by Josh Mackay | Download PDF | Purchase Hardcopy

Many people believe that there is a God, but this belief has no real impact on their day-to-day lives. People also have many theories on life. Some people say that everything happens for a reason. Some believe in destiny or fate; that things are just going to happen no matter what you do. Others believe in Karma, where in life you get what you deserve. Some believe in 'luck' and are extremely superstitious, whereas others say that there is no meaning in life; everything is just random and happens by chance.

We can watch the news and look at the tragic events that occur on a daily basis and wonder why these things happen. Why do children die? Why do seemingly good people suffer? Why are innocent people punished by the actions of others? If it is just because of fate, then it does not matter what we do, we cannot change anything. If Karma is real, then we can only conclude that people deserve what happens to them. If there is no meaning to life at all, then why live? So, what does the Bible say about life? What is the answer?

To help answer this question, we will look at a specific story from the Bible.  To follow this story, we first need to introduce our characters and set the scene.  Involved are three different kings from three different countries.  The first king is Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah.  The Bible records that Jehoshaphat was a good king.  He sought God continually about his life and how he should run his kingdom.  He sent people throughout all of Judah, teaching the people God’s ways.  Because of this, God blessed him and for the majority of his reign as king, Judah knew peace.

The second king’s name was Ahab.  He was the king of Israel.  Ahab was not a good king.  The Bible says of Ahab that he did evil in the sight of the Lord.  He was married to a woman named Jezebel and between them they appear to be the most evil people to reign over Israel.  They did not worship God; instead they worshipped idols and even had many people who served God put into prison or killed.  Now, if you were to look at the history of Judah and Israel, you would see that, as recently as sixty years prior to this, they were only one country, not two.  If you went further back, you would see that, more than being one country, they were originally one family.

This family came from a man named Jacob.  Later in Jacob’s life, God changed his name to Israel.  He had twelve sons; one of these was named Judah.  Eventually, the families of these twelve sons became twelve tribes that together made up the country called Israel.  Much later, after a dispute, Israel split into two kingdoms.  Ten of the tribes split away making one kingdom in the north and they kept the name Israel.  The two remaining tribes in the south made up the second kingdom and they took on the name Judah.  So we could say that Israel and Judah were brothers and, like brothers often do, these two countries used to fight all the time.  Despite the fact that they shared a common history, the nations of Israel and Judah fought with each other often.  Jehoshaphat did not like this.  He believed that Israel and Judah should be allies rather than enemies, so he told Ahab to call on him if he needed help.

This brings us to king number three, Ben-Hadad, who was the king of Syria.  The Syrians, at this point in history, were quite powerful and were enemies with Israel.  They had assembled their army to fight against Israel.  Ahab, being outnumbered, spoke to Jehoshaphat to see if he would fight with him in battle against the Syrians.  Jehoshaphat’s reply was clear, ‘I am as you are.  My army is your army, and my horses are your horses.  We will be with you in war.’

So, together, the two kings assembled their armies and prepared for battle.  In contrast to modern warfare, a king would fight in the battle with his men.  It was a very important part of being a king.  From a very young age they had been trained in the skills of warfare and they would pride themselves on being great warriors in battle.  As such, when they got dressed for battle, they would distinguish themselves and stand out from the rest of the soldiers by what they wore, so that it was clear that they were king.

When the two kings were getting ready for battle, Ahab said something unusual to Jehoshaphat, ‘You put on your robes as king, but I am going to disguise myself and just go dressed as an ordinary soldier’.  Now neither king was aware of what Ben-Hadad’s battle strategy was.  Most countries in their defence force have a regular army and then they have their best soldiers as a separate group.  For example, the Australian Defence Force has an elite group of special-forces’ soldiers known as the SAS.  The king of Syria also did this.  The regular army had their orders and they were going to attack according to their usual tactics.  However, Ben-Hadad gave his best soldiers different orders.  He said to them, ‘I don’t want you to fight with anyone, great or small.  I only want to you take out the king of Israel.’

When the battle began, these Syrian soldiers quickly looked across the battlefield, searching for the king of Israel.  Because Ahab was disguised, they did not notice him.  Instead, they saw a man riding in a large chariot with kingly robes and assumed this to be the king of Israel.  However, it was actually Jehoshaphat.  Being very skilful soldiers, they were able to isolate and draw out Jehoshaphat from the protection of his men without him even realising it.  By the time he saw what was happening, it was too late.  He was surrounded.  There was no escape.

Seeing that he had no way of escape and that he was surrounded, Jehoshaphat cried out to the Lord.  Somehow, God diverted the Syrian soldiers from getting to Jehoshaphat to kill him and he escaped certain death.

Then something strange occurred.  In the confusion and chaos of war, the battle lines had become unclear.  The intensity of this battle became very fierce.  A certain man, it is unclear which of the three nations he was from, pulled out an arrow.  He put it into his bow and pulled back.  Then he just let it go.  He shot it at random.  He did not aim at anything.  That arrow flew through the air and that arrow struck King Ahab right between the joints of his armour.  It was an absolutely amazing shot.  The arrow caused a fatal wound that killed Ahab later that day.

You could look at that incident and think that it was terrible luck for Ahab and Israel, or perhaps a lucky shot for Syria.  The archer did not know that he was the king because of his disguise.  The precision of the arrow was so perfect that the best of archers would be unlikely to be able to pull off such a shot given multiple attempts.  Had the arrow’s path been just a little different in any direction, the armour would have taken the brunt of the force.  Perhaps it may have still wounded Ahab, but it would have been unlikely to be a fatal wound.  So was it just bad luck?  To view it on its own, you would think so.  However, there was something that occurred before the battle that would suggest that it was not just luck.

Before the battle began, Jehoshaphat spoke to Ahab and told him that even though he was keen to support and help him out, he was not going to go into battle without first asking God about it.  To do this, they would seek men who were known as prophets, to whom the Lord would speak.  Ahab assembled several hundred prophets who came and told the two kings that there would be a great victory.  However, Jehoshaphat, knowing that Ahab did not serve God, knew that these prophets were not speaking God’s word.  Unimpressed and unconvinced by the display, Jehoshaphat asked Ahab, ‘Is there not a single prophet of the Lord in all of Israel?’  Ahab told him that there was one man he knew of called Micaiah.  When Jehoshaphat asked him where he was, Ahab, a little embarrassed, had to tell Jehoshaphat that he had put Micaiah in prison. He hated Micaiah because of what Micaiah was continually telling him.  Given that, Ahab had no regard for the word of God and lived an evil life.  God, through Micaiah, was continually telling Ahab that he needed to change.

While Ahab’s response of putting Micaiah in prison because he did not like what he said is extreme, the response in our heart can be the same.  We never like to hear that we are wrong.  We never like to be told that we need to change.  Because of this, we can avoid listening to people who are going to tell us the truth and, instead, we listen to those who tell us what we want to hear.

So Ahab had Micaiah released from prison and asked him what the Lord said regarding the battle.  Micaiah responded by saying, ‘Go and prosper, your enemies shall be delivered into your hands’.  Ahab was a bit suspicious about this because it was so unusual for Micaiah to be positive.  Ahab said to Micaiah, ‘Swear to me that what you spoke was truly the word of the Lord’.

Micaiah responded, ‘Do you want to know what the Lord really said to me?  The Lord showed me all of Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd.  Then the Lord said to me, “See, these have no master.  Let each return to his house in peace”.’  Ahab turned to Jehoshaphat and said, ‘See, what did I tell you?  He can never prophesy good about me, only evil.’  But Micaiah was not finished and he went on speaking to Ahab.  ‘Make no mistake Ahab, if you go into battle tomorrow, you will not return.’

This was the reason that Ahab chose to disguise himself.  He knew that he did not have a choice.  He was the king; he had to go into battle.  But he was afraid for his life so, in an attempt to spare his life, he disguised himself.  This, of course, was never going to be successful, for we cannot hide from God.

If we view the story just by looking at the outcome, Ahab was killed by a random arrow.  It gives us a particular picture of life.  It makes us think that perhaps there is no meaning or purpose to life and that everything just happens by chance or luck.  However, once we get the whole picture we can see that this was not just luck.  Ahab was warned that he would die if he went into battle and that is exactly what happened.

In most instances in life, we do not get to see the full picture.  We see events and outcomes on their own and they seem to be without meaning or reason.  Using the Bible as an example, we can look at events over the span of a lifetime or even over hundreds or thousands of years and see that there is meaning and purpose.

We can use Ahab and Jehoshaphat to show us two approaches to life.  In life, we can go our own way and do what seems right in our own eyes.  This is what Ahab did.  When we do this, the Bible tells us that we will be subject to time and chance, which means that throughout life, both good and bad will occur.  However, when Ahab found himself in trouble, the best he could do was to try to hide himself.  At that point, even though he had an army surrounding him, he was actually completely on his own.

If we look at Jehoshaphat, he did not go through life just doing what he thought was best.  He sought the Lord and did what God instructed.  He lived his life according to how God wanted him to.  Instead of being helplessly carried through life by the good and bad events of time and chance, we are actually a part of God’s purpose.  Therefore, anything that happens to us, either good or bad, is not by chance but is a part of God’s plan for our lives.

God gives us the promise that if we are seeking His purpose for our lives then all things will work together for good.  That means that the things that we might think are bad actually train us and teach us so that the ultimate outcome is good.  The difference is most clearly seen when Jehoshaphat found himself in trouble when he was surrounded and isolated by the Syrian soldiers.  In that instance, there was no one with him, but he was not alone.  He had God with him and, rather than just having to rely on his own ability, he had God to help him.

To summarise, as we look at Jehoshaphat and Ahab, we see that both men believed in God, inasmuch as they knew He was real.  Both men heard from God.  However, one obeyed God and the other did not.  This difference was seen most clearly on the battlefield.  It is easy for us, in day-to-day life, to say that we believe that God is real.  However, how do you respond on the battlefield?  How do you respond when you are under pressure?  This shows us who we really are.  Do you know God in a way that, like Jehoshaphat, you can call on Him? Or are you like Ahab?; when the pressure comes in your life, you are left to rely on your own abilities alone. 

Life does have purpose and meaning, but that purpose is only found in God.  For us to know this purpose we must do more than just believe in God.  Believing that God is real is not enough.  What matters is actually knowing Him.

Author: Josh Mackay | Citywide Christian Fellowship - Cairns | CCFC
Published by Vision One at Toowoomba Christian Fellowship | TCF
Christian Resources

Download PDF

Purchase Hardcopy