Wednesday Night Service 7PM - 2 Chronicles 17-18, Jehoshaphat, Pastor Ryan Nichols

If you would open up in your Bibles to the book of 2 Chronicles chapter 17. 2 Chronicles 17.

Tonight we look at the reign of King Jehoshaphat. Which is an incredibly fun word to say. And again, as always, as I like to point out. If you're looking for a baby name. I'm just saying. Don't exit out. Keep that at the top of the list. Because I feel like we would all enjoy that a great deal. So just to bring us all back up to speed. Because I've been gone on Wednesdays for the past couple of weeks.

The last king that we looked at was a guy by the name of Asa. And he started off so good. Started off fantastically in his reign. Following God with his whole heart. But he had a problem. He started to drift from the things of the Lord. And rather than trusting in God. He made an alliance with a foreign king. And so the end of his reign. Ultimately he had some struggles.

And so his son Jehoshaphat is who we're going to talk about tonight. And so ultimately chapter 17. Through 20 is what we will cover in the next couple of weeks. We will not cover all of that tonight. We're going to look at chapter 17 and 18 tonight. But 17 through 20. Cover the entire reign of Jehoshaphat. So it starts off like this. Jehoshaphat his son. Then became king in his place.

Meaning Asa of course. And made his position over Israel firm. He placed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah. And set garrisons in the land of Judah. And in the cities of Egypt. And Ephraim. Which Asa his father had captured. And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat. Because he followed the example of his father David's earlier days. And did not seek the Baals.

But sought the God of his father. Followed his commandments. And did not act as Israel. So the first thing that we'll look at in chapter 17. Is ultimately we will look at the revival that Jehoshaphat brings about. Remember the end of Asa's life. He had begun to drift from the things of God. And as the leadership goes. So goes the rest of the nation. And the rest of the nation somewhat drifted from God.

And so Jehoshaphat becomes king. And his position becomes firm over Israel. And the first thing he begins to do is fortify some of the cities. But the next thing we read is a little bit of a summary of his life. Verses 3 and 4 give kind of a summary of his life. And there's a handful of things. Five things I want to point out to you. About this summary of Jehoshaphat's life.

That I think will paint the picture for who this man was. As really one of the better things. One of the better kings that Judah had seen. The first thing that it says. Is it says that the Lord was with him. The Lord was with him. And I think it's always important for us to point out. That what makes a king great. Is the same thing that makes anyone else great.

And that's the presence of God with him. Because no matter what you do. No matter what you can accomplish. If you do not have the presence of God with you. There's no greatness that goes along with it. Because with the presence of God. Comes everything else that you need. And so the thing that ultimately made Jehoshaphat great. Is that God's presence. Was with him.

But the second thing that I took note of was this. He followed the example of his father David. It's interesting because with all of the kings. Both of Israel and Judah. That we look at. David is always the standard that we're held to. David's always a standard that's used. Did they follow God wholeheartedly? Like David did. And it's interesting the way that this is worded here.

Because it says. He followed David's example. As David lived his life. But in his earlier days. Now there are some who follow the Septuagint on this. Which translates David Asa. That this is actually speaking of his father. But I have no problem with this being David here. Because if you think about it. In David's early reign. Is when we ultimately saw him doing the best.

When we ultimately saw him wholeheartedly following the Lord. It was after the sin with Bathsheba. That everything went downhill for David. Oh I think David still followed the Lord after that. But nothing was the same in David's reign. After that sin. Nothing was the same in his life after that. Because the consequences that began to set in. Because of that sin.

And I think that that's an important thing for us to always hold on to. Because as our flesh likes to justify sin. And say well you know look. I mean David. Yeah he dealt with some consequences. But he was still a man after God's own heart. And we have to remember. Yes that's true. Because God's grace is amazing. But the consequences David went through in his life.

Because of his sin with Bathsheba. Were life altering. And he dealt with that for the rest of his life. There was not really peace in David's life. For the rest of his life. Because of that sin. Now again I'll remind us. That God is a God of restoration. And God restored David. But you cannot get around the consequences. That David dealt with in his life. Because of that sin.

And may that in all of our lives. Continue to be a warning. That sin is a big deal. Sin is a major issue. I read a quote today. I think it was by Martin Luther. Was it by Martin Luther? I think it was by Martin Luther. Who said. If you don't realize that your sin is big. You don't realize that you need a big savior. And that's often times the issue that we face in our lives.

And why we tend to justify sin. Is because we make sin smaller than it really is. And forget the depth of the consequences. That it brings into our lives. But it says he followed the example of David. In David's earlier days. The third thing that I took note of. Is that he sought the Lord. He sought the Lord. He did not seek the bales. Instead he sought the Lord.

In other words God was his pursuit. And we'll talk about that again. A little bit more in just a moment. But God was the pursuit of his life. And I think again this is important. Because we can't just pursue not sinning. Because if we pursue not sinning. Then ultimately we'll give in to it. Because that's what our minds on all the time. You have to leave behind sin.

And pursue the things of God. And that was the pursuit of his life. The fourth thing that I took note of. Is that he followed his commandments. His pursuit of God. Led him to obedience in his life. Because a pursuit of the knowledge of God. Should lead to the pursuit of obedience to God. Otherwise it's just knowledge. For the sake of knowledge. But the last thing that I took note of.

That I thought was really interesting. Is the writer to the chronicles. Creates a direct contrast between Jehoshaphat. And the kings of the north. It says notice at the end of verse four. He did not act as Israel did. Because remember there was no good king in Israel. From the very time. That the nation was divided. In the ten northern tribes. And then the two southern tribes.

The ten northern tribes always pursued idolatry. It was often times in the name of God. But it was always idolatry that they pursued. And so he set his life in stark contrast. To the northern kingdom around. That was around him. Even though they were his brethren. Even though they were the people. That he would have called family. He still set his life in contrast.

To the rest of them. And may I say. Perhaps there's a word there for us. In a world where we as believers. Like to look as much like the world as we can. Without actually being the world. Because we think if we just look more like the world. If we just act a little bit more relevant. Like the world around us. That maybe the world will want to join us. And we forget that what God actually wants.

Is stark contrast. Between the lives of his believers. And the lives of the world. That there should be a stark contrast between the two. And that trying to look. To look as closely to the world as we can. Without actually being the world. Actually ultimately ends up with us. Compromising with the world. And so he sets his life in direct contrast. To the people that are around him.

And so in response to that. I want you to know what the Lord does. It says to the Lord. Verse 5. Established the kingdom in his control. And all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat. And he had great riches and honor. And he took great pride. In the ways. Of the Lord. He again removed the high places. And Asherah from Judah. In the third year of his reign. He sent officials.

Ben, Hale, Obadiah, Zechariah. Nethanel and Micaiah. To teach in the cities. And with them the Levites. Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebediah. Asahel, Shemiramoth. Jehonathan. Adonijah, Tobijah. And I don't know how to say that one. The Levites and with them. Eli Shammah and Jehoram. And the priests. And they taught in Judah. Having the book of the law of the Lord with them.

And they went throughout all the cities of Judah. And they taught among the people. Now part of this revival. Is that he tore down. All of the places where there was idolatry. He tore down all of the garbage of the world. But did you notice what it said. Let me read this to you again. I think this is interesting to pay attention to. Verse 6. He took great pride.

In the ways of the Lord. Some of your translations may say. He had great delight. In the ways of the Lord. But really this word could be used one of two ways. This word could be used in a bad context. Like he had pride. He was lifted up with pride. The word literally means to be lifted up. But in this context. It has to do with the things of the Lord. In other words.

He took such great pride in the things of the Lord. It was the thing he loved to boast about the most. Is God. The thing that he took the most delight in. Was God. The thing that he was the most occupied with. Was the things of the Lord. And I love that. That for the, if you will, description of his life. The thing that he took great pride in. Was not that he had a great deal of wealth and riches.

It was not that he was such a great king. Which we're going to find that he was. The thing that he took the greatest pride in. Is his knowledge of the Lord. And I'm reminded from the book of Jeremiah. That we are told that. That that's one of the greatest things that we take our pride in. Is that God would know us. And that we have the opportunity to know him.

That the ways of God are the thing that we take the most pride in. And so as he begins to tear down these altars. He does not leave them in a vacuum. He does something very interesting. He gathers a group of men. Princes. And then he sends with them a group of the Levites. Who are schooled in the law. And in the understanding of who God is. And he sent them throughout the entire kingdom.

And as he sent them throughout the entire kingdom. They basically went throughout all of Judah. And they led Bible studies in every town. Torah studies. But they led Bible studies in every single town. And so as he begins to tear down these altars. He does not leave them in a vacuum. He does something very interesting. He sent them on a mission to teach the word of God to the people.

Because he wanted the people to be educated in the things of the Lord. Because Jehoshaphat knew the secret to understanding the truth of who God is. To understanding what it looks like to follow the Lord. And that is to be schooled in the law of the Lord. To understand what God's word has to say. So that we can better understand who God is. And quite frankly.

He set sort of a precedent for the rest of the nation at that point. At that point in time. That if you really want to know God. You need to know what his law says. So that you know how to understand him. He took the principle of Deuteronomy. That the king was to write out the copy of the law. And he took it to the next level. And said not only am I going to write out the law.

But now I'm going to send people out to teach the law. So that everyone can know. So that there's now no excuse for those who would disobey. And may I say brothers and sisters. If this was so important to the king of Judah. To send out princes and Levites throughout the entire community. Throughout the entire nation. To teach the word of God to people. How important is the word of God in our lives?

I heard an interview. And I tried to look this up today. I could not find which prison it was. It was somewhere on the east coast. But the warden in the prison had this idea. That he would give every inmate a copy of the Bible. And he instituted Bible study within this prison. Again somewhere north south Carolina. Somewhere in that range. Where you can get away with that.

He instituted Bible study within the prison. And there's this huge revival that took place in this prison. And men started getting saved. And he had. Somebody interviewed him and said. Why have you done this? He said because if high schools would do what I'm doing in prison. There would be a whole lot fewer men sitting in my prison. And it's because he saw such a massive change in the lives of these prisoners.

That as they are read the truth of the word of God. That they are taught the truth of the word of God. That they are taught the truth of who God is. They find their lives changed by it. I'm reminded of my friend MC. Who came up here a couple of months ago. Three months ago. And shared about his testimony. About how much the word of God changed his life. Where was he?

He was in prison. When God changed his life. Because he was taught the truth of scripture. Because as people begin to understand the truth of who God is. It begins to change the fabric of who we are. And so that's what he did. He sends these men out to go out and teach God's word. And I want you to notice what happens. Not only within his kingdom. But even outside of his kingdom.

Verse 10. Now the dread of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of the land. Which were around Judah. So that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. Some of the Philistines brought gifts and silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat. The Arabians also brought him flocks. 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats. So Jehoshaphat grew greater. And greater. And he built fortresses and store cities in Judah.

We'll talk about his fortifications here in just a minute. But I love this. What was it that caused all of the lands around him to fear him? Could have been his great military. Could be the fact that he had great military might. Which we'll read about in a minute. But I think you know what I actually think the difference was. It had nothing to do with his military.

It had everything to do with the righteousness of God. And the blessing of God that came about. Because of that righteousness. You might write a verse in the margin of your Bible. I have it written in the margin of mine. It's Proverbs 16 verse 7. Proverbs 16 verse 7. This is what Proverbs 16 verse 7 says. When a man's ways please the Lord. He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. I love it. Who was Israel always at war with? They were always at war with the Philistines. Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Always like trying to attack them. Except under Jehoshaphat. Under Jehoshaphat when the nation was godly. And godliness ruled and reigned. The Philistines were sending gifts to the land of Israel.

Kind of a fascinating picture there. So it says. Verse 13. He had large supply cities in Judah. And warriors, valiant men in Jerusalem. And this was their muster according to their father's households of Judah. Commanders of thousands. Adna was the commander with 300,000 valiant warriors. Next to him was Johanan, the commander. And with him 280,000. And next to him Amasiah, the son of Zichri.

Who volunteered for the Lord with him 200,000 valiant warriors. Now listen. I didn't intend to make a thing out of this. Two or three of the commentators that I read pointed out. But as I read it, it needs to be stated. This man Zichri. Only time we read his name in the entire book. The Bible. Only time you hear this guy's name. And I want you to notice what it says about Zichri.

Volunteered for the Lord. Is that not just a great little statement? The fact that this man who we read nothing else about in scripture. Who we hear nothing else about in the Bible. This one time we read his name. And what the testimony of his life was. Is that he volunteered for the Lord. He gave his life in the service of God. What a wonderful. Place. To be written in God's word.

What a wonderful truth to be written about you. What a wonderful summary of your life to be written in God's word. After all. Remember what Jesus said when he dealt with those who had been given talents. When those who had been given talents. When those who had been given abilities. Money to invest. Whatever it was. Whenever they used it wisely for the things of the Lord.

And gave their lives for the service of the Lord. Do you remember what Jesus said that they would be greeted by. When they entered. Into heaven. Well done. Good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy that has been prepared for you. And isn't it great that the one statement about this guy's life. Is that he was a good and faithful servant. Because he volunteered for the Lord.

I didn't mean to make a point out of that. But it just felt like it needed to be made. Verse 17. And of Benjamin. Eliadah the valiant warrior. And with him 200,000 armed with bow and shield. And next to him Jehoshabat. And with him. 180,000 equipped for war. These were they who served the king. Apart from those. Whom the king put in fortified cities. Through all Judah.

So chapter 17 tells us of this great revival. That happened under Jehoshaphat. The strength that Jehoshaphat had. However. There's always a however. Right. Because he's a man. He's a human being. And he's not infallible. So he makes mistakes. So chapter 18. I've simply entitled the alliance. Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor. Sounds good so far. And he allied himself by marriage with Ahab.

Bum bum bum. Right. That feels like when the ominous music needs to be played. Because Ahab the evil king. One of the worst kings that Israel ever had. He aligns his kingdom with Ahab. And he does so through marriage. Matter of fact. He has a son that ends up marrying into the family of Ahab. As a guy by the name of Jehoram. We will read about him in a few weeks.

And when we get to chapter 21. Because he will take over for Jehoshaphat. And he will be a horrifically bad king. For the nation of Judah. And it all came about because of an alliance with Ahab. That came about through a marriage. I'll remind us of a couple of things. I'll remind us that the people that we align ourselves with. Are the people that we align ourselves with.

Are the people that we align ourselves with. Are the people that we align ourselves with. Are the people that we align ourselves with. Often will create our future for us. That bad company corrupts good morals. And I don't know how many different ways you can say this. And I know usually we tell kids this. Right? This is the thing that we always tell teenagers.

You know. You know those friends that you have. They will end up being bad influences on you. And you will give in to peer pressure. And you will end up going the direction that they go. Can I just tell you. Same is true for adults. You can tell your kids that. And then end up doing the exact same thing yourself. With the people that you align yourself with.

With the people that you spend most of your time with. You will become like the people that you surround yourself with. So surround yourself with the right people. And I don't care what age you are. This is just who we are as human beings. As human beings we will always give in to the lowest common denominator. Therefore surround yourself with people who sharpen you.

Surround yourself with people who better you. Surround yourself with people who challenge you. Not people who tear you down. And so he aligns himself first of all with Ahab through marriage. But then he aligns himself with Ahab through war. Some years later he went down to visit Ahab at Samaria. And Ahab slaughtered many sheep and oxen for him. And the people who were with him.

And he induced him to go up against Ramoth Gilead. That means go to war. Verse 3 begins to tell us the details of how he did that. Ahab king of Israel said to Jehovah. Jehoshaphat king of Judah. Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead? And he said to him. I am as you are. And my people as your people. And we will be with you in battle. Feels like the right time to insert this.

If you are one who likes to write down verses. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14. This is not usually the context that we use this in. This is usually. This is usually the dating verse that we talk to kids about. Kids you have to understand. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

Therefore do not date that unbeliever. Listen I agree with that context of that verse. But that's not the only context of that verse. That verse goes so much deeper than just your dating life. Or your married life. It has to do with all of your life. Because as I just said. The people you surround yourself with. Are the people that will create your future. Because you will either be guilty by association.

Or you will give in to what they do. And these are lessons I've had to learn the hard way. I remember when I first started walking with Jesus. I tell this story a lot. When I first started walking with Jesus. I knew I had to start separating myself from some things. Because the people that I was hanging out with. As much as I loved them as friends. They were not going to be a good influence on my life.

And I remember I worked at camp all that summer. And life was good. And at the very end of the summer. I ran into some friends of mine. And they said hey no one's seen you all summer. We're having a party out at so and so's house. You should come join us. And I was like they're right. I haven't seen anybody all summer. I should go out. I'll just visit with everybody.

So I go out there. And there's an incredible number of people out there. And I'm like this is probably going to be a bad situation. But that's okay. I'll be fine. And so I walk in the back door. And the minute that I walk in the back door. Someone spills a beer all over me. And I'm like you know what? This is not where I need to be. This is not going to end in a good situation.

I'm just going to leave now. And I just said love you all. But I got to go. This is not the place for me. And I never went back. Because I realized that that would make me unequally yoked. Now listen. I can tell you a lot of other situations where I have not followed this very well. But that was one that I did. And you have to realize that you have to make hard decisions sometimes.

Well Jehoshaphat didn't make the right decision here. He sort of tried. Because in verse 4 it says this. Moreover Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel. Let's inquire of the Lord first. Let's inquire first for the word of the Lord. The king of Israel assembled the prophets. 400 men. And said to them. Shall we go against Ramoth? And Gilead to battle? Or shall I refrain?

And they said. Go. For God will give it into the hand of the king. Now. Who assembled the prophets? Did we follow the context there? Ahab assembled all of the prophets. Do we A. Think these are really good prophets. Or B. Think these are really bad prophets. Go ahead answer. B. They're probably really bad prophets. Right? Now. We are not told that these are prophets of Baal.

The potential is there. Remember that these were so named prophets of God. But they were only prophets of God by name. Not by action or discernment. They were willing to say whatever they needed to say. To keep the king happy. These were the progressive prophets of the day. Right? And so Ahab called 400 of them. Dude can assemble some serious progressive prophet conference.

Right? Like this was the greatest. Anyway I'm going to get myself in trouble at some point in time. So I'll just stop. He assembles this amazing group of prophets. And they're all like. Ahab says so. Do we go to war? And they're like. 100% thousand times. Yes. Go. God's going to be with you. You are going to do serious business. You are going to do. You can imagine the poetic language with which they spoke.

And told him that God was going to give victory. We'll look at one of those scenes. In just a moment. And everything was 100%. Awesome. But they only told the king what they wanted to hear. They only told the king what he wanted to hear. We have to be careful to not surround ourselves with teachers that only tell us what we want to hear. You have to be willing.

We all have to be willing to be told the truth even if it hurts. To be told the truth even if it's hard to hear. Because it's so important. Because it would be better to know the truth on this side of eternity. And not be jacked up on the other side of eternity. I'd rather have my feelings hurt here. Than have to deal with the judgment of God there. Proverbs has a really good thing to say about this.

I didn't write down this verse. But it says. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. And so we need that in our lives. You need those sharpening instruments in your lives. Well that's not what he has. He has a bunch of yes men. He has a bunch of progressive prophets that are willing to tell him what he wants to hear. So that he can do what he wants to hear. He can do what he wants to do.

And that will remind us all. It is not hard to go find a Bible teacher in the culture that we live in today. That will tell you what you want to hear. That will affirm you in your sin. That will affirm every sin that you think would be great. I saw a video clip here recently. Of someone talking about how righteous and holy it is to commit an abortion. That that's actually doing the will of God.

And you're like. That's the craziest thing I've ever heard in my entire life. And he justified it with scripture. And you're like. I don't know what we're doing right now. But that's the world we live in. You can find any of that that you want to. But if your heart really seeks God. That's not what you need in your life. And I want you to notice how Jehoshaphat.

Jehoshaphat has enough of the Holy Spirit working in him that he knows. Notice what he says. But Jehoshaphat said. Is there not yet a prophet of the Lord that we may inquire of him? I love this. Because when he hears what he hears. This is what these guys have to say. He says. Something doesn't seem right. I don't know if that's actually a word from the Lord.

Now this raises a really interesting question. I get asked this especially by kids a lot. But you should be asking yourself the same question. How do you know when it's God? And how do you know when it's not? Because this is a really good situation. Where potentially. He could have justified this and said. Well that was a word from the Lord. Okay let's move on.

How do you know the difference? Well John Corson did a fantastic job of pointing out three ways. And I think I heard him put them up there. Three ways that we know the difference. Between the word of the Lord. And not. Number one. We must first use the discernment of the Holy Spirit. The discernment of. Go back one. There it is. The discernment of the Holy Spirit.

If you are a born again believer in Jesus Christ. You have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. You have the Holy Spirit dwelling on the inside of you. The Holy Spirit is in there. And he is always working. If you are willing to listen. Which is why sometimes when you hear something. You go hmm. I don't know about that. I don't know if I agree with that or not.

You should listen to that. Listen. Even if it was just bad pizza. That's giving you that feeling on the inside. You should listen to it. And then we'll go to the second one here in just a second. But in 1 John it tells us that you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. And he is able to teach you. And give you the discernment of the Holy Spirit. And give you the discernment that you need.

That's the first line of defense that we have. Is the discernment of the Holy Spirit. But the second one. Which you already know now because you saw it. Is the discernment of the Word. When you start sensing that discernment of the Holy Spirit. You go okay. Now let's see if this lines up with what the Word has to say. So the second thing that we do is we attack it with God's Word.

Does this line up with what God's Word has to say? Listen. In context. Because we can pull anything out of context to make us do what we want it to. I heard a guy do that the other day. I hear guys do that a lot. Within context. Does it line up with what the Word of God has to say? But then we come to the third one. Which is also really, really important. The discernment of the fruit that's produced.

A. Is this going to produce godly fruit in my life? B. Is it producing godly fruit in other people's lives? Are the people telling me this. Is this producing godly fruit in their lives? Because this is an important thing for us to pay attention to. And so as you are discerning. Is this the Lord? Or is this me? First run those three tests on it. Does it pass the test of the discernment of the Holy Spirit?

Does it pass the test of the discernment of the Word of God? Will it produce godly fruit in my life? If you can answer yes to all of those. And you can feel pretty confident that that's from God. And here's the thing. If you have passed those three tests. And it still isn't from God. God is faithful. And he's going to be incredibly patient with the fact that you have given it your due diligence.

To make sure that you are following God as much as possible. And he will correct you gently. Just know that. I've seen it happen in my life. And so. We have to discern whether or not things are from God. Well he knows something ain't right here. This ain't passing the smell test. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat. Verse 7. There's this one guy. By whom we may inquire of the Lord.

But I hate him. For he never prophesies good concerning me. But always evil. His name is Micaiah. The son of Imlah. And Jehoshaphat said. Oh. Let not the king say so. The king of Israel called an officer and said. Bring quickly Micaiah, Imlah's son. There's an indication here that Micaiah was already in prison. And that's why they had to call for this guy. To bring him out of prison.

In order to come and give a word. I just love the way. Ahab makes me think of just like a spoiled little brat. Right? Like. I know this study isn't about Ahab. So bear with me for just a moment. But there's multiple times in scripture where you see this. But. But Jehoshaphat says. Maybe we could find a guy a little more balanced. Than these guys right now. Is there a prophet of the Lord?

And he goes. Yes. But he hates me. And I hate him. I'd never like to talk to that guy. Because he always says bad things to me. And Jehoshaphat being like the ultimate like positive guy. Right? He's like. You don't mean that. Come on. Let's bring him in. Let's see what he has to say. He's like. Fine. So they bring Micaiah out of prison. This is what it says.

Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were sitting each on his throne. Arrayed in their robes. And they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria. And all the prophets were prophesying before them. And Zedekiah, the son of. That's just too many vowels for me. Chinnana. Made horns of iron for himself and said.

Thus says the Lord. With these you shall gore the Arameans until they are consumed. And all the prophets were prophesying. Thus saying. Go up to Ramoth Gilead and succeed. For the Lord will give it into the hand of the king. And so. You can see the theatrics that are taking place at this point in time. Makes perfect sense. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so.

And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And so. And Micaiah said, as the Lord lives, what my God says, that I will speak.

In other words, he was about to bring what we call the minority report. He said, listen, here's the thing, bro. I just brought you out of prison for this exact same thing. Everybody else seems really happy right now. A lot of smiles on faces. That dude just made a set of horns, right? Everybody's very happy. It's a very gleeful situation. Don't come in here with your negativity.

Don't come in here with all your Jesus stuff, okay? If you could just keep it positive, if you could just keep it happy, it's going to be a better situation. Micaiah goes, dude, I can only say what God tells me to say. There's never been a better verse to be given to every one of us as pastors than that verse right there. But there's never been a better verse for every believer in Jesus Christ to read in these days than that verse right there.

Because listen, it is very easy in the world that we live in. To give in to the majority report. To give in to what everybody else is having to say. And to be one who stands up and says, but that's not actually true. That's not actually what the Bible says, and that actually is sin. Not a very popular thing, but it's very right. And we can only speak what God gives us to say.

And so that's what he does. So he comes into the king. The king said to him, Micaiah, shall we, verse 14, shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle or shall we refrain? And he said, go up and succeed, for it will be given into your hand. The king said to him, how many times must I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord? I love this because Micaiah is being sarcastic at this point in time.

He's like, Micaiah, go. That guy's got horns. I mean, clearly we're in a good situation right now. Go, you're going to have victory. But everybody sensed the sarcasm. And Ahab looks at him and says, I don't think you mean that. Tell me the truth. And he said, you can't handle the truth. Anyway, verse 6, sorry, it had to be said. So he said, I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep which have no shepherd.

And the Lord said, these have no master. Let each of them return to his house in peace. You just imagine the tone, right? The entire tone just dropped in the room. It's like a cold breeze just ran through the room. And I picture, I don't know if this is true or not, but it really brought him up from prison. I picture Micaiah with cuffs on his hands. And he stands there and he just sort of gets this somber look about him

after the sarcastic speech that he just gave. And then he lowers the boom with everything that he just told him. And the entire room falls silent until the whiner speaks again. Verse 17, the king of Israel said, Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil? Micaiah said, Therefore hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the hosts of heaven standing on his right and on his left.

The Lord said, Who will entice Ahab, king of Israel, to go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead? And one said this while another said that. And a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said, How? He said, I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, You are to entice him and prevail.

Go and do something. So now therefore behold, the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of these your prophets. For the Lord has proclaimed disaster against you. There's that little section right there a lot of people have a hard time with. Because they say, Now wait a second. I thought God is truth. How could God authorize a lie? Because God uses even the demons to do his work.

And if a demon comes up with a way to do it, then he allows that to take place. I'll give you Job. Remember, Satan comes before Job or comes before the Lord and he says, What about this servant Job? And God says, So far, but no further. But yes, you can test him. God does what God wants to do. And God fulfills his will in any way that he sees fit. And in this particular situation, this is what he allows.

So, he gives out this message and then Zedekiah, the son of Chennanah, the guy that made the things, came to Job. He said, He came near and he struck Micaiah on the cheek and he said, How did the Spirit of the Lord pass from me to speak to you? Micaiah said, Behold, you shall see on that day when you enter an inner room to hide yourself. The king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and return him to Ammon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son.

And say, Thus says the king, Put this man in prison and feed him sparingly with bread and water until I return safely. Micaiah says, If you return safely, the Lord has not spoken by me. He said, Listen, all of you people. I love the word that he gives to Zedekiah when he smacks him and sort of tries to play some spiritual games with him. And he says, So how did that happen?

And he goes, Oh, you'll know when you're hiding for your life. You'll know when you're about to be killed because you're hiding out from it. Dude, what a line to drop on a guy, right? And so Micaiah is back in prison. It's time to go to battle. And for some odd reason, Jehoshaphat's like, All right, let's do this thing. Nothing about this makes sense. Anyway.

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went up against Ramoth-Gilead. At that point in time, if I'm Jehoshaphat, I say, Feels like the wrong time to go to battle. Listen, it was good. It was fun. But it wasn't real fun, right? You go on on your own. I'm going to hang out here. The king of Israel says to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself and go into battle.

You put on your ropes. So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle. There is zero discernment at this point in time on the part of Jehoshaphat. He's going to battle when he shouldn't because he was just told that defeat is imminent. And then in going to battle, the king says, I'm going to pretend like I'm a soldier. You look all royal and whatnot.

And then let's go into battle together. Jehoshaphat's like, Yeah, that feels right. That feels like a good idea. Let's do that. Bring me my best robe. And they go out into battle. God's going to take care of him. It says, Now the king of Aram, verse 30, commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, Do not fight with small or great, but with the king of Israel alone.

So it came about when the captains of this chariot saw Jehoshaphat that they said, It is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him. Ah, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him, and God diverted them from him. I think in that moment, Jehoshaphat went, That was a bad idea. And he cried out to the Lord, and God in his grace protected him.

And then it happened when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they turned back from pursuing him. And in this moment, you have to think, Ahab's going, I'm safe. They think he's me. They're attacking him. The plan worked. Everything is good. He got away with it. He got away with it. Until you read verse 33, which, by the way, I have underlined in my Bible.

You might underline this as well. I think it's a pretty fantastic verse. A certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver, Turn around and take me out of the fight, for I am severely wounded. The battle raged that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot in front of the Arameans until evening.

And at sunset, he died. This is what I wrote in my notes. A random guy, a random shot, but not a random target. Here's the thing. You can hide from God all that you want to, but eventually his arrow is going to find you. One of two arrows from God is going to find you, either the arrow of God's conviction or the arrow of God's judgment. Either way, it's going to find you because you can hide.

You can do everything that you can to pretend that God's not real, but eventually he finds you because his arrow always hits his mark. He may use a random guy with a random shot, but the target won't be random at all because God knows exactly what he's doing. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say, I was not looking for God, but he found me. I was not looking for God to find me, but he did.

And it's amazing how God's able to do that. But I also know that there's people that are on the other side of eternity right now who are probably saying, I wasn't looking for God's judgment, but it found me. Because when you breathe that last breath on this side of eternity and you take your first breath on the other side of eternity, there's no more questions about whether or not God's judgment is real. So Ahab gets dealt with just like Micaiah said.

One thing always bothers me about this story. We never find out what happens to Micaiah after this. Servants of God, I'm going to read you one more little section here. Then Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem. And Jehu, the son of Hanani the seer, went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?

And so bring wrath on yourself from the Lord. But there is some good in you, for you have removed the Asheroth from the land, and you have set your heart to seek God. I love this because this is God's grace in the life of Jehoshaphat. Everything had gone so good and boy, he could sure find himself going the wrong direction, making alliances he should have never made.

And when he saw the error of his ways, God was good to send a message. He was a messenger to bring the conviction in his life that needed to be brought at that point in time. And Jehu shows up at just the right time and says, Bro, what are you doing? It's time to get yourself right with God because there's some good in there. You have done good things. Now get back to doing that.

And next week, we'll look and see how Jehoshaphat responds to that. Spoiler alert, he responds really well. Okay? Things are going to go really good for Jehoshaphat after this. But in the meantime, let's close in prayer. Father, we come before you. And Lord, I thank you that you have blessed us with your word. And I thank you that you have blessed us with your truth.

And so, Father, may we be those who always put you first in everything. Father, that we would not act like the world that is around us, but that our hearts would fully seek you in every way possible. So be with us as we go out from here. Lord, may we be blessed because we came. In Jesus' name, amen. Be blessed. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.