Samaria is another name for Israel in some cases. Here, when the king is brought to Samaria it
refers to Israel. Ahab apparently
believed the words of Micaiah that this venture wasn't going to turn out well
for the king and instead of putting on his royal robes decides it is the better
part of wisdom to put on his armor. He
somehow convinces Jehoshaphat that it would be a good idea for him, however, to
wear his robes into battle. Why the king
of Judah was willing to identify himself in this way when Ahab was unwilling is
interesting but perhaps he believes the Lord will protect him from harm. When the armies of Syria spot a king they
conclude this must be Ahab but Jehoshaphat's cry changes their mind. Ahab is killed by a stray arrow shot at
random, according to the prophetic word.
The reference to the prostitutes bathing in his blood refers to temple
prostitutes of the Baal cult. Jehoshaphat
walks the walk, he follows the way of the Lord all his days. One man comes to an ignominious end after
following after other gods and the other, who followed Yahweh rests with his
fathers.
If you're looking for rewards or satisfaction in this life
you're looking in the wrong place. The
Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes, defining the contours of the
life of the kingdom of God. It
acknowledges that this life is hard and if you are focused on it then it
promises you nothing. It is nearly a
take on Ecclesiastes but in mirror images.
Where Solomon says nothing on earth is ultimately satisfying and is all
vanity, meaningless, a chasing after the wind, Jesus says there is something
worth seeking, the kingdom of God. If
you find that in this life your heart aches over injustice and the consequences
of sin, if you see this world for what it truly is, broken and busted and
fallen from the intentions of the Creator, and that realization causes you pain
and sadness, you see well. All that will
ultimately be reversed in the realization of the kingdom of God, the world that
we all long to exist, the one we all believe, Christian and non-Christian
alike, should be but isn't. Instead of
grieving over what is, properly understanding that it is my fault, it is not
just sin in general but my sin in particular that causes the world to be as it
is, we find fault in God. The Bible
tells a very different story about causation.
Let us indeed long for the coming of the kingdom that we share in God's
pain over the current reality and work to eradicate sin from our lives and
bring the kingdom to wherever we may be.
Until God imparts His Spirit to us we are natural people
which means we cannot understand the things of God. The best thing we can do for those who have
rejected the Gospel is to pray for the impartation of the Spirit. It is God's work alone to open their eyes and
hearts, Paul would certainly know that truth.
His problem with the church in Corinth is that even though he knows they
received the Spirit because they affirm the truth, they are acting like
natural, fleshly people. That is a great
problem in the church, we fail to live by the Spirit and we allow earthly
things to divide us. We are nothing more
than a club with its own meetings and rules but we are concerned with little
other than the club. At the end of the day,
whatever isn't eternal isn't going to survive, so let us set our minds and
hearts on things eternal. As the collect
says: O God, the
protector of all who trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is
holy; Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler and
guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the
things eternal. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ our
Lord.
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