The treaty between Ahab and Ben-hadad I saw as good, but God saw it as very bad, bad enough to provoke Ahab’s death and the death of more Israelites. I thought Ahab was kind of turning a corner, didn’t you? He listened to God’s instructions through two huge battles, which he won, and then he struck up a peace treaty, which I saw as a positive sign. But I had forgotten that Ahab was supposed to destroy the King of Aram and his troops because they believed that God was only the god of the hill people, not the plains. In all his mercy, God was willing to let Ahab win a few battles to prove His own existence to Ahab. It sort of worked, but Ahab didn’t listen completely. He not only let Ben-hadad live, but he negotiated peace with his kingdom, meaning the Arameans and Israelites would be at peace, meaning they would mingle, meaning they would intermarry, meaning their customs and beliefs would get mixed up, and you get the picture, right? God always has a plan, and sometimes we think our plans are better because God’s plan sounds a little rough, but Ahab gives us a perfect example of why God does some stuff we just don’t understand completely.
Writing prompt: bad plan
Has God ever given you what you thought was a bad plan? Write about an experience where you did something that you felt was wrong in your mind but right in your Spirit. Maybe you don’t have an example. In that case, write about what you thought about King Ahab’s peace treaty and eventual outcome of it.
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