Aug 4th 1 Kings 22:1~12 [Three Years without War]
작성자명 [이득주]
댓글 0
날짜 2019.08.18
Three Years without War
(1 Kings 22:1~12)
After obtaining finally what we have longed for, we tend to be proud, arrogant and away from God. Ahab forged another scheme to show off. In chapter 22, the last chapter about Ahab, he is still grasping what he wants and bent on conquest. Lets look at the features of a life without war for three years like Ahabs.
1. Making a scheme for another war. During the peaceful three years, Ahab returned to what he used to be. To Ahab, the period was not the opportunity to turn from evil with his repentance as Gods humble child. The worldly man forgot that he would be judged by God, intoxicated with his two victories against Aram. Like Ahab, we claim the victory when we win but blame others when we lose. This is our sinful nature. In the passage, Jehoshaphat King of Judah suddenly comes up. Israel and Judah had never been allied before. But their alliance through the marriage of convenience between Ahabs daughter and Jehoshaphats son brought a crisis to them. The two kingdoms couldnt be united because they worshiped different gods. Ahab might have been considered superior to Jehoshaphat thanks to his three great victories against powerful enemies. Thats why Jehoshaphat came down to Israel, expecting that he would win the war against Aram in alliance with Israel. Literally, he came up to Israel the north kingdom, but spiritually he came down because he was allied with the evil couple, Ahab and Jezebel. Jehoshaphat should have stayed in Jerusalem, the symbol of the heavenly kingdom instead of being allied with Ahab. Ahab tried to retake Ramoth Gilead, shutting his ears to God. Overestimating himself, he made a plan that seemed to have good profit and justification for retaking Ramoth Gilead by force, which Ben-Hadad had promised to return to him but hadnt. While the king of Aram feared God, Ahab took credit for the victories he won. All but Ahab knew that losing God leads to becoming a loser. Both Ben-Hadad and Ahab were arrogant without repenting for three years. Ahab cannot be spiritually awake because his comfortable circumstances made him a megalomaniac. To the Israelites, Ramoth Gilead was the city that they have to retake from Aram at all costs for relational, military, and commercial reasons. So Ahab urged on Jehoshaphat, to which Jehoshaphat responded positively. Thus the north and south kingdoms were allied against the alliance between Ahab and Ben-Hadad, which proves that human agreement comes to nothing. Actually the north and south kingdoms had been on bad terms with each other even though they said they were of one people. So it was with Israel and Aram, which Ahab once called a brother. Thus Israel, Judah, and Aram failed to keep their promises to one another.
2. Hating Micaiah the prophet who deserves consulting. Jehoshaphat suggested to Ahab that they should seek the counsel of the LORD before carrying out their plan. Yet Ahab didnt know how to inquire of the Lord. The key is listening to the Word. But we can hardly do it by ourselves. Without inquiry, we tend to have everything our own way. Ahab refused to accept the prescription for him. After hearing Jehoshaphats suggestion, Ahab gathered four hundred prophets. However, none of the prophets could say No to him because they had seen Ahab kill Naboth. The majority is not always right. To Ahab, the man of God was merely an enemy, like Elijah and Micaiah. Thus Ahab, the king of Gods people, spent his life standing against Gods prophets. Jehoshaphat, however, had some spiritual discernment. When he looked for a true prophet, Ahab replied that he had some. Ahab was so self-centric that what mattered to him was not what God said to him but whether a prophecy for him was good to him or not. Thats why he tried to kill Elijah and hated Micaiah. Because he sought Yes-men, Ahab couldnt forgive any No-man. Nevertheless, he sent for Micaiah. He must have hated listening to an ominous prophecy from him. This little application, however, saved him from the way of death. Thus God kept watching over Ahab with his endless love till he repented.
3. Requiring only good prophecy. The two kings were dressed in their royal robes in order to attend a formal event where four hundred prophets falsely prophesied as king-patronized public sorcerers. Ahab called for Micaiah to attend this event. There Zedekiah showed the iron horns that he had made to Ahab and declared that he would defeat the king of Aram with them. Then Zedekiah explained how to gore the Arameans until they were destroyed. Ahab was excited over Zedekiahs false prophecy and practical demonstration of iron horns. All the other prophets were prophesying the same that Ahab should attack Ramoth Gilead and God would hand over the city to him. Notice that Zedekiah made a false prophecy with the iron horns that he had made for his own sake. To him, the iron horns might have been nice weapons but in reality they were nothing but useless metal junk.
Heres a deacons confession from our church. He used to think that he was an Elijah persecuted by Ahab while his wife called him an Ahab, pointing out that he should not pretend to repent, urging others not to be cheated by his godly appearance. To him, his wife was like a prophetess who prophecies only bad things to come. The same applies to our family. We can find a bad prophecy that our spouse keeps saying to us in our daily life. Do you hate this bad prophecy? Still, stay in the godly structure where you have to listen to the Word. We need to practice inquiring of one another according to the Word even over trivial things in our daily life. We need to continue to be humble before God, repenting of our sins. May God bless us to understand that a truly blessed life is not a warless life, but a life in which we seek God in our battlefield!
For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel. (1Kgs 22:1)
