1Ki 22:29-40 | KingComments | STEP | Jehoshaphat, too, does not seem to have been really impressed by Micaiah’s speech. He lets himself not be warned, we do not hear a word from him that he will not go. In any case, he does abort the undertaking, but goes to war with Ahab. He probably has to go along out of himself, because he has committed himself to go along. Jehoshaphat knows everything that awaits him, what is going to happen, but he can’t go back. Jehoshaphat seems to be completely at the mercy of Ahab. Ahab determines the tactics and Jehoshaphat follows slavishly. Ahab will disguise himself, but he tells Jehoshaphat to keep his royal clothes on. Ahab thinks that by disguising himself he can escape the judgment that has been announced. This is primitive superstition. He also behaves cowardly, because by letting Jehoshaphat keep his royal clothes on, he knows that the enemy will focus mainly on Jehoshaphat, who can be recognized as king. God’s Spirit tells us that the king of Aram or Syria has commanded his men to focus only on the king of Israel. Ahab and Jehoshaphat know nothing about this order. The enemy will search until he finds the king. It’s only about him. When the battle burns loose, it is not surprising that the enemy’s arrows are on Jehoshaphat. After all, he is recognizable as king. For the enemy he is the king of Israel. That’s the result of his going along with Ahab. The world no longer sees a difference between those who fear God and those who do not fear Him. What a warning for us. When Jehoshaphat notices that the enemy is aiming for him, he cries out for help ( ). In the description of this history in 2 Chronicles 18 it then follows: “And the LORD helped him, and God diverted them from him” ( ). What a grace from God. Whosoever calls unto Him in his need shall be helped by Him. It is a miracle of the LORD that they discover that he is not the king of Israel and turn away from him.

‏ 1 Kings 22:29-40

Ahab and Jehoshaphat Go to War

Jehoshaphat, too, does not seem to have been really impressed by Micaiah’s speech. He lets himself not be warned, we do not hear a word from him that he will not go. In any case, he does abort the undertaking, but goes to war with Ahab. He probably has to go along out of himself, because he has committed himself to go along. Jehoshaphat knows everything that awaits him, what is going to happen, but he can’t go back.

Jehoshaphat seems to be completely at the mercy of Ahab. Ahab determines the tactics and Jehoshaphat follows slavishly. Ahab will disguise himself, but he tells Jehoshaphat to keep his royal clothes on. Ahab thinks that by disguising himself he can escape the judgment that has been announced. This is primitive superstition. He also behaves cowardly, because by letting Jehoshaphat keep his royal clothes on, he knows that the enemy will focus mainly on Jehoshaphat, who can be recognized as king.

God’s Spirit tells us that the king of Aram or Syria has commanded his men to focus only on the king of Israel. Ahab and Jehoshaphat know nothing about this order. The enemy will search until he finds the king. It’s only about him. When the battle burns loose, it is not surprising that the enemy’s arrows are on Jehoshaphat. After all, he is recognizable as king. For the enemy he is the king of Israel. That’s the result of his going along with Ahab. The world no longer sees a difference between those who fear God and those who do not fear Him. What a warning for us.

When Jehoshaphat notices that the enemy is aiming for him, he cries out for help (1Kgs 22:32). In the description of this history in 2 Chronicles 18 it then follows: “And the LORD helped him, and God diverted them from him” (2Chr 18:31). What a grace from God. Whosoever calls unto Him in his need shall be helped by Him. It is a miracle of the LORD that they discover that he is not the king of Israel and turn away from him.

The Death of Ahab

Just as Jehoshaphat is spared by a miracle of the LORD, so Ahab is killed by a miracle of the LORD. Without the soldier, who at random draws the bow and shoots the arrow away, knowing who he strikes, he strikes Ahab deadly. Ahab is not killed by a stray arrow. No soldier shoots in the wild. It is an arrow controlled by the LORD to strike Ahab deadly.

Ahab is not instantly dead. He instructs the driver of his chariot to drive away from the battle. The wound appears to result in death. Ahab loses more and more blood, life flows away from him. He remains in the turmoil of battle, without opportunity to dress the wound. Finally, he dies because the blood continues to flow from the wound.

It shows how accurately the LORD fulfills His word. When Ahab has died, he is taken to Samaria and buried there. The car with the blood of Ahab is washed “by the pool of Samaria”. The pool is given a further indication: it is the place where “the harlots bathed themselves”, these are the temple harlots, women who serve as temple prostitutes in Baal’s service. By this we are reminded at the death and funeral of this wicked king of this horrible religion and its deep depravity. In this way Ahab disappears from the stage and so he remains in the memory.