1 Kings 22:28-36: a reflection

28Micaiah said, “If you return at all in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.” He said, “Listen, all you people!” 29So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. 30The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you put on your robes.” The king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. 31Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, “Don’t fight with small nor great, except only with the king of Israel.” 32When the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “Surely that is the king of Israel!” and they came over to fight against him. Jehoshaphat cried out. 33When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. 34A certain man drew his bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around, and carry me out of the battle, for I am severely wounded.” 35The battle increased that day. The king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, and died at evening. The blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot. 36A cry went throughout the army about the going down of the sun, saying, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!”

King Ahab, warned by the prophet Micaiah that he would fall in the coming battle, tried to escape the word by disguising himself, going into the fight in ordinary armor while the other king wore his royal robes. He thought that by hiding his identity he might evade the death that had been foretold. But it did not work. A certain man drew his bow at random, the account says, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. A single arrow, shot without aim, found the one gap in his disguise, and Ahab died as the word had said. His clever attempt to evade God's word by his own devices came to nothing; what God had spoken came to pass, disguise or no disguise. We cannot evade God's word by our own cleverness; what he has spoken will come to pass, and no disguise or device of ours can finally escape it. The random arrow that found Ahab shows the futility of trying to hide from what God has said.

Notice the futility of Ahab's attempt to evade God's word. He was warned he would fall; and he tried to escape it by a clever device, disguising himself so the enemy would not know him. But a random arrow, shot by a man who was not even aiming at him, found the one gap in his armor and killed him. His disguise could not save him; God's word found him anyway. This shows the futility of trying to evade what God has spoken by our own cleverness or devices. We may think we can dodge God's word, hide from it, escape it by some scheme of our own; but what God has spoken will come to pass, and no disguise or device can finally prevent it. The very randomness of the arrow underlines the point: it was not human aim but God's word that found Ahab. To try to evade God's word by our own devices is folly; his word will accomplish what he has said. What God has spoken cannot be dodged by our cleverness. The disguise that seemed so shrewd could not evade the word of God.

That is worth taking to heart, for we cannot evade God's word by our own cleverness or devices; what he has spoken will come to pass. We can imagine we can dodge God's word, escape what he has said by some scheme or device of our own, as Ahab thought his disguise would save him; but the random arrow found him anyway, and God's word was fulfilled. What God has spoken cannot be evaded by our cleverness. There is no disguise or device that finally escapes his word. Do not imagine you can evade God's word by your own devices; what he has spoken will come to pass, as Ahab's disguise could not save him from the arrow. Do not try to evade God's word by your own cleverness or devices, for what he has spoken will come to pass, as Ahab, disguising himself to escape the death foretold, was struck by an arrow shot at random and died as the word had said; for we cannot dodge or hide from what God has spoken by any scheme of our own, and his word will accomplish what he has said regardless of our devices, so that the shrewdest disguise cannot evade the word of God, which finds us out as surely as the random arrow found Ahab.

Lord, King Ahab, warned by the prophet Micaiah that he would fall in the coming battle, tried to escape the word by disguising himself, going into the fight in ordinary armor while the other king wore his royal robes. He thought that by hiding his identity he might evade the death that had been foretold. But it did not work. A certain man drew his bow at random, the account says, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. A single arrow, shot without aim, found the one gap in his disguise, and Ahab died as the word had said. His clever attempt to evade your word by his own devices came to nothing. Show me the futility of Ahab's attempt to evade your word. He was warned he would fall; and he tried to escape it by a clever device, disguising himself. But a random arrow, shot by a man who was not even aiming at him, found the one gap in his armor and killed him. His disguise could not save him; your word found him anyway. This shows the futility of trying to evade what you have spoken by our own cleverness. I may think I can dodge your word, hide from it, escape it by some scheme of my own; but what you have spoken will come to pass, and no disguise or device can finally prevent it. Take that to my heart, for I cannot evade your word by my own cleverness or devices; what you have spoken will come to pass. I can imagine I can dodge your word, escape what you have said by some scheme of my own, as Ahab thought his disguise would save him; but the random arrow found him anyway. Keep me from imagining I can evade your word by my own devices, Lord; what you have spoken will come to pass, as Ahab's disguise could not save him from the arrow, and there is no scheme of mine that finally escapes your word.