Bible Study - 2 Chronicles 18:33-34

Ahab’s Death and the Lord’s Sovereignty

Please turn your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 18. We are finishing 2 Chronicles chapter 18 today, and one of the interesting things that happens when finishes a chapter is, depending on how all the content lines up, it may be a very short passage.

So this is a short passage we're looking at today, just a couple of verses, but we are going to look at some parallel texts. It will be interesting to put together with the way the Chronicler is presenting the information differently than Kings presents the information.

All right, verse 28. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-Gilead. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you will wear your robes.

And the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle. Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.

As soon as the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, it is the king of Israel. So they turned to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him, for as soon as the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

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 battle, for I am wounded.

And the battle continued that day, and the king of Israel was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening. Then at sunset, he died. Amen. All right, so just to recap everything that's happened at this point.

Jehoshaphat has made a marriage alliance with Ahab, his son, Ahab's daughter, getting married, and now Jehoshaphat has been carried off into battle, and when I say carried off, I mean he willingly went, but he should not have gotten entangled in the affairs of the northern kingdom of Israel, Jehoshaphat being the king of Judah.

And on top of that, he pretended to be the king of Judah by wearing his own robes while Ahab dressed down, and so it could have been that they would have just taken him out because of strategy, since there was a personal offense from Ahab to all the generals before in the way that he attacked them while they were all drunk and celebrating, and he said that he had surrendered.

They are all attacking Ahab directly, and so they're going after Jehoshaphat because they think he's Ahab, and then they realize not, and God saves him. But now we find out that even though Ahab went through all that trickery and got Jehoshaphat to put his own life on the line, Ahab still ends up being the one who dies.

It says in the beginning of verse 33, "...and a certain man drew his bow at a venture and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor.". I believe the literal meaning of this phrase is innocence.

Basically he had no idea where this thing was going to land, it still landed there. Obviously nothing is truly random, but random is a good way of describing how someone might go about just chance, chance aim with an arrow, and yeah, there's no particular greatness to this man or to his aim.

It just happens to land exactly where it needs to land to take out Ahab. Jewish tradition says that the person who shot the arrow was Naaman, but that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense because the chariot drivers are the captains, Naaman being one of the captains.

I don't know how that quite fits with the narrative of them going after, unless this were to happen much later or something. But anyway, so who draws the bow? Just an arbitrary soldier, drew it at random.

He has no intent of killing any particular person, just shooting it out into the crowd. And what this indicates is that it's God who defeats Ahab, right? It's not even the might of the Syrians or anything like that.

It is God who takes him out. The lot is cast in the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord. And so the arrow is shot into the sky and where it lands is the Lord's decision. Later on, Elisha is going to demonstrate providential victory by the sign of shooting an arrow out at random.

So this is not the only time we see in this narrative, the sign of an arrow being shot at random. We see it later intentionally as the ceremonial sign even. All right, 1 Kings 20, 22 to 29. Let's look at the related passage here.

We're going to line up some things that Kings talks about that the Chronicler didn't go through since the Chronicler is focused on the Kings of Judah and Kings is more interested in the Kings of Israel.

All right. Excuse me, this is 1 Kings. I keep opening up 2 Kings. All right. And then the prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, come strengthen yourself and consider well what you have to do.

For in the spring, the king of Syria will come up against you. And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, their gods are gods of the hills. And so they were stronger than we, but let us fight against them in the plain and surely we will be stronger than they.

And do this, remove the kings each from his post and put commanders in their places and muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain and surely we will be stronger than they.

And he listened to their voice and did so. In the spring, Ben-Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. And the people of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went against them.

The people of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country. And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, thus says the Lord, because the Syrians have said, the Lord is a God of the hills, but he is not a God of the valleys.

Therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand and you shall know that I am the Lord. And they encamped opposite one another seven days. Then on the seventh day, the battle was joined and the people of Israel struck down the Syrians 100 ,000 foot soldiers in one day.

And the rest fled into the city of Aphek and the wall fell upon 27 ,000 men who were left.". All right, one of the things that's interesting in that passage, they camp opposite each other seven days. It is kind of a crazy thing just how differently war seems to happen back then when people were going hand to hand against each other.

Like they would line up, sometimes they would go immediately, other times there'd be champions fighting like David and Goliath. And they're just sitting out there at a standstill. What does it look like when they finally start to attack each other?

Is it one person that runs? Is it all of them? It's, yeah, I find that interesting. But what's going on here when you have this prophecy that's given is that Syria's going to attack, but you're still going to win because they had boasted that God is just a God of the hills, and so we'll be able to beat them in the valleys.

The Lord saves on that basis, right, the Lord saves because of their blasphemy, very similar to Sennacherib. When Sennacherib blasphemes the God of Israel, that's why Hezekiah is spared, not because of Hezekiah's own righteousness, but because of Sennacherib's blasphemy against the Lord.

Well, here you have Ben-Hadad's blasphemy against the Lord, and that's why Ahab is saved, not for any of Ahab's righteousness. But here in 2 Chronicles, at this point in the narrative, what's going on?

We don't have that kind of blasphemy coming from Syria. Instead, what we have is a rejection of the Word of God that's come from Ahab, right? Ahab has heard from Micaiah the prophet that he will not do well, and he disobeyed.

So now the blasphemy is coming from Israel. All right, 33b. Therefore, he said to the driver of the chariot, turn your hand and carry me out of the host, for I am severely wounded. Out of the host means out of the army, right, out of the gathered army of Israel.

And turn your hand means basically just turn around, go backwards. This is not a full retreat, since he ends up camping out and looking at the Syrians until evening. It's clear he's just trying to fix his wound, correct it until then.

But it's not something that can be taken care of. And remember, he said that Ahab will not return in peace. And so he stays in the war even to the end. Excuse me, Micaiah had said to Ahab that he would not return in peace.

And so he doesn't. He doesn't even return in defeat. Yeah, he just ends up dying directly in the war, kind of on the sidelines of it. Verse 34, and the battle increased that day. Nevertheless, the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the evening, and about the time of the going down of the sun, he died.

All right, battle increased and that it grew more severely. Literally, it ascended. Not just continued is what a lot of translations say, but it seems that it got more more intense. Yeah, and he stays in battle.

Because he's obstinate. He still thinks that apparently he still thinks that there's something to be done here, even though it's been prophesied pretty clearly that he's not going to make it. And no one calls for a retreat until later, as we find out in 1 Kings.

He could have called for a retreat here, but he didn't. And it seems that he's hidden his wound too, right? If he's just kind of moved out of the way, hasn't told everybody else that he's wounded, so they'll keep going.

It appears his wound is hidden. And the fact that this happens about the time of the going down of the sun, it's very quick before the sun falls, right? It's kind of like Jesus to Peter before the rooster crows, et cetera, right?

That kind of thing. Before the sun even is down all the way, he's dead. All right. In 1 Kings 22, 35 to 36. Let's read that as well. 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. And about sunset, a cry went through the army. Every man to his city and every man to his country. All right, there you have the report of the retreat.

And there you also have, yes. I don't think it was on accident. It sounds like he wanted to stay in the battle because he's still facing the Syrians, right? He's just kind of like propped up a little outside the rest of the army.

Yeah, getting out of the area, but then, yeah, he's not trying to retreat all the way. Okay, what's the major detail here in Kings that the chronicler did not include, that the chronicler omitted? Yes, there's something specific about the death, though.

The blood, yeah. Blood flowing from the wound to the bottom of the chariot. What is the significance of all that? Why is that important? We're going to see more in a second why he wouldn't bother including that.

But do remember that he's more focused on Jehoshaphat. Okay, so all the details about Ahab are not really the point. The point is that God is fulfilling the prophecy of Ahab falling in battle, and that's really all that matters.

And Jehoshaphat has his life spared because he called out to God. But this is mostly about Jehoshaphat's sin and going into battle. Okay, so that's the first main thing. We're going to see something else here, too.

Ahab’s Covenant with Ben-Hadad and the Prophecies Against Him

1 Kings 20, 31 through 43. 1 Kings 20. All right, verse 31. Verse 31. Okay, so this is Ahab's sin, right? As he is making covenants with foreigners that he's not supposed to make. Keep us going. Keep us going.

So the king of Israel said to him, so shall your judgment be, you yourself have decided it. Then he hurried to take the bandage away from his eyes. So the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets.

He said to him, thus says the Lord, because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I have had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall be for his life and your people for his people. The king of Israel went to his house, vexed and sullen, and came to Samaria.

So we have here this prophecy against Ahab because he made this covenant that he will be, that his life will go instead of Ben-Hadad's life. So there's that prophecy. And here it is at Ramoth-Gilead where he's trying to get the city back, that that happens, that Ben-Hadad has gone free, and now Ben-Hadad is able to take out Ahab.

All right,. 1 Kings 21, 17 through 19. 1 Kings 21, 17 through 19. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who is in Samaria. Behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession.

And you shall say to him, thus says the Lord, Have you killed and also taken possession? And you shall say to him, thus says the Lord, In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.

All right, that passage. And now skipping down to 22, 37 to 40. So the king died and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria, and they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria. And the dogs licked up the blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in it, according to the word of the Lord that he had spoken.

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? So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah, his son, reigned in his place.

All right, so what was the sin that the prophecy was about this time? Why did Ahab get another prophecy against him here? He had taken Naboth's vineyard, right? Right, he won Naboth's vineyard. Jezebel figured out a way to make that happen by getting worthless men to testify against Naboth.

Naboth died. He went and took possession of it. And now the prophecy is that he will die, and his blood... Let's see, where was that passage? 17 and 19. I lost it. 17 and 19. In place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick your own blood.

So this is the prophecy against him. And then how is it fulfilled? When the chariot comes back, remember his blood pools in the bottom, chariot comes back to Samaria, and it's in that very same pool where that blood is cleaned off, and then the dogs end up licking up the blood.

And this is where the prostitutes go to wash, etc. So in 1 Kings, the blood pooling in the bottom of the chariot is really important because it's about the prophecy against Ahab, etc. The Chronicler hasn't mentioned the prophecy.

He's not going to mention its fulfillment either. And so the detail about the blood pooling in the chariot is not... It's not really relevant to the points that the Chronicler is making. This is why that's omitted.

So yeah, when you find these things in Chronicles and Kings, if you're ever looking at them side by side, and you're wondering, why did... Did he just miss that when he was copying, or what happened? Well, no, he's got a different point that he's getting at, and his point is Jehoshaphat.

It's not about Ahab. And the blood pooling really has to do with the larger narrative arc about Ahab, Naboth, and all those things that we're just not as concerned about here. We're concerned that Ahab ended up dying, and Jehoshaphat ended up living despite his sin.

God’s Word, Judgment, and Repentance

Okay, all right.

So reflection questions here. What blessings exist for those that heed God's Word? What penalties exist for those who reject God's Word? How should this passage lead you to appreciate the mercy of God?

Yeah, it's pretty clear here that those who follow the Lord receive a different fate than the ones who reject him. But any additional thoughts on all of this? People think that they can run from the Lord.

There's no way they can run. The arrow still goes at random and manages to hit Ahab. He's inescapable. So that really is the main thing to think about here. What does our catechism question say about the reason appended to the third commandment?

Third commandment is, you shall not take the Lord's name in vain for he's a jealous God. So the, yeah, why is that reason there? Well, because even though you may escape penalties from men, you're not going to escape penalties from God.

Yes, the Lord will not hold him guiltless if he takes his name in vain. That's the phrase. Yes, go ahead. Yeah, that is an interesting thing that happens where he does seem to turn to the Lord, and the Lord forgives him.

And then later on, yeah, he still ends up like this.

It's, yes, right, right.

Yeah, and so all that comes to pass. But then the question is, what are you to say about that kind of repentance that seems so ephemeral? You know, was it not even real repentance? Or was it just the remorse of Esau?

But yeah, I think you're, what did you say, Emmanuel? Something about a lifetime of rebellion is kind of hard to undo. Right, yeah. Yeah, that's not to say that someone couldn't turn to the Lord and be saved, you know, but yeah, people should not presume upon the ability to quickly change their heart condition.

Yes?

Have you seen a pattern like any?

Right, yeah, there is a difference here. Jehoshaphat calls out to the Lord. Ahab gets stuck with an arrow and doesn't call out to the Lord. He could have done that. He should recognize what's going on.

Oh, this is what the Lord said would happen to me, and he doesn't. So yeah, I do think that some people are very obstinate in their sin, slow to be corrected, and other people clue in a lot faster that they need to change.

Yeah, right. Yeah, stolen bread tastes sweet, but afterwards, mouth is full of gravel. Okay, well, let's go ahead and end there with prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you again for your word, and we ask that this would direct us that our hearts would be inclined to love your word, to not reject it, to not be obstinate, to be quick to turn from our sin as we see ourselves being corrected by your mighty hand.

May your providence be against the enemies of your people. In Jesus' name, amen.