and show him that he is the Lord.

Outnumbered, Ahab ambushes and defeats
his opponents, but Ben-Hadad escapes.

He’s convinced that Israel only won the battle
because their God is god of the mountains only,

and so he plans next
year’s battle on the plains.

But a prophet tells Ahab that God will
not only prove he’s the “God of the plains”

to Ben-Hadad’s forces, but prove himself
as the Lord of all the earth to Ahabh himself.

In a stunning victory God repeats the
miracle he performed for Joshua in Jericho.

After seven days of just waiting, the walls of their
city, Aphek, fall and God’s people are victorious.

Roles reversed, Ben-Hadad surrenders to Ahab.

But foolishly, Ahab doesn’t act like Joshua.

He doesn’t kill the enemy of God’s people but instead
releases Ben-Hadad for new trading routes in Syria.

Ahab should have known that
when God provides Joshua-like victory,

it comes with Joshua-like expectations.

So, a new prophet rises up and condemns
Ahab’s disobedience and predicts his death.

But, instead of repenting, Ahab
returns home angry and sulking.

Ahab is still at war with God, and he has not
learned who the Lord is.

[music]

Ahab is described as the
worst king in Israel’s history.

He not only introduces, encourages,
and even normalizes Baal worship,

he also takes advantage
of God’s kindness.

We expect someone as evil as Ahab to meet God’s
fiery punishment, like the kind we saw on Mt. Carmel.

But we don’t expect God to mercifully give wicked
Ahab victory in battle.

And we expect even less that Ahab would be blind to
these demonstrations of both God’s power and grace.

At war, Ahab only sees God as
an obstacle to his own ambitions.

In that way, we’re all like Ahab.

But instead of prophets like Elijah or
undeserved victories against Syrians,

we have the prophet Jesus
to show us who the Lord is.

In a demonstration of grace, Jesus
goes to battle against enemies

he was under no obligation to
fight—our pride and our mortality.

Even though death and sin were our crosses
to bear, Jesus dies in battle against them.

More unexpected than mercy toward a wicked king
and more shocking than fire falling from
heaven, Jesus dies instead of his enemies

so that his enemies will
know that he is the Lord.

And in a final demonstration of God’s power, Jesus rises
from the dead and rules as a gracious King forever.

Jesus’ death and resurrection aren’t just proof for unbelieving
hearts that he is the Lord, but also a prophetic drama.

Jesus' death and resurrection do not prophesy
condemnation and death but predict eternal life

for anyone who recognizes God’s
true power and repents of their pride.

We are not doomed like Ahab.
We don’t have to be at war with God.

In Jesus we know who God is, and he
has made peace by the blood of his cross.

So, I pray that the Holy Spirit would open
your eyes to see the God who is merciful.

And may you see Jesus as the God who
reveals himself as gracious, even to his enemies.