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2
Chronicles Chapter Eighteen
2 Chronicles 18
Chapter Contents
Jehoshaphat's alliance with Ahab.
This history we read in 1 Kings 22. Abundant riches and honour give
large opportunities of doing good, but they are attended with many snares and
temptations. Men do not know much of the artifices of Satan and the
deceitfulness of their own hearts, when they covet riches with the idea of
being able to do good with them. What can hurt those whom God will protect?
What can shelter those whom God will destroy? Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes,
Ahab killed in his armour; for the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to
the strong. We should be cautious of entangling ourselves in the worldly
undertakings of evil men; and still more we should avoid engaging in their
sinful projects. But, when they call upon him, God can and will bring his faithful
people out of the difficulties and dangers into which they have sinfully run
themselves. He has all hearts in his hand, so that he easily rescues them.
Blessed is the man that putteth his trust in the Lord.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 2 Chronicles》
2 Chronicles 18
Verse 1
[1] Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and
joined affinity with Ahab.
With Ahab — For Joram's eldest son married
Athaliah, Ahab's daughter.
Verse 4
[4] And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I
pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day.
Enquire, … — This we should do, whatever we
undertake, by particular, believing prayer, by an unbiased consulting of the
scriptures and our own consciences, and by a close regard to the hints of
providence.
Verse 22
[22] Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit
in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee.
Lying spirit, … — See the power of Satan! One lying
spirit can make four hundred lying prophets. And thus he frequently becomes a
murderer by being a liar, and destroys men by deceiving them.
Verse 26
[26] And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the
prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction,
until I return in peace.
This fellow, … — How frequently has this been the
lot of faithful ministers, to be hated and ill treated, merely for being true
to God: and just and kind to the souls of men! But that day will declare who is
in the right, and who is in the wrong, when Christ appears to the unspeakable
consolation of the persecuted, and the everlasting confusion of their
persecutors.
Verse 31
[31] And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots
saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed
about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God
moved them to depart from him.
Cried out — He cried out, either to his
friends to help, or to his enemies, to let them know, he was not the king of
Israel: or to God, and not in vain; for he moved the captains to depart from
him. Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others;
but an invisible power moves them.
Verse 34
[34] And the battle increased that day: howbeit the king of
Israel stayed himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the even: and
about the time of the sun going down he died.
He died — What can hurt those whom God will protect? And what
can shelter those whom God will destroy? Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes;
Ahab is killed in his armour!
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 2 Chronicles》
18 Chapter 18
Verses 1-34
And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray
thee, at the word of the Lord to-day.
Divine truth and its typical reception
Here are four types of human conduct in relation to Divine truth.
I. Those who seek the truth.
Micaiah believed in its existence, prayed for its teaching, and determined to
follow its leading.
II. Those who are opposed to
the truth. The priests assumed to be its only depositaries, denied the claims
of others, ridiculed and opposed its representative. None so slow to believe in
a Divine Spirit as those accustomed to speak Divine words, but in whose hearts
is no Divine life.
III. Those who believe yet
disobey the truth. Jehoshaphat believed the prophet Micaiah, mildly defended
his character, yet would not withdraw from Ahab.
IV. Those who are alarmed at
truth. Ahab roused in conscience, afraid of results, and tried to escape by
stratagem. (J. Wolfendale.)
Verse
6-7
There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the Lord: but I
hate him.
Micaiah the son of Imla
Jehoshaphat’s is the wise and reverent question to ask, amid the
illusions of every fashionable opinion, amid all smooth and flattering
promises. It marks the devout habit of looking behind the outward show and of
searching every matter to its depths in the fear of God. Let us notice the
frame of mind revealed in Ahab’s reply.
I. Note the significance of
that one obdurate voice, rising clearly above the four hundred unanimous in
their approval.
1. That is a voice which we hear again and again in our life; we hear
it most loudly at special crises of our career.
2. When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a
multitude, and contradicts it on matters of serious moment--which voice are we
to believe? Sometimes the question is practically decided, as in Ahab’s case,
by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet. “I hate
him.”
II. This narrative symbolises
man’s frequent attitude towards the truth. It is a test case.
1. Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise, amid
the acclamation of hosts of friends, you may be irritated by perhaps one grim,
dissenting voice, critical, dissatisfied, implacable, which sadly challenges
the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear. Be
very careful how you treat that voice! It may be the voice of an ignorant,
envious, churlish man, but, on the other hand, it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the
secret of your inner life, and who, if you would only listen, might spare you
an idle journey, might rescue you from misery and shame.
2. Again, there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with, and
who sadly irritate us, and we say, like Marguerite to Faust, but often, alas,
without her simplicity: “Thou art not a Christian.” Let us patiently ask: are
we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts? or, are we angry because
these books or voices spoil our own theories, wound our prejudices, smile at
our favourite catch-words, wither our ideas of success, and are, in the name of
the Truth of God, relentless amid our flatterers? Do they simply offend our
self-love, and rebuke our calculated prudence? Let us be careful. These books
and voices may be wrong; if so, their’s the loss and the penalty. But, very
often, conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right.
3. There is one solemn application of this incident which has, no
doubt, occurred to us already. In every human heart disobedient to Christ,
impenitent and unreconciled, there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla;
but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself, speaking to that heart, amid
all its distractions and its earthly pleasures, the message of evil and not of
good. And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient, ever-haunting
warning, and appeal, that finally they may cry: “I hate it, I hate it!” If that
be so, remember Ahab’s doom. (T. Rhys Evans.)
Virtues necessary far religious warkers
Close sympathy with his kind, personal lowliness, self-suppression
pushed even to pathetic extremes, unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the
Spirit of God, and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or
disapproval--these are virtues necessary to every religious worker. If he
deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter; if he
asks the man of affairs, whose difficult lifo reminds him always, not only of
Jacob’s wrestling, but also of Jacob’s subtlety, and who is fiercely tempted to
give his vote for a gospel of compromise; if he asks the poor and becomes
spokesman, not of their wrongs, but of a maddened despair which does not
represent their truer self, he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the
four hundred. (T. Rhys Evans)
The faithful prophet
I. The estimation in which he
was held. “I hate him.” Hatred, inveterate and strong, often the reward of
fidelity. Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truth?”
II. The stand which he takes (2 Chronicles 18:13).
1. Dependence upon God.
2. Expectation of God’s help (Matthew 10:18-19).
3. Determination to utter God’s Word.
III. The pleas urged to move
from this stand.
1. The opinion of the majority.
2. The difficulty of judging who is right. “Which way went the Spirit
of the
Lord from me to thee?”
3. The employment of physical force. (J. Wolfendale.)
Hated for the truth’s sake
I. What an appalling
illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged
even at the expense of everything holy and true. “A wonderful and horrible
thing is come to pass in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the
priests bear rule by their means; and My people love to have it so.”
II. What a vivid illustration
is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller! This is not
Micaiah’s first appearance before the king. He had established his reputation
as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man, and Ahab’s denunciation was in reality
Micaiah’s highest praise.
1. No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary.
2. Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always
opposing any man?
3. A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth. Opposition
will come. (J. Parker, D.D.)
Truth awakens enmity
As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople, who said
that they came thither to suffer for the truth, telling them that they needed
not to have come so far for that; for had they but told the truth at home, they
could not have missed suffering for it. Telling truth needs not travel far for
enmity; enmity will encounter it at home, wheresoever it be. Hence is that
definition that Luther made of preaching, “Proedicare nihil eat quam
derivare in se furorem,” etc.--that to preach, and preach home, as
he did, was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears. (J.
Spencer.)
Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men
Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the
Sabbath-day morning, and being admitted into his study, one of them should say
to him, “I hope, sir, you do not mean to-day to be severe against
avarice, for I love money, and my heart goes after my covetousness.” Suppose
another should say, “I trust you will not be severe against backbiting, for my
tongue walketh with slanderers, and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of
all conversation.” Suppose another should say, “Do not represent implacability
as being inconsistent,, with Divine goodness, for I never did” forgive such an
one, and I never will. And so of the rest. What would this minister say to
these men? Why, if he were in a proper state of mind he would say, “Oh, thou
child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to
pervert the right ways of the Lord?” (W. Jay.)
Verse
16
Then he said, I see all Israel scattered.
The prophetic visions
Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God.
I. The sheepherdless people.
II. The parabolic providence.
1. A picture of God’s supremacy.
2. An insight into supernatural ministry. “All the host of heaven”
ready to serve.
3. An interpretation of the events of history. (J.
Wolfendale.)
Verses 25-27
Then the king of Israel
said, Take ye Micaiah.
Ahab and Micaiah; or the
false and true in character
I. The power of
the popular voice. We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of
the king. How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the
tide. As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the
current. Light things and feeble things can travel this way with
small demand on strength and skill. But dead things and all manner of refuse go
this way, too. There is something to be feared in a great popular cry. I have
heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion. If men
had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream,
society would be healthier. “Everybody” is a fearful tyrant.
II. Here is one man
opposed to the popular sentiment. He valued truth. Of Micaiah it may be said,
as it was of another more illustrious, “Of the people there were none with
him.” He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly
consideration. He was a hero of no common mould. Men are often misunderstood by
those who should know them best.
III. Men of such
moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles. Suffering for
conscience sake is not yet obsolete.
IV. Such men as
Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer. We are apt
to take low views of the nature of prayer. It is more than simply an appointed
means of telling God our wants, and of beseeching Him to supply. It is “waiting
upon God “as a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses,
and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions. It is more than that,
it is communion, fellowship, interchange of thought and sentiment. We may go a
step further, and say it is a union of kindred minds--the Divine so flowing
into the human that it becomes transformed, that God’s will and mind become its
governing law. So life becomes one great connected prayer. A man who
understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men. Stephen
was such a man of prayer. A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy
heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry.
V. A consciousness
of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice. Without a scruple Ahab
put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own. “Conscience makes
cowards of us all.” What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock
and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny! When our army
was hard pressed, or some specially perilous work had to be done, the command
was given, “Call out Havelock and his praying men; if this work can be done at
all, they are the men to do it.”
VI. Retribution
sometimes overtakes men in this life, Ahab was left alone to pursue his course
of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution; then God met him and
ignominiously closed his career. (J. T. Higgins.)
Verse 33
And a certain man drew a bow at a venture.
The venturous aim
Now I would have you notice particularly the words: “A certain man
drew a bow at a venture.” We take it that this was no distinguished warrior
among the army of the Syrians, but simply one of the ordinary archers. He
little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God
and the king of His own nation. “At a venture” he drew his bow, or, in the
words of the Revised Version, as given in the margin, “In his simplicity”--that
is, never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart. We may be for year after
year fighting the Lord’s battles, and seeking after some offender above other
offenders, some Ahab in disguise; but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded
with success--we may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were
the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset,
bringing a host of others in its train; but at length God’s Spirit shall guide
our words to the weak place in that soul’s armour. Some word spoken with no
special purpose, perhaps in season, perhaps out of season, shall open the wound
that means death to that besetting sin. But if what we have said applies to the
case of those individual souls, the same rule holds good also as regards our
pulpit ministrations. When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present
before us; probably many faces are familiar to us, but we cannot see the inmost
soul; we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last
we spoke. Therefore, to a great extent, our bow must be ever drawn at a
venture. (J. Nepleton.)
A bow drawn at a venture
Mr. Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of
drawing the bow at a venture: “I supposed the case of a young man who had got
into fast company, and once there meant to have his fling unfettered; so was on
the eve of starting to India, in order to escape the restraint of a godly,
widowed mother’s influence. I pointed to him, and pleaded with him to retrace
his steps ere yet he had broken his praying mother’s heart. At the close of the
Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William
Olney. As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his
movements. He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no
information concerning him, and did not even know his name. The same week,
after the Thursday evening service, another young man wished to see me alone;
wanted to know who had been telling me about him. I asked, What about him?
About his fast life, and his intention to leave the country and escape his
praying mother’s influence? He had been very distressed ever since. I pointed
him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening; he wished to see me about it,
but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended. ‘But,’ said he, ‘there
is one mistake you made, Mr. Spurgeon; you told the people I was going to
India, and it is China I am booked for.’”
Gospel archery
I. The hearts of
the unsaved are encased in harness.
1. Indifference.
2. Pleasure.
3. Worldliness.
4. Religious formality.
II. Having these
hearts for a mark, the gospel bow must be drawn. At some must be shot the
arrows of--
1. Divine goodness.
2. Divine threatenings.
3. Divine love. (R. Berry.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》