2 Chronicles 18: 1 – 34
And now today’s false news
18 Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance; and by marriage he allied himself with Ahab. 2 After some years he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria; and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead. 3 So Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?” And he answered him, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will be with you in the war.” 4 Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire for the word of the LORD today.” 5 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” So, they said, “Go up, for God will deliver it into the king’s hand.” 6 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of Him?” 7 So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD; but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imla.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!” 8 Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said, “Bring Micaiah the son of Imla quickly!” 9 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, clothed in their robes, sat each on his throne; and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. 10 Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself; and he said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” 11 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the LORD will deliver it into the king’s hand.” 12 Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Therefore, please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement.” 13 And Micaiah said, “As the LORD lives, whatever my God says, that I will speak.” 14 Then he came to the king; and the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” And he said, “Go and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand!” 15 So the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?” 16 Then he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.’” 17 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” 18 Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left. 19 And the LORD said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. 20 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ The LORD said to him, ‘In what way?’ 21 So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the LORD said, ‘You shall persuade him and also prevail; go out and do so.’ 22 Therefore look! The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you.” 23 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, “Which way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to you?” 24 And Micaiah said, “Indeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide!” 25 Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah, and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son; 26 and say, ‘Thus says the king: “Put this fellow in prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction, until I return in peace.” ’” 27 But Micaiah said, “If you ever return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Take heed, all you people!” 28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. 29 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle; but you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle. 30 Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him, saying, “Fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel.” 31 So it was, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, “It is the king of Israel!” Therefore, they surrounded him to attack; but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him, and God diverted them from him. 32 For so it was, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. 33 Now a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So, he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” 34 The battle increased that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening; and about the time of sunset he died.
Everywhere I go people seem to be talking about fake news. It’s fascinating to witness the war between Americans.
Plenty of people I come across daily in the ministry have been asking me why there’s been such an extreme amount of fake, or overly biased news. To understand fake news, we must understand the cast of characters:
1) The Creators
2) The Enablers
3) The Establishment
First of all, I see that there are two main creators of fake news. The most atrocious creator comes from non-journalists who put out spammy garbage you see on the web that’s simply untrue. The second creator of fake news is not so much fake news, but biased news coming from journalists with an agenda. Biased news isn’t as deplorable since we all have our biases that are hard to extricate from our actions. However, biased journalists can do greater damage due to their large platforms.
With the use of dramatic titles, misinformation, and satire, fake news can affect public opinion about a person, country or issue. I just read about a rowdy group that was chanting ‘it is all about emotions not facts.’ Folks we are in a heap of trouble.
The main reason why fake news exists is simply due to the desire for MONEY, lots of it! Once you follow the money, everything becomes much clearer.
The number 1 goal of every fake news creator is to get as many impressionable readers to click on their fake news articles or Television news shows as possible. More clicks mean more advertising revenue. Since there as so many explosive accusations going on I want to give you an example we can all agree on, that is on the reporting of the weather.
Just last weekend we were warned by every news station of Armageddon from serious weather. We were told that we were about to face torrential downpours of rain with life threatening floods, then flash freezes, then on top of all of this horror many feet of snow. So, what happened? None of the above!
Now it is nice that we should be warned about impending serious weather but as you watch the news you can almost smell that something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
The news program starts off with the creation of fear. They bring on a weather person who hypes up the emotion by showing colored maps of the impending danger. I bet most of you do not even know that the weather maps you see on your smart phones and those shown to us are phony. You see what you are shown are computer generated displays. They are not satellite photos given color. Only two government agencies actually get the satellite photo’s.
Have you ever noticed that after scaring you half to death they tell you that they will be back soon with a more in-depth report? When do they show up again? Yep, right before their program ends so they can get you to watch the entire show. And why do they want you to watch their whole show? Is it because they feel lonely most of the time and they want a lot of people to see them? No, it is because of revenue from commercials.
Eye and ear catching titles are very important because fake news creators cannot compete on substance.
The second reason why fake news exists is due to the enablers. More specifically: Facebook.
Facebook has almost two billion mindless users each day who waste about an hour of their lives on their platform. Facebook is the largest, most engaged social media platform in the world. Fake news creators know that people who spend lots of time on Facebook are often lonely, highly impressionable people who are looking for validation and a way out of their misery. Since misery loves company, negative fake news does very well.
Why does Facebook enable so much garbage in everybody’s news feed? Money, money, and more MONEY! Facebook spent years trying to convince companies to build attention getting advertising on their Facebook page. The assumption was, the more interest your company page has, the more easily you can “organically” reach your target consumer. Then Facebook changed the rules after companies spent billions of dollars trying to get consumers to like their web pages. They told companies they now had to also pay to get the people who liked their pages to see what they posted! Talk about luring your customers in and beating them with a stick.
Facebook is currently worth roughly $385 billion because they earn over $30 billion in advertising revenue a year. Some have estimated Facebook earns roughly half of their revenue from fake news advertising.
From the fake news creator’s perspective, if he can spend $1 on advertising to make $1.10 in advertising revenue off a bogus article, he’ll do it all day long until marginal cost exceeds marginal revenue. If you are a skilled fake news creator, sometimes you can spend $1 to make $2 in revenue, which is an absolute goldmine.
The reason? Facebook knows more about you than every other platform because you’re spending the most amount of time clicking and sharing on their platform. They track all your behavior and know everything you like and do.
Don’t think for one second a company with over $30 billion in revenues can’t do more to squash fake news on their platform. Even if you are worth millions or multi-billions, the desire for more money is often too strong to allow a person to do the right thing.
I would like to suggest to you if you are interested in ‘Facebook’ that you get out a hard copy of your bible and put your face into it. Then you will fall under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
The Establishment refers to traditional media, which consists mostly of unbiased journalists who simply want to report the truth. Traditional journalists aren’t paid much so there’s really no incentive for them to report fake, misleading, biased, or sensationalist news. If they did, they’d probably get fired or at least must write an embarrassing retraction that would blight their careers.
But something happened more than a decade ago. A major news TV company stopped simply reporting the news and started going the “superstar model” where they created media personalities out of anointed journalists. Once this started, every other major news station followed suit because consumers love to read, watch, and listen to what they already believe in. To become a personality, you need a view. And that is how big media bias began.
Have you heard of argued with some people who say they only listen to the conservative channel? I just shake my head. You see all the TV corporations are in the same boat. They just create the market to meet the needs of the certain groups.
If you owned two race horses and they were the only two horses running, you would be a winner no matter which of your two horses won. Do you see my point?
Fake news is all about taking advantage of impressionable people to make more money. The more they get controversy and people contending with one another the more their sites are referenced.
Fake news in not new news. It has been going on for thousands of years. Today we are going back in time to see all the phony prophets of Ahab, king of Israel who go through a whole show of lies and antics to get across their fabricated prophecy of a future battle.
Jehoshaphat had begun his reign conscious of the ever-present danger of a strong Israel, and much of his activity had been with that in mind. He had been helped by the fact that Israel were constantly under threat from Aram (Syria) with its capital city at Damascus. Because of this continual threat it moved Ahab, king of Israel, to seek to enter a treaty with the Southern kingdom of Judah in order to maintain a peaceful southern border and in order to seek his aid against Syria. Jehoshaphat meanwhile probably saw it as suiting his purposes very well. It would help to ensure peace in Judah. The two countries therefore at some stage entered an alliance, and at some years prior to the incidents we will read about, the daughter of Ahab, king of Israel, married Jehoshaphat’s son, Jehoram (21.6), a regular feature of such treaties.
Unfortunately, Jehoshaphat failed to recognize the fact that by doing so he was closely involving himself with those who practiced idolatry, and who behaved excessively sinfully, and who were therefore under YHWH’s wrath. Furthermore, it is made clear that he had no need to do so as he had ‘riches and honor in abundance’. It was because of this connection that he risked the freedom of the realm by taking part in activities against Aram (Syria). It was because of the unacceptability of the treaty that a prophet of YHWH declared to him that because of his action he had come under the wrath of God (19.2).
There is a warning in this that Christians, while we should be friends of all, should beware of becoming too closely involved with those whose way and view of life are different from our own. It can lead into compromise and sin.
Despite the wealth and honor that YHWH had given to Jehoshaphat, sufficient to enable him to maintain his independence, Jehoshaphat elected to align himself with the house of Ahab, presumably seeking greater status for his house, and would thus be influenced into joining with Ahab in respect of the recapture of Ramoth-gilead, which would turn out to be grievous to YHWH.
Ramoth-gilead was a city in the Israelite territory of Gad. This would suggest that much of Israelite territory in Transjordan had been occupied by the Arameans (Syrians) during the warfare between Israel and Aram (Syria), and was now in Aramean (Syrian) hands in spite of Ben-hadad’s agreement with Ahab to hand it back (1 Kings 20.34). It was understandably a sore point with Ahab, so that he took the opportunity of his alliance with Jehoshaphat to persuade him to help him recover Ramoth-gilead from the Arameans (Syrians). What follows is, apart from the opening verses, almost identical with the similar narrative in 1 Kings 22.4-29.
The book of Chronicles does, however, put a different slant on it, seeing it rather from the point of view of Jehoshaphat. It is made quite clear that Jehoshaphat had freely chosen to enter into this dangerous relationship with Ahab, which was why such pressure could be put upon him, and its aim is to bring out the consequences for Jehoshaphat.
18 Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance; and by marriage he allied himself with Ahab.
In the light of the whole context, in which Jehoshaphat’s association with Ahab is condemned, the two parts of this verse should be a contrast. In the first instance Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance. This was regularly seen as being a consequence of the blessing of YHWH God. He prospered because our Holy Father God YHWH was with him. And as a consequence, he had all the riches and honor that he should have wanted. But like many who prosper he wanted more. He showed himself willing to compromise his devotion to YHWH by association with idolaters, to further increase his status.
Thus, now comes a note of his descent into a foreign alliance. Like Solomon he married off his son to a powerful idolatrous ruler, presumably because he saw it as adding status to his house, not recognizing the dangers that could arise. Humanly speaking it was a good move. At this stage Israel was in the ascendancy and being united with the house of Ahab would thus only be seen by the world as enhancing Jehoshaphat’s status. But in doing so, as we shall see, he forfeited his right to act independently in a way that was pleasing to YHWH and became willingly involved in a world of lying prophets and deceit. As a consequence he almost forfeited his own life, and came under the wrath of YHWH, and this in spite of his attempt to bring YHWH into the situation.
2 After some years he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria; and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead.
He went down to visit Ahab in Samaria, associating with an idolater in the very home of his idolatry. Here also he received abundance, as in verse 1, but this was abundance heavily connected with idolatry. The sheep and oxen may well have been sacrificed to Baal. It was tainted abundance. Jehoshaphat had gone down in more ways than one. He was obtaining his abundance from a false source. We are not given details of why he went down, but the sequel suggests that it was at Ahab’s invitation because Ahab had a venture in mind for which he needed Jehoshaphat’s help. The verb translated ‘moved’ can also mean ‘enticed, persuaded’. The double entendre is possibly intended. Jehoshaphat was being enticed out of the way of YHWH.
Ahab’s idea was that Jehoshaphat and Judah should help him regain Ramoth-gilead from the Arameans (Syrians) who still held possession of it despite a promise to hand it back.
3 So Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?” And he answered him, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will be with you in the war.”
Jehoshaphat’s response to Ahab was noteworthy. ‘I am as you are, and my people as your people.’ He saw his alliance as committing him to act in accordance with his treaty partner’s wishes. We note that there is at this stage no consultation with YHWH. The will of Ahab has replaced the will of YHWH. This was what his compromise had now led to. Thus, the commitment was made. ‘We will be with you in the war’.
4 Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire for the word of the LORD today.”
It is interesting that there is no mention that Josaphat asked our Holy Father God YHWH His thoughts on this deal. Now he stops and wants to do that. A good question to ask is why now? It was a sign of Jehoshaphat’s rightness of heart that he now partly redeemed himself from his rash commitment, making clear that he felt that they should first seek ‘the word of YHWH’. The request would be reasonable. It was normal practice in ancient days to seek the will of the gods prior to entering into engagements. His view was that unless YHWH was with them they could not hope to prosper.
5 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” So, they said, “Go up, for God will deliver it into the king’s hand.”
So ‘the king of Israel’ gathered his prophets together. There were four hundred of them. And we know from the record in Kings that they may have included prophets of Baal and Asherah. It will be noted in their reply that they said ‘God (not YHWH) will deliver them into the hand of the king, although later all would echo their own false prophet Zedekiah and declare that it was the will of YHWH (verse 11). It was the common practice among such prophets to say what would please the king. But they and the people almost certainly saw their prophecies as doing more than this. The belief was that their ‘inspired words’ would help to bring about what was predicted. They considered that the more they ‘prophesied’ the more the chance of success, thus the large numbers.
So to Ahab’s request as to whether the venture would be successful their united reply was that ‘God will deliver them into the hand of the king’.
6 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of Him?”
Jehoshaphat was not, however, satisfied. Seemingly the way in which these prophets carried out their prophesying was contrary to all that he was familiar with. He wanted to hear a prophet who would roundly declare ‘the word of YHWH’. So, he asked Ahab if such a prophet was available.
7 So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD; but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imla.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”
The king of Israel acknowledged that there was such a one who was reachable, a prophet named Micaiah, the son of Imla, but he assured Jehoshaphat that he was not the kind of prophet to be consulted because he never prophesied the right thing. Concerning Ahab himself he only prophesied evil and not good. We have brought out here the difference between Ahab and Jehoshaphat. Ahab wanted prophets who would prophesy in accordance with what he wanted, regardless of the source of their prophecies, and he probably thought that Jehoshaphat would concur. Jehoshaphat on the other hand considered it of most importance to hear the genuine will of YHWH. Never had two more mismatched kings been brought together.
Jehoshaphat made clear his disagreement with Ahab. He considered that it was more important to hear the word of YHWH from a true prophet of YHWH, than it was to hear prophecies tailored to what was required.
In our lives we come across the same situation that Jehoshaphat is going through. We make a bad decision then through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we know we made the wrong choice. So, instead of going through with what ever we are into we need to bow out gracefully even if it causes embarrassment.
8 Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said, “Bring Micaiah the son of Imla quickly!”
So, the King of Israel sent a messenger to fetch Micaiah the son of Imla as quickly as possible. He was eager to get Jehoshaphat’s confirmation that he was agreeable to the project.
9 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, clothed in their robes, sat each on his throne; and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.
The two kings sat on their royal thrones, robed in splendor, with all the prophets prophesying lies before them. He has in mind that later Micaiah will depict the scene in Heaven in similar terms, YHWH seated on his throne and all His servants speaking before Him. The contrast is vivid, and the earthly scene is seen as being the consequence of the Heavenly scene. It is indeed probable that Micaiah, as he looked around at this scene, deliberately drew the contrast.
10 Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself; and he said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed.’”
Meanwhile the false prophetswere making the most of their opportunity to impress the king and put him under obligation to them for their part in his ‘coming victory’. One of their number, Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, filled with false prophetic fervor, made some horns of iron, and, possibly putting them on his head and acting out the part, declared that they would be YHWH’s instrument for ‘pushing the Arameans (Syrians)’ until they were consumed. Such acted out prophecies were helping to bring about what they depicted. They thought that in some mysterious way the horns would become the horns of YHWH.
11 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the LORD will deliver it into the king’s hand.”
Equally enthusiastically the prophets all joined in. By now they had probably reached an even higher state of show. And taking up Zedekiah’s words they declared as one man that the king could go to Ramoth-gilead and conquer, because YHWH would surely deliver it into the king’s hand. It is apparent that the prophets of Baal had no difficulty in aligning themselves with the Israelite version of YHWH.
12 Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Therefore, please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragement.”
Meanwhile the king’s messenger had found Micaiah, and probably with every good intention urged Micaiah to go along with the other prophets for his own good. In that way he would avoid the wrath of the king.
13 And Micaiah said, “As the LORD lives, whatever my God says, that I will speak.”
Micaiah’s reply was simple, “As YHWH lives, what YHWH says to me, that will I speak.” He wanted it known that he would not prophesy anything other than what YHWH declared. He would speak the truth, and the full truth.
This was the difference between true prophecy and false prophecy. False prophecy was an attempt to make the gods do what the prophet wanted. True prophecy conveyed the mind of YHWH.
14 Then he came to the king; and the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” And he said, “Go and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand!”
When Micaiah came into the presence of the king, the king then asked him, whether in his view and in YHWH’s view they should go to Ramoth-gilead to battle or should refrain from fighting. Micaiah’s reply was that he should go up, for the cause would prosper, and YHWH would deliver Ramoth-gilead into his hand. We may assume from this prophecy that this was in fact what was achieved by the military action. What Micaiah had not, however, delivered was the punch line, and Ahab apparently knew it.
15 So the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?”
The king was suspicious about Micaiah’s reply. He clearly felt that something was missing in the reply. So, he told Micaiah to tell him the whole truth and hide nothing from him. What he wanted was ‘the truth in the Name of YHWH’, confirmation of YHWH would therefore bring about.
16 Then he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.’”
Micaiah then added to his previous prophecy what he had previously omitted. It was basically that in gaining their success Ahab himself would be killed, leaving Israel without a shepherd.
17 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”
Ahab probably thought that he was being deliberately vindictive. So, turning to Jehoshaphat he said, ‘Did I not tell you that he would not prophecy good concerning me, but evil?’ His pagan view was probably that Micaiah was trying to bring about his death by prophesying it. He was, however, sufficiently impressed to scheme a way to prevent any disaster happening to him.
18 Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left.
Micaiah then continued his prophecy. Looking at the splendid scene before him of the kings sitting in state on their thrones, with the prophets gathered around, he used it as a picture of the heavenly court. As he looked at them he pictured YHWH as similarly seated on a throne with the host of Heaven around Him, and with lying spirits appearing before Him. As he looked at the false prophets jabbering away it brought to his mind a picture of lying spirits
19 And the LORD said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So, one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner.
What Micaiah was trying to give here was an explanation of the prophesying of the false prophets, and he did it in striking picture terms. His aim, in other words, was to explain the ‘inspired’ prophets that he saw before him in terms that all would understand and not forget. He was not really suggesting that YHWH behaved like this, or that these lying spirits appeared before YHWH. He wanted the people to realize that it was these prophets who were possessed by lying spirits and were thus not actually conveying YHWH’s will at all. But trouble was that many of the people thought that they were. So, Micaiah wanted them to recognize that what these prophets were speaking were lies.
20 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ The LORD said to him, ‘In what way?’ 21 So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the LORD said, ‘You shall persuade him and also prevail; go out and do so.’
Here, Micaiah was saying, is the real source of the prophecies of the false prophets, a ‘spirit of prophecy’ which sought to entice men into catastrophe and granted permission to do so by YHWH.
Micaiah had far too high a view of God to believe that YHWH needed help and guidance from a spirit of any kind. This is an explanation of false prophecy based on what he saw before him. For in truth it was king Ahab on his throne who was inviting the advice of lying spirits. What was true was that God was allowing these men to prophesy falsely. Did the people really believe that these false prophets had contact with YHWH? Well if so, let them consider that it has simply led them astray into falsehood.
22 Therefore look! The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you.”
Micaiah then explained the meaning of his parable. He very much saw God as the ‘first cause’ of everything, simply because He was sovereign over all things. He thus knew that in the end everything that happened was ‘God’s doing’. But the point was that that was because He had created man and was allowing him to live out what he was. He was allowing man’s behavior within His sovereign purpose, not instigating it.
23 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, “Which way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to you?”
Infuriated at Micaiah’s suggestion that he was not a true prophet Zedekiah came near and struck Micaiah across the cheek. This was a regular way of indicating that such a person was not to be listened to and had spoken lies. Then he called on Micaiah to justify his statement. Did he not realize that all, as they had watched, had been able to see that he, Zedekiah, had been ‘filled with the spirit of YHWH’ by his very behavior and actions. Let Micaiah then explain how that spirit had passed on from him to Micaiah. There was nothing about Micaiah’s behavior which indicated possession by such a spirit.
24 And Micaiah said, “Indeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide!”
Micaiah’s reply was simple. The true evidence of the spirit of prophecy was that what was prophesied came about (Deuteronomy 18.22). Thus, when Zedekiah had to go to his inner room to hide himself because of his shame at the failure of his own prophecy, (and knew that Micaiah had spoken truly) he would know the answer to his own question.
25 Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah, and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son; 26 and say, ‘Thus says the king: “Put this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction, until I return in peace.”
Ahab recognized that what Micaiah was saying would destroy the morale of the army and immediately commanded that he be held in custody. He was to be put in the charge of Amon the governor of the city, and of Joash the king’s son until Ahab arrived back safely.
The king’s command was that ‘this fellow’ be fed and watered sparsely until Ahab safely returned in full health. Then, his prophecy having proved false, he could be dealt with accordingly.
27 But Micaiah said, “If you ever return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Take heed, all you people!”
Micaiah had full confidence in the word that he had received from YHWH and was quite content to await its fulfilment. He declared loudly for all to hear, ‘If you do return in full health and wellbeing then it will be true that YHWH has not spoken by me.’
28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead.
All having been concluded Ahab and Jehoshaphat, along with the armies of Israel and Judah, then went up to Ramoth-gilead over the Jordan. We will see that Ahab believed what Micaiah had said so he thought that if he had the king of Judah dress up in his royal clothes and he in disguise the death would not be his but would happen to Jehoshaphat.
It was always policy to seek to slay the opposing king, because thereby the battle would be ended quickly, the king’s will no longer being relevant. It was, however, never a simple thing to accomplish, as he went into battle surrounded by his elite bodyguard, and was in a well-protected chariot, amid other chariots. And by diverting the attention to Jehoshaphat the risk would be even more minimized. There would have seemed to him little reason why he should not come out unscathed, especially as by altering the usual pattern, there was hope that the prophecy, made based on that pattern, might be disrupted.
29 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle; but you put on your robes.” So, the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.
Royal leadership needed to be visible, that visibility could be provided by Jehoshaphat. Meanwhile Ahab in his disguise would be recognized by his men while being ‘invisible’ to the opposition and would thereby hopefully upset the prophecy.
30 Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him, saying, “Fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel.”
Meanwhile the strategy of the king of Aram was that all his chariot captains should avoid general conflict as much as possible and concentrate on attacking the king of Israel in person. The hope was that by working together they could break though the bodyguard surrounding the king until the opportunity arose for them to attack him in person.
31 So it was, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, “It is the king of Israel!” Therefore, they surrounded him to attack; but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him, and God diverted them from him.
Thus when the captains saw Jehoshaphat clothed in royal armor and with banners flying, riding in his chariot at the head of the charge, they assumed that it was the king of Israel, and they all converged on the royal party with a view to killing him.
32 For so it was, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.
Once the chariot captains heard his war cry they realized immediately that this could not be the king of Israel and baffled in their objective turned their attentions elsewhere.
33 Now a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So, he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded.”
Ahab had hidden himself from men, but he could not hide himself from God. Even as he fought, an unknown Aramean archer let loose an arrow at random which pierced the joints in his armor. The archers would, of course let loose a volley of arrows time and again, hitting soldiers at random, many of the arrows glancing off shields and armor. This one, unknown to himself, was fulfilling the king of Aram’s command, for his arrow ‘chanced’ to pierce the joints of Ahab’s armor. Armor in those days was not always able to provide protection against arrows. But the prophecy makes clear that it was not ‘chance’. The arrow had been directed by YHWH.
Recognizing that he was badly wounded Ahab directed his chariot driver to take him out of the fighting, to the rear. He had a twofold aim. First to deal with the wound, and second to ensure that he could still take up a position where he could be seen by his men. While they saw that he was still alive they would know that they had to go on fighting. Once they thought that he was dead they would withdraw, having lost their commander-in-chief. They were not a professional army, but a militia brought together by the king to fulfil his purpose, and they wanted nothing better than to return to their fields. It was only the king’s authority that held them to their purpose.
34 The battle increased that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening; and about the time of sunset he died.
The battle grew more and more fierce, and the soldiers kept on fighting, for they could see their king standing in his chariot observing the battle. They little realized that he was severely wounded and bravely holding himself up by some means, whether by willpower or in some other way. For Ahab knew that the battle depended on his presence, and whatever he was he was a brave man. But finally, when evening came his body could hold out no longer and he died. 1 Kings 22.36 tells us the sequel, that once they learned that evening that he was dead the army slowly evaporated and returned to their homes. Israel in West Jordan was in no danger of invasion, and they saw no point in spending more time over Ramoth-gilead. It had not been Israel’s for many years. But Chronicles was not interested in the outcome of the battle and ignored the ending. All that was concerned with was the death of Ahab as prophesied by the prophet of YHWH, and the safe return of Jehoshaphat because YHWH sustained him.
