2 Chronicles 18

2 Chronicles 18:1

JEHOSHAPHAT’S ALLIANCE WITH AHABJehoshaphat teamed up with Ahab. He had fellowship with Ahab. I cannot think of two men more unlike than these two men.

2 Chronicles 18:2

This seems unbelievable. It is one of the strangest partnerships on record in the pages of Scripture, or anywhere else. It is almost like saying that you could have day and night at the same time or that you can have light and darkness at the same time. How these two ever came together is a mystery. They have nothing in common spiritually. Jehoshaphat is one of the most godly kings personally, and he has been used to bring revival to his nation.

He loves God, and he loves the Word of God. He is what we would call a spiritually minded man. On the other hand, Ahab is as godless as they come. He hates God. He has given himself over to idolatry and immorality. How can these two be buddy-buddy?

How can they enjoy each other’s company? What is it that they have in common? Well, let’s do a little investigation here. They had a threefold alliance and partnership. It is all based on material reasons, physical reasons. They had nothing in common spiritually.

1. There was a matrimonial alliance between the two. Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, married Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. This Athaliah was a bloody woman who walked in the ways of her parents. We have already seen that in the Books of Kings. I suppose these two men thought they could cement relations between Judah and Israel and bring about an undivided kingdom. They tried to do this by intermarrying. What they did was wrong. This is also a significant spot in our contemporary culture. I may sound like an antiquated preacher to a lot of folk, but I must speak out on a subject which is clearly taught in the Word of God. Here in Southern California we lead the world in divorce rates. Although I am not an authority in this field, there is one area on which I can speak loud and clear: a believer and an unbelievera Christian and a non-Christianshould not get married under any circumstances. Here the son of Jehoshaphat, hot out of a revival, marries that cold-blooded daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. That brought tragedy. In fact, it almost exterminated the line of David. There is more tragedy, more heartache and heartbreak, more broken lives, more maladjusted children over this one problem of broken homes than anything else I know about. It will not work for a professing Christian to marry one who is not a Christian. If two non-Christian people get married and one is converted after they have married, that is a different situation. The apostle Paul writes specifically about that situation. However, God has much to say against a Christian deliberately walking into the trap of marrying a non-Christianand it is a trap.
2. Jehoshaphat and Ahab had a market alliance. We are told that Jehoshaphat joined himself with Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, when he became king of Israel, and they sent ships to Tarshish. This is recorded in 1 Kings 22 and also in 2 Chronicles 20. The ships were sent for commerce in grain and gold. There was a shipwreck, and the cargo was lost. God could not bless this alliance.
3. Jehoshaphat and Ahab had a military alliance. Ahab was having problems with Syria; so he asked Jehoshaphat to enter into an alliance with him and go with him up to Ramoth-gilead. He gave a big feast for Jehoshaphat with sheep and oxen in abundance. And so he persuaded Jehoshaphat. Notice that Jehoshaphat is now sitting “…in the seat of the scornful” (Psa_1:1).

What the armies of the northern kingdom could not accomplish against the southern kingdom of Judah, Ahab accomplished by involving Jehoshaphat in a war with Syria. It reminds one of Chamberlain at Munich with Hitler and Mussolini. It reminds one of Yalta with Roosevelt and Churchill. It reminds one of Marshall in London. I’m sure there are alliances being made today, alliances which should never be made at all and which God cannot bless.

2 Chronicles 18:3

Jehoshaphat is in the family of Ahab now by this intermarrying of their children. So he is willing to make an alliance and says, “We are one. We are together.” Now remember, God had given Jehoshaphat peace. Ahab is asking him to go to war. Jehoshaphat agrees. And yet he is disturbed. He has a mind for God, and this situation gives him a certain amount of anxiety.

2 Chronicles 18:4

Jehoshaphat says, “Let’s find out what God has to say about this venture.” So Ahab brings in his whole army of prophets.

2 Chronicles 18:5

Who are these prophets? They are prophets of Baal! Now Jehoshaphat has discernment enough to know there is something wrong here.

2 Chronicles 18:6

Jehoshaphat says, “You don’t really mean that you hate him because he gives you the Word of God!” So Ahab agreed to send for him. There are a lot of folk in our day also who hate a man who gives out the Word of God. In the church which I served for many years was a sign on the pulpit which I saw every time I stood there to speak. It read: “Sir, we would see Jesus.” I like that. But I always felt there ought to be another verse of Scripture on the congregation’s side of the pulpit: “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” (Gal_4:16). Micaiah is one of the great men of the Bible, as we have seen in 1 Kings 22. He was a man of God who gave out the Word of God. He told Ahab the truth at the peril of his own life. This man is now called on the scene.

2 Chronicles 18:9

You can imagine those four hundred prophets running around saying to Ahab, “Go up against the king of Syria.” One of them was especially dramatic. Zedekiah ran around with iron horns, pushing at everyone with them, saying, “This is the way you are going to do it!” What a scenetwo kings on their thrones and all those prophets running around crying, “Go up and fight. You’ll win!”

2 Chronicles 18:12

The messenger tries to tip off Micaiah as to the situation he will face and advises him to get in step with the rest of them. He says all the prophets agree that they should go up to war so the smart thing for Micaiah to do is to agree with them. Maybe he even brought along a copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People. He told him to be sure to say the right thing to get on the good side of the king.

2 Chronicles 18:13

Micaiah is not intimidated. He is going to say what God has for him to say. You can be sure of that.

2 Chronicles 18:14

Micaiah does have a sense of humor. I enjoy that. I often sayand I say it reverentlythat God has a sense of humor in the Bible. This is one instance of that. Remember the scene. The two kings are sitting on their thrones. Four hundred men are running around saying, “Go up, go up.” Now with biting sarcasm Micaiah joins the parade, and says, “Go up, go up.”

2 Chronicles 18:15

Ahab says to him, “Stop kidding me. You can’t fool me. I know you don’t agree with them.” You see, Ahab wanted the Word of God, but he didn’t want it. He knew the difference between truth and falsehood, but he didn’t want to obey the truth. There are a lot of folk like that today. Now Micaiah becomes serious. Here is God’s message: Not only will they lose the battle, but Ahab will be slain.

2 Chronicles 18:16

The king of Israel says to Jehoshaphat, “I told you soI told you he would predict nothing but evil unto me!” Now Micaiah really lets him have it. He is serious now, and he is sarcastic. Oh, with what biting irony he gives this parable to Ahab!

2 Chronicles 18:18

This is ridiculous! Can you imagine God calling a board of directors’ meeting to find out what He should do? The Lord doesn’t ask for advice, my friend. Oh, what biting sarcasm this is! There were all kinds of suggestions. Now there comes out a wee little spirit and says he has a good idea.

2 Chronicles 18:20

Micaiah’s ridiculous parable is a subtle way of saying that all these prophets of Baal are a pack of liars!

2 Chronicles 18:22

In other words, these prophets have not been telling you the truth. God is going to judge you. Now Ahab is not about to pay any attention to what Micaiah says. He gives orders to put him in prison and keep him there.

2 Chronicles 18:25

Old Micaiah has the parting shot. Listen to him:

2 Chronicles 18:27

I love this! Before Micaiah was taken off, he said, “Look, if you come back, the Lord hasn’t spoken by me. But you are not coming back.” So he turns to the people, “He won’t be here, but you will be here. Remember what I said!” This is tremendous!

2 Chronicles 18:28

Ahab proved he was a deceiver all the way through. You see, the only man in the battle who was wearing royal robes was Jehoshaphat, which made him a marked man. Clever old Ahab had disguised himself. You might say that Ahab set Jehoshaphat up as a clay pigeon to be slain in the battle. It was not Jehoshaphat’s fight at all, but he almost got killed!

2 Chronicles 18:30

The only reason he came out alive is because God intervened on his behalf. Old Ahab is feeling very satisfied with himself. Because of his cleverness he expects to come through the battle unscathed. But notice what happens.

2 Chronicles 18:33

On the Syrian side there was a soldier who ended up with one arrow left in his quiver. “He drew his bow at a venture"he wasn’t aiming at anything. But that arrow had old Ahab’s name on it, and it got him. What happened? He died, just as Micaiah said he would. Jehoshaphat went back home a sadder and wiser man.