Heights and Highs – Part 4
Moreover, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire first for the word of the LORD.” Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not yet a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of him?” [1 Kings 22:5-7]
The Lord’s prophet Micaiah warned King Ahab that he would die at Ramoth-gilead, if he went there to conduct war against Aram. But that smug idolater didn’t care what the Lord had to say about anything.
So off to Ramoth-gilead went Ahab and Jehoshaphat, leading their armies to the battle field. Now here’s where Halloween comes into the story. Ahab donned a disguise so that the Aramean soldiers wouldn’t recognize him as the king. He told Jehoshaphat to impersonate him, and Jehoshaphat was dufus enough to do so! Didn’t exactly flatter him, did he?
All the disguises in the world couldn’t thwart the Word of God. The Lord pronounced through Micaiah that Ahab would die on the heights of Gilead, so die Ahab must. The Aramean soldiers saw Jehoshaphat bedecked in his kingly garb and mistook him for Ahab. But try as they might, they failed to kill or even wound Jehoshaphat.
On the other hand, Ahab went into the battle looking like…well, not like a king, let’s put it that way. So the Aramean soldiers didn’t pay Ahab any mind. It didn’t affect God’s plan one iota though. By accident an Aramean archer shot his arrow and killed Ahab! The Word of the Lord came true, as we should know it always does.
Now I want to bring out a point of import from the story, one which the average English reader wouldn’t notice. But it bears the utmost importance in Biblical teaching, so we mustn’t miss it. This point has to do with the words spoken by Jehoshaphat and the true prophet Micaiah on the one hand, and by the false prophets on the other.
King Jehoshaphat said to Ahab, “Please inquire first for the word of the LORD.”
The false prophets claimed, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”
Jehoshaphat didn’t like what Ahab’s false prophets said, so he rejoined, “Is there not yet a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of him?”
Then Micaiah declared, “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD.”
Read those four quotations again, except very slowly. Do you see the difference in who they prayed to? Jehoshaphat wanted to hear the Word of the “LORD”. The false prophets spoke the word of the “Lord”. Micaiah proclaimed the Word of the “LORD”.
In the English Bible when you see the word “lord” in all capital letters (“LORD”), in the original Hebrew it is the actual name of God. God’s personal name is YHWH (aka Yahweh or Jehovah). The word “lord” with only the first letter capitalized (“Lord”) is not a name at all. It is a title which means “lord” or “master”.
Hmm. Interesting tidbits those. Except they’re not tidbits at all, and tomorrow we’ll learn why. For now let’s enjoy time alone with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
The Lord’s prophet Micaiah warned King Ahab that he would die at Ramoth-gilead, if he went there to conduct war against Aram. But that smug idolater didn’t care what the Lord had to say about anything.
So off to Ramoth-gilead went Ahab and Jehoshaphat, leading their armies to the battle field. Now here’s where Halloween comes into the story. Ahab donned a disguise so that the Aramean soldiers wouldn’t recognize him as the king. He told Jehoshaphat to impersonate him, and Jehoshaphat was dufus enough to do so! Didn’t exactly flatter him, did he?
All the disguises in the world couldn’t thwart the Word of God. The Lord pronounced through Micaiah that Ahab would die on the heights of Gilead, so die Ahab must. The Aramean soldiers saw Jehoshaphat bedecked in his kingly garb and mistook him for Ahab. But try as they might, they failed to kill or even wound Jehoshaphat.
On the other hand, Ahab went into the battle looking like…well, not like a king, let’s put it that way. So the Aramean soldiers didn’t pay Ahab any mind. It didn’t affect God’s plan one iota though. By accident an Aramean archer shot his arrow and killed Ahab! The Word of the Lord came true, as we should know it always does.
Now I want to bring out a point of import from the story, one which the average English reader wouldn’t notice. But it bears the utmost importance in Biblical teaching, so we mustn’t miss it. This point has to do with the words spoken by Jehoshaphat and the true prophet Micaiah on the one hand, and by the false prophets on the other.
King Jehoshaphat said to Ahab, “Please inquire first for the word of the LORD.”
The false prophets claimed, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”
Jehoshaphat didn’t like what Ahab’s false prophets said, so he rejoined, “Is there not yet a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of him?”
Then Micaiah declared, “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD.”
Read those four quotations again, except very slowly. Do you see the difference in who they prayed to? Jehoshaphat wanted to hear the Word of the “LORD”. The false prophets spoke the word of the “Lord”. Micaiah proclaimed the Word of the “LORD”.
In the English Bible when you see the word “lord” in all capital letters (“LORD”), in the original Hebrew it is the actual name of God. God’s personal name is YHWH (aka Yahweh or Jehovah). The word “lord” with only the first letter capitalized (“Lord”) is not a name at all. It is a title which means “lord” or “master”.
Hmm. Interesting tidbits those. Except they’re not tidbits at all, and tomorrow we’ll learn why. For now let’s enjoy time alone with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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