This sermon on 1 Kings 22 was given on a Zoom call at Kew Baptist Church, London. Please note that the audio picks up a few seconds into the introduction.
‘He can run, but he can’t hide.’ Those were the famous words of boxing heavyweight world champion, Joe Louis, who many consider to be one of the greatest boxers of all time. His reign as world champion lasted for 12 years, from 1937 to 1949. Perhaps the greatest challenge he faced during this time was from Billy Conn, a lighter, nimbler, faster boxer. When Joe Louis was asked how he was going to deal with the fast moving style of Billy Conn, he is said to have responded, ‘He can run, but he can’t hide’. Joe Louis knew that Billy Conn could dance around the ring for a few rounds, moving in to land a quick punch or two before jumping back out of his reach. However, Joe Louis also knew that that couldn’t go on forever. Eventually Billy Conn would run out of energy or back himself into a corner. Eventually Joe Louis’ heavy punches would catch him, and once they did, it would all be over. In Joe’s mind it was unavoidable. Their fight was the first such boxing match shown on television. For seven rounds Billy managed to evade Joe, until in the eighth round he didn’t move out of the way quick enough and was caught by a punch. Seeing his opponent straggering at the force of the blow, Joe threw a right uppercut and a left hook and suddenly it was all over. Billy Conn crumpled to the ground and was out for the count. Joe’s prediction that Billy could run but he could not hide was fulfilled perfectly.
For several chapters in 1 Kings now, Ahab has managed to avoid the knockout blow of God’s justice. If you remember back in 1 Kings 19, through the whispering word of God on the mountaintop, Elijah is told that Ahab’s reign will come to an end, that he will be replaced by Jehu as king of Israel. This is the first announcement of God’s coming judgement on Ahab. However, in 1 Kings 20 we get a second announcement, with the unnamed prophet telling Ahab that because he let Ben-Hadad live, Ahab himself will be devoted to destruction. The third announcement comes in 1 Kings 21, where last week we heard that disaster was declared for Ahab and his family due to the brutal murder of Naboth and his family. At the end of 1 Kings 21 we noticed that this disaster was going to be delayed, that due to his hint of humility, that Ahab’s family would live to see another day. That God would spare them for the time being. However, here in 1 Kings 22, we see that Ahab cannot avoid his own disaster indefinitely. It is in 1 Kings 22 that his dancing around the ring comes to an end. Here the knockout blow of God’s judgement finally falls. Ahab has run, but he cannot hide. The justice of God is unavoidable. Our passage breaks into two: the Disaster is Declared (22:1-28) and the Disaster is Delivered (21:29-40).
1. THE DISASTER DECLARED (22:1-28) – God’s truth cannot be twisted or tamed. It is unalterable.
Boxing isn’t the only sport that helps us set this story in its context. A baseball analogy could also be used. In 1 Kings 20, the coming disaster is declared to Ahab by the unnamed prophet. Confronted with his crime against his creator, Ahab fails to confess his sin or cry out for forgiveness. Instead he heads off to Samaria in a huff. That is strike one. In 1 Kings 21, again disaster is declared to Ahab, this time by Elijah. While there is a hint of humility, Ahab fails to confess his sin or cry out to God. He may regret his sin given its results, but he is not repentant. That is strike two. It is here the in 1 Kings 22 that the ball is once again tossed towards Ahab, disaster will be declared to him and he will have one last opportunity to repent. As we shall see, he fails to take it. Instead, it is strike three and so Ahab’s time on the pitch comes to an end. In many ways, this third throw of the ball towards Ahab is like the last two. The story is like a mix of the last two. Like in 1 Kings 20, you have an international incident, a war between Israel and Syria. From 22:1 it seems that the peace treaty Ahab acquired with Beh-Hadad at the end of 1 Kings 20 has lasted around three years. And yet, this period of peace is brought to an end. Ahab breaks this peace by repeating what he has just done in 1 Kings 21: seeing something he wants, he decides that he must have it at any cost. There it was the garden of Naboth, here it is the city of Ramoth-gilead. In 22:3 we see that during a state visit of Jehoshaphat, the king of neigbouring Judah, Ahab asks, ‘Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we keep quiet and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?...Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?’ We shall soon see that this city is the bait fastened onto the hook of God’s justice, the prize that will lure Ahab to his death. It was a pretty attractive prize – the city was originally given by God to the tribe of Gad. And during the time of Solomon Ramoth-gilead was prominent, being an administrative capital for the region around it. The likely reason for this was its prosperity – the city was sitated just off what was known as the King’s highway, and very old and established trading road that meant whoever owned the city could charge significant tolls to traders. Unfortunately, the city was sitatued east of the river Jordan, which meant it was particularly prone to being attacked and taken by Israel’s enemies. It seems that this is what has happened here, for Syria appears to have control of the city. Ahab assertion that the city belonged Israel is surely ironic – yes, it did belong to Israel, for it was given to the tribe of Gad by God. And yet just a few verses ago Ahab is entirely ambivalent about God’s apportionment of the land – he regards Naboth refusal to negotiate the sale of his God given land rights as an insult, and yet here he is asserting the very same land rights over Ramoth-gilead. This is the first example of Ahab’s tendancy to twist the word of God for his advantage. He wants all the rights God gives him without any of the responsibilities! He takes God’s good gifts, but will not give his heart or obedience in return.
Whatever the reason for Ahab’s aspiration, in Jehoshapthat he finds a willing ally. The only caveat is King Jehoshaphat, being one of the kings of Judah who were largely faithful to God, wants to pass the plan past God’s prophets first. In 22:5 he instructs Ahab, ‘Inquire first for the word of the LORD.’ What happens next is a rather surprising scene, for almost like how a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat, this king who has persecuted God’s prophets and ignored his instructions, sudden summons 400 prophets together who can enquire for the word of the LORD. Here we surely see that people in powerful positions will never fail to find supporters to rubber stamp their proposals. There is never a shortage of supposed servants ready to speak on God’s behalf. As we shall see, whether they speak the truth or not is another matter entirely. This prophetic assembly is unashamedly positive about Ahab’s plans. In 22:6 Ahab asks for guidance and they respond ‘Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.’ Later we see that there is one prophet among them who is particularly positive, in 22:11 we read, ‘And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, "Thus says the LORD, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’"’ To us this acting out of a prophecy seems very strange, and yet if you were to read the books of Jeremiah or Ezekiel, you would see that it was a common way prophets of the LORD would communicate – they would convey their message not only audibly, but also visually. Zedekiah’s making of horns to symbolise what Ahab would do to the Syrians is actually remarkably biblical. Most commentators think that Zedekiah’s prophecy here is him applying a previous promise made by God. In Deuteronomy 33, as Moses is giving his final blessings to the nation of Israel, he turns to the tribes of Joesph (of whom Ahab’s kingdom mostly consisted) and declares, ‘his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth…’ (33:17). Zedekiah isn’t just making his prophecy up, he is taking a promise given by the LORD and applying it to Ahab. He takes the truth of God’s word, and twisting it to approve Ahab’s plans. Applying it in a way that affirms Ahab’s aims.
It is unclear why the support of such a large number of prophets is insufficient for Jehoshaphat. However, it seems that something didn’t smell right about all this positive affirmation of Ahab’s plan. And so Jehoshaphat asks for another prophet to be consulted. In 22:7 he asks, ‘"Is there not here another prophet of the LORD of whom we may inquire?" And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil."’ It seems that Micaiah is the complete opposite of the other prophets. Whereas Zedekiah and the 400 prophets first summoned by Ahab only seemed to prophesy good concerning Ahab, Micaiah only seems to prophesy evil. Nevertheless, as Jehoshaphat insists, Micaiah is sent for. The messenger sent to Micaiah attempts to pressure the prophet into keeping in line, joining with the 400 others. In 22:13 he says ‘"Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably."’ Just as the other prophets had twisted God’s word, Micaiah is supposed to tame God’s truth. To come along and only speak those things that are favourable to Ahab. It is clear that this messenger, that the other prophets, that Ahab, all have failed to understand the job that a prophet of the LORD has. He is neither the author or the editor of the truth, he is just the publisher. He is like the postman: he isn’t responsible for what is in the post, he is only responsible for passing it to you. Micaiah clearly understands his role, as he responds in 22:14, ‘As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak.’ Micaiah will speak only the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. He will not twist it. He will not tame it. He will say exactly what God says.
After what seems to be a sarcastic answer in 22:15, where Micaiah repeats word for word exactly what the 400 prophets have said in 22:12, Micaiah delivers his declaration in 22:17. There he describes the scene that the LORD has allowed him to see: the army of Israel scattered and leaderless, returning home in peace without their master. Ahab needs no interpretation. It is clear what this means. The army will return home without Ahab. The King will be cut down in the conflict. In order to drive home the meaning of this declaration, Micaiah makes a second prophecy from 22:19. He speaks of seeing not just the kings of Israel and Judah on their thrones, but the LORD on his throne. There it seems that the LORD is looking for something to lure Ahab to his death, a spirit approaches the throne and suggests that it will cause all of Ahab’s prophets to lie to him, thus luring him into battle. As is always the case when we get a glimpse into the way that God works, we might have all kinds of questions about what happens here. It seems a little like what happens between Satan and God at the beginning of the book of Job. However, one thing is clear: though the prophets lure Ahab by lying to him, God tells him the truth. In Micaiah’s first prophecy, the death of Ahab is clearly declared. The king can be in no doubt as to what will happen should he go into battle. In Micaiah’s second prophecy, the deception of Ahab is clearly declared. The same God who sent the lying spirit, sent Micaiah to reveal this deception to Ahab. God is wholly honest with him. Through Micaiah Ahab is given the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Unfortunately for Ahab, the simple truth is summed up well in the final phrase of Micaiah’s prophecy in 22:23, ‘…the LORD has declared disaster for you.’ With this, the prophet postman Micaiah has faithfully declared the disaster to Ahab.
Friends, here we see that even when we are tempted, we must not twist or tame the truth. We should not soften the sharp sword of God’s word, alter what he announces to make it more acceptable. However, we not only see that should not twist or tame the truth, we see that we cannot twist or tame the truth. As soon as the prophet Zedekiah wrongly applied God’s promise, it lost all of its power. Zedekiah could hold out those horns all he wanted, it would make no difference. Just because he used imagery from God’s word didn’t mean that he spoke on God’s behalf. No, Zedekiah was just a man holding a pair of metal horns! The same is true of the other prophets. As soon as they opened their mouths to say to Ahab something other that the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, they were speaking lies. If you try to twist or tame the truth, you only end up telling lies. God’s truth cannot be twisted or tamed. It is unalterable. What God speaks is certain. What God says is sure. Like Micaiah, we must realise that we are not able to amend God’s message. It is not flexible, it is fixed. It is not pliable, it is permenant. The LORD had declared disaster for Ahab. If he has spoken from his heavenly throne, there is nothing anyone on earth can do to change it. The positivity of the 400 prophets is powerless. All their affirmation will accomplish nothing. In fact, it will only end up accomplishing the exact opposite of what they are aiming for. By trying to twist the truth, the prophets aren’t able to change what is going to happen. In fact, God will only use their lies, this lying spirit, to achieve what he has decreed. By lying to Ahab, the prophets are only luring him towards his death. God will do what he has declared and nothing we do can change that. The prophets pulling their punches will not mean that God will pull his. Ahab’s knockout blow is coming, nothing the prophets said could stop that.
Brothers and sisters, if God’s truth cannot be twisted or tamed. If it is unalterable, then let us do what Micaiah does here: let us announce it with confident certainty before the world. If doing so brings us into suffering like Micaiah, we too can say what he said after he was struck in the face in 22:25, ‘Behold, you shall see…’. You can hear the same certainly in his voice at the end of the paragraph. The King commands the prophet to be put in prison and fed meager rations of bread and water until Ahab comes back in peace. You can almost imagine the guards dragging Micaiah away to jail and as he is being removed from the room he defiantly declares to everybody within ear shot, ‘If you return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me…Hear, all you peoples!’ Micaiah was quite happy for the truth to be put to the test. He was willing to risk not only his reputation, not only his comfort, but probably his very life on that. This is the same kind of determined obedience we seen in the last chapter from Naboth. He would not enter into commercial negotiations for his vineyard, he was only interested in God’s command. God had forbid it being sold, therefore there could be no discussions. Naboth would deny his king and doom both himself and his sons before he would deny God’s word. This confident certainty is the same that emboldened the reformer Martin Luther to stand before the most powerful man in the world, the Holy Roman Emperor, and refuse to recant what he had written. The official transcript of that day in 1521 records that Luther explained to the emperor, ‘Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason…my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything…’. Luther explained to the emperor exactly what Micaiah told the messenger, he could only speak what God had spoken. Looking back on that day later, Luther seems to recall finishing his short speech with those now famous words: ‘Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God.’ Friends, do you have that kind of confident certainty in what God has said? Does the trustworthiness of God’s truth leave you standing feeling like you can do no other? You must tell it as it is. You must obey its commands. You must believe its promises.
I think this is perhaps the main point the author is trying to tell us throughout all of the stories about Ahab. This same theme has come up over and over again since he first introduced Ahab to us at the end of 1 Kings 16. Straight away we see the trustworthiness of God’s truth in 1 Kings 17, where at the end of the chapter, the widow concludes after she receives her son back from the dead, that the word of the LORD is truth, that is it is trustworthy, reliable, dependable. The word of God works! I think that is the conclusion the author wants us all to draw from these chapters. Here we see what God explains in Isaiah 55:10-11: ‘as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.’
This truth not only challenges us to have a confident certainty with respect to God’s word, like Micaiah and Luther do. But friends, do you also see what a comfort this truth is in our current circumstances. Brothers and sisters, do not doubt these words: the dissolution of this church will not defeat what God has declared. God’s word has been shared in Salem Baptist Church and Kew Baptist Church for 159 years. The good news of eternal life has been held out to sinners. The cross of Christ has been proclaimed. The promises of God’s word have been preached. Forgiveness of sins, reconciliation to man and to God, restoration and renewal by the Holy Spirit, future resurrection and eternal life, for all those who turn and trust in Jesus. The privilege of proclaiming this for the last time appears to have fallen to me. I can assure you every time the word of God has been shared, whether from the pulpit or between the pews, whether in the kitchen before or on the walk home after a service, whether around the streets or homes of Richmond or in Kew, from the first day Salem Baptist Church met, Sunday 1 December 1861, right up to today, Sunday 23 November 2020, not one word God has spoken is wasted. It has and will accomplish that for which God purposed it. It will succeed in the thing for which it was sent. All of that effort will not return to God empty. Labour done in the Lord is not in vain. For God’s word always wins. His truth always triumphs. His purposes always come to pass. As Shakespeare put it in his play the Merchant of Venice, ‘in the end truth will out’. God’s truth cannot be twisted or tamed. It is unalterable. Man cannot amend it. Circumstances can not change it. All we can do is worship the God, and walk in the light, of this untwistable untamable truth.
2. THE DISASTER DELIVERED (22:29-40) – God’s justice cannot be dodged or deflected. It is unavoidable.
We began with a boxing analogy: Ahab dancing around the ring trying to avoid the knockout blow that is sure to come. With those words of Joe Louis about how he can run but he cannot hide. However, another image got stuck in my mind this week as I thought about this passage: the image of a great tidal wave slowly making its way towards shore. Surging forward, building and building in size and strength until it finally hits the land with absolutley devasting effect. Against such a mighty movement of nature, there is literally nothing we can do. If you happened to be on the beach and spot such a wave out to sea, it would already be too late. You can’t outrun a tsunami. It is unstoppable. Unavoidable. God’s justice is just like that. Over the last few chapters, like a tsunami out at sea, it is been surging forward. Ahab has had warning sign after warning sign. And now it is too late. This wave of wrath is about to come crashing down, and the place where it does this is Ramoth-gilead: it is there God’s knockout blow arrives for Ahab. Later in 2 Kings 8-9 we see that it is again at Ramoth-gilead that Jehu will be anointed as King over Israel, in fulfilment of God’s promise in 1 Kings 19. It is at Ramoth-gilead that Ahab’s son and successor will be killed and left for the dogs, in fulfilment of God’s promise in 1 Kings 21. It seems that some places are particularly prone to such Tsunamis.
In these final verses we see Ahab try to avoid the unavoidable. In light of the greatness of the mighty justice of God, to me Ahab looks like an ant trying to avoid an avalanche. It is hopeless and pathetic. It underlines just how little this king understands about the majesty of God. Ahab’s plan seems to be a simple bait and switch. Instead of going out to battle dressed as a king, Ahab disguises himself as an ordinary soldier. In that way, the Syrians will only see one king, Jehoshaphat, and assuming that it must be Ahab, will go after him. The fact that even the Syrians aren’t fooled by this shows us just how stupid the plan is. What hope does Ahab have of outwitting the all-knowing-all-seeing king of heaven, if he can’t even fool the king of Syria? Ahab is not about to dodge this disater. However, being the crafty king that he is, Ahab also has a backup plan: it is even more basic than his classic bait and switch. For Ahab goes into battle covered in armour. This would usually mean that any blows would be deflected away from his body. He might end up with some bruises, a few scratches around the edges, but the armour should protect him from any mortal blows. However, this is like a snail thinking it will be safe inside its shell when it hears that a landslide is on its way. Matthew Henry puts it well when he explained, ‘Those cannot escape with life whom God hath doomed to death…[armour is of no avail] against the darts of divine vengeance.’ The same God that condemned King Ahab, controlled every arrow on the battlefield that day. On the surface it seems like one hits Ahab at random, but given the disaster that has been declared for three chapters now, it is clear that even if the archer didn’t aim this arrow at Ahab, God did. As Philip Ryken puts it while preaching on this passage, ‘The arrow of divine judgment always finds its mark!’ It not only finds its mark, but it finds one of the few areas that the armour is unable to cover. Blood pours out and Ahab must realise it is serious for he commands his chariot driver to take him out of the battle. However, the wound is mortal and Ahab dies just as God had declared, with the dogs licking up his blood just as Elijah had promised would happen. Here we see that God’s justice cannot be dodged or deflected. It is unavoidable.
How is this good news? Well the delivery of this disaster to Ahab would have been good news for Micaiah back in prison: his prophecy was vindicated, he is shown to have been telling the truth. The fact that justice is unavoidable is good news for all who have faced injustice. It is even good news for all those who never get justice in this life. You see, Micaiah is vindicated in 1 Kings 22, but Naboth in 1 Kings 21 never gets that opportunity. He and his sons are long dead before Ahab receives his knockout blow. And yet, even they, though they are dead, will receive justice in the end. For as sure as the day of Ahab’s death came, the day of his judgement will come. Even if somebody is able to avoid justice in life, they will not avoid judgement in death. Looking forward to that coming judgement, the apostle John in Revelation tells us that like ants before an avalanche or snails before a landslide, on that day men will try to run, but find they are unable to hide. In Revelation 6:15–17 he writes, ‘Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"’ (Revelation 6:15–17) Kings will hide in rocks and caves. Great generals of the earth will run into the mountains. And yet they, like Ahab, will find that God’s justice cannot be dodged or deflected. It is unavoidable. Judgement day is coming. Justice will be done.
God’s word leaves us in no doubt what should happen to us all on that day. Again, in his play the Merchant of Venice, Shakesphere warns us about being too quick to demand for justice, writing: ‘Though justice be thy plea, consider this: That in the course of justice none of us should see salvation.’ And yet the gospel, the good news of Christianity, is that in Christ we who have sinned can see salvation. That through Jesus, God’s justice has been satisfied for all who believe in him. At Christ’s cross unavoidable wrath meets unending mercy. The immovable object of God’s Son meets the unstoppable force of God’s justice. The Bible tells us that when facing God’s justice, you can not only run to Christ, but you can hide in Christ. Because of Jesus, God’s mercy is as sure as his justice. Our salvation is as certain as his judgement.
Yes, judgement day is coming. But on that day there will be two very different experiences. Ahab and Naboth died deaths of dishonour: blood licked up by the dogs. But on that coming day, their paths will part forever. Ahab will awake to everlasting shame, while Naboth will awake to everlasting life (Daniel 12:2). While Naboth will experience the resurrection of life, Ahab will have a resurrection of judgement (John 5:29). Yes, they will both stand before the same throne, but one will pass to the right and the other to the left. The once mighty King of Israel, the constructor of many cities and the builder of a beautiful ivory house, will hear those terrible words, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’ (Matthew 25:41). But friends, how wonderful will those words be that we, who have trust in Christ, will hear on that same day. Those words that will not only be heard by servants like Elijah, Naboth and Micaiah, but all those who have faithfully served God over the years, whether in Samaria or Richmond, at Jezreel or at Kew. When we hear those words, the disappointments of the past and the difficulties of these present days will all disappear from our minds. None of that will matter, when we stand before the face of our master, and hear him say: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ (Matthew 25:23) Friends, like God’s justice, that day of judgement for some and glory for others is unavoidable. Nothing will delay it. History is only heading in one direction. Time keeps ticking on. Our King and his kingdom are coming. Our master is returning. And when he does, we, along with all the rest of his servants over the centuries, will enter into his eternal joy together.
ALEXANDER ARRELL