1 AND they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel.
2 And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.
3 And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria?
4 And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth-gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.
5 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord to day.
6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
7 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might inquire of him?
8 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
9 Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah.
10 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.
11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the Lord, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.
12 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the king’s hand.
13 And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.
14 And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak.
15 So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
16 And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord?
17 And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.
18 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
19 And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.
20 And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him.
22 And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
23 Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.
24 But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee?
25 And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.
26 And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son;
27 And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.
28 And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.
29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead.
30 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.
31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.
32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out.
33 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.
34 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.
35 And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.
36 And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country.
37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.
38 And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armour; according unto the word of the Lord which he spake.
39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
40 So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.
41 And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.
42 Jehoshaphat was thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
43 And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord: nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places.
44 And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
45 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he shewed, and how he warred, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
46 And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land.
47 There was then no king in Edom: a deputy was king.
48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber.
49 Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not.
50 And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.
51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel.
52 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin:
53 For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the Lord God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.

1And they continued three yeeres without warre betweene Syria and Israel.

2And it came to passe on the third yere, that Iehoshaphat the King of Iudah came downe to the king of Israel.

3(And the king of Israel said vnto his seruants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and wee be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria?)

4And hee said vnto Iehoshaphat, Wilt thou goe with me to battel to Ramoth Gilead? And Iehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.

5And Iehoshaphat said vnto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord to day.

6Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together about foure hundred men, and said vnto them, Shall I goe against Ramoth Gilead to battell, or shall I forbeare? And they said, Goe vp, for the Lord shall deliuer it into the hand of the king.

7And Iehoshaphat said, Is there not here a Prophet of the Lord besides, that we might enquire of him?

8And the king of Israel said vnto Iehoshaphat, There is yet one man, (Micaiah the sonne of Imlah) by whom we may enquire of the Lord; but I hate him, for he doth not prophesie good concerning me, but euill. And Iehoshaphat said, Let not the King say so.

9Then the king of Israel called an Officer, and said, Hasten hither Micaiah the sonne of Imlah.

10And the King of Israel and Iehoshaphat the King of Iudah sate each on his throne, hauing put on their robes, in a voyd place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the Prophets prophecied before them.

11And Zedekiah the sonne of Chenaanah made him hornes of yron: and he sayd, Thus saith the Lord, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, vntill thou haue consumed them.

12And all the Prophets prophecied so, saying; Goe vp to Ramoth Gilead, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliuer it into the kings hand.

13And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah, spake vnto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good vnto the King with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, bee like the word of one of them, and speake that which is good.

14And Micaiah sayde, As the Lord liueth, what the Lord saith vnto me, that will I speake.

15 So he came to the king, and the king sayd vnto him, Micaiah, shall wee goe against Ramoth Gilead to battell, or shall we forbeare? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliuer it into the hand of the king.

16And the king said vnto him, How many times shall I adiure thee, that thou tell me nothing but that which is true, in the Name of the Lord ?

17And hee sayd, I saw all Israel scattered vpon the hilles, as sheepe that haue not a shepheard. And the Lord said, These haue no master, let them returne euery man to his house in peace.

18And the King of Israel said vnto Iehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee, that he would prophecie no good concerning me, but euill?

19And he said, Heare thou therefore the word of the Lord: I sawe the Lord sitting on his Throne, and all the hoste of heauen standing by him, on his right hand and on his left.

20And the Lord said, Who shall perswade Ahab, that hee may goe vp and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one sayd on this manner, and another said on that manner.

21And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will perswade him.

22And the Lord said vnto him, Wherewith? And hee sayd, I will goe foorth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt perswade him, and preuaile also: Goe forth, and doe so.

23Now therfore behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken euill concerning thee.

24But Zedekiah the sonne of Chenaanah went neere, and smote Micaiah on the cheeke, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me, to speake vnto thee?

25And Micaiah sayde, Beholde, thou shalt see in that day, when thou shalt goe into an inner chamber, to hide thy selfe.

26And the King of Israel sayde, Take Micaiah, and cary him backe vnto Amon the gouernour of the citie, and to Ioash the kings sonne:

27And say, Thus sayth the King, Put this fellow in the prison, and feede him with bread of affliction, and with water of afflictiō, vntil I come in peace.

28And Micaiah saide, If thou returne at all in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, euery one of you.

29So the King of Israel, and Iehoshaphat the king of Iudah, went vp to Ramoth Gilead.

30And the king of Israel said vnto Iehoshaphat, I wil disguise my selfe, & enter into the battell, but put thou on thy robes. And the King of Israel disguised himselfe, & went into the battell.

31But the King of Syria commanded his thirtie and two Captaines that had rule ouer his charets, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, saue only with the king of Israel.

32And it came to passe, when the captaines of the charets saw Iehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: and Iehoshaphat cryed out.

33And it came to passe, when the captaines of the charets perceiued that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned backe from pursuing him.

34And a certaine man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel betweene the ioynts of the harnesse: wherefore hee sayd vnto the driuer of his charet, Turne thine hand, and cary me out of the hoste, for I am wounded.

35And the battell increased that day: and the king was stayed vp in his charet against the Syrians, and died at euen: and the blood ranne out of the wound, into the mids of the charet.

36And there went a proclamation throughout the hoste, about the going downe of the Sunne, saying, Euery man to his citie, and euery man to his owne countrey.

37 So the King died, and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria.

38And one washed the charet in the poole of Samaria, and the dogges licked vp his blood, and they washed his armour, according vnto the word of the Lord which he spake.

39Now the rest of the actes of Ahab, and all that he did, and the Iuory house which he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

40So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his sonne reigned in his stead.

41 And Iehoshaphat the sonne of Asa began to reigne ouer Iudah in the fourth yeere of Ahab King of Israel.

42Iehoshaphat was thirtie and fiue yeeres olde when hee began to reigne, and he reigned twentie and fiue yeeres in Ierusalem: and his mothers name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

43And he walked in all the wayes of Asa his father, hee turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord: neuerthelesse, the high places were not taken away: for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places.

44And Iehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

45Now the rest of the actes of Iehoshaphat, and his might that hee shewed, and how he warred, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Iudah?

46And the remnant of the Sodomites which remained in the dayes of his father Asa, he tooke out of the land.

47There was then no king in Edom: a deputie was king.

48Iehoshaphat made shippes of Tharshish to goe to Ophir for golde: but they went not, for the shippes were broken at Ezion Geber.

49Then said Ahaziah the sonne of Ahab vnto Iehoshaphat, Let my seruants goe with thy seruants in the ships: But Iehoshaphat would not.

50 And Iehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the citie of Dauid his father: and Iehoram his sonne reigned in his stead.

51 Ahaziah the sonne of Ahab began to reigne ouer Israel in Samaria the seuenteenth yeere of Iehoshaphat king of Iudah, and reigned two yeres ouer Israel.

52And he did euill in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat, who made Israel to sinne.

53For he serued Baal, and worshipped him, and prouoked to anger the Lord God of Israel, according vnto all that his father had done.

II == 2nd Chr 18:2-3

 

 

 

 

III == Deut 4:43

 

 

IV == 2nd Kings 3:7

 

 

 

 

 

 

VI == 1st Kings 18:19

 

 

VII == 2nd Kings 3:11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XIV == Num 22:38

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XVII == Matt 9:36

 

 

 

XIX == Job 1:6 ; 2:1 ; Ps 103:20-21 ; Isa 6:1 ; Dan ; 7:9-10 ; Zech 1:10 ; Matt 18:10 ; Heb 1:7 , 14

 

 

 

 

 

XXII == Judg 9:23 ; Job 12:16 ; Ezek 14:9 ; 2nd Thess 2:11

 

 

XXIII == Ezek 14:9

 

XXIV == 2nd Chr 18:23

 

 

XXV == 1st Kings 20:30 ;

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXVIII == Num 16:29 ; Deut 18:20-22

 

 

 

XXX == 2nd chr 35:22

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXXII == 2nd Chr 18:31 ; Prov 13:20

 

 

 

 

 

XXXIV == 2nd Sam 15:11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXXVIII == 1st Kings 21:19

 

 

XXXIX == Amos 3:15

 

 

 

 

XLI == 2nd chr 20:31

 

 

 

 

 

XLIII == 1st Kings 14:23 ; 15:14 ; 2nd Kings 12:3 ; 2nd chr 17:3

 

 

XLIV == 2nd Chr 19:2 ; 2nd cor 6:14

 

 

XLVI == 1st Kings 14:24 ; 15:12

XLVII == Gen 25:23 ; 2nd Sam 8:14 ; 2nd Kings 3:9 ; 8:20

XLVIII == 1st Kings 9:26 ; 10:22 ; 2nd chr 20:35-37

 

L == 2nd chr 21:1

 

 

LI == 1st Kings 22:40

 

 

LII == 1st Kings 15:26

 

 

LIII == Judg 2:11 ; 16:31

 

 

1 Three years passed without war between Aram and Israel.

2 In the third year, however, King Jehoshaphat of Judah came down to the king of Israel,

3 who said to his servants, "Do you not know that Ramoth-gilead is ours and we are doing nothing to take it from the king of Aram?"

4 He asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you come with me to fight against Ramoth-gilead?" Jehoshaphat answered the king of Israel, "You and I are as one, and your people and my people, your horses and my horses as well."

5 Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "Seek the word of the LORD at once."

6 The king of Israel gathered together the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked, "Shall I go to attack Ramoth-gilead or shall I refrain?" "Go up," they answered. "The LORD will deliver it over to the king."

7 But Jehoshaphat said, "Is there no other prophet of the LORD here whom we may consult?"

8 The king of Israel answered, "There is one other through whom we might consult the LORD, Micaiah, son of Imlah; but I hate him because he prophesies not good but evil about me." Jehoshaphat said, "Let not your majesty speak of evil against you."

9 So the king of Israel called an official and said to him, "Get Micaiah, son of Imlah, at once."

10 The king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were seated, each on his throne, clothed in their robes of state on a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them.

11 Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron and said, "The LORD says, 'With these you shall gore Aram until you have destroyed them.'"

12 The other prophets prophesied in a similar vein, saying: "Go up to Ramoth-gilead; you shall succeed. The LORD will deliver it over to the king."

13 The messenger who had gone to call Micaiah said to him, "Look now, the prophets are unanimously predicting good for the king. Let your word be the same as any of theirs; predict good."

14 "As the LORD lives," Micaiah answered, "I shall say whatever the LORD tells me."

15 When he came to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to fight against Ramoth-gilead, or shall we refrain?" "Go up," he answered, "you shall succeed! The LORD will deliver it over to the king."

16 But the king answered him, "How many times must I adjure you to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?"

17 So Micaiah said: "I see all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD saying, 'These have no master! Let each of them go back home in peace.'"

18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not tell you he prophesies not good but evil about me?"

19 Micaiah continued: "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD seated on his throne, with the whole host of heaven standing by to his right and to his left.

20 The LORD asked, 'Who will deceive Ahab, so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said this, another that,

21 until one of the spirits came forth and presented himself to the LORD, saying, 'I will deceive him.' The LORD asked, 'How?'

22 He answered, 'I will go forth and become a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.' The LORD replied, 'You shall succeed in deceiving him. Go forth and do this.'

23 So now, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours, but the LORD himself has decreed evil against you."

24 Thereupon Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, came up and slapped Micaiah on the cheek, saying, "Has the spirit of the LORD, then, left me to speak with you?"

25 "You shall find out," Micaiah replied, "on that day when you retreat into an inside room to hide."

26 The king of Israel then said, "Seize Micaiah and take him back to Amon, prefect of the city, and to Joash, the king's son,

27 and say, 'This is the king's order: Put this man in prison and feed him scanty rations of bread and water until I return in safety.'"

28 But Micaiah said, "If ever you return in safety, the LORD has not spoken through me."

29 The king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead,

30 and the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you put on your own clothes." So the king of Israel disguised himself and entered the fray.

31 In the meantime the king of Aram had given his thirty-two chariot commanders the order, "Do not fight with anyone at all except the king of Israel."

32 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they cried out, "That must be the king of Israel!" and shifted to fight him. But Jehoshaphat shouted his battle cry,

33 and the chariot commanders, aware that he was not the king of Israel, gave up pursuit of him.

34 Someone, however, drew his bow at random, and hit the king of Israel between the joints of his breastplate. He ordered his charioteer, "Rein about and take me out of the ranks, for I am disabled."

35 The battle grew fierce during the day, and the king, who was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans, died in the evening. The blood from his wound flowed to the bottom of the chariot.

36 At sunset a cry went through the army, "Every man to his city, every man to his land,

37 for the king is dead!" So they went to Samaria, where they buried the king.

38 When the chariot was washed at the pool of Samaria, the dogs licked up his blood and harlots bathed there, as the LORD had prophesied.

39 The rest of the acts of Ahab, with all that he did, including the ivory palace and all the cities he built, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

40 Ahab rested with his ancestors, and his son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.

41 Jehoshaphat, son of Asa, began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab, king of Israel.

42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi.

43 He followed all the ways of his father Asa unswervingly, doing what was right in the LORD'S sight.

44 Nevertheless, the high places did not disappear, and the people continued to sacrifice and to burn incense on the high places.

45 Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.

46 The rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, with his prowess, what he did and how he fought, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.

47 He removed from the land the rest of the cult prostitutes who had remained in the reign of his father Asa.

48 There was no king in Edom, but an appointed regent.

49 Jehoshaphat made Tarshish ships to go to Ophir for gold; but in fact the ships did not go, because they were wrecked at Ezion-geber.

50 Then Ahaziah, son of Ahab, said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my servants accompany your servants in the ships." But Jehoshaphat would not agree.

51 Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors; he was buried in his forefathers' City of David. His son Jehoram succeeded him as king.

52 Ahaziah, son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah; he reigned two years over Israel.

53 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, behaving like his father, his mother, and Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.

54 He served and worshiped Baal, thus provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, just as his father had done.

v 1-4.  FroM 2 cHR. 17 AND 18:1-3 we know that Jehoshaphat was very rich and honorable,  but he made a marriage alliance with Ahab (His son Jehoram married Ahab’s daughteR, 2 Chr 21:6). This contributed to peace and other alliances with Ahab, but it lead to many problems. When he visited Ahab, he and those with him were honored by a great feast, which put him in a mood of cooperation. Ahab decided with his leaders that the time had come to take back Ramoth in Gilead from the Syrians. This was a chief city of Gad  east of Jezreel, 28 miles east of Jordan and 15 miles south of the Sea of Chinnereth. He invited Jehoshaphat to combine forces with him in battle and in view of their relationship, he readily accepted. 

v 5-8. Afterwards Jehoshaphat realized he should ask advice of the Lord. Ahab assembled 400 prophets who advised going. Jehoshaphat had enough spiritual insight that he asked for a prophet of God. Ahab was reluctant to call Michaiah, because he only prophesied what he didn’t want to hear. This is not unusual today, and spiritually, many people follow this kind of teacher, 2 Tim. 4:3. Jehoshaphat was not satisfied and persisted in wanting a prophet of the Lord.

 

 

v 9-12. Michaiah was summoned to where the kings were sitting in their robes at a threshing floor, an elevated area, and near the gate where business was transacted. Zedekiah fashioned horns of iron to illustrate pushing the enemy and destroying them, and all the other false prophets agreed.

 

 

 

 

 

v 13,14. The messenger to Michaiah cautioned him to agree with the other men, but he promised to speak what the Lord told him.

 

 

v 15,16. Michaiah agreed with the others with flippant sarcasm, but Ahab saw his motive and demanded a true answer in a sarcastic way.

 

v 17,18. Now Michaiah became serious and spoke of total defeat, with Israel being scattered like sheep without a shepherd, because their master would be gone. Instead of paying attention, Ahab just reminded Jehoshaphat that this man spoke evil of him.

v 19-23. Michaiah then told what the Lord had shown him in a vision. The Lord on His throne asked who would persuade Ahab to go and be defeated. After discussion, one spirit offered to go and be a lying spirit in the mouths of the prophets. The Lord knew that would work and dispatched the spirit to do that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 24,25. Zedekiah resorted to violence, striking Jehoshaphat on the cheek and disputing, asked how the word of the Lord had gone to him to Michaiah. Michaiah replied that he would find out when he went into an inner chamber to hide.

v 26-28. Ahab believed the lying prophet and stopped the exchange by commanding that Michaiah be thrown into prison until he returned in peace. Michaiah replied that if he returned in peace, the Lord hadn’t spoken by him. He called the attention of all the people assembled and observing at the gate, so they would know that this was the word of the Lord.

v 29-33. Jehoshaphat had no business siding with wicked Ahab and Israel in the first place, and definitely not after hearing the word of Michaiah, but he agreed to go to battle in his robe, while Ahab would be disguised. Much as American soldiers were told to mainly shoot the British officers at Bunker Hill, the king of Syria ordered that they concentrate on getting Ahab. He was probably angered that Ahab broke the treaty. They thought Jehoshaphat was Ahab, but when he cried out (possibly to God as well as aloud) and fled, the Syrians knew it wasn’t Ahab and quit pursuing him.

 

 

 

 

v 34-36. They hadn’t been able to locate Ahab, but he was shot at by an arrow shot at random, and guided by God to a vulnerable spot. Ahab had his driver take him aside and he was propped up, bleeding in his chariot facing the Syrians until he died in the evening. Then about sundown, the leaders ordered a dismissal and sent everyone back to their own homes and countries.

 

 

v 37-38. Ahab was taken back to Samaria and buried, and when the blood was washed out of his chariot, the dogs licked it up in the same place they had licked up the blood of Naboth, as prophesied in 21:19. His death also fulfilling 20:42.

v 39,40. Excavations have discovered many ivory items from Ahab’s treasures. In spite of his wickedness, the Lord had mercy on Israel and blessed his military skills. His son Ahaziah took his place, v 51-53. See more about him in 2 Chr. 18 and 19.

 

v 41-44. Jehoshaphat basically did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as Asa his father had done, and reigned a total of 25 years. He had a co-regency with Asa, his father three years because of Asa’s poor health, 15:23.  According to 2 Chr. 17:6, he removed the high places, and he must have at first, but they must have been rebuilt, and he did not remove those, as stated here and 2 Chr. 20:33. The peace which he established with Judah and Israel lasted 35 years.

 

 

v 45,46. More is said about Jehoshaphat in 2 Chr. 17-20 (See my notes there) and in the uninspired  book of Jehu. He removed the rest of the homosexuals which Asa had failed to remove out of the land.

 

v 47. More is said about war with Edom in Jehoram’s day, 2 Chr. 21:8-10.

v 48-50. Apparently he thought to do as Solomon and ship gold from Ophir, and joined this venture with wicked Ahaziah of Israel. He should have learned not to be “unequally yoked with unbelievers”, 2 Cor. 6:14, from his experience with Ahab. The Lord prevented this by breaking up his ships where they were built at Ezion-geber, and God sent the prophet Eliezer to rebuke him for this alliance and tell him why he lost his ships. The 49th verse implies that Jehoshaphat rebuilt the ships but would not let Ahaziah help this time. When he died, Jehoram reigned over Judah in his place.

v 51-53. Ahaziah only reigned two years over Israel, and it is well because he did evil like his father Ahab, Jezebel and Jeroboam. He served Baal and angered the Lord. His death and confrontation with Elijah are in 2 Ki. 1. He was the elder son of Ahab, and since he had no son, his brother Joram or Jehoram. son of Jezebel reigned.