1 Kings 20:35-43
"35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow at the command of the Lord, “Strike me, please.” But the man refused to strike him. 36 Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you have gone from me, a lion shall strike you down.” And as soon as he had departed from him, a lion met him and struck him down. 37 Then he found another man and said, “Strike me, please.” And the man struck him—struck him and wounded him. 38 So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. 39 And as the king passed, he cried to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a soldier turned and brought a man to me and said, ‘Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’ 40 And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” The king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it.” 41 Then he hurried to take the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets.42 And he said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.’” 43 And the king of Israel went to his house vexed and sullen and came to Samaria."
A word is needed to explain the rather mysterious action of the prophet in this passage. We have already seen, in Old Testament studies, that the prophets often demonstrated their message from the Lord by an acted parable, and this is the key to the understanding here. The first part of the parable is meant to show Ahab's error in sparing Ben-hadad. The prophet commanded his neighbour by the word of the Lord to smite him, and upon his refusing spoke the Lord's swift punishment upon his disobedience (36). The implication is of course that if a prophet were punished for sparing his friend against the express command of the Lord, much more would Ahab, who had spared one appointed by the Lord to destruction. In the second part the prophet told his story to the king with the object of making him condemn himself, as Nathan had done to David (2 Samuel 12). The case he presents to the king is: A prisoner tak- en in battle was committed to his custody with the warning that if he escaped, his own life would be forfeit. Through carelessness (40) the prisoner escaped. And the prophet paused, to hear the king's judgment on the case. Ahab fell into the trap, and pronounced his own con- demnation. God had delivered into his hands a prisoner, and not through carelessness, but wilfully and deliberately he had set him at liberty. Thus the prophet turned the king's own words - 'thyself hast decided it' - against him, and pronounced the forfeiture of Ahab's life and the life of his people for this act of folly. Is it not startling to see that in God's judgment of men He makes them agree with the justice of His case against them!