In this episode of Add Bible, we delve into 2 Chronicles chapters 17 and 18, where we explore the reign of Jehoshaphat and his alliance with Ahab, the king of Israel. Discover how Jehoshaphat fortified Judah and spread the teachings of the Lord through his kingdom. The narrative takes a dramatic turn with Ahab’s summons of prophets to predict the outcome of a battle, and the lone voice of truth from the prophet Micaiah.
00:00:09 Introduction to Add Bible and Today’s Reading
00:00:24 Overview of 2 Chronicles Chapters 17 and 18
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
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Today brings us to 2 Chronicles chapters 17 and 18. We’ll listen to Faith Comes by Hearing’s reading of these two chapters.
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2 Chronicles 17 Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place and strengthened himself against Israel. He placed forces in all the fortified cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that Asa his father had captured. The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments and not according to the practices of Israel.” Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor. His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord, and furthermore he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah. In the third year of his reign, he sent his officials Ben-Hael, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah. And with them the Levites Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebediah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobidonijah. And with these Levites the priests Elishema and Jehoram. and they taught in Judah, having the book of the law of the Lord with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people. And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat. Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver for tribute, and the Arabians also brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats.” and Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah fortresses and store cities, and he had large supplies in the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem. This was the muster of them by fathers’ houses. Of Judah, the commanders of thousands, Adna, the commander with three hundred thousand mighty men of valor, and next to him Jehohanan the commander, with 280,000, and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, a volunteer for the service of the Lord, with 200,000 mighty men of valor. Of Benjamin, Eliadah, a mighty man of valor, with 200,000 men armed with bow and shield, and next to him Jehozabad, with 180,000 armed for war.” These were in the service of the king, besides those whom the king had placed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah. 2 Chronicles 18 Now Jehoshaphat had 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 were with him, and induced him to go up against Ramoth-Gilead. Ahab, king of Israel, said to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Will you go with me to Ramoth-Gilead?
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He answered him, I am as you are, my people as your people. We will be with you in the war.
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And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Inquire first for the word of the Lord. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, Shall we go to battle against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?
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And they said,
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Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.
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But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here another prophet of the Lord, of whom we may inquire?
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And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah. But I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. And Jehoshaphat said,
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Let not the king say so. Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah. Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones 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 Canaanah made for himself horns of iron and said,
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Thus says the Lord with these who shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.
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And all the prophets prophesied so and said, Go up to Ramoth-Gilead and triumph.
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The Lord will give it into the hand of the king.
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And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king.
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Let your word be like the word of one of them and speak favorably.
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But Micaiah said, As the Lord lives, what my God says, that I will speak.
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And when he had come to the king, the king said to him,
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Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall I refrain? And he answered, Go up and triumph. They will be given into your hand. But the king said to him, How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?
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And he said, I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, These have no master. Let each return to his home in peace.
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And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil? And Micaiah said,
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Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead? And one said one thing, and another said another. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, I will entice him. And the Lord said to him, By what means? And he said, I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, You are to entice him, and you shall succeed. Go out and do so. Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets. The Lord has declared disaster concerning you.”
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Then Zedekiah the son of Canaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “‘Which way did the Spirit of the Lord go from me to speak to you?’
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And Micaiah said, Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.
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And the king of Israel said, Seize Micaiah and take him back to Ammon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king’s son, and say, Thus says the king, put this fellow in prison and feed him with meager rations of bread and water until I return in peace. And Micaiah said, If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.
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And he said, Hear, all you peoples!
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So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth Gilead.
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And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.
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And the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle. Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel. As soon as the captains of the chariots 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. For as soon as the captains of the chariot saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. 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,
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Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.
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And the battle continued that day, and the king of Israel was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening. Then at sunset, he died.
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In 1983, I read 2 Chronicles 17 and 18 on the same day, and I wrote in my personal Bible reading journal, distinguishing the proper voice of God. 400 prophets said go up, one said no. Micaiah stood alone and was imprisoned for it, but he was right. Praise God for boldness. Stand when you know you’re right, even if it’s costly. God is with you and not with the crowd. Sovereignty will prove you out. In 1997, when I read 2 Chronicles 17-19, I wrote in my journal, His heart took delight in the ways of the Lord. Am I willing to stand against the popular tide for the Lord? Micaiah the prophet stood against all his peers, calling them liars, and stood before two kings, went to prison for sticking with God’s message. Lord, forgive me for my weakness. In 2009, I read 2 Chronicles 17-19 on the same day, and I wrote in my journal, Jehoshaphat becomes king of Judah. He sought the God of his father, followed his commandments. He sent officials out to teach, having the book of the law with them. He tried to biblically educate Judah. I went on to write, the prophet Micaiah stands alone against the crowd of, quote, prophets and gets thrown in prison for doing so. But he alone was right. It’s hard to stand alone for the Lord. That ends my journal entries. As we learned in previous chapters, Asa was the king of Judah and he served for about 40 years. When he died, his son Jehoshaphat takes over here in 2 Chronicles chapter 17. Verse 3 says the Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. Of course, David preceded Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah, and Asa. In chapter 18, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, the southern kingdom, makes an alliance with the king of the northern kingdom, Ahab. They try to decide to go to war, so Ahab consults with 400, quote, prophets. With one accord, they say, go to war and God will give you the victory. The prophet Micaiah is summoned, and he alone stands against the other prophets. He even accuses them all of being liars. Because he went against the tide, he’s thrown in prison. Chapter 18, verse 26. And say, thus says the king, put this fellow in prison and feed him with meager rations of bread and water until I return in peace. And Micaiah said, if you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me. King Ahab and King Jehoshaphat go to war. And not only are they soundly defeated, but Ahab ends up dead. Micaiah, the lone voice, stood firm for the Lord. Our application from this chapter is simple. It was cited in virtually all of my journal entries, and that is, Can you stand against the tide? In our culture today, it’s not popular to be a Christian. but it’s godly, and it’s the biblical thing to do. Are you willing to go against the tide? Are you willing to stand firm for the Lord in our culture today? Micaiah was willing. He was thrown in prison for doing so, but he was right. Are you willing to stand for what is right in our culture today? Under King Jehoshaphat, They taught in Judah, having the book of the law of the Lord with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people. Jehoshaphat brought a culture back to the Word of God. Are we willing to do so today? I am doing so through AdBible. God has asked me to record something about every chapter in the Word of God. AdBible goes out all over the world through the internet. Anyone can listen. Anyone can be taught the Word of the Lord through this program. Are you willing to stand for the Word of God in our culture today? Oh, you don’t have to be as bold as to do AdBible, but maybe you could at least support us in what we’re doing. Visit EzraProject.net. There you will find ways to support this ministry. Help us teach the book of the law across our world today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Continue to support AdBible by going to EzraProject.net.
