1 Kings 20:1-12
The LORD had indicated to Elijah the successors both to Ben-hadad, king of Syria, and to Ahab, king of Israel (1 Kings 19:15-16). But these two personages are both still in power and ch. 20 recounts to us the confrontation that awaits them. It is just the same for this world: a stay of execution is granted to it, but this does not prevent men from acting, in their blindness, as if the future belonged to them. They forget that God has His own thoughts about the world, and He directs the course of history. While they are striving for supremacy, they have already been replaced in the counsels of God by the King He has designated: Jesus Christ. Like Elijah, believers know from the Word of God His thoughts about the world, and should not allow themselves to be disturbed by the happenings that agitate and disquiet mankind (Isaiah 8:12-13).
Faced with the threatenings of Ben-hadad, Ahab was powerless. He makes us think of man in his sinful condition, at the mercy of his mighty enemy, the devil. Did not the devil strip Adam in the course of a few moments of all he possessed in Eden? But by God’s grace, Satan, the strong man, has found in Christ One stronger than he, who has vanquished him and "divided his spoils" (Luke 11:22).