II Chronicles 18: Jehoshaphat’s Unwise Ally

Although Jehoshaphat had secured his dominating strength over Israel, he felt obligated to form an alliance with Ahab the king of Israel. Jehoshaphat opted to marry Ahab’s daughter to secure an alliance between the two.  After the alliance, Ahab requested help from Jehoshaphat’s 1,160,000 valiant warriors to defeat Ramoth-gilead. Jehoshaphat volunteered his assistance, but requested to hear from a prophet of God. The prophet of God in Israel, Micaiah, was brought before the kings and explained that Ahab would be killed in the fight and the Israelites would be scattered on the mountain side without a shepherd. This obviously did not sit well with Ahab and he requested that Micaiah be put in prison until his return from the war.  Jehoshaphat failed to heed the warning of Micaiah and went to war with Ahab against Ramoth-gilead. In the midst of the battle, when the warriors were pressing upon Jehoshaphat very hard he cried unto the Lord and the Lord delivered him. However, in the midst of the battle just as Micaiah had predicted, Ahab was shot randomly by an arrow. This shot delivered the fatal blow of the prophets message.  Great leaders must not form alliances with leaders who do listen to God.Great leaders must know that alliances can lead to disastrous battles. Great leaders put their life at risk in wrong battles when they make unhealthy alliances.