1 Kings 22
Kingdom, Come • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
Scripture Reading:
Scripture Reading:
Introduction
Introduction
Tonight, We are Bringing 1 Kings to a Close
1 Kings 22
1 Kings 22
Last Time, We Saw Queen Jezebel Plot the Murder of a Man Named Naboth
King Ahab Wanted Naboth’s Vineyard…
But He was Unwilling to Give/Sell it to Him
After Naboth’s Murder, God Sent Elijah to Bring Judgment Against Ahab
Then, Surprisingly, Ahab Humbled Himself & Repented
But, Unfortunately, that Repentance wouldn’t Last
1 Kings 22:1–4 (NASB95)
1 Three years passed without war between Aram and Israel. 2 In the third year Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. 3 Now the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we are still doing nothing to take it out of the hand of the king of Aram?” 4 And he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”
Back in Chapter 20, God Gave Israel 2 Great Victories Over Aram
But for 3 Years Now They’ve Been at Peace
And in this 3rd Year, Jehoshaphat, King of Judah…
Comes to Visit Ahab, King of Israel
Jehoshaphat is the Son of Asa, the Former King of Judah
We Learn at the End of this Chapter…
That Jehoshaphat was a Good & Righteous King, Like His Father
So, the Very Opposite of King Ahab
During His Visit with Ahab…
Ahab Says He Wants to Take One of His Cities Back from Aram:
Ramoth-Gilead
Ahab Asks Jehoshaphat for Judah’s Help…
And Jehoshaphat Offers Judah’s Full Support
But, He Does have One Condition
1 Kings 22:5 (NASB95)
5 Moreover, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire first for the word of the Lord.”
“Why Don’t We Ask God First”
This Tells Us a Lot about Jehoshaphat’s Character:
He Wants to Do God’s Will
So, Before Making a Big Decision…
He Wants to Make Sure it’s God’s Will First
So, Upon Jehoshaphat’s Request…
Ahab Gathers 400 Prophets Together
He Asks Them if He should Go to Battle for Ramoth Gilead
They All Unanimously Tell Him to Go to Battle with Aram…
And “the Lord” would Give Him the Victory
That Sounds Great to Ahab, But Jehoshaphat is a Little Suspicious
Why Did They Call God “Lord” Instead of the Typical “LORD”
Why Didn’t They Specify Which God They were Referring to?
Some Think These 400 Prophets…
Could Be the 400 Prophets of Asherah…
That were Mentioned at the Mount Carmel Showdown
So Jehoshaphat Asks Ahab:
“Isn’t There Another Prophet of “the LORD” We can Ask?”
1 Kings 22:8 (NIV)
8 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.
Ahab Says, “Yeah, I Know a Prophet of Yahweh We can Ask”
“But I Hate this Guy!”
“He Never Prophesies Anything Good about Me”
But, Even Though Ahab Hates Micaiah…
He Sends a Messenger to Go Get Him Anyway
1 Kings 22:13–14 (NET)
13 Now the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the prophets are in complete agreement that the king will succeed. Your words must agree with theirs; you must predict success.”14 But Micaiah said, “As certainly as the Lord lives, I will say what the Lord tells me to say.”
You have to Love Micaiah!
He’s a Guy of Integrity
It Doesn’t Matter What Everyone Else Thinks/Believes/Says…
He’s Going to Do What’s Right
“Whatever God Says, that’s What I’ll Say”
“Nothing More, Nothing Less”
“King Ahab can Like it or Lump it”
But What We See Next is Really Interesting
King Ahab Asks Micaiah if They should Go to Battle at Ramoth-Gilead…
And Micaiah Says, “Absolutely! Go to Battle & God will Give You the Victory!”
1 Kings 22:16 (NIV)
16 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?”
We’re Not Told Why, But Ahab Doesn’t Believe Micaiah
Either Micaiah had Some Sarcasm in His Voice…
Or it was Simply Because He Agreed with the Other Prophets…
And Actually Told Ahab Something He Wanted to Hear
Whatever it was, Ahab wasn’t Buying it
1 Kings 22:17 (CSB)
17 So Micaiah said: I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, “They have no master; let everyone return home in peace.”
After Ahab Told Him to Be Honest…
Micaiah Says, “You’re Going to Die in Battle & Then Everyone’s Going to Go Home”
Then Ahab Turns to Jehoshaphat and Says:
“See! I Told You He Never Says Anything Good Concerning Me!”
Micaiah Then Tells Them of a Vision He had
In this Vision, He Saw God on His Throne in Heaven
He Wanted a Spirit to Deceive Ahab…
So that He would Go into Battle & Die
One Spirit Said He’d Work Through Ahab’s Prophets…
By Having Them Tell Ahab that He’d Be Victorious
Essentially the Point is:
“God Wants You to Go Die in Battle…”
“So He Tricked You Through Your Prophets”
But Instead of Listening to Micaiah…
Ahab had Him Locked in the Prison
So, King Ahab & King Jehoshaphat March into Battle at Ramoth-Gilead
(Chronicles Tells Us that Jehoshaphat will Later Be Rebuked for Joining Ahab)
Then King Ahab Decides to Disguise Himself as a Regular Soldier…
And Tells Jehoshaphat to Remain in His Royal Robes
And it Turns Out, the King of Aram had Commanded His 32 Captains…
To Only Kill King Ahab
And Since Jehoshaphat Appears to Be the Only King on the Battlefield…
They Go After Him
Right as They’re about to Kill Him…
God Stops Them & They Realize that He’s Not Ahab
Then, a Random Aramean Soldier…
Draws His Bow and Shoots an Arrow at Random…
And it Hits One of the Joints in Ahab’s Armor
And that’s How He Died
1 Kings 22:36–40 (NIV)
36 As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army: “Every man to his town. Every man to his land!” 37 So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried him there. 38 They washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria (where the prostitutes bathed), and the dogs licked up his blood, as the word of the Lord had declared. 39 As for the other events of Ahab’s reign, including all he did, the palace he built and adorned with ivory, and the cities he fortified, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 40 Ahab rested with his ancestors. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.
And that’s the End of Ahab’s Story
Shot Down By an Unknown Soldier Shooting an Arrow at Random
A Humiliating Death for a Terrible King
Had He Only Listened to Micaiah…
He would have Lived to See Another Day
Disobedience Always Leads to Death
It May Not Be Today or Tomorrow…
But Choosing to Disobey God will Kill You
There is No Life for the Disobedient
The Rest of the Chapter Gives Us Information…
About Jehoshaphat & Ahab’s Son/Successor, Ahaziah
We’re Told that Jehoshaphat was a Good King, Like His Father, Asa
He Got Rid of All the Rest of the Cult Prostitutes in the Land of Judah
The Only Thing He Didn’t Do was Remove the High Places
1 Kings 22:44 (NASB95)
44 Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.
That Makes Sense of Why He was Hanging Out with Ahab
But We’re Told He was Unwilling to Ally Himself to Ahab’s Son
1 Kings 22:47–49 (NASB95)
47 Now there was no king in Edom; a deputy was king. 48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber. 49 Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.” But Jehoshaphat was not willing.
At this Time, Judah had Control of Edom (Descendants of Esau)
Jehoshaphat Wanted to Send Ships from Edom to Ophir…
Which is Thousands of Miles Away…
To Retrieve Gold
Solomon Did this Very Thing During His Reign
But it Failed for Jehoshaphat
His Ships Never Left the Port of Ezion-Geber
Why?
Kings Doesn’t Tell Us, But Chronicles Does
Jehoshaphat Allied Himself with Ahab’s Son, Ahaziah…
And God Destroyed His Ships Because of it
Then Jehoshaphat Repented & Ended His Alliance with Ahaziah…
Which is Why He wouldn’t Allow Ahaziah’s Servants…
To Go with His Servants to Ophir
The Text Tells Us that Ahaziah was a Wicked Man
He was Just Like His Mom & Dad (Jezebel & Ahab)
And Just Like Them, He Worshiped Baal & Rebelled Against God
And that’s the End of 1 Kings
Application
Application
There are 3 Main Characters in Chapter 22…
And There’s Good Lessons to Learn from Each of Them
Lesson from Ahab:
Truth-Bombs Over Echo-Chambers
It’s Better to Receive an Unwanted Truth…
Than to Only Surround Yourself…
With Those Who Agree with You
Why wasn’t Micaiah Invited Along with the Other 400 Prophets?
Because He had a History of Telling Ahab…
Things He Didn’t Want to Hear
Ahab Only Surrounded Himself with:
Those Who Agreed with Him…
And Told Him What He Wanted to Hear
That’s Not the Way that Leads to Truth
That’s Not the Way that Leads to Growth
In Order to Learn/Grow/Arrive at Truth…
You’ve Got to Be Willing…
To Hear/Consider Things You Don’t Currently Believe
Listen to the Thoughts/Beliefs/Opinions of Others
Consider the Possibility that You could Be Wrong
When You Place Yourself Within an Echo-Chamber…
Of Thoughts/Beliefs/Opinions that You Already Agree with…
And are Unwilling to Consider the Possibility of Being Wrong…
You’ve Proven Yourself to Be an Unreasonable Person…
And You’re Never Going to Learn/Grow Beyond Your Current State
In Ahab’s Case…
Because He Refused to Listen to Someone Who Disagreed with Him…
Who Told Him a Truth that He Didn’t Want to Hear…
He Walked Straight into His Own Demise
An Unwillingness to Listen to Truth…
Because it isn’t What You Already Believe or Want to Hear…
Is a Path that Leads to Death & Destruction
Listen to Those Who Disagree with You…
Consider Their Position…
Weigh it Against the Scriptures…
And Either Believe it or Toss it Out
But Don’t Ignore it…
Simply Because it’s Different Than What You Currently Believe
Lesson from Micaiah:
Quantity Doesn’t Equal Quality
Micaiah Faced a Great Amount of Peer Pressure
400 Prophets were Expecting Him to Agree with Them
But Micaiah was a Man of Integrity
It Didn’t Matter if Everyone Else was Saying One Thing…
He was Going to Stick with What God Said
It Doesn’t Matter How Many Times We’ve Heard it…
Or How Many People in Our Lives Believe it
If the Scriptures Don’t Teach it…
Then We shouldn’t Believe/Teach it
That will Make You Some Enemies
But it’s Better to have Lots of Enemies & God on Your Side…
Than to have Lots of Friends But God as Your Enemy
We’ve Got to Be People of Integrity…
Not People Who Follow the Crowd
The Quantity of a Teaching Means Nothing…
If There is No Quality to it
Lesson from Jehoshaphat:
Faithful Doesn’t Equal Perfect
2 Things We Know for Certain about Jehoshaphat are:
1.) He Made Some Bad Decisions
2.) His Heart was in the Right Place
Jehoshaphat was a Very Good King that Did Many Great Things
He will Always Be Remembered as a Faithful King…
Who Always Sought to Do God’s Will
Yet, on More Than One Occasion We See Him Being Rebuked By God
The Reason the Scriptures Paint Him as a Righteous/Faithful King…
Is Because, Despite His Bad Decisions…
He was Always Quick to Repent & Turn Back to God
Jehoshaphat wasn’t Perfect, But He was Faithful
He Wanted What God Wanted…
Even if His Actions Didn’t Always Demonstrate that
We aren’t Going to Be Perfect
But We can Be Faithful
Seek God’s Will Like Jehoshaphat
It’s Not about Perfection
It’s about Wanting What God Wants
It’s about Loyalty to God
It’s about Faith/Trust God