Three years after Ahab’s “repentance” he reaches out to king Jehoshaphat of Judah asking him to join forces against Syria. Jehoshaphat is a God fearing man who agrees, but asks for confirmation from God before taking action. So Ahab gathers his prophets who tell him what he wants to hear and they confirm that he will be victorious.
Not willing to accept these obvious “yes men” Jehoshaphat asks for a true prophet. Ahab reluctantly brings Micaiah who was jailed for telling Ahab what he did not want to hear (the truth) out of prison. To the great frustration of Ahab and his profits, Micaiah explains that Ahab will die in the battle. Remember Elijah prophesied this in chapter 21, but Ahab dismiss both warnings.
Ahab disguises himself as a regular chariot soldier and enters the battle. In the thick of the fighting a Syrian archer fires an arrow that finds it’s way to Ahab, striking him in just the right spot. As he is led out of the battle he dies in his chariot and is carried back to Samaria. Ahab is buried and as the chariot is washed out, dogs lick up the blood. (This is a symbol of great disgrace.)
Ahab’s son Ahaziah became king of Israel and he followed in his father’s footsteps of sin. The judgements that God told Elijah would come against Ahab’s offspring are coming. While at the same time, Jehoshaphat honored God until his death.
As Christians there are several very important things for us to take from Ahab’s story. Make sure that you get good Godly counsel from someone with a close relationship with Christ. There will always be those willing to give advice who are desperately unqualified. Be willing to receive even what you don’t want to hear. It is always best to forego what we want in order to follow God’s will. It’s when we force our agenda (which the Lord will allow us to do) that we find ourselves in trouble. And lastly, when we ignore God’s warnings it doesn’t matter how many precautions we may take. The end results will not go our way.
We each need to seek out a Godly counselor who will be honest with us and advise us from God’s word.
1 Kings 22