Micaiah's prophecy predicted death for Ahab, not for Jehoshaphat. The prophecy spoke of the army of Israel being scattered after the death of their commander-in-chief; it said nothing about the army of Judah. Perhaps Jehoshaphat felt safe going into battle and believed his own army would win the day. Or perhaps he discounted Micaiah's prophecy because it disagreed with the other 400 prophets consulted by the two kings. Or perhaps he felt a duty to stand by Ahab due to their political/familial alliance: Jehoshaphat's son was married to Ahab's daughter.
In today's study the kings and their armies march out against Ramoth Gilead. As we learned yesterday, Ahab harbored some concern about Micaiah's message and decided to go into battle in disguise. Jehoshaphat went into battle in the attire of a king. Ahab suspected that Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, had instructed his soldiers to target the king of Israel by picking out the man dressed in royal robes, so he didn't go to war in his royal robes. He was right, for as we closed yesterday's study we found Ben-Hadad ordering his troops, "Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel."Ben-Hadad believed the death of Ahab would throw the Israelite army into confusion and send them running from battle.
I am not sure that Ben-Hadad knew the king of Judah had joined forces with Ahab because when his men spot a man wearing royal robes they assume he is Ahab. "When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, 'Surely this is the king of Israel.' So they turned to attack him, but when Jehoshaphat cried out, the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel and stopped pursuing him." (1 Kings 22:32-33) The author of 2 Chronicles adds this information: "So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him." (2 Chronicles 18:31b) In the passage from 1 Kings 22 it's unclear what Jehoshaphat cried out. But the passage from 2 Chronicles 18 indicates that he cried out to the Lord when he saw the Arameans descending upon him. It may be the very fact that he cried out to the Lord (and not to Baal the god of Ahab) that caused the charioteers to realize their error. They immediately stopped pursuing Jehoshaphat to scan the crowd for another man dressed in royal robes.
Ahab isn't dressed in his royal robes but it doesn't matter. The Lord had already determined that this wicked king would die and an errant arrow finds its way to the king in spite of his disguise. "But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, 'Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I've been wounded.' All day long the battle raged, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot, and that evening he died. As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army: 'Every man to his town. Every man to his land!'" (1 Kings 22:34-36, 2 Chronicles 18:33-34)
Earlier in our chapter Micaiah predicted that Ahab's troops would lose heart and go home, saying of the army of Israel, "These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace." While the battle raged, it is not clear whether or not Ben-Hadad and his troops knew that the king of Israel had been mortally wounded. Ahab was still wearing his disguise as an army soldier and, unable to locate him, Ben-Hadad must have ordered his men to go ahead and fight the Israelite soldiers. It is also not clear how many of Ahab's own men realized he had been wounded. If they did, they must not have known the wound would end his life, for he remained on the scene instead of seeking medical care, ordering his charioteer to prop him up in the chariot where he could watch the battle and be seen by his troops to boost their morale for the fight. Ahab died of blood loss around sundown and this event caused his soldiers to flee the battle.
"So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried him there. They washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria (where the prostitutes bathed), and the dogs licked up his blood, as the word of the Lord had declared." (1 Kings 22:37-38) We found this prophecy spoken by Elijah in 1 Kings 21:19 when he said the dogs would lick up the blood of Ahab just as they licked up the blood of Naboth, who was killed so Ahab could seize his vineyard.
"As for the other events of Ahab's reign, including all he did, the palace he built and adorned with ivory, and the cities he fortified, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? Ahab rested with his ancestors. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king." (1 Kings 22:39-40) Ahab enjoyed great power and wealth during his twenty-two year reign but he was spiritually weak and destitute. I'm reminded of what the Lord Jesus said, "What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" (Matthew 16:26a, Mark 8:36) Ahab appeared to have it all---from the outside. But on the inside he was bankrupt.
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