Context No. 3427 of 4322 · 1 Kings

1 Kings 20:23-28: in context

23The servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their god is a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we. But let’s fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they. 24Do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their place. 25Muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. We will fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they are.” He listened to their voice and did so. 26At the return of the year, Ben Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. 27The children of Israel were mustered and given provisions, and went against them. The children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of young goats, but the Syrians filled the country. 28A man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “The LORD says, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The LORD is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’”

The defeated Syrians reason among themselves that Israel's God must be a god of the hills, so they resolve to fight the next battle on the plains, where they suppose he has no power. It is a common pagan idea, gods tied to particular places or domains, powerless outside their own territory.

But God answers their reasoning directly. Because they have said the LORD is a god of the hills but not of the valleys, he says, I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD. God will not be boxed into a corner of creation. He is Lord of the hills and the valleys alike, of every place and every circumstance, and he vindicates his name against those who would shrink him down to a local deity. There is no place, no situation, no low valley, where God is not fully God and fully able to act. The Syrians learned that the God of Israel has no borders.

Do I ever imagine God is at work in some areas of my life but not in others, or do I trust that he is Lord of every valley as well as every hill?

Sources

1 Kings 20:28: "Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys, therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand."
1 Kings 20:23: "Their god is a god of the hills... But let's fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger."
Psalm 24:1: "The earth is the LORD's, with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell in it."