2 Chronicles 18
King Ahab dies in battle
Invitation to a war
1 Kings 22:1-5 1Judah’s King Jehoshaphat became a rich man, greatly respected. He allied himself with Israel’s King Ahab, and they sealed the treaty with a marriage agreement. [1]
2Years later, Jehoshaphat went down [2] from Jerusalem to visit Ahab in Samaria. Ahab welcomed him and his entourage by slaughtering a lot of cattle and sheep to feed them. Then Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to join him in a battle to recapture the town of Ramoth in Gilead. [3] 3Ahab said, “Would you go with me to Ramoth in Gilead?” Jehoshaphat said, “You and I are family. My army is your army. We will march with you into battle. 4But I would ask you to do one thing first. Consult the LORD about this war.” 400 prophets say “Go to war”
1 Kings 22:6-12 5King Ahab assembled 400 prophets and he asked them one question: “Should I go into battle to reclaim Ramoth in Gilead or not?” [4] The prophets agreed, “Go. The LORD will give you the city.”
6But Jehoshaphat said, “Are there any other prophets we can ask? Just to be sure.” 7Ahab said, “Yeah, there’s one more we could ask. But I hate him. His name is Micaiah son of Imiah. He never predicts anything good for me. All he predicts is disaster.” Jehoshaphat said, “No, no, no. Don’t talk like that.” 8Ahab told one of his officials, “Get Micaiah son of Imiah here right away.”
9Ahab and Jehoshaphat were both dressed in their royal robes. They sat outside on their thrones. This was on a threshing floor [5] near the gate into Samaria. That’s where all the other prophets assembled to prophesy for the kings. 10A prophet named Zedekiah son of Chenaanah, pieced together iron into the shape of horns. And he said, “The LORD says you will gore the Syrians to death.” 11All the crowd of prophets said, “Go to Ramoth in Gilead and take it back. The LORD will give it to you.” One prophet predicts Ahab’s disaster
1 Kings 22:13-28 12The king’s messenger who went to get Micaiah told the prophet, “All the prophets told the king to go ahead with his plan. They told him he would succeed. You should do the same.” 13Micaiah said, “As sure as the LORD is alive, I’ll deliver his message to the king.”
14When the prophet arrived, Ahab said, “Micaiah, should we fight to take back Ramoth Gilead or not?” The prophet said, “Go ahead. You’ll win the battle and God will give you back the land you lost.” 15The king pressed him, “How many times am I going to have to insist you tell me all the truth when you speak for the LORD?”
16Micaiah said, “I saw your soldiers in the message God gave me. They had scattered onto the hills like sheep without a shepherd. The LORD told me, ‘They have no leader anymore. They should go home peacefully.’” 17Ahab told Jehoshaphat, “It didn’t take a prophet to call that one. Didn’t I tell you this man never has a good word for me? All he does is doom me with one disaster after another.”
18Micaiah said, “Here’s more from the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on his throne in heaven. Crowds stood with him, left and right of his throne. 19He was asking for a volunteer. He said, ‘Who’s willing to tempt Ahab to retake Ramoth in Gilead?’ Voices rang out with reactions. 20Then a single spirit volunteered, ‘I can turn him.’ 21The LORD asked, ‘And how do you plan to do that?’ The spirit said, ‘I’ll feed the prophets on lies.’ The LORD said, ‘Do it. Lure Ahab. You’ll succeed.’ [6] 22So, now you know. It was the LORD who seduced the prophets to lie. The LORD convinced the prophets into giving the king this disastrous recommendation.”
23The prophet Zedekiah slapped Micaiah up the side of his face and said, “Why on earth would the spirit of the LORD speak through you when I’m here?” 24Micaiah said, “Well, perhaps you’ll discover why when you have more time to reflect—while you’re hiding in the back room of someone’s house.”
25Ahab said, “Arrest Micaiah. Escort him to Samaria’s city governor, Amon. Leave him in the custody of Amon and my son Joash. 26Tell the men to put him in prison and keep him there and feed him reduced rations of bread and water until I safely return.”
27Micaiah said, “Safely return? If you safely return, the LORD didn’t speak through me. I’ll be the one who lied. Hey everyone, did you get that? Get it!” Ahab fatally wounded
1 Kings 22:29-33 28So they went to war. Israel’s king and Judah’s king led their armies to Ramoth in Gilead. 29Ahab told Jehoshaphat, “I’m going to disguise myself. But you go ahead and wear your royal robes.” And that’s what they did.
30Syria’s king ordered the commanders of his chariot corps, “Don’t engage anyone but the king of Israel. Find him and kill him.” 31Chariot commanders spotted only one man wearing royal robes, and it was Jehoshaphat. They said, “That’s got to be him.” So the entire corps raced to catch him. Jehoshaphat saw them coming and he screamed. 32Charioteers got close enough to see it wasn’t Ahab. So they turned away. Ahab bleeds out
1 Kings 22:34-35 33By chance, a Syrian archer’s arrow pierced Ahab between the chest protector and the scale armor. The archer didn’t know his target was Ahab. The king told his chariot driver, “I’m wounded. Get me out of here.”
34The battle raged all day, with Ahab propped up and dying while his chariot faced the enemy. He bled out that evening and died at sunset. 
Footnotes
118:1Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram married Ahab’s daughter Athaliah, as mentioned in passing in 2 Chronicles 21:6. Athaliah would later become the only ruling queen in ancient Jewish history. She created the position when she was Queen Mother and her son died while visiting Israel’s king at the wrong time. Both kings were assassinated during a coup in the northern Jewish kingdom of Israel. The Queen Mother became the ruling queen of Judah by killing the rest of her family—grandchildren included. She missed one. A few years later, it was the death of her. Killer Granny’s story appears in 2 Kings 11 and briefly in 2 Chronicles 22.
218:2Samaria wasn’t “down” in the sense of direction. It was “up” north. But when a traveler left Jerusalem, Bible writers often said the person “went down,” even if the traveler was headed north. That’s because Jerusalem sits on a ridgetop. And if you’re leaving, the only way you can go is down. Also, if you are going to Jerusalem, the only way you can get there is to go up. Bible writers often make that point by saying that people are “going up to Jerusalem,” no matter what direction they’re coming from.
318:2Ramoth was a town in the territory of Gilead, east of the Jordan River, in what is now the nation of Jordan. Moses and the Hebrew refugees escaped from Egyptian slavery and took the land for Israel. But Syrians out of Damascus captured the town. King Ahab wanted it back.
418:5It was common in the ancient world for kings to consult the gods before going into battle. It wasn’t just an Israelite practice. Kings wanted to know if they were going to win or lose, live or die. If they heard “lose” and “die,” some cancelled the war. The oracles and prophecies at Delphi influenced military decisions that Greek leaders made. But not Alexander the Great. He didn’t like the Delphi’s refusal to answer his question (Will I conquer the world?). He dragged out the prophet Pythia by her hair, while she screamed, “You are invincible, my son!” That’s the story he wanted to hear.
518:9The threshing floor was often a flat rock where farmers would beat grain kernels loose from the stalks.
618:21Okay, that’s uncomfortable for many people of faith, the idea that God has lying spirits hanging out in heaven. How could anyone trust a prophet after hearing what Micaiah reported, thinking people might ask? Yet the idea that God can lead and mislead people shows up elsewhere in the Bible: Jeremiah 20:7, 10; Ezekiel 14:9. We’re left with the question of why a good God would lie. There’s no clear and clean answer to satisfy everyone. Some Christians might be okay with the answer, “Why not lie if it’s for a good result?” Others could rest in their faith that God is love, God is in charge, and God knows what he’s doing. Still others would like very much to know what in the devil is going on with that “lying spirit” in heavenly places.
Discussion Questions
- Sorry, there are currently no questions for this chapter.
Maps/Guides
King Ahab's 3 battles with SyriaVideos
2Years later, Jehoshaphat went down [2] from Jerusalem to visit Ahab in Samaria. Ahab welcomed him and his entourage by slaughtering a lot of cattle and sheep to feed them. Then Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to join him in a battle to recapture the town of Ramoth in Gilead. [3] 3Ahab said, “Would you go with me to Ramoth in Gilead?” Jehoshaphat said, “You and I are family. My army is your army. We will march with you into battle. 4But I would ask you to do one thing first. Consult the LORD about this war.”
400 prophets say “Go to war”
1 Kings 22:6-12 5King Ahab assembled 400 prophets and he asked them one question: “Should I go into battle to reclaim Ramoth in Gilead or not?” [4] The prophets agreed, “Go. The LORD will give you the city.”
6But Jehoshaphat said, “Are there any other prophets we can ask? Just to be sure.” 7Ahab said, “Yeah, there’s one more we could ask. But I hate him. His name is Micaiah son of Imiah. He never predicts anything good for me. All he predicts is disaster.” Jehoshaphat said, “No, no, no. Don’t talk like that.” 8Ahab told one of his officials, “Get Micaiah son of Imiah here right away.”
9Ahab and Jehoshaphat were both dressed in their royal robes. They sat outside on their thrones. This was on a threshing floor [5] near the gate into Samaria. That’s where all the other prophets assembled to prophesy for the kings. 10A prophet named Zedekiah son of Chenaanah, pieced together iron into the shape of horns. And he said, “The LORD says you will gore the Syrians to death.” 11All the crowd of prophets said, “Go to Ramoth in Gilead and take it back. The LORD will give it to you.” One prophet predicts Ahab’s disaster
1 Kings 22:13-28 12The king’s messenger who went to get Micaiah told the prophet, “All the prophets told the king to go ahead with his plan. They told him he would succeed. You should do the same.” 13Micaiah said, “As sure as the LORD is alive, I’ll deliver his message to the king.”
14When the prophet arrived, Ahab said, “Micaiah, should we fight to take back Ramoth Gilead or not?” The prophet said, “Go ahead. You’ll win the battle and God will give you back the land you lost.” 15The king pressed him, “How many times am I going to have to insist you tell me all the truth when you speak for the LORD?”
16Micaiah said, “I saw your soldiers in the message God gave me. They had scattered onto the hills like sheep without a shepherd. The LORD told me, ‘They have no leader anymore. They should go home peacefully.’” 17Ahab told Jehoshaphat, “It didn’t take a prophet to call that one. Didn’t I tell you this man never has a good word for me? All he does is doom me with one disaster after another.”
18Micaiah said, “Here’s more from the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on his throne in heaven. Crowds stood with him, left and right of his throne. 19He was asking for a volunteer. He said, ‘Who’s willing to tempt Ahab to retake Ramoth in Gilead?’ Voices rang out with reactions. 20Then a single spirit volunteered, ‘I can turn him.’ 21The LORD asked, ‘And how do you plan to do that?’ The spirit said, ‘I’ll feed the prophets on lies.’ The LORD said, ‘Do it. Lure Ahab. You’ll succeed.’ [6] 22So, now you know. It was the LORD who seduced the prophets to lie. The LORD convinced the prophets into giving the king this disastrous recommendation.”
23The prophet Zedekiah slapped Micaiah up the side of his face and said, “Why on earth would the spirit of the LORD speak through you when I’m here?” 24Micaiah said, “Well, perhaps you’ll discover why when you have more time to reflect—while you’re hiding in the back room of someone’s house.”
25Ahab said, “Arrest Micaiah. Escort him to Samaria’s city governor, Amon. Leave him in the custody of Amon and my son Joash. 26Tell the men to put him in prison and keep him there and feed him reduced rations of bread and water until I safely return.”
27Micaiah said, “Safely return? If you safely return, the LORD didn’t speak through me. I’ll be the one who lied. Hey everyone, did you get that? Get it!” Ahab fatally wounded
1 Kings 22:29-33 28So they went to war. Israel’s king and Judah’s king led their armies to Ramoth in Gilead. 29Ahab told Jehoshaphat, “I’m going to disguise myself. But you go ahead and wear your royal robes.” And that’s what they did.
30Syria’s king ordered the commanders of his chariot corps, “Don’t engage anyone but the king of Israel. Find him and kill him.” 31Chariot commanders spotted only one man wearing royal robes, and it was Jehoshaphat. They said, “That’s got to be him.” So the entire corps raced to catch him. Jehoshaphat saw them coming and he screamed. 32Charioteers got close enough to see it wasn’t Ahab. So they turned away. Ahab bleeds out
1 Kings 22:34-35 33By chance, a Syrian archer’s arrow pierced Ahab between the chest protector and the scale armor. The archer didn’t know his target was Ahab. The king told his chariot driver, “I’m wounded. Get me out of here.”
34The battle raged all day, with Ahab propped up and dying while his chariot faced the enemy. He bled out that evening and died at sunset. Footnotes
118:1Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram married Ahab’s daughter Athaliah, as mentioned in passing in 2 Chronicles 21:6. Athaliah would later become the only ruling queen in ancient Jewish history. She created the position when she was Queen Mother and her son died while visiting Israel’s king at the wrong time. Both kings were assassinated during a coup in the northern Jewish kingdom of Israel. The Queen Mother became the ruling queen of Judah by killing the rest of her family—grandchildren included. She missed one. A few years later, it was the death of her. Killer Granny’s story appears in 2 Kings 11 and briefly in 2 Chronicles 22.
218:2Samaria wasn’t “down” in the sense of direction. It was “up” north. But when a traveler left Jerusalem, Bible writers often said the person “went down,” even if the traveler was headed north. That’s because Jerusalem sits on a ridgetop. And if you’re leaving, the only way you can go is down. Also, if you are going to Jerusalem, the only way you can get there is to go up. Bible writers often make that point by saying that people are “going up to Jerusalem,” no matter what direction they’re coming from.
318:2Ramoth was a town in the territory of Gilead, east of the Jordan River, in what is now the nation of Jordan. Moses and the Hebrew refugees escaped from Egyptian slavery and took the land for Israel. But Syrians out of Damascus captured the town. King Ahab wanted it back.
418:5It was common in the ancient world for kings to consult the gods before going into battle. It wasn’t just an Israelite practice. Kings wanted to know if they were going to win or lose, live or die. If they heard “lose” and “die,” some cancelled the war. The oracles and prophecies at Delphi influenced military decisions that Greek leaders made. But not Alexander the Great. He didn’t like the Delphi’s refusal to answer his question (Will I conquer the world?). He dragged out the prophet Pythia by her hair, while she screamed, “You are invincible, my son!” That’s the story he wanted to hear.
518:9The threshing floor was often a flat rock where farmers would beat grain kernels loose from the stalks.
618:21Okay, that’s uncomfortable for many people of faith, the idea that God has lying spirits hanging out in heaven. How could anyone trust a prophet after hearing what Micaiah reported, thinking people might ask? Yet the idea that God can lead and mislead people shows up elsewhere in the Bible: Jeremiah 20:7, 10; Ezekiel 14:9. We’re left with the question of why a good God would lie. There’s no clear and clean answer to satisfy everyone. Some Christians might be okay with the answer, “Why not lie if it’s for a good result?” Others could rest in their faith that God is love, God is in charge, and God knows what he’s doing. Still others would like very much to know what in the devil is going on with that “lying spirit” in heavenly places.
Discussion Questions
- Sorry, there are currently no questions for this chapter.
Maps/Guides
King Ahab's 3 battles with SyriaVideos
6But Jehoshaphat said, “Are there any other prophets we can ask? Just to be sure.” 7Ahab said, “Yeah, there’s one more we could ask. But I hate him. His name is Micaiah son of Imiah. He never predicts anything good for me. All he predicts is disaster.” Jehoshaphat said, “No, no, no. Don’t talk like that.” 8Ahab told one of his officials, “Get Micaiah son of Imiah here right away.”
9Ahab and Jehoshaphat were both dressed in their royal robes. They sat outside on their thrones. This was on a threshing floor [5] near the gate into Samaria. That’s where all the other prophets assembled to prophesy for the kings. 10A prophet named Zedekiah son of Chenaanah, pieced together iron into the shape of horns. And he said, “The LORD says you will gore the Syrians to death.” 11All the crowd of prophets said, “Go to Ramoth in Gilead and take it back. The LORD will give it to you.”
One prophet predicts Ahab’s disaster
1 Kings 22:13-28 12The king’s messenger who went to get Micaiah told the prophet, “All the prophets told the king to go ahead with his plan. They told him he would succeed. You should do the same.” 13Micaiah said, “As sure as the LORD is alive, I’ll deliver his message to the king.”
14When the prophet arrived, Ahab said, “Micaiah, should we fight to take back Ramoth Gilead or not?” The prophet said, “Go ahead. You’ll win the battle and God will give you back the land you lost.” 15The king pressed him, “How many times am I going to have to insist you tell me all the truth when you speak for the LORD?”
16Micaiah said, “I saw your soldiers in the message God gave me. They had scattered onto the hills like sheep without a shepherd. The LORD told me, ‘They have no leader anymore. They should go home peacefully.’” 17Ahab told Jehoshaphat, “It didn’t take a prophet to call that one. Didn’t I tell you this man never has a good word for me? All he does is doom me with one disaster after another.”
18Micaiah said, “Here’s more from the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on his throne in heaven. Crowds stood with him, left and right of his throne. 19He was asking for a volunteer. He said, ‘Who’s willing to tempt Ahab to retake Ramoth in Gilead?’ Voices rang out with reactions. 20Then a single spirit volunteered, ‘I can turn him.’ 21The LORD asked, ‘And how do you plan to do that?’ The spirit said, ‘I’ll feed the prophets on lies.’ The LORD said, ‘Do it. Lure Ahab. You’ll succeed.’ [6] 22So, now you know. It was the LORD who seduced the prophets to lie. The LORD convinced the prophets into giving the king this disastrous recommendation.”
23The prophet Zedekiah slapped Micaiah up the side of his face and said, “Why on earth would the spirit of the LORD speak through you when I’m here?” 24Micaiah said, “Well, perhaps you’ll discover why when you have more time to reflect—while you’re hiding in the back room of someone’s house.”
25Ahab said, “Arrest Micaiah. Escort him to Samaria’s city governor, Amon. Leave him in the custody of Amon and my son Joash. 26Tell the men to put him in prison and keep him there and feed him reduced rations of bread and water until I safely return.”
27Micaiah said, “Safely return? If you safely return, the LORD didn’t speak through me. I’ll be the one who lied. Hey everyone, did you get that? Get it!” Ahab fatally wounded
1 Kings 22:29-33 28So they went to war. Israel’s king and Judah’s king led their armies to Ramoth in Gilead. 29Ahab told Jehoshaphat, “I’m going to disguise myself. But you go ahead and wear your royal robes.” And that’s what they did.
30Syria’s king ordered the commanders of his chariot corps, “Don’t engage anyone but the king of Israel. Find him and kill him.” 31Chariot commanders spotted only one man wearing royal robes, and it was Jehoshaphat. They said, “That’s got to be him.” So the entire corps raced to catch him. Jehoshaphat saw them coming and he screamed. 32Charioteers got close enough to see it wasn’t Ahab. So they turned away. Ahab bleeds out
1 Kings 22:34-35 33By chance, a Syrian archer’s arrow pierced Ahab between the chest protector and the scale armor. The archer didn’t know his target was Ahab. The king told his chariot driver, “I’m wounded. Get me out of here.”
34The battle raged all day, with Ahab propped up and dying while his chariot faced the enemy. He bled out that evening and died at sunset. Footnotes
118:1Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram married Ahab’s daughter Athaliah, as mentioned in passing in 2 Chronicles 21:6. Athaliah would later become the only ruling queen in ancient Jewish history. She created the position when she was Queen Mother and her son died while visiting Israel’s king at the wrong time. Both kings were assassinated during a coup in the northern Jewish kingdom of Israel. The Queen Mother became the ruling queen of Judah by killing the rest of her family—grandchildren included. She missed one. A few years later, it was the death of her. Killer Granny’s story appears in 2 Kings 11 and briefly in 2 Chronicles 22.
218:2Samaria wasn’t “down” in the sense of direction. It was “up” north. But when a traveler left Jerusalem, Bible writers often said the person “went down,” even if the traveler was headed north. That’s because Jerusalem sits on a ridgetop. And if you’re leaving, the only way you can go is down. Also, if you are going to Jerusalem, the only way you can get there is to go up. Bible writers often make that point by saying that people are “going up to Jerusalem,” no matter what direction they’re coming from.
318:2Ramoth was a town in the territory of Gilead, east of the Jordan River, in what is now the nation of Jordan. Moses and the Hebrew refugees escaped from Egyptian slavery and took the land for Israel. But Syrians out of Damascus captured the town. King Ahab wanted it back.
418:5It was common in the ancient world for kings to consult the gods before going into battle. It wasn’t just an Israelite practice. Kings wanted to know if they were going to win or lose, live or die. If they heard “lose” and “die,” some cancelled the war. The oracles and prophecies at Delphi influenced military decisions that Greek leaders made. But not Alexander the Great. He didn’t like the Delphi’s refusal to answer his question (Will I conquer the world?). He dragged out the prophet Pythia by her hair, while she screamed, “You are invincible, my son!” That’s the story he wanted to hear.
518:9The threshing floor was often a flat rock where farmers would beat grain kernels loose from the stalks.
618:21Okay, that’s uncomfortable for many people of faith, the idea that God has lying spirits hanging out in heaven. How could anyone trust a prophet after hearing what Micaiah reported, thinking people might ask? Yet the idea that God can lead and mislead people shows up elsewhere in the Bible: Jeremiah 20:7, 10; Ezekiel 14:9. We’re left with the question of why a good God would lie. There’s no clear and clean answer to satisfy everyone. Some Christians might be okay with the answer, “Why not lie if it’s for a good result?” Others could rest in their faith that God is love, God is in charge, and God knows what he’s doing. Still others would like very much to know what in the devil is going on with that “lying spirit” in heavenly places.
Discussion Questions
- Sorry, there are currently no questions for this chapter.
Maps/Guides
King Ahab's 3 battles with SyriaVideos
14When the prophet arrived, Ahab said, “Micaiah, should we fight to take back Ramoth Gilead or not?” The prophet said, “Go ahead. You’ll win the battle and God will give you back the land you lost.” 15The king pressed him, “How many times am I going to have to insist you tell me all the truth when you speak for the LORD?”
16Micaiah said, “I saw your soldiers in the message God gave me. They had scattered onto the hills like sheep without a shepherd. The LORD told me, ‘They have no leader anymore. They should go home peacefully.’” 17Ahab told Jehoshaphat, “It didn’t take a prophet to call that one. Didn’t I tell you this man never has a good word for me? All he does is doom me with one disaster after another.”
18Micaiah said, “Here’s more from the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on his throne in heaven. Crowds stood with him, left and right of his throne. 19He was asking for a volunteer. He said, ‘Who’s willing to tempt Ahab to retake Ramoth in Gilead?’ Voices rang out with reactions. 20Then a single spirit volunteered, ‘I can turn him.’ 21The LORD asked, ‘And how do you plan to do that?’ The spirit said, ‘I’ll feed the prophets on lies.’ The LORD said, ‘Do it. Lure Ahab. You’ll succeed.’ [6] 22So, now you know. It was the LORD who seduced the prophets to lie. The LORD convinced the prophets into giving the king this disastrous recommendation.”
23The prophet Zedekiah slapped Micaiah up the side of his face and said, “Why on earth would the spirit of the LORD speak through you when I’m here?” 24Micaiah said, “Well, perhaps you’ll discover why when you have more time to reflect—while you’re hiding in the back room of someone’s house.”
25Ahab said, “Arrest Micaiah. Escort him to Samaria’s city governor, Amon. Leave him in the custody of Amon and my son Joash. 26Tell the men to put him in prison and keep him there and feed him reduced rations of bread and water until I safely return.”
27Micaiah said, “Safely return? If you safely return, the LORD didn’t speak through me. I’ll be the one who lied. Hey everyone, did you get that? Get it!”
Ahab fatally wounded
1 Kings 22:29-33 28So they went to war. Israel’s king and Judah’s king led their armies to Ramoth in Gilead. 29Ahab told Jehoshaphat, “I’m going to disguise myself. But you go ahead and wear your royal robes.” And that’s what they did.
30Syria’s king ordered the commanders of his chariot corps, “Don’t engage anyone but the king of Israel. Find him and kill him.” 31Chariot commanders spotted only one man wearing royal robes, and it was Jehoshaphat. They said, “That’s got to be him.” So the entire corps raced to catch him. Jehoshaphat saw them coming and he screamed. 32Charioteers got close enough to see it wasn’t Ahab. So they turned away. Ahab bleeds out
1 Kings 22:34-35 33By chance, a Syrian archer’s arrow pierced Ahab between the chest protector and the scale armor. The archer didn’t know his target was Ahab. The king told his chariot driver, “I’m wounded. Get me out of here.”
34The battle raged all day, with Ahab propped up and dying while his chariot faced the enemy. He bled out that evening and died at sunset. Footnotes
118:1Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram married Ahab’s daughter Athaliah, as mentioned in passing in 2 Chronicles 21:6. Athaliah would later become the only ruling queen in ancient Jewish history. She created the position when she was Queen Mother and her son died while visiting Israel’s king at the wrong time. Both kings were assassinated during a coup in the northern Jewish kingdom of Israel. The Queen Mother became the ruling queen of Judah by killing the rest of her family—grandchildren included. She missed one. A few years later, it was the death of her. Killer Granny’s story appears in 2 Kings 11 and briefly in 2 Chronicles 22.
218:2Samaria wasn’t “down” in the sense of direction. It was “up” north. But when a traveler left Jerusalem, Bible writers often said the person “went down,” even if the traveler was headed north. That’s because Jerusalem sits on a ridgetop. And if you’re leaving, the only way you can go is down. Also, if you are going to Jerusalem, the only way you can get there is to go up. Bible writers often make that point by saying that people are “going up to Jerusalem,” no matter what direction they’re coming from.
318:2Ramoth was a town in the territory of Gilead, east of the Jordan River, in what is now the nation of Jordan. Moses and the Hebrew refugees escaped from Egyptian slavery and took the land for Israel. But Syrians out of Damascus captured the town. King Ahab wanted it back.
418:5It was common in the ancient world for kings to consult the gods before going into battle. It wasn’t just an Israelite practice. Kings wanted to know if they were going to win or lose, live or die. If they heard “lose” and “die,” some cancelled the war. The oracles and prophecies at Delphi influenced military decisions that Greek leaders made. But not Alexander the Great. He didn’t like the Delphi’s refusal to answer his question (Will I conquer the world?). He dragged out the prophet Pythia by her hair, while she screamed, “You are invincible, my son!” That’s the story he wanted to hear.
518:9The threshing floor was often a flat rock where farmers would beat grain kernels loose from the stalks.
618:21Okay, that’s uncomfortable for many people of faith, the idea that God has lying spirits hanging out in heaven. How could anyone trust a prophet after hearing what Micaiah reported, thinking people might ask? Yet the idea that God can lead and mislead people shows up elsewhere in the Bible: Jeremiah 20:7, 10; Ezekiel 14:9. We’re left with the question of why a good God would lie. There’s no clear and clean answer to satisfy everyone. Some Christians might be okay with the answer, “Why not lie if it’s for a good result?” Others could rest in their faith that God is love, God is in charge, and God knows what he’s doing. Still others would like very much to know what in the devil is going on with that “lying spirit” in heavenly places.
Discussion Questions
- Sorry, there are currently no questions for this chapter.
Maps/Guides
King Ahab's 3 battles with SyriaVideos
30Syria’s king ordered the commanders of his chariot corps, “Don’t engage anyone but the king of Israel. Find him and kill him.” 31Chariot commanders spotted only one man wearing royal robes, and it was Jehoshaphat. They said, “That’s got to be him.” So the entire corps raced to catch him. Jehoshaphat saw them coming and he screamed. 32Charioteers got close enough to see it wasn’t Ahab. So they turned away.
Ahab bleeds out
1 Kings 22:34-35 33By chance, a Syrian archer’s arrow pierced Ahab between the chest protector and the scale armor. The archer didn’t know his target was Ahab. The king told his chariot driver, “I’m wounded. Get me out of here.”
34The battle raged all day, with Ahab propped up and dying while his chariot faced the enemy. He bled out that evening and died at sunset. Footnotes
118:1Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram married Ahab’s daughter Athaliah, as mentioned in passing in 2 Chronicles 21:6. Athaliah would later become the only ruling queen in ancient Jewish history. She created the position when she was Queen Mother and her son died while visiting Israel’s king at the wrong time. Both kings were assassinated during a coup in the northern Jewish kingdom of Israel. The Queen Mother became the ruling queen of Judah by killing the rest of her family—grandchildren included. She missed one. A few years later, it was the death of her. Killer Granny’s story appears in 2 Kings 11 and briefly in 2 Chronicles 22.
218:2Samaria wasn’t “down” in the sense of direction. It was “up” north. But when a traveler left Jerusalem, Bible writers often said the person “went down,” even if the traveler was headed north. That’s because Jerusalem sits on a ridgetop. And if you’re leaving, the only way you can go is down. Also, if you are going to Jerusalem, the only way you can get there is to go up. Bible writers often make that point by saying that people are “going up to Jerusalem,” no matter what direction they’re coming from.
318:2Ramoth was a town in the territory of Gilead, east of the Jordan River, in what is now the nation of Jordan. Moses and the Hebrew refugees escaped from Egyptian slavery and took the land for Israel. But Syrians out of Damascus captured the town. King Ahab wanted it back.
418:5It was common in the ancient world for kings to consult the gods before going into battle. It wasn’t just an Israelite practice. Kings wanted to know if they were going to win or lose, live or die. If they heard “lose” and “die,” some cancelled the war. The oracles and prophecies at Delphi influenced military decisions that Greek leaders made. But not Alexander the Great. He didn’t like the Delphi’s refusal to answer his question (Will I conquer the world?). He dragged out the prophet Pythia by her hair, while she screamed, “You are invincible, my son!” That’s the story he wanted to hear.
518:9The threshing floor was often a flat rock where farmers would beat grain kernels loose from the stalks.
618:21Okay, that’s uncomfortable for many people of faith, the idea that God has lying spirits hanging out in heaven. How could anyone trust a prophet after hearing what Micaiah reported, thinking people might ask? Yet the idea that God can lead and mislead people shows up elsewhere in the Bible: Jeremiah 20:7, 10; Ezekiel 14:9. We’re left with the question of why a good God would lie. There’s no clear and clean answer to satisfy everyone. Some Christians might be okay with the answer, “Why not lie if it’s for a good result?” Others could rest in their faith that God is love, God is in charge, and God knows what he’s doing. Still others would like very much to know what in the devil is going on with that “lying spirit” in heavenly places.
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34The battle raged all day, with Ahab propped up and dying while his chariot faced the enemy. He bled out that evening and died at sunset.
Footnotes
Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram married Ahab’s daughter Athaliah, as mentioned in passing in 2 Chronicles 21:6. Athaliah would later become the only ruling queen in ancient Jewish history. She created the position when she was Queen Mother and her son died while visiting Israel’s king at the wrong time. Both kings were assassinated during a coup in the northern Jewish kingdom of Israel. The Queen Mother became the ruling queen of Judah by killing the rest of her family—grandchildren included. She missed one. A few years later, it was the death of her. Killer Granny’s story appears in 2 Kings 11 and briefly in 2 Chronicles 22.
Samaria wasn’t “down” in the sense of direction. It was “up” north. But when a traveler left Jerusalem, Bible writers often said the person “went down,” even if the traveler was headed north. That’s because Jerusalem sits on a ridgetop. And if you’re leaving, the only way you can go is down. Also, if you are going to Jerusalem, the only way you can get there is to go up. Bible writers often make that point by saying that people are “going up to Jerusalem,” no matter what direction they’re coming from.
Ramoth was a town in the territory of Gilead, east of the Jordan River, in what is now the nation of Jordan. Moses and the Hebrew refugees escaped from Egyptian slavery and took the land for Israel. But Syrians out of Damascus captured the town. King Ahab wanted it back.
It was common in the ancient world for kings to consult the gods before going into battle. It wasn’t just an Israelite practice. Kings wanted to know if they were going to win or lose, live or die. If they heard “lose” and “die,” some cancelled the war. The oracles and prophecies at Delphi influenced military decisions that Greek leaders made. But not Alexander the Great. He didn’t like the Delphi’s refusal to answer his question (Will I conquer the world?). He dragged out the prophet Pythia by her hair, while she screamed, “You are invincible, my son!” That’s the story he wanted to hear.
The threshing floor was often a flat rock where farmers would beat grain kernels loose from the stalks.
Okay, that’s uncomfortable for many people of faith, the idea that God has lying spirits hanging out in heaven. How could anyone trust a prophet after hearing what Micaiah reported, thinking people might ask? Yet the idea that God can lead and mislead people shows up elsewhere in the Bible: Jeremiah 20:7, 10; Ezekiel 14:9. We’re left with the question of why a good God would lie. There’s no clear and clean answer to satisfy everyone. Some Christians might be okay with the answer, “Why not lie if it’s for a good result?” Others could rest in their faith that God is love, God is in charge, and God knows what he’s doing. Still others would like very much to know what in the devil is going on with that “lying spirit” in heavenly places.
Discussion Questions
- Sorry, there are currently no questions for this chapter.
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