1 Kings 22:1-53 Comments by Stephen Ricker
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Ahab's Death
Comments for Study 19

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MAPS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH
A MAP OF THE DIVISION OF CANAAN
A MAP OF JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE
OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS TIMELINE
A LIST OF ISRAEL'S KINGS AND PROPHETS
A TIMELINE OF ISRAEL'S HISTORY

SORRY, THE COMMENTARY FOR THIS BOOK HAS NOT BEEN FINISHED.
CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF BOOKS THAT ARE COMPLETED.

I. Prophecies Against Ahab (22:1-28)

>1. How was Jehoshaphat involved with King Ahab? (1-4)

* 1 Kings 22:1-4 "For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel. 2 But in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to see the king of Israel. 3 The king of Israel had said to his officials, "Don't you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram?" 4 So he asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?" Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses."

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>How did Jehoshaphat show his faith in the Lord? (5)

* 1 Kings 22:5 "But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "First seek the counsel of the LORD."

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>What was the message of Ahab's lying prophets? (6, 10-12)

* 1 Kings 22:6 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets--about four hundred men--and asked them, "Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?" "Go," they answered, "for the Lord will give it into the king's hand."

* 1 Kings 22:10-12 "Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared, "This is what the LORD says: 'With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.'" All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. "Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious," they said, "for the LORD will give it into the king's hand."

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>What did Jehoshaphat realize about these prophets? (7)

* 1 Kings 22:7 "But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there not a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?"

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>What did Jesus warn us about false prophets? (Matt. 7:15-20)

* Matthew 7:15-20 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."

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>2. Who was Micaiah? (8-9)

* 1 Kings 22:8-9 "The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah." "The king should not say that," Jehoshaphat replied. So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, "Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once."

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>Even though he was instructed by man what to say what was Micaiah's prophecy? (13-17)

* 1 Kings 22:13-17 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Look, as one man the other prophets are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably." 14 But Micaiah said, "As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what the LORD tells me." 15 When he arrived, the king asked him, "Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?" "Attack and be victorious," he answered, "for the LORD will give it into the king's hand." 16 The king said to him, "How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?" 17 Then Micaiah answered, "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.'"

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>What vision did Micaiah see in regard to the lying prophets? (18-23)

* 1 Kings 22:18-23 "The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?" 19 Micaiah continued, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. 20 And the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?' "One suggested this, and another that. 21 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.' 22 " 'By what means?' the LORD asked. " 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said. " 'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the LORD. 'Go and do it.' 23 "So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you."

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>What can be learned about the Lord?

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>3. How did Ahab treat Micaiah? (24-28; Prov. 9:7-9)

* 1 Kings 22:24-28 "Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. "Which way did the spirit from the LORD go when he went from me to speak to you?" he asked. 25 Micaiah replied, "You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room." 26 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 27 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.'" 28 Micaiah declared, "If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me." Then he added, "Mark my words, all you people!"

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>What can be learned about being a servant of the Lord in a sinful generation? (Mark 8:38, 13:13)

* Mark 8:38 "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

* Mark 13:13 "All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."

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II. Ahab Killed (22:29-40)

>4. Why does what a king wears matter when going into battle? (29-30)

* 1 Kings 22:29-30 "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."

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>What did it mean in this battle? (31-33)

* 1 Kings 22:31-33 "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." 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."

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>How can the hand of the Lord be seen in Ahab's death as prophesied? (34-35, 37-38)

* 1 Kings 22:34-35 "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."

* 1 Kings 22:37-38 "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."

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Death of Ahab

* See a wood engraving by Gustave Dore (1832-1883) to the right depicting the death of Ahab. Dore's drawings were in Bibles that are now in public domain. This one was scanned in by creationism.org.

>5. How did Israel's army react to the news of the death of their king? (36)

* 1 Kings 22:36 "As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army: "Every man to his town; everyone to his land!"

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>What kind of king was Ahab from a human point of view? (39-40)

* 1 Kings 22:39-40 "As for the other events of Ahab's reign, including all he did, the palace he built and inlaid 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 fathers. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king."

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>From God's point of view? (16:30)

* 1 Kings 16:30 "Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him."

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>6. How did Jezebel end her life? (2 Kings 9:30-36)

* 2 Kings 9:30-37 "Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she painted her eyes, arranged her hair and looked out of a window. 31 As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, "Have you come in peace, Zimri, you murderer of your master?" 32 He looked up at the window and called out, "Who is on my side? Who?" Two or three eunuchs looked down at him. 33 "Throw her down!" Jehu said. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot. 34 Jehu went in and ate and drank. "Take care of that cursed woman," he said, "and bury her, for she was a king's daughter." 35 But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet and her hands. 36 They went back and told Jehu, who said, "This is the word of the LORD that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs will devour Jezebel's flesh. 37 Jezebel's body will be like refuse on the ground in the plot at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, 'This is Jezebel.'"

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* Israel did not calculated a king's ascension and reign as other nations. After Israel and Judah split Judah kept calculating to "old way" and Israel switched and started calculating the way other nations did around them. Read The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings by Edwin Richard Thiele for more understanding on how Israel and Judah calculated the dates of their king's ascension and reign.

>What does Ahab and Jezebel's deaths this teach about God?

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III. Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah (22:41-53)

>7. Who was Jehoshaphat? (41-42)

* 1 Kings 22:41-42 "Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother's name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi."

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* 2 Chronicles 19 also records Jehoshaphat's reign.

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>What is important about his life in God's eyes? (43a; and 2 Chron. 17:3-6)

* 1 Kings 22:43a "In everything he walked in the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD."

* 2 Chronicles 17:3-6 "The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because in his early years he walked in the ways his father David had followed. He did not consult the Baals but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel. The LORD established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor. His heart was devoted to the ways of the LORD; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah."

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The Destruction of the Armies of the Ammonites and Moabites

* See a wood engraving by Gustave Dore (1832-1883) to the right depicting the Lord destruction of the armies of the Ammonites and the Moabites. Dore's drawings were in Bibles that are now in public domain. This one was scanned in by creationism.org.

>How was his faith displayed in his actions as king? (45-46; and 2 Chron. 17:7-9)

* 1 Kings 22:45-46 "As for the other events of Jehoshaphat's reign, the things he achieved and his military exploits, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? He rid the land of the rest of the male shrine prostitutes who remained there even after the reign of his father Asa."

* 2 Chronicles 17:7-9 "In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah to teach in the towns of Judah. 8 With them were certain Levites--Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah--and the priests Elishama and Jehoram. 9 They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the LORD; they went around to all the towns of Judah and taught the people."

* "military exploits" - 2 Chronicles 20 records Jehoshaphat's battle with the Ammonites and the Moabites.

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>8. Why was it wrong to offer sacrifices on the high places? (43b)

* 1 Kings 22:43b "The high places, however, were not removed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there."

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>Why might he not remove them?

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>9. How did his relationship with God effect the kingdom Jehoshaphat ruled? (44, 47; and 2 Chron. 17:10-11, 20:29-30)

* 1 Kings 22:44 "Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the king of Israel."

* 1 Kings 22:47 "There was then no king in Edom; a deputy ruled."

* 2 Chronicles 17:10-11 "The fear of the LORD fell on all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not make war with Jehoshaphat. Some Philistines brought Jehoshaphat gifts and silver as tribute, and the Arabs brought him flocks: seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred goats.

* 2 Chronicles 20:29-30 "The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard how the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel. And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side."

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>Why might the sunken fleet be mentioned? (48-50; and 2 Chron. 20:35-37)

* 1 Kings 22:48-50 "Now Jehoshaphat built a fleet of trading ships to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail--they were wrecked at Ezion Geber. 49 At that time Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my men sail with your men," but Jehoshaphat refused. 50 Then Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of David his father. And Jehoram his son succeeded him."

* 2 Chronicles 20:35-37 "Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel, who was guilty of wickedness. 36 He agreed with him to construct a fleet of trading ships. After these were built at Ezion Geber, 37 Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, "Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the LORD will destroy what you have made." The ships were wrecked and were not able to set sail to trade."

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>10. How did Jehoshaphat's parents affect his life? (43)

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>How did Ahaziah's parents affect his life? (51-53)

* 1 Kings 22:51-53 "Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, because he walked in the ways of his father and mother and in the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. He served and worshiped Baal and provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger, just as his father had done."

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