The mountaintop is the place of vision; the valley turns that vision into hard-fought reality.
In our previous segment, we saw how the gracious Lord gave victory to His undeserving people over the Syrian troops. I’m amazed—and deeply grateful—at the many times the Lord has done the same for me. But, said the Lord’s prophet, “They’ll be back!” The enemy has an insatiable longing to wreak havoc on God’s people. The winter passed. As spring burst forth, Ben-Hadad’s advisors felt a growing eagerness to requite their last year’s losses. They thought they had it figured out. “Their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they” (1 Ki 20:23). This is a fatal flaw in paganism—the assumption that the deity suffers from multiple personality disorder. The cause for all the chaos in our world is not our fault. Oh no! The gods are at war with each other. Through an unnamed “man of God,” Heaven’s response came to Israel: “Because the Syrians have said, ‘The Lord [Jehovah, the Israelite deity] is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,’ therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord” (v 28). For seven days they glared at each other across the valley. Were the Syrians remembering their calamitous defeat? Were the Israelites doubting if God would help? Finally the battle was engaged, “and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand foot soldiers of the Syrians in one day” (v 29). The remaining Syrian troops fled to Aphek, where calamity struck again. A section of the fortress collapsed, killing many more. When you pick a fight with God, even the walls built to protect you will conspire against you. Never forget: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31).