The Kings Of Israel And Judah. Day 90, The Death Of King Ahab, Part One

The prophet Micaiah warned King Ahab that he will die if he goes to war against Aram. He stated that all of Ahab's prophets are lying to him by saying he will have success. Micaiah is treated deplorably for reporting this message. "Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. 'Which way did the spirit of the Lord go when He went from me to speak to you?' he asked. Micaiah replied, 'You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room.' The king of Israel then ordered, 'Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king's son and say, 'This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.' Micaiah declared, 'If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me.' Then he added, 'Mark my words, all you people!'" (1 Kings 22:24-28, 2 Chronicles 18:23-27)

I am not certain what Zedekiah (who is apparently one of Ahab's false prophets) means when he asks which way the spirit of the Lord went. Zedekiah seems to be striking Micaiah as a rebuke for presuming to speak in the name of the Lord, as if Micaiah is making up a prophecy the Lord never gave him, which is very hypocritical of Zedekiah since we know that neither he nor any of Ahab's prophets have been providing a true message from the Lord. When Ahab orders his guards to take Micaiah "back to Amon the ruler of the city" it indicates that Micaiah was already in custody when he was called for at Jehoshaphat's insistence. If Micaiah is the unnamed prophet of 1 Kings 22 who had already predicted the death of Ahab, then Ahab must have had him arrested at that time out of anger. We will never hear of Micaiah again and he may have spent the rest of his life in prison. I believe his prophecy regarding Zedekiah came true, although the Bible never tells us what happens to this false prophet either, but many scholars believe Zedekiah went into battle with Ahab, fled the battle when it began going wrong and sought a place of refuge---"an inner room"---and was struck down there by a member of the enemy army.

King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah will decide to go ahead with the battle in spite of what Micaiah said. But I think in the back of his mind Ahab is apprehensive due to Micaiah's words and decides to provide himself with some insurance against being targeted by the enemy. "So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, 'I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes.' So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle." (1 Kings 22:29-30, 2 Chronicles 18:28-29) I'm not sure why Jehoshaphat decided to go into battle after having insisted upon hearing the words of a true prophet and after hearing a dire warning from that prophet. It may have been necessary for the morale of the troops to see a commander-in-chief leading the charge (to be able to pick one of the kings out of the crowd) but Jehoshaphat should have stopped to wonder why Ahab was afraid to go into battle dressed as a king. 

I can't say whether Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, knows that Jehoshaphat has joined forces with Ahab. I tend to think perhaps he doesn't since he orders his troops to be on the lookout for a man dressed in royal robes. "Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, 'Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.'" (1 Kings 22:31, 2 Chronicles 18:30) Ben-Hadad doesn't think it will be necessary to fight and overcome the whole army of Israel; he thinks all that is necessary is to mortally wound the king of Israel, then he expects the Israelite army to lose heart and run away. As the saying goes, "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered." (Zechariah 13:7a, Matthew 26:31b, Mark 14:27b) This falls in line with the prophecy of Micaiah, who said earlier in 1 Kings 22: "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, 'These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.'" 

In tomorrow's study we'll learn that, in spite of his precautions, an arrow finds its way to Ahab.