1 Kings 22 (Part 3) Bible Study (Ahab Killed/Jehoshaphat & Ahaziah Reign) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Let's go to 1st Kings and let us meet together in chapter 22, and

we are going to start in verse 29 until the last verse of this

chapter, First Kings chapter 22. The way you and I will make the

1 Kings 22 · chapter mention

most out of this final study in this book is by having Second

Chronicles open and ready to turn to throughout the study.

And so I encourage you from now to have the book of Second

Chronicles open and prepared because Second Chronicles will

help us complete this study in terms of details and insights

with very key points in this text.

Where are we now? What have we been studying

lately? Well, God, in his ineffable

grace gave Ahab a sobering prophetic warning about what was

going to happen if he chose to engage in a war with Syria.

And the message of the prophet Makaya was plain and clear.

Ahab, if you go up to fight at Ramoth Gilead, you will die.

You will die. And this warning stood in stark

contrast to the word of 400 other appointed prophets,

appointed by Ahab at least, who told Ahab that he would have

victory, sweeping victory over his enemies.

And so we were left to wonder, which message will Ahab respond

to? What prophecy will he act upon?

And we don't have to wait too long to discover what choice he

will make, because we are going to see right at the beginning of

our study, the first verse that we're going to read will make

that clear. We're going to be told exactly

what Ahab will do. So let's read the first few

verses together. 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 wear your robes.

And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.

Now the king of Syria had commanded the 32 captains of the

Chariots fight with neither small nor Gray, but only with

the king of Israel. And when the captains of the

chariot saw Jehoshaphat, they said, It is surely the king of

Israel. So they turned the fight against

him, and Jehoshaphat cried out, and when the captains of the

chariot saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back

from pursuing him. Lord, we ask that at this time,

with this final study in this book that we have been exploring

week after week after week, that Your faithfulness would, would

meet us here at the finish line. Open our eyes, open our minds,

let our hearts burn with these truths for the glory of your

Son. We long to know your will, Your

heart for us, so that we may become the worshippers you've

called us to be. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

So what was the decision that A had made?

He would go to fight. He would ignore the word of the

true prophet who spoke on behalf of the true God.

And that might not be surprising to us, that Ahab stiffened his

neck yet once more. But what may be shocking to us

is how Jehoshaphat complied, how he joined Ahab, especially

because Jehoshaphat was the one who inquired for a true prophet

to give a true word, and he got it, but he didn't apply it.

And you would think to yourself that if Jehoshaphat understood

what Makayyad said that he would, he would jump ship, he

would eject, he would remove himself from this tragedy that

Ahab was going to walk into. Or you at least think that he

would encourage Ahab to reconsider.

But instead, what we see him do is walk with Ahab into disaster.

And right there, verse 29, we learned something about this man

Jehoshaphat, that he is an example of the deluding

influence of wrong relationships.

It is not inherently wrong to be influenced by others.

It just depends who's influencing you and what they

are influencing you towards. And unfortunately there are many

like Jehoshaphat. I hope this isn't you who have a

general and often times a sincere desire to know the will

of God. But it's not a desire that

governs them. And all it takes for such people

is to know one person that they admire, enjoy, or make some

benefit from, to be influenced and to have their decisions

swayed by them, even at the expense of disobeying the word

of the Lord in the process. And you might be wondering if

Ahab had made such an impression on Jehoshaphat, and I am

absolutely convinced that he did.

There was something about Ahab that moved Jehoshaphat to be

disarmed in this way, and you're not going to know why until you

look at the complete picture found in what book?

Second Chronicles, and it's specifically in chapter 18 and

verse one and verse 2. There's a detail that the

Chronicler provides that First Kings 22 doesn't give us.

And so look there. Second Chronicles 18, verse one.

Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor.

Pause. It would make you wonder why he

would make an alliance with Ahab.

He was prospering, he was powerful, yet for whatever

reason, this man with great riches and honor, and he made a

marriage alliance with Ahab. After some years he went down to

Ahab in Samaria, and Ahab killed an abundance of sheep and oxen

for him and for the people who are with him, and induced him to

go up against Remeth Gilead. Do you see that detail that's

omitted in First Kings 22? What's the detail that stands

out? What did Ahab do for him?

He impressed him. He celebrated him with a

generous feast. And this was totally strategic

because Jehoshaphat, his heart was captured by Ahab in one way

so that it can be controlled in another.

And this is something you have to understand about Satan.

Satan will often use sinners to lavish comfort, maybe even honor

you in order to disarm you so that at some point he will

destroy you. He has no new tricks.

And the destruction that I'm speaking about doesn't

necessarily mean physical death. It can simply mean a

distraction, a significant distraction that will delay or

even deter you from fulfilling God's will for your life.

And many people are bound in that.

Many people are dizzied by that. And remember this, God will send

people in your life to bless you, but so will Satan.

Not to bless you, not to bless you.

God has his evangelist. Satan has his evangelist.

God has friends in mind for you. So does the enemy of your soul.

And when the enemy of your soul does send somebody to you,

doesn't look like him having a weapon in one hand and drugs in

the other, it can look like flattery, it can look like a

financial proposal that will lead you into compromise.

And so be discerning. Jehoshaphat proves to us that

you can even hear the word of God, but somebody else has more

say in your life than that word. He heard from Makaya, but he

ended up following Ahab anyway. And there are many people who

sit in churches and hear a pure word, but walk out no different

because somebody else has greater influence than God

himself. But let me say this while I'm

here, not just to be cautious and discerning about how you are

influenced by others, sinners or lukewarm people.

I would even say this, be careful of the godly people in

your life. What do I mean by that?

Because godly people are people still, men of God are men still,

women of God are woman still. And so the main take away from

this is let God be over everything and everyone because

even for example, leaders in your life that you look up to,

that you Revere, that you respect, can have moments of

weaknesses. And if you are so swept up by

them, you can be weakened by their weaknesses.

So many example of this in real life and in the New Testament.

One of the strongest examples of that is Peter the apostle, who

in Galatians chapter 2 was eating with the Gentiles no

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problem until James and the circumcision party came to

visit. And so Peter removes himself

from the Gentiles. He acts hypocritically and many

were led to act hypocritically with him.

Including who? Barnabas.

That's in Galatians chapter 2. Barnabas.

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What is influenced by who? A false apostle?

No, a true one who in a moment of weakness weakened him.

So what are you to do? Yes, God has designed our

Christian life to be inspired and even LED to some degree by

others. But you have to understand that

the main authority over your life is this word and God's

will. And you have to filter

everything through this. And even if one who had a

wonderful reputation for a moment or even for a season

walks away from that, you choose God's word over men of God, even

or woman of God. Jehoshaphat here is going to

learn a very hard lesson. Because we read here in verse 30

that the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise

myself and go into battle. But you wear your robes.

What is that? So if if Jehoshaphat didn't

listen before, surely he would catch on now that this alliance

is a bad deal. If you were Jehoshaphat,

wouldn't you think to yourself at this moment, OK, if Ahab

really believed those 400 prophets, why would he succumb

to such tactics? Why would Ahab want to

camouflage himself as a lower ranking soldier and allow

Jehoshaphat to be the highlighted king on the

battlefield? Or you might think, if you were

Jehoshaphat, if this man didn't believe what Makaya said, then

why is he behaving in such a way?

And you and I have determined from our previous study that

down deep inside, Ahab really did believe the word of Makaya,

didn't he? He did believe Makaya's

prophecy. And that's why he's doing this.

That's why he's scheming in this way.

And we remember, do we not, that there are some people who are

living in falsehood because they believe what is wrong to be

true. Some are just deceived.

And there are others who are believing what is untrue,

knowing full well it is untrue. They embrace it.

Still. They've been disproven.

They've been shown that what is true is not what they adhere to

over and over, and yet they embrace it.

Why? Because for many reasons,

including the fear of losing something while rejecting what

they've been holding on to for so long, many people are living

like that. And we see here that Ahab is

trying to now position Jehoshaphat in a way in which he

will be harmed and he will be kept safe.

And it makes you wonder, why is Jehoshaphat going along with

this? And we're going to discover that

in a moment. But we see here that Jehoshaphat

agrees. He agrees to this plan.

Is not the selfishness of Ahab so blatantly obvious?

It's so clear. And this man here, you wonder,

why are you having this unwavering commitment to such a

Rascal? Why would you submit to

something so perilous? Why would you?

Why would you not think this is the final straw?

That's alliance was a bad idea and I'm pulling out.

Well, as a surprising as it may seem, Jehoshaphat's dedication

to Ahab reflects on billions of people in their relationship

with sin, right? Maybe you know somebody or maybe

more than one person, where you're just seeing what the

rebellion is causing to them. You're seeing with their

addiction or their way of thinking or their worldview is

causing them, and you wonder from time to time, how long is

he going to keep going this way? How long will she keep doing

this to herself? When will it click?

When will she realize that what she is doing is destructive,

it's false, it's not working, and that God's Word is true.

And so let's not pick on Jehoshaphat too much again.

We don't know what was going on through this mind of his while

he's making these decisions. But I wonder, and this is just

speculation, I wonder if he felt that he was too invested to back

out now. Is this just a friendship that

they have? No, there was a marriage

alliance that bound these two kingdoms together.

And what can be closer than you becoming family?

So I wonder if Jehoshaphat thought to himself, I'm too deep

into this. And you know what?

Whether He did or not, I know that sinners do.

Some at least they think that way about their own iniquity,

but their own way of life. There's no point in backing out.

Now you're saying, how do you know that?

Because I've talked to people like that.

There's no point of repenting now.

I have too many scars and there's no point of turning back

to the Lord. He's already warned me enough.

Surely you will not receive me again.

There's no point. I'm this deep.

I can't recover from this. I can't change from this.

I can't be renewed by this, and I believe many people who feel

this way can learn something about Jehoshaphat, something

that you and I already know, that it's never too late with

Christ, never, ever too late with the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's one of Satan's favorite lies for sinners.

You're too far gone, it's been too long, you're a mess, you're

in shambles. So what do we see?

We get a glimpse of the grace of God in this very passage, right?

So he tells him, disguise yourself as a king.

He agrees to it foolishly. Verse 31.

Now the king of Syria had commanded the 32 captains of his

Chariots fight with neither small nor great, but only with

the king of Israel. So this is a very strategic war.

They're not looking here to eliminate the armies of Israel.

They're not here to try to take over cities.

They have one goal in mind, kill the king of Israel.

They're not even interested in the king of Judah.

Just give us of Israel and for a brief moment something's going

to happen. Verse 32.

And when the captains of the chariot saw Jehoshaphat, they

said it is surely the king of Israel.

He's the only one wearing robes, and so they think that he's the

one. So they turned to fight against

him. And Jehoshaphat cried out.

And when the captains of the chariot saw that it was not the

king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

So Ahab's deceptive scheme seems to have been working for a brief

moment, but not enough. It wasn't enough to actually

accomplish anything. And the turn around the the

event, the occurrence that changed the script.

What do you think it is in the verses that we just read?

What is highlighted to us? If you know what, you can say it

out loud. He cried out.

Jehoshaphat cried out. We're not told what he cried

out, so we're left to gas. At least in First Kings.

What did he cry out? I'm not Ahab.

I'm not Ahab. Or maybe he said he's over

there, He's over there. Or maybe in just absolute

desperation, he just shrieked for mercy.

He cried out. Now you get the impression from

this that maybe he cried out to the Syrian Army.

We're not told how he did it. We're not told what he did.

But could it be that First Chronicles gives us an answer?

Second Chronicles it does. So Second Chronicles 18, we

looked at verse one and two, but Scroll down to that chapter and

look at verse 31 and you will be told what Jehoshaphat did when

he cried out. Can anybody guess while you're

passing to that passage? OK, No one wants to guess.

That's OK. Verse 31 as soon as the captains

of the chariot 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. What's the answer?

He cried out to the Lord. Isn't that amazing?

He cried out to God. See why it's important to read

your Bible through and through. You didn't want to read First

and Second Chronicles because of the genealogies.

And it's repetitive. The Bible wastes no real estate.

There's not one part of the terrain of Scripture that is

void of purpose. And I think it's absolutely

wonderful what Jehoshaphat crying out to the Lord at this

moment teaches us as believers that even amid compromise and

even amid you facing the consequences for your sin, if

you really belong to the Lord, you can cry out to Him and he is

ready to hear you and He is ready to help you.

He is ready to rescue you. Is Jehoshaphat at the top of his

spiritual performance here? No, he's at his lowest, at least

one of his low points. And yet the moment he turned his

face to the Lord and cried out, God was there.

You know who abandoned him though they had an alliance?

Ahab. You know who was with him and

for him, even though he was unfaithful in his covenant with

him. God, aren't you happy that God

is not like us? Aren't you happy that kings like

Ahab are miserable friends, miserable leaders?

But who stands out? The one who's really the king of

Israel. And so we see the Lord here,

though Jehovah gave him many reasons for him not to be there

on his side, but he didn't take those things into consideration.

So this is a comforting testimony for you and I.

This is how strong God's love is.

It's incredibly fierce, especially for those who claim

His name. Even though you do and you fail

them, it doesn't. It doesn't change what God is

willing to do for you the moment you turn to Him.

It doesn't. It doesn't alter it.

He delights in our repentance. He's eager for us to turn for

him to to Him. But at the same time, there is a

side to God in this story that should provoke a fear of Him,

especially if a person's like Ahab who arrogantly resists God

and rejects God and swats away his invitations for

relationship. Because while this man cries out

to the Lord and God answers him, notice what happens to Ahab.

Look at verse 34. We haven't read this yet, 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 the battle, for I am wounded.

So here's the scene. They approached Jehoshaphat, he

cries out. Chronicles tells us that God

drew the people away. In their minds, in the the human

standpoint, they realize all this is not the one we're

looking after or looking for. So they retreat, and one of

these men takes his arrow, draws it randomly and shoots it

towards the enemy, hoping that this shot will make some kind of

impact to their 'cause I'm not sure how skillful this soldier

is to waste ammo like that. But it doesn't make a difference

because unbeknown to this man, that arrow had Ahab's name on

it. So what man did arbitrarily with

his hands, the hands of Almighty God guided to perform His will.

And this is a unique illustration.

Listen to this being placed at the end of the Book of First

Kings with no coincidence. This is not coincidental for

this amazing, breathtaking example of God's sovereignty

being provided to us. Because what have we, what have

we been studying week after week since we opened First Kings?

We've been studying a nation that was divided, kings in

succession becoming failures and jeopardizing the program of God.

And as we come to the concluding thoughts, we realize that God

has not lost control, whether that be overthrowns or bullets.

That's a timely word, is it not? Yeah.

He can guide arrows. He can guide AR15 ammunition.

He can guide anything. He's sovereign, and that's what

you're supposed to leave with as you come to the end of this

book. He's in control.

Yeah, Ahab's reigning and Jehoshaphat's compromising, and

the nation is fractured and but who's who's still overseeing

everything? The Lord Almighty.

And additionally, this random error reminds us that you can

never be successful when you stand against God, but you are

the safest when you stand with Him.

Can you think about this? Here's Ahab, who disguises

himself as a soldier so that he can be off the radar.

And you have Jehoshaphat, who has a bull's eye on his back

because of his royal robes. And yet you have this inverted

outcome. The one who's trying to hide is

killed, and the one who is brought forth and underscored

and highlighted is spared. What's the difference maker?

I argue it boils down to this, where these two men stood with

the Lord. If you stand with him, armies

can't overtake you. If you stand against him, no

matter where you hide and no matter how much armor you put

on, an arrow can find you. And notice it didn't hit any

spot. The Bible, so specific it hit,

it hit one of the entry points, whereas 90% of him was shielded.

The one place, among many other smaller places was where this

arrow landed. Why?

It's not because this man had an amazing aim, because God's

sovereignty in his judgement was at work.

And you can't evade it. You can't run from him.

You can't hide from Him. You read a verse like that, that

should cause you to fear the Lord.

That should encourage you to fear the Lord, to stand in awe

of Him. And if you stand against them,

that should cause you to be terrified.

And if you stand with them and you are dwelling underneath His

wings, then you should feel the safest.

No matter what kind of bunkers people are building and what

kind of Armory they have and what kind of money they have in

their accounts and networks and private jets and private islands

that they can hide from, you are the safest as long as you are

close to God. So we see here that this man

Ahab experienced the hard way that the word of Makaya was

true. He was struck.

And there's a subtle depiction of the level of stubbornness,

the extent of this man's stubbornness, that is actually

staggering. So he says there at the end of

verse 34, turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am

wounded. But look at verse 35.

And the battle continued that day.

And the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians

until that evening he died. And the blood of the wound

flowed into the bottom of the chariot.

What stands out to you from from that?

So he's pierced by this arrow, right?

And then he does something in his his dying moments.

What is it? I argue it's this that he was

propped up to face the Syrians. So he he's out of the battle,

but he wants he wants to show that he's OK.

He wants to, by standing in this manner, provide courage to his

army. Ah is the priority right now for

you to think that you can win this war or provide the

necessary motivation for your army to potentially win this

war? Is that what you're supposed to

be thinking about at this moment?

You know, some people would think that's so noble.

What a courageous leader. What should have Ahab done as he

was bleeding out, not propped up?

Get on your face and get right with God.

You're about to meet him. You're about to meet Him, and

this little snapshot of a very, very stubborn Sinner, like what

Ahab showed us before, reflects on so many who, to their dying

breath, will reject God. Their dying moments will try to

thwart God's truth, deny it, discourage it, argue against it.

You would think that knowing you're going to die would cause

you to self reflect. And this encouraged me late last

night. I'm like, you know, I, I just

want to, I want to explore how famous atheists die.

If there's any recordings of their final words.

And I mean, some sources are accurate, some are maybe

questionable. I'm not going to quote any to

you, but you would think that some who defied God throughout

their lives and understand that they're about to take a leap

into the dark would really reflect on what they've fought

against and maybe reconsider. Some have and others with their

last breath, their final size, use that to curse God and to

spew more venom against the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So Ahab here being propped up and trying to trying to think,

is this still going to work out for me?

Is my army still going to win? You haven't, you haven't

registered yet that this is exactly what Makai said.

What happened to you? It's a terrifying thing, the

depravity of man. Look at verse 36 and about

sunset. A cry went through the army,

every man to a city, and every man to his country.

That's it. Once the news was heard that he

had died, That was the point of the war.

Verse 37. So the king died.

It 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 his blood, and the prostitutes washed

themselves in it according to the word of the Lord that he had

spoken. What prophecy does this fulfill?

The one in the previous chapter. Look at First Kings 21.

As Ahab stood in Nabith's vineyard, Elijah arrives on the

scene unannounced like he usually did, and he pronounces

this awful, harrowing prophecy. 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 dogs licked up the blood of Nabith, shall dogs lick your

own blood? What?

What's the reason for this? There is no explanation apart

from this describing the great contempt that God placed on Ahab

as he was a king and would die. It would not be a noble death.

It would not be an honorable death.

It would be a miserable, even horrific way of exiting this

world. And then what do we see here in

in chapter 22 that prostitutes wash themselves in that water as

well? Very graphic.

That wasn't a part of the original prophecy.

But again, it's meant to give a fuller picture of the

humiliation of Ahab's death because of his rebellion and his

disobedience to God after so many demonstrations of grace and

mercy. And it could even be that these

prostitutes were not random street workers, but we're temple

prostitutes, cult prostitutes. You read of them throughout the

kings, part of the false religious systems that were

established through Baal worship and astral worship.

So it could even be that these prostitutes who worship in their

sensual ways, being arranged by Ahab and Jezebel themselves, are

now cleansing themselves in his blood.

It's a really pathetic sight actually.

And it's meant to cause us. If you feel squeamish, if you

feel like this is horrific, that's what God is intending to

do. He wants to connect this with

sin. He wants to connect this with

His wrath. So either way, it is meant to

portray the mortifying end of a miserable life.

And that will only continue in the next two verses.

Look at verse 39. 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 father's, and Ahaziah, his son, reigned in

his place. The only positive remarks that

the author of Kings can provide this king are his material

accomplishments. He built an ivory house, He

built some cities. He wants some wars.

That's not even directly mentioned.

So he had the glamorous home, and he had some engineering

success and he had some kind of victory here and there.

But what else is Ahab known for? And he will be known for this

for the rest of history as one of the most wicked kings that

Israel has ever experienced. So physically may be impressive,

spiritually disastrous, and this man will go down as one of the

worst. And Isaiah, his son, will take

his place and he's going to prove very quickly to be no

better than his dad. Remember that name, Ahaziah.

Now let's read verse 41. That was a summary of Ahab's

life. But for some reason the Holy

Spirit wants to mention Jehoshaphat to give a summary of

his life as well. Jehoshaphat, the son of ASA,

began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab, king of

Israel. Jehoshaphat was 35 years old

when he began to reign, and he reigned 25 years in Jerusalem.

His mother's name was Azuba, the daughter of Shilai.

He walked, and all the way of ASA his father, he did not turn

aside from it, doing what was right in the side of the Lord.

Yet the high places were not taken away, and the people still

sacrifice and made offerings on the high places.

Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.

What impression do you get with this summary of Jehoshaphat's

reign? Was he godly?

Was he evil? He wasn't totally godly and he

wasn't completely evil. He was in the middle.

Some areas were admirable. Other areas were very

questionable and we've touched on these verses before, but I

want us to focus on the next few verses.

We haven't touched on these verses yet.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat and his might that

he showed and how he ward are they not written in the book of

the Chronicles of the kings of Judah?

And from the land he exterminated the remnant of the

male cult prostitutes who remained in the days of his

father ASA. Now look at verse 47.

This seems to be random, seems to serve no purpose.

There was no king in Edom. A deputy was king.

Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to offer for

gold, but they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at easy

on Geber. Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab set

to Jehoshaphat. Let my servants go with your

servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat was not willing.

Interesting. Out of nowhere, we are informed

that Edom had no king, but a deputy.

Edom had kings, but at this particular time there was

political instability. And who wanted to take advantage

of that? Jehoshaphat.

And how did he want to take advantage of that?

Well, I'm maybe, maybe it's true that somebody here remembers the

name here of where he built these ships.

Izion Geber. Anybody memorize that before?

No. Have you seen this before in

First Kings? We have seen it before in First

Kings, but we didn't spend much time on it.

But go to 1st Kings Nine and then you'll see it.

Perhaps you'll remember it. First Kings 926.

This is under the rule and reign of Solomon.

And notice the relation between this place in Solomon's effort,

his prosperous efforts in the land.

King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Iziongeber, which is

near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of what

Edom. Ah now we come to 1st Kings 22.

We learned that there was no king in Edom while Jehoshaphat

was king of Judah. And so Jehoshaphat wants to

revive something that was lost. After Solomon ruled and reigned,

he he wanted to create a seaport and he wanted to create a, a

kind of a trade route so that he could gain the goal that Solomon

gained and to make the Kingdom prosperous once more.

And so he builds these fleets of ships.

But then what happens when the first Kings 22 without

explanation, we're informed that the ships were destroyed.

They were wrecked. And then Isaiah approaches him

and he says, hey, why don't we work together and let's, let's

get this thing going. I think this will work for both

of us. I'm willing to help you.

And Jehoshaphat refuses. Is there any place in the Bible

where we can get some clarification?

Yes, Second Chronicles. I was scared somebody was going

to say Galatians or something. Second Chronicles, Look at

chapter 20, not 18, but chapter 20.

Look here at verse 35 of chapter 20.

I hope this Bible study every Friday will encourage you to

never skip a book in the Bible when you read it.

That's my prayer. Second Chronicles, 2035.

After this, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, joined with Ahaziah, king

of Israel. Pause.

Who is Aaziah? He's the son of who?

Good good, good. So we're told here that

Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Isaiah king of Israel.

Pause in first Kings 22. Remember when Isaiah approached

Jehoshaphat and he wanted to work together.

What did Jehoshaphat do? He says I'm not willing.

Well here we're told that they joined together.

This is going to make sense in a moment.

Who acted wickedly. The Chronicle wants to let us

know that has I was a wicked man.

Look at verse 36. He joined him in building ships

to go to Tarshish and they built the ships in Ezeongebber What?

Verse 37 Then Elia Ezer, the son of Doda Vahu of Maharishi,

prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, because you have joined

with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.

And the ships were wrecked, and we're not able to go to

Tarshish. So let's forget about First

Kings 22 for a moment. Let's just deal with Second

Chronicles 2035. OK, to 37.

We're told back at First Kings 22 that Isaiah ruled and reigned

for only two years. That's at the end, the final

verses of our chapter. So let's think about this.

If Jehoshaphat made an alliance with Ahab, Ahab dies, Joshua

goes back to his Kingdom, and he's just continuing where he

left off in under two years. Evidently he makes an alliance

with the son of Ahab. Isn't that remarkable?

You would think that this man learned his lesson with Ahab,

but clearly he didn't. And not only that, although

there's so many things that we can praise Jehoshaphat for, this

is obviously a weakness in his life.

This is a habitual problem. He has this tendency.

And what's his tendency to be unequally yoked?

That's his temptation. Some people have different

inclinations and this was his problem because in such a short

amount of time, he's magnetized towards the wrong people once

again. And this is a tendency to not

trust in God's wisdom and choosing friendships,

partnerships, and even potential candidates to be your spouse.

Is it possible for a genuine Christian to have a recurring

problem of leaning towards those that they should have no

association with? Yeah, it is.

And that's Jehoshaphat's problem here.

They might honor the Lord Jesus in other areas, but when it

comes to like Jehoshaphat with relationships, whatever the

reason they're drawn, they're drawn to the people that they

should remove themselves from. And interestingly, the Lord does

something to not allow this alliance to last very long.

He sends a prophet and the prophet says, the fact that

you're doing this again is going to make me do something before

it gets ugly. I'm going to put an end to this.

And he destroys the ships. Is destruction a pleasant

experience or unpleasant experience?

Unpleasant. It's uncomfortable.

You might think about the time that Jehoshaphat invested the

money. He invested the, the, the plans

for a prosperous nation that would come through this project.

And all of that was decimated. It was dissolved.

You think that's harsh on God's part?

I don't think it's harsh. You know what I think it is, is

God's mercy. That's God's mercy, because who

knows the problems and the trouble that would have arose

from this man's prosperous relationship with Ahaziah?

When I studied this last night, I I leaned back from my desk and

I looked up to the ceiling and I learned something about the

Lord. Because what's true of God here

is certainly true for you and I. You may not always have answers

for why God allows certain things to come to an end, but

one reason among many, according to this scripture, is that he's

protecting you. Yeah, it's painful, it's

unpleasant, it's often without explanation.

But if we belong to the Lord, you can trust that when certain

opportunities, relationships you ready for this ministries no

longer work come to a close, come to an end.

God knows something you don't. Now you got to see beyond the

surface, right? If you read this, and if if you

read this like how Jehoshaphat could have read it without the

prophet indicating to him and actually explain to him why this

is happening, all you would see is destruction.

All you would see is harm. All you would see is loss.

But what's God doing in the background?

What's he doing? Because you often don't get the

explanation like Jehoshaphat did.

You don't need the explanation, you just need to understand is

God Lord, is Christ Lord. You don't need anything else.

So let him lead you, and some things, he'll blossom.

Some things might look like they're going to work and they

don't. But if you have committed it to

the Lord in prayer, if you've surrendered him step by step,

even if it looks broken, even if it looks destructive, even if it

looks like a loss, realize that God is in control and he knows

something you don't always. But how do we reconcile Second

Chronicles with First Kings 22? Here's how we can make sense of

the timeline. Originally, Jehoshaphat and

Isaiah made an alliance and they did start something with these

ships. And then the prophet comes and

he informs them, hey, these things are going to say bye bye

to them because this is not a part of God's plan.

You, you yoked yourself once again to somebody that you

shouldn't have partnered with. And then what do we read?

You go back to First Kings 22. Isaiah comes again.

He approaches him once more and he says, look, why don't we try

this again? Didn't work.

So let's let's maybe think differently here.

And what does George Shabbat do? I'm not willing.

Finally, something about Jehoshaphat that we can take

positive inspiration from. This was a struggle for

Jehoshaphat, right? This was something that he could

he had great weakness and resisting.

But you know what? George Shabbat also shows that

even though it's a habit, even though it's call it what you

want, whatever psychological tag you want to attach to it, you

have the ability to repent when God makes His will known.

God has also instituted something in you to make a

choice. This is it.

Enough is enough. You don't have the empowerment

to no ultimate victory, but you can make the choice that pivots

you for God to then empower you. This man made a decision.

This is it. I did it with Ahab.

I did it with his son. God warned me once again, I'm

I'm putting an end to this right here.

And this is one of the lessons that you're supposed to leave

with at the end of first Kings, right?

That this is a man here who had cycling compromise and he shows

us that God has given us an ability to put it to an end and

you don't have to wait things to be destroyed for you to finally

realize it. Unfortunately, Isaiah did not

learn that truth and he didn't live very long to have the

opportunities that Jehoshaphat did.

So let's come back to the last verses of First Kings 22, verse

1 Kings 22:51

51. Isaiah, the son of Ahab, began

to reign over Israel in Samaria in the 17th year of Jehoshaphat,

king of Judah, and he reigned 2 years over Israel.

He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in

the way of his father and in the way of his mother, and in the

way of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.

He served Baal and worshipped him and provoked the Lord, the

God of Israel to anger in every way that his father had done.

What a sad way to end a book. But let me remind you how the

book began. You don't have to turn there.

And a lot of the things that were shared, maybe not a lot,

but some things that were shared here are going to show up on the

quiz. So there's no excuse for you not

to get a lot of those questions right.

How did the book of First Kings begin?

It began with the son of a king who exalted himself and

attempted to seize the throne, though he knew that it was

against the will of God. In no doubt is that a form of

idolatry, you elevating yourself and putting yourself before

God's will in God's program. That's how the book begins.

And how does the book end? You have a son of another king

who promotes idolatry, false worship, who turns his back

against God. And so this whole book is

sandwiched between 2 failures. 2 failures for what purpose?

For you to realize, oh, when is that promised king going to

come? When is that seed of the son of

David going to arrive? When is the righteous 1 going to

establish that perfect government that will rule over

all nations and will reflect the splendor of the glory of God?

When, when will He come? Because all these kings have

disappointed us. And it's not until we get to 2nd

Kings where we're going to have a clear answer to that wonderful

inquiry and longing and hard cry.

And we're not going to get there until a few weeks.

So let's thank God for what He's done in the past many months in

First Kings. Shall we pray together?

But we thank you for your word. Thank you for these final

lessons. In this final section of this

book. We remember, Lord, that your

hand is at work. What we may see as random is not

random to you, your sovereign, even over the molecules.

So help us believe that you are sovereign over politics and

church scandals and nations and agendas that are polluting the

minds of a generation. Help us believe you're

sovereign. And Lord, help us like

Jehoshaphat, remember that we have no excuse to not repent,

that we have a mighty God we can cry out to at any point, and You

are ready to rescue us right there and then.

So we pray for those in this room, for those who hear this

recording in the days to come, that if there is any sin that

they are caught in that they would cry out to You and they

they would trust that You will be there for them.

Give us discernment, Give us grace.

Lord, give us a hunger for Your word.

Help us believe that every part of this book has been breathed

out by You and Lord, breathe into us so that we can know this

abundant life that your Son, the Lord Jesus, purchased with his

own blood. We thank you for First Kings and

we're excited for what you have in store in the days to come.

Should you tarry, Lord, bring us to this next book and guide us

as you did in this one. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. Amen.