The Victory of the Most High

Nick Muehlebach

1 Kings 22:1-40 • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

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1 Kings 22:29-40 ESV

29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. 30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. 31 Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.” 32 And when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is surely the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out. 33 And when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. 34 But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” 35 And the battle continued that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, until at evening he died. And the blood of the wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot. 36 And about sunset a cry went through the army, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!”

37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria. 38 And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in it, according to the word of the Lord that he had spoken. 39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, and the ivory house that he built and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 40 So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.

An old musician I like who actually passed away 50 years ago this year was someone that I’m sure some of you know of. His name was Jim Croce.

And I like several of Jim Croce’s songs, but maybe my favorite song of his was called “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim”. And I especially like the chorus of that song. It goes, “You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, you don’t spit in the wind, you don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, and you don’t mess around with Jim!”.

Now, what that chorus tells us is that there are some people who you just don’t mess around with, because when you do, the outcome isn’t going to be good for you and you’re definitely not going to come out on top.

As we finish this series of sermons this morning, we will see in our reading for today that this was a lesson that King Ahab learned the hard way when he tried to stand toe to toe with the God of heaven and earth.

Now, we all should be well acquainted with what’s going on in this narrative by now, how Ahab received a visit from Jehoshaphat and then asked Jehoshaphat if he would come to fight alongside him at Ramoth-gilead. But Jehoshaphat told him that he would only go with him if he brought a prophet before them who would inquire of the Lord as to what they should do.

Luckily for Ahab he had 400 false prophets on hand who came in and said that they should go fight for God will give them the victory. But then Micaiah, a prophet who truly spoke the word of God came before the kings and told them that what was actually happening here is that Ahab and his false prophets were being deceived by an evil spirit.

Well, this wasn’t something that Ahab wanted to hear, so he told his guards to arrest Micaiah and that he would deal with him when he got back. But Micaiah responded by essentially saying that whether Ahab wanted the word of God to come to pass or not, it would indeed come to pass.

And thus, we arrive at our reading for this morning. First, in verse 20, we read:

1 Kings 22:29 ESV

29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead.

It was the will of God for Ahab to go to Ramoth-gilead so that he may fall, and what we see here is that happening. Being effectively deceived by the evil spirit that God allowed to fool Ahab and his false prophets, Ahab, king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah set out for Ramoth-gilead.

But before they left for Ramoth-gilead, Ahab came up with a plan that we read of in verse 30, where we read:

1 Kings 22:30 ESV

30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.

You see, what Ahab did here is he thought to himself that maybe Micaiah is right, maybe it is God’s will for him to die at Ramoth-gilead. But Ahab thought that even if that is God’s will, he still wants things to go his way, so he was going to try to do what he could do to somehow trick God.

Ahab knew that if the Syrians knew that he was coming to the battlelines that they wouldn’t even bother with his soldiers, but they’ll just come after him. Therefore, he suggested that he dress up like all of the other soldiers in his ranks so that the Syrians wouldn’t recognize him, but King Jehoshaphat remain in his royal robes so that they think that he is Ahab and they come after him instead.

And Jehoshaphat, who was an otherwise godly king had been so deceived through his association with godless King Ahab that he was blinded to the fact that he was just using him to save his own skin. In fact, he was so deceived that he even went along with Ahab’s plan that spelled out his own destruction.

Then in verses 31-33, we begin to see what happens on the battlefield, where it says:

1 Kings 22:31-33 ESV

31 Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.” 32 And when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is surely the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out. 33 And when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

We see first of all, in verse 31, that Ahab’s prediction was correct when he reasoned that the Syrians would only pursue the one who they believed was Ahab when the king of Syria commanded with his captains to only pursue the king of Israel.

And when we look at verse 32, it appears as though Ahab’s plan is going to work after all, when they see Jehoshaphat dressed in his royal robes and pursued him, thinking that he was Ahab.

But then, it says that Jehoshaphat cried out. What this crying out consisted of we don’t know. He may have stood up and shouted, “I’m not Ahab! Look! I’m Jehoshaphat!” but whatever it was that he done, it made the Syrians cease pursuing him.

In this we see God’s grace being extended to Jehoshaphat, for though he had made an alliance with the godless Ahab, God miraculously spares his life here.

But though Ahab has attempted to thwart God’s plan and purpose, he doesn’t get off scot-free. We see this in verse 34, where we read:

1 Kings 22:34 ESV

34 But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.”

The text says that a certain man from the Syrian armed forces, once he saw that Ahab had deceived them by having Jehoshaphat wear his royal robes, took his bow, pointed it at the mass of Israeli soldiers and randomly aimed it, with no real target in mind and shot it at the mass.

And guess who this lone arrow struck? King Ahab who was dressed just like all of the other soldiers. This Syrian had no idea that Ahab was in that mass of people, he just drew his bow towards the mass and shot. And when he shot, he hit Ahab, who was in disguise.

And if that isn’t remarkable enough, our text tells us here that where this arrow struck Ahab was between the scale armor and the breastplate, basically the only vulnerable place on his armor.

So, this Syrian shoots at random into a mass of people, not realizing that Ahab is there, and not only does he hit Ahab, but he hits him in the only exposed part of his armor… I think that that was more than just a coincidence; God clearly directed that.

It didn’t matter how Ahab tried to manipulate the situation, how he tried to have it go his way, because in the end, God ensured that His will, His purpose was fulfilled.

And as for Ahab, verse 35 tells us:

1 Kings 22:35 ESV

35 And the battle continued that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, until at evening he died. And the blood of the wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot.

Ahab called for his charioteer to take him away from the battle lines now that he was wounded, and once there he was propped up in his chariots so that he could watch the progress of the battle. But King Ahab didn’t get to see the outcome of the battle, for he died there in his chariot, with the blood that flowed from his wound filling up the bottom of his chariot.

Thus, just as Micaiah predicted, Ahab didn’t return to Samaria in peace.

Also, in verse 36, we see another fulfillment of Micaiah’s prophecy, when it says:

1 Kings 22:36 ESV

36 And about sunset a cry went through the army, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!”

Back in verse 17 of this chapter Micaiah said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’” And as we see the cry go out for the Israeli soldiers to return home, we see the prophecy finding its fulfillment… once again; God’s word always has its effect.

And as for what happened to Ahab’s body and the legacy that he left, the remainder of our reading, starting in verse 12 tells us, when it says:

1 Kings 22:37-40 ESV

Ahab died in his chariot in the midst of the battle that he sought to gain much glory from. He was then buried in Samaria, the capital city of the kingdom of northern Israel.

And you remember how his chariot was soaked with his blood? Well, even what happened to the chariot after it came to Samaria was a fulfillment of a prophecy spoken of by Elijah back chapter 21, verse 19 of this book as it says that dogs licked up the king’s blood as the chariot was being washed.

Furthermore, when it notes prostitutes washing themselves in it, it refers to the fact that the location in which the king’s royal chariot was washed was at a watering hole that prostitutes were known to bathe themselves.

Thus we see the tragic end of a tragic king who despised God and tried to play God.

And as it says at the end of verse 38, all of this happened in accordance to the word of God. This was God’s determination; therefore this is what came to pass.

No matter how hard Ahab tried, God came out on top in the end. When we look at this narrative, we see God glorified, but when we look at the legacy that Ahab left behind, all we see is yet another one who rose up against the Most High and suffered the terrible, irreversible consequences that come about as a result of it.

Thus, the mighty, powerful King Ahab died the shameful, disgraceful death because he messed with the King of kings.

Beloved, may we, in reverent fear submit to, obey, and worship our majestic God. Knowing our own humble position and reverently acknowledging His high, lofty, exalted position.