Download Sermon on 2 Chronicles 18,1-19,3

Sermon on 2 Chronicles 18,1-19,3
Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The passage of Scripture for this morning’s sermon, leaves us with all kinds of
questions, I’m sure. Who are these kings Ahab and Jehoshaphat? Where do these
prophets Micaiah and Zedekiah and Jehu come from? Why is it that we find 400
prophets at the same time at the king’s beck and call? What is the significance of this
city Ramoth-gilead? What are we to make of the vision of Micaiah of some heavenly
proceedings? What about this arrow that seemingly unintentionally kills king Ahab?
I could list lots more questions. And the mere number of these questions can
make you ask yourself why we should actually read and study these kind of stories in
the first place. They seem to be simple historical accounts of the people of Israel of so
long ago. What good are these stories to us now? It would be a lot easier to read a
section from one of Paul’s letters or from the gospels. It is usually lot easier to apply a
message like that to our daily lives. To make the point even stronger: some say that
we should do away with the OT altogether. We are the people of God of the new
covenant, so the OT, it is said, is in fact irrelevant to our faith and the church of Jesus
Christ.
Reading through this history of the alliance between Ahab and Jehoshaphat can
reinforce such a view on the irrelevance of the OT. Yet, when we carefully study this
passage, we find that it is a lot more than a random part of history. Admittedly, it
provides only a brief glimpse, a snapshot of the history of the people of God. But if we
study this text in the context of redemptive history, we find that it tells us a great
deal about who God is and it also teaches us important lessons about our relationship
with God. So then, what do we learn from 2 Chron 18? Well, since the Bible is God’s
revelation of and about himself to us, we will first of all learn something about God.
We find the king of Judah entering into an alliance with the king of Israel. This
constituted a direct threat to the preservation of the Davidic line from which the
Messiah was to be born. Yet God proves to be faithful to his promises. He does not
allow his plan of salvation to be jeopardised by the ignorance or arrogance of man.
In the process we are taught not to simply pass God’s Word by because we don’t
like it, or because it doesn’t suit us. And we are also taught that those who do listen
to God, will not be left without a shepherd, as it says in Micaiah’s prophecy. And this
in turn directs our thoughts to the Good Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ. He takes
care of us. He is the living Word of God. And in the obedience to this Word lies joy
and life, indeed, eternal life. These things we will consider this morning with the
following theme and points:
God preserves his people in spite of the overconfidence of Judah’s king
1. Jehoshaphat allies with Ahab
2. Ahab ignores God
3. God saves Jehoshaphat
1. Jehoshaphat allies with Ahab
To understand the significance of this history, we must take a look at the ‘bigger
picture’. We must, so to speak, enlarge the snapshot so that we are presented with a
panoramic view of the history of the people of God.
Two kings play a role in this history: king Ahab of Israel and king Jehoshaphat of
Judah. Ahab was the son of Omri, a former army commander who had taken control
1
of Israel by killing others who laid claim to the throne. In 1 Ki 16, 25 it reads: “Omri
did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before
him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.” Jeroboam, you may
remember, was the first king of the kingdom of Ten tribes of Israel. He instituted his
own religious cult in Betel and Dan. Omri was just like him, worshipping idols and
making the Israelites do the same. This is the line from which Ahab descended; he
was of the house of Omri. He even managed to make things worse by marrying
Jezebel of Sidon and making the worship of Baal and Asherah the official state
religion beside the worship of JHWH.
Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah, the kingdom of two tribes. He was of the
house of David. He was the fourth king of Judah since the split with Israel. He was a
good king. In 1 Ki 22,43 we find: “He walked in all the way of Asa his father. He did
not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the LORD.”
Now from a superficial historical point of view we see two kings, two leaders of a
once united kingdom, who make an alliance with each other. But from a redemptive
historical point of view we see an entirely different picture. The godless house of
Omri, of which Ahab was a true representative, was the part of the people of God
which had for the larger part abandoned God. The kingdom of Israel was a kingdom
of idolaters. If this kingdom was allowed to, in a way, reunite with Judah just like
that, then the worship of the only God of heaven and earth would be compromised.
God had promised David by means of the prophet Nathan that his house would
always reign until the coming of the Messiah (2 Sam 7). The Messiah was to be the
lawful king of the people of God and therefore he had to be a son of David. But if the
house of David turned away from God and worshipped idols, the covenant would be
broken, and the line of David would not persist. The salvation of the world depended
upon the existence of the house of David. Any threat to this Davidic line was a threat
to the fulfilment of God’s promise of salvation in Jesus Christ.
So this is the bigger picture: the mortal enemy of God, Satan, is trying to
undermine God’s plan of salvation. And in Jehoshaphat’s case he appears to almost
have succeeded. Why is that ? Let us see.
In vs 1 of our text we read that Jehoshaphat was a rich king, a man who received
great honour and praise. And this high position must have gone to his head because
vs 1 continues with the mention of a marriage alliance between the house of David
and the house of Omri. Indeed, in chapter 21 we find that his son Jehoram married a
daughter of Ahab, Athaliah. In this way the royal house of David was connected to
the house of Omri. Inadvertently the words of Paul spring to mind in 2 Cor 6,14-16:
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has
righteousness with lawlessness? What agreement has the temple of God with idols?”
This NT text describes exactly what the fault was of king Jehoshaphat: he allied
himself to the enemy of God’s people in a way that was bound to be detrimental, to
say the least, to the fulfilment of God’s promises of salvation.
In 19,2 the prophet Jehu says the same to Jehoshaphat: “Should you help the
wicked and love those who hate the LORD?” Jehoshaphat crossed the line by seeking
an alliance with Ahab. He crossed the line of the covenant that God had made with
his people and the house of David. Within the covenant God had promised to care of
his people. They were his people and he was their God. How could Jehoshaphat ever
expect the covenant with God to remain intact when he also made a covenant with
the enemy of God? It is impossible to give your love to two people. Like the Lord
Jesus said in a different context (Lk 16,13): “No servant can serve two masters, for
either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and
despise the other.”
2
Still, we must be more specific. We must read all the Scriptures carefully in this
context, for this text may lead one to believe that, in our time as well, all and any
association with unbelievers is wrong. Yet we find that the apostle Paul also says in 1
Cor 5,9-10: “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people
– not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers,
or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.” So, obviously,
children of God are not forbidden all contact with unbelievers. It is rather the nature
of such an association or friendship which determines if one is allowed to entertain it
or not.
And this is where Jehoshaphat went wrong. He was allowed to have contact
Ahab, the apostate king. But not to make an alliance with him! Not to go into battle
with him! God was the ally of Jehoshaphat, no one else! God demanded that he follow
him and obey him and not be induced by Ahab to go with him (vs 2)! Jehoshaphat
was in fact restoring the relationship between the two kingdoms, he was ignoring the
gap that existed because of sin and idolatry. Jehoshaphat allied with Ahab as if
nothing had happened. But the only way for the kingdom of Israel to be reunited with
the kingdom of Judah was by means of repentance. Ahab should have repented of his
idolatry. He should have gotten rid of all the statues and altars of Baal and Asherah.
Then the way to God would be opened again.
God will not associate with sin – that is, with unrepented sin. For us, the people
of God of the NT, this has great significance. We may associate with people outside
the Christian church, but we must not ally with them, not to the extent that we let a
godless way of life or of thinking influence our faith and Christian walk of life. It
should rather be the other way around! Our walk of life and manner of speech must
always be such that our unbelieving friends, family or colleagues see and understand
in whom we put our trust. It is like Peter says in 1 Pt 2,12: “Keep your conduct among
the Gentiles honourable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may
see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” Our intention must
always be to shine forth the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in any social contact we
maintain, so that the people around us see where they are wrong and repent and turn
to God. God will forgive the repentant sinner. That is the only way in which the
covenant with God can be restored.
As a result of the marriage alliance between Jehoram and Athaliah, Ahab requests
that Jehoshaphat go into battle with him. The proceedings of this battle demonstrate
how a king who has abandoned the God of his fathers goes about his business and
where it leads him. Which brings us to our second point.
2. Ahab ignores God
By far the larger part of our text is about the asking for the word of the LORD
regarding the campaign that Ahab and Jehoshaphat mean to undertake against
Ramoth-gilead. At the court of king Ahab there are 400 prophets who supposedly
pass on to him the will and word of God. But their conduct is, to say the least, quite
suspicious. They don’t come across as prophets of the LORD at all. For one, after Ahab
asked the question “Shall we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall we refrain?”
they instantly have their answer ready. They don’t say that they must pray or sacrifice
or anything like that to inquire of the LORD for his answer. It is quite obvious that
they only said what they know Ahab, their lord, wants to hear. They are the
spokesmen of their king, not the spokesmen of their God.
Jehoshaphat realises this as well. He may be an arrogant king, but he is not
ignorant. Although he is wrong to make an alliance with Ahab, he still feels that he is
acting in good faith. He truly wants to hear the word of God. Therefore he asks for
3
another prophet (read: a real prophet) to give, say, a second opinion. Then Ahab
brings Micaiah the son of Imlah forward. Yet he hates him because he never says
what Ahab wants. It is only for the sake of Jehoshaphat that Ahab sends someone to
fetch him.
It is striking to see how deep Ahab has fallen. Apparently Micaiah has prophesied
more often in his presence and he always prophesied something that Ahab did not
like. But instead of listening to the prophet of the LORD and examining himself, Ahab
simply ignores and avoids him. Speaking of repentance: Ahab is confronted with the
word of God many times. He knows that he is on the wrong way, but he simply
pushes God aside. He closes his ears to the words he doesn’t want to hear. In all of
this he doesn’t even come close to any kind of repentance.
In the background of his reluctance to listen to Micaiah is a pagan perception of
the concept of prophecy. In those days, in pagan religions, the prophets influenced
the godhead instead of the godhead the prophets. If the prophets spoke
disapprovingly about the plans of the king, then the godhead would act accordingly.
The godhead would listen to his prophet and do what he wanted; at least, that was
the whole idea. That is why Ahab didn’t like the prophesies of Micaiah. In his
perception Micaiah tried to make God work against him. In addition to telling Ahab
of God’s disapproval, Micaiah also, in Ahab’s mind, made God effectively work
against him. That’s why he didn’t want to let him speak, let alone listen to him.
Here we see clearly why Jehoshaphat was not allowed to make an alliance with
Ahab. Ahab had abandoned God. He did not want to listen to his word. He did give
the impression. He had no less than 400 prophets at his disposal! But we are not
fooled. There was only one prophet at that court at the time who spoke the word of
God, and that was Micaiah. The 400 prophets were only to let Ahab hear whatever he
wanted. He made believe that God was at his side. But in reality he ignored the word
of God and justified his actions by listening to his own version of it.
And where did this lead him? We know how the story ends. Ahab went against
the word of God and he died as a result. The way of the one who abandons God leads
to destruction. All the raging of the 400 prophets and the impressive display of
Zedekiah who made for himself horns of iron (vs 10) could not mask the fact that
what they said was not the word of God but the word of man.
For us this is a serious warning. We are not like Ahab. We have not abandoned
God. On the contrary, he is our Father! So when we have to make many choices in our
lives, we must be careful. Not just about questions about how far we let our contacts
with unbelievers develop. We have to make sure that we are not, in any situation,
tempted to listen to our own version of the truth. We can go out of our way to make
our own words and opinions sound impressive and persuasive. But we must be
careful that we are honest. Are we letting the whole of Scripture speak to us? Are we
not selective readers? Are we not letting our wishes and viewpoints take precedence
over what God wants us to do? We must be careful Bible readers, always examining
ourselves, not too quickly satisfied with what we find, especially not when what we
find conveniently coincides perfectly with what we want it to say. We must read
carefully and study God’s Word with each other so that together we find the correct
meaning of God’s word for our lives, under the guidance of the Spirit of God.
3. God saves Jehoshaphat
The prophecy of Micaiah was clear enough. At first he told Ahab what he wanted
to hear. But Ahab knew, possibly from the way Micaiah spoke, that he was not being
truthful. So then Micaiah spoke the true word of God and told Ahab that he saw the
people of Israel without a shepherd, thus prophesying the imminent death of Ahab.
4
Ahab was an unworthy shepherd who made his people follow him in idol worship.
He would pay for his disobedience with his own life. Micaiah continues to explain
why all the other prophets prophesied the words Ahab wanted to hear: they were led
by a lying spirit, sent out by God himself. Therefore it says in vs 22: “The LORD has
declared disaster concerning you.” The same fate would be Zedekiah’s, the false
prophet.
It is surprising that Jehoshaphat still agrees to go with Ahab into battle. He
should have known better. He probably did know better. Maybe he felt that he had to
fight. Maybe he didn’t want to break the alliance. The text doesn’t explain his
actions, although it does condemn them. Even more surprisingly we find that God
saves him nonetheless! The explanation for this is found in 19,3: “Nevertheless, some
good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asherahs out of the land, and have set
your heart to seek God.” Especially that last part is important. Jehoshaphat sought
God. His alliance with Ahab was wrong, but, again, Jehoshaphat acted in good faith.
This does not excuse his action (he is actually punished for it says 19,2b), but it does
explain why the Lord God saves his life and, even more, keeps the line to the coming
of the Messiah intact.
God did exactly the opposite of what Ahab set out to do. After hearing the word
of God Ahab disguises himself so that the soldiers of the enemy would not target him.
Yet he tells Jehoshaphat to wear his robes, which make him recognisable as the king,
the commander of the army. Ahab thus anticipates the plan of the king of Syria who
indeed orders his soldiers to go after the king of Israel. And if Ahab’s plan had
succeeded, Jehoshaphat would have been killed instead of Ahab and Ahab himself
would have emerged as the ruler over Israel, Ramoth-gilead and via his daughter
Athaliah also over Judah! This would have put the fulfilment of the promise of God in
great jeopardy.
But God did exactly the opposite. He let an archer shoot an arrow at random to
strike Ahab so that he died from loss of blood. God killed Ahab. But Jehoshaphat
cried out and the LORD God saved him, and not only him but also the Davidic line
from which the Messiah would once come.
And now the Messiah has come. God has proven to be a faithful God. He has
revealed himself once again as the reliable God who keeps his word. He has given the
true shepherd, the Good Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Word of God in
the flesh. Whoever believes him and obeys him, will never be disappointed. The way
of the man who abandons God leads to certain death. But the way of the man who
puts his trust in the Good Shepherd leads to life, to everlasting life.
Conclusion
Do you see, brs and srs, what and how much we can learn from a single historical
event in the history of the people of Israel? We found that God has made sure that the
Messiah would come to save those who believe in him from eternal damnation. We
found that we must never corrupt our faith by means of an alliance with the enemy of
God; never let Satan lead us away from God. And we found that those who believe in
God, listen to his words, and accept the Good Shepherd, will find everlasting life. Let
us take these lessons to heart and carry them in our hearts and in doing so honour
and glorify our God and have life in his Son Jesus Christ. Amen.
5
Liturgy













Votum and Salutation
Sing: Ps 19,1.2
Reading of the Law
Sing: Ps 19,3
Prayer
Scripture and Text reading: 2 Chron 18,1-19,3
Collections (& announcements)
Sing: Ps 115,2.4.5
Sermon
Sing: Ps 23,1-3
Prayer
Sing: Hy 25,1.3
Benediction
Questions for sermon discussion with the children
1. Why and how does the Old Testament still have something to say to us? Are
they not just simply stories from a long time ago?
2. Why was it wrong of Jehoshaphat to make an alliance with king Ahab?
3. Are you allowed to have friends from outside the church? Explain.
4. Why did God still save Jehoshaphat?
6