CHAPTER 18 Oct. 23 
Jehoshaphat Makes a Wrong Alliance with Ahab
Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance; and he joined affinity with Ahab. 2After certain years he went down to Ahab to Samaria. Ahab killed sheep and cattle for him in abundance, and for the people who were with him, and moved him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead. 3Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Will you go with me to Ramoth Gilead? He answered him, I am as you are, and my people as your people. We will be with you in the war. 4Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Please inquire first for the word of Yahweh. 5Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, Shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I desist? They said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the hand of the king. 6But Jehoshaphat said, Isn’t there here a prophet of Yahweh besides, that we may inquire of him? 7The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Yahweh; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imla. Jehoshaphat said, Don’t let the king say so. 8Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, Get Micaiah the son of Imla quickly. 9Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, arrayed in their robes. They were sitting in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 10Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron and said, Thus says Yahweh, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians, until they are consumed’. 11All the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth Gilead, and prosper; for Yahweh will deliver it into the hand of the king. 12The messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him saying, Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth. Let your word therefore, please be like one of theirs, and speak good. 13Micaiah said, As Yahweh lives, what my God says, that will I speak. 14When he had come to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I desist? He said, Go up, and prosper. They shall be delivered into your hand. 15The king said to him, How many times shall I adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of Yahweh? 16He said, I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. Yahweh said, These have no master. Let them return every man to his house in peace. 17The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Didn’t I tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil? 
Micaiah’s Vision of Angels
18Micaiah said, Therefore hear the word of Yahweh: I saw Yahweh sitting on His throne, and all the army of heaven standing on His right hand and on His left. 19Yahweh said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead? One spoke saying this way, and another saying that way. 20A spirit came out, stood before Yahweh and said, I will entice him. Yahweh said to him, How? 21He said, I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. He said, You will entice him, and will prevail also. Go forth, and do so. 22Now therefore, behold, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets; and Yahweh has spoken evil concerning you. 23Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way did the spirit of Yahweh go from me to speak to you? 24Micaiah said, Behold, you shall see on that day, when you shall go into an inner room to hide yourself. 25The king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son. 26Say, ‘Thus says the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace’. 27Micaiah said, If you return at all in peace, Yahweh has not spoken by me. He said, Listen, you peoples, all of you! 
The Battle at Ramoth Gilead
28So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. 29The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and go into the battle; but you put on your robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went into the battle. 30Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots saying, Fight neither with small nor great, except only with the king of Israel. 31It happened that when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, It is the king of Israel! Therefore they turned around to fight against him. But Jehoshaphat cried out, and Yahweh helped him; and God moved them to depart from him. 32It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. 33A certain man drew his bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armour. Therefore he said to the driver of the chariot, Turn your hand, and carry me out of the army; for I am severely wounded. 34The battle increased that day. However the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the evening. About the time of the going down of the sun, he died.

Commentary

18:1 This chapter shows how Jehoshaphat was wrong to make this alliance with Ahab; our covenant with Yahweh precludes any other covenant. Ahab was one of God’s people, but clearly his faith in Yahweh was weak and he had surrounded himself with false prophets who claimed that whatever Ahab wanted to be true was in fact the word of Yahweh (:4-7). Even within those who are externally the children of God, we must be careful whom we choose to closely associate with; for not all are seriously interested in following God’s word.
18:14 Considering Micaiah had already seen the vision of :18-21, this was a significant failure of his. In some contexts, we all have a tendency to quickly perceive and then say what we think the other person wants us to say. The fact we know God’s word means that we are now bound not to do that, but to speak according to how His word has influenced us.
18:18-21 We have here a unique insight into how the court of Heaven operates. God states His plan, but the Angels discuss how they will operationalize it. The “spirit” in :20 refers to an Angel- for God makes His Angels spirits (Ps. 104:4). One Angel had the idea that Ahab’s false prophets could be moved to prophesy to him a false prophesy about going to Ramoth Gilead, where he would die. God liked that idea, perhaps because it was an appropriate way to punish Ahab for his rejection of the true prophets. And that Angel was empowered to bring that about, and went out from the court of Heaven to do it. God confirms people in the way they wish to go, and He can do this through leading them into mindsets and theological understandings which are false (2 Thess. 2:11). The amazing thing is that God is holding case conferences about us in Heaven, with Angels discussing how best to bring about God’s will in our lives.