I Kings Chapter 22
Please read: I Kings 22 –
Ben-hadad of Syria had not kept his promise to Ahab, king of the northern kingdom. Ben-hadad had not given the city of Ramoth-gilead to him. See I Kings 20:30-34. And Ahab the king who was always wanting more decided he must have it. What is unusual is that he enlisted the help of the king of the southern kingdom, Jehoshaphat. Ahab proposed that they go and together attack Syria so that he could regain a city for himself, a city that had been lost in a previous battle with the Syrians.
Ahab had never liked the true prophets of God because it always meant bad things for him. He preferred to continue in his evil ways and ignore the LORD. So, he had put together a group of prophets who would tell him what he wanted to hear. These prophets, some 400 men, claimed to be prophets of the LORD, but clearly, they had decided to abandon God and “prophesied” what was pleasing to the king’s ears.
Let's Reflect
1. Jehoshaphat was a king interested in hearing the truth that the LORD wanted to speak so he told Ahab he wanted to hear from the prophets. What was Ahab’s response to Jehoshaphat’s request?
2. Apparently, Jehoshaphat could tell that these men were just saying what Ahab wanted to hear so he asked another request of Ahab. What was it?
3. Ahab told his servants to go and bring Micaiah, a prophet of the LORD to come and speak about the wisdom of going to war against the Syrians. Ahab told Jehoshaphat how he felt about this prophet. What did Ahab say about Micaiah?
4. One of the prophets that told Ahab what he wanted to hear, Zedekiah, gave a dramatic demonstration by bringing an object he made that represented the two kings going into battle together against Syria. What was the object?
5. The servants who went to get Micaiah told him that the 400 prophets had been in agreement, and that he should say the same thing to the king. What was Micaiah’s response to the servants of Ahab?
6. When Ahab presented Micaiah with the question of whether they should go to fight for Ramoth-gilead, Micaiah’s answer must have been given with great sarcasm in the tone of “sure you go right ahead.” Ahab knew he was being sarcastic and said what to this prophet? See verse 16.
7. Micaiah began to explain that the people of Israel would be like wandering sheep with no shepherd, meaning their king would be killed. Ahab did not like this analogy at all. But what Micaiah told him next was even more grim. He explained how he saw an angel (a fallen angel of the devil) coming before God on His throne and saying that he would entice Ahab to go to war and be killed there. How did the angel say that he would entice Ahab to do exactly that?
8. Because God had already passed judgement on Ahab for his evil ways, God allowed this angel to do what he requested of God. According to verse 23, who did Micaiah say was responsible for the ending of Ahab’s life?
9. Zedekiah struck Micaiah for what he had said to the king. And Ahab ordered Micaiah to be put in prison and to be given meager amounts of bread and water. And just in case Micaiah was right, how did Ahab dress for the war against Syria?
10. Ahab was shot by a random arrow on the battlefield. He asked to be propped up in his chariot so to encourage his men to keep fighting. At some point he must have fallen over dead and someone shouted that it was time to retreat since the king was dead. They washed the blood that had pooled at the bottom of his chariot and what does the Bible say about dogs and the blood of Ahab?
11. Jehoshaphat had been a king to make peace between the two kingdoms. More details will come in later books about Jehoshaphat. After the death of Ahab his son reigned in his place. [Previously I mentioned that Jehu would be next in line, however there is a couple of kings in between Ahab and Jehu.] How long did Ahaziah the son of Ahab reign and what was said of him?
