Again God supernaturally intervenes for Ahab to give him the victory over his Syrian enemy, Ben-Hadad. He was a midget militarily in comparison to the Syrian forces. He was outnumbered, out gunned (so to speak), and out lead. But God intervened specifically so that Ahab would know that “the Lord is God.” He gave Ahab the victory and brought Ben-Hadad crawling before him begging for mercy.
It’s incredible that God had acted on behalf of such a wicked king. Ahab worshipped Baal. Ahab rebuilt Jericho when God had forbid it. Throughout the story there is no mention of Ahab expressing gratitude for God’s deliverance. There is no acknowledgement of God in any of his accomplishments. There is no situation in which Ahab sought God’s will. Yet God acted to give him victory over his enemies.
God had given Ahab all the rope he needed, and Ahab hung himself. He accepts the victory that God miraculously gave him as something he had earned or deserved. And like Saul before him would lose his kingdom and his life because he was more concerned about his own glory and profit than giving God the glory and credit for the victories of his life.
In Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift gives us his opinion of ingratitude. The Lilliputians considered ingratitude as a crime. They taught that anyone who cannot recognize and acknowledge the blessings they receive from the hands of another must be the common enemy of the entire community. They argued that such a man should not be allowed to live. They argue that if a man refuses to do good to one who has blessed him, they will never do good to those who have not blessed him.
Ahab would have done well to have the attitude of this poet: “Lord, I’ve never moved a mountain and I guess I never will. All the faith that I could muster wouldn’t move a small ant hill. Yet I’ll tell you, Lord, I’m grateful for the joy of knowing Thee, and for all the mountain moving down through life You’ve done for me.”
Chuck
“Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill you lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.” Colossians 3:16