2 Chronicles 18 Study Notes

18:1 Ahab: Sixth king of Israel, son of Omri; made Baal worship the state religion of the northern kingdom (1Kg 16:31); formed an alliance with Jehoshaphat of Judah. Jehoshaphat, who needed no one’s help to achieve greatness, acted as though he depended on other people for success. He contracted a marriage between his son Jehoram and Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel.

18:2 Ahab’s father, Omri, had built Samaria and made it the new capital of the northern kingdom. Jehoshaphat decided to pay Ahab a visit, and the king received him in grand style, even performing many sacrifices in Jehoshaphat’s honor. Ahab’s devotion to Baal was no secret; thus, Jehoshaphat was compromising his devotion to the Lord.

18:3-4 At Ahab’s initiative, Jehoshaphat agreed to combine their armies to fight the Arameans. As an afterthought, Jehoshaphat asked that they consult the Lord on whether this was really the Lord’s will.

18:5 Ahab had four hundred men on his payroll. These prophets, who were servants of Baal, were well-schooled in declaring whatever King Ahab wanted to hear, so they encouraged him to go ahead with his plans.

18:6 Conferring with false prophets was not what Jehoshaphat had in mind, so he asked if a prophet of the Lord was available. This was an astounding request because prophets of Yahweh were not welcome at the court of Ahab and Jezebel.

18:7-8 It was Ahab’s insolent I hate him to which Jehoshaphat objected.

18:9-10 Word had come to the prophets of Baal that what the king of Judah wanted to hear was the word of the Lord. One of their leaders, Zedekiah, decided to add a visual touch to his prophecy. He decorated himself with a symbol of Baal, a set of iron horns, and began to act out the Lord’s supposed prediction of Ahab’s success in battle.

18:11 Here the information from v. 5 is repeated for emphasis, with the addition of God’s covenant name.

18:12-13 The court messenger wanted to avoid controversy and did not want to offend the king, so he encouraged Micaiah to go along with the crowd. As a true prophet, Micaiah knew he must speak the message God gave him (Nm 22:18; 2Co 2:17; Gl 1:10; 1Th 2:4).

18:14-15 There may have been a sarcastic tone in Micaiah’s first statement, because Ahab detected that it was not the truth.

18:16-17 Putting sarcasm aside, Micaiah stated that he saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, implying that Ahab would be killed in the battle. Ahab said that this was precisely what he had come to expect from Micaiah.

18:18-24 Micaiah also stated that Ahab’s court prophets were the instruments of a spirit sent by God with the specific intention of leading Ahab into destruction with a lie. While God does not lie, he does permit lying spirits to deceive those who will not believe the truth (2Th 2:9-12). In the end, God also sent Micaiah with the truth, so Ahab had a choice whom to believe. Zedekiah questioned Micaiah’s divine authority by slapping him and accusing him of infringing on Zedekiah’s right to speak for the Lord. Micaiah replied that the matter would be settled on the day that Zedekiah, confronted by the defeat of Ahab’s army, would try to protect himself by hiding in a toilet. The Chronicler did not record the precise confirmation of this prophecy.

18:25-27 Ahab’s safe return would prove Micaiah a false prophet and a traitor deserving death. Micaiah publicly announced he would submit to the test of a true prophet: whether his prediction came to pass (Dt 18:21-22).

18:28-29 Ahab, knowing that the Arameans wanted to kill him, made it look like Jehoshaphat was the only king on the battlefield. His superstition may have led him to think that a disguise could avert what was prophesied. It is difficult to understand why Jehoshaphat would go along with this plan, unless he had already let Ahab have the upper hand in their relationship (see note at 1Kg 22:4-5).

18:30-32 The Arameans did, in fact, have orders to single out Ahab. Since Jehoshaphat was the only visible king, they focused on him and almost killed him. Jehoshaphat cried out to the Lord. God graciously caused the Arameans to back off by letting the Aramean chariot commanders recognize that Jehoshaphat was not Ahab, their intended target.

18:33-34 One lone Aramean archer shot a random arrow. The Hebrew could also be taken to mean that he “simply” shot or that he was merely doing what a good soldier should do. This arrow not only hit Ahab but penetrated through the joints of his armor, something even the best archer was unlikely to achieve on purpose. When Ahab died at sunset, Micaiah, the prophet of the Lord, had been vindicated, and Zedekiah, the prophet of Baal, had been repudiated.