1Ki 22: "It was a time of compromise. The nations of the north
and south had an interlude of neither peace nor war, when each side developed
its military potential (v 1). At the end of three years, the Syrian war was
resumed. (1) Jehoshaphat visits Ahab: vv 2-4. (2) He allies himself with Ahab on
conditions: v 5. (3) False prophets proclaim smooth things: v 6. (4) Jehoshaphat
demands a prophet of Yahweh: v 7. (5) Micaiah's sarcastic prophecy: vv 8-23. (6)
A challenge to Micaiah: vv 24,25. (7) Micaiah is imprisoned: vv 26-28. (8) The
kings march to war: vv 29,30. (9) Death of Ahab: vv 31-36. (10) Elijah's
prophecies fulfilled: vv 37,38. (11) Summary of Ahab's reign: vv 39,40. (12)
Summary of Jehoshaphat's reign: vv 41-50. (13) Summary of Ahaziah's reign: vv
51-53" (GEM).
1Ki 22:4
I AM AS YOU ARE: Jehoshaphat's son had married Ahab's
daughter (2Ki 8:18).
1Ki 22:5
FIRST SEEK THE COUNSEL OF THE LORD: Why did not
Jehoshaphat inquire for himself?
1Ki 22:8
"An ill-omened alliance had been struck up between Ahab of
Israel and Jehoshaphat of Judah. The latter, who would have been much better in
Jerusalem, had come down to Samaria to join in an assault on the kingdom of
Damascus; but, like a great many other people, Jehoshaphat first made up his
mind without asking God, and then thought that it might be well to get some kind
of varnish of a religious sanction for his decision. So he proposes to Ahab to
inquire of the Lord about this matter. One would have thought that that should
have been done before, and not after, the determination was made. Ahab does not
at all see the necessity for such a thing, but, to please his scrupulous ally,
he sends for his priests. They came, four hundred of them, and of course they
all played the tune that Ahab called for. It is not difficult to get prophets to
pat a king on the back, and tell him, 'Do what you like.'
"But Jehoshaphat was not satisfied yet. Perhaps he thought
that Ahab's clergy were not exactly God's prophets, but at all events he wanted
an independent opinion; and so he asks if there is not in all Samaria a man that
can be trusted to speak out. He gets for answer the name of this 'Micaiah the
son of Imlah.' Ahab had had experience of him, and knew his man; and the very
name leads him to an explosion of passion, which, like other explosions, lays
bare some very ugly depths. 'I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good
concerning me, but evil.'
"That is a curious mood, is it not? that a man should know
another to be a messenger of God, and therefore know that his words are true,
and that if he asked his counsel he would be forbidden to do the thing that he
is dead set on doing, and would be warned that to do it was destruction; and
that still he should not ask the counsel, nor ever dream of dropping the
purpose, but should burst out in a passion of puerile rage against the
counsellor, and will have none of his reproofs. Very curious! But there are a
great many of us that have something of the same mood in us, though we do not
speak it out as plainly as Ahab did. It lurks more or less in us all, and it
largely determines the attitude that some of us take to Christianity and to
Christ" (MacL).
1Ki 22:24
ZEDEKIAH... WENT UP AND SLAPPED MICAIAH IN THE FACE:
'And we will see if MY hand withers... like Jeroboam's!' (1Ki 13). But it did
not!
1Ki 22:34
AT RANDOM: Heb "tom", lit complete, perfect. Not as
translation here: instead, he (Naaman? see 2Ki 5:1n) took "perfect" aim, and
slew Ahab on purpose.
1Ki 22:43
THE HIGH PLACES, HOWEVER, WERE NOT REMOVED: Specific
mention is made, several times, of the high places not being taken away: by Asa
(1Ki 15:14); Jehoshaphat (1Ki 22:43); Jehoash (2Ki 12:3); Amaziah (2Ki 14:4);
Azariah/Uzziah (2Ki 15:4); and Jotham (2Ki 15:35) -- demonstrating the
importance of this action in God's sight. These kings did not make a full return
to God. The high places (which had been used for idol worship) might have been
out of use for the time being, but it seems they were not totally destroyed
until the time of Hezekiah (2Ki 18:4; 2Ch 32:12); and even then their
prohibition did not last beyond his reign (2Ch 33:3).
Do we have other shrines at which we worship? We must be sure
that we remove the "high places" from our lives completely, even if they are
currently "out of use".
1Ki 22:46
MALE SHRINE PROSTITUTES: "Sodomites" (AV). " 'Qadhesh'
denotes properly a male temple prostitute, one of the class attached to certain
sanctuaries of heathen deities, and 'consecrated' [the Heb rt word means lit,
and sarcastically, 'holy'!] to the impure rites of their worship. Such gross and
degrading practices in Yahweh's land could only be construed as a flagrant
outrage; and any association of these with His pure worship was abhorrent (Deu
23:17,18): The presence of Sodomites is noted as a mark of degeneracy in
Rehoboam's time (1Ki 14:24). Asa endeavored to get rid of them (1Ki 15:12), and
Jehoshaphat routed them out (1Ki 22:46). Subsequent corruptions opened the way
for their return, and Josiah had to break down their houses which were actually
"in the house of the Lord" (2Ki 23:7). The feminine 'qedheshah' is translated
'prostitute' in Gen 38:21,22; Hos 4:14; Deu 23:17 (the KJV mg has 'sodomitess';
the RV mg simply transliterates). The English word is, of course, derived from
Sodom, the inhabitants of which were in evil repute for unnatural vice"
(ISBE).
1Ki 22:48
TRADING SHIPS: As mg, "ships of Tarshish": See Lesson,
Tarshish.