Day 179 (1 Kings 20-21) - Year 8

Tara-Leigh Cobble· Host0:00

[upbeat music] Hey, Bible readers. I'm Tara-Leigh Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. We spent today in the northern kingdom of Israel. We open with a man named Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, invading the northern kingdom. Syria is their immediate neighbor to the northeast. Ben-Hadad gathers an alliance including 32 other kings or chiefs and sends his demands to Ahab. He wants all his wealth and the best of his women and offspring. King Ahab, ever the gentleman, says, "You can have them." Okay. In the face of the military threat of Ben-Hadad's massive coalition, King Ahab agrees to give them everything they demand. But the Syrian coalition takes things a step too far when they say they're going to come do a raid on Ahab's palace. The elders of Israel put their foots down. Feet down? Whatever. But then Ben-Hadad is like, "You got to be kidding me. You seriously have no idea how big my army is, do you? You're about to find out." And then Ahab responds, "Oh, really? We'll see about that. You might put your armor on tomorrow, but you won't be taking it off." This is ancient Israeli trash talk that basically amounts to a death threat. This incites Ben-Hadad, who is already three sheets to the wind. That's unadvisable when you're trying to win a war. And while Ben-Hadad is seeing double, King Ahab is seeing a prophet who tells him he'll win the war despite the size of the enemy army. Following the prophet's instructions, Israel attacks the