2 Chron 18 – Study
For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.
Passage: 2 Chron 18:1-17
1 Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honour, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage. 2 Some years later he went down to see Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him and urged him to attack Ramoth Gilead. 3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, ‘Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?’
Jehoshaphat replied, ‘I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will join you in the war.’ 4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, ‘First seek the counsel of the Lord.’
5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets – four hundred men – and asked them, ‘Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I not?’
‘Go,’ they answered, ‘for God will give it into the king’s hand.’
6 But Jehoshaphat asked, ‘Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can enquire of?’
7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, ‘There is still one prophet through whom we can enquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.’
‘The king should not say such a thing,’ Jehoshaphat replied.
8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, ‘Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.’
9 Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing-floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. 10 Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns, and he declared, ‘This is what the Lord says: “With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.”’
11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. ‘Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious,’ they said, ‘for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.’
12 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 favourably.’
13 But Micaiah said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what my God says.’
14 When he arrived, the king asked him, ‘Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I not?’
‘Attack and be victorious,’ he answered, ‘for they will be given into your hand.’
15 The king said to him, ‘How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?’
16 Then Micaiah answered, ‘I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, “These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.”’
17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?’
A. Find Out:
- What did Jehoshaphat do, with what consequence? v.1-3
- Yet what did he ask and what inadequate response was given? v.4-5
- So what did he ask with what outcome? v.6-8
- How did the false prophets try to influence Micaiah? v.9-14
- How was he challenged and what did he then prophesy? v.15,16
- How did Ahab respond? v.17
B. Think:
- How do both kings show some spiritual discernment in this passage?
- How are Israel and Judah contrasted?
C. Comment:
First a brief summary of what occurs in this passage: Jehoshaphat, king of Judah , allies himself with Ahab, king of Israel . As a result he is then drawn in to help Ahab repulse the Syrians in the north. But, wisely, Jehoshaphat suggests they first seek the Lord, for that is what he has always done so far. Ahab calls his prophets – the false prophets of Baal – who tell him to go to war. Jehoshaphat isn’t happy with this and wants a prophet of the Lord. Ahab acknowledges there is such a man – Micaiah – but grumbles that he always speaks bad of him (not surprising as Ahab was out of relationship with the Lord!). Nevertheless Micaiah is brought, but in coming he is told in no uncertain terms to agree with the false prophets. He is outnumbered 400 to 1 and so when he comes before the two kings he disdainfully gives the same message. Now what is fascinating is that Ahab realises that this is not God’s word and so challenges him. Micaiah responds with a word about defeat. Ahab replies, “There I told you so!”
The spiritual dynamics here are amazing. Jehoshaphat wants to hear from God. Both kings recognise uneasily the sub-standard quality of the prophets of Baal, and Ahab recognises a false prophecy! It’s a mixed up situation but these two very different kings both recognise spiritual truths. Whatever the outcome, they will both know the truth of the situation. Amazing!
D. Application:
- Have a problem? Seek the Lord!
- Learn to discern between real and false spirituality.
Passage: 2 Chron 18:18-34
18 Micaiah continued, ‘Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left. 19 And the Lord said, “Who will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?”
‘One suggested this, and another that. 20 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, “I will entice him.”
‘“By what means?” the Lord asked.
21 ‘“I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,” he said.
‘“You will succeed in enticing him,” said the Lord. “Go and do it.”
22 ‘So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.’
23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. ‘Which way did the spirit from the Lord go when he went from me to speak to you?’ he asked.
24 Micaiah replied, ‘You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room.’
25 The king of Israel then ordered, ‘Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king’s son, 26 and say, “This is what the king says: put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.”’
27 Micaiah declared, ‘If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me.’ Then he added, ‘Mark my words, all you people!’
28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. 29 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.
30 Now the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders, ‘Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.’ 31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, ‘This is the king of Israel.’ So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him, 32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they stopped pursuing him.
33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armour. The king told the chariot driver, ‘Wheel round and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.’ 34 All day long the battle raged, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening. Then at sunset he died.
A. Find Out:
- What did Micaiah see the Lord asking? v.18,19
- So what was the heavenly outcome? v.20,21
- What was the outworking of that? v.22
- What happened to Micaiah? v.25,26
- How did Ahab try to counter this prophecy? v.28,29
- But what happened? v.30-34
B. Think:
- What do we learn from Micaiah’s vision of heaven?
- What do we learn about Ahab in this passage?
- What do we learn about Jehoshaphat?
C. Comment:
Micaiah has just prophesied that there will be defeat and now he adds to that word. We find he has a remarkable view of heaven where he sees a heavenly counsel discussing Ahab’s downfall. The outcome is that the Lord sends a lying spirit. How can this be? A wider reading of Scripture indicates that the Lord uses Satan or evil spirits to bring about judgement or discipline (see Judges 9:22 -24, 1 Cor 5:5). How is He able to do this? Because where there are those who are already deceived and living ungodly and unrighteous lives, He can suggest things to them that will seem right to them but which will cause their downfall. So it was here with the prophets of Baal.
We also see the stubbornness and foolishness of sin revealed so clearly in Ahab. He knows Micaiah is a true prophet but he thinks he can outsmart God. Thus he goes into battle in disguise and Jehoshaphat goes into battle openly in royal robes. But the scheme doesn’t work and Jehoshaphat is saved by the Lord and Ahab is killed by a ‘random’ enemy arrow. When God declares it, it will happen. But now comes a time of accountability because Jehoshaphat shouldn’t have allied himself with Ahab in the first place. People who try to out-guess the Lord only show their folly!
D. Application:
- If we wilfully put ourselves in a wrong place we can expect the Lord to discipline us (Heb 12:6) and that’s painful!
- Seek at all times to be as obedient as you can be to the Lord.