SERIES M --- PROPHESIES AND MIRACLES --- LESSON 7

AHAB’S DEATH

THE DEATH OF KING AHAB

From 1 Kings 22:1 -40; 2 Chronicles 18

King Jehoshaphat of Judah was very rich and popular. He and King Ahab of Israel made an alliance and Ahab’s daughter was married to Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram. A few years later Jehoshaphat went to visit Ahab at Samaria. There Ahab gave him and his attendants a big feast, with numerous sheep and oxen. [It has been three years since we were at war with the Syrians,] Ahab told his officials, [and there they are, occupying Ramoth-Gilead, while we do nothing about it.] Then Ahab asked Jehoshaphat, [Will you join forces with me to capture Ramoth-Gilead?] [Certainly!] Jehoshaphat replied. [My people are your people, and my horses are your horses, so I am with you. But first, let us ask Adonai so that we are sure what He wants us to do.] King Ahab called for his four hundred false prophets. [Shall we go to battle against Ramoth-Gilead?] he asked them. [Yes, YHVH will give you a great victory there,] they answered. Jehoshaphat recognized that these were not true prophets. [Is there a true prophet of Adonai here so we may ask him?] he said to Ahab. [There is another prophet named Micaiah the son of Imlah,] said King Ahab. [But he never prophesies any good about me, only evil, so I hate him.] [Well, let’s not think that way,] said Jehoshaphat. Ahab called for one of his officers and had him summon Micaiah. [Bring him here quickly!] the king ordered. While the officer went after Micaiah, the four hundred false prophets kept saying good things to King Ahab and King Jehoshaphat. The two kings were dressed in their royal robes, sitting on their thrones which had been brought to the threshing floor near the city gate. One prophet, named Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah, made horns of iron. [Adonai says you will push the Syrians with these until they are destroyed,] he said. The other prophets agreed. [Go to Ramoth-Gilead and have great victory,] they said. [Adonai will give the city into your hands.] The messenger who went for Micaiah found him and said, [The prophets who are before the kings all say good things,] he advised him. [That’s what you should do, too.] [I will say only what Adonai tells me,] Micaiah answered. When Micaiah arrived before the two kings, Ahab asked, [shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to fight or shall we stay home?] Micaiah answered sarcastically, [Go and have a great victory there! Adonai will do that for you, won’t He?] [How often must I tell you to tell me only what Adonai says,] King Ahab replied. Then Micaiah answered, [I saw the people of Israel scattered upon the mountains as sheep without a shepherd. Adonai said, ‘Let each go home in peace, for their king is dead.’] [See, didn’t I tell you that he would say nothing but evil about me?] said Ahab to Jehoshaphat. But Micaiah was not finished. [I have further word from Adonai,] he said. [I saw Adonai sitting upon His throne, with the host of heaven around Him. Adonai asked who would entice Ahab to his defeat at Ramoth-Gilead. Each had a suggestion until one spirit came forward and said that he would do it. ‘How?’ Adonai asked. ‘By placing a lying spirit in the mouths of his prophets,’ the spirit answered. ‘Then go do it,’ Adonai answered. ‘You will surely succeed.’ So now Adonai has placed a lying spirit in the mouths of these prophets. But He has done it to bring judgment on you.] One of the false prophets, Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah, came to Micaiah and slapped him on the cheek. [How did the Spirit of Adonai leave me to speak to you?] he demanded. [You will answer your own question on that day when you try to hide in an inner room,] said Micaiah. [Arrest Micaiah!] King Ahab ordered. [Take him back to Amon the governor and Joash the king’s son. Tell them to feed him only enough bread and water to keep him alive until I return in peace.] [If you return in peace, you will know that Adonai has not spoken through me,] Micaiah told the king. Then he spoke to all those standing nearby. [Remember what I say!] he told them. Ignoring what the prophet Micaiah had said, Ahab and Jehoshaphat took their armies to Ramoth-Gilead. [I will disguise myself and go into battle,] Ahab told Jehoshaphat. [But you may wear your robes and stay aside.] Jehoshaphat did as Ahab suggest, staying aside in his robes while Ahab went into battle in disguise. The king of Syria however, had ordered his thirty-two chariot captains, [Do not attack any person, great or small, except the king of Israel.] When the chariot captains saw Jehoshaphat in his royal robes they said, [this must surely be the king of Israel.] They attacked him, but Jehoshaphat cried out to let them know who he was. When the captains realized that he was not the king of Israel, they turned away from him. During the fighting, one Syrian soldier shot an arrow, not realizing that it was headed for King Ahab. The arrow struck Ahab between the scale armour and the breastplate, inflicting mortal wound. [Get me out of the battle,] Ahab told his chariot driver. [I’m badly wounded.] The battle grew fiercer and Ahab returned in his chariot, propped up, facing the Syrian army. The blood from his wound flowed to the bottom of the chariot. Toward evening King Ahab died. Then, about sunset, a cry went through the troops of Israel, [The king is dead! The battle is lost! Every man home to his own city!] The dead king was brought back to Samaria, where he was buried. His chariot was washed at the pool of Samaria where the harlots usually bathed. There also dogs licked up his blood, just as Adonai had said would happen. The other things that Ahab did are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. These include an account of Ahab’s ivory palace and the cities he built. After Ahab was buried with his ancestors, his son Ahaziah ruled in his place as king of Israel.

COMMENTARY

IVORY IN BIBLE TIMES

Bible-time people created many uses for ivory. Early Egyptian hunters carried ivory tipped arrows and spears and threw boomerangs engraved with figures of fantastic animals. But ivory is too soft to work well in practical tools and utensils and during later periods it is found primarily in decorative objects. It was expensive and only the wealthy owned objects fashioned or decorated with ivory. Ivory was especially popular for small objects like jewellery and toilet articles. Egyptian women used hairpins carved in the shape of coiled serpents, jackal heads and hawks. Canaanite women had combs engraved with hunting scenes. Egyptian mirror handles were carved to look like lotuses and those of the Aegean were covered with scenes of combat between men and animals. Unguent spoons, perfume bottles and ointment jars in Egypt displayed plants and animals of the Nile Valley. Canaanite cosmetic containers were equally elaborate; one famous unguent jar is carved in the shape of a swimming woman with a swan in her hands. Bracelets, pins, incense burners, knife and razor handles, dice and board games were among other ivory items commonly found in wealthy ancient homes. But by far the largest use of ivory was in furniture panels and inlay. Such panels were either engraved or cut in open relief. They adorned chair legs, couches, bedsteads and cabinets. The personal items of royalty were usually elaborately decorated in that way. Some rulers, among them Solomon, sat on thrones of ivory covered with gold. Pharaohs of ancient Egypt slept in beds with footboards entirely carved from ivory; they were buried in mummy cases richly inlaid with the substance. King Ahab’s [ivory house] was called that because of the ivory furniture and the ivory-inlaid borders of the cedar walls. Figures of the gods, of fighting animals and men, plants and mythological creatures were common on the panels. Egyptian elements; lotuses and sphinxes; appeared on panels throughout the Middle East, the influence a result of the trade between countries of the time. The ancient peoples often decorated the ivory itself. Phoenicians overlaid it with gold leaf. Early Egyptian artisans stained ivory green and red, using a technique now unknown. Coloured glass and stones, lapis lazuli and strips of dark ebony were also used to add colour and design to the off-white shades of ivory