This week, we shall finish the study
of the book of 1 Kings and continue on to study the book of 2 Kings; the two
books existed originally as one volume in the Hebrew Bible.
(1) Can you recall how the last battle between Ahab and Ben-Hadad was won in 1 Kings 20 and how many Aramean soldiers were killed by Israel’s mere 7,000 strong army? (20:29-30)
(2) What caused king Ahab to wage another war against the Arameans? Where did his confidence come from?
(3) While Jehoshaphat was receptive to Ahab’s invitation to join forces against the Arameans, what did he ask Ahab to do and why? What was the difference between the two kings?
(4) Since these four hundred prophets were not prophets of Baal, why was Jehoshaphat not satisfied with their answer and asked, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire?’ (22:7)
(5) Why was Micaiah not included in the original company of prophets?
(6) Why didn’t Ahab like to hear the truth from Micaiah?
(7) What about you?
(8) Why did the Bible seem to emphasize that the two kings were “dressed in their royal robes” in front of the prophets? Should this be their attitude in seeking the Lord?
(9) How did Zedekiah (who appeared to be the leader of the pack) seek to affirm the certainty of his prophecy?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Is there no longer a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?” (1 Ki. 22:7)
It was really sad that even though God had given Ahab so many chances to repent and humble himself before Him, Ahab still would not truly seek the Lord or devote himself fully to Him. The battle in Mount Carmel should settle once-for-all for him that only the Lord is the One True God he should worship (1 Ki. 19). The dire prophesy by Elijah about the fate of his descendants should also make him turn to the Lord for good (1 Ki. 21:24). However, his so-called repentance was short-lived, and it amounted to nothing more than a sense of remorse. While he might stop worshipping Baal, he still lived for himself and for all intents and purposes, did not worship the Lord. This was fully demonstrated in his desire to wage war against the Arameans.
For one, he totally forgot that his defeat of the mighty army of Aram with his mere 7,000 soldiers was entirely the work of God. How could he think that he could repeat such a victory all by himself—even with the help of Jehoshaphat whom he tried to manipulate through the marrying of his own daughter to his son ( 2 Ki. 8:18)!
Then, as Jehoshaphat reminded him that they should inquire first of the Lord, he obviously and purposely left out Micaiah from the company of prophets he would inquire of, just because, in his own words, “he (Micaiah) never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad” (1 Ki. 22:8).
It was obvious that he was not in a habit of consulting the Lord, even in very important matters. The Lord was never really part of his life! The reason, however, was rather obvious. He knew what he did was not pleasing to the Lord, why should he ask then!
As bad as
he was, I find that he was better than some of us! While he did not wish even to consult of the
Lord in what he did, we, sometimes, want to “use” God to justify our course of
action.
I remember many years ago when I was a businessman, and there was a crisis in my business and I happened to be traveling to San Francisco. In the quietness of the hotel room, I read the Scriptures to seek God’s will. As I came across a passage in 2 Kings, it appeared to fit my situation perfectly, and I was so overwhelmed by the promises in the passage that I knelt down before the bed and praised the Lord.
After some years, as I looked back at what happened to my business, none of what I perceived as spoken to me by the Lord through the passage came to pass. I have come to understand that as much as I wanted to seek the Lord, my desire to see how God should answer me was so strong that I caused myself to read too much into the Word of God. Not that God had sent a “lying spirit” to deceive me (1 Ki. 22:23), I was deceived by my own desire without knowing it.
(1) What kind of pressure did the prophet Micaiah face?
(2) What choices did he have?
(3) What did he choose and why?
(4) “The vision described by Micaiah was not merely a subjective drapery introduced by the prophet, but a simple communication of the real inward vision by which the fact had been revealed to him” (K&D, 196):
a. Do you agree? Why?
b. Why would God agree to send a “deceiving spirit” to the prophets?
c. Without this “deceiving spirit”, what would these prophets say (or had already said)?
d. So what role did the “deceiving spirit” play?
(5) How did Zedekiah respond to the words of Micaiah? Why?
(6) How did the king respond to the words of Micaiah? Why?
(7) What should King Jehoshaphat do under the circumstance?
(8) What did he do? (22:29) Why?
(9) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, ‘Look, the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably'.” (1 Ki. 22:13)
It is never easy to stand for God’s truth in this world of sin; it is even harder when you have to stand against the opinion of others who think they are on the side of God.
Micaiah found himself in the latter situation which was complicated by the fact these four hundred prophets really thought they were on God’s side and that their prophecy did come from the Lord.
While scholars are divided as to whether that deceiving spirit was sent by God among His own angels or that deceiving spirit was an evil spirit, the important point is that even without the help of that spirit, they had already decided to lie to the king saying, “Go…for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand” (22:6). The deceiving spirit only served to seal their self-delusion and deception of the king.
How then would Micaiah know that his vision was genuine while the prophecy of the other prophets was a deception? The difference of course lies in the fact Micaiah had resolved to tell “only what he Lord” told him (22:14). His pure heart gave him the confidence that what he saw was of the Lord. With this confidence he told the two kings the truth and suffered the expected consequence—being put into prison. But, he was equally confident of his ultimate vindication (22:28) which appeared to happen within a really short period of time.
The lessons we learn from Micaiah include the following:
(1) It is often a lonely feeling when we
stand up for the truth of God.
(2) It is not only unpopular; we may have to
face persecution or at least isolation.
(3) But we will be vindicated
ultimately, although it may take years or decades—and sometimes, we may have to
wait till we see the Lord for our vindication. Just the same, all God asks of us is that we be faithful!
(1) Jehoshaphat was a godly king, why then would he go to war with Ahab, especially given the prophecy by Micaiah?
(2) What price did he have to pay for his action? (see v. 32, and 2 Chr. 19:2; 18:31-32)
(3) Did Ahab have peace going into the battle? How can we tell? (22:30)
(4) Why then would he insist on waging this war, given the prophecy by Micaiah?
(5) Did his disguise work? Why?
(6) In what ways does the Bible show quite sarcastically that his effort to avoid God’s prophecy was futile? (22:34)
(7) How many prophecies did Ahab’s death fulfill? (see 1 Ki. 20:42; 21:19; 22:17)
(8) If you were to write a eulogy for Ahab, what would you say?
(9) What about his epitaph, what might you engrave on his tombstone!
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“So the king died…and the dogs licked up his blood, as the word of the LORD had declared.” (1 Ki. 22:37-38)
By definition, a fool is one “who shows himself, by words or by actions, to be deficient in judgment, sense or understanding” (Webster’s Dictionary), and Ahab was certainly one!
While all the kings of Israel (i.e. the Northern Kingdom) did evil in the eyes of the Lord, few kings were as evil as he was, and even fewer kings were given that many opportunities to repent.
God used three prophets to warn him successively, starting with Elijah (1 Ki. 18); then an unnamed prophet (1 Ki. 20), and finally the prophet Micaiah (1 Ki. 22). In each of the cases, God used the prophet to warn him of the consequence of his sin (20:42; 21:19; 22:17). While some of these warnings brought him to sorrow, he did not truly repent.
While words might not be enough to bring him to his senses, God used a severe drought of 3½ years, the mighty fire from heaven on Mount Carmel and even a mighty miraculous victory over Aram, hoping to awaken his senses, but to no avail. He was determined to walk his own way! In other words, his greatest folly lay in his determination to walk the path of self-destruction knowingly.
Indeed, Ahab had shown himself, by words and by actions, to be deficient in judgment, sense and understanding! He was a fool!
If I were to engrave words to his tomb, this would be his epitaph: “A fool who spurned the grace of God!”
(1) How old was Jehoshaphat when he became king?
(2) How long did his father Asa reign and what kind of a king was his father? (15:10-11)
(3) What impact did his father have on him? (22:43)
(4) What did he do that was even better than his father in getting rid of evil in the land? (22:46)
(5) What might be the reason that he could maintain peace with the king of Israel (i.e. Ahab)? Was it necessarily a good thing? (2 Ki. 8:16-18)
(6) Here is an abbreviated account of Jehoshaphat’s attempt to build a fleet
and his failure in this respect. Read 2
Chronicles 20:35-37 and see reasons for the following:
a. Why were the ships wrecked?
b. Why did he refuse to set sail with Ahaziah, king of Israel?
(7) What kind of a king was Ahaziah?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the king of Israel.” (1 Ki. 22:44)
Apart from being a king like his father Asa, walking in the ways of the Lord, Jehoshaphat was able to make peace with his northern neighbors, Israel. That should be something very admirable.
Jehoshaphat was born around the 6th year of Asa’s reign and ascended to the throne eventually at age 35. His godly character was obviously influenced by his father. He witnessed the spiritual reformation of his father both as a child and as an adult (1 Ki. 15:9-15). In fact, he did something that his father failed to do, that was the removing of “the rest of the male shrine prostitutes”, which was an abomination to the land (1 Ki. 22:46).
One might be quick to say that he was also able to achieve peace with Israel, which his father was not able to do. On the surface, “peace” should always be the goal of God’s children, especially peace with other children of God. However, Israel under their king Ahab, were God’s people in name only. To be associated with Ahab and his people was to be associated with evil.
Presumably, Jehoshaphat was able to achieve peace with Ahab by marrying his son to Ahab’s daughter, and he further wanted to enter into a marine joint venture with Israel. While the latter was condemned by the prophet Eliezer (2 Chr. 20:37), the former had led to the sinning of his son (2 Ki. 8:18).
Indeed, we need to live in peace “if it is possible” (Rom. 12:18), and God is certainly delighted when His children live in unity (Ps. 133). However, we cannot seek unity without truth as Paul reminds us, “For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?” (2 Cor. 6:14). It was on this basis that Jehoshaphat was rebuked by the Lord (2 Chr. 20:35).
As much as some Evangelicals, out of a sincere desire for unity, strive to seek common grounds with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, we should be very careful not to sacrifice the gospel truth for the sake of outward unity.