This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Life of Elijah” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, August 14, 1988.
About this sermon
Ahab’s reign includes real military greatness, a reminder that political success and covenant faithfulness are not the same measure. His apostasy runs underneath all of it, unaffected by his victories in the field. Micaiah’s prophecy in verse 17, sheep without a shepherd, already speaks of the Good Shepherd who will one day gather them.
Sermon transcript
Our scripture tonight is 1 Kings 22. And three years passed without war between Syria and Israel. And it came about in the third year that Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel. Now the king of Israel said to his servants, Do you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us? And we are still doing nothing to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria.
And he said to Jehoshaphat, will you go with me to battle at Ramoth Gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. Moreover, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, please inquire first for the word of the Lord. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?
And they said, Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king. But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him? And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.
He is Micaiah, the son of Imran. But Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, Bring quickly Mekiah, son of Imlah. Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. Then Zedekiah, the son of Canaan, made horns of iron for himself and said, Thus says the With these shall you gore the Syrians until they are consumed.
And all the prophets were prophesying thus, saying, Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king. Then the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him, saying, Behold, now the words of the prophets are uniformly favorable to the king. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably. But Micaiah said, As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak. Then he came to the king. The king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall we refrain? And he answered him, Oh, go up and succeed. The Lord will give it into the hand of the king.
And the king said to him, How many times must I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord? So he said, I saw All Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep, which have no shepherd. And the Lord said, These have no master. Let each of them return to his house in peace. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?
And Matthias said, Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the hosts of heaven standing by him on his right and on his left. And the Lord said, Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one said this while another said that. And then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said to him, How? And he said, I will go up.
I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.” Then he said, “…you are to entice him and also prevail, go and do so. Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets, and the Lord has proclaimed disaster against you.” Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaniah, Sorry. I’m going to try and pronounce this correctly before I go on.
Janayana came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, How did the Spirit of the Lord pass from me to speak to you? Micaiah said, Behold, You shall see on that day when you enter an inner room to hide yourself.” Then the king of Israel said, “‘Take Micaiah and return him to Ammon, the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son. And say, thus says the king, “‘Put this man in prison and feed him sparingly with bread and water until I return safely.’” And Micaiah said, “‘If you indeed return safely, the Lord has not spoken by me. And he said, listen, all you people.
So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up against Ramoth Gilead, and the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you put on your robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle.
Now the king of Syria had commanded the 32 captains of his chariot, saying, do not fight with small or great, but with the king of Israel alone. So it came about when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said, surely it is the king of Israel, and they turned aside to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out. Then it happened when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they turned back from pursuing him. Now a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel in the joint of the armor.
So he said to the driver of his chariot, turn around. and take me out of the fight, for I am severely wounded.” The battle raged that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot in front of the Syrians and died at evening, and the blood from the wound ran into the bottom of the chariot. Then a cry passed throughout the army close to sunset, saying, “‘Every man to his city and every man to his country.’” So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. And they washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood.
Now the harlots bathed themselves there, according to the word of the Lord which he spake. Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, and the ivory house which he built, and all the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Ahab slept with his fathers. and Isaiah, his son, became king in his place.
Our Father, throughout the earth this day, for your Church, you establishing your rule in the midst of your people by your word, and sent, as sentries for that word, officers whom you, in fact, have established. And Lord, we pray that the rule and authority of those whom you have called will be recognized and observed. We pray that always that authority might be in keeping with the word which you have given, for surely, as we are warned even in this passage, there are many false prophets. We ask our God that your people may in fact have those under-shepherds who are like unto the great shepherd, and may they rule in keeping with that pattern found in him, not looking to themselves or any advantage that they might gain from their office, but rather seeking ways in which they may sacrifice themselves, even surrender themselves, for the sake of their people that their people might be kept and preserved. We ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Well, we’ve arrived at the end of the story of Ahab, but we haven’t arrived at the end of the story of Elijah as yet. Tonight we are focusing, however, on the conclusion of this story with regard to Ahab. Ahab, that great, that incredible, that remarkable king. Now, don’t be taken back by my words.
He was even recognized to be such in heaven. And you may recall the stories in which Ahab comes off in a very, very favorable light, even made to appear like one comparable to the coming Messiah. The very patterns of the Christ coming to expression in this one, the seventh from Jeroboam. There was even that act of contrition that you read of.
After his sin concerning the vineyard of Naboth, he humbles himself, and the Lord has mercy, relents in his judgment, and shows kindness to this king. But, despite the religious features that portend of greatness, there is also what you might call a secular greatness to the man. The line from Zimri to Amri, then to Ahab, what a change, for not since the days of Jeroboam himself has the kingdom to the north thrived like this. It is a tremendous reign, assessed By anyone outside the kingdom, assessed by kings round about, by peoples in the region, it is a magnificent reign.
Tremendous building enterprises. Why, how many Renaissance had they moved through? Samaria itself, completely redone. What about the ivory houses spoken of here in the 22nd chapter of 1 Kings? A king to be sure, and he lived like a king. The tremendous building enterprises then carrying on the tradition of his father. We think of them. magnificent enterprises, to be sure, capturing the eye not only of the people of the land, but of those beyond. And of course, testifying to the fact that the kingdom itself is prospering. Prospering. Who can argue with this administration? Have we ever had it so good? Well, there was the drought. There was the heat. I wonder what the political administration was in 1891. Was it 1881? Is there a signal in all of this? We’ve never had it so good. Oh yeah. All right, way judgment.
But think further about this building, Enterprise. So magnificent was it, and so caught up was the nation in it, that Ahab, his administration, those connected with it, and specifically one fellow by the name of Io, did not hesitate even to rebuild the walls of Jericho.” Now that mentioned at the conclusion of the 16th chapter of 1 Kings. So yes, prosperity, tremendous activity, energy, capital, and yet pride, arrogance. For you know what’s word the Lord had sent concerning Jericho, not to rebuild.
The man who rebuilds will in fact lay the foundation with his firstborn. He will set up the gates with the loss of his youngest. What a kingdom, though. The sacrifice of two sons of Phael, what is that in comparison to the multiplication of sons and daughters and days in a kingdom without peril? You know what peril is? Another sign of the prosperity of the reign of Ahab. What a genius! Coming from a family of geniuses. His father sealed the bond to the West and to the North by marrying off his son, Ahab now, to the daughter of the king of Sidon, a Phoenician, a worshipper of Baal.
Disregard the religious aspects of this. Think only of the military advantage. Your boundaries to the North and to the West are secure. You needn’t worry. You can go to sleep at night. Not only that, there were the great military victories against the greatest empire in the world in that time. Think of it. There was no power as great as Syria. Capital of Syria? Damascus. King?
Ben-Haden. This one, though living like a vassal for a period of time, rebels and he gets away with it. Ahab revolts and triumphs! Amazingly! First Kings 20, you read about it. Not just once is he victorious, he is victorious twice. So it is in his victories against Syria that he secures a covenant, a treaty with Syria, the greatest power in the world at that time, and has All of the cities that had been taken from him returned to him on a platter. For the exception of one, which we’ve read tonight, named Gilead. So it is. Military prominence. Boundaries secured. And now he turns his eye to the sun. How can it be? We are the sworn enemies of the House of David. We have been fighting wars with Judah since the split of the kingdom, north and south.
But is anything too great for Ahab? Nothing, seemingly. For Ahab is able to pull off a coup. having learned from the annals of his father. For as his father had married him to Jezebel, now Ahab turns his eyes to the south, and he takes his daughter, Athaliah, and he marries her to the son of Jehoshaphat, Jehoram. Now that’s not told you here. That’s told you later in 2nd Kings and also in Chronicles. Athaliah is daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. Now in a royal marriage the houses are joined and what has Ahab accomplished?
You look to the north and to the west He is secure. You look to the east towards Syria, and he is secure. You look to the south, and he is secure. Absolute genius. He’s a political wizard. And if you were reading the newspapers in that time and in that day, he would undoubtedly come across as a mastermind, as a king of kings, one without parallel in the world. Now, beyond all this, as we do turn our eye to things dearer to our hearts, we notice what’s coming out.
It’s not that Ahab has turned his back completely on the religion of Yahweh, the religion of the Lord. He’s a bit weak-kneed, to be sure, before the onslaught of his wife and her steed, that’s certain. So with her, there come the 400 prophets of Baal, and the 400, well is it the 450 prophets of Baal, and the 400 prophets of the Asherah, now thriving in the land of Israel. Of course, the religion of Jezebel fares well for a time, but then suffers that incredible setback with the confrontation between the prophets of Baal and the prophet of the Lord Elijah. So we come to 1 Kings 22, and here we notice in verse 6 not mention of the 450 prophets of Baal, nor of the 400 prophets of Yashurah, but 400 other prophets.
What a king! This fellow has survived the onslaught of Baalism, He has come out on the other side of that confrontation, and here he is pictured as surrounded by 400 lackey prophets who speak what he wants to hear, all in the name, not of Baal, but the Lord. He probably has Saturday morning travel services right there in the palace.
Where does civil religion come to its own? What is it that the world really seeks? Do they really seek the demise of religion? No, they seek the complicity of religion, the support of religion. Wasn’t that the thesis of Max Weber as he analyzed Europe at the end of the last century? The great German sociologist? When others were saying down with religion, especially those who were following the teachings of Karl Marx, along comes Max Weber. What does Weber say? Weber says, no, not down with religion, rather the employment of religion. Don’t you understand?
Religion serves this role. It props up our government, our institutions, and our ambitions with religious sanction. It gives us religious justification, and those who serve religiously in such an environment have the role of priests of the culture. Their responsibility to baptize the philosophy of the political ideal to baptize community ambition and objectives that’s the role of religion. So here you have him. What a reign. Prosperous, militarily secure, and religiously respectable. Sounds like United States of America. But don’t you be fooled.
And that’s really the point, you see. That has been the point of my messages on Wednesday night. We have been speaking about the political process and the relationship of the Christian to the public square. I don’t really care if you’re a Democrat or a Republican. All I’m asking you to be is not politically naive. To have your own wits about you. to see through the process and understand it. Civil religion is not your religion. And I don’t care if the President of the United States endorses it. It is not your religion.
Your religion is that of Elijah. and that of Micaiah, the son of Bindu. Well, don’t be deceived. For all that looks good about Ahab, even though he’s been put up beside the Lord Jesus Christ in some respects, although his kingdom and his reign looks impeccable in some respects. Don’t be deceived, Ahab is an apostate. Plain and simple, the man is an apostate. He is a rebel against God. And in the end, he hates God seemingly with a perfect hatred.
Indications of it to you. I don’t think I have to go through them all, but here quickly. He’s married outside the faith. Again, I ask you not to be naive. Now I know that you’re not in the position of Ahab. You’re not a king or a queen. You’re not living in Israel, nor in the New Testament Church, but please don’t be naive about your circumstances. It was an indication of evil and wickedness in the heart of Ahab, and for any who married outside of the faith, it is the same. It is the same. Paul tells us in the New Testament, Mary only in the Lord.
Now it’s not just a matter of his marriage. He builds a house for Beto in Samaria. He builds a temple. Not only that, we are told that while he’s also entertaining his devotion to Jehovah, he’s frequenting that temple of Beto. Marriage-wise, religious-wise, he’s an apostate.
He has established profane places of worship and he’s permitted the proliferation of the Baal cult and the persecution of the true prophets of the Lord. He’s not ignorant of what Jezebel is doing when she sends out her henchmen to kill all the prophets of the Lord who are left, the true prophets of the Lord who are left in the land of Israel. He is also the sworn enemy of Elijah, the messenger of the Lord. And as things turn out, as the story progresses, he is the epitome of wickedness residing in the kingship that now is over the people of God, be it north or south.
And that is the significance of those stories in 1 Kings 20 and 21. You remember how he spared Ben-Hadad, and how the prophet of the Lord was raised up to rebuke him for sparing Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria? Does that remind you of something? Of course, it reminds you of Saul sparing Agag, the king of the Amalekites. In Ahab, you see Saul’s sin. What about Naboth’s vision? Naboth looks over the wall of his palace, and he still sees this attractive little vegetable garden next door.
He wants it for himself. And in the end, through conspiracy and the conspiracies of his wife, he gets it and he secures it through murder. Sound familiar? Of course it does. There was another king who looked over the wall of his palace and he saw a lady bathing. He so wanted the woman that he conspired to have that woman’s husband killed, murdered. All of the wickedness that we see flowering, germinating within the kingship of Israel, is now epitomized in Ahab.
It is concentrating itself in this man. These stories are making it plain. For though he looks good, he is a tragedy. He is a tragedy. The tragedy is the tragedy of apostasy. Desertion of the true God. Rebellion against the true God. Now don’t treat it like that. For you see, in his apostasy there is for us signal that continual flagrant disregard for the Word of the Lord. That’s really the point of all that’s been going on here. That’s why we have these stories about the prophets.
The prophet introduces to the Word of the Lord. The Word of the Lord intrudes into the setting. There’s no mystery as to what the Word of the Lord is. Yet, Israel and her king close their ears to the word of the Lord deliberately, and go their way, even though it spells death. Here is Hiel rebuilding the city walls of Jericho. He knows the prophecy. His firstborn dies, and then his youngest, in fulfillment of that prophecy.
And yet, you get the impression, at least from the text, there’s no flinching of conscience whatsoever. The continual flagrant disregard of the Word, even though you know what the Word says. Do you know what the Word says? Is the Word clear? Don’t be selfish. Again, don’t be selfish. The Word is clear. that you find the spirit of apostasy is that continual flagrant disregard of that word and how does it end well you know 1st Kings 22 one of the most bizarre chapters in the entire Bible you have to admit it the presence of Jehoshaphat seeking a word from the Lord Jehoshaphat himself, being a good king, so described in 2 Kings and also in Chronicles, yet himself seemingly impervious to that word that comes from Micaiah, the son of Imlach.
Ahab, hearing the word spelled out clearly, this is what’s going to happen. Disregarding it completely, not really, though, he suspects. I’ll disguise myself, he says. I’ll go into bed. Then Jehoshaphat, of all things, allowing himself to be conned into this nonsense. Well, you go in in your royal robes and I’ll disguise myself.
What is going on here? Isn’t the man utterly bereft of his senses? As I say, this is one of the most bizarre chapters in all of the Bible. These people don’t act reasonably. And that’s for a reason. Apostasy ends in its own form of insanity. You hear it, you don’t hear it. You see it, you don’t see it. You walk wide-eyed right into oblivion. Because I am determined to be my own God and my own King. And that above everything else. Well, Ahab’s reign, his apostasy, And now his judgment. What’s the meaning of the judgment?
You wonder about the mention in verse 6 of the 400 prophets that Ahab has surrounded himself with? What’s so magic about the number 400? Why didn’t they have 500 or 300? Why is it always 400? You see it? There were four hundred prophets of Baal, four hundred prophets of the Asherah, and now there are four hundred fourth prophets, four hundred eighth. You’re supposed to see them all on the line. They all signify the same thing. Their message is the same. Who is served? Self. What is served? The world. I love the world. And it is mine. And all of my prophets tell me that.
Whether they are prophets of Baal or court prophets of Jehovah. What about the strange alliance between Ahab and Jehoshaphat? Why does Jehoshaphat act like a man who’s entered into senility? You see what’s happening? Ahab dies, Jehoshaphat lives, miraculously. See, more in the men than the men. Is Ahab just Ahab? No. Ahab is his king. Is Jehoshaphat just Jehoshaphat? No. He is his king. Why, the very history of the nation, connected with these two kings, it’s working itself out in the story.
Who will go first? Judah? No. Israel? Who goes first? Jehoshaphat? No, hang on. The North, the Northern Kingdom goes first. And even though the Southern Kingdom, even though Judah, even though Jehoshaphat has manifested this weakness, he is spared. But he is spared with the warning. If you will not disassociate yourself, you likewise will perish. And that’s exactly what happens. So in the end, Judah is as Israel. Jehoshaphat is as Abraham.
You see, 1 Kings 22 is not a primitive journal in psychoanalysis. As we witness the antics of the deranged, it is a prophecy of what is in store as the consequence of apostasy. But is there no hope? I saw all Israel, says Micaiah, scattered on the mountains like sheep which have no shepherd. And the Lord said that they have no master, but each returned to his house in peace.
And I’m struck with that language, because I move on to Matthew chapter 9, and I read there in the 35th verse. And Jesus was going about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. The kingdom. and healing every disease and every kind of sickness and seeing the multitudes he felt compassion for them because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd and then I turn to the 11th chapter and I read in the 28th verse Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
The kingdoms of this world, be it as good as the kingdom of Israel, lie in shambles, but the kingdom of heaven is forever. And though in the kingdoms of this world every king proves a false prophet, or a false shepherd, or a frail and weak one, there is a shepherd. who cares for his sheep to the uttermost gathering them to himself that they might abide with him forever Oh Father Even Israel may be dazzled with ivory houses. Even Israel may be dazzled with temples in the courts of Solomon.
But Lord, we ask for that eye, and in faith believe that we have received it, that is able to see through these things. and understand the nature of eternal things. Therefore we would be instructed, and instructed in the depths of our hearts, not to set our love and our affections upon this world, nor imagine ourselves to be kings or queens in it, claiming everything for ourselves. Rather, May we acknowledge that there is that kingdom, and that kingdom, which is established, who is established by you. And may our heart thrill to him, your son, our savior, for he alone is our hope, and your kingdom
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