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In the Chronicles…<3

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As I read through the Bible this year, I will be doing what I do every time I practice this discipline. The teacher in me will be stopping to share something I got from the reading. And the one I am sharing today I have shared in front of our class many times over the years and here on the blog in the past. 

Good lessons are like that. They are worth repeating, mostly because I am slow to learn. And by sharing, I get this deeper into my own soul and hopefully you learn something too. 

The first time I read through the Bible, I noticed the repetition of and overlapping in accounts of things in 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles. Since all of these books cover the same period of history – the kings of Israel and then the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, a reader can feel like it is just so much rehashing. 

This would be a big mistake. 

Each book and account has an audience and a purpose and while some days I falter as I try to skim through names of people and places I can’t pronounce and my head and heart swim at the constant wavering between following the Lord and doing evil and worse evil, I hang in there. 

Because it all matters and often there are such rich lessons for even a novice scholar like me. 

Today a portion of my reading was 2 Chronicles 18: 1-27 and I urge you to grab your Bible and read this for yourself. Go ahead. I will wait. 

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Okay…here we go with the lesson:

The story involves Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, visiting Ahab, King of Israel. King Ahab asks King Jehoshaphat to support him in a war against Ramoth-gilead. Jehoshaphat assures him of Judah’s support of Israel, but asks if they might inquire of the Lord before they pursue this battle plan. 

Ahab, we are told, gathers 400 prophets and asks them to listen to God as to the decision to go up against Ramoth-gilead, or to stand down. 

In unison, the 400 answer that they should go to war and God will hand the enemy over to them. 

King Jehoshaphat is not convinced and asks if there is not a prophet of the LORD in Israel that they can ask about this. Apparently the 400 were not prophets of the LORD in the eyes of the King of Judah. 

The King of Israel answers Jehoshaphat thus:

“There is still one man who can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies good about me, but only disaster.

” 2 Chronicles 18:7

I find this so interesting and so convicting. 

I hate him…I don’t seek his counsel…even though he is authorized to inquire of the LORD…because he never says anything I want to hear. 

Wow. 

Is that not the issue with our culture and our own selves so often? 

Basically, “I know you are the one with the right answers but I don’t want to listen to you because I don’t like what you are going to tell me. It is not what or how I want to do this, so I am not even going to ask your advice.”

And deep down this shows a pride and lack of ascribing to God His worth. Ahab believed that this prophet had the authority to speak to God and discern God’s will, but the king did not want to do anything except what he wanted to do. 

Reading on, Jehoshaphat reprimanded Ahab for saying this and so Ahab sent for the prophet.

While they waited for him to arrive, some of these other prophets acted out all manner of “thus saith the LORD” with various dramas and antics to convince the kings to march against Ramoth-gilead. 

In verse 12 we see the messenger who is fetching Micaiah telling this prophet what all the other prophets are saying and urging him to just go along with the majority. 

Being a true prophet, Micaiah responds with the typical politically incorrect line of all those who had authority to inquire of the LORD and he says…I can only tell them what God tells me to say. It’s part of the job. 

Now this is where it gets interesting and takes one of those crazy twists that we see so often in Scripture. 

The two kings are sitting on thrones and Micaiah is brought before them. King Ahab asks him the same question he asked the other prophets and Micaiah responds with affirmation and agreement with the 400 before him. 

March on up there, God will hand them over to you. 

Well, okay. Looks like God is behind the plan. 

But wait. 

Here is King Ahab’s response to this good news of a seal of approval:

“How many times must I make you swear not to tell me anything but the truth in the name of the LORD?”

2 Chronicles 18:15

What? 

The guy just told you what you wanted to hear, but something about it smacked of not coming from the LORD.

How did Ahab know?

We don’t know. I would guess he knew in his gut that God wasn’t about to help him. Just like you and I know that nagging feeling that what we want to be God’s will, isn’t God’s will…no matter how much we stick our fingers in our spiritual ears and hum to cover his voice. 

It turns out that God lets Ahab in on the full counsel once he insists that Micaiah spills all he knows. 

Micaiah, in verse 16 tells the kings that this battle will bring all of Israel to utter defeat and they will be scattered. The battle is not going to be won. The Lord will not deliver the enemy into their hands. And on top of it, God intended for all the prophets to lie so that this very defeat will happen according to His plan. 

Ahab turns to Jehoshaphat and says…didn’t I tell you this guy only says bad stuff? He has Micaiah locked up in prison and says he can only have a little bread and water til the kings return from battle. 

Both of the kinds, in spite of seeking the counsel of a man who can inquire of the LORD, do not follow what they know to be true.

And Ahab does not return from battle.

Because it goes just the way it was told to them and Ahab dies. The troops are scattered and defeated. Jehoshaphat lives but is rebuked for his willingness to go along with something that was obviously not God’s will for him. 

So much to soak in here. So many lessons for us all.

Take some time to pray over this and see what God might be speaking into your life.

Tomorrow I want to talk a little more about Jehoshaphat after he returned from this poorly spent season of his life. Hope you will read these passages with me if you have time and be ready for some thoughts about Chapter 20. 

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2 Comments

  1. Thanks for such a good recap of this story in the Bible! ‘Good refresher as we studied the same Scripture passage earlier this year in BSF. How like the Israelites we are…I am! I don’t want to have a “poorly spent season of life” because I am not willing to listen to God’s voice and OBEY Him. <3

    1. Thank you. I am not a deep scholar and never want to misrepresent Scripture so I appreciate hearing that it was a good recap from a student of BSF…so much respect for their teaching of the Word! Thank you for taking time to encourage me! And right there with you as I certainly can relate to the Israelites! sigh <3

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