Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.
Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, "Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel." When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, "Surely this is the king of Israel." So they turned to attack him, but when Jehoshaphat cried out, the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel and stopped pursuing him.
But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, "Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I've been wounded." All day long the battle raged, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot, and that evening he died. As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army: "Every man to his town; everyone to his land!"
So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried him there. They washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria (where the prostitutes bathed), and the dogs licked up his blood, as the word of the Lord had declared.
As for the other events of Ahab's reign, including all he did, the palace he built and inlaid with ivory, and the cities he fortified, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? Ahab rested with his fathers. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.
1 Kings 22:29-40
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As Chapter 22 opened, we saw Ahab, king of Israel, receiving a visit from Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
During that visit, Ahab asked if Jehoshaphat was willing to join forces with him to recapture the town of Ramoth Gilead, a former Israeli town that had been captured by the Arameans and never returned. You’ll recall that Jehoshaphat asked Ahab to first seek the counsel of the Lord before making the final decision.
So Ahab summoned around 400 of his prophets and asked them to advise him as to whether he should enter into battle. These prophets were false prophets…followers of Baal and unqualified to speak in any way for the Lord. They were favored by Ahab only because they always told him what he wanted to hear.
Well…Jehoshaphat recognized quickly that the so-called prophets were nothing more than yes-men for the king. And so he asked if the king had anyone who was a true prophet of the Lord that they could question.
Ahab responded by telling of a prophet named Micaiah who he despised because the prophet never had anything good to say about him. And seeing that Jehoshaphat was adamant about getting the Lord’s counsel, he asked for Micaiah to be brought into the discussion.
After being asked about whether they should go into battle, Micaiah warns the king that Israel would be scattered like sheep without a shepherd if the battle happened, implying that Ahab would die. This angered Ahab who ordered Micaiah to be imprisoned to which Micaiah proclaimed before being taken away, “If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me…Mark my words, all you people!"
So what would happen to Ahab? Would Micaiah’s prophecy…the purported word of the Lord…come true?
As Chapter 22 continues, we receive the answer.
For Ahab and Jehoshaphat “went up to Ramoth Gilead” and disregarded Micaiah’s warning. Instead believing the words of the false prophets.
As they went to the town, we read where Ahab decided to “enter the battle in disguise” while Jehoshaphat was to wear his royal robes. I think it’s interesting that Ahab would do this. If he didn’t think that Micaiah was right, why was he so afraid to go head-to-head with the Arameans? Why the need for disguise?
Question: How often do we do the same thing? Think that we can somehow escape God’s judgment on us by trying to hide and conceal our sins. We disguise our wrongdoings and think we’re getting away with it. As we will see, you don’t get away with it no matter how great you try and cover things up.
For as the battle ensued, the “king of Aram…ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders to “…not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel." So the chariot commanders went to look for the one who was royally dressed…and as we saw prior, that was Jehoshaphat. The Aramean chariot commanders were sure they had their man until they heard Jehoshaphat cry out…and act which gave him away as not being the “king of Israel” and so they “stopped pursuing him”.
Had Ahab actually gotten away with his scheme? Had he succeeded?
He probably thought so…but as so often happens, just when we think we’ve gotten away with something, the Lord catches up with us in amazing ways.
In Ahab’s case, his fate was sealed by an arrow shot by an archer who “drew his bow at random”…his shot finding its mark “between the sections of (Ahab’s) armor. Now wounded, Ahab ordered his chariot driver to "Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I've been wounded." And after Ahab retreated, he stayed “propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans” while “the blood from his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot”. By evening, he was dead and the Israelite army scattered with every man going to his own town and land, just as Micaiah had predicted.
Ahab “was brought to Samaria” where he was buried. And as his bloodied chariot was washed, we read where the “dogs licked up his blood” just as the Lord declared they would after Ahab and Jezebel had conspired to kill Naboth and steal his vineyard. (1 Kings 21:19)
So what are we to learn from the mistake of Ahab?
We should never doubt that God is going to do what He says He will do. We should also never think we’re going to get away with disregarding God’s will for our lives. His will is going to be done. We can’t run from it. We can’t escape it. We can’t hide from it.
We need only comply…conform…and obey.
God expects nothing short of that.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com
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