Mon.’s Devo - Fulfillment of Prophesy

Read: 1 Kings 22:1-53; Acts 13:16-41; Psalm 138:1-8; Proverbs 17:17-18 It has been at least three years since Elijah killed all the prophets of Baal and Ahab has accumulated 400 more prophets. Israel hasn’t been to war with Aram for three years, so he instigates a war with them over Ramoth-gilead and asks King Jehoshaphat of Judah to join him. Before they go to war, King Jehoshaphat thinks they should ask the Lord what he thinks and if they will win. Ahab calls his false prophets and they all say the same thing. They tell him to go and the Lord will prosper them. Jehoshaphat has watched these prophets and know that they aren’t God’s prophets so he asks if Israel has a prophet of God they can ask. Ahab tells him about Micaiah, but warns him, he always prophesies evil against him. Jehoshaphat still wants to hear what he has to say so Ahab sends for him. When he comes, he sarcastically answers just like his false prophets. Ahab gets mad and tells him to say the truth. Micaiah then tells him what God said. God wants Ahab to go to war because he will die in the battle. He is using the false prophets to convince him to go. Ahab is furious and orders Micaiah sent back to Amon and put in prison. He is to be fed nothing but bread and water until he returns. So, the two kings go to war disregarding what the prophet of God said. Ahab thinks he can outsmart God by disguising himself. The soldiers of Aram are ordered to go for Ahab. They see Jehoshaphat dressed like a king but when he calls out, they know he is not Ahab so they quit chasing him. One soldier randomly shoots an arrow towards Israel’s troops and it hits Ahab between the joints of his armor. Ahab’s officers prop him up in his chariot and he bleeds out all day while his men fight. At the end of the day, he died and his troops run for their lives. They took his chariot and washed it out by the pool of Samaria where the prophet said his blood would be spilled. Ahab had been an evil king. His son, Ahaziah became king after him. He only reigned for two years. He was evil and served Baal like his father Ahab. Jehoshaphat had been a good king of Judah. He had failed to remove all the pagan shrines where the people offered sacrifices and burned incense to false gods. His son, Jehoram became king after him. In Acts, Paul stood to give the people in Antioch of Pisidia a word of encouragement. He addressed the crowd as “Men of Israel and you God-fearing Gentiles.” He began with Moses and took them through their journey as a nation to where they were right then. They had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Then they were led by judges. Then they wanted a king. God gave them a “wilderness king” - Saul for 40 years. Then he gave them David, a man after God’s heart. Everything in history had pointed to Jesus. John the Baptist was like Samuel of the Old Testament. Samuel tried to prepare the people for a king and John the Baptist tried to prepare them for Jesus. Jesus fulfilled every prophecy about the Messiah and yet he was rejected by his own. God raised him from the dead and he appeared to them in person. It is this Christ that they were witnesses of and now preach. Through Jesus, there is forgiveness of sin and justification. The law could never give that. He warned them not to be the ones the scripture says, they heard and didn’t believe. Lord, may we not miss that you are doing something in our day that will require us to have faith. We believe and put our trust in your plan.