Ramoth-Gilead

Book 10, Part 2, Chapter 3.

Murder of Naboth, Battle of Ramoth-Gilead.

1 Kings, Chapters 21 and 22, 2 Chronicles, Chapter 18, B.C. 898.

Shortly after these events, an incident occurred which brought down upon Ahab and his house an awful doom.

a psalm of thanksgiving was straightway sung and on the morrow the army preceded by choirs of levites left the holy city and at about twelve hours distance from jerusalem came to the uneven table-land of tekoa abounding in hidden caverns cliffs and excavations where david and his men had often hidden during the period of his wanderings it was not a locality adapted to the sons of the desert and the ambushments for which it afforded so much opportunity sadly galled their wild hordes and the children of ammon and moab turned their swords against their allies from mount seir and then fell upon one another On reaching the watchtower of Tekoa, the warriors of Judah beheld only a mass of dead bodies, and busied themselves for three days in stripping them of their rich ornaments and gathering up the riches and jewels they had flung away in their hasty flight.

Four days afterwards, a psalm of thanksgiving once more ascended to Jehovah from the valley of Barakak, blessing, and the army of Jehoshaphat returned in triumph to Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 20 verses 26-28 Meanwhile, Ahaziah, during his short and troubled reign over Israel, began to feel the effects of the late disastrous campaign against Ramoth-Gilead.

The Syrians, now masters of the country east of the Jordan, cut off all communication between his realm and his vassal, the king of Moab.

So let's begin at the beginning of our chapter, where we read how Vayered, Yehoshaphat, Melech Yehuda, or Melech Yisrael.

Yehoshaphat joins Melech Yisrael, Achav, and the king of Israel, Achav, says to him, Don't you know that Ramot Gilad, the heights of the Transjordan, are ours and they're in the hands of our Raman.

We need to go to war to retrieve this territory.

And here we see the line where Yehoshaphat says, Yehoshaphat responds to Ahab and says, sure I'll go to war with you.

But nonetheless, he goes down to the king of Israel.

And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth and Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria.

In other words, this property belongs to us, and we haven't taken possession of it.

We need to do that.

And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Will thou go with me to battle to Ramoth and Gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today.

So he said, before we go into battle, we better find out how we're going to do.

And so notice what happens.

I hope you enjoy walking with me through the greatest story ever told.

Ahab, king of Israel, died from a random arrow in the battle for Ramoth Gilead.

Aram had won that battle, and the king was taken back to Samaria and buried, and dogs licked the blood that filled his chariot while prostitutes bathed in it.

Not the best of ends for not the best of kings.

I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the hosts of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left.

And the Lord said, who will entice Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one said one thing and another said another.

Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord saying, I will entice him.

And the Lord said to him, by what means? So this is where God's going to be judging Ahab.