Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Chronicles 18:3

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 2 Chronicles 18:3. To Ramoth-gilead — This place belonged to the Israelites, and was now held by the king of Syria.

The whole of this chapter is circumstantially explained in the notes on 1 Kings 22:1-53.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

The reign of Jehoshaphat (17:1-20:37)

Jehoshaphat carried on the reform that Asa began, by destroying all the Baal shrines that remained in Judah (17:1-6; cf. 15:17). Positively, he educated the people in the law of God by forming an official group of instructors whom he sent around Judah’s towns and villages. The group consisted of civil leaders, priests and Levites (7-9). He also fortified Judah’s defences and enlarged its army, so that neighbouring countries feared to attack it (10-19).

Judah’s army was so strong that Ahab of Israel sought and obtained Jehoshaphat’s help in a war against Syria (Aram) (18:1-34; see notes on 1 Kings 22:1-40). A prophet rebuked Jehoshaphat for this, as Ahab was a worshipper of Baal and therefore an enemy of God (19:1-3).

Jehoshaphat reformed and reorganized Judah’s judicial system to eliminate injustice, guarantee fair treatment for all, and ensure that standard procedures were followed throughout the land. He set up courts and appointed judges in all the chief cities of Judah, with the main court and the chief judges in Jerusalem. The courts and the officials were divided into two kinds. Some dealt with religious matters and were under the control of the chief priest. Others dealt with civil matters and were under the control of the chief governor (4-11). This arrangement was a further indication to the Chronicler that David’s dynasty governed according to the Levitical code (cf. Deuteronomy 16:18-20; Deuteronomy 17:8-12).

Some time later, a combined army of various nations from the south and east set out to attack Judah (20:1-2). The Chronicler notes that Jehoshaphat and his people not only cried to God for help, but they did so by gathering at the temple in Jerusalem. That was the place of prayer for God’s people in times of crisis (3-12; cf. 6:24-25). As a result God answered their prayer. He assured them through a prophet (who was also a Levite) that the enemy would be defeated without Judah’s army having to do anything (13-17).
The priests and Levites, being very active in Judah, led the people in songs of praise even before the victory was won (18-23). After the people had plundered the defeated army, the Levitical singers led them to the temple to praise God for the victory (24-30).

Earlier, Jehoshaphat had done wrong when he formed a military partnership with Ahab (see 18:3; 19:2). Later, he did wrong again when he formed a commercial partnership with Ahab’s son Ahaziah. God sent a disaster to remind Jehoshaphat that he was not to cooperate with Israel’s Baal-worshipping kings (31-37; see notes on 1 Kings 22:41-50). (The Chronicler omits the other references to Ahaziah’s short rule in 1 Kings 22:51-53.)

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

JEHOSHAPHAT'S UNHOLY ALLIANCE WITH THE WICKED AHAB;
JEHOSHAPHAT ACCEPTS AHAB'S INVITATION TO AID
IN THE WAR TO RECOVER RAMOTH-GILEAD FROM SYRIA

"Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance; and he joined affinity with Ahab. And after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samaria. And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the people that were with him, and moved him to go up with him to Ramoth-gilead. And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Wilt thou go with me to Ramoth-gilead? And he answered him, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people; and we will be with thee in the war."

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 18

Now Jehoshaphat had these riches and honor in abundance, and [for some reason,] he joined affinity with Ahab ( 2 Chronicles 18:1 ).

Who was one of the most wicked of all the kings of the northern tribes. Why? I don't know. But he went up to visit Ahab in Samaria. And while he was there visiting, Ahab said, "Look, I'm going to go out and fight against the Syrians at Ramothgilead. You want to go with me?" Jehoshaphat said, "Why not? You know, I'm with you as one. We're one together. We're both kings over the nation. So sure, I'll go with you." And so they went up against Syria there at Ramothgilead. But Jehoshaphat, before they went said, "Hey, is there a prophet of God that we can inquire of to see if God's in this thing?" And so he called the prophets in, four hundred of them. And they all said, "Go up, the Lord be with you and prosper you and give you victory over your enemy."

Now Jehoshaphat said, "Isn't there any other prophet?" Now here were four hundred guys agreeing together. But Jehoshaphat somehow felt something a little funny about it. He said, "Isn't there any other prophet that we might inquire?" "There's one guy, his name is Micaiah. But that man, he never has anything good to say to me. I don't like to call him because always bad news for me from this guy." He said, "Don't say that. Maybe this will be good. Just call him in and see what he say to say." So they sent his servant to get this one prophet Micaiah and he said, "Now look fellow, you've got a reputation of giving bad news to the king all the time. So hey, say a good word. Don't give him bad news."

So the king, when Micaiah came in, said, "Shall I go up against Syria at Ramothgilead?" And old Micaiah said, "Yes, go, prosper, defeat your enemies. Sure, go ahead." And the king said, "Look, man. How many times have I told you not to lie to me in the name of the LORD?" And he said, "All right, if you want to know the truth, I'll lay it on you, King. I saw a vision and the men of Israel were all scattered, and they were like sheep without a shepherd." Declaring that the king was going to fall in the battle. And he said, "Didn't I tell you this guy never has anything good to say about me?"

And so the prophet went on to tell him.

I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all of the host of heaven were standing on his right hand and his left ( 2 Chronicles 18:18 ).

What an awesome vision the prophet had. God's throne and all of the host of heaven.

And the LORD said, Who shall entice Ahab the king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one spake saying, I can do this, and another said, I can do this. But there came out a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will entice him. And the LORD said, How? And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the LORD said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so. 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 ( 2 Chronicles 18:19-22 ).

So Zedekiah, one of the prophets that was there who had made some iron horns and went running around like a nut with these iron horns and saying, "Thus you're going to push the king of Syria all over the place." He slapped this guy in the face. He said, "Tell me, what direction did the spirit go that told me to slap you?"

And Micaiah said to him, Behold, you shall see the day when you are going to go to the inner chamber to hide yourself ( 2 Chronicles 18:24 ).

So the king of Israel ordered him to be taken and put in jail until I come back in peace. He said, "Hey, if you come back in peace, I'm a false prophet."

Now the difficulty lies in how God worked in this circumstance. Why would God allow a lying spirit to fill the four hundred prophets to entice the king to go to battle at Ramothgilead? I don't want to get too involved in it. We don't have time tonight. But God has created all things for His purposes. And even Satan is fulfilling the purposes of God. God has placed the limitations on what Satan can do. He can only do what God allows him to do. Satan complained against certain limitations and restrictions that God had placed upon him concerning Job. But God does use Satan for His purposes.

When God created man a free moral agent, gave to man the capacity of self-determination, gave to man the power of choice, it was necessary in order that man's choice be valid that there be something to choose. If you didn't have any choice, then what value is it to have the capacity of choice? It doesn't really make sense that God has endowed me with this glorious capacity of choice. "I'm going to create man after My own image, a self-determinate being. He will be able to choose," but then there's nothing to choose. All there is is good in the whole universe. There's nothing, there's no alternatives to choose. So take your choice. But there isn't any choice.

So God had to create the choice. He had to allow Satan to rebel in order to create the alternate choice in order that He might know that man truly loves Him and serves Him from a heart of love. Because God was looking for love and fellowship from man. God could never know if that love was genuine unless the capacity of choice was there. And thus, God allowed the rebellion of Satan. God placed the tree in the garden. He allowed Satan to exploit the tree in order that man might have the opportunity to exercise that choice, in order that God might receive true fulfillment from the love that man offered unto God.

So God has given to you the capacity of choice tonight. You don't have to love God. You don't have to serve God. You don't have to express your love to God. But you have the choice. You can do it if you want. But if you choose to do it, then God knows that you've done it by choice, that it is really in your heart to do so. "Oh God, I love You." I don't have to say that. I could choose to hate God if I desired. I could choose to rebel against God. I could choose to live a life totally after my own flesh in complete rebellion against God. I have that choice. But by the very virtue of the fact that I have chosen to love God, to serve God, to commit myself to God, He knows that it's a genuine love, a genuine commitment, because I don't have to. And thus, He receives from it that warmth of fellowship that He was desiring from man.

So God here is allowing this spirit, a lying spirit to come into the mouths of the prophets in order that He might fulfill His purpose to get this guy up to Ramothgilead. You say, "Well, couldn't God have used something else?" Of course He could. But He chose and He has that capacity and power to, and I can't really argue with the choices that God makes. I don't know why God has chosen me. I'm glad He did. I don't argue with it. And I made a point not to argue with the choices of God, because I know that He is wiser than I am, much smarter than I am. So I just say, "Lord, if that's what You chose. You know what's best."

Now it worked. Ahab went up against Benhadad or the forces of Syria. Now Benhadad the king had said to his captains, he said, "Look, there is only one guy we really want, that's Ahab the king. So concentrate on getting him. Let that be the concentration of the battle is to get the king. I'm not worried about the rest of the army. If we can get the king, they'll fold." So as they were going into battle, these two fellows, Jehoshaphat and Ahab, Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Hey, I like to sort of get into the thick of things. Let me just put on the robes of one of my soldiers. Here, you put on my robe and all and you ride in my chariot. I want to get another chariot. I want to get into the battle here."

So Jehoshaphat got in the king's chariot and there he was with the king's robe on. And of course, the captains of Syria were all looking for the king's chariot. When they saw him, they began to encircle him. And he got on the horse and really got going and crying out, you know, and really trying to get out of there because they were all concentrating on him. And when they saw that it wasn't Ahab, then they turned from pursuing him. And one guy just pulled back, you know, bunch of people over there. Just pulled back and let fly with his arrow. Had a venture. Wasn't really shooting at anybody, just shooting in the direction of the enemy. And God directed that arrow and it came right through, pierced through Ahab the king. And he propped himself up in the chariot to continue the battle. But by the end of the day, Ahab had died. And the prophecies of God were fulfilled. The purposes of God were fulfilled. And Jehoshaphat, of course, returned back to Jerusalem. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

3. Jehoshaphat and Ahab ch. 18

This chapter is very similar to 1 Kings 22. Jehoshaphat’s concern for God’s will guided his actions (2 Chronicles 18:4; 2 Chronicles 18:6). For other instances of prophets providing war oracles for the Divine Warrior, see 2 Chronicles 11:1-4; 1 Kings 20:13; 1 Kings 20:28; 2 Kings 3:11-19; 2 Kings 6:12-22; 2 Kings 7:1-7; 2 Kings 13:14-20; and 2 Chronicles 20:14-19. The Chronicler undoubtedly wanted to encourage his audience toward repentance and restoration by showing them first how low Jehoshaphat could sink and then how the consequences of his failure were reversed. [Note: Williamson, 1 and 2 . . ., p. 285.] Ahab’s disregard for Yahweh makes Jehoshaphat’s faithfulness to Him stand out even more dramatically.

"The point for us is that flirtation with those in apostasy is flirtation with catastrophe." [Note: Thompson, p. 283.]

The end of 2 Chronicles 18:31 is unique to the Chronicler’s account. It was God who delivered Jehoshaphat in the heat of battle but put Ahab to death. The writer of Kings recorded this incident to show the fulfillment of Elijah’s prophecy that Ahab would die for his murder of Naboth (cf. 1 Kings 22:37-38). The writer of Chronicles used it to show how God delivered Jehoshaphat because he followed God and cried out to Him for help when he was in trouble.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

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Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and joined affinity with Ahab.   2 And after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samaria. And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the people that he had with him, and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth-gilead.   3 And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Wilt thou go with me to Ramoth-gilead? And he answered him, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people; and we will be with thee in the war.

      Here is, I. Jehoshaphat growing greater. It was said before (2 Chronicles 17:5; 2 Chronicles 17:5) that he had riches and honour in abundance; and here it is said again that his wealth and honour increased upon him by piety and good management.

      II. Not growing wiser, else he would not have joined with Ahab, that degenerate Israelite, who had sold himself to work wickedness. What good could he get by a man that was so bad? What good could he do to a man that was so obstinately wicked--an idolater, a persecutor? With him he joined in affinity, that is, married his son Jehoram to Ahab's daughter Athaliah.

      1. This was the worst match that ever was made by any of the house of David. I wonder what Jehoshaphat could promise himself by it. (1.) Perhaps pride made the match, as it does many a one, which speeds accordingly. His religion forbade him to marry his son to a daughter of any of the heathen princes that were about him--Thou shalt not take their daughters to thy sons; and, having riches and honour in abundance, he thought it a disparagement to marry him to a subject. A king's daughter it must be, and therefore Ahab's, little considering that Jezebel was her mother. (2.) Some think he did it in policy, hoping by this expedient to unite the kingdoms in his son, Ahab perhaps flattering him with hopes that he would make him his heir, when he intended no such thing.

      2. This match drew Jehoshaphat, (1.) Into an intimate familiarity with Ahab. He paid him a visit at Samaria, and Ahab, proud of the honour which Jehoshaphat did him, gave him a very splendid entertainment, according to the splendour of those times: He killed sheep and oxen for him, plain meat, in abundance,2 Chronicles 18:2; 2 Chronicles 18:2. In this Jehoshaphat did not walk so closely as he should have done in the ways of his father David, who hated the congregation of evil-doers and would not sit with the wicked (Psalms 26:5), nor desired to eat of their dainties,Psalms 141:4. (2.) Into a league with Ahab against the Syrians. Ahab persuaded him to join forces with him in an expedition for the recovery of Ramoth-Gilead, a city in the tribe of Gad, on the other side Jordan. Did not Ahab know that that, and all the other cities of Israel, did of right belong to Jehoshaphat, as heir of the house of David? With what face then could he ask Jehoshaphat to assist him in recovering it for himself, whose title to the crown was usurped and precarious? Yet Jehoshaphat, an easy man, yields to go with him: I am as thou art,2 Chronicles 18:3; 2 Chronicles 18:3. Some men's kindnesses are dangerous, as well as their society infectious. The feast Ahab made for Jehoshaphat was designed only to wheedle him into the expedition. The kisses of an enemy are deceitful.