2 Chronicles 18:27-34: a reflection

27Micaiah said, “If you return at all in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.” He said, “Listen, you people, all of you!” 28So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. 29The 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 they went into the battle. 30Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, “Don’t fight with small nor great, except only with the king of Israel.” 31When the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel!” Therefore they turned around to fight against him. But Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them to depart from him. 32When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. 33A 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 the chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am severely wounded.” 34The battle increased that day. However, the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the evening; and at about sunset, he died.

When King Ahab, warned by the prophet of his death in battle, disguises himself to escape it, a bowman shooting at random strikes him anyway, showing that no scheme or disguise can evade what God has spoken. I will disguise myself, and go into the battle, Ahab said, hoping to avoid the death the prophet had foretold. Ahab tried to outmaneuver God's word by cleverness, disguising himself so the enemy would not recognize the king. But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king between the joints of his armor, and Ahab died that evening. What seemed a random arrow found precisely the king who thought he had hidden himself. No disguise could evade what God had spoken. This shows that no scheme or disguise can evade God's word; what seems random is under his hand. No scheme or disguise can evade what God has spoken. What seems random is not random to God, but under his hand. We cannot outmaneuver God's word by our own cleverness. God's purposes are not thwarted by human schemes.

Notice how Ahab tried to escape God's word, and how it found him anyway. The prophet had foretold Ahab's death in the coming battle. Ahab, hoping to evade this, resorted to cleverness: he disguised himself, so that the enemy, who were seeking the king, would not recognize him and single him out. By his scheme, he thought to outmaneuver the word spoken against him. But it did not work. A certain man drew his bow at random, not aiming at anyone in particular, and the arrow struck Ahab precisely, between the joints of his armor; and Ahab died. What seemed a purely random shot found exactly the disguised king. His cleverness could not evade what God had spoken; and what looked random was, in truth, under God's hand. This holds a sobering truth. We cannot outmaneuver God's word or evade his purposes by our own cleverness and schemes. What God has spoken will stand; and what seems to us random, chance, accident, is not random to God, but under his overruling hand. This is sobering when we would try to evade God's word, but also a ground of trust: for the same truth means that God's purposes are not thwarted by human schemes, and that what seems random chance is under his rule. We do well not to imagine we can evade God's word by our own cleverness, but to submit to it, and to trust that what seems random is under God's hand. Do not imagine you can evade God's word by your own cleverness or schemes. What seems random is not random to God, but under his hand. God's purposes are not thwarted by human maneuvering. Submit to God's word rather than trying to outmaneuver it.

That is worth taking to heart, for no scheme or disguise can evade what God has spoken, and what seems random is under his hand, as Ahab's disguise could not save him from the random arrow. We can imagine we can outmaneuver God's word by cleverness; but Ahab's disguise failed, and a random arrow found him. God's word stands. Do not imagine you can evade God's word by your own schemes; submit to it, trusting that what seems random chance is under God's overruling hand. Do not imagine you can evade God's word by your own cleverness or schemes, but submit to it, trusting that what seems random is under God's hand, as when King Ahab, warned by the prophet of his death in battle, disguised himself to escape it, a bowman shooting at random struck him anyway, showing that no scheme or disguise can evade what God has spoken; for Ahab tried to outmaneuver God's word by cleverness, disguising himself so the enemy would not recognize the king, but a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king between the joints of his armor, and he died that evening, so that what seemed a random arrow found precisely the king who thought he had hidden himself and no disguise could evade what God had spoken, which holds a sobering truth, that we cannot outmaneuver God's word or evade his purposes by our own cleverness and schemes, since what God has spoken will stand and what seems to us random, chance, or accident is not random to God but under his overruling hand, which is sobering when we would try to evade God's word but also a ground of trust, since the same truth means God's purposes are not thwarted by human schemes and what seems random chance is under his rule, so that we do well not to imagine we can evade God's word by our own cleverness but to submit to it and trust that what seems random is under God's hand.

Lord, when King Ahab, warned by the prophet of his death in battle, disguises himself to escape it, a bowman shooting at random strikes him anyway, showing that no scheme or disguise can evade what you have spoken. I will disguise myself, and go into the battle, Ahab said, hoping to avoid the death the prophet had foretold. Ahab tried to outmaneuver your word by cleverness, disguising himself so the enemy would not recognize the king. But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king between the joints of his armor, and Ahab died that evening. What seemed a random arrow found precisely the king who thought he had hidden himself. No disguise could evade what you had spoken. Show me how Ahab tried to escape your word, and how it found him anyway. The prophet had foretold Ahab's death in the coming battle. Ahab, hoping to evade this, resorted to cleverness: he disguised himself, so that the enemy would not recognize him and single him out. By his scheme, he thought to outmaneuver the word spoken against him. But it did not work. A certain man drew his bow at random, not aiming at anyone in particular, and the arrow struck Ahab precisely; and he died. What seemed a purely random shot found exactly the disguised king. His cleverness could not evade what you had spoken; and what looked random was, in truth, under your hand. This holds a sobering truth. I cannot outmaneuver your word or evade your purposes by my own cleverness and schemes. What you have spoken will stand; and what seems to me random, chance, accident, is not random to you, but under your overruling hand. This is sobering when I would try to evade your word, but also a ground of trust: for your purposes are not thwarted by human schemes, and what seems random chance is under your rule. Take that to my heart. Keep me from imagining I can evade your word by my own cleverness or schemes; help me submit to it, Lord, and trust that what seems random is under your hand, and that your purposes are not thwarted by human maneuvering.