Read 2 Chronicles 18
Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab
18 Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor, 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 inquire of?”
7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire 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 favorably.”
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?”
18 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lordsitting 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!”
Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead
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 disguisedhimself 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 armor. The king told the chariot driver, “Wheel around 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.
Go Deeper
Second Chronicles 18 reminds us of the importance of discerning which voices we choose to follow. It is easy to seek out voices that affirm what we already want to hear. When we have a strong desire, we want the people around us to tell us that we are right in what we want. In this chapter, Ahab wants victory, so he gathers prophets that tell him he would defeat Syria. Jehoshaphat aligns himself with Ahab as a way to protect his own kingdom, but insists on hearing from one more voice before he commits to going into battle with Ahab. Micaiah, a prophet of the Lord, speaks in opposition to what Ahab’s prophets had said despite Ahab’s efforts to convince Micaiah to do otherwise.
In a culture that is constantly telling us to find our own truth, to do what feels good, and to follow our own desires, it is easy to surround ourselves with voices that affirm what we want to be true. This makes Biblical community all the more important. Proverbs tells us, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses,” (Proverbs 27:6). The people we surround ourselves with have a profound influence on how we walk with the Lord and our obedience to Him.
Jehoshaphat, because he chose to align himself with a king that is not surrendered to the Lord, finds himself listening to false prophets and going into a battle that the Lord had said would end in disaster. He compromises obedience to the Lord because of his misaligned priorities. Instead of being concerned with dependence on and obedience to God, he sought political gain through an alliance with Ahab. 2 Corinthians 6:14 warns us, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” Paul is warning us about the people we commit to walking with, knowing that the voices we listen to determine the direction we are headed.
In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Followers of Jesus should be marked by the way we follow Jesus and influence the culture around us, not sacrificing truth for the sake of our own desires.
Questions
- Whose voices do you choose to listen to when seeking wisdom? Who are the people that you know will point you to Jesus, even if it’s not what you want to hear?
- Where are you ignoring the voice of God in your life? Where do you need to surrender to him?
- Are you the type of friend that is willing to point others to truth, in love, even when it feels difficult?
Keep Digging
In the same way Jehoshaphat was led away from obedience to God by following King Ahab, Ahab was led away from God by marrying Jezebel. Read this article to learn more about Jezebel’s relationship with Ahab and how he eventually turned from God, leading to their destruction.
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9 responses to “2 Chronicles 18”
BUT GOD even when we choose wrong and do not make right choices, He can make lemonade out of our lemons. We search for answers to a question but when it is not what we really want to hear we keep asking others until someone gives us an answer that tickles our ear. (2 Timothy 4:3 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths). Even as I mostly fumble through life, imperfectly carrying out what I know God wants, WOOHOO BUT GOD His plan prevails.
Salvation is a matter of life or death. Mostly we want all to saved but what we don’t tell is that it is following God is hard at times, not rainbows and sunshine. But I guess that is truly in the eye of the beholder. I do know that I desire to follow God with all of, my complete and total, being. But I still struggle with people pleasing, anger and pride. I am giving those things to God and asking for guidance to rid them out of my life in a lot of the minutes in a day. BUT the joy, the amazing peace, the lack of anxiety that has come with following is by far better than any “fix” I have found in the world.
God thank You for making right choices, for hearing (shema) Your voice in the chaos noise of this world. God thank You for the minutes of this day and listening to hear and obey You. Thank You for helping me with my pride and showing me how to lay that down. Thank You for helping me minutely to keep my mouth shut when I want to people please or when I get angry. God I give You glory and honor in today, with these minutes and I am so grateful for Your Holy Spirit and the guidance. God help me to let Your light so shine that You and You alone get the honor for these minutes in this day in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is a cautionary tale to be sure. I find that confirmation bias is tempting, but as a follower of the living God, I am encouraged more by the reality of His will. Seeking God’s true will for your life is FAR better than hoping to hear what you “want” because we rarely know what is best for us. I have learned throughout my life that I am more content with a deeper sense of joy when I know that I am pursuing God’s best for me.
My prayer today is for His best for me. I pray the same for everyone who reads this.
Yes, confirmation bias is very tempting!
Jehoshaphat has modeled a remarkable devotion to God, but today he navigates into what could be dangerous territory with King Ahab, which almost cost him his life. Where might we be compromising our faith and slipping into sin? What voices are we listening to, the still, small whispers of the Holy Spirit or the loud ones of our generation? One leads to life, the other to death. May we never get so comfortable or complacent that we fail to discern the voice of truth.
7 “but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad.“
I can relate! It is very hard to have people around me with whom I disagree! But, if prudent, having such contrary views can be useful in sound decision-making!
One of my favorite “wisdom for decision-making” verses comes from Proverbs 11:
“Where there is no [wise, intelligent] guidance, the people fall [and go off course like a ship without a helm], But in the abundance of [wise and godly] counselors there is victory.”
-Proverbs 11:14 AMP
But such wisdom doesn’t come from seeking out the popular people and following them because of peer pressure. What good does it do me to ask for a lot of advice… if the people I’m asking are not wise?
While there may be safety in numbers, the same can’t be said of wisdom. I’m much better off listening to one person who listens to GOD – than a whole bunch of people telling me what I want to hear.
As I was thinking on this morning’s chapter, I was trying to get the dog walked before the rain started, accompanied by a playlist of traditional Thanksgiving hymns. That’s when I heard this childhood favorite:
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,
the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy
health and salvation!
All ye who hear,
Now to His temple draw near;
Sing now in glad adoration!
The hymn goes on to sing praises to God, who always protects… always provides… fully sustains… abundantly satisfies.
Today’s chapter reminds us that human understanding is flawed, and human strength can falter. It doesn’t matter how “many” people we turn to if they (or we) are turned from God.
God alone is the one we depend on, as the One who never fails:
“Praise to the Lord, who o’er all
things so wondrously reigneth,
Who, as on wings of an eagle,
uplifteth, sustaineth.
Hast thou not seen
How thy desires all have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?“
Jehoshaphat’s willingness to seek God’s guidance reflects humility, a vital trait for any leader.
James 4:10 encourages us, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.”
Humility allows us to recognize our need for God’s wisdom and direction, leading to more effective and righteous leadership.
Duplicated= disregard
King Jehoshaphat demonstrates the importance of seeking divine guidance before making decisions. When he allies with King Ahab of Israel, he insists on consulting the Lord first.
Proverbs 3:6, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
Seeking God’s counsel ensures that our decisions align with His will, leading to peace and clarity.