The king of Israel said to his servants, “You know that Ramoth Gilead is ours, and we do nothing, and don’t take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?” He said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle to Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”
Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire first for Yahweh’s word.”
Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Should I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or should I refrain?” They said, “Go up; for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”
But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there here a prophet of Yahweh, that we may inquire of him?”
The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Yahweh, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” Jehoshaphat said, “Don’t let the king say so.”
Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, “Quickly get Micaiah the son of Imlah.”
Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made himself horns of iron, and said, “Yahweh says, ‘With these you will push the Syrians, until they are consumed.’ ” All the prophets prophesied so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead, and prosper; for Yahweh will deliver it into the hand of the king.”
The messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “See now, the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak good.”
Micaiah said, “As Yahweh lives, what Yahweh says to me, that I will speak.”
When he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall we forbear?” He answered him, “Go up and prosper; and Yahweh will deliver it into the hand of the king.”
The king said to him, “How many times do I have to adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in Yahweh’s name?”
He said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. Yahweh said, ‘These have no master. Let them each return to his house in peace.’ ”
The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”
Micaiah said, “Therefore hear Yahweh’s word. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. Yahweh said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ One said one thing; and another said another.
A spirit came out and stood before Yahweh, and said, ‘I will entice him.’
Yahweh said to him, ‘How?’ He said, ‘I will go out and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ He said, ‘You will entice him, and will also prevail. Go out and do so.’
Now therefore, behold, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and Yahweh has spoken evil concerning you.”
Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, “Which way did Yahweh’s Spirit go from me to speak to you?”
Micaiah said, “Behold, you will see on that day, when you go into an inner room to hide yourself.”
The king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son. Say, ‘The king says, “Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.” ’ ”
Micaiah said, “If you return at all in peace, Yahweh has not spoken by me.” He said, “Listen, all you people!”
So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 27, 28 The kings of Syria kept Ramoth before this league…
The kings of Syria kept Ramoth before this league was made by Ben-Hadad: therefore he thought not himself bound thereby to restore it.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–29 1Ki 22:3 And the king of Israel said unto…
1Ki 22:3 And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead [is] ours, and we [be] still, [and] take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria?
Ver. 3. Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours?] A part of our promised inheritance, and one of our cities of refuge, {Jos 20:8} besides Benhadad’s promise to restore it unto us, with the rest that were taken from us by his father, {1Ki 20:24} but he never intendeth it.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 Is ours, i.e. belongeth to us by right, both…
Is ours, i.e. belongeth to us by right, both by God’s donation, and designation of it for a city of refuge, Jos 21:38, and by our last agreement with Ben-hadad, 1Ki 20:31, which he refuseth to deliver up to us upon our demand.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv15, 29 Here Micaiah does well, but, as is common, suffers…
Here Micaiah does well, but, as is common, suffers ill for so doing.
I. We are told how faithfully he delivered his message, as one that was more solicitous to please God than to humour either the great or the many. In three ways he delivers his message, and all displeasing to Ahab: -
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1. He spoke as the rest of the prophets had spoken, but ironically: Go, and prosper, Kg1 22:15. Ahab put the same question to him that he had put to his own prophets (Shall we go, or shall we forbear?) seeming desirous to know God's mind, when, like Balaam, he was strongly bent to do his own, which Micaiah plainly took notice of when he bade him go, but with such an air and pronunciation as plainly showed he spoke it by way of derision; as if he had said, "I know you are determined to go, and I hear your own prophets are unanimous in assuring you of success; go then and take what follows. They say, The Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king; but I do not tell thee that thus saith the Lord; no, he saith otherwise." Note, Those deserve to be bantered that love to be flattered; and it is just with God to give up those to their own counsels that give up themselves to their own lusts. Ecc 11:9. In answer to this Ahab adjured him to tell him the truth, and not to jest with him (v. 16), as if he sincerely desired to know both what God would have him to do and what he would do with him, yet intending to represent the prophet as a perverse ill-humoured man, that would not tell him the truth till he was thus put to his oath, or adjured to do it.
2. Being thus pressed, he plainly foretold that the king would be cut off in this expedition, and his army scattered, Kg1 22:17. He saw them in a vision, or in a dream, dispersed upon the mountains, as sheep that had no one to guide them. Smite the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, Zac 13:7. This intimates, (1.) That Israel should be deprived of their king, who was their shepherd. God took notice of it, These have no master. (2.) That they would be obliged to retire re infecta - without accomplishing their object. He does not foresee any great slaughter in the army, but that they should make a dishonorable retreat. Let them return every man to his house in peace, put into disorder indeed for the present, but no great losers by the death of their king; he shall fall in war, but they shall go home in peace. Thus Micaiah, in his prophecy, testified what he had seen and heard (let them take it how they pleased), while the others prophesied merely out of their own hearts; see Jer 23:28. "The prophet that has a dream let him tell that, and so quote his authority; and he that has my word, let him speak my word faithfully, and not his own; for what is the chaff to the wheat?" Now Ahab finds himself aggrieved, turns to Jehoshaphat, and appeals to him whether Micaiah had not manifestly a spite against him, Kg1 22:18. Those that bear malice to others are generally willing to believe that others bear malice to them, though they have no cause for it, and therefore to put the worst constructions upon all they say. What evil did Micaiah prophesy to Ahab in telling him that, if he proceeded in this expedition, it would be fatal to him, while he might choose whether he would proceed in it or no? The greatest kindness we can do to one that is going a dangerous way is to tell him of his danger.
3. He informed the king how it was that all his prophets encouraged him to proceed, that God permitted Satan by them to deceive him into his ruin, and he by vision knew of it; it was represented to him, and he represented it to Ahab, that the God of heaven had determined he should fall at Ramoth-Gilead (Kg1 22:19, Kg1 22:20), that the favour he had wickedly shown to Ben-hadad might be punished by him and his Syrians, and that he being in some doubt whether he should go to Ramoth-Gilead or no, and resolving to be advised by his prophets, they should persuade him to it and prevail (Kg1 22:21, Kg1 22:22); and hence it was that they encouraged him with so much assurance (Kg1 22:23); it was a lie from the father of lies, but by divine permission. This matter is here represented after the manner of men. We are not to imagine that God is ever put upon new counsels, or is ever at a loss for means whereby to effect his purposes, nor that he needs to consult with angels, or any creature, about the methods he should take, nor that he is the author of sin or the cause of any man's either telling or believing a lie; but, besides what was intended by this with reference to Ahab himself, it is to teach us, (1.) That God is a great king above all kings, and has a throne above all the thrones of earthly princes. "You have your thrones," said Micaiah to these two kings, "and you think you may do what you will, and we must all say as you would have us; but I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and every man's judgment proceeding from him, and therefore I must say as he says; he is not a man, as you are." (2.) That he is continually attended and served by an innumerable company of angels, those heavenly hosts, who stand by him, ready to go where he sends them and to do what he bids them, messengers of mercy on his right hand, of wrath on his left hand. (3.) That he not only takes cognizance of, but presides over, all the affairs of this lower world, and overrules them according to the counsel of his own will. The rise and fall of princes, the issues of war, and all the great affairs of state, which are the subject of the consultations of wise and great men, are no more above God's direction than the meanest concerns of the poorest cottages are below his notice. (4.) That God has many ways of bringing about his own counsels, particularly concerning the fall of sinners when they are ripe for ruin; he can do it either in this manner or in that manner. (5.) That there are malicious and lying spirits which go about continually seeking to devour, and, in order to that, seeking to deceive, and especially to put lies into the mouths of prophets, by them to entice many to their destruction. (6.) It is not without the divine permission that the devil deceives men, and even thereby God serves his own purposes. With him are strength and wisdom, the deceived and the deceivers are his, Job 12:16. When he pleases, for the punishment of those who receive not the truth in the love of it, he not only lets Satan loose to deceive them (Rev 20:7, Rev 20:8), but gives men up to strong delusions to believe him, Th2 2:11, Th2 2:12. (7.) Those are manifestly marked for ruin that are thus given up. God has certainly spoken evil concerning those whom he had given up to be imposed upon by lying prophets. Thus Micaiah gave Ahab fair warning, not only of the danger of proceeding in this war, but of the danger of believing those that encouraged him to proceed. Thus we are warned to beware of false prophets, and to try the spirits; the lying spirit never deceives so fatally as in the mouth of prophets.
II. We are told how he was abused for delivering his message thus faithfully, thus plainly, in a way so very proper both to convince and to affect. 1. Zedekiah, a wicked prophet, impudently insulted him in the face of the court, smote him on the cheek, to reproach him, to silence him and stop his mouth, and to express his indignation at him (thus was our blessed Saviour abused, Mat 26:67, that Judge of Israel, Mic 5:1); and as if he not only had the spirit of the Lord, but the monopoly of this Spirit, that he might not go without his leave, he asks, Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak to thee? Kg1 22:24. The false prophets were always the worst enemies the true prophets had, and not only stirred up the government against them, but were themselves abusive to them, as Zedekiah here. To strike within the verge of the court, especially in the king's presence, is looked upon by our law as a high misdemeanour; yet this wicked prophet gives this abuse to a prophet of the Lord, and is not reprimanded nor bound to his good behaviour for it. Ahab was pleased with it, and Jehoshaphat had not courage to appear for the injured prophet, pretending it was out of his jurisdiction; but Micaiah, though he returns not his blow (God's prophets are not strikers nor persecutors, dare not avenge themselves, render blow for blow, or be in any way accessory to the breach of the peace), yet, since he boasted so much of the Spirit, as those commonly do that know least of his operations, he leaves him to be convinced of his error by the event: Thou shalt know when thou hidest thyself in an inner chamber, Kg1 22:25. It is likely Zedekiah went with Ahab to the battle, and took his horns of iron with him to encourage the soldiers, to see with pleasure the accomplishment of his prophecy, and return in triumph with the king; but, the army being routed, he fled among the rest from the sword of the enemy, sheltered himself as Ben-hadad had done in a chamber within a chamber (Kg1 20:30), lest he should perish, as he knew he deserved to do, with those whom he had deluded, as Balaam did (Num 31:8), and lest the blind prophet should fall into the ditch with the blinded prince whom he had misled. Note, Those that will not have their mistakes rectified in time by the word of God will be undeceived, when it is too late, by the judgments of God. 2. Ahab, that wicked king, committed him to prison (Kg1 22:27), not only ordered him to be taken into custody, or remitted to the prison whence he came, but to be fed with bread and water, coarse bread and puddle-water, till he should return, not doubting but that he should return a conqueror, and then he would put him to death for a false prophet (Kg1 22:27) - hard usage for one that would have prevented his ruin! But by this it appeared that God had determined to destroy him, as Ch2 25:16. How confident is Ahab of success. He doubts not but he shall return in peace, forgetting what he himself had reminded Ben-hadad of, Let not him that girdeth on the harness boast; but there was little likelihood of his coming home in peace when he left one of God's prophets behind him in prison. Micaiah put it upon the issue, and called all the people to be witnesses that he did so: "If thou return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me, Kg1 22:28. Let me incur the reproach and punishment of a false prophet, if the king come home alive." He ran no hazard by this appeal, for he knew whom he had believed; he that is terrible to the kings of the earth, and treads upon princes as mortar, will rather let thousands of them fall to the ground than one jot or tittle of his own word; he will not fail to confirm the word of his servants, Isa 44:26.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–29 This affair being lately canvassed at the council board,…
This affair being lately canvassed at the council board, and very much on Ahab's mind, he puts this question to Jehoshaphat, his visitor, relation, and ally; wisely considering that his own forces were small, and that to have such an auxiliary might be of great advantage to him:
and Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses; meaning, that he and his soldiers, foot and horse, were at his service.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27 Is ours - Belongeth to us by right. both…
Is ours - Belongeth to us by right. both by God's donation, and by our last agreement with Ben-hadad, chap. xx, 34, which yet he refuseth to deliver up.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27 Verse 4. Wilt thou go with me] We find…
Verse 4. Wilt thou go with me] We find that there was a good understanding between Jehoshaphat and Ahab, which no doubt was the consequence of a matrimonial alliance between the son of the former, Jehoram, and the daughter of the latter, Athaliah; see 2Ch 18:1; 2Kg 8:18. This coalition did not please God, and Jehoshaphat is severely reproved for it by Jehu the seer, 2Ch 19:1-3.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29 1Ki 22:3. Know ye not that Ramoth in Gilead…
1Ki 22:3. Know ye not that Ramoth in Gilead is ours? — Belongeth to us by right, both by God’s donation, and by our last agreement with Ben- hadad, 1Ki 20:34. It is probable Ben-hadad had not made good his part of the covenant, to restore all the cities which the Syrians had taken from Israel, and that this was one which he refused to deliver up.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29 By the terms of Ahab’s covenant with Ben-hadad, Ramoth…
By the terms of Ahab’s covenant with Ben-hadad, Ramoth in Gilead ought, long ere this, to have been restored 1Ki 20:34. Hence, the claim “is ours,” i. e., “it belongs to us of right though the Syrians still hold possession of it.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 29 Syria. Benadad had not restored it; either because he…
Syria. Benadad had not restored it; either because he no longer regarded his treaty, or because the city had not been taken by his father. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv3, 10, 11, 14, 17, 18, 24, 26, 27, 29 Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours--a Levitical…
Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours--a Levitical and free town on the north border of Gad (Deu 4:43; Jos 21:38), on the site of the present Salt Lake, in the province of Belka. It lay within the territories of the Israelitish monarch, and was unjustly alienated; but whether it was one of the cities usurped by the first Ben-hadad, which his son had promised to restore, or was retained for some other reasons, the sacred historian has not mentioned. In the expedition which Ahab meditated for the recovery of this town, the aid of Jehoshaphat was asked and promised (see Ch2 18:3). Previous to declaring hostilities, it was customary to consult the prophets (see on Sa1 28:8); and Jehoshaphat having expressed a strong desire to know the Lord's will concerning this war, Ahab assembled four hundred of his prophets. These could not be either the prophets of Baal or of Ashteroth (Kg1 18:19), but seem (Kg1 22:12) to have been false prophets, who conformed to the symbolic calf-worship of Jehovah. Being the creatures of Ahab, they unanimously predicted a prosperous issue to the war. But dissatisfied with them, Jehoshaphat inquired if there was any true prophet of the Lord. Ahab agreed, with great reluctance, to allow Micaiah to be summoned. He was the only true prophet then to be found residing in Samaria, and he had to be brought out of prison (Kg1 22:26), into which, according to JOSEPHUS, he had been cast on account of his rebuke to Ahab for sparing the king of Syria.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27 3. Ramoth in Gilead — Supposed by many, to…
3. Ramoth in Gilead — Supposed by many, to be identical with the modern es Salt, just south of Mount Gilead, on the east of the Jordan. See note on 1Ki_4:13. It seems that Ben-hadad had not restored this city to Ahab, and so had failed to meet the conditions of the treaty in which he promised to restore all the cities of Israel which had fallen into his hands 1Ki_20:34.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–28 3. Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours]…
3. Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours] The statement of Josephus (Ant. viii. 15, 3) is very probable, viz. that the father of Ben-hadad had taken Ramoth-gilead, with other cities, from Omri. Ben-hadad had stipulated, when he feared for his life (1Ki_22:34), to restore these conquests, but apparently had not carried out this part of his covenant. He had found Ahab easy to deal with, and once safe back in Damascus, he thought former promises not very binding.
On Ramoth-gilead, see above, 1Ki_4:13.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29 (3) Ramoth in Gilead.—The city is first mentioned (in…
(3) Ramoth in Gilead.—The city is first mentioned (in Deu_4:43; Jos_20:8; Jos_21:38) as a city of refuge in the territory of Gad; then (in 1Ki_4:13) as the centre of one of the provinces of Solomon, including the towns of Jair, and the strong hill country of Argob. In the Syrian wars it appears as a frontier fortress, taken and retaken. It had fallen into the hands of the Syrians, and had not been restored according to promise. The defeat and death of Ahab were subsequently avenged by Jehoram, who took it, and held it against all the attacks of the enemy (2Ki_9:1-14).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv3–29 And the king of Israel said unto his servants…
And the king of Israel said unto his servants During the visit. It seems likely that Jehoshaphat went down to Samaria by Ahab"s invitation, and that the latter then had this campaign in view. The chronicler says that Ahab "incited," or "stirred him up" (same word as in 1Ki_21:25) to go with him to battle. Ahab was unable to contend single-handed, and without Divine assistance which he could not now look for against Syria; and saw no means of compelling the execution of the treaty which Ben-hadad had made with him, (1Ki_20:34) and which he appears to have shamelessly broken, except by the help of Jehoshaphat, whose military organizetion at this time must have been great, and, indeed, complete. (2Ch_17:10-19) It is in favour of this view that Ahab entertained him and his large retinue with such profuse hospitality. The chronicler, who dwells on the number of sheep and oxen slain for the feast, intimates that it was this generous reception "persuaded" Jehoshaphat to join in the war, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead Generally, as below (vers. 4, 6, etc.), "Ramoth-Gilead," i.e., of Gilead. See note on 1Ki_4:13. This "great frontier fortress was, in thehands of Syria, even after many reverses, a constant menace against Israel" (Stanley) is ours i.e. , it was one of the cities which Ben-hadad had promised to restore. (1Ki_20:34) This shows that, as we might expect from a man of Ben-hadad"s overbearing yet pusillanimous character, he had not kept good faith. Though so long a time had elapsed, it was still in his hands, and we be still hvj is onomatopoetic, like our "hush." Marg. rightly, silent from taking it. The word conveys very expressively that they had been afraid of making any movement to assert their rights, lest they should attract the attention and anger of their powerful and incensed neighbour, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria? It is hardly likely that Ahab could have forgotten the warning of 1Ki_20:42. It is probable that Ben-hadad"s flagrant disregard of his treaty engagements determined him to run all risks, especially if he could secure the help of the then powerful king of Judah.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 8, 13, 19, 27 Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still,…
1Ki_22:3
Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the King of Syria?
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Unpossessed possessions
I. What is ours and not ours. Every Christian man has large tracts of unannexed territory unattained possibilities, unenjoyed blessings, things that are his and yet not his. How much more of God you and I have a right to than we have the possession of! The ocean is ours, but only the little pailful that we carry away home to our own houses is of use to us.
1. How much inward peace is ours? It is meant that there should never pass across a Christians soul more than a ripple of agitation, which may indeed ruffle and curl the surface, but deep down there should be the tranquillity of the fathomless ocean, unbroken by any tempests and yet not stagnant because there is a vital current that runs through it, and every drop is being drawn upward to the surface and the sunlight. There may be a peace in our hearts deep as our lives; a tranquillity which may be superficially disturbed, but is never thoroughly, and down to the depths, broken.
2. What heights--for Ramoth means high places--what heights of consecration there are which are ours according to the Divine purpose and according to the fulness of Gods gift! It is meant, and it is possible, and it is within the reach of every Christian soul, that he or she should live, day by day, in the continual and utter surrender of himself or herself to the will of God, and should say, I do the little I can do, and leave the rest with Thee; and should say again, All is right that seems most wrong if it be His sweet will.
3. What noble possibilities of service, what power in the world is bestowed on Christs people! All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth, says He. And He breathed on them, and said, As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you The Divine gift to the Christian community, and to the individuals that compose it--for there are no gifts given to the community but to the individuals that make it up--is of fulness, of power for all their work.
II. Our strange contentment in imperfect possession. Is not that condition of passive acquiescence in their small present attainments, and of careless indifference to the great stretch of the unattained, the characteristic of the mass of professing Christians? They have got a foothold on a new continent, and their possession of it is like the worlds knowledge of the map of Africa when we were children, which had a settlement dotted here and there along the coast, and all the broad regions of the interior undreamed of. The settlers huddle together upon the fringe of barren sand by the salt water, and never dream of pressing forward into the heart of the land. And so too many of us are content with what we have got, a little bit of God, when we might have Him all; a settlement on the fringe and edge of the land, when we might traverse the whole length of it; and behold! it is all ours.
III. The effort that is needed to make our own ours. We be still, and take it not out of the hands of the King of Syria. Then these things that are ours, by Gods gift, by Christs purchase, by the Spirits influence, will need our effort to secure them. And that is no contradiction, nor any paradox. God does exactly in the same way with regard to a great many of His natural gifts which He does with regard to His spiritual ones. He gives them to us, but we hold them on this tenure, that we put forth our best efforts to get and to keep them. His giving them does not set aside our taking. And we Christian people have an endless prospect of that sort stretching before us. Oh, if we looked at it oftener, having respect unto the recompense of the reward, we should find it easier to dash at any Ramoth-Gilead, and get it out of the hands of the strongest of the enemies that may bar our way to it. Let us familiarise ourselves with the thought of our present imperfection, and of our future, and of the possibilities which may become actualities even here and now; and let us not fitfully use what power we have, but make the best of what graces are ours, and enjoy and expatiate on the spiritual blessings of peace and rest which Christ has already given to us. To him that hath shall be given. And the surest way to lose what we have is to neglect the increasing of it. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Privileges unenjoyed
A young fellow was in the habit of visiting the house of a rather wealthy lady. He never got beyond the drawing-room, where he was received and entertained. The drawing-room looked into the vinery, but the door between them was always closed, and evidently locked. In after days he was adopted into the family, and became heir to the house and estates. The friend who told me the story said to him, when hearing of his adoption: And what was the first thing you did when you entered the house as heir? He replied: I opened the door into the vinery, and I went and cut down a cluster of grapes. When I heard the story I could not but think of our inheritance in Christ Jesus our Lord. We have a right to go to the vineyard and to eat of the Kings grapes. How few of us exercise our privileges! How poor we are, when we might be passing rich! We live as though we were strangers and sojourners instead of sons. We move about our estates like visitors; we do not open the doors and the gates, and stride about like the lord and heir. (Hartley Aspen.)
Possessions unenjoyed
A Scotch laird, who shortly after arriving at his majority set out for the Continent, having ascended a certain mountain in the south of Italy, famous for the magnificent prospect which is enjoyed from the summit, struck with its beauty, inquired of the guide who accompanied him if there was anything in Europe equal to what he now beheld. I have heard, replied the guide, that this prospect is excelled by only one And where is that one? eagerly demanded the traveller. In the kingdom of Scotland, said the guide. Indeed, said the view-hunter, in what part? From the top of a hill named----,was the reply. Why, exclaimed the traveller, that is on my own estate; and I have never been there.
Unappropriated blessings
Niagara has for ages been flowing, a mighty force in the world. Yet it is only just being utilised as a motive power. And by tunnelling off but a portion, they have such a mighty power that it is almost impossible to estimate it. Electricity is to be supplied to cities, some far distant, from its motive power, and mills and works for miles are to be worked by it. So in Christ is untold wealth, power, love, waiting to be appropriated. Let us not pass by these gifts through our unbelief. (The Christian World.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v29 1Ki_22:32. They turned aside to fight against him—יּסָרֻו—they turned…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
1Ki_22:32. They turned aside to fight against him—יּסָרֻו—they turned to him. Sept. has εκύκλωσαν, surrounded him.
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1Ki_22:34.—Drew a bow at a venture—Lit., “in bis simplicity.” So 2Sa_15:11.
1Ki_22:38. They washed his armour—A manifestly incorrect reading. Lit., The harlots bathed; either bathed him, or themselves bathed in the stream stained with his blood, his chariot having been washed therein. To the prediction chap. 1Ki_21:19, the Sept. adds: “And the harlots shall wash themselves in thy blood.” Theodoret says it was customary for harlots—probably temple prostitutes—to bathe at evening.
HOMILETICS OF 1Ki_22:29-40
THE DEATH OF A WICKED KING
I. That the death of a wicked king may be precipitated by an unbelieving disregard of divine warnings (1Ki_22:29 compare with 1Ki_22:17-23).
1. A wicked king is not indifferent to human threats (1Ki_22:30-31). It is very likely that Ahab had heard, through the agency of his spies, of the order of the Syrian king for his charioteers to fight only with the king of Israel, and this had more effect upon him than the warning words of Micaiah, though he might regard them as an evil omen. To baffle the object of Benhadad, and perhaps with a secret wish to prove the words of Micaiah false, Ahab disguised himself. A wicked man is often more easily scared by the bluster and bullying of a weak, sinful, human creature, than by the threatenings of heaven.
2. A wicked king is reckless as to the danger in which he exposes his ally (1Ki_22:32-33). Jehoshaphat in his kingly robes was mistaken for the king of Israel, and very nearly fell a victim to the Syrian fury. He cried to Heaven for help (2Ch_18:31), perhaps using his own peculiar battle cry, which, as it contained the name of Jehovah, would be distinct from that of Ahab’s, and was probably known to the Syrians. Jehoshaphat now sees to his sorrow the great inconvenience of being in bad company; and that green wood also, if bound up with dry, easily takes fire and they burn together. Selfishness is the essence of wickedness; so that the sinner himself escapes, it matters little to him what may become of his companions.
II. That the death of a wicked king may be brought about by what seems the merest accident.
1. He may meet death with a princely fortitude (1Ki_22:34-35). An archer shoots an arrow in the air, little dreaming what mischief it will work; it is the death warrant of the king of Israel. Feeling himself mortally wounded, he directed his chariot to be quietly driven aside that he might have his wounds dressed; and then returned to the battle, supported in his chariot in sight of his army until the sunset, when he expired. Let us give Ahab full credit for whatever was commendable in his conduct. Bad as he was, there was a touch of true heroism in the brave, resolute manner in which he insisted on being stayed up in his chariot, while his life-blood flowed about his feet, and his wound festered under the irritating heat of the sun. His death was kingly, and became him better than his life.
2. His death decides the fate of an important expedition (1Ki_22:36). The attack on the Syrians was abandoned and the army dispersed, according to the custom of the Orientals on the death of the king. Death interrupts the work of the wicked, and in some cases happily ends it. The decease of a wicked ruler is an opportunity for the reform of national abuses.
III. That the death of a wicked king was accomplished in a manner that fulfilled the disregarded warnings of heaven (1Ki_22:38). The manner of Ahab’s end left its traces in a form not to be mistaken. The blood which all through that day had been flowing from his wound had covered both the armour in which he was dressed and the chariot in which he had stood for so many hours. The chariot, perhaps the armour, was washed in state—according to one version in the tank of Samaria, according to another in the spring of Jezreel. The bystanders remembered that the blood, shed as it had been on the distant battle field, streamed into the same waters which had been polluted by the blood of Naboth and his sons, and was lapped up from the margin by the same dogs and swine, still prowling round the spot; and that when the abandoned outcasts of the city—probably those who had assisted in the profligate rites of the temple of Ashtaroth—came, according to their shameless usage, for their morning bath in the pool, they found it red with the blood of the first apostate king of Israel. So were accomplished the warnings of Elijah and Micaiah. So ended what may be called the first part of the tragedy of the House of Omri (Stanley). What would be the thoughts of the dying king that day on the battle field? Already he had proof of the fulfilment of one of Micaiah’s warnings regarding himself, and perhaps sullenly anticipated that the rest would follow. With what horror would he reflect upon his wicked life—the warnings he had slighted, the idolatry he had committed and championed, the stolen vineyard of Naboth, the heartless imprisonment of Micaiah! If we reject the warnings of heaven, we shall not prevent their accomplishment. The apparent delay affords time for repentance, and is not to be mistaken for indiscriminate leniency or forgetfulness.
IV. That the death of a wicked king was the more striking and humiliating that it occurred in the midst of external magnificence and power (1Ki_22:39-40). All that Ahab lived for—affluence, pomp, pleasure—was taken away in a moment. The ivory house—a rival of the stately palace of the kings of Judah—the fortified and prosperous cities he had reared, the ease and gaiety of his luxurious court, must be abandoned for ever; and what would he get in exchange? Death is no respecter of persons or circumstances. The mortal scythe is master of the royal sceptre. What will riches, magnificent monuments, or heroic deeds avail when God requires the sinner’s soul? A wicked life does not pay.
LESSONS:—
1. Royalty is no defence against the havoc of death.
2. A wicked life will be cut short by an ignominious end.
3. A monarch who has lived for himself will perish unregretted.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Ki_22:29-40. Ahab’s end was truly tragical. It was brought about, not by a blind fate, but by a God who is just in His ways and holy in all His works (Psa_145:17), whose judgments are unsearchable, and His ways past finding out (Rom_11:33). The conflict which Ahab had sought, and which no warning could induce him to abandon, became his punishment. He fell in battle with that very enemy who had once been delivered into his hands, and whom he had released out of vanity and weakness, to the harm of Israel; and so he made good the words of the prophet (1Ki_20:42). He thought that a disguise would render him secure from the Syrian leaders who sought to find him out, and he did, indeed, escape them; but an unknown man, who did not know him and had no intention against him, shot him, while Jeshoshaphat, though undisguised, escaped unharmed. The arrow which struck him was not warded off by his corselet, but just struck the narrow opening between the corselet and the skirt, where it could penetrate and inflict a fatal wound. Everyone, therefore, who does not regard all incidents as accidents, must recognize the hand which guided the shaft. The words of the psalmist held true—“If he will not turn, he will whet his sword, he hath bent his bow and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors” (Psa_7:12-13). Finally, Ahab did not die at once, but at evening, in consequence of the loss of blood. His blood flowed down in the chariot, which was so besmeared by it that it had to be washed. It was washed at the pool before the city, where dogs drank and harlots bathed. So it came to pass, although he was buried with all honour, that he was marked in his death as one condemned by God, and Elijah’s word was fulfilled (1Ki_21:19).—Lange.
1Ki_22:29. It might have been expected that Jehoshaphat, who had pressed enquiry at the Word of the Lord, and had not rested till a real prophet of Jehovah was sent for and made his appearance, would have withdrawn from the expedition when he heard Micaiah denounce it as fated to end in disaster. It must be remembered, however, that he had rashly committed himself to take part in the war by a solemn promise, couched in the strongest terms (1Ki_22:4), before he bethought himself of enquiring what was the will of God in the matter. His honour was thus pledged, and he would be ashamed to draw back, especially as Ahab, whom the prophecy chiefly threatened, was resolved to brave it. He may also have had a personal affection for Ahab, and so have been loth to desert him in his need. This seems to be implied in the rebuke addressed to him by the prophet Jehu after his return to Jerusalem—“Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord” (2Ch_19:2).—Speaker’s Comm.
—Men do far too readily what they want to do, although it is contrary to God’s will, putting aside God’s Word, or the warnings of others, or the voice of conscience. The event was never good. How often men ask for advice, yet follow their own will only! Jehoshaphat’s example ought to make us shy of the society of the wicked. The sun of grace in his heart became gradually dimmed. At first he had courage to remonstrate with Ahab, but gradually he comes to silence and indifference, even while Micaiah is abused and remanded to prison. In the end this evil companionship would have cost him his life, if God had not wonderfully interposed.—Kyburz.
1Ki_22:30. The vanity of disguise. I. An evidence of cowardice and fear. II. Easily penetrated by the eye of the Omniscient Judge. III. Does not prevent the catastrophe it seeks to avoid.
—Unbelief in Ahab joined hands with superstition. The king despises and rejects the Word of God which is announced to him, and yet he is frightened, and seeks to escape the threatened dangers by disguising himself. This stratagem was intended to prove the prophet false. Neither cunning nor might avails against God’s will. Thou mayest disguise thyself as thou wilt: God will find thee when and where no man recognises thee (Psa_139:7-12).
1Ki_22:31. The king of Syria gives charge to his captains to fight against none but the king of Israel. Thus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor; ill was the snake saved that requites the favour of his life with a sting: thus still the greatest are the fairest mark to envious eyes. By how much more eminent any man is in the Israel of God, so many more and more dangerous enemies must he expect: both earth and hell conspire in their opposition to the worthiest. Those who are advanced above others have so much more need of the guard, both of their own vigilancy and others’ prayers. Jehoshaphat had liked to have paid dear for his love: he is pursued for him in whose amity he offended; his cries deliver him—his cries, not to his pursuers, but to his God, whose mercy takes not advantage of our infirmity, but rescues us from those evils which we wilfully provoke. It is Ahab against whom, not the Syrians only, but for himself intends this quarrel; the enemy is taken off from Jehoshaphat.—Bp. Hall.
1Ki_22:34. The greatest calamities. I. Often brought about by undesigned and accidental causes. II. Often occur to those who have taken the greatest pains to avoid them. III. May be traced to the unerring operations of retributive justice.
—The less of the human there is in those things which we commonly call accidents, the more there is of the Divine. The weal or woe of whole nations often depends on those things which are called accidents.
—O the just and mighty hand of that Divine providence which directeth all our actions to His own ends, which takes order where every shaft shall light, and guides the arrow of the strong archer into the joints of Ahab’s harness! It was shot at a venture, falls by a destiny; and there falls where it may carry death to a hidden debtor. In all actions, both voluntary and casual, thy will, O God, shall be done by us, with whatever intentions. Little did the Syrian know whom he had stricken, no more than the arrow with which he struck. An invisible hand disposeth of both, to the punishment of Ahab, to the vindication of Micaiah. How worthily, O God, art thou to be adored in thy justice and wisdom! to be feared in thy judgments! Too late doth Ahab now think of the fair warnings of Micaiah, which he unwisely condemned; of the painful flatteries of Zedekiah, which he stubbornly believed. That guilty blood of his runs down out of his wound into the midst of his chariot, and pays Naboth his arrearages.—Bp. Hall.
1Ki_22:37-40. O Ahab, what art thou the better for thine ivory house, while thou hast a black soul? What comfort has thou now in those flattering prophets which tickled thine ears and secured thee of victories? What joy is it to thee now that thou wast great? Who had not rather be Micaiah in the jail, than Ahab in the chariot? Wicked men have the advantage of the way; godly men of the end. The chariot is washed in the pool of Samaria; the dogs come to claim their due; they lick up the blood of the great king of Israel. The tongues of those brute creatures shall make good the tongue of God’s prophet. Micaiah is justified, Naboth is revenged, the Baalites confounded, Ahab judged. “Righteous art thou, O God, in all thy ways, and holy in all thy works”!—Bp. Hall.
1Ki_22:37. And now God was even with him for his idolatry, persecution of the prophets, cruelty to Naboth, who now was in far better condition, likely. The wicked are like hawks, of great esteem while living, but after, nothing worth. The godly are compared to tamer fowls, which are hushed forth and little heeded whilst living; but after death are brought into the parlour. Then, there is as much difference as betwixt the falcon and the capon, the hawk and the hen.—Trapp.
1Ki_22:37-38. The death of Ahab.
1. It was sudden (1Sa_20:3; Luk_12:20). From sudden death, good Lord, deliver us.
2. It was unrepentant. Without conviction of sin, or repentance for it, or longing for grace and pardon.
3. It was shameful. He was indeed buried with honour, like the rich man (Luke 16); but the dogs licked his blood, and his memory does not remain in honour (Psa_73:19; therefore, Psa_90:12; Psa_39:5). As he lived, so he died; as he died, so he was judged. The death of Ahab is a testimony to Rom_11:33; Gal_6:7; Isa_40:8.—Lange.
1Ki_22:38. The inexorable law of retribution.
1. Is proportioned to the character and degree of the sin it punishes.
2. Is the terrible completion of the warnings and threatenings which foreshadowed it.
3. A proof of the unchanging justice of Jehovah.
4. An awful yet salutary method of instruction to all nations in all ages.
—From a narrative like this, it need scarcely be said, the stern justice of God may well be engraven on every heart. The examples we have of retributive providence in sacred Scripture are, to say the least, exceedingly striking. Judas hanged himself. Herod the Great, who slew the children of Bethlehem, was smitten with ulcers, from which issued swarms of loathsome vermin, and died in the greatest agony; a humbling spectacle to his meanest slave. Herod Agrippa, who permitted his fawning parasites to adore him as God, “was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost.” The other Herod, who sent and beheaded the Baptist, spent his closing years with his guilty partner an exile in Lyons; while Salome, who asked the Baptist’s head in a charger, met with her death, as related by Nicephorus, at the hand of a common assassin. Let examples such as these stand alongside of Ahab, to teach that even in this world these awful words have frequently an awful meaning: “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.”—Howat.
1Ki_22:39. Nothing is known of these cities; but the fact of Ahab’s building cities is important, as indicating the general prosperity of the country in his time, and his own activity as a ruler. The close relations which he established with Phœnicia and Judea tended naturally to bring about a flourishing condition of things in Samaria; and thus the decay of religion was accompanied by a temporary increase in the material prosperity (2Ki_3:4), the commercial enterprize (1Ki_22:49), and even the military vigour of the country. Such prosperity, it is plain, may for awhile co-exist with causes which are sapping the vital power of a nation, and leading it surely, if slowly, to destruction.—Speaker’s Comm.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv3, 7 1 Kings
1 Kings
UNPOSSESSED POSSESSIONS
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1Ki 22:3.
This city of Ramoth in Gilead was an important fortified place on the eastern side of the Jordan, and had, many years before the date of our text, been captured by its northern neighbours in the kingdom of Syria. A treaty had subsequently been concluded and broken a war followed thereafter, in which Ben-hadad, King of Syria, had bound himself to restore all his conquests. He had not observed that article of peace, and the people of Israel had not been strong enough to enforce it until the date of our text; but then, backed up by a powerful alliance with Jehoshaphat of Judah, they determined to make a dash to get back what was theirs, but whilst theirs was also not theirs.
Now, I have nothing more to do with Ahab and Jehoshaphat, but I wish to turn the words of my test, and the thoughts that may come from them, into a direction profitable to ourselves. ‘Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours?’ and yet it had to be got out of the hands of the King of Syria.
I. What is ours and not ours.
Every Christian man has large tracts of unannexed territory, unattained possibilities, unenjoyed blessings, things that are his and yet not his. How much more of God you and I have a right to than we have the possession of! The ocean is ours, but only the little pailful that we carry away home to our own houses is of use to us. The whole of God is mine if I am Christ’s, and a dribble of God is all that comes into the lives of most of us.
How much inward peace is ours? It is meant that there should never pass across a Christian’s soul more than a ripple of agitation, which may indeed ruffle and curl the surface; but deep down there should be the tranquillity of the fathomless ocean, unbroken by any tempests, and yet not stagnant, because there is a vital current running through it, and every drop is being drawn upward to the surface and the sunlight. There may be a peace in our hearts deep as life; a tranquillity which may be superficially disturbed, but is never thoroughly, and down in its depths, broken. And yet, let some little petty annoyance come into our daily life, and what a pucker we are in! Then we forget all about the still depths in which we ought to be living; and fears and hopes and loves and ambitions disturb our souls, just as they do the spirits of the men that do not profess to have any holdfast in God. The peace of God is ours; but, ah! in how sad a sense it is true that the peace of God is not ours!
What ‘heights’-for Ramoth means ‘high places’-what heights of consecration there are which are ours according to the divine purpose and according to the fulness of God’s gift! It is meant, and it is possible, and well within the reach of every Christian soul, that he or she should live, day by day, in the continual and utter surrender of himself or herself to the will of God, and should say, ‘I do the little I can do, and leave the rest with Thee’; and should say again, ‘All is right that seems most wrong, If it be His sweet will.’ But instead of this absolute submission and completeness and joyfulness of surrender of ourselves to Him, what do we find? Reluctance to obey, regret at providences, Self dominant or struggling hard against the partial domination of the will of God in our hearts. The mind which was in Jesus Christ, who was able to say, ‘It is written of Me, lo! I come to do Thy will, O Lord!’ is ours by virtue of our being Christians; but, alas! in practical realisation how sadly it is not ours!
What noble possibilities of service, what power in the world, are bestowed on Christ’s people!’ All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth,’ says He. ‘And He breathed on them, and said, As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you.’ The divine gift to the Christian community, and to the individuals that compose it-for there are no gifts given to the community, but to the individuals that make it up- is of fulness of power for all their work. And yet look how, all through the ages, the Church has been beaten by the corruption of the world; and how to-day many of us are standing, either utterly careless and callous about the diseases that we have the medicine to cure, or in desperation looking about for other healing for the social and moral condition of the community than that which is granted to us in Jesus Christ. ‘Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hands of the King of Syria?’
There is ever so much in the world which belongs to our Master, and therefore belongs to us, and which the Church is bound to lay its hand upon and claim for its own and for its Lord’s. For remember, brethren, that all the gifts at which I have been glancing-and I might have largely increased the catalogue-all these spiritual endowments of peace, and safety, and purity, and joy, of religious elevation, and consecration, and power for service, and the like-are ours by a threefold title and charter. God’s purpose, which is nothing less for every one of us than that we should be ‘filled with all the fulness of God,’ and that He should ‘supply all our need, according to His riches in glory,’-that is the first of the parchments on which our title depends. And the second title-deed is Christ’s purchase; for the efficacy of His death and the power of His triumphant life have secured for all who trust Him the whole fulness of this divine gift. And the third of our claims and titles is the influence of that Holy Spirit whom Jesus Christ gives to every one of His children to dwell in him. There is in you, working in you, if you have any faith in that Lord, a power that is capable of making you perfectly pure, perfectly blessed, strong with an immortal strength, and glad with a ‘joy that is unspeakable and full of glory.’
Oh! then, let us think of the awful contrast between what is ours and what we have. It is ours by the divine intention, by the divine gift in its fulness and all-sufficiency, and yet think of the poor, partial realisation of it that has passed into our experience. Be sure that you have what you have, and that you make your own what God has made yours.
II. Then, let me suggest, again, how our text hints for us, not only the difference between possession and realisation, but also our strange contentment in imperfect possession.
Ahab’s remonstrances with his servants, which make the starting-point of my remarks, seem to suggest that there were two reasons for their acquiescence in the domination of a foreign power on a bit of their soil. They had not realised that Ramoth was theirs, and they were too lazy and cowardly to go and take it. Ignorance of the fulness of the gift, and slothful timidity in daring everything in the effort to make it ours, explain a great deal of the present condition of Christian people.
Is not that condition of passive acquiescence in their small present attainments, and of careless indifference to the great stretch of the unattained, the characteristic of the mass of professing Christians? They have got a foothold on a new continent, and their possession of it is like the world’s drawing of the map of Africa when we were children, which had a settlement dotted here and there along the coast, and all the broad regions of the interior were blank. The settlers huddle together upon the fringe of barren sand by the salt water, and never dream of pressing forward into the heart of the land. And so, too, many of us are content with what we have got, a little bit of God, when we might have Him all; a settlement on the fringe and edge of the land, when we might traverse the whole length of it; and behold! it is all ours.
That unfamiliarity with the thought of unattained possibilities in the Christian life is a damning curse of thousands of people who call themselves Christians. They do not think, they never realise-and some of us are guilty in this respect-they never realise that it is possible for them to be all unlike what they are now, and that, instead of the miserable partial hallowing of their nature, and the poor, weak -I was going to say strength, but it is not worth calling strength, that they possess, they might be as the angels of God: ‘the weakest as David,’ and David as a very angel of heaven itself. Why is it, why is it, that there is this unfamiliarity?
And then, another reason for the woful disproportion between what we have and what we utilise is the love of ease, such as kept these Israelites from going up to Ramoth-Gilead. It was a long way off; there was a river to be forded; there were heights to be climbed; there were weary marches to be taken; there were hard knocks going in front of the walls of Ramoth before they got inside it; and on the whole it was more comfortable to sit at home, or look after their farms and their merchandise, than to embark on the quixotic attempt to win back a city that had not been theirs for ever so long, and that they had got on very well without.
And so it is with hosts of Christian people; we do not realise how much we have that we never get any good out of. And, in the second place, we had rather just stay where we are, and make the best of the world as it is, and the desires of our hearts go in another direction than for our increase in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour. Ah, brethren! if we had a claim to some great property, or any other wealth that we really cared about, should we be so very indifferent as to asserting our rights? Should we not fight to the death, some of us, for the last inch of soil, for the last ounce of treasure, that belonged to us? When you really value a thing, you secure the greatest possible amount of it; and there is very little margin between what you own and what you use.
And if there is such a tremendous difference between the breadth of the one and the narrowness of the other in our Christian life, there can be no reason for it except this, that we do not care enough about spiritual blessings and forces to make the effort that is needed to win and keep, and get the good of, all that is ours.
And is not that something like despising the birthright? Is it not a criminal thing for Christian people thus to neglect, and to put aside, and never to seek to obtain, all these great gifts of God? There they lie at our doors, and they are ours for the taking. Suppose a carrier brought you a whole waggon full of precious goods, and put them down at your door, and you were not at the trouble to open your doors, or to carry the goods into your cellars. That would not look as if you cared much either for the goods or for the giver. And I wonder how many of us are chargeable with that criminal despising of God’s gifts, which is clearly the explanation of our letting them lie rotting, as it were, at our gates? We are starving paupers in the midst of plenty.
‘My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus,’ says Paul. You have the right to them all. Draw cheques against the capital that is lodged in your name in that great bank.
III. And so, lastly, my text suggests the effort that is needed to make our own ours.
‘We be still, and take it not out of the hands of the King of Syria.’ Then these things that are ours, by God’s gift, by Christ’s purchase, by the Spirit’s influence, will need our effort to secure them. And that is no contradiction, nor any paradox. God does exactly in the same way with regard to a great many of His natural gifts as He does with regard to His spiritual ones. He gives them to us, but we hold them on this tenure, that we put forth our best efforts to get and to keep them. His giving them does not set aside our taking. However much we tried we could not take them out of His hand if it were clenched. Open as His hand is, and stretched out to us as it is, the gifts that sparkle in it are not transferred to our hands unless we ourselves put forth an effort.
So let me say that one large part of the discipline by which men make their own their own is by familiarising themselves with the thought of the larger possibilities of unattained possessions which God has given them. That is true in everything. To recognise our present imperfection, and to see stretching before us glorious and immense possibilities, opening out into a vista where our eyesight fails us to travel to its end, is the very salt of life in every region. Artist, student, all of us ‘are saved by hope,’ in a very much wider sense than the Apostle meant by that great saying. And whosoever has once lost, or felt becoming dim, the vision before him of a possible better than his present best, in any region, is in that region condemned to grow no more. If we desire to have any kind of advancement, it is only possible for us, when there gleams ever before us the untravelled road, and we see at the end of it unattained brightnesses and blessings.
And we Christian people have an endless prospect of that sort stretching before us. Oh, if we looked at it oftener, ‘having respect unto the recompense of the reward,’ we should find it easier to dash at any Ramoth-Gilead, and get it out of the hands of the strongest of the enemies that may bar our way to it. Let us familiarise ourselves with the thought of our present imperfection, and of our future completeness, and of the possibilities which may become actualities, even here and now; and let us not fitfully use what power we have, but make the best of what graces are ours, and enjoy and expatiate in the spiritual blessings of peace and rest which Christ has already given to us. ‘To him that hath shall be given,’ and the surest way to lose what we have is to neglect to increase it.
And, above all, let us keep nearer to our Master, and live more in fellowship with our Lord, and that will help us to deny ourselves to ungodliness and worldly lusts. It is the prevalence of these, and the absence of self-denial, that ruins most of the Christian lives that are ruined in this world. If a man wants to be what he is not, he must cease to be what he is.
Self-sacrifice, and the emptying of our hearts of trash and trifles, is the only way to get our hearts filled with God and with His blessing. Let us keep near Jesus Christ. If we have Him for ours we have peace, we have power, we have purity. ‘He of God is made unto us’ all in all, and every gift that may adorn humanity, and make our lives joyous and ourselves noble, is given to us in Jesus Christ. Let us put away from ourselves, then, this slothful indifference to our unattained possessions. ‘Know ye that Ramoth is ours?’ ‘Let us be still’ no longer. ‘All things are yours, whether the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come: all are yours if ye are Christ’s.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v25 Heb. "a chamber in a chamber." 1Ki 20:30.
inner
Heb. "a chamber in a chamber." 1Ki 20:30.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v29 The Death of Ahab
The Death of Ahab
v. 29. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-gilead, the latter apparently being unwilling to take back his promise, since Ahab had declared Micaiah to be his personal opponent.
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v. 30. And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, in his anxiety to safeguard his own life, I will disguise myself and enter into the battle, contrary to the custom according to which the king preceded his troops clothed in royal garments; but put thou on thy robes, for in his case the enemies would have no special reason to single him out and put him to death. And the king of Israel disguised himself’ and went into the battle.
v. 31. But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains, 1Ki 20:24, that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel; they were to concentrate their efforts on the killing of Ahab, for the end of Ahab would mean the end of the war and victory for the Syrian forces.
v. 32. And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, who was immediately distinguishable by his royal costume, that they said, Surely it Is the king of Israel. And. they turned aside to fight against him, they turned their chariots in his direction; and Jehoshaphat cried out, either calling his name or shouting to his own soldiers to come to his aid.
v. 33. And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him, for their orders were to take or kill Ahab.
v. 34. And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, without being conscious of the fact that the man he aimed at, who wore the clothing of an ordinary soldier, was the king of Israel, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness, in the narrow opening between the skirt and the breastplate of his armor; wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, guiding the horses away from the battle-line, and carry me out of the host, for I am wounded, no longer able to take part in the conflict, forced to retire from the fight.
v. 35. And the battle increased that day, it was waged with great bitterness on both sides. And the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, unable to reach a place of shelter on account of the bitterness of the encounter, and died at even; and the blood ran out of the wound, which could not be dressed, into the midst of the chariot, collecting in pools in the rounded part of the chariot-floor.
v. 36. And there went a proclamation throughout the host, evidently started by the discouraged soldiers themselves, about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city and every man to his own country! They abandoned the field and scattered to their homes.
v. 37. So the king died, and was brought to Samaria, coming not as a victor, but as a corpse; and they buried the king in Samaria.
v. 38. And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria, for this city, like others, had its reservoir; and the dogs licked up his blood, as it flowed out of the chariot, mingled with water. And they washed his armor, literally, "the harlots were bathing," they used this polluted water in their evening washing, thus bringing more shame upon the memory of Ahab, according unto the word of the Lord which He spake, 1Ki 21:19.
v. 39. Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, the palace richly decorated with ivory, either in Jezreel or in Samaria, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
v. 40. So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahasiah, his son, reigned in his stead. Such was the terrible and disgraceful end of the proud king. And in like manner, eternal shame and disgrace is the end of all those who rebel against the Lord of heaven.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 5, 7, 10, 13, 16, 18, 21, 24, 26, 29 Do you know that Ramoth Gilead is ours, but…
Do you know that Ramoth Gilead is ours, but that we are doing nothing to take it from the hand of the king of Aram?
Ahab asks this question to emphasize that they should have already recaptured Ramoth Gilead. AT: "Ramoth Gilead is ours, but we have done nothing yet to take it from the hand of the king of Aram." (See: Rhetorical Question)
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to take it from the hand of the king of Aram
Here the word "hand" refers to power. AT: "to take it from the control of the king of Aram" (See: Metonymy)
I am like you, my people are like your people, and my horses are like your horses
Jehoshaphat tells Ahab that he, his people, and his horses belong to Ahab, meaning that Ahab can command them as he pleases. AT: "I, my soldiers, and my horses are yours to use in any way you want" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
servant
Ramoth
Gilead
hand
people group
horse
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv5, 10, 13, 15, 17, 19, 24, 29 22:5-9 In accordance with ancient Near Eastern custom, Jehoshaphat…
22:5-9 In accordance with ancient Near Eastern custom, Jehoshaphat requested that the two kings determine the will of the Lord before going into battle. Examples of this custom are common in Aramean, Moabite, and Assyrian inscriptions as well as in the Old Testament (1 Sam 23:2-4; 2 Sam 5:19-25). Despite Ahab’s misgivings, Jehoshaphat insisted on summoning Micaiah, a genuine prophet of the Lord.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.