1 Kings 22:1-53
1 And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel.
2 And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.
3 And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still,a and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria?
4 And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramothgilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.
5 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day.
6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
7 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him?
8 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
9 Then the king of Israel called an officer,b and said, Hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah.
10 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.
11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.
12 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the king's hand.
13 And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.
14 And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak.
15 So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
16 And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the LORD?
17 And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.
18 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
19 And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.
20 And the LORD said, Who shall persuadec Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
22 And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.
24 But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee?
25 And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.
26 And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son;
27 And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.
28 And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the LORD hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.
29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramothgilead.
30 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.
31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.
32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out.
33 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.
34 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.
35 And the battle increasedd that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.
36 And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country.
37 So the king died, and was broughte to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.
38 And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armour; according unto the word of the LORD which he spake.
39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
40 So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.
41 And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.
42 Jehoshaphat was thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
43 And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD: nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places.
44 And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
45 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he shewed, and how he warred, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
46 And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land.
47 There was then no king in Edom: a deputy was king.
48 Jehoshaphat madef ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.
49 Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not.
50 And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.
51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel.
52 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin:
53 For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.
1 Kings 22:2. Jehoshaphat had married his son Jehoram to Athaliah, daughter of Jezebel; probably from the idea that the connection would prevent internal war for the future: oh fatal mistake!
1 Kings 22:7. Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides? It was a maxim, even of the ancient pagan priests, that nothing of importance was to be undertaken without consulting the gods.
1 Kings 22:17. As sheep that have not a shepherd. Cyrus and David are called shepherds. Here then is a plain inference, that Ahab should be killed, and the Israelites lose their shepherd. Ministers must still prophesy evil against the wicked: to them they are “prophets of disasters.” Iliad 1.
1 Kings 22:38. The dogs licked his blood, as Elijah had foretold: 1 Kings 21:19.
REFLECTIONS.
After the sentence of the Lord on Ahab by Elijah, we left him penetrated with the deepest appearance of true repentance, which was at least so sincere that it obtained a personal respite. But on the removal of the rod, Ahab's old habits and old company drew him back into his former sins. He neither demolished his altar, nor dismissed the order of his pensioned prophets. Hence God resolved to destroy him, and such is his way with those who spare their sins. Hence the great difficulty, the almost impossibility of converting an old and a hardened sinner.
It is always dangerous, and often fatal, for a good man to visit and associate with the wicked; more especially to contract matrimonial connections, as we shall find was now the case. Jehoshaphat was indeed courteously entertained in Samaria; but Ahab's court attempted to improve this visit to their interest, and to involve him in a war with Benhadad his old ally, for the recovery of Ramoth-gilead, a frontier town. And to human appearance there was the fairest prospect of success; for if God saved Israel with seven thousand men, how much more when the king of Israel and the king of Judah were joined. There was however a moral difference: when God first saved Samaria the Israelites had just renewed their covenant on Carmel: now they had reverted to all their former sins. The errors of those kings were productive of some good to the church, in causing to be laid more fully open the manner in which God governs the world, and reveals himself by vision to the prophets. Micaiah, supposed to be the disguised prophet who reproved Ahab for letting Benhadad go, saw in a vision the Lord sitting on a throne, and surrounded with a throng of angels. He asked who would go and persuade Ahab, that he might go up, and fall at Ramoth? A spirit, evil no doubt in his disposition, offered to go and be a lying spirit in the mouth of his prophets. Conformably to this vision, the whole phalanx of those prophets, though scattered in different places, began in the most extravagant terms to augur the success of the expedition. And who could doubt, when statesmen and prophets were agreed, but that the assurances were from God.
Whenever we have serious doubts and misgivings of mind concerning any eventful step, we ought to be cautious how we act. Jehoshaphat saw something in these men he did not like, and would not be satisfied without farther intimations; for God had promised the Theocracy of Israel instruction of this superior kind. Therefore he asked for another prophet: and Ahab was obliged either to consult Micaiah, or lose the company of the king of Judah. Micaiah presently appeared; and was full proof against all secret efforts to make him temporize with his ministry. But finding that the company resolved not to hear a dissentient voice, he said, Go up and prosper, taking care that his looks and the inflections of his voice should sufficiently convey his meaning to the king. This method produced the desired effect: the king perceived his meaning, and abjured him by the living God to tell the truth. Then at once he said, that he saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep without a shepherd; a most delicate declaration that the king should surely fall in the expedition. What a multitude of remarks crowd upon us from this vision. How safe are the righteous while God watches over them in an angelic council. How infatuated was Abab to follow his passions against a warning so clear: and how weak was Jehoshaphat to go without God, against his own ally. Happy that he escaped with his life.
We have now in Ahab a model of the hardness and infatuation to which a man may attain by a long course of crimes, and by a disregard of sacred truth. Hitherto he had always shown some reverence or awe when divinely reproved; but now he set revelation at defiance, and reserved the prophet in the fortress, that he might die on his safe return. He suffered the lying prophet to strike him in his presence, and meanly disguised himself in the battle, that he might elude the sentence of God. Oh how just for heaven to strike at last. How instructive is the fall of this king to audacious characters in all future ages! How sure is the long suspended blow to fall at last on the impenitent. A thousand circumstances, all trivial, all chance, all accidents in appearance, shall conspire to avenge the quarrel of heaven on those who defy the sanctifying power of Omnipotence!
Let all good men learn to shun too intimate a connection with the wicked. Good from them they cannot get; they may get harm, and harm of the most serious kind. How calamitous that Jehoshaphat, who seemed resolved to do nothing without God, should be so far misguided by seeing an obscure prophet so degraded as to doubt whether he were a prophet. The torrent was strong, and he was borne away with the stream. He became a partaker of Ahab's sins; and it was a special favour of heaven that he was not a partaker of his punishment. Happy that he returned with his life. And as the Lord did not bless him in this connection, so he did not bless him in his connection with Ahab's house in the fleet of Ezion-geber. This was driven on the rocks almost as soon as it left the port. Learn then, oh my soul, that God is sufficient to protect thee without seeking the aid of the wicked, or carnal connections in marriage.